Do Business Well

You have a brilliant idea and a huge market. You have started your business. Now how do you keep the show on the road?

It is not difficult to run a business. There are only a few very easy and basic rules to follow. A common mistake is to become overwhelmed by details in the beginning, preventing you from really getting off the ground. Remember, you can learn as you go along.

One of the most important reasons why people highlight the details is on business must appear “complete” and thus give as much information as possible. However, a large percentage of the information is not important in the early stages - often for the first few years. Continue Reading »

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Many of us know what we want, but we still don’t take the necessary steps to get it. Even when we want it very badly, we often give ourselves as many hoops to jump through as possible to put off the most painful or difficult steps. We desperately want to achieve our goals and dreams, and yet we use avoidance behavior to protect ourselves from our irrational fears. We want the perks without paying the price. We want improved circumstances without improving ourselves. We live each day waiting and dreaming and hoping for the stars to line up in our favor or for the winning lottery number. If this describes you, it’s time to take a long, serious look in the mirror. That day will never come while you’re waiting. It will only come when you bite the bullet and do what has to be done. I love what Richard Taylor, author of The Disciplined Life, has to say about this: Continue Reading »

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The problem does not have to be solved for the conflict to be resolved.

`Hogwash!’ you exclaim. ‘That doesn’t make sense!’ Let’s take a closer look.

Many people find it surprising that the path to harmony winds through a jungle where anger, resentment and similar ‘negative’ feelings flourish. You have noticed that this does not discourage the expression of these feelings — it permits their ventilation. This contradicts popular admonitions to ‘put on a happy face’ and ‘be logical’. Continue Reading »

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As you might expect, conventional wisdom tells a rather different story. First, it spins us this tale: You can be anything you want to be if you hold on to your dreams and work hard. The person you feel yourself to be every day is not the real You. No, the real You is deep inside, hidden by your fears and discouragements. If you could free yourself of these fears, if you could truly believe in yourself, then the real You would be released. Your potential would burst out. The giant would awaken. Continue Reading »

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Overcoming our fears means that any dilemmas that may arise in our lives disappear, as situations are perceived differently. Once again, however, what in truth is simple is often difficult to accept. The situations that each of us creates by our fears should be viewed as blessings, each with a role to play. All bring us the same opportunity to learn to release our fears and allow love to emerge in their place.

Each time you confront and conquer your fears you are allowing your true conscience to grow in influence. In doing so you avoid failures and, indeed, view any setbacks as valuable lessons when encountered. People with high self-esteem and no fears about their own worth are excellent people to work for and with. Continue Reading »

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To open doors we need the vision of those who have gone ahead to inspire us — role models. We need a lift-up from those already in positions of power and influence — sponsors. We need the ear of those more experienced than us — mentors. We need the helping hands of those around us — our support network. And, last but not least, we need to remember to help others who are walking the path some distance behind us.

Wanted: role models

As you begin to develop your career, look around you for positive role models. Our generation of career-orientated women has had some difficulty in finding role models who are suited to the new challenges that we face. Continue Reading »

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The one thing that every person has in common is the amount of time they have in an hour — sixty minutes. Depending on individual priorities, the manner in which these same periods are spent is infinite in choice. Amazingly though, and despite efficient management of time, the majority of our achievement and happiness takes place in a short space of time. Using the unit of one hour as a reference point, ten minutes is utilised in channelling our energy proactively, while fifty minutes is wasted in using our energy reactively. With the majority of our energy absorbed through involvement with such draining elements, it is no surprise that there is so much fatigue and depression.

Every waking hour takes you either towards fulfilling your particular speciality, or away from it. There is no neutral, only forwards or backwards. Channelling your energy has nothing to do with keeping in balance, which is more to do with restoring energy that has been drained. Continue Reading »

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All of us are mediocre at many things, are good at some, excel at fewer and have the ability to become world class at a few. This is because for every natural strength we are born with, we have countless weaknesses. Having a strength is not the opposite of having a weakness, however. Like success and failure, or health and illness, each follows a particular pattern. But where experiencing failure may be the stumbling block on the natural path to success, seeking improved strength through fixing weakness is very much the wrong path. Fixing weaknesses to improve an individual or business is a fallacy. None the less, it is a practice that is consistently applied throughout schools and all forms of business — to find out what is weak and ensure its removal through concentrated effort. This practice is based on the belief that existing strengths will continue to develop on their own. Therefore, if you want to become the most effective you can be, only spend time e on those areas that are holding you back. Continue Reading »

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The Logic of the Game

To the hotel Manager, the Boss’s game was a good one, so he learned how to play it. It was a simple game, but effective. It was built on the following logic:

Most people today are not getting what they want. Not from their jobs, not from their families, not from their religion, not from their government, and, most important, not from themselves.

Something is missing in most of our lives.

Part of what’s missing is purpose. Values. Worthwhile standards against which our lives can be measured. Part of what’s missing is a Game Worth Playing. What’s also missing is a sense of relationship. People suffer in isolation from one another.

In a world without purpose, without meaningful values, what have we to share but our emptiness, the needy fragments of our superficial selves? Continue Reading »

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According to research company Forrester (www.forrester.com), two-thirds of e-Shopping transactions are aborted after the shopper has already placed goods in the shopping basket, and nine out of ten buyers do not make a repeat purchase. e-Retailers need to make the purchasing process reliable, easy to use and efficient, removing the reasons for abandoning purchases. Human contact needs to be available to sort out problems — at least by email, but preferably also with a phone option. A software device such as HyPhone from Byzantium allows ‘phone- through’ without dropping the Internet connection (www.byzantium.com during office hours for a live demonstration). Continue Reading »

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