Advantages and Disadvantages of an Entrepreneurial Life
Disclaimer: I am deeply prejudiced against being an employee! Deeply! I would personally become an employee only out of necessity; that is, to keep my kids away from hunger. So beware that the following article may be a tiny bit partial. I will do my best to sound less militant and more objective, though. Advantages: 1. Freedom, Freedom, Freedom! I have been born to be free and I intend to keep it that way! Let’s face it. Like most entrepreneurs I have issues with authorities, rules, regulations, restrictions, bonds, bondage , structures, hierarchies, conservatives views, traditions, stereotypes, and anything else that could be deemed as restrictive. I need to be able to think by myself and for myself, come up with new ideas and take action to turn them into reality. 2. Money! I know that a job pays well […]
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Which type of crowdfunding campaign would you launch?
After a lot of questions I received, I thought I should outline the types of crowdfunding we encounter. Not all of them are the right fit for your business, though. Only one, maximum two of them may be pursued at all times. And make certain that it aligns with your general funding strategy. Otherwise, you will be losing too much money and time. The first type I can think of is Donation Crowdfunding. It’s about donating money without expecting a product in return; you just give the money out. This kind of model perfectly fit charities and some social enterprises. Then we have Equity Crowdfunding. The crowd, or whoever contributes money, gets an amount of shares in the company. This process is legal in the US and US, while it is also expanding in other countries. The platforms offering Equity Crowdfunding are increasing […]
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Mae West Quote: On the most Valuable Asset in Business
I have been reading one of a Mae West biography. Yes, Mae West… the Hollywood actress, sex symbol, script write, real estate magnate and diamond expert! Just a few pages into the manuscript I came to realise what an extraordinary business woman she was for her time. By mid 1930s, not only was she one of the best paid actresses in Hollywood but she was also investing heavily on tangible assets, such as real estate and diamonds, in order to avoid the impact of the Great Depression. Her life and work is full of sensible advise for business people. When she first went to Hollywood to work for Paramount, she found herself wondering idly in the city. The studio has not provided her with a script to study and they thought she should be happy to have some time off. […]
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Twitter automation at its worst
I am annoyed! Very annoyed! And I have been brewing in relative silence for months! Oh well… I have been venting in private (friends and family) but never in public! Seriously, I do not understand why so many people automate their twitter accounts. Most of them have only a few hundred followers anyway. Instead of connecting with them, as this is the person of social media, they preferring spamming them with irrelevant messages and littering their inbox. I have unfollowed such accounts many times. I think I may be allergic to spam (not the food)! So, I decided to put together a list of NoNos. 1. Do not send an automated message when someone follows you for the first time. Some accounts either send DM messages or messages on the stream of the follower. Whoever makes contact with you for […]
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Startup resentment and other stories
Over the past few years I encountered a great number of startups who come to me with a dream and an idea. They are all passionate about their vision and they are desperate to make it happen. I always admire these startups for their commitment and enthusiasm but I do not always share their optimism. In most of these cases, they present me with an incomplete monetisation model. In fact, they have not even considered such a model. They are ready to give away their product for free, so that ‘they create brand awareness’. They think that afterwards, everybody will flock to buy it! You cannot imagine in how many ways this is the wrong attitude. I will try to outline here most of the basic reasons for which you should actually charge for your product from Day One. First […]
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Bad Advice to Startups from Unknown Writer
Have you suffered from writer’s block! I have. Several times in my life time. Even though my colleagues always considered me a prolific writer, my writing does not take place regularly. I spend long periods of time procrastinating (mostly on twitter). This time my procrastination reached new levels; hence I now have 16000 followers on twitter. So, I decided to take drastic measures. Naively, I thought I could hire someone to write a few blog posts for me. Then I could revise them and unleash them to the world. At this point, I did not want to hire a ghostwriter on a permanent basis. Consequently I decided to do a gig on Fiverr. If you have never heard about Fiverr, you should check it out. It is the largest database of freelancers for small jobs. So, I located someone who […]
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Digital Revolution and the Business World
We live through very exciting times! The economy has been turned upside down, and inside out during the past decade. Internet changed the way we shop, the way we go out, the way we interact with our loved ones, the way we take care of our health… just to mention a few aspects of our disrupted lives. We all enjoy the advantages of the new technology, while most of us relish the new app we can download into our tablets. We also live through very dangerous times! The mode of production has changed in the most unexpected manner. The sharing (or collaborative) economy is taking over. Trade unions across the globe are complaining about the deteriorating conditions in the working lives of their members. Uber, for example, destroyed the livelihood of millions of taxi drivers overnight. AirBnB put the revenue […]
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Brown Bag seminars for businesses who want to grow fast and furiously
Today, it is the first ‘Brown Bag’ seminar. Don’t worry, it has nothing to do with booze, as most of you suggested. These are lunch time seminars for businesses who aspire to high growth. Just bring your lunch in a brown bag and join us in Apex. The seminars will take place once a month and will cover topics relevant to the fast growth of a business. They are not aimed at startups. In fact, startups may find them confusing as they are not yet at the right stage. Instead, they are perfect for established businesses. Nuggets of information will be offered to the interested parties. The participants, then, can analyse their own business and contemplate on ways to take it forward. For more information, check out the website http://ekonomiaconsultants.com/brown-bag-seminars/ And join us on Innovation for Enterprises Meetup Innovation […]
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Customer Development in Enterprises
Actually, I am astonished at the lack of customer development I witness in large corporations. I am sure they do their best to focus on customer services, thus keeping the customers as happy as they can be. However, they fail miserably in increasing their sales or expanding their customer base. Because of the Digital Revolution, many corporations face steep competition from small and agile businesses. These new entrepreneurs know how to talk to their potential customers, how to find exactly what they need and how to sell their products or services. Despite the lack of established processes they achieve growth of 15-30 % per week. How many large enterprises do you know who achieve such growth? The secret lies in the successful practice of customer development techniques. These techniques are easy to learn, though not so easy to implement. Founders […]
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Entrepreneurs and the Law
Almost by definition, entrepreneurs are against status quo. I understand that some of you may find such a statement incredulous. And yet, it is true that most entrepreneurs position themselves against large corporations, established business or common practices. As a result, they are trying to circumvent legal processes that, in most cases, inhibit entrepreneurial activities. Rules and regulations tend to place obstacles to startups. Hence, many organisations and business people ask for more deregulation. Even though, deregulation sometimes helps the increase of profits, we cannot expect to function in a lawless society. There is a reason for all the rules that have been put in place over several millennia. Whether these regulations help or not entrepreneurship, they should not be dismissed out of hand. Instead, entrepreneurs could prove their innovative ideas in very difficult environments. It is a common secret […]
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