This post is going to be about why some dates never led to anything more. Sorry, if you were one of them and you read this. Yes it is personal. Yes it is you, not me!
I did not think my birth story was any special compared to any other woman’s but here I am! I was terrified of giving birth. Mostly terrified about having a C-section in case I would be able to push the baby out myself.
As a mother-to-be, your body is going through an incredible transformation as it nurtures and grows your baby. One of the biggest concerns for many expecting moms is the issue of weight gain. It's important to understand that weight gain during pregnancy is a normal and necessary part of the process, but that doesn't mean it's easy to deal with. Here are some tips and advice for moms-to-be who are struggling with the prospect of weight gain
This is the list of hospital bag items I ended up with and those you should definitely shamelessly steal from the hospital!
During my contractions monitoring they noticed a worrisome pattern. My baby’s heart rate would decelerate with every contractions .
It happens. I am sure that by the time it does, that is the last thing on one’s mind. However, when my baby was born, one of my first questions to my husband was: did I poop?
When I was a little girl living in Bamako, Mali, I used to wander in the neighborhood, discover places, get lost, get scared and find my way again. It was one of the happiest times of my life.
When people cannot equate what your do with money they get nervous and start judging you. I have experienced this as a blogger in my relatively short blogging life. “why are you doing this?”, “I hope you work pro-bono because I can’t afford you”, “where are you going with this”, “why are you trying this”, “OMG. How are you going to survive? I heard you quit your job?! (I did not)”.
I used to think about business travels as this exotic experience or luxuriating in first class lounges with plenty of time to visit landmarks after client meetings. Then I started my career in consulting and realized that movies are wrong!
Let’s face it, starting a business is scary. It is one of the biggest commitments you will make in your life and failure to launch will be one of the most public disappointments.
There will be many posts with insights about leading business practices. There will also be a few cautionary posts like this one. This post is most relevant to new entrepreneurs or people planning to start their new business. Mark this down and revisit this often as you plan. Share it a contact or a friend who will benefit from it.
If you have been in business for yourself for a 5+ years, you have probably mastered these points and you may want to take a trip down memory lane and appreciate how far you’ve come.
1. Being anchored to your idea: Many entrepreneurs start with the wrong idea. Successful ones invest in market research and independent reviews of the viability of their business ideas, and are willing to change and move on to the next idea as required.
Can I say friends and family will look you in the eye, hold your hand, and lie to you? If you do not believe me, see the video below as reminder. These people were told they had a great talent for singing by someone close to them.
Successful entrepreneurs are those who do not only back up their ideas with research and data, but go further by showing flexibility in changing them, discarding them and pursuing the most viable option. Even if your idea is a brand new one with zero data available, get creative about proxy data that shows some indication for success. I will write about this in more details.
2. Not covering your legal and regulatory bases: “Dude, is your business even legal?” it sounds funny right? But it won’t be once you get sued, fined, shutdown, or worst case scenario, when you face gross negligence or criminal charges. Are there regulatory restrictions that will prevent your business from operating as intended? What are the legal and regulatory risks associated with your business and how can you mitigate them? Are there specific consumer protections laws your business should abide by? If so, how should they be reflected in your contracts? These basic questions should be answered first before you even start drafting your business plan.
3. The employee mindset: Getting a job is about being paid to fulfill a specific mandate, task, project at least for most people. You may get lucky and actually have a job that you also enjoy. As a business owner, you do not have the luxury to collect a recurrent paycheck to do something finite you have to be willing to constantly learn and be uncomfortable. You need to adjust your mindset and commit to work on your business, not simply in it, before defining tasks or delegating them on anyone else.
4. No prior apprenticeship: It is one thing to be great at making art, but it is something completely different to actually run an art gallery. Sometimes taking a job in the industry one wants to thrive in is the first critical step. Get a showroom, sales, or a managerial role at your future competition and pay close attention to the success factors and gaps they are unaware of.
5. The fear of being alone: It will not help you in relationships; it may be the end of you in business. Yes, it worked “some people” but do you really want to take the chance? Do not get a partner for comfort and give up equity to someone who do not have any skin in the game or who have not clearly demonstrated his or her value or commitment to your business. Do not confuse “partners” with “resources” or “supporters This is a topic I want to write more about in the future.
6. Thinking it is all about your product: This comes as a surprise to many. You think if you have a great product or your service is unbeatable, you have a business. Not! It is your brand, your back-office resources, your supporters/customers and their own desires/agendas that make the product successful. This is also true in the not-for-profit area. You may still make the mistake to think you are selling tickets to a fundraising gala but that is not what your attendees are buying into.
7. Thinking it is all about the price: Sustainability in about so much more than your product pricing. It is about making a profit! Many new entrepreneurs will refuse to admit they do not know the difference. That is a big topic to be discussed in details. For the sake of simplicity, know that revenue is the income generated from sale of goods or services based on the sales price. A profit is the money you have left after covering all the costs involved to generate that revenue including cost of good sold, salaries and taxes. Pick smaller revenues with larger profit margins by managing costs and using business processes accelerators.
8. Did I mention managing costs? Let me clarify: do not cut your way to success. Invest what is necessary to bring in new business; do not save a few pennies on quality or marketing or by short-changing employees and contractors.
9. Hiring cheap: You get what you pay for. It is best to wait until your revenues allows to skillful resources. Hiring the wrong employee will ruin your reputation and deter repeat business among many other disasters.
10. Not measuring anything: You must know your numbers as you cannot control what do you do not know, and most importantly, you cannot learn from it to continue growing your business by getting investors to buy into your story. This goes beyond basic accounting requirements. Develop operational and other success measures from day 1 including customers, referral sources, costs on inputs.
What mistakes have made (and learnt from) as a new entrepreneur? Share them with us. Disagree with any of the points above? Let me know!