For all the time executives spend concerned about physical strength and health, when it comes down to it, mental strength can mean even more. Particularly for entrepreneurs, numerous articles talk about critical characteristics of mental strength—tenacity, “grit,” optimism, and an unfailing ability.
However, we can also define mental strength by identifying the things mentally strong individuals don’t do.
Is there a guaranteed formula to follow (as the headline suggests?)
Of course not. A quick look at the people who have become successful entrepreneurs shows the paths they took are as unique as they are.
But—and it’s a HUGE but—while their behaviour was idiosyncratic, their thinking was not.
A study shows that serial entrepreneurs—people who have successfully started two or more companies—all followed the same approach. And if it has worked for them, it may very well work for you.
Deciding whether to buy an existing business or start your own comes down to three things: what experience you have, what kind of business you want, and how open you are to taking financial risks.
Once you decide these things you can make a decision on how to proceed.
• How much experience do you have?
There is much more risk involved with starting your own business versus buying your own. 40 percent of new businesses fail in the first year and 80 percent fail within five years. If you have little experience with business or with the industry that you are planning on entering, buying an existing business is the safer route, as starting your own requires expertise in the areas of financing, infrastructure, and cash flow. Even if you are buying a business, it will take time to learn how it operates and where its weaknesses lie in order to craft a proper growth strategy.
Success means different things to different people whether we are talking about business or private life. In Business, the obvious assumption is that a successful entrepreneur is someone who is financially secure. What they earn, what they own, what they spend can give the impression of success. More, more, more is what we all ultimately strive for in terms of success – or is it?
Stop and reflect on your own life. Think about what success means to you. Don’t limit yourself by focusing on the big things. They are important but they also seem to demand way too much of our attention.
Take a moment to focus on all the little successes you have had – either in the past or today. These are the everyday things that make life worth living. To be able to make choices. To be able to motivate and inspire others. To share life (both the joys and the sorrows) with others. To feel and to show feeling. To love and to be loved. To make the most of every situation no matter the circumstances.
According to reports, 250,000 new products are introduced to the world each year. We’re overwhelmed by so many new product entries, which range from sophisticated new technologies like the Nest thermostat and infomercial sensations like Pyjamas Jeans. To complicate things, brands are introducing new line extensions like Kraft Sizzling Salads, Disney Appmates, and a wealth of “new and improved” products from venerable brands like Gillette and Kleenex.
But the fact remains that the success rates of new product introductions and innovations have improved little over the last 20 years. Reports show that 66% of new products fail within two years, and a startling 96% of all innovations fail to return their cost of capital. This is due to a number of factors, including economic conditions, an explosion of consumer touch points, shifts in decision-making behaviour, and the deluge of information marketers have to sift through to ensure they are up to speed with the latest trends.
How to market effectively is one of the biggest challenges faced by small businesses and entrepreneurs today. There are many marketing techniques that can be used, and choosing the right approach for your business is not easy. Small businesses also have limited budget to use on marketing which makes it even more challenging.
A good marketing strategy is a very valuable tool for any business, whether you’re just starting out or have been in business for years. In order for your business to be successful, it is essential for people to know about your brand as well as the products and services you offer. This is where a good online marketing strategy can help.
T
he decision to embark on an international expansion can be both exciting and frightening: seemingly endless growth opportunities exist, but there can be significant risks involved.
The checklist for setting up international operations is lengthy and varies country to country. And what’s worse, one missed detail could mean serious negative consequences for your business, in the form of fines and frustrated employees.
Not sure where to start? Here are 10 tips to keep in mind when thinking about international expansion:
Raising prices is never an easy thing to do. Despite most people understanding that prices have to be increased on a lot of items, from fuel and food to insurance and utilities, it remains a delicate task.
Here are a few tips on how to do it in a way that puts your company in a better financial position and not a worse one caused by an exodus of irritated customers.
Identify where your prices need to go
Once you’ve established the exact percentage of your price rises, there are two trains of thought: phase them in with smaller increments over a period of time or institute one larger price increase in one fell swoop. There are pros and cons to both methods.
Joining up with 
partners can result in offspring where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. In today’s era of globalisation, the ability to form successful partnerships plays a vital role in your company’s success. It’s not enough to get engaged, you want to get married and you want that marriage to last a long, long time.
Here are a few important steps in forming a long lasting and fruitful relationship with the right partner company:
Culture is crucial when it comes to understanding the needs and behaviours of an individual. Throughout his existence, an individual will be influenced by his family, his friends, his cultural environment or society that will “teach” him values, preferences as well as common behaviours to their own culture.
For a brand, it is important to understand and take into account the cultural factors inherent to each market or to each situation in order to adapt its product and its marketing strategy. As these will play a role in the perception, habits, behaviour or expectations of consumers.
A recent study revealed that 26% of respondents would stop buying from a company if they were not happy with the delivery firm used. Losing business over a problem which is not caused by you is certainly the worst way for it to happen.
We found that most online shops use more than one delivery firm – but none of them offer customers a choice over which is used.
With a third of online shopping problems relating to delivery, this seems to be the weak link in the web retail boom. It means customers who have had a bad experience with a particular delivery firm are left pretty powerless if they want to avoid using them again.
How many unread emails do you have in your inbox? 300? 800? Or maybe, if you are like me and are on countless mailing lists, 2,644?
We get a TON of emails every day, and a lot of them are never opened. People are inundated with boatloads of information – more than ever before in history! But we don’t have more time to soak it all in. The chances of your email being ignored are pretty high – unless of course, you have a rockin’ sockin’ subject line.
Your subject line is your first (and maybe your last) impression on users. In many ways, your email subject line is more important than your email body. After all, a great newsletter is worthless if it never sees the light of day.
There are a few different schools of thought when it comes to creating slam dunk subject lines. We’ll be covering 9 different types of effective email subject lines and sprinkling examples throughout.