The four seasons of entrepreneurship

Year in and year out, we experience extreme heat, extreme cold, flowers in bloom and trees in decline. As the planet goes through the different seasons of nature, the entrepreneurial journey also passes through various phases and cycles. In this world, and even in the business space, change is the only constant. Entrepreneurs must learn to adapt to such changes within its internal environs and even those happening in its external setting.

Tips for effective customer service

Businesses acknowledge the fact that retaining existing customers is more cost-efficient than seeking new clientele constantly. Consumers may extend their loyalty to a brand if they feel valued by the company and receive the ample attention they need. The danger lies when you commit and does nothing to salvage the damage done because customers can easily shift to another brand.

Playlist for busy entrepreneurs

Busy entrepreneurs need to unwind to relieve themselves from the stress of work and other responsibilities. Whether it’s spending a day at the beach, hiking to the mountains or simply listening to songs while you do your day-to-day chores can help you rejuvenate and recharge. Music has a deep effect on the emotions. Ballads can make you feel mellow, while upbeat songs may tend to energise you.

Different kinds of advertising media for your business

At any point in your business, you will need to turn to advertisements to build and strengthen your brand, boost your sales, and reach out to your customers and prospects. You need to employ them to get your message across a broader audience, especially those that are far and beyond your circle of friends and network.

10 Books on Persuasion and Negotiation

We have established that closing sales and winning deals are necessary for business. That’s the art of negotiation. It takes a lot of savvy, skills, training, exposure and insights to hone your competence on persuasion and end with success on your pitches.

To arm you with more learnings and additional knowledge for your negotiation acumen, we listed down ten books on persuasion. You can apply a thing or two (surely, more) from these materials to your sales transactions or other forms of business bargaining. You can even translate them to the day-to-day activities in your personal life.

Creating an exit strategy for your business

A business plan often centres around plotting how to establish a venture and grow it past the startup stage. Not many may include an exit strategy in the plan, thinking that such an idea only applies when things turn south, such as a loss or bankruptcy. On the contrary, an exit strategy is employed not only during difficult situations but even during times when the business is faring well, which is the more commendable route.

7 Entrepreneurial spirit animals

The business world is a corporate jungle where varied entrepreneurs that possess qualities and exhibit characteristics similar to members of the animal kingdom abound. Thus, it is not surprising that there are individuals who relate themselves with and take inspiration from creatures and wildlife as their business personae in the form of spirit animals.

The role of middle management in an organisation

For a lack of a better term, middle management is the level in a corporate structure that bridges the senior executives and the junior ranks. While most startups may have a leaner configuration of staff members and flatter organisational chart, those that expand and increase their people may see the need to manage and put an order in their teams through units and layers.

Entrepreneurial lessons from wine-making

On special occasions or to cap the night on a relaxing mood, a glass of wine can add sparkle and colour to any scenario. Wine is also a symbol of luxury, which used to be the drink of the kings and the rich. It has a long history, recorded in ancient books and manuscripts. However, behind the glamour ascribed to wines is a tedious process where we can pick a few lessons that we can bring to the business space.

The leap from employee to entrepreneur

Entry to the entrepreneurial world may come from different points and in various forms. There are those who have started early because their hobby or interest has grown organically. Some may have arrived at this path because of family influence or connections. Others probably stumbled to it by accident or found their way there because of a great need. Then there are those that transition from a regular job towards self-employment.

The importance of sleep to entrepreneurs

One of the things that most entrepreneurs give up whenever they enter the business world is sleep. Late nights and early mornings are devoted to checking e-mails and worrying over several business matters. Entrepreneurs have too many tasks and responsibilities that they have to sacrifice slumber so that they can bring their venture towards its goal. However, the amount of sleep lost is never a measure of success. It’s time to break that chain of thought and shift on the need for entrepreneurs to value sleep.

Winning the startup phase the Jenga way

Playing Jenga, where you take a wooden block from any part of the tower and stack it on top, takes a lot of patience, concentration and control to win over your opponents. The objective of Jenga, which is a Swahili word that means “to build”, is to make a taller tower but stable enough not to topple during your turn.

Building self-confidence in entrepreneurs

Taking the entrepreneurial journey requires a lot of guts and courage because the path is full of difficulties and hardships. To be an entrepreneur means you’re ready to take risks, and becoming one is already an indication of confidence. But not at all times you may be brave enough to face various challenges. There are moments when fear and timidity set in, and it can cause you to crumble from the inside.

Ways of doing competitor’s analysis

Every business has competition. It’s a factor that you have to consider in making business decisions. Numbers may indicate that you have a positive bottom line, but you also have to check your portion in the market share. There may be an opportunity to increase your piece and get a bigger slice of the pie. How do you do it?

The advantages of an employee performance appraisal

There are costs and benefits in implementing an employee performance appraisal in an organisation. It requires energy, time and resources to conduct it annually. If the execution is off-tangent, it can even leave a negative impact on the team. On the other hand, an effective appraisal system can boost the morale of your people.

Pivoting in the entrepreneurial world

Have you ever walked down a road, so sure of your direction only to find out midway that you’ve taken the wrong path? Even in the entrepreneurial journey, mistakes and change are bound to happen. The initial goal may no longer be viable under the present circumstances, and a crossroad of choices appears before you. You can give up, continue with your original intent but with a few tweaks, go back to the beginning and redo things, or pivot and make a major overhaul of your business.

To VA or not to VA: the benefits of a virtual assistant

Goals and checklists are good, but if your day is not enough to fulfil all your tasks and responsibilities, you end up delivering work that is not at par with the quality expected or you suffer from burnout, fatigue and other illnesses. Managing time and obligations is one of the biggest challenges of entrepreneurs. Some of them turn for help by hiring virtual assistants who can do certain jobs on their behalf. It is an option to unload one from mundane work to focus more on urgent matters in the business.