5 Essentials for Succeeding in Any Business You Choose

Finding success as an entrepreneur can often come with a number of challenges. No matter what industry you are in, or how long you have been working at it, there will always be obstacles to overcome and challenges that come your way. However, there are five key lessons that every entrepreneur can use to their advantage during their journey.

8 Ways a Vision Statement Adds Value to Any Business

Vision statements get a bad rap for a couple of reasons. First, they’re ill-defined by people who confuse vision with a strategy. Second, they’re written to the same level of detail as a construction team's blueprint for a new house. Would you remember every detail? Of course not (and if you would then I want to know your powers).

Contrary to the "uselessness" of a vision statement reported by some, they do serve a purpose: to identify a company’s future optimal state. If you don't know what "right" looks like, then nothing is wrong. To minimize confusion, here are eight ways vision statements add value:

The Top 4 Wrong Reasons to Seek Investors

A popular myth these days is that successful entrepreneurs must attract investors to get their businesses going, when the reality has been that more than 80 percent of new businesses are started and grown with no outside investment at all. In fact, there is plenty of evidence that too much money can undermine a startup more quickly than squeezing pennies.

The cost of entry to entrepreneurship is lower than ever, due to smartphone apps and powerful free tools to create websites and ecommerce offerings. Yet many entrepreneurs rely on expensive outside services and outside money, rather than do the networking for a co-founder or two who have the right skills to work for equity. Bootstrapping not only reduces cash needs, but increases commitment.
Many of the best entrepreneurs I see find themselves besieged by investors, and have actively turned them away, at least until they reach a point of valuation and scaling where they don’t have to give away a lion’s share of ownership and control. Here is a summary of the top four wrong reasons I see for looking for investors: