successful entrepreneurs

Successful Habits Of Billionaires

July 11, 2016 By Twila VanLeer

Learning a few successful habits can improve the quality of your life. Interviews with more than 200 highly successful people, conducted by Kevin Kruse, revealed several repeating themes that might be guides for others aiming for success. He talked with billionaires, Olympians and a selection of entrepreneurs. The question was simple: “What is your number one secret to productivity?” The most consistent answers included the following:

Successful Habits

Many people look to their family, friends or mentors to learn successful habits. It’s better to learn from the experts.

Time Management

There are 1,440 minutes in a day and nothing is more valuable than time. Time spent can never be reclaimed. Most people block out one-and-a-half hour segments of time. Olympic gymnast Shannon Miller told Kruse that her schedule is almost minute-by-minute. Mastering minutes means mastering life.

Focus On One Thing At A Time

Identify the most important task ahead of you, the one that will have the greatest impact on reaching your goal, and work on it without interruption. Dedicate your morning, when you are most productive, to that objective.

To-Do List

Only 41 percent of what’s on the to-do list actually gets done, according to research. Those unfinished talks lead to stress and insomnia and occupy your mind until they’re done. Put items on your calendar and then work by the calendar in the order that is most feasible.

Predicting Future Success

You can’t trust your future self. Most of us are time inconsistent. For instance, we load up on fresh veggies anticipating salads for a week, then throw away the rotting mush before the week is up. Do what you can do right now to. Look ahead and see what you can do now to defeat your future self.

Family Time

Successful people include family time, exercise and health time and time for giving back. There is always at least one more thing to do, so know where you can draw the line. Think about where your priorities lie and allocate time to what you think is most important. Don’t allow work to nudge out the more important things.

Journaling

Richard Branson, who built Virgin, says a simple notebook goes with him everywhere. That’s a “million dollar lesson” they don’t teach in business school, said Aristotle Onassis, Greek shipping executive. Writing down things as they occur to you leaves your mind free to think of other things.

Manage Emails

Process emails a few times a day. Don’t feel obligated to respond to every vibration that ends up in your inbox. Schedule time to respond to emails quickly and efficiently and then leave them to the next session.

Protect Your Time

The advice of Mark Cuban is “Never take meetings unless someone is writing a check.” Meetings tend to start late, have the wrong mix of people, meander around topics and run long. Avoid them if possible. If it is necessary and you can influence the proceedings, made them short and to the point.

Learn To Say “No”

Remember that old 1,440 minutes thing. Trying to respond to every request for your time will use them up in a hurry. Screen your time and protect the minutes.

Pareto Principle

The reality that 80 percent of results come from 20 percent of activities. Those who succeed best learn which activities drive the greatest results and stick with them, ignoring the rest.

Delegate

Take the “I” out of the equation whenever you can. The question should be “How can I get this task done?” not “How can I perform this task?” The successful don’t get bound up in control issues and they don’t micro-manage.

Touch Things Once

Picking up a bill then setting it aside without handling it means you have given twice the time to the same objective. Try the “touch it once” approach. Deal with everything when it arises, if possible. You can then free your mind from that particular chore.

Use A Morning Routine

Many of the people Kevin interviewed shared a consistent morning routine. The successful habits varied, but repeat suggestions included a good breakfast, light exercise and mind soothers such as meditation, prayer, inspirational reading or journaling. Over the day, maintain your energy level. Don’t skip meals, sleep or breaks in an effort to fill more time with productive work. Food is fuel, sleep an opportunity for recovery and breaks the way to recharge periodically.

Angry Patron? Cultivate An Ally

April 12, 2016 By Twila VanLeer

When you are faced with a screaming customer who is not satisfied with the service you have provided, don’t respond in kind, but use the opportunity to improve.

Marc Cosentino, co-owner of Goodfella’s Brick Oven Pizza in Staten Island, N.Y., found himself in that position, dealing with a husband who was very unhappy that Cosentino had hung up on his wife, who was treating the businessman to a tirade because she was not satisfied with his service.

Costenino did the right thing. Instead of escalating the situation with tit-for-tat jabs, he acknowledged that he had been wrong in the first instance. Then they had a level playing field to carry on a rational conversation and come to an agreement. The customer was mollified and ready to patronize the pizza parlor once again.

Joe McCullum, owner of Eagles’ Wings Business Coaching in Hamden, Conn., advises that an in-your-face irate customer really represents an opportunity to win a loyal fan for your business. He gives these tips for defusing a confrontation and turning it around:

Stay Calm

When confronting a situation, stay calm. Make eye contact with the grieved customer and ask what the problem is. You might want to take notes, a signal that you are really interested in knowing the details. Don’t rush things. This may be all it takes to set the scene for rational discussion. Most people aren’t used to having their consternation acknowledged. Don’t head for a back room to address the confrontation. That lets him or her know you are willing to face the complaint and try to work it out. Other customers may actually be impressed. The reputation will last longer than the incident.

Don’t Become Defensive

That will only escalate the irate customer’s frustration. If there is a misunderstanding, wait for a calmer moment to present your viewpoint. Acknowledging that you might be angry if you had found yourself in a similar situation may help.

Apologize

Apologize for the event and express thanks to the individual for bringing unsatisfactory service to your attention. Ask how it can be corrected and make a sincere effort to work out a solution together. Get the person’s contact information and do a follow-up to ensure that the problem was satisfactorily resolved.

Making the effort could ensure a loyal customer who is more than ever ready to bring you his business.

Is There A 3D Printer In Your Future?

May 28, 2014 By Twila VanLeer

Princeton University Creates A 3D Bionic Ear

The impact of 3D printers, predicted by the industry to be huge, has stuttered a little, mostly due to patent/intellectual property issues, but be assured it’s coming. The future almost certainly holds 3D applications that will affect individual users and the mass market in ways hard to imagine.

The technology involves using a three-dimensional “pattern” to guide a computer in laying down layers of materials in a process they have dubbed “additive manufacturing.” The expected uses range from the creation of small toys, jewelry, makeup and edible goods to body replacement parts and large-scale manufacturing of a host of items. To date, patents have been issued for 45 different materials intended for use in 3D printing, including ceramics, clay, palladium, paper, rubber, silver, titanium and wax.

The myriad anticipated uses are just coming into being. Likely to be in general use first are these applications:

Medical: Researchers already are using 3D printers to do bioprinting – creating of tiny strips of organ tissue and facial appendages including ears and noses. The predictions envision printed organs such as kidneys and livers. Initially, these printed organs will likely be used for testing drugs and vaccines. Ultimately, they could fill the huge gaps in the availability of viable human organs and the numbers of patients who need them.

Pete Basiliere, a leading analyst of 3D printing potential, predicts that the advances in organ printing will outpace the public’s understanding and acceptance of the technology. 3D organ printing, he assumes, will join similar medical advances, such as organ transplantation and use of stem cells to treat patients, in a learning curve before the public adopts the idea. The same ethical questions that have been raised about artificial hearts and other cutting-edge technologies are likely to be debated: Are humans trying to play God? Are new medical innovations creating “rich men’s remedies” that will exclude the poor? If the past is an indicator, the life-saving benefits of the new technologies will triumph, Basiliere expects.

Another potential medical use is creation of prosthetic limbs. A 13-year-old girl who lost an arm in a boating accident was fitted by students at Washington University with a 3D-created prosthesis that used about $200 worth of materials, a stark contrast to the $6,000 cost of similar devices created by current processes. Another girl from Illinois, who was born without fingers, was fitted with an operating set of plastic fingers at a cost of $5. A high school engineering class created the prosthesis. In Canada, researchers are working toward 3D printing processes to create prosthetic limbs for victims of civil war injuries in Uganda.

The fashion industry dressed models in outfits created by 3D in the New York Fashion Week shows in 2013. Such eminent performers as Lady Gaga have garbed themselves in 3D dresses. She wore the world’s first “flying dress” to the 20133 ArtRave. The world’s first 3D printed bikini, the N12, is named for the material a computer used to create it: Nylon 12.

Some organizations devoted to the war on global poverty see the potential for such things as solving water hygiene problems in Third World countries. They envision needy people using “mini factories” to create products that would provide them a living. 3D may provide simple answers to such pervasive problems as hand sanitation in refugee camps.

There’s a good chance that one of your next automobiles will be created through 3D printing. A prototype, the Urbee, has been designed by Kor Ecologic. The two-seater gets up to 200 miles per gallon of fuel. Estimated cost: about $20,000.

Personal 3D printers are likely to join the standard electronic equipment in the vast majority of American homes. At present, they’re generally expensive and hard to operate. Some require hand assembly. However, there is little doubt in the minds of those who know about such things that the problems will be resolved and that affordable 3D will be available. But there’s a long road ahead until such technology finds its logical and practical uses for most Americans.

Small Business Tips From Entrepreneur Kirk Taylor

June 21, 2012 By Sherry Tingley

Serial entrepreneur Kirk Taylor — Kirk Taylor, Serial Entrepreneur

Entrepreneur Kirk Taylor has been successful at building many companies from scratch. As a serial entrepreneur with experience stretching back 34 years ago, he is happy to share what he has learned to help small business owners. Although success and building new companies is somewhat akin to riding a roller coaster. Ups and downs are bound to occur.

Working Hard

His first company project was launching and building LimoLink, a website that catered to transportation needs for people all over the world who were seeking elegant rides. A second company was built after that experience. It was successful enough to produce revenues of $20 million annually within a three year period of time. The company was recognized as one of the fastest growing private companies by INC magazine. He was also awarded Entrepreneur of the year for small-midsize companies in Iowa.He reveled in sales tallying in the neighborhood of $20 million in three years.

He left the company in 2002 eager to move on to bigger and greener pastures and start on a new project. “I’m not a CEO-type guy,” he says. “I like the starting-up phase.” But he was wise enough to take what he’d learned in his first experiences with him, and creating new opportunities in other niches.

Seeking Opportunities

Catching on quick to an opportunity and moving double quick to get it functional is what real entrepreneurs do, Taylor says.

Kirk Taylor knew a good thing when he saw it. “It” was the weekly ABC Shark Tank Show. Entrepreneurs who have what they are convinced is a good business idea have an opportunity to try to raise capital if their idea is appealing to the panel members. Panel members are five recognized business geniuses who are millionaires, and billionaires ready to invest in new ideas. The panel members listen to the pitch, then offer (or don’t offer) partnerships providing money and sometimes expertise to the entrepreneur.

Taylor assumed, rightly, that the show was going to attract a huge audience of people itching to get into business or to improve a business already established. He piggy-backed by creating a blog focused on Shark Tank’s entrepreneur interviews. Communication then opened up between Shark Tank producers and Kirk.

One of the people who has been very helpful to him is Barbara Corcoran, one of the Sharks who swims weekly in the ABC Tank. On his blog, he interviews contestants of the show and publishes those interviews. The blog has become very popular,” he says. “She has given me scoops regarding things that are likely to happen, but we have no direct conversation. It’s a trust relationship,” he says, “and I work hard at keeping that trust. I’m careful not to abuse it.”

Be Realistic

Over his years as a successful serial entrepreneur, Taylor has learned a thing or two (or a whole lot more) about the relative roles of idealism and realism . Without the dream, nothing happens, “But there has to be realism, too.” Most entrepreneurs, in his very educated opinion, are strong-willed people who learn to recognize that magic spot where idealism has to be set aside for the sake of facing up to the real business world.

Get Funded

The barrier that trips up many would-be businesses short of success is the money issue, he says. “Every entrepreneur has to raise capital.” Trying to go solo on that challenge without any understanding of the process has sunk many a newcomer to the competition. He suggests involving others who know the ropes and can find the most suitable investors to back your idea. Often the entrepreneur has friends with expertise. “Work them all.”

Small Business Mistakes

His own biggest mistakes in building companies, he admits, have been in turning too much control over to managers. When he associated himself with people who had been successful in big companies, the tendency then became to let them supplant him at the top of the decision-making pyramid. “That’s been a real disaster,” he says. It’s the entrepreneur’s life, financial well-being and ability to keep expanding that’s on the line — too much personal investment to turn it over to someone else without restraints, he has learned.

Goals

The most important goal, according to Kirk, is to get to a point in life where you and your company are completely debt free. In 2008, he turned to affiliate marketing, building yet another new source of income. “I like it,” he says. He sees “huge potential in sales with relatively low start up expenses.” He likes the independence it offers and the feeling of not being bound to others when decisions need to be made.

Small Business Lessons From Disney

May 19, 2012 By Twila VanLeer

Learning from the “Big Boys” simply makes sense. Companies that claw their way to the Fortune 500 ranks obviously are doing something right and though few start-up companies will end up in the billion-plus class, there are some attitudes and actions that pop out when you read about those who do.

In a recent edition of Fortune 500 Magazine, the corporate history of Robert Iger, Disney’s most recent chairman and CEO (since 2005) chronicled examples of a leadership style that has boosted Disney back up in the ranks after a bit of temporary stagnation. Now 66th on the Fortune 500 list, the mega-entertainment company estimated 2012 fiscal revenue at $42.4 billion. The money is generated through cable networks, theme parks and resorts, broadcasting, studio entertainment, consumer products and interactive media. How the company manipulates these elements is part of the success story.

Imagination Has No Boundaries

Some of what can be learned from Disney includes a momentum that never stops. Every step taken by any of the various money-makers is expected to dovetail nicely into the whole. Imagination has no boundaries. For instance, passengers aboard Disney’s new cruise ship Fantasy find themselves asked to doodle on their place mats, which are then collected and transformed post-haste into an animated movie that they can watch as they plow through the ocean — a reminder that the ability to create entertainment is near-universal.

Do More Listening Than Talking

disney-photo — Photo By Loren Javier - Flickr

Iger has a reputation for “listening more than talking.” But when he takes a stand, he’s tough. If a member of the management team is not contributing in the way he’d like, the individual may be on the way out. “If I can’t trust a person to do that, then I need a different person,” he is quoted as saying. Compassion is nice, but tough gets the job done in some instances. Finding the right managers and then leaving them alone to do their jobs is the first step. But having the smarts to take their good ideas and disseminate them through the business is a cultivated talent.

Expand Your Assets

Sometimes, absorbing the competition is the way to go. When Pixar emerged as the new king of animation, Disney moved to get the company inside its circle, at a cost of $7.4 billion. It marked the end of an animation era in which Disney ruled without peer, but opened up new vistas in the genre that are beneficial to both. Also added to the Disney corral was Marvel Entertainment, which brought the popular mania for such characters as Iron Man and Captain America under the Disney umbrella. It was an immediate boost to a live-action-movie segment that had begun to flag. It also expanded the company’s $3 billion income from consumer products.

Learn From Your Failures

A good lesson in how to handle a failure was embedded in the “John Carter” fiasco. The movie has been described as one of the “biggest bombs” in movie history. Rich Ross, chairman of the live-action division, lost his job shortly after the movie hit local theaters to pan reviews all across the country. But the upshot is that successful companies do not wallow in the occasional flop. They take the steps necessary to go around the failure and learn what it can teach. Internescine warfare is not nice, but someone at the top has to do what must be done.

Think Outside The Box

The penchant for thinking outside the box has been a historic hallmark. The company’s acquisition of ESPN moved Disney even farther beyond Mickey and Minnnie and into a universal entertainment mode. The sports network is considered by some the Disney “outlier,” but if you define entertainment broadly, it fits the definition. Football fans, in particular, who make up the bulk of ESPN’s viewers, certainly hold a near-steady diet of sports to be the epitome of entertainment.

Details Matter

Looking at detail is an Iger quality that contributes to the company success. While scoping out plans for the Shanghai, China version of the Disney Resort, a joint venture with Shanghai Shendi Group, he was looking out for such things as spots that serve as convenient “photo-ops.” The company also is not averse to the occasional lateral move to implant the brand in the minds of those it hopes to make customers. Disney has set up English Language enters in Shanghai, a move that may eventually affect how many of the city’s residents are attracted to the theme part.

Recognize Your Limitations

Knowing, or at least anticipating, your limits can save some headaches in the future. Iger has announced he will leave his Disney post in March 2015. That way, he says, he may avoid some of the turmoil that surrounded his ascension to the company’s top spot. The company is on notice that a suitable successor should be primed and ready when the time comes.

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