As the times change, more and more individuals are seeking entrepreneurship than ever before. The need for financial security is steadily increasing day by day. But it is those that have that feeling of serious entrepreneurship deep inside that are leading the pack today.

I recently read an article that stated 600,000 job losses are happening on a monthly based as of now, 2009. But also, incredibly 600,000 business are being started in the same time frame, proving the fact that entrepreneurs are forming by the hundred on a daily basis. It is those that know the secrets of serious entrepreneurship that will succeed and grow a business allowing them to become financially independent.

The ability to maintain focus on a goal is crucial to the success of an entrepreneur. As the saying goes, “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” One must keep a laser focus on the striving and reaching your reason “why”, your set goal for becoming a serious entrepreneur, with a set plan that will get you there. Those with the drive of serious entrepreneurship set themselves for success by having the right mindset. Maintaining your mind clear and focused can allow you to accomplish things you might have thought to never be possible and reach goals in business and life you thought were unreachable. Focus is the key. Like a batter at home base focused on the pitcher, this is how you should be focused on your business.

Secondly, a serious entrepreneur should also be able to become flexible to circumstances in their business environment. Fear of failure should not become the reason why any entrepreneur stops short of reaching their goal. Just as in gardening, planting a seed does not guarantee that a healthy and fruitful plant will grow. A serious, professional entrepreneur will now that it will take hard work and dedication to achieve a healthy and fruitful business. One cannot succeed without failure, for that is the only way to move forward. No wealthy business owner can honestly say that they have never failed. It is those that get up after they have fallen that will succeed.

Finally, you must, in business or in any factor of life, have the ability to stay true to your audience. A serious entrepreneur will know the difference in character from those that are not honest and true, not only in their business relationship, but also to them. I speak from experience, as a new entrepreneur, we tend to become someone we’re not. Afraid of what others will think of you if they really got to know you. Afraid that once they knew the real you, that relationship that was built on a business foundation will be destroyed and the entrepreneur be left to begin again. We have to remember, we can only be one person in our lifetime, ourselves. We should not be ashamed of who we are, but proud of what we have accomplished and what we will accomplish in the future.

With all that has been said here, I would personally like to say that as I am writing this article, I am still working a full time job, maintaining a roof over my family’s head, and raising a beautiful son that has given me the inspiration to become a serious entrepreneur myself.

God Bless and Success to All of You,

by Pablo Gonzalez

Edited by Admin.

After a 16 year career in the automotive industry, economic situations forced Pablo to make a decision, whether to continue on the rat race or to finally take that extra step in getting out. Since that day, life hasn’t been the same.

Original article source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=P._Gonzalez

Myth #1) Structure spoils spontaneity.

I once attended a two-day long disaster that easily cost over $40,000. Thirty people spent the first hour seeking an issue to discuss, then spent the next 15 hours arguing over insolvable problems. When I asked the manager who called the meeting, “Where’s the agenda?” the reply was, “I didn’t want to spoil the spontaneity by imposing a structure.”

Reality: If spontaneity were a universally sound business practice we would build buildings without blueprints. Of course, no smart business leader works without a plan.

The Fix: Set a goal and then prepare an agenda. Ideally, this agenda should be so clear, complete, and specific that someone else could use it to lead the meeting to obtain the accomplish the goal.

Myth #2: Since it’s my meeting I should do all the talking.

Some meetings are run like a medieval court. The chairperson sits on a verbal throne while the subjects sit in respectful silence. The big talker justifies this by thinking: if the other people in the meeting knew anything worthwhile, they’d be leading the meeting.

Reality: If you’re the only one talking, you’re working too hard. In addition, realize that most people protect themselves from extended monologues by sending their thoughts off on a holiday. That is, no one is paying attention to you: they’re busy daydreaming, doodling, or dreaming.

The Fix: Convey large amounts of information by a memo or email. Then call a meeting based on participant driven activities that test or reinforce comprehension.

Myth #3: Meetings are free.

Most meetings are paid for with soft money. That is, it’s money that has already been spent for wages. In addition, no purchase request is necessary. No budget needs to be approved. All someone has to do is call a meeting.

Reality: Meetings are very expensive. They use people’s time, and payroll is the largest part of running a business. When people hold bad meetings, they waste the most important resource in a business - the time people that spend working to earn a profit for the company.

The Fix: Design meetings to earn a profit. After all, a meeting is a business activity, not a company picnic.

Action is the single most effective antidote to depression, anxiety, stress, fear, worry, guilt, and of course, immobility. It is virtually impossible to be depressed and active at the same time. Even if you wanted to, it is difficult to keep on moping, complaining, lolling around and wallowing in self-pity if you get active and do something. Anything! Just doing is such an important part of being a fully functioning person.

In fact, that lack of action is not a result of depression; it is the cause. Don’t be paralyzed by the fear of making a mistake. Taking action, gives you momentum. Initiating the effort attracts opportunities and synergistic things happen.

Inactivity, on one hand, is most often a choice rather than an inescapable fact of life, while action is a definite way to avoid being victimized by yourself or others. If you decide to do something about your problem or challenge, rather than grumble about it, you’ll be on the road to changing things around for yourself. When you take action, you also take control. Thinking keeps you a prisoner of the past. Action puts you in control of the future.

If you find yourself asking, “Yes, but what can I do” the answer is very, very simple. Anything is a lot more effective than nothing.

This old proverb has a lot of truth in it: Even when you are on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there.

The 80-20 rule was first discovered by Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto a hundred years ago.  Using this knowledge is incredibly powerful in combating the “not enough hours in the day” mentality of today’s society.

The 80-20 rule means that in any area of our lives, literally 80 percent of our fruits are derived from only 20 percent of doing “what matters”. In other words, there is only a very small portion of all that we do each day, regardless of the situation, that brings us the “higher return”.

How can you benefit from being aware of this principle? Implementing a strategy based on the 80-20 rule can result in greater wealth and greater leisure time? Just imagine how productive you will be if 80% of your time could be spent on productive activities. You have to realise that the things that matters most should never be at the mercy of activities that matter least.

Here are 5 Steps to maximumise your productivity:

1) Keep a work log for at least a week

Write down all of your activities and the time spent doing them. I appreciate this is time consuming initially but it is essential you get a true picture of your working week.

2) Analyse your activities

Separate your activities into high priority - those that produce a return or where only you have the skills to do the work - and low priority - activities others can do where the activity can be delegated to support staff. You will almost certainly find that you are spending most of your time on low-priority activities rather than activities directly providing a return. In almost all businesses these non productive activities tend to absorb time at a far greater rate than they should.

3) Delegate non productive activities

Once you can identify the low priority activities delegate as many as possible to support staff providing training where required. If necessary employ an additional member of staff to take responsibilities - the cost will be more than offset by your improved productivity. There may be a number of low priority activities you are tempted to keep. Unless it is absolutely unavoidable don’t be tempted and don’t get involved in non productive activities or your productivity will fall.

4) Calculate the time required for any remaining low priority activities

Once you have delegated all that you can, your next step is to calculate how much time you should be spending on the remaining low priority activities to make maximum use of your productive time. Do not work disproportionately hard at these low priority activities and set aside specific time each day or week to complete them.

5) Prioritise your remaining activities

Once you have cleared out the activities that do not bring you any return, it is time to turn your attention to the activities in your life that are bringing the most reward. Prioritise your activities and concentrate most of your time just on a few high-priority activities.

The objective throughout is to maximize your results from the areas of high return and to delegate those activities that have a low return. Having to spend a disproportionate amount of time on non productive activities is a major source of stress for many businessmen. Delegating these activities will therefore have the added benefit of reducing the stress you are under. It is all about doing less work for greater return.

For more success in life, whether that is more money, more time with your family or just making time for golf you should start implementing the 80-20 rule immediately. It will help your career as well as your personal life and, as a bonus, following the 80-20 rule day in and day out can make you very wealthy over the long term.

(1). Have a Solid Plan — Then Change It

Most business start-up stories say that you have to have a business plan. And you do. But that’s not the beginning and end of figuring out your start-up costs.

Jeff Shuman, who directs entrepreneurial studies at Bentley College, says, “The conventional wisdom is that an entrepreneur sees an opportunity, comes up with a business plan to capitalise on it, determines the capital that needs to be raised, raises the capital and then applies it to building the business described in the business plan.”

There’s one major problem with that model, says Shuman. It all hinges on getting the business right the first time, and that doesn’t often happen. “In reality, it’s likely that some of your initial assumptions are pretty good and others aren’t going to be worth the paper they’re written on,” he says.

Shuman and others say that figuring out your start-up costs means regularly reviewing your assumptions and changing your initial model. Writing a plan is good because it forces you to write down everything you are going to need to start your business.

But that initial plan is likely to change repeatedly as you learn new things and incorporate them into the plan.

(2). Be Willing to Pull Back

It’s tempting to add up everything you need for the full-fledged business you imagine, and decide it’s what you need to start out.

But pulling back and looking for a smaller model can give you a way to get started while also saving money. Shuman uses the example of someone who calculates the total cost of starting a retail business in a local shopping centre.

“You could start that way and write a business plan based on that amount,” he says. “But maybe you’d be better off renting a stand and testing what the demand is for your products at that location.”

This consumer testing reduces your initial start-up costs. The result is that the initial cycle of your business is dedicated not so much to generating profits as to generating information. “With this, you can fund your business on a cycle-by-cycle basis,” Shuman says. “When you go for the second cycle and for expanding your business, the numbers are now based not on focus groups or surveys but on real-world experience.”

(3). Calculate Prices and Time Correctly

Calculating your initial cash flow is part of figuring out your start-up costs. It’s an area where businesses are sometimes less optimistic than they should be. “Small business owners may under-price their product or service, thinking they have to come in at the lowest price point to compete,” says Barbara Bird, who chairs the business management program at an American university. “They don’t necessarily need to do that.”

(4). Correctly Estimate Your Start-up Time

Yes, when beginning a business, time can be money. Let’s say you’re going to have fixed costs such as a monthly lease. If you have to make improvements to a space before you can actually open for business, those fixed costs are going to be additional start-up costs until you can actually open for business. I’ve watched many entrepreneurs draw up a timeline for their ventures and get tripped up on the safety and inspection requirements imposed by local agencies.

For that reason, I think one of the first places a prospective new business owner should go is to the local government planning or license department. Construction permits and inspections can push a prospective opening date back by months. If you fail to take into account the cost of this time, you could be short of working capital right at the start.

(5). Be Realistic About the Cost of Money

Many small business owners finance their ventures by running up big balances on their personal credit cards. Others tap the equity in their homes.

But self-financing isn’t a practical option for larger ventures. Tom Emerson, who directs the entrepreneurship centre at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, says start-ups should figure in the cost of capital when determining initial expenses and cash flow. “The cost is usually based on what the interest would be, were that cash invested in something with similar risk on the market” Emerson says. “It’s usually a figure that is a few percentage points or more above the prime rate.”

Growth only comes when you realize it can happen. You will not grow if you are content or can’t see the future possibilities for growth.

Here are three easy ways that you can transform your business from the level it is at, into a profit making machine.

1. Always Track Statistics

This may seem obvious, but most people never do it. You should always track and gather as much information as possible. Track walk in customers, track purchases, evaulate marketing, monitor amount of purchases, frequent vistiors, non-buying prospects, etc.

With this knowledge you will be more informed as to how you marketing dollars are doing and where you can increase production.

2. Find People You Can Trust

For my websites I have one person that writes nearly full time for me. I can send her topics for articles or websites, and she does the research and writes well thought out articles. I can pay her in advance and know that she is going to be there when I need writing at the last minute.

You definitely need people you can trust as well. These people may be your managers, family members, or just friends who can help in a pinch.

3. Develop Your Passion

Sometimes I need to take a drive through the country to remember why I love what I am doing. It is easy to get caught up in the fray of customer service and deadlines, but for me the most productive time is always when I am out of my business element. Use this time away to revive your passion.

Next time you are thinking that it is not possible for your business to make money, remember and put these 3 easy tips into practice!