Patting your head and rubbing your stomach at the same time is a lot more difficult than you’d think. That’s because attempting to do two completely different things simultaneously is challenging for both our bodies and our minds. In today’s day in age, leaders in the competitive business industry, have to do exactly that by completing various jobs, that are polar opposites to one another, at the same time. Those leaders must be willing to take risks, and really believe in their company while also have to think logically.
How can a leader manage both qualities?
Keep on reading to find out the best method to put together the energy of a risk taking entrepreneur alongside the logical decisionmaking that of a savvy leader in order to take your company up a notch.
An EntreLeader combines the best qualities of an entrepreneur and a leader.
What kind of characteristics do you think the founder of a start-up should have?
For start-up founders, taking risks should be their second nature along with the never stop hustling attitude. Additionally, they must keep an open mind in order to make revolutionary items and find the best opening in the market. They’ve also got to be good leaders, disciplined and modest. To sum it up, they need to be an EntreLeader.
EntreLeaders are those who take risks and who can see spaces in the market. They’ve also got to be very determined and do whatever it takes to get what they want. On top of that, they have to inspire their team while make honest and difficult choices.
The atmosphere from within a business really depends on the leader. As a result, if you want to be successful, you need to have powerful EntreLeadership skills. However, that is something lots of CEOs have difficulty accomplishing since they often just don’t understand that powerful leadership skills are as equally as important as the entrepreneurial ones.
The author himself had a hard time being a competent leader at first. In one of his first projects, he managed 14 employees. He may have been passionate about what he did, but he always got mad at the employees who weren’t as passionate. Thus, he overreacted to little problems like when someone would arrive late. Since his emotions took over his logical thinking, the author made all of his employees sit outside on a cold day. His message to them was that if they would be late, they’d be “left out in the cold”. Just as you’d suspect, his employees didn’t really appreciate it. Since he couldn’t continue to be a balanced leader, that brought down the energy of his team and also damaged his company. However, there’s no need to fret since you can always develop and alter things if you adopt all of the skills that you need in order to become an EntreLeader.
Outline a clear plan for realizing your dream business. Set goals and stick to them!
It’s difficult not to dream up out of this world ideas when it comes to coming up with a business. You feel that with you dexterity, revolutionary ideas and non stop work, you’ll be able to accomplish what you set your mind to. Sadly, though, not all of our dreams are actually brought to life.
How can we make them a reality?
Well, EntreLeaders break their dream down into certain objectives, with a plan to reach each one of them. Thus, the EntreLeader and their team know what they’re working towards and in what direction they’re going in.
In order to keep your company going in the right direction, use the popular management method called management by objectives, also known as MBO. Initially, you and each team member agree to a set of goals. Then, you set a deadline for when the goals need to be met.
Responsibility is key. Your team should understand that since they took part in goal-setting, they are responsible for anything that doesn’t go as planned. That helps everyone stay encouraged and in the right direction. However, not only should your employees set a goal, but you should, too.
Did you ever decide not to do something because you were afraid to fail? That type of hesitation can keep your dreams, just dreams. They won’t develop into a reality.
Stay away from any unneeded setbacks by setting the goals on your own. If you set a detailed goal with a set deadline, it’s difficult to get off track since you understand the road. You just need to keep moving forward. The author’s friend, who happens to be a web designer, decided to open his own business. He initially had difficulties, so he set a goal to earn $5,000 every month. If that didn’t happen after 120 days, he’d shut down the business. Since he created that pressure on his own, it forced and motivated him to move in the right direction. In the end, he was making $7,000 each month, which was more than he had even expected.
You dream is only the beginning. Make it come true by coming up with a set plan
Manage your time wisely with prioritized to-do lists. Strive to make it a daily habit.
Have you ever worked on a project for a whole day, but then felt like in the end, you didn’t really do much. It’s definitely not a confidence booster.
You will feel that way if you don’t create a plan for what it is you are trying to accomplish. However, an easy way that you can do this is with a to-do-list. It’ll keep you going in the right direction. To-do-lists are a great way for you to be able to regulate what all you do for the day. You don’t want to be that person who only works when they are told to do so. You need to work when there are things to do. Take, for example, your friend. Suppose they were in trouble, you’d run immediately to help, wouldn’t you? Although that is a kind thing to do, that kind of response generates more work for you and maybe even causes you to miss out on some of the more important tasks. Therefore, it’s good to have a to-do list arranged by priority in order to steer clear of reactive behavior. You’ll concentrate better if your list is in order. Of course you can still help your friends and peers, but keep in mind what your top priorities are. Additionally, to-do-lists are good confidence boosters since during your end of the day reflection, you can see all that you’ve accomplished. Seeing all of the things that you’ve crossed off can help you see how well you’ve spent your time. You also understand that the ones that you’ve crossed off were the most important ones, so now you have that out of your way.
A nicely planned out day with your family feels much more rewarding than a lazy day on the couch, right? This is because you’ve completed a number of significant events. Try your hardest to make that a habit
A great marketing strategy doesn’t happen immediately; work on your pitch to perfect it.
What is the most crucial part of your company? You may think that it is your item since you can’t make money without it! Although it is important, it has little meaning if you don’t persuade others that it is also important. That’s why a marketing department is necessary to have. Behind all successful companies is an impeccable marketing strategy.
The best marketing strategy links together the needs of your customers with your product. In 1994, the author began running a class that was about learning how to avoid becoming bankrupt. His class, “Life After Debt”, was marketed on the radio and offered the opportunity to take the first class free of charge. However, he only got six people to come to his class. The author came to the conclusion that the course was not meeting the expectations that of his target audience since most of them weren’t even bankrupt. They just wanted to learn how to become financially stable. As a result, the author improved his class and renamed it, “Financial Peace University”. That class now focused on how students could reach their financial goals. That class became very successful, and still is to this day. In fact, millions have taken this class.
This example also shows how creating a powerful marketing strategy is a learning process. Your first try will most likely not be successful, but by learning from your failures, you can adjust your method correspondingly. As a result, your method will only get better. Even if you created the best method possible, you still need to ensure that you have the best sales team. After all, it’s up to them, anyways to actually persuade shoppers to purchase your item.
However, in sales, you don’t try to manipulate shoppers into purchasing the item, but instead give them a nice experience by showing them how much you care about what they need and being able to provide them with beneficial information about how your item can help them get what they want.
Obviously, you can’t get anyone to buy something, but you can try to get their trust. If you do, they’ll most likely want to become your customer. Therefore, build that trust by letting them know how much pride you take in your item as well as treating your shoppers in a respectful manner.
Keep in mind that a satisfied customer not only purchases your item, but also tells their friends about it!
Whatever you do, avoid debt. And to protect your company, be sure to build an emergency fund.
Your business needs some funding in order to grow. However, how do you find the money that you need? You’d think that getting a little loan isn’t risky since you’d pay it back anyways, right?
No.
Debt undercuts your business, thus putting you at a larger risk of either failing or bankruptcy. With debt, you have to take some time to repay it, which will decrease the flow of your money. You won’t have as much money to pay your bills, employees, or purchase stock. Sadly, that’s how many smaller brands die out. They struggle with cash flow. In other words, minimizing your cash flow is not the way to go.
Let’s take a look at a more clear cut situation depicting the danger of cash flow issues. The owner of a little, yet developing plumbing business, got a commission from a big client to dig a ditch. In order to get the job done, he had to have a backhoe. However, the rent costed $450 per month. As a result, the owner got a loan to pay for the rent.
A few months into the job, the owner understood that the fees that came with the loan were minimizing his profits. That constant debt broke that once stable company. In order to stay away from falling into debt, he created an emergency fund. That is where you put extra money to either protect yourself or your company when things get rough.
The emergency aid really helped the author. A company that was bankrupt was trying to remove all of its nice quality office furniture that costed around $300,000. The author didn’t need that furniture then, but he couldn’t not take advantage of the amazing deal of $21,000. As a result, he used the emergency fund to purchase that furniture and just store it. Later on, he used that furniture for his new business, thus saving lots of money and in the end, staying away from getting into debt.
Being financially stable will help you be sustainable in the future, since you’ll be able to see issues and deal with unforeseen obstacles.
Reward your employees fairly through fair salaries and bonuses. They’ll stay loyal and hard working.
All EntreLeaders know how crucial it is to earn the respect of their team. However, how do you do so effectively? Let’s take a look at a few indicators.
First of all, ensure that you reward your team properly for all of their hard work. The compensation system echoes the values of the team lead. If the compensation is fair, they’ll feel like their work is acknowledged and as a result, they’ll want to work even harder for both you and the business. Additionally, if you give them incentives like a commission or profit sharing, they’ll have an even greater will to work to make your company expand even more.
One business, for example, used to make a revenue of $50 million with about 120 employees. However, the CEO didn’t think that his top employees deserved more than $100,000. Just as you’d suspect, they employees thought that their hard work wasn’t paid off and therefore, they all just started to leave for companies that offered them more. In the end, all of the best employees left and therefore, the business had to shut down.
However, if you treat your team with respect, they’ll pay you back with loyalty as well as by motivation. Therefore, treat them with dignity and step out of your way to make them happy because in the end, it’s worth it.
It’s no secret that people work better for the people that treat them nicely. For instance, one of the employee’s of the author had closed a million dollar deal. Although the structure of their salary didn’t require him to be rewarded, the author did anyway since he understood that they’d continue to work hard if he showed them how much he respected their work. That employee was so happy with gratitude that he cried.
Therefore, if you hire the right employees, you’ll also need to create an environment of both unity and loyalty. In the end, you’ll get better performance rates from your staff and thus, your company will be much more successful
Final Summary
If you want your business to be successful, you need to act as both an entrepreneur and a leader. In other words, act as an EntreLeader. Being able to manage your employees adequately and efficiently is just as crucial as taking risks and make deals about things you truly believe in. Create a clear plan, use your time wisely, stay away from debt and make a meaningful marketing strategy. Managing a business is difficult. If you want to be successful at it, become an EntreLeader.