Small Business

Business intelligence (BI) is a set of theories, methodologies, architectures, and technologies that transform raw data into meaningful and useful information for business purposes. BI can handle enormous amounts of unstructured data to help identify, develop and otherwise create new opportunities. BI, in simple words, makes interpreting voluminous data friendly. Making use of new opportunities and implementing an effective strategy can provide a competitive market advantage and long-term stability. Wikipedia: 

The hardest thing about starting business is actually starting. Starting your own business is one of the most powerful ways to take control of your life and your financial situation.  You set your own hours, pursue projects that you find fulfilling. Best of all, you are responsible for how much you earn. And it doesn't necessarily mean quitting your day job either.

Two people set out with the same goal. Let us call them A and B. Let’s also say they both started the same business Recruitment Services, but with two differences one is location and the other is sector. A started in Delhi and B in Bangalore. A focused on Construction and Infrastructure sector because no one was doing.  B decided on IT industry because there are lot IT companies in Bangalore.

Both A and B started their small business outfit together and set a goal. They are going to send out 10 mails every day and planned  to meet  three clients every day who expressed an interest in their service, and their goal is to get those clients to start saying “yes”.

Both A and B start out motivated.. Then they check in with each other over the phone. “How’d you do?” A asks. B replies, “Well, they all said no” and vice versa.  

Neither one is ready to give up. They set out again the next day. They each contact three people, and then they check in. The result is same by the end of the day.

This pattern continues for couple of months. Then the scorpion (self-doubt) enters. B gets distracted.  B called A over the phone and said “I am not going anywhere; just got one recruitment, that is not enough. I have a family to support, so I am going to find a job.”

A replies, “Good luck friend,”. Thought A is not really making any more money than B, but he sees something that A doesn’t. With one Yes from a client got the passive income of Rs.50k, motivated him, to think “If I can get one Yes, I can get more”. With that resolution, A persisted. Each day, he continued the patter of meeting people. and most of them were still saying no. But things are changing. He was not making much money, but he senses that he’s about to break through.

Turns out, if you can get one person to say yes, you can get hundreds or thousands to say yes. Don’t give up. Get that first yes. From then, it’s just a matter of listening, learning, and continuing to ask.  

For A finds it took at least 6-18 months from when he started to get more Yes from clients After first 9 years of running his recruitment company, A is making the grand total of a little over his market value after paying to all his employees.

What made A to be successful and B to quit within short time. B went after IT sector hoping that there is huge niche and he can get his share without knowing plenty of people chasing the same. Whereas A took up a sector no one was doing, he created his own niche.  Just to tell all my readers, A is the author of this blog.

small-business

Here are 5 simple steps you can take to get on to the road for Small Business.

Start with Self-evaluation: Start with your small business model description and then note where your expertise can deliver the expectations. Then start thinking about what you do that makes clients happy and say “yes” first and continue to say “yes”

Analyze the industry: In many respects,  best chance for small business will come from picking the right industries, not the right companies.  Your analysis should always start with a "top-down" approach. After all, a lagging company in a winning industry is bound to fare better than a leading company in a lousy industry.  The key questions to ask are: Where are we in the economic cycle? And which industries and sectors tend to do well at in this stage of the cycle? 

Talk to an expert: Go and see a business adviser and throw your idea at them. See their response, the chances are that they will throw back some harsh comments on your ideas to add into your list of “things not to do”. Of course may help you identify the threats and opportunities in your small business.

Name your business: Choose a name for your small business, one that reflects what it’s all about. Naming a small business is like the foundation stone of a building. The entire building is aligned to that original stone. If it’s off, the rest of the building is off. By tapping your creativity you’ll we able to create a name that works for both the short and long term, like that foundation stone in the building.

Get Organised: Before you officially announce your small business, its best to get as prepared as possible. Set up workspace, set up a business bank account. Be totally ready for the moment with equipment like computers, printers and stationary. Trust me friends, preparation is key to start a small business. Believe in yourself self worth.

Do I believe that every single one of you can build a million-dollar business? I do. I just think most of you give up too quickly.” Read Self-worth

Self-Worth

“You can be the most beautiful person in the world and everybody sees light and rainbows when they look at you, but if you yourself don't know it, all of that doesn't even matter. Every second that you spend on doubting your worth, every moment that you use to criticize yourself; is a second of your life wasted, is a moment of your life thrown away. It's not like you have forever, so don't waste any of your seconds, don't throw even one of your moments away.” 

C.JoyBell

― C. JoyBell C. - Her words are quoted by movers and shakers of this age (people she often refers to as being "much bigger" than herself) and have become a genuine source of inspiration, transformation and discovery for many the world over. 

Maybe we often asked our self “How much am I worth?”  How much insurance money will I get after someone’s death, how much my father leave on his will? Etc.etc. Even though this is a weird question with no exact answer yet because there is no definite answers you would like to hear. But for me my self-worth is all about “SELF-CONFIDENCE” – “SELF-ESTEEM” – “SELF-RESPECT”

Any of the things that holding you back from pursuing any of your dreams for many years was fear of failure…..the lack of Self-Confidence. You needed to overcome that fear to know your “Self-Worth”. The key question is how do you overcome that fear.

If you are low in self-confidence, is it possible to do things that will change that? While it may not seem so, if you are low in self-confidence, I strongly believe that you can do things to increase your self-confidence. It is not genetic, and you do not have to be reliant on others to increase your self-confidence. And if you believe that you are not very competent, not very smart, not very attractive, etc. … that can be changed. You can become someone worthy of respect, and someone who can pursue what he wants despite the No-Saying of others.

From now on, I outline some things in the next 2/3 blogs  that will help you to improve your self-confidence.  The list certainly isn’t comprehensive. These are just some of my favorite things, stuff that’s worked for me. And you don’t need to do all of them, as if this were a recipe … pick and choose those that appeal to you, maybe just a couple at first, and give them a try.

If it worked, try other ideas also.  If it not worked, don’t worry try others idea. Here they are, in no particular order:

Think positive. One of the things I learned when I started my consultancy firm  about nine years ago, what how to replace negative thoughts (see next item) with positive ones. How I can actually change my thoughts, and by doing so make great things happened. With this tiny little skill, I was able to get maximum numbers assignment..

Kill negative thoughts. Goes hand-in-hand with the above item, but it’s so important that I made it a separate item. You have to learn to be aware of your self-talk, the thoughts you have about yourself and what you’re doing. When I was working or writing a HR policy, sometimes my mind would start to say, “This is too hard. I want to stop and go and meet some friends or a beer..” Well, I soon learned to recognize this negative self-talk, and soon I learned a trick that changed everything in my life: I would imagine that a negative thought was a termite, and I would vigilantly be on the lookout for these termites. When I caught one, I would stomp on it (mentally of course) and squash it. Kill it dead. Then replace it with a positive one. (“C’mon, I can do this! Half the work is done just another an hour work this assignment will over!”)

All are born knowing their self-worth; as life moves on, the comments, expectations, and attitudes of other people can wear down this natural sense of self-worth. Self-worth is what enables you to believe that everyone are capable of doing our best with their talents, of contributing well for business or work or to society, and that we deserve to lead a fulfilling life. Building it up again is therefore natural, essential, and healthy.

In the next couple of blogs let me explain what are other points to look into know you self-worth. Your self-worth is your insurance to your future.  Look forward to the next blog. 

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