How to be an Entrepreneur

I now own my 4th small business. This short article overviews the most important things I have done to make myself a better businessman.One of the best things I have done is this: read these 3 magazines as each issue arrives:

Inc.

Small Business

Entrepreneur

Magazines are talking about what is trending right now. Text books have case studies on businesses. But, you are not a business. You are a leader. Magazines have character pieces; they tell you about the work ethic, thought process, and schema of successful and up-and-coming entrepreneurs.

Also, believe it or not, joining an MLM also completely reformatted my business thinking. (I don't count that as one of my 4 businesses.) They read and read and read and focus on the second most important factor in financial success: 'a positive attitude'.

I recommend to you these three books:

How to Win Friends and Influence People, by Dale Carnegie

Rich Dad, Poor Dad, by Robert Kiyosaki

The Millionaire Next Door, by Thomas Stanley and William Danko

After these, I earned a business degree online (International Business at Ashford University). I learned some important technical skills: logistics, accounting, human resource management, long term vs short term planning, marketing, and that Darwin is pushed in almost every business book, almost as frequently as in the natural sciences. (But people still don't believe it's mental programming, not science... c'mon, people!)

The most important thing to understand about a 4-year bachelor's degree is this: It really trains you in the same way that a public school system trains you: to be an employee. An entrepreneur is not an employee; a 'trep is an iconoclast of hard work, business plans, marketing, salesmanship, research, learning, and timing markets. (I learned this from the books and magazines above, not from a degree).

Recruit a Mentor

Entrepreneurial mindset is a learned schema. This can be learned very well be working for or by working with an accomplished entrepreneur. If you are proactive, go out and locate such a mentor. Reading books written by successful businessmen like Peter Daniels and Robert Kiyosaki is one way. But, a closer, more personal, relationship of longer duration produces more transfer of knowledge and skills.

Clubs and Associations

Join business clubs and social clubs. In these groups, you will meet industrious leaders in local business. Note carefully and distinguish between those who talk about what can be done and those who talk about what the are doing. Clearly, members of the second group are your goal associations.

One thing many entrepreneur trainers encourage is to learn to sell. Regardless of the industry you enter, you must sell. Every business trades either goods or services for other compensation, usually cash.

You must learn to:

1. Get the meeting.

2. Convince the client they need the service.

3. Convince the client you are the best person to provide the service.

4. Book a meeting from a meeting (phone or in-person).

5. Ensure delivery.

6. Follow-up.

7. Secure future orders, repeat business, and personal referrals.

Every person who wants to learn how to be an entrepreneur must learn how to sell. Whatever you offer, if it is used cars or self help books, you must know how to sell.