Entrepreneurship:

First-time entrepreneurs and business builders tend to be big-picture people. They envision the future of their companies, the missions they will strive to uphold, the revenue targets they may someday reach. However, a failure to attend to the smaller details - like tracking your technology purchases or creating policies for how employees fulfill their responsibilities - can hamper your firm's maturation and development into an organization that clients and...

It may seem problem solving activities start when an error or disruption in operations prompts leaders to notice a weakness or disparity that must be fixed. This would mean problem solving only takes place in a reactionary state, forcing entrepreneurs to sit and wait for something to go wrong before they can use skills and determination to correct the error. In actuality, problem solving extends well beyond responding to an interruption to business...

A well-thought-out business plan is one of the first steps entrepreneurs must complete when launching an enterprise. Business builders must devise a strategy to translate a new concept into a tangible venture to generate revenue while disrupting a market in a positive way. Business plans help entrepreneurs run their organizations better by outlining what operations will allow the firm to run smoothly and enable growth. Business plans guide major decisions in the...

In the early days of starting your business, it may seem as if the costs associated with setting up the office and establishing a client base are too much to track. Perhaps you think it is easier to simply spend whatever you need, pursue as many sales as possible, and determine the windfall (or losses) later on. Failing to track your expenses and earnings at the outset of the business, however, creates poor habits and makes it difficult to determine...

It is an easy trap for an entrepreneur to fall into - believing that there are certain activities that can only be completed by the business owner. In reality, there are probably a lot fewer tasks that must be performed by you than you think. It's time to take a hard look at your daily schedule. While it may require a bit of humility, you must admit to yourself that your employees CAN take on some of the responsibilities that you previously thought only you...

Large, publicly traded U.S. corporations have the Securities and Exchange Commission, as well as their shareholders, to hold them accountable to their performance and regulatory compliance. But what about smaller firms that have yet to launch an initial public offering? Who is ensuring that they engage in equal hiring practices, run their accounting honestly and give back to the community, all while reporting annual growth? It may sometimes seem as if there is...

As 2012 came to a close, a young man working as a trader for UBS in London was sentenced to seven years behind bars for committing fraud. He engaged in unauthorized trading that ended in a $2.3 billion loss, which he and his lawyers had argued was a result of corporate culture and management attitudes that encouraged risky activities if they delivered profits. This situation is a sad affair. The man, Kweku Adoboli, will be going to jail, the banking industry...

When surveying your business, do you assess the individual components of operations, marketing, sales and client relationship management? Or do you simply look at it as a whole? To get a clear sense of which aspects of your company are performing well and which ones need to be closely monitored and improved, it is better to inspect the five elements that create a high-performing business. As I explain in The Entrepreneurial Journey , these are your vision,...

I have dedicated several recent blog posts to the importance of creating a multi-faceted business plan, which may seem excessive until one realizes how integral this document is to the strategy and direction your business takes. These plans are comprised of four parts: business definition, objectives, operational strategies and financial management. The final major portion of the business plan is very closely related to the operational strategy, as your finances...

Consider the reason most entrepreneurs made the switch from employee to business builder . In many cases, apart from wanting to pursue a mission they could not achieve working for someone else, these business owners have started independent organizations in pursuit of a lifestyle they could not access previously. But all too often, these entrepreneurs find themselves working endless hours in their business, with no time to work on it or create a system that...

Entrepreneurs are ambitious, hard-working professionals looking to build a company from the ground up. Whether their business concepts develop into a financial advisory firm or a new IT company, how they market the enterprise is often very much the same. There are traditional channels for communicating with clients, and there are more modern platforms that focus on cost-efficient interactivity to drive business without a large investment. Such tactics rely...

When starting a business, entrepreneurs must devise strategies to reach out to clients to drive business and increase profits. The marketing tactics most widely adopted by modern business builders aim to leverage IT solutions, social media platforms and digital communication tools to engage tech-savvy clientele with convenient communications. Marketing teams are looking to Facebook, Twitter, emails and online videos to create open discussions with clients and...

When first establishing a business, it may seem easier to address issues as you work and create solutions within the context of each problem. However, as you build the firm and grow your team, it is wise to create a set of standards regarding employee conduct and company policies. Not only does this bring a degree of uniformity to your operations, it enables you to fairly manage the team and gives you a point of reference when employee or client conflicts arise....

When you are a business builder , you likely have a lot of goals and dreams for the future of the organization. However, keeping those aspirations a secret will not result in any change. Entrepreneurs may be independent people, but they cannot achieve great feats alone. In order to turn your one-, three- and 10-year goals into a reality, you will need to gather a team of employees and supporters and share your vision with them. How to get your teams excited...

In any business, regardless of industry, the C-suite's main role is to provide the broader vision for the enterprise and determine the corporate culture. Essentially, the attitudes of CEOs, CFOs and other leading executives will serve as an example for those operating beneath them. This is why it is so important for top leaders to create and follow a set of ethical guidelines, which can then trickle down to the managers and team members who oversee the...

Entrepreneurs who have been working in a specific market for many years may sometimes feel as if they have hit a glass ceiling. If you think you have targeted as many clients as possible in your niche, it may be time to reflect on other markets or ideal client profiles whose needs you have not yet addressed. Consider your current areas of expertise and how these could catapult you into other related areas. With a new year on the horizon, there are new...

As our team prepares for our upcoming Pinnacle Conference , I look forward to sharing with our audience how entrepreneurs can create a business model that enables growth. In my experience, a number of business owners go into work on a daily basis without considering how what they do that day will impact their organizations one, three, or 10 years in the future. This can lead business owners to the organizational equivalent of spinning tires: They are...

Sometimes running a business can feel like you have been thrown overboard from a ship. If you just tread water to stay afloat and maintain daily operations, you will not make any progress toward the shore. After a while you will get exhausted and sink. However, if you set a destination and start swimming to it, you will eventually get there and survive. We have a saying here at The Covenant Group that we try to impress upon every one of our clients: "The...

What makes being a  business builder , considering all the stress, long hours and headaches associated with the job, worth it? At least partially, it is the freedom and ability to define the role you want to play in your own company. Although your primary focus at first may be getting your organization off the ground, you will need to gradually extrapolate yourself from the lower-stratum, day-to-day duties in order to dedicate more time to the business...

With the development of smartphones, text messaging capabilities, email, social media and other tools, it is easier than ever to communicate with people in the next room or around the world. So why has the quality of communication in business declined? Professional communications has been a hot subject on this blog in recent weeks. Anthony Lam discussed the proper way to send client emails in " Managing and Navigating Client Relationships Via Email "...