Entrepreneur Zest

New Years Resolutions – Objective Setting for 2009

As 2008 draws to a close amidst a melee of Christmas credit crunch celebration, the time has come to start thinking about your NewYear Resolutions.  To many, resolutions tend to focus on burning off the Christmas excesses, with numbers of newly formed gym memberships soaring throughout January, only to be abandoned by the end of February.

Admittedly I’ve always found the process of thinking about New Year Resolutions as a good way of setting personal targets, such as running a half-marathon, buying a new home or achieving a higher level of income, and in some instances I have even written down my objectives and checked progress on a monthly basis.

For many entrepreneurs, whose business and personal lives are closely linked, setting New Year Resolutions could be a great way to improve both.  The Christmas period is a good time to take stock of what is going on in our lives, to identify new goals and to set targets for achieving them throughout the year.

Resolutions tend to be more successful when they are kept SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and timely), and in the past I’ve set objectives around income levels or the completion of important projects, but you can also set less tangible objectives, such as being more open-minded to change and new ideas.

Once you have decided on your New Year Resolutions, make sure that they stay at the front of your mind.  Print out a copy of your Resolutions and stick them somewhere prominent like a noticeboard or at the front of your diary.  That way you can check on your progress throughout the year and by the end of 2009, you should be ready to move on, set new objectives and achieve even greater success.

Minimise Business Risk In An Uncertain World

In a five-article series latest addition to the BBC's Dragons Den series James Caan explains his philosophy for doing business in a tough climate.

The serial entrepreneur who currently runs a private equity investment company called Hamilton Bradshaw, has been building and selling businesses since 1985, operating in a range of sectors.

The articles can be found on the Times website at the following link:

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/entrepreneur/article4038947.ece

You Don’t Have To Be Stupid To Get Rich, But It Helps!

Have you ever noticed the connection between stupidity and wealth?  And I’m not talking about inherited wealth either, I’m talking about all those self-made millionaires that you see in the media who don’t seem to have an ounce of common sense or social awareness, let alone the basic business skills you would consider essential for success – but have done what most people fail to do and started successful businesses!

A good example of the stupid-wealth factor is Midlands-couple John and Ann Armstrong, who were featured in a BBC fly-on-the-wall documentary a couple of years ago.  The Armstrong’s run a company called U-Fit (the third largest double-glazing business in Coventry) and were featured as bosses-from-hell, both in the treatment of their staff and the countless numbers of gaffs they made on screen – with the viewer left wandering how they ever got the business off the ground in the first place.

One of the funniest and most cringe-worthy moments was an ill-fated venture to expand their business onto the continent.  With very limited French between them, the couple had used an online translation service to translate their sales pitch, resulting in the bewildered owner of a French home improvement company wandering why this crazy English couple were trying to sell him their "conservatoire" range.  Conservatoire being the French for “dance school” and not as the Armstrong’s assumed “conservatory”!

So Do You Really Need To Be Stupid To Get Rich?

The honest answer is no, with the majority of self-made millionaires it is easy to see how they made their money, so how do you explain the success of the stupid-rich?

The truth is that the perceived strengths of rational decision making and common sense that forms the mindset of the sensible majority, are actually the factors preventing them from being more successful.

Approach To Risk

Most people are too risk averse and tend to over-analyse ideas and opportunities to the point that they can only see disadvantages.  Entrepreneurism is all about risk-taking and too much rational thinking can often inhibit a good idea. 

The stupid-rich are much less risk-averse and therefore much more likely to seize the opportunity.  They may not always succeed, but at least they are giving themselves the opportunity to do so.

Reputational Risk

The other key factor restraining the majority of people is that they don’t want to look stupid amongst their peers! 

The stupid-rich don’t care what other people think of them and are not afraid to ask when they don’t know something, whilst the majority of people feel they should appear to know what they are doing and are too afraid to ask.

The other advantage of not caring what other people, is that the fear of failure is significantly reduced for the stupid-rich.

Learning From The Stupid Rich

So what can the rational majority learn from the stupid-rich to become better at business?  Perhaps the key lesson is to lose the fear of looking stupid.  Don’t be afraid to ask questions about things you don’t understand, as seeking knowledge helps to create opportunities and don’t be afraid to cash in on those opportunities.