1. Be Careful with Private Equity Buyers. Private equity firms are in the business of buying and selling companies. Accordingly, they are extremely sophisticated and savvy and are often represented by large, aggressive law firms. Deals with private equity buyers are generally more complex than those done with strategic buyers due to, among other things, the level(s) of debt added to the target and/or financial engineering. Moreover, unlike most strategic buyers, private equity buyers usually require the selling entrepreneur (i) to rollover part of his/her equity into the acquirer (i.e., to maintain skin in the game) and (ii) to include a financing condition in the acquisition agreement — which, in today’s choppy debt markets, adds a level of uncertainty to closure.

2. Hire an Experienced M&A Lawyer Before You Hire an Investment Banker. An experienced M&A lawyer will not only help protect the selling entrepreneur in the actual sale process, but also will help retain a strong investment banker and negotiate the banker’s engagement letter. Indeed, investment bankers can (and should) be played off of each other to lower their respective fees — just like effective bankers play prospective buyers off of each other to get a higher sales price and better terms for the seller. This approach can lead to substantial savings for the entrepreneur.

3. Get Your Papers in Order. An easy way to instill confidence in prospective buyers is for the selling entrepreneur to deliver (or make available) a complete, well-organized set of diligence documents. Accordingly, prior to initiating the sales process, the entrepreneur should ensure that the corporate books are cleaned-up, agreements are memorialized and/or updated to the extent necessary, public records do not reflect previously-released liens, etc. Moreover, financial statements should be recast by experienced accountants to paint a more accurate financial picture of the business.

4. Develop a Game Plan. Every deal is different — different players, different negotiating leverage, different risks, different timing — and it is thus imperative that the selling entrepreneur sit down with the transaction team and strategize to develop a game plan in connection with the sale. The entrepreneur must communicate to the team, among other things, his or her deal-breakers, wish-list, problems and, of course, budget. An experienced M&A lawyer will quarterback the transaction and ensure that the game plan is being executed.

5. Negotiate the Material Terms in the Letter of Intent. The entrepreneur’s strongest leverage as a seller is prior to the execution of the letter of intent (the “LOI”). This is the time when a solid investment banker and/or M&A lawyer will create a competitive environment (or the perception of same), and prospective buyers will be required to compete on price and terms. One buyer, for example, may offer a higher purchase price, but require a “cap” (as discussed below) equal to such price; another buyer may offer less, but only require a 10% cap. Accordingly, prior to choosing a buyer, the selling entrepreneur should negotiate and weigh all of the material terms of the offer, and the LOI should reflect such terms.

6. Sell Stock (Equity) Not Assets. As a general rule, the entrepreneur should sell equity — not assets — for three significant reasons: (i) potential tax savings if the target is a “C” corporation; (ii) to pass the target’s liabilities (disclosed and undisclosed) onto the buyer; and (iii) because it generally requires less documentation and less time to closure (which means less legal fees). Obviously, every deal must be structured with the assistance of competent counsel, including tax counsel; however, selling entrepreneurs should always be thinking about selling equity, not assets.

7. Insert a “Basket” in the Acquisition Agreement. The buyer should not be permitted to “nickel and dime” the selling entrepreneur for immaterial breaches of the representations and warranties. Accordingly, the seller should insert a basket (i.e., a deductible) into the indemnification section of the acquisition agreement — usually in an amount equal to .5% to 1% of the purchase price. The buyer thus would only be permitted to recover for its aggregate amount of damages in excess of the amount of the basket (though buyers will often insist that if its damages exceed the basket, the seller should be responsible for the first dollar). Sellers should also push to include a mini-basket for individual claims — e.g., unless the buyer’s damages exceed $10,000 with respect to a particular claim, it does not get counted toward the basket.

8. Cap Your Potential Liability. The entrepreneur wants to sleep well after his or her business has been sold and enjoy the fruits of years of labor. Accordingly, it is critical that certain key provisions be inserted into the acquisition agreement to protect the entrepreneur post-closing. One such provision is a cap on liability, which, as noted above, should ideally be negotiated in the LOI. Sellers should strive for a cap of 10% of the purchase price (or even less, with strong leverage) and should also try to minimize any buyer carve-outs. The seller’s message to the buyer is reasonable: inherent in any business are certain ongoing risks, and thus once the business is sold, you (buyer) should only be able to recover a limited amount of the sale proceeds (absent fraud).

9. Insert a Non-Reliance Provision in the Acquisition Agreement. Another important seller protection that should be inserted into the acquisition agreement is a so-called “non-reliance” provision, which requires the buyer, in effect, to acknowledge that it is buying the business based solely on the seller’s representations and warranties in the acquisition agreement and its due diligence investigation. Indeed, such a provision is intended to prevent the buyer from suing the seller based on any oral statements, writings, projections, etc. outside the four corners of the acquisition agreement.

10. Get the Buyer to Pay a Termination Fee. The selling entrepreneur should require the buyer to pay a fee if the acquisition agreement is terminated through no fault of the seller (e.g., if the buyer is unable to satisfy a financing condition); this is sometimes referred to as a “reverse break-up” fee, which can be as high as 10% of the purchase price (e.g., in the sale of Neiman-Marcus) or as low as the amount of seller’s transaction expenses. This is an issue that is often not addressed by middle-market sellers — but should be.

Author: Scott Edward Walker
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Bumper guardian

What does wealth mean to you? Different societies define wealth differently. Probably the most common interpretation relates to the amount of money one earns. Or perhaps a high net worth. In a third world country, it may be as basic as owning a housing structure or having enough food to eat.

The American Heritage dictionary defines wealth as “an abundance of valuable material possessions or resources; riches.” This definition seems to closely align the American concept. Actually the term “wealth” derives from the old English word “weal.” which means well-being or welfare. Amazing isn’t it how far we have strayed. Current terminology has wealth and welfare at the absolute opposite ends of the economic scale.

The current preoccupation of many, if not most, North Americans revolves around wealth creation. Robert Kiyosaki details his ideas in his cash-flow quadrant. He explains the least likely employment status for financial security is as an employee. As an employee you have very little control over your income, duties or work schedule. Consequently, an employee has the least likelihood of wealth creation.

Self-employed status raises the bar slightly. At least in this capacity, the individual retains more control of time, earnings and creativity. Being a self-employed entrepreneur increases the potential for wealth creation. Michael Gerber agrees that “The entrepreneur in us sees opportunities everywhere we look, but many people see only problems everywhere they look. The entrepreneur in us is more concerned with discriminating between opportunities than he or she is with failing to see the opportunities.” Now take pure entrepreneurship to an even higher level on the cash-flow quadrant. Rise from self-employed to business owner. The business owner has ultimate control over income, work schedule and business creativity. Not only that, but the business owner leverages individual time and effort by also earning from the time, effort and creativity of his/her employees. At the business owner level, income is no longer restricted to personal production. At this point, entrepreneurship not only buds but develops full blown blossoms. Entrepreneurs thrive on creativity.

Entrepreneurs existed from the beginning of history. People have been creating, inventing and trading from the beginning of time. Even though the forms and techniques of business have changed with the evolution of commerce, the basic principles thread throughout history. Entrepreneurs have been creating wealth since the Stone Age. Entrepreneurs are the life blood on an economy. They stimulate the circulation of money. Entrepreneurs in a real sense are the creators of wealth and a stable economy.

Wealth creation remains a primary focus of most entrepreneurs. When we list the wealthiest people of the world, we see the names of Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, Henry Ford, and Donald Trump to name just a few. Each and every one of these wealthy men created their fortunes through entrepreneurship. In fact, most of them progressed from self-employed to business owner to investor. Investor is the ultimate in the cash-flow quadrant. With investor status, your money works for you instead of you working for your money.

As a rule, wealth creation is not an overnight process. The only instant acceleration to wealth is likely to be winning the lottery. Personally, I would not count on that method. Becoming an entrepreneur and progressing from self-employed through business owner to investor remains the most likely and most predictable method. Predictable, if you seize the opportunity when it presents itself. When opportunity knocks, the prepared answer the door. The lazy complain about the noise. Are you prepared and ready to seize the moment? Entrepreneurs eagerly answer the door.

Entrepreneurs take risks. They exhibit focus, commitment, determination, creativity and persistence. Is the road to riches always smooth and upward? No. It is not. Study the financial path of most extremely wealthy individuals and you will find scary financial lows immediately before the huge explosion to wealth. Jim Rohn talks about not having $2.00 to buy Girl Scout cookies. That was his turning point to achieve his fame and fortune. Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hanson experienced extreme financial lows immediately before the Chicken Soup series skyrocketed to the top of the charts. No one said the entrepreneurship road was smooth and easy, but it certainly has wonderful results for those determined souls who persist. Winners persist and achieve. To true entrepreneurs, failure is not an option. Opportunities are usually wearing a disguise of work clothes. Or as Ann Landers phrased it “Opportunities are usually disguised as hard work, so most people don’t recognize them.”

Ah what sweet rewards for those who are innovative, consistent and persistent. Entrepreneurs create wealth. The recently released billionaire list was composed of eighty percent (80%) entrepreneurs. Are you ready for the challenges and rewards of entrepreneurship? Are you ready for wealth? Success is a choice. Wealth is a choice.

Author: Elaine Love
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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Choosing to become a home business entrepreneur comes with some major benefits. Those of you who may still be quite skeptical or unsure should ask yourself these simple questions. What good is having money when you don’t have the time to do what you want with the money? On the other hand, what good is having time if you can’t afford to do the things you really want to do? I was dealing with these exact questions just a few years ago and knew deep down that life was meant to be lived on my terms. I came to realize that sitting at a desk for most of the week, receiving a measly paycheck that barely covered my expenses was not what I wanted for myself or my family. Something had to change and I took the initiative to find a home based business that would allow me the time and financial freedom I knew I deserved. As a home business entrepreneur, I have been able to find out what it really takes to have the money, as well as the time to enjoy life.

By reading this article you will understand the benefits behind becoming a home business entrepreneur. You will also gain the knowledge to be able to create financial freedom and live life on your terms. You will know that you have the capability within you to create the time freedom in order to enjoy the things you’d like to do on your schedule. You’ll know overall how incredibly easy it can be to enjoy life as it was meant to be lived. Ultimately, you’ll have the confidence and drive to move forward in a positive manner and join a team of successful entrepreneurs for a complete life-changing experience.

When choosing to become a home business entrepreneur, you immediately position yourself as someone who is eligible to create a dream lifestyle. Owning your own home based business is all-around beneficial every way you look at it. You have tremendous tax benefits due to the fact that you are utilizing a portion of your home, phone, internet service, etc. in order to run your business. All of these things are considered when a home business entrepreneur prepares their taxes every year. Not only are the tax benefits huge, but you also have the ability to create limitless income for yourself and your family without having to spend years getting a college degree. Even most people that have a 4-year degree or more are still limited as to how much they are able to make each year. It’s a win/win situation all around and not enough people are taking advantage of these benefits.

Unfortunately, many people still don’t realize that trading time for dollars is highly ineffective for gaining a financially free lifestyle. For some reason, they just can’t grasp the fact that they have the ability to make changes if they truly desire a change in their current situation. One thing that must be understood is that success is there for everyone who has the desire to join successful entrepreneurs and follow their lead. Where most people go wrong, is that they don’t believe it can happen to them. It’s unfortunate, but the average person is brought up with the mentality that success is meant for certain people. That can be no farther from the truth! If you can dream it…. you can have it… plain and simple. One of the first things you can do to move your way forward into the world of becoming a home business entrepreneur, is to actually believe that this is a real business with real results waiting to happen. If this is the case, then you really must break through the negativity that your mindset is sending out to you. If you don’t, you’ll literally be setting yourself up for failure before you even begin… and that’s the honest truth.

If you can finally make that decision to rid yourself of negative thoughts and fear of failure, you have already moved ahead toward winning the battle and achieving huge success as a home business entrepreneur. With some consistent effort over time, anyone can achieve even their most unimaginable dreams. But I will stress that it will take time and it will take effort. If you are ready for a change and are willing to work for your future, then nothing should stand in your way. I know that I say it all the time, but consistent and persistent action over time will produce amazing results that are beyond anything you can imagine. What is that worth to you? Think about it for a moment.

It is a known fact that the home based business revolution has been the answer for thousands of entrepreneurs throughout the world, and it just keeps growing. It all starts with the mindset of the individual. A positive mindset with a winning attitude can create a dream lifestyle and financial freedom for even the most average person. Make a decision to join the top 3% of successful entrepreneurs and never look back. It is very easy to do, however, it’s also very easy not to do. What will ultimately set you apart from the others is your willingness to do the things that most people won’t do. It’s just as simple as that. I encourage you to take the challenge and take advantage of all the benefits in becoming a home business entrepreneur.

For me, it is simply the most rewarding and gratifying venture I’ve ever done. I’ve had the ability to see how being a home business entrepreneur literally changed my life, and I believe it is truly there for anyone who wishes to experience it for themselves. Don’t just take my word for it, do the thing and witness the results for yourself. You know you deserve to live your dream lifestyle, so never let anything hold you back. Just do it!

Author: Dana Stanojkovski
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Netbook, Tablets and Mobile Computing

Entrepreneurs enjoy the freedom of making their own business decisions and becoming their own bosses. In addition, they also gain the stability and control that could never be achieved as a regular employee. If you have been dreaming of becoming one of these entrepreneurs, you should find out the disadvantages and advantages of taking on this role.

Advantages of Entrepreneurs

Excitement: compared to being regular employees, entrepreneurs enjoy much excitement beginning from the planning stage of the business up to development and realization. Thrill-seekers obviously love being entrepreneurs as they are exposed to too much risk. You should never forget, that all business risks that you agree on taking, should be calculated.

Salary Potential: most people who are employed generally feel that they are not being compensated for the work they do. In addition, they must follow the salary structure set by their employers. Entrepreneurs, on the other hand, earn money that is commensurate to their efforts.

Flexibility: having control of work schedules and commitments makes the life of these entrepreneurs enviable. They are able to take vacations anytime and spend much quality time with their families.

Independence: for people who love the idea of not being answerable to anyone else but themselves, becoming an entrepreneur would surely be wonderful. They would be able to make decisions without the pressure of getting fired.

Disadvantages of Entrepreneurs

No Regular Salary: when you start a business, you should be prepared to leave behind the security of having a paycheck each month. Even successful entrepreneurs experience lean months when all financial resources are being taken up by the new business.

Work Schedule: although they have the luxury of a flexible schedule, entrepreneurs also make sacrifices especially during situations that require them to work longer hours. Unlike regular employees who are not worried too much about the status of the business, entrepreneurs must make sure that everything is going well.

Administration: because they own the business, all major decisions are made by entrepreneurs. This is quite a burden and handling such responsibility is quite difficult. Every decision directly affects the future of their businesses and avoiding costly mistakes is imperative.

After comparing the advantages and disadvantages, you will have to decide if you can realistically handle all the responsibilities of owning your own business aside from being prepared for all the risks you have to take. But if you look closely, being an entrepreneur is still desirable especially with the sense of fulfillment and accomplishment they gain from beating all odds and overcoming all challenges. As long as you have passion and commitment, you will be able to handle these disadvantages beautifully.

Author: Rob Clark
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Digital Camera Times

Are you intrigued by the possibility of being your own boss and starting a business but not sure you have the right qualifications to be an entrepreneur? What are the characteristics of an entrepreneur? Although there is no single perfect entrepreneurial profile, there are many characteristics that show up repeatedly in successful business owners.

Following are the top 10 essential entrepreneurial traits that anyone who is interested in starting a business must possess:

(1) Independence - This is the most common denominator of all entrepreneurs. They want to seize control of their future; thus they decide to become their own boss instead of laboring under the gaze of a master.

(2) Persistence and Determination - The world of entrepreneurship is fraught with both success and failure. An important quality of a successful entrepreneur is the doggedness to continue pursuing a goal despite some setbacks and obstacles they may encounter on the road. This persistence and determination is fueled by a burning desire to achieve the goal of succeeding in the chosen field of business.

(3) Self-Confidence - Along with independence, an entrepreneur possesses self-confidence. They believe in their capabilities and makes sure that they will put in their best effort into their particular endeavors and likewise expect the best results from it. Belief in one’s capabilities is very important in achieving any goal – especially in the world of entrepreneurship.

(4) Creativity - In the business world, you can not afford to be complacent and uncreative unless you want the competition to move up on ahead of you. Creative people are naturally curious, inquisitive, bright and highly flexible when thinking. They keenly observe their environment and have an eye for spotting new trends that could spark a business opportunity.

(5) Organized and goal-oriented - An entrepreneur knows the value of organization in a business endeavor. A good entrepreneur has the ability to consolidate resources.

(6) Visionary - An entrepreneur has a vision for his/her future.

(7) Risk-taking and Tolerance for Failure - A good entrepreneur realizes that loss and failure are inherent in any business endeavor. Thus, an entrepreneur must always be ready to make calculated risks and face whatever consequences accompany those risks. As in all fields of endeavor, the characteristic of a successful entrepreneur is in never giving up and in picking up the pieces and continuing the journey even if failure momentarily obstructs the way.

(8) Perseverance and Hard Work - These are perhaps two of the most important entrepreneurial traits.

(9) Commitment - An entrepreneur will not achieve success if he/she gives up at the first sign of trouble.

(10) Honesty and Honor - Another very important mark of a good entrepreneur is being honest and honorable in all business dealings and interpersonal relationships – whether it is between business partners, employees, peers or investors.

If you possess these traits, you may have the necessary skill set to become a successful entrepreneur.

Author: Hilary Basile
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: US Dollar credit card

1- Heart

Do you have heart? Do you have that drive to go all the way?

Do you have the mentality that I will go on no matter what?

Will you make entrepreneurship your second wife or husband?

Do you care to make a difference in the world?

Being an entrepreneur is still not the norm as society sees it,
they still consider entrepreneurs to be as strange as aliens and
ufos. I Have heard all the comments say that entrepreneurs are just
lazy and don’t want to hold a job, this is the most underrated statement
known to civilization!

Entrepreneurs have to have heart to take on a new adventure and
build it from scratch, there is no guarantee of a paycheck or
salvation as an entrepreneur. You have to have heart to go on while
others laugh and poke a joke at you saying that you will never make it
and will never have a successful business.

You have to have heart and will power to stay up every night making
sure that your business is growing like your precious child, yes starting
a new business is like having a new child, you have to care for it, feed it,
and make sure it grows!

If you want to start your own business and be an entrepreneur then
please have a huge heart and amazing willpower to tackle both the good side
and bad side of this lifestyle.

2-Vision

Do you know what your goals are? Do you have a plan on
how to start your business and how to project your outcome for
the 1st 5 years? If you don’t have a clear cut vision then you need
to think again about being an entrepreneur, success as an entrepreneur
does not magically appear, you have to know what you are after and your vision
has to be very clear. Once you have that vision then you can take the next steps and
ensure that you vision for your business will be a success.

One of the biggest problems that most have is that they try to become and entrepreneur
and they don’t know what their goals are and what type of success they will have, they lack
vision and most fail fast!

3-Product

The main reason why you are becoming an entrepreneur is to
offer your product or service to the world, make sure that what you are offering is
wanted by paying customers, don’t “guess” your buyers, make sure you have a target
audience that are waiting for your product.

This is a huge mistake that is made by entrepreneurs and business folks, they don’t realize
that not everyone is interested in their product, they put their heart and soul into
promotion when they are selling to the wrong people. Having the right product
is important to business success. If you are an entrepreneur who is a master listbuilder
and want to offer your Ecoaching to people make sure you write an article that
is about listbuilding and not bodybuilding!

Targeting is my concern and most entrepreneurs tend to not target their audience
and their products won’t get much sales.

The key to success is to have a product that is bought very cheap or
at wholesale prices and then add a little markup and then you can
profit from it.

Just take a look at ebay and you will see that 90% of the top sellers are
dealing with wholesale goods only and you being the consumer are willing
to pay their prices because they are a lot cheaper than retail prices.

Make sure that you are going into business with the right product and
service, don’t make that mistake and just assume that your product
will be a success, do some research and figure out if your product
has a demand for it!

4-Team

Don’t do everything all by yourself, build a team and your business
will grow and have more of a chance of being a success than you
doing it all alone. I was one of those entrepreneurs that felt
that I didn’t need help or that i was smarter than most, this
was my big mistake and my business suffered for many years!

If you are a visionary then try to network with sales and marketing
professional, if you don’t understand graphic design then outsource and
you will see excellent results. No one can do everything and knows
everything, team work is key to success and please avoid the mistakes
i made by thinking that I knew it all and didn’t need anyone’s help.

You can accomplish so much more if certain tasks and jobs are
delegated to certain people in your team, you should have an email
or instant message sent to your team every morning and explain
what the agenda is for the week, month and then have a session
on Fridays and see what the team accomplished.

Take my advice on this and you will avoid lots of pain and
heartache, team work is a must and put it to use for your business
today!

5-Start Small

I can’t stress this enough, please do yourself a favor and
start small, start your new business on the side while
working and earning a stable income. Don’t just assume that
your side business will make you rich, that is a very dangerous
assumption and it can ruin your life and the relationship with your
family and friends.

Start your business on the side, see if it is making you money and
observe the monthly trend to see if it is growing or not. If your side
business has been making you more income than your full time job then
consider making the transition, this is such a powerful checklist and make sure
that you start small, don’t quit your job tomorrow just because you had a vision
for a new business.

I am an individual that has been an entrepreneur since the age of 17 and
my experience tells me to tell you to start small, don’t rush things and don’t
assume anything until you see results!

Author: Bea V
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Import duty tariff

“Trend following” is a strategy normally associated with trading. You won’t see it associated with Top Web Entrepreneurs. This is surprising. The strategy serves both types of activities quite well. I intend to set the record straight with this article!

First, A Bit Of Background

If you lookup “trend following” on Google, it will report that some 286,000 pages mention the expression. I am willing to bet that most, if not all, are related to speculative trading.

However, I am also willing to bet that Top Web Entrepreneurs, whether knowingly or not, use a strategy based on “trend following” to guide them in their choice of Web endeavors.

Let me explain.

I used to invest my money. That has brought me a certain significant return. But, it took decades of compounding the meager crumbs that the banks and other financial institutions were (reluctantly) giving me in interest.

One day, in 1998, I switched strategy. I became trader. I am what is known as a “system trader”. I have developed a system to protect myself while trading. My trading is based on a “trend following strategy”.

I’m proud to say that it works remarkably well. For me, that is. There’s a catch, you see. It requires strict adherence to the a plan: my plan.

My plan, discipline, tight control over emotions, and patience make up “the name of the game”.

What Does “Trend Following Trading” Have To Do With Top Web Entrepreneurship?

The skills required to become a Top Web entrepreneur are not much different than the ones a consistently successful trader uses. Note the use of the word “consistently”. Anyone can be a lucky trader. Many think that Top Web Entrepreneurs were lucky to find their “niche”. Not so. They all worked hard at identifying it, and at planning how to best exploit it … sometimes months, or years, before the event makes the news.

Top traders also work hard. Most of their energy goes into preserving their capital, so that they will always have enough to trade the next day, and never go broke. They never take risks! They manage risk. There’s a major difference.

So much so, that managing risks is the most important factor between success and failure, both in trading, and in business.

When the trend becomes newsworthy, it rapidly ceases to be worthy of exploiting! It is cresting, in it’s adult phase, then. It will soon begin to decline.

Top Web Entrepreneurs, just like Top Traders, plan to get in as close to the (confirmed) beginning of the trend as possible. They avoid entry when the trend has already given most people a good run for their money! The probabilities of cresting are getting bigger, at that point. They do not want to enter a trend, just as it is about to decline.

How does one become a successful Web entrepreneur without taking risks?

By testing your ideas “offline” first!

Successful traders, do their testing outside of the markets. That use sophisticated computerized systems, either bought commercially, or home brewed. The very Top traders use home brewed systems. They feed their system years of historical data about the stock, or foreign currency they are interested in trading. The tests are computerized, so they take a few moments only. In a flash, they know what potential their idea may have about that given stock or currency. They also know what the risks are. They can prepare to counter them.

Successful Web entrepreneurs also make use of computers, of course. But not in the same way. They do not have years of historical data to test their ideas on. Only uncharted grounds are potentially ripe to give new types of crops. It’s in the very nature of innovative ideas to not have a history.

Top Web entrepreneurs use sophisticated systems to mine the Web for the data they need. They develop their own system (around a strategy), but use the computerized applications that are available on the Web. Remember, the data they need does not exist … at least, not as a coherent, filtered set yet. They have to look for “signs” of it. Then they analyze the signs. This analysis leads them to retain some pieces of data, and reject others as irrelevant. Not an easy task at best.

Top Web entrepreneurs will use their brain, and their experience in a given field of interest, to analyze what they find.

Their imagination gave them a business idea. They will carefully validate it, plan for it, and time their move into implementation.

They are like top competition surfers. They know what signs to look for, and they have the acquired a sense of timing to take advantage of a “building” wave. They are in there even as the wave is beginning to form (below the surface and most everyone’s radar). Sometimes, like Top traders, they reach the “zone”, totally concentrated. They are already stalking – and preparing for – the next profitable wave (trend), in the right spot, at the right time, before the coveted event even begins to form!

To get there, Top Web entrepreneurs use sophisticated, flexible Web searching tools to mine the Web for information. These tools exist, and are mostly free to use. However, they are scattered, uncoordinated, about the Web. Sometimes, they only exist as “beta” applications that only a few enthusiasts know about.

To give you an idea of what “trend stalking” might mean on the Web, have a look at the
“Google Alerts”(TM), and “Google Trends”(TM). Many Web entrepreneurs use them, as general purpose tools, in an attempt to identify the “trend” they are looking for.

There are dozens of much more specialized and powerful tools for Web research and analysis available. You just have to try them until you find the ones that best fit your requirements, and personality.

When The Signs Are There

When it begins to look like their idea is being confirmed by enough verifiable signs (note the word verifiable), Top Web Entrepreneurs will immediately start planning it’s implementation carefully. They will give it a structure that will later house what they will be offering their targeted clientele. They will also have identified the latter through thorough research.

Their Web business is taking shape offline, at that stage. No risks involved. I hope you get my drift! They make sure their idea will work, before they commit themselves! That’s what planning is all about.

The First Small Step

If the idea looks viable, they start small. Very small! Just to give you an idea, I never bet more than one percent – yes, you have read correctly, never more than 1% of my total equity on any given trade idea. That’s how small a step I am willing to take at any given time. That should give you a measure of how careful, patient and disciplined successful trading is. After a while, if my trade idea works, I will add to my position progressively. If all the conditions of my trading system continue to be met, I continue to execute my trading plan … in a very disciplined way.

When Top Web Entrepreneurs have thoroughly researched and tested their business idea – offline – they will create the home page of their Web site, and publish it online.

They will slowly add to their position, from there. Meanwhile, they keep up their research effort. They watch for signs of their idea drifting away from the trend they have identified, and chosen to follow.

In fact, they go wherever their traffic leads them. They will patiently, and dutifully follow that trend to destination … and success.

They will publish one – well researched, keyword focused – Web page at a time. They will slowly furnish the structure they planned in the first stages of preparation … and thus progressively increase their “tailor made” offer to their target clientele.

A New Web Business Is Born!

As you can see, it did not happen suddenly. Nor, was it due to a stroke of luck.

Top Web Entrepreneurs innovate … and follow trends.

That’s the “apparent” paradox.

Author: Claude Jollet
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: How Electric Pressure Cookers Work

For many small business owners, the decision to start a business may have been well planned or may have been influenced by factors outside of the individual’s control. The decision on what business to start may have been biased towards the person’s area of expertise or interests, however, a detailed understanding of a subject may not be sufficient to guarantee success when converted into a business.

All business owners must possess traits that will also set them aside from other employees, competitors and contemporaries. In many cases these groups may enjoy a comfortable life, but may be totally dependent upon the extraordinarily successful entrepreneur from whom to leverage as the basis of their own existence.

The successful entrepreneur will be amongst the group that will provide the business success that others will yearn for. The entrepreneur will not be satisfied with the business success being dependent upon the efforts of others and will seek to be an outstanding leader in his niche.

The business entrepreneur must be adept at many facets of business life. Failure to gain competencies in many disciplines will render the business owner vulnerable to failure in meeting the business goals.

The entrepreneur must have qualities far beyond any technical expertise in the proposed product or service.

What are these ‘qualities’? Why are they necessary?

Some of the behaviors that are commonly found in the successful entrepreneur include:

Intuition

Knowing by instinct what is likely to be successful is an important insight the entrepreneur may possess. Not giving up and trying again, when the failures do happen is perhaps more important. A tweak here, draw upon market knowledge and ultimate success will be found.

Independence

The ability to remain focused on the goal, when others around are casting doubts, will require an independent and strong character to drive the initiative forward.

Balance the Team

Whilst the entrepreneur will lead on many issues, it will be realized expert help in certain disciplines will be necessary to overcome weaknesses in the entrepreneur’s skill set. The ‘expert’ will be engaged thus allowing the successful entrepreneur to concentrate on work areas in which skills abound and greater value can be added.

Commitment

The entrepreneur will make a major commitment to the business. Financial investment apart, time spent dedicated to the business will exceed the commitment of others.

Lead by Example

The entrepreneur will inspire and encourage others to achieve the objectives set by the business. The importance of ensuring others work towards meeting the business goals cannot be understated, and the entrepreneur will set the standard for others to aspire to.

Manage Change

The road to success will include many occasions when change within the business will be necessary. New products, new services, new plant, new employees will be introduced during the life of the business. In many instances the entrepreneur will initiate such change, and must ensure all associated project work is planned and executed to meet the aims of the business.

Business Development

On going business growth will require the entrepreneur to plan the development of the business. A self-belief in the ability of the entrepreneur to expand the business profitably is aligned with an I-will mentality of the individual. Doubts on the success of the venture are not considered, all obstacles are evaluated and alternative solutions developed.

Author: David Willetts
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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The word entrepreneur has become a catch all title for just about everyone and anyone who starts and or builds a business. I’ve always had a bit of trouble throwing that overused, imported moniker around because I believe it’s not always applied in the correct manner.

Is an entrepreneur someone who takes the family business and keeps it going? Is it the person who builds a new division of the company where they’re employed? Or should it be reserved for only those who have put everything on the line in order to build their business? I’ll opt for the latter.

I’ll never forget being at an area Chamber of Commerce awards dinner some years back when I was surprised to find that the recipient of the Entrepreneur of The Year award went to a gentleman whose father had started the business many years before and built it into quite a successful venture. By the time the son had arrived to run the company it was already a multi-million dollar operation! “Wait a minute”, I said to myself, “How can this guy be the entrepreneur of the year when he was handed the reins of a large, seemingly profitable, corporation?” Dad did all the risk taking and sonny boy gets the awards, huh?!

So let’s be a little cautious when throwing around that wonderful term…entrepreneur. It’s too near and dear to those genuine, “Hey I’ve got an idea…I think it’ll work…I’m quitin’ my job and goin’ for it” folks who really put their life on the line for the challenge.

The entrepreneur is an interesting study. He or she, by definition, is a person who organizes and manages a business undertaking, assuming the risk for the sake of their dreams and hopefully profits (which may be one and the same).

Entrepreneurs come in all shapes and sizes, yet there are some attributes that seem to be common in most of them.

They are for the most part pretty good at getting things going. They are an excitable bunch. Caught up in the enthusiasm of their ideas and dreams they rush forward with their embryonic plans until they become reality. They certainly can organize and manage their business in the beginning, but then what?

Many of them get stuck. Why? Because they’re entrepreneurs, that’s why. The entrepreneur gets his or her juice from creating new things, conceiving great ideas and putting them into action. However, once the thrill is gone so is the impetus needed to keep it going in an orderly fashion.

Classic entrepreneurs have trouble taking their businesses to the next level. I like to call it going from an entrepreneurial venture into a corporation. Of course I realize that the entrepreneurial venture may actually be a corporation, but that’s in name only. It’s changing a mindset and beginning to act like a corporation.

That means structure and manuals, policies and procedures. It also means less nepotism and more qualifications.

Unfortunately, the entrepreneur quite often doesn’t realize what he or she needs because they’re to busy creating and building to worry too much about the details. All of a sudden they turn around and they start to see that they could easily busy themselves out of business. Yes, that is possible.

Lack of a solid structure can do that.

Entrepreneurs have a tendency to do everything themselves. That often comes from the way they started the business. But as the business grows that becomes impossible. Yet, too many of them can’t let go. They become scattered, do too many things, and at times compensate by micromanaging. It’s tough to watch your baby grow and realize that someone else can do this or that task better than you.

That doesn’t mean losing that good old family feeling or stopping the “Let’s go for a drink after work” routine. What it does mean is beginning to realize that you’re in need of a controller and hiring one, putting a person in the marketing department who has actually done something like that before and even hiring a President or COO to run the ship and its structure so that you, the entrepreneur can do what you do best, create and build, direct and play.

If you are a classic entrepreneur stand back and look at yourself and your company. Yes I know that that may mean that you might have to stop running around like a chicken without a head. Take a second and assess what’s really going on around you.

1. Are you trying to do too many things yourself?

2. Do you have so much work that it seems like you’re never finished?

3. Do you know what you want your business to look like by the end of the year, three years and five years?

4. Do you waste time doing tasks that you shouldn’t be doing?

5. Can you delegate better than you do?

6. Have you lost sight of your original goal?

7. Are you not as organized as you could or should be?

If you answered yes to one or more of these questions it’s time to sit down and write out an operations/expansion (OE) plan. The plan must include:

1. A breakdown of the tasks involved in the day-to-day operation of the business

2. A listing of the priorities of those tasks

3. A clear vision of where you would like the company to be at year’s end, in three years and five years

4. A realistic understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of all employees, including yourself

5. A breakdown of your typical day. This may necessitate time charting your activities each day for a week.

6. A outline of why you started the company

7. An inventory of how organized, or disorganized, your office and/or work area is

With the information in your OE plan you can begin to structure yourself and your company. You may find that you may be quite capable of taking your company to the next level or that you may be quite content leaving the structural part of that mission to someone else while you play the creative role and still have the ability to reap the benefits without the stress of being in a position that’s uncomfortable.

Take the time to understand that entrepreneurs can be great at one thing but as the entity expands, not so wonderful at the tasks needed in the new environment that the growth they started brings. It’s ok. Think of it as a parent watching their child leave for their first of so many days of school. They’ll do fine on their own, they have a structured environment, with good instructors and a president (principal) to oversee the situation.

But when it comes time for some really important life decisions, the child comes back to the parent (or entrepreneur) for the insights and wisdom that only he or she can provide.

Author: Dan Goldberg
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Bumper guardian

An Excerpt from the book Zero to One Million: How to Build a Company to One Million Dollars in Sales

Since the start of the technology age there have been three generations of entrepreneurs. The first generation consisted of people like Oracle CEO Larry Ellison, EDS billionaire Ross Perot, and yes, even Bill Gates, now over 50. These guys “got it” back in the day before the Internet. They were the “transformation entrepreneurs” and were integral in bringing the United States into the Information Age.

Next on the scene were the guys and girls that grew up with Commodore 64s, Atari, and Ronald Reagan. From this first breed of Internet Age entrepreneurs came people like Jerry Yang, CEO of Yahoo!, Pierre Omidyar of eBay, and Jeff Bezos of Amazon.com. All born more or less in the late sixties, these guys grew up watching the development of computers and were prepared to jump on the opportunity they saw in late 1994. They did well, and their companies tripled and quadrupled each year from 1995-1999. These guys were the frontrunners and were intelligent enough to see the possibility of the Internet twelve or thirteen years ago, perhaps the reason why all three of these companies are still around today.

There is a new breed of entrepreneurs that is already beginning to make their mark on our world. I am one of them. We are the eighties generation. We are as the music group POD says, “The Youth of the Nation.” While yes, there are many of us who are disillusioned, uncaring, or depressed; I am seeing today something truly amazing. There is a subculture of youth in both the United States and in every country in the world that gets it.

I am very fortunate to have contacts in about forty countries. In 2000, I was lucky enough to receive a scholarship to go on a 53-day expedition to Spain, Florida, New Mexico, and Mexico called La Ruta Quetzal. On this trip I met three hundred fifty students from forty-three different countries. It has truly been priceless to be able to have these contacts. For example, during the Argentinean economic collapse in early 2002 I was able to jump on my computer and email Ana from Buenos Aires to see what the real situation was like. When a U.S. spy-plane was shot down in China in April 2001, I was able to email my friend Sonsoles in Beijing to get her take on the incident and her thoughts on what Jiang Zemin would do.

During the World Cup in June of 2002 I was able to chat live with my friend Kevin in Dublin as he grieved over each missed penalty kick in Ireland’s overtime elimination defeat to Spain. For the pre-1980 people reading, would it not have amazed you when you were seventeen to have had the ability to chat live from Florida with your friend in Dublin while both watching the same penalty shot being taken at the exact same time in Seoul, South Korea?

This new breed of entrepreneurs, even if we all do not yet fully grasp the impact of globalization and how important the changes that are occurring today truly are, are either going through college right now or will in the next five years. The case studies they will have in Financial Management 202 will not be the rudimentary mathematical bores they perhaps were for many in their college days of old. They will be riveting tales of unlimited wealth, power, and innovation; in some cases collapse and fraud and in others extraordinary success.

I said a few paragraphs ago “there is a subculture of youth in both the United States and in every country in the world that gets it.” But what it is that we get? We understand the following eleven principles:

1. The world is global and interconnected. A negative economic report from one country can ravage the economy of a continent overnight, a trillion dollars can leave a country with the click of a few mice, and an explosion in Shanghai can cause bond prices in London to jump 10% within an hour.

2. Anyone with $1000 and some intelligence can either make a billion dollars or destroy the world.

3. In our economic prosperity, we must strive toward creating a sustainable existence or else the end of our lives and our children’s lives will be years of difficulty and sacrifice.

4. Academic education is important, but at all but the best schools, an academic education will not give one the knowledge needed to be financially prosperous. As Thomas J. Stanley states in The Millionaire Mind, having a 1000 or 1500 on your SATs has no correlation to your likely net worth in twenty years. Just as important, if not more, is one’s education and learning outside the classroom.

5. If one is going to become extraordinarily wealthy they better have integrity, ethics, and keep their accounting truthful and accurate.

6. The world is going to change in tremendous ways over our lifetime.

7. Competitive market economies are essential to a high standard of living. An incentive system is necessary to get workers to work and a price system is necessary to properly allocate a limited supply of resources and goods. Competition is necessary to keep everyone honest and working efficiently to produce the optimum output with the minimum input. Although some believe capitalism creates inequities and is immoral, it is a few of the participants within this system that cause these unfair inequities. This lack of integrity among some participants will always be present. However, due to intelligent laws, regulations, oversight and the inherent positive properties of the market coupled with democracy such as transparency, freedom of the press, and a better educated proletariat this ethical problem is better now than in the days of centralized ownership of resources and dictatorships. Since there is no incentive to earn a profit or innovate, state-owned enterprises often breed inefficiency.

8. However, without honest, ethical, and compassionate people at the helm of a democratic and market system, or the proper laws and legal institutions to ensure this integrity, this system is no better than totalitarianism, autarky, or anarchy. Further, we must always take principle number three into account.

9. For prosperity to spread to developing countries we must not look to short run elixirs. It took 175 years to turn the U.S. into an economic superpower. The same change cannot take place in Somalia, Zimbabwe, or Afghanistan without the proper development of human capital, industrial capital, and a fundamental legal framework.

10. It is not he who works the hardest that succeeds; it is he who has the best ideas, works with the most intelligence, and builds the right team to help him accomplish his goals.

11. The ability to adapt to change and ability to learn quickly is as important as what you know right now.

Those that do not grasp these principles will have a hard time becoming successful or building a prosperous business. While the large majority of American youth do not (at least yet) have the faintest idea of what these principles are or what they mean, there is a growing minority that does. While progress is being made with the help of organizations such as Junior Achievement, the public secondary educational system of the United States, in many places, at times seems that instead of teaching the above principles it is teaching students to be provincial, closed-minded, economically-challenged, and financially inept. It almost seems if students in the American education system are taught from 1 st through 12 th grade to believe that the U.S. is the only country in the world, the only one that matters, and that our goal after we leave school should be to search for a secure well-paying job. These ideas will not produce the dynamic innovators and leaders needed to tackle the problems of this new century.

However, there is a growing minority of youth in the U.S. that does understand the world, globalization, a bit of history, and the basic concepts of business and economics. More importantly, the eighties generation throughout most of the rest of the world is not so provincial. On my 2000 Ruta Quetzal Expedition I was embarrassed to only know two languages. Most of the participants, all just fifteen and sixteen like I, knew at least four languages, and some knew as many as six. They not only knew the languages, but they understood the culture of whomever they were speaking with, whether they were Japanese, Swedish, Colombian, American, or Malaysian. The world is growing smaller by the day, and anyone who does not understand world culture, speak another language, or grasp globalization will have a glass ceiling in their profession, in their life, and in their business.

There has been some great progress on this front recently. Books such as The World is Flat and The Lexus and the Olive Tree by Thomas L. Friedman, The Commanding Heights by Daniel Yergin and Joseph Stanislaw, Rich Dad’s Guide to Investing by Robert T. Kiyosaki, Globalization and Its Discontents by Joseph E. Stiglitz, and Reinventing the Bazaar by John McMillan enlighten us all.

This new breed of entrepreneurs did not grow up with 15% inflation, the Commodore 64, or Ronald Reagan (although I did love to play my Space Invaders game on my used Atari when very young). Instead, we have grown up with Nintendo and Sega Genesis, MTV, Bill Clinton, the World Trade Center attack, and most importantly, the Internet.

I was eleven, not twelve and not thirteen, but eleven. It was 1995 and I was helping people who were 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, and 90 learn to use their computer, send emails, browse the web, and write a letter without a typewriter. More often it is the four year old that is teaching her dad how to attach a picture to an email, or the seven year old showing his uncle how to burn a CD, than the other way round.

Right now I am 21. Anyone my age or younger will understand what I am about to say. I do not know what the world was like before the Internet. Let me repeat this–I do not know what the world was like before the Internet. Yes, yes, of course I have memories before 1994, but to be honest I really didn’t understand how the world worked back then. I did not read the paper too often then and only rarely watched Tom Brokaw or Dan Rather. I have grown up to know routers, Intranets, FTP access codes, HTML, and ecommerce.

This new breed of entrepreneurs; the investment bankers, analysts, economists, options traders, politicians, business owners, leaders, and entrepreneurs of 2005-2065, understand technology and they use it every hour of their waking lives.

We understand the above eleven principles. We know we live in a global interconnected village. We know the government will likely not be able to take care of us in old age. We know we must be responsible for our education and our financial well-being. We know that there is extreme suffering, sacrifice, and corruption in many parts of this world that will not cease unless we do something about it. We understand technology and understand the changes that have taken place in business and the business and economic lessons that have been taught to us over the past five years. In order to build a successful business you will need to understand these things.

This new breed will not be a typical, usual group. As long as we can avoid collapse in the Middle East and Southern Asia, a third world war, and protect the enlightened world from the destructive plans of those whose motives may be well-meaning but whose beliefs are based on half-truths and death, the world is our oyster. Who is to say that my generation cannot develop a more effective way at ensuring essential nutrients and enough food gets to those in need? Who is to say that we cannot double the standard of living in my lifetime or consign absolute poverty in developing nations to the dustbin of history?
This new generation is already doing remarkable things. Just read this excerpt from the May 29, 2002 issue of Business Week:

Never before have teens had the know-how, the access, and the tools at their disposal to pursue business on an equal footing with adults. The number of teens doing some kind of business on the Net is already a lot bigger than many grownups would ever expect. For every teen millionaire, there is a veritable swarm of regular kids who routinely earn pocket money doing software work via the Net. It’s impossible to pinpoint exact numbers, but they are large. Researcher Computer Economics Inc. in Carlsbad, Calif., estimates that 8% of all teens, about 1.6 million in the U.S., are making at least some money on the Net. ”There’s not a period in history where we’ve seen such a plethora of young entrepreneurs,” says Nancy F. Koehn, associate professor of business administration at Harvard Business School.

The article goes on to talk about teen entrepreneurs that have made hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars over the past six years by creating popular web sites, developing software programs, and consulting for businesses. Personally, in my own work with the Carolina Entrepreneurship Club and the Collegiate Entrepreneurs Organization I have come into contact with many fellow young entrepreneurs. It seems to me that many in our generation surely do understand the great opportunity we have and the special time we are in. No matter what your age is, if you can learn these same principles we have learned, you will greatly increase your chances at building a successful business.

In the coming decades, new leaders will appear who have grown up with technology being a part of their lives for as long as they can remember. This new generation will intrinsically understand the principles of a global world and be much more effective in building successful companies than any person who does not. Whether or not you are in this generation, you better understand these principles.

In 2005, I was named as one of the “Top 25 Entrepreneurs Under 25″ by Business Week. Every single one of these entrepreneurs was born in the 80s and is part of this Third Generation of Tech Entrepreneurs. I hope you’ll get to know us. We’ll be around for quite some time and we’ll have an unprecedented opportunity to affect positive change in our world and society for the next six decades through both traditional and social entrepreneurship. I think I know us well enough to be confident we’ll not let the opportunity pass us by.

Author: Ryan Allis
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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