| Table of contents
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| 10 mistakes new entrepreneurs
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It is very difficult to give up a delicious and promising to look at the deal, but because of the fact that inner voice says, "then you'll regret it." But then, most of all, I understand that intuition was right. It happens that some people make me negative feelings, and a few years later I hear complaints from their friends that they were deceived by these people.
Intuition - the overriding part of decision-making in business. And since the deal also depend on the relationship, you need to feel the people with whom you are planning to make a deal. If your negative feelings go away. If positive - follow, but carefully.
7. Too formal approach
I repeat once again. Business is built on relationships. Sometimes, a certain degree of formalism, of course, appropriate, but in most situations too formal approach only hinders. Business will be much better when the partners are normal friendly relations. I also believe that the formalism is wrong, even when you're just looking for a new business partner.
If someone sends me a letter that begins, "Dear Mr. Pavlina", followed by a long explanation of his florid business proposal, it is usually such a letter is sent to the trash, especially if there constantly occur "we."
It is much better to start a letter with the words "Hello, Steve," and just ask if I was interested in the proposed project. This will save a lot of time and open the doors of normal human relationships. People do not want to do business with faceless corporations. They want a normal relationship with other people ... and sometimes with animals, I guess.
Think of their business relationship as friendly (or potentially friendly). Formalism is building walls, and the walls do not favor the development of partnerships. Nobody likes a wall ... well, except, of course, the Great Chinese.
Formalism - boring and tedious. People want to enjoy their work. And if someone approached me as a computer, I'll answer it to match - press delete. But if someone will show a real interest and a good sense of humor, the partnership - is even possible.
8. sacrifice their individual traits
In the early years of my computer business, I drove myself too seriously, I was convinced that it is necessary to adhere to the "business-style" ... whatever that is not implied. After all the work themselves - this is a very big responsibility and other people appreciate me. Or sink or swim, right?
I started my games business, when I was a little more than 20 years, and people who are 20 always a little bizarre. But it seemed to me that the business owner should not be strange, and that is unacceptable. Therefore, the majority of my business letters look as if they were written by the same people who created the license agreement Microsoft.
Title "president" firmly stuck in my head. I learned how to depersonalize himself. It took a very long time, but eventually, I felt good, but when I was myself, especially after my business became profitable.
And now, when I run my blog, it is my personal experience and unusual features are its driving force. That is my personal strangeness makes my blog unique. If I had been more serious and would write more formally, it would have been dull and it is likely that I would have lost much of its audience.
Be yourself and recharge their unique spirit of your business - it's great, especially if you're a teenager or 20-something to you. Do not be afraid to be like Steve Jobs and unlike Steve Ballmer. Do not try to be what you are not.
In the end, your job like you a lot more if you will attract partners who want to work with you, whoever you may be - with all your flaws. Send people who want to work with robots, to its competitors. They will find a common language with each other. And if some people do not like your eccentricity - that's their problem. It is better to concentrate your attention on those people who likes you.
9. Do not concentrate on creating a valuable product
It's easy to fall into the trap - and decide what the purpose of business is money. In fact, the main purpose of the business - the creation of a valuable product. Of course, you can make quick money without creating a valuable product, but for long-term projects - this is unrealistic. Even criminal organizations have to create valuable for someone product.
And if you know that your business is only extends the value of the other - and does not give anything in return, it will destroy your self-esteem, and enjoyment of the business will be small. What is the purpose of your business? The purpose of business - creating a valuable product (service) for you and for your customers. The better you understand what value you want to give your product, the better you will be able to concentrate.
The main value of my computer business - intelligent entertainment. Often, business owners do not think about what the value of their product carries. They just sell and hope for the best. It's a losing business model. The world does not need to constantly increasing sales and merchandise.
The world needs a truly valuable product, and that it is necessary to direct the efforts. Currently on my site over 400 free articles. And they really are of great value. Thousands of people go there every day to get something of value. The main purpose of my business - to help people who want to develop.
10. Disclaimer of optimization
Although the creation of a valuable product is very important for long-term business, but it is naive to believe that it is enough just to focus on this, and the rest will come by itself. You can build a business that will be a valuable product, but it will save your money. As the owner of your own business you have to find a way to ensure product value by effectively managing its cost.
It is possible your first attempt is far from ideal. You can spend a lot of time, money and resources, trying to make your product valuable. And this is normal. Thus begins the many business projects. The main thing - time to get away from this path Highlight a separate business process and streamline it from time to time. Look for a way to make it more effective.
Does this process take less time? Require less money? Maybe it can not be repeated so often? Maybe it worth to outsource? Or maybe all of it can be waived? I had a habit of treating credit assignments in my games business manually.
I started my business in 1994, and received checks in the mail or via my website. I used a certain software and passes them through a modem. And at the end of each month I manually reconciles. All was well until the volume of sales was negligible, but the process has become very cumbersome when they were released new products and sales increased.
And a few years ago, I have improved the process so that online sales have become completely automatic, and even games can be downloaded instantly. All payments are kept in a database, and I was able to view real-time reports on the sale of each product. Of course, it required some effort, but it was worth it.
This improvement allowed me to save a lot of time and energy, and I did not have to spend money on outsourcing services for processing orders. Do not fall into the trap. Do not use outdated ways of doing routine tasks that can be automated: inventory, invoicing, accounting, payment orders, means of communication, and sales themselves.
If you suddenly find that month after month doing the same task, be sure to make some effort and optimize them. The lack of optimization is tantamount to throwing out of time and money down the drain. And often much easier to save time and money than they generate.
Business on the Internet has a lot of possibilities for optimization, because it is very easy to try something new and to evaluate the results. In the first year after the launch of my site, I have experimented a bit with Google Adsense. Many people do not like the way I placed ads on the site, but it is the most effective option, which I have ever tasted. And I use it because it works.
Page for donations - this is another optimization. Some people click on the ads, others just send me the money, and some - and then, and more. Despite the fact that the creation of a valuable product - the first purpose of business, business still has to bring in the income to be long-lived. After all, if I do not eat, I do not write. And money means more resources for ongoing support product value.
Thus, the creation of valuable products and the optimization of business processes go hand in hand. Building a successful business takes a lot of effort, but at the same time gives a wonderful personal experience.
Many of my friends have gone to work and build your business. Many, not all turned out perfectly as they expected, but I do not know a single person who would regret it. After all, no other way to control their own destiny is not there.
Steve Pavlina
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