Prosper Newsletter: December 2007 > Entrepreneurship

You understand that the following information is educational in nature and is not intended to be legal, accounting, or tax advice. You are responsible for your own financial decisions and should consult your own legal, accounting, and tax advisors before making your financial decisions.

Jumping to the Next Level—Finding ways to Increase Your Entrepreneurial Drive

Innovation, imagination, creativity, follow-through, determination, and motivation are all words that inspire and invite improvement. These are power words that embrace the entrepreneurial spirit—the spirit that drives you to take risks, to try industries, to invest, and to improve. Yet, for those of us who are lacking such power, how do we go about increasing that drive, that spirit that is so essential when seeking to become a successful entrepreneur?

The first obstacle to overcome is fear. The cliché, fear of the unknown will inevitably smother any semblance of spirit. You should approach such fear by asking yourself questions like, "Am I justified in my fear"; "Is my fear financial"; and "Do I have the resources to invest in such a business?" In general, the most spirit-dampening fear is the financial one. It is possible that you could go bankrupt. It is possible that you could take out enormous loans that you do not yet have the resources to pay. It is possible that the business could fold. The trick is to be smart going into any venture. Always have a little money saved that could see you through a difficult time, and always have backup plans. Do your homework and make an educated move. This first step will help you mark your path to improvement.

One of the best ways to buoy yourself up is to get into a business that you love. Many people become entrepreneurs so they can escape the office and its tedious work. They enter the adventurous world of investing and small business so that they can do what they want. It is all about desire. For instance, if you are interested in fishing lines and there is a market to sell fishing lines, delve into that niche market. In addition, if you choose a market that you are already familiar with, you will likely have more contacts and a greater ability to find investors that would be interested in your product.

If you are an owner of a small business, keeping the spirit alive and making improvements to your business is also about valuing your employees, rewarding, and encouraging them when they develop entrepreneurial ideas. By fostering the idea of entrepreneurship, you will create an innovative workplace. Also, review your business structure. Often, when a small business begins to grow, the business outgrows its best-practice structure. You want your business to be efficient. You want your business motto to include power words. If you have no structure, you are putting valuable time and resources into bureaucracy rather than an innovative spirit.

If you are looking to increase your entrepreneurial drive and make essential improvements in your business, take a step back and to look at your business in a new light. Set your new year's resolutions around areas that need improvement, and then be active in your quest to find solutions.

Testimonial

We wanted to share our latest good news with you. October broke another record for us! We always use our gross income in June 2005 as our "comparison point", which was right before we started working with Prosper. Now that we have our complete income figures from last month, I can report that this October's gross income was $23,381 MORE than our gross monthly income before our Prosper coaching began, making this our best month ever. We are ecstatic, needless to say, and of course thankful for the encouragement, coaching, and support we've received from Prosper. We took a week off in early November to spend some vacation time in Sea Grove, Florida, in a Gulf-front condo. It was nice to eat in the local gourmet restaurants, to ride bicycles in the area and to be just generally lazy.

Our goal in 2008 is to take even more vacations. We are in the process of hiring more help that will allow us to do this. My view of our experience with Prosper is that we were shot into the stratosphere with a slingshot when we started our coaching. And now we continue going up without stopping! Thank you, thank you for all you've done for us. All the best to you, and to everyone at Prosper!

My best from the heart,

Lee

Tip of the Month

Holiday Sales

Many entrepreneurs anticipate and hope for (almost depend on) the fact that there will be an increase in sales over the holidays. The if you build it they will come mentality can be particularly dangerous during the holidays. Although, historically, retail sales increase towards the end of the year, entrepreneurs can do quite a bit to pave the road to increased sales, as opposed to letting the road come to them. The list below should spark some ideas on how to increase sales during the holidays:

Take some time to plan and make this year a memorable one for sales!


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