BUSINESS EGO-the Entrepreneurial Driving Force

Most entrepreneurs stick to what they understand and let their egos determine what they attempt. Success is not that complicated just that it takes a hard-nose look at what you are doing and decide to focus entirely on the few things you know you could do better than anyone else, not getting distracted into arenas that will not feed your ego and at which you cannot be the best.

Every firm will like to be the best at something but few actually understand that they have the potential to be the best at.  Just because something is your   business core does not mean you can be the best at it. In order to transcend the curses of competence it requires the discipline to say just because we are good, at it, making money from it does not mean we can be the best at it. Doing what you are good at will only make you good. Focusing solely on what you can potentially do better than any other organization is the only path to greatness.

However it takes passion to move your business to a desired level. Passion will raise you up     whenever you fall down in the race of your business life. Do the business you have passion at and you will never feel like working for a day. Business will be like a hubby and you will derive fund from it.

You cannot manufacture passion or force people to feel passionate. You can only discover what ignites your passion and the passion of those around you. People tend to stick closely to business they have passion in.

You must not get passionate about the mechanics of business perse (although you might be). The passion circle can be focused equally on what the company stands for. Your role should be far important than just making money. Have commitment to preserve, protect and enhance the company.

FIND AND KEEP THE BEST

There are a number of key roles and tasks when it comes to finding the best talent, attracting them to your business and making sure that you are able to retain them. Human Resource departments have changed hugely over the past ten years and a lot of that has to do with the technological advances in HR software and applicant tracking. Employee recruitment is one of the most important tasks of any HR department and you need to be able to use the latest process of screening potential candidates and managing them effectively, so you are assured of the ‘best fit’ for your organisation.

The key areas of effective modern recruitment include:

• Having a candidate screening process that relies on HR software that has been designed to fit your business model. Automated candidate screening and applicant tracking go a long way to streamlining the entire recruitment process without letting anyone important slip through the net.
• Making sure that applicants can be tracked through department’s recruitment processes and having key interviews by people who have been trained to handle and manage the interview process. This involves buy in from different departments and a centrally managed system of recruitment.
• Succession planning must be done in line with organisational objectives and management goals.
• Recruitment trends tend to change rapidly and a core function of effective recruiters is to keep up to date with the advances and changes in recruitment. Technology especially, plays a large part in the effective recruitment of individuals to your business.

Having an effective HR software system in your business will do a lot to streamline the overall process and bring every department into a single system of recruitment and selection. Using an applicant tracking system is the best way to ensure that all of the pre-selected applicants are managed and handled effectively. 

UNDERPERFORMING EMPLOYEES TO TOP PERFORMERS

Decreased performance arises from employees simply not doing what they know needs to be done. This means that the training is correct, but the application and motivation is not. So if the employee is fit for the job, but not applying himself/herself fully: What can be done to rectify the situation? and how can an employer reduce the risk of this happening?

Firstly, organisation’s need to be pro-active than reactive, when it comes to underperformance. When an employee begins to slide in performance levels, it can be difficult to stop, and in many cases impossible. So how can a company be pro-active? While it can be difficult to foresee a downturn in an employee’s performance,  there is one option that greatly minimizes this risk. Systematic and perpetual evaluation systems are a perfect solution for this problem. These give an indication on how employees will act and behave in certain situations. Depending on the type of role, can be very successful in screening candidates that would not react in the manner the role requires them to.

The proper use of check lists can also minimise ineptitude related problems. The check lists are quite extensive, 

The continues review system can be viewed as an automated check list. From job descriptions, job posting, screening and ranking, employee evaluation, requisition procedures, applicant tracking software incorporates a recruiter’s checklist in the most logical manner.

Another method to ensure that you avoid ineptitude in your work force is to be very clear from the outset what the person is required to do. Fluffy job specs may appear superficially to be very clever, but can be a factor in a low performing employee down the line. Why would the person want to work for the company? And what is expected of them in that particular role. Failure to be clear and concise often come back to haunt an organisation.

What is clear is that there is no one clear cut method to avoid low-performance in the work place. However, it is apparent that there are a number of steps that can be taken to reduce the risk of this occurring. To maximise return from their investment managers will have to select the best option for their business. This means that only the most suitable applicants will be considered for the roles advertised.

Ways to grow your business on your budget

As a small business owner you want to get as much growth for your business without having to break the bank. Merely surviving is not good enough for small business owners, especially in a shaky economy. SMEs need to continually look for ways of growing their businesses.

Growth OPPORTUNITIES

• Don’t rely on success. Many small business owners come up with one or two excellent ideas that prove successful. True entrepreneurs know that diversity is the key to growth. Look at your business model and see where you can expand within your market. Can you offer your clients something a little different? Growth in a new direction may even have a spin-off effect on your existing business. Don’t be afraid to try something new.
• PR for Free. If you’re looking for the cheapest form of advertising, have a look at your PR. Publicity about your business will always help cement your paid marketing efforts. Is there anything newsworthy about your business or about yourself as an entrepreneur? Encourage other people to carry your message for free. PR can be time consuming, but if you have something exciting happening in your business, let the world know.
• Marketing Madness. You do NOT have to spend a massive amount of money to reap the rewards of an effective marketing strategy. The use of social media, online networking and web marketing can be handled in-house. You could consider using ‘Pay-per-click’ advertising if you’re looking for targeted traffic to your site. It’s a manageable expense for many businesses.
• Recruit Right. If you’re looking for growth within your business, especially after a recession, you need to hire the right people to boost your bottom line. Invest in a good recruitment software package to save you a huge amount of time and admin during your hiring process. If you really want to expand, but cannot afford to hire a salaried employee right now, then consider hiring a sales person who works on commission only.
• Client Consolidation. You won’t grow by doing the same amount of work for your existing clients. You need to actively seek new clients to promote growth. More importantly, you need to look for bigger clients, with greater needs and larger budgets.

Why Traditional forecasting Doesn't work

If you have a $100.000.000 in the bank, drive new Lexus, look like a movie star and have a perfect health save yourself some time and do not read this article. This article is for people, who don’t have all these things, but are  planning on changing that slight

I

inconvenience. So how do you change it?

Every January millions and millions of people decide to start better and healthier life. We plan to change so many things and set so many goals. “I will exercise at least three times a week”, “I will spend more time with my family”, “I will find a better job”, “I will stop smoking” the list goes on and on. Now if you know anything about goal setting, you’ll know that the first thing you have to do is to write down your goals on a piece of paper. Then you have to decide step-by-step how you are going to achieve those goals and form a plan of action as detailed as possible. All you have to do just follow the plan.

That’s a great theory, which hardly happens in reality. In reality your  enthusiasm and concentration lasts a couple of weeks and than everyday routine gets to you. You skip an exercise here, get frustrated and smoke a cigarette there, or start jumping from one goal to another and at the end of the year nothing ever gets done or achieved.

Why this theory alone doesn’t work.

1.                   We often have so many goals it is hard to know where to start and how to proceed

2.                   We continually jump at different goals and as a result nothing gets done

3.               We don’t have enough will power to follow through

Due to all these reasons you need a very strong motivator. Something that will pull, push or drag you forward. There is only one thing powerful enough  to  do that and it’s a VISION.

You’ll still have to write all of your goals down. Then take that piece of paper and envision yourself after achieving all these goals. In order to succeed you have to become a person capable of succeeding, you have to start thinking like that person, act like that person.

Make yourself truly believe that you are looking into your future through the crystal ball. Remember every little detail - expression on your friends’ faces, proud look in you parents eyes. Feel the warm breeze on your face, smell the salty air of the ocean, imagine your new house on the beach.

You need to create a vision so powerful, so desirable, so compelling that it draws all your energy and motivation to it. It has to become an obsession. You have to feel something that a person finding an oasis in the middle of the desert would feel. Absolute excitement and complete determination. Then any goal becomes possible.

Why Traditional forecasting Doesn't work

If you have a $100.000.000 in the bank, drive new Lexus, look like a movie star and have a perfect health save yourself some time and do not read this article. This article is for people, who don’t have all these things, but are  planning on changing that slight

I

inconvenience. So how do you change it?

Every January millions and millions of people decide to start better and healthier life. We plan to change so many things and set so many goals. “I will exercise at least three times a week”, “I will spend more time with my family”, “I will find a better job”, “I will stop smoking” the list goes on and on. Now if you know anything about goal setting, you’ll know that the first thing you have to do is to write down your goals on a piece of paper. Then you have to decide step-by-step how you are going to achieve those goals and form a plan of action as detailed as possible. All you have to do just follow the plan.

That’s a great theory, which hardly happens in reality. In reality your  enthusiasm and concentration lasts a couple of weeks and than everyday routine gets to you. You skip an exercise here, get frustrated and smoke a cigarette there, or start jumping from one goal to another and at the end of the year nothing ever gets done or achieved.

Why this theory alone doesn’t work.

1.                   We often have so many goals it is hard to know where to start and how to proceed

2.                   We continually jump at different goals and as a result nothing gets done

3.               We don’t have enough will power to follow through

Due to all these reasons you need a very strong motivator. Something that will pull, push or drag you forward. There is only one thing powerful enough  to  do that and it’s a VISION.

You’ll still have to write all of your goals down. Then take that piece of paper and envision yourself after achieving all these goals. In order to succeed you have to become a person capable of succeeding, you have to start thinking like that person, act like that person.

Make yourself truly believe that you are looking into your future through the crystal ball. Remember every little detail - expression on your friends’ faces, proud look in you parents eyes. Feel the warm breeze on your face, smell the salty air of the ocean, imagine your new house on the beach.

You need to create a vision so powerful, so desirable, so compelling that it draws all your energy and motivation to it. It has to become an obsession. You have to feel something that a person finding an oasis in the middle of the desert would feel. Absolute excitement and complete determination. Then any goal becomes possible.

Planning is key

           The necessity for planning arises because of the fact that business organisations have to operate, survive                   and progress in a highly dynamic economy where change is the rule, not the exception. The change may be                        sudden and extensive, or it may be slow and almost imperceptible. Some of the important forces of change may be: changes  in technology, changes in population and income distribution, changes in the tastes of consumers, changes in competition, changes in government policies etc.  These changes often give rise to innumerable problems and throw countless challenges. Most of these changes are thrust on managers thus, managers are forced to adjust their activities in order to take full advantage of favourable developments or to minimise the adverse effects of unfavourable ones. Successful managers try to visualise the  problems before they turn into emergencies. As pointed out by Terry, “successful  managers deal with foreseen problems, and unsuccessful managers struggle with unforeseen problems. The difference lies in planning.” Managers charged with the responsibility of achieving definite targets, do not wait for future. They make the  future. They introduce original action by removing present difficulties, anticipating future problems, changing the goals to suit the internal and external changes, experiment with creative ideas and take the initiative, attempting to shape the future and create a more desirable environment