Tag Archives: entrepreneurs

Get Ahead in A Down Economy by Developing a Solar Energy Business

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By Daniel Stouffer


In a struggling economy, like the one we are experiencing now, a lot of people think it’s a bad time to start a work from home or home based business. But that’s just not true. Not true at all. It is really a great time to start a home-based business – especially one in the solar energy business.

Working From Home is Viable with a Solar Energy Business

Starting a home based business or a work from home business is one of the best ways to secure your financial future. People all across America free themselves every day from the oppressiveness of the daily 9 to 5 job. There are many ways throughout the renewable energy industry where you can do it too.

Fossil fuels and other non-renewable energy sources are running out. Solar power is quickly moving to replace these antiquated energy sources. Green collar jobs and the energy sector are growing faster than ever before. As nonrenewable energy supplies dwindle, green solutions like solar energy will continue to grow in order to meet our higher energy demands.

What could be better than combining solar energy with work from home business?

The short answer is nothing. Green is growing and so are the options for a home based business. These two fields together make the perfect opportunity for a self-motivated entrepreneur. If you’re a self motivated, hard working and have a taste for adventure then you can start working from home in the solar energy business. Entrepreneurs are self-starters who drive America. Solar energy needs these entrepreneurs to help fill the void that will inevitably be left by the failing supplies of fossil fuels.

You can build a green business right from your living room. Starting a home based business involving renewable energy is possible. And it’s possible to do it with minimal up-front costs. A good business shouldn’t be a risk. Green energy only makes up 2 percent of the energy market. That means there is a lot of room to grow. With a field that has so much room to grow as renewable energy does, there shouldn’t be a requirement for an upfront investment or a fee to become an associate. Companies in the coming months will be dying for help as wind, solar, and many other industries really take off.

No pun intended but the future of residential solar energy is very bright. There is a wide open market for eager start up companies to establish new “Green Googles”. There is a huge and growing market for new entrepreneurs to start a fresh with something new.

For everyone a little down on their luck in this down economy, there will be ample opportunities to start a small business for energy and solar power will lead the way into the Green Economy. Throughout the rest of 2009 and in the coming years, green jobs like those created by solar energy will continue to grow in number.

Fossil fuels are going away and the world will look to alternative, renewable sources to drive their lives. Good entrepreneurs can sense an opportunity. A work from home or home based business in the renewable or solar energy sector is an opportunity. With no investment needed and a future this bright, there is no reason not to invest.

At Solargies, our mission is to spread the use of renewable energies as simply as possible. We provide U.S. homeowners the option to rent a solar electric system. We also offer entrepreneurs a no cost method to build their own solar energy business. Learn more about your renewable options at http://www.EcoCrews.com

Are You Seriously Supportive of Your Entrepreneurial Spouse?

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This article is intended for probably your significant other or spouse to read… I felt compelled to write it talking to them about your needs since my marriage went south due to the lack of much of this. If you currently don’t have one, give it to a family member or friend and/or save for Mr. Right later! Enjoy and hope it helps!

Did you know (you, meaning the non-entrepreneurial spouse of an entrepreneur) that your entrepreneurial spouse (or significant other – just as important in this scenario) takes on a huge responsibility when they start their own business?

Granted, some of the smaller, home based type business owners could be out there just to make a few extra bucks for fun or they’re doing their business for a hobby, not truly a serious business venture.

However, I’m not talking about them here, I’m talking about actual entrepreneurs (home based or not) who are in business to turn a profit AND provide products and services they are passionate about.

I’m also talking about the ones who are your significant others or spouses (so forward this to them if this is the other party – you’ll be glad you did) in which case YOU are also NOT an entrepreneur yourself and frankly wouldn’t want to be….is this you? Did you know that your spouse may not be getting the kind of support they need in order to be fully confident and successful in their business? (yes, by you) And in order to be completely successful at running your own business CONFIDENCE is the key!

When you have a job working for someone else, often you can succeed without that much confidence but when it’s your own business…there’s absolutely NO way.

Did you know that your spouse may not know how to communicate this need to you?

Now, two things can happen here….

1 – you won’t care and you’ll stop reading this or 2 – you’ll care but you’ll have no idea if this is true or even how to find out what your spouse needs exactly (hopefully you’re still reading…)

If #1 occurred then you’re probably on your way to divorce anyway so your situation is most likely not fixable.

If you’re in alignment with #2 though then GREAT! But now what?

There are basically 2 things you can do to support your spouse in business (even if you don’t have any involvement in their business, know what they do or want to know).

You can either take Action or Non-Actions. Actions consist of ways to physically help out or support your spouse.

Non-Actions consist of ways to emotionally and mentally help out or support your spouse.

Your spouse unfortunately needs both in order to feel fully supported, loved and encouraged (that’s the hard part, it requires some work).

But let’s break it down…

Actions

o helping – when asked for help

o learning – about what they do and how else you can support them

o listening – to requests, feelings, emotions and needs o loving – at all times in various ways that are noticeable

Non-actions o understanding – they need to do it ‘their way’

o giving – of your energy when they need it the most regardless if asked

o sharing – feelings, emotions, questions and concerns

o expecting – nothing but complete and utter happiness among all

Of course there’s so much more to it than this but that’s what marriage counselors are for right?

No, seriously…the one way to learn better how to communicate and support your entrepreneurial spouse is to start the dialog, practice this stuff, ask what they need, learn more about what others are doing and then get help as needed

((c) Copyright 2009 K. Sawa Marketing International. Katrina Sawa is an Award-Winning Author & Speaker who’s helped hundreds of small business owners take dramatic steps in their businesses to get them to the next level in business, revenues & their personal life. Get her Free Entrepreneur’s Success Kit at http://www.JumpStartYourMarketing.com !

Five Sure Fire Ways to Experience Success

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I talk with a lot of entrepreneurs every week, and I have discovered some common themes that make them successful. Combining these with my own experiences, I’ve uncovered five main ways to keep you on track for success.

Follow Your Passion

It is not enough to want your own business. You must find the business that you are passionate about! Your business must be in alignment with your personal goals, values and passion. When I was growing up, I was heavily involved in theatre and dancing. I toyed with the idea of obtaining a degree in musical theatre and moving to New York to pursue a career on Broadway. However, I was cautioned not to do this unless I was wildly passionate about it because the rejection was so incredible and the industry was so competitive. Do these obstacles sound familiar? They are very similar to those experienced by entrepreneurs. However, when you do something that you are truly passionate about, it’s easy to get out of bed and feel excited and energized by your work! In addition, it is much easier to find ways to stand out in a competitive market and to do great work for your clients.

Have a Vision

In business, it is critical to pay attention to the right details. Planning is crucial to success. It’s a well-known axiom that if you fail to plan, you plan to fail, and yet I regularly hear from entrepreneurs who do not plan! Without a plan in place, it is too easy to get distracted by whatever happens to come your way. If the opportunities (seminars, speaking engagements, networking opportunities, article requests, etc) are not in alignment with your vision, they will take you off course, and you may not meet your end goal and your vision will become, well… blurred! Think about this before you say “yes” to the next thing that comes your way. If it is not going to help support your goals for this year, month, or week, your decision should be very easy. Just say no.

Find a Way to Be Held Accountable

Many of us go into business to be able to flex our creative muscle. We like coming up with wonderful ideas, but implementing them is not as fun as the big-picture thinking! Our new idea sounds great, and the potential revenue is exciting, but the tasks we need to do to get there are overwhelming and we can’t seem to make any headway on the project! So we procrastinate and find other things to occupy our time, until we eventually take the wonderful creative idea off our “to do” list because we don’t want to or know how to do the work to get us there. This is a waste of your creative spirit! Successful entrepreneurs find ways to be held accountable, whether it’s through membership in a round table or mastermind group, forming an advisory board, entering a formal partnership or hiring a coach to keep them on track.

Spend Your Time on High-Payoff Tasks

Everyone knows that in order to stay in business, we must continue to bring in revenue. However, many entrepreneurs spend too much of their time doing activities that don’t generate income! So what is an entrepreneur to do? Delegate! By outsourcing all the tasks that don’t include generating money or building relationships, you will be able to use your newly found time to make more money! Your time for high-payoff activities (planning, forecasting, developing your marketing funnel, training, and so forth) will increase and in turn, your productivity will increase. There are many virtual professionals who you can hire to do the work you need to outsource and could include anything from accounting to administration and beyond. Once you do this the first time, be prepared to be addicted to this concept!

Focus

How many projects do you have going on at any one time? Or worse, how many businesses are you running at one time? I recently met a woman who has three businesses, and she was complaining that none of them were doing well. Gee, I wonder why? Having too many projects at one time, particularly if you do not have a way of managing each of them properly, means that you’re likely to become overwhelmed. Pick a project or two and focus on those. You will feel so great to knock something out and will be motivated to continue onto your next task. If you are spread too thin, I can guarantee you that you will sabotage your chances of meeting your goals.

After assessing where you are in these five lessons, you can start to see what you need to focus on. Whether you feel confused, struggle with self-confidence or lack tangible results, I suggest taking action to find out if you’re following your passion and determine your measuring stick for success. If you are easily distracted or overwhelmed, I suggest finding a coach who can help you align your goals, priorities and values to create the life and business you desire. By paying attention to these key areas, you can start to shift to creating a business that fits your lifestyle, not one that dictates it, which is one of my personal measures of success.

Copyright © 2009 Meredith Liepelt

Meredith Liepelt, President of Rich Life Marketing, publishes Smart Marketing, a free bi-weekly ezine featuring marketing tips, insider secrets and thought provoking articles designed to help the busy female entrepreneur become known as an expert in her field, build trust with clients and prospects and generate more income than ever before. Claim your free subscription today at http://www.richlifemarketing.com

Listening to YourSELF

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There’s been something missing from the business success principles that have been taught for decades. When you’re on a path of growth and expansion in your business, the strategies, tactics and principles you learn are only HALF of what you need to know. I’m sure you’ve been to many seminars, read lots of books and researched online to learn how to market your business, use social media, create information products, leverage multiple streams of income, hire a team, create systems, increase your fees, do joint ventures, create events, etc.

I’ve done the same thing. I’ve invested more money than I care to admit to learn how to grow my business. And, I grew my business to a point that many would consider incredibly successful. But, what I didn’t realize is that I was growing the business on a cracked foundation. Why? Because I listened to others more than I listened to myself. I tried to model others, more than I created a unique model that worked for me. I did what I thought I should do rather than what was 100% right for me and my life. I allowed some of my decisions to be made from my ego, rather than my heart.

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Personal Qualities Required To Be An Entrepreneur And Start Your Own Business

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By Terry Cartwright

A lack of skill, ability and experience in certain business areas need not be a barrier to success and starting your own business. The personal qualities exerted by a small business owner overcoming deficiencies over and over again are vital and present in many entrepreneurs much more so that specific technical knowledge.

Not everyone is a master of all business attributes in fact very few are. Certainly being a master of all is a fantastic position but unrealistic while certain personal qualities are essential to fight the inevitable battles to come. Business battles the successful entrepreneur wins.

Businesses that have grown and become medium sized and bigger are not reliant on the business owner entirely. Employees are engaged with specialist skills and abilities to develop and grow the business. A sole trader just starting out has to settle for a comfortable living or have the ability to grow the business to the point where more specialist abilities can be added to the business.

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How Perfectionism Kills the Online Entrepreneur

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“No, I’m not ready to release my….(fill in the blank here with ezine, ecourse, ebook, blog, website, etc.) because it’s not quite ready. I need to…(fill in with your excuse here: do more work on it….have it edited….review the copywriting, etc.)”

How many times has a statement similar to that come out of your mouth? I know for me that it’s happened more often than I care to recount. I am a recovering perfectionist who used to utter some variation of the above sentence with great regularity.

What I’ve discovered in my time as an Internet entrepreneur is that my need for perfection in my products or marketing materials is simply another excuse to procrastinate. Yep, when I try and convince myself that the ebook needs more copy editing or that my website needs just a few more pages to make it say just what I want it to say, all I’m doing is creating plausible excuses to put something off for a few more days, or even weeks or months. Why?

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Self Employment Vs Job

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With the unprecedented growth explosion of e-commerce, retailing and the expansion of the internet marketplace, an overwhelming number of opportunities for starting an online business have emerged. Yet, the question remains: should you take up a job or start an online business? A working job requires less responsibility than owning an online business, solely because the business’s future is not in your hands as an employee, but does not necessarily allow you to do what you want within the business. A steady income is always welcomed as an employee, for it allows you to map out your future with relative ease, yet a successful business may provide multiple streams of income.

Although starting an online business does not guarantee a steady income, it does allow you to do what you enjoy doing, or what you are interested in. Plus, running your own online business allows for more flexibility in terms of times and working hours as compared to the strict, rigid work hours employees must abide by. But because of the modern-era internet boom, starting an online business has never been more lucrative.

Ever since the advent of the internet, it has been evolving at an exponential pace and has attracted more and more people every year. As of March 31, 2009, approximately 6,710,029,070 users access the internet on a regular basis – over 99% of the world’s population. This drastic figure only emphasizes the innumerable opportunities that have emerged for starting an online business since the dawn of the internet, and marks a time of a more technological and computer savvy world that relies on the computer more than ever before. But before you click your mouse and begin building your online business, you should know that researching is vital and essential to having a successful business; you must become intimately familiar with whatever facet of business you envision. This requires dedication, commitment, and passion on your part. Books, e-books, magazine articles, and online articles are among the plethora of resources that can and will help jump start your business and allow it to compete in the real world. On the other hand, self-employment offers you more chances to explore and challenge your limits, without having to deal with the pressures of running your own business.

In a way, to become self-employed successfully you must adopt a system, a sort of scientific approach to your job: hypothesizing, researching, testing, re-testing, analyzing, drawing a conclusion, and finally and most importantly, communicating that conclusion with the rest of the world. To become self-employed successfully, you must learn the advantages of becoming self-employed, and weigh that with the other options you have and choose which is best for you. Only then will you be on your way to becoming a successful individual.

What most people fail to recognize is that you can be self-employed and own your own business, simultaneously. Owning your own business while at the same time working for someone is a beneficial way to gain valuable experience that will assist you in establishing your business. There are several tools that you can utilize to help automate your online business, thus taking a major workload off you so you can manage your own business as well as be self-employed satisfactorily. The first is the auto-responder. This nifty program will automatically reply to en e-mail that is sent to a certain e-mail address. It can be programmed in such a way that it sends one e-mail the first day, a different e-mail a second day, and so on. This resourceful program will allow you, the owner, to salvage valuable time spent on responding to the same e-mails that would normally fritter away hours of precious time.

Another handy way of taking a workload off of you is by hiring drop-shippers. In a nut shell, drop-shippers hold products that are being sold through your website in a warehouse and when purchased, ship it directly to the customer. This way, your company does not have to be the retailer and the manufacturer, thus reducing expenses and increases profits. Your only job is to pay the drop-shipper for the shipping costs and they will do the dirty work for you. In addition to auto-responders and drop-shippers, if properly executed, search engine optimization (SEO) will attract customers to your site, without you having to go to them. Ideally, you want your company’s web page to appear in the first page of a search engine’s page when a certain term(s) (the broader the better) is entered into the search engine. These simple tools will drastically improve the amount of clients you have, while still allowing you to focus on something more important than responding to e-mails, shipping to clients, and having to physically go to a potential client to get them to commit.

Copyright © 2009 Ajay Prasad

Ajay Prasad is President and CEO of Global Marketing Resources, an Orange County California based company that specializes in website design, website maintenance and website marketing. GMR Web Team offers complete website maintenance services for website owners starting at only $25/ hour. For affordable packages on website maintenance click on the link. Also check out Orange County Website Design at GMR Web Team.

Do You Have Intuitive Business Vision?

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One of the things imperative to know when boating is your buoy markers and shore markings. I really didn’t know what an education it would be to learn all the details to safely navigate your path. I have been traveling the same path for the past month and I clearly know the areas to travel and routes to take as I am boating them almost daily, but what if I did it in the dark? What if the safety of daylight was taken away? Would I know where to go or would I sink (yikes) without my safety net?

Yep, you can see where this is going… Last week we got caught out in the boat late at night and were using a flashlight to navigate lobster buoys and dry land. I freaked. I was trying to remain calm, but I was really scared. I felt as if I had been dropped onto a different planet. My heart was racing, my insecurities popped up, and it was as if I had never taken that path and had no clue what to do next.

Once I successfully navigated myself back to land, I was clear that this is what happens to so many entrepreneurs. When circumstance change, we forget everything we ever knew and we behave just like all the times we have traveled our business paths before.

I KNEW EXACTLY where to go… intuitively. I had done it before. I let the one change throw me off and that is what happens in business. We know what to do, we know where to go, we know what we need. It is always intuitive, but we just let the hiccups and changes convince us we don’t. The most authentic marketing strategy and the authentic approach to attracting clients is embracing our intuition and trusting ourselves to know the path.

If you feel stumped in growing your business or frustrated with what you should be doing, go back to the basics and embrace your inner marketing voice.

1. Stop believing you have to do it like “they” do. You are your unique brand… grasp the ideas and approaches that work for you and resonate with you. Disregard the rest and use your voice, your gifts, and your language to market.

2. Don’t make it complicated. You know how to get clients – ASK. Remember that you have traveled this path before. Look to your current circle: friends, family, colleagues, and community. Ask them to have a complimentary session with you, send a referral, or share a gift certificate with a friend.

3. Draw on your past success for the present. Remind yourself of what has worked in the past and leverage that. How did you get that client? Where did those referrals come from? And what brought in money before? Repeat success.

Just because the sun went down doesn’t mean you forget your marketing sense and abandon your inner voice. Your marketing success and your authentic message is within you already…you know what your path is. Embrace your intuition to be ready for what life throws you. That inner voice will navigate you through the business waters- even in the dark.

Suzanne Evans is best known as the ‘action expert’ and has coached hundreds of solopreneurs to model her multiple six figure business. Learn how you can help more people, make more money and have more fun doing what you love by signing up for your free copy of the 5-Part Mini-Course ‘Awakening Your Authentic Entrepreneur’ at http://www.helpmorepeople.com

In Search of the Recession: One Small Business Owner’s Quest for Relaxation and Recession

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Victor Mataraso, M.B.A. is the founder and president of Reliable Receptionist, a personalized, off-site telephone reception and appointment scheduling service.

1166523_palm_groveThis summer I went on a quest of sorts. In truth, the initial idea was to take a cross-country summer vacation with my family. However, being the ever vigilant multi-tasker, my trip soon evolved into a multi-pronged mission that looked something like this: Spend quality time with the family, seek out expansion opportunities for my business and assess the state of the economy in America first-hand in the summer of 2009.

Living and running a business in the San Francisco Bay Area, it seems we are often subject to the mixed blessing of rising faster and higher during the good times, and falling further and harder during the bad. This certainly seemed to apply to our real-estate market among other things, but it was not consistent with my experience doing business locally. Sure, there are certain segments of our economy that are struggling, and some serious pain for families suffering layoffs. However, among the entrepreneurs and small business owners I have encountered, most have resolved themselves that business must go on and many are finding creative ways to conduct theirs. I wanted to see if this was the case as we worked our way across the country.

Our chosen method of transportation was an older model, semi-reliable, borrowed RV. Taking a northern route to avoid the summer heat, we left our home in Walnut Creek, CA and headed North to Portland, OR. We visited my wife’s brother and his family there. He had worked for years in the mortgage industry of all things and had, in-fact, recently been laid off when his company closed his division. We were curious to see how this development had impacted their lifestyle.

By the time we rolled into Portland, he had already found a new job and started work less than 2 weeks after being laid off and before his severance had even expired. They took us to a local farmers market on a sunny Saturday afternoon. It was packed with vendors selling a variety of farm-fresh wares and the majority of booths had customers lined up three deep waving their dollars in the air for service. Business was brisk.

Heading East from Portland, we ventured through Idaho and could not help but notice the plethora of other RV’s on the road, most significantly more modern and well equipped than our humble bus. Chatting with some RV owners on the road, I learned that many of these vehicles sell for well in excess of $100,000 and qualify for a mortgage and a tax deduction as a second home! Interestingly, the RV crowd did not strike me as highly compensated top executives either. These were folks of relatively average means that had left their primary homes behind and took on a second mortgage to hit the road for the summer. They certainly didn’t seem to be suffering too badly from this recession.

As we passed through Idaho Falls in route to Yellowstone National Park, our semi-reliable RV suffered a bout of unreliability forcing us to seek out service on the road. Not wanting to fall behind on our itinerary, we called around looking for same-day service. The first mechanic shop I called specialized in RV’s and told me they were so busy they couldn’t get us in for three days! Finally, I found a shop that could take us and they did a great job getting us back on the road later that same day. But it sure didn’t seem like these small mechanics shops were suffering.

We arrived at Yellowstone the next day relieved we had made a reservation as all the RV sites were completely booked. Perhaps it was RV owners that had found a way to steer clear of recessionary forces. Leaving the RV parked, we boarded an all-day bus tour of Yellowstone with a knowledgeable tour guide who shared much insight and history into the park. As part of the tour, and completely unsolicited, he shared that June of 2009 was the busiest month in the history of Yellowstone Park. These were visitors from all walks of life and all areas of the country and the world, not just RV owners. I guess the recession was not hurting vacationers too badly.

But what about Main Street USA, those hard working local folks who surely were suffering the most? Our next stop was the small Western town of Cody, Wyoming where we discovered a beautiful new restaurant facility hosting a cowboy cookout and western music festival. This hall was huge featuring a stage and rows of tables to accommodate some 500 hungry cowboys of which I was one. The show was great and during our meal, the emcee asked the crowd who was from out of town and who was local. Nearly half the crowd on hand identified themselves as locals out for a night on the town. It seemed like half the population of the town was in this place. Later we were greeted by the owner who shared that he had just recently opening this gleaming new facility and that business was good. Hmmmmmm.

Coming down from the mountains, we enjoyed stops in South Dakota, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. Everywhere we went where business was being done (there’s whole lot of miles of nothing in between), business was brisk and crowds were large. So here I sit in Chicago where I just learned that demand is so strong for some theater shows that they have added performances on Monday night, which historically is the dark night for theater goers.

While my evidence is anecdotal and our trip not quite complete, it brings to mind the famous quote from FDR at his inauguration, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” Surely my experience has been that this recession is playing out primarily in the media and the minds of business executives and consumers whose own fear actually exacerbates what is otherwise a fairly mild and certainly transient situation. Whether you’ve been personally impacted by this recession or are just looking for ways to jump-start your business, start by putting on your best positive attitude, get out there with your marketing and begin your own quest to get your share of consumer’s dollars because they’re spending them.

Based in the San Francisco East Bay Area city of Walnut Creek, CA, Reliable Receptionist specializes in helping small businesses convert callers to clients. For more information, call 925-627-4200 or visit http://www.ReliableReceptionist.com .