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Tag: Business Lessons

  • I Founded a $1.5 Billion Business. Here’s My Success Secret. | Entrepreneur

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    This as-told-to story is based on a conversation with Shanaz Hemmati, COO and co-founder of ZenBusiness, a $1.5 billion company that provides an all-in-one platform helping small businesses become official, stay compliant, manage finances and more. Her co-founder is Ross Buhrdorf, who serves as CEO. The piece has been edited for length and clarity.

    Image Credit: Courtesy of ZenBusiness. Co-founder and COO Shanaz Hemmati.

    I always had an entrepreneurial spirit, but I never really thought about going off and starting my own business.

    At the University of Texas at Austin, I studied computer engineering, starting with hardware design before pivoting to software engineering. I truly love technology, and especially software engineering, because you’re coding to solve problems — I still love solving problems.

    Related: This Mom’s Creative Side Hustle Started As a Hobby With Less Than $100 — Then Grew Into a Business Averaging $570,000 a Month: ‘It’s Crazy’

    My husband’s an entrepreneur who’s always had his own businesses. He’d encourage me to start my own business, but I was too concerned. Sometimes women can think too hard about doing something; that’s what held me back from becoming an entrepreneur.

    For women in male-dominated fields, it’s important to seek out mentors who can help you from their experience, even if their journey looked different from yours. You can bounce ideas off them and ask them questions. Mentorship pushes you, but it also gives you assurance and confidence.

    Over the course of my career, I learned so much, which helped me when I made the leap to founder.

    “Small businesses are what keep the economy growing.”

    I first met my ZenBusiness co-founder Ross Buhrdorf when we worked at Excite.com, a web portal company founded in 1994. Several years later, I joined HomeAway, a vacation rental marketplace, where I stayed for 11 years until the company was acquired by Expedia.

    Later on, Ross and I met up for coffee, and he started talking about this idea of building something to help entrepreneurs and people who are starting small businesses. I was intrigued and excited. I’d always been passionate about that category in the market: Small businesses are what keep the economy growing and going.

    Related: I Walked Away From a Corporate Career to Start My Own Small Business — Here’s Why You Should Do the Same

    So Ross and I founded ZenBusiness in 2017.

    When it comes to a fast-growing company like ours, we have so many things on our to-do list, but we don’t always have the resources to get them done at the same time, so we have to prioritize.

    AI has been one of those priorities. Everybody in business should be using it these days. It’s a great tool that saves time once you get employees on board and using it based on their role and function. Our personalized AI assistant, ZenBusiness Velo, is included with every LLC formation and helps entrepreneurs start and grow their businesses.

    Related: Two-Thirds of Small Businesses Are Already Using AI — Here’s How to Get Even More Out of It

    “It all comes down to this — people are at the center of any great company.”

    For a long time, I’ve had this mantra that’s helped me succeed as a business leader: Be fearless, be ethical, be passionate.

    Being fearless means recognizing that nothing is ever going to be perfect, but you just do it anyway. Being ethical means always being honest, to yourself, to your co-workers, to anyone. And being passionate is everything. Loving your work and doing the best job possible will help you progress in your career and build your business.

    It all comes down to this — people are at the center of any great company. Anything you do is all about people, whether they’re employees, customers or the community.

    ZenBusiness puts this rule into action by hearing and supporting its employees.

    For example, we became an early adopter of remote work. The company sent employees home when the pandemic hit, but as we continued to grow and hire more people, we listened to employees who said that they preferred working from home. Remote work gave them the chance to spend time with their families, cut down on commute hours and be more productive.

    Related: A CEO Who Runs a Fully Remote Company Has an Unusual Take on Employees Starting Side Hustles: ‘We Have to Be Honest With Ourselves’

    “Maybe you launch as a side hustle to test it out.”

    All aspiring entrepreneurs should avoid the pitfall of thinking about a business idea for too long before they take action: Do it sooner rather than later.

    You don’t have to drop everything else you’re working on to start. Maybe you launch as a side hustle to test it out. Talk to the people you’re trying to solve a pain point for because those conversations will give you a lot of information.

    Every day, you’re learning something new, and being able to pivot fast can be the difference between driving your business in the right direction or not. There are always going to be surprises along the way. So remember, it’s all about the people who are around you — it’s all about the people you bring in to help you go through your business journey.

    This article is part of our ongoing Women Entrepreneur® series highlighting the stories, challenges and triumphs of running a business as a woman.

    This as-told-to story is based on a conversation with Shanaz Hemmati, COO and co-founder of ZenBusiness, a $1.5 billion company that provides an all-in-one platform helping small businesses become official, stay compliant, manage finances and more. Her co-founder is Ross Buhrdorf, who serves as CEO. The piece has been edited for length and clarity.

    Image Credit: Courtesy of ZenBusiness. Co-founder and COO Shanaz Hemmati.

    The rest of this article is locked.

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    Amanda Breen

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  • 5 Things I Wish I Knew Before Starting an Ecommerce Business | Entrepreneur

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    As a 3X founder and veteran book publisher, I’ve brought thousands of authors to market, including several that climbed the New York Times bestseller list. Like most publishers, I always relied on traditional channels to handle sales and distribution, including, of course, Amazon. It always worked for me, but it’s expensive because you lose more than half the retail price to the middleman.

    Frustrated with the business model, I decided to cut both the retailers and wholesalers out by selling directly to consumers through my ecommerce platform. I became both a publisher and an ecommerce seller.

    While I experienced some success, going from zero to more than $1 million in revenue in less than one year, the transition also caught me off guard. I discovered that what looked straightforward from the outside was far more complex in practice. The highly competitive world of online retail is a minefield of logistical and financial challenges that can derail even the most prepared.

    Here are five things I wish I had known before leaping into ecommerce. These factors may determine whether you can build a thriving business or not.

    Related: How to Build, Grow and Make Money With Ecommerce

    1. Your competition is all the other online sellers

    Unlike traditional retail, your ecommerce business doesn’t just compete with the store down the street. You’re competing with sellers worldwide. It turns out there are millions of them. There are an estimated 4.82 million live Shopify stores worldwide — and that’s just one platform, and each is competing for the same dollars.

    This reality requires a fundamental shift in how you think about the products you’re selling. Success in ecommerce isn’t just about having a good product at a good price. It’s about finding unique angles that give you a competitive advantage. Whether that be your brand story or how your shopping cart works, the entrepreneurs who succeed in ecommerce are those who find ways to compete on factors other than product and price.

    2. Customer acquisition costs can make or break your business

    One of the biggest shocks for me was discovering how expensive it can be to acquire customers. I learned the days of “build it and they will come” are long gone. With iOS privacy changes, rising advertising costs and increased competition for consumer attention, many ecommerce businesses spend between $30 and $50 to acquire a single customer.

    Before launching, you need to understand your customer lifetime value (CLV) and how much you can afford to spend on acquisition while remaining profitable. If your average order value is $40 and your profit margin is 30%, you can only spend about $12 acquiring that customer while maintaining profitability, unless you have a strategy for repeat purchases.

    The math is tricky, and your excitement about your top-line revenue can quickly become a nightmare if you’re not careful. So, calculate these numbers early and build your business model around sustainable acquisition costs.

    Related: How to Reduce Customer Acquisition Costs with SEO

    3. Operations and fulfillment are more complex than you think

    Managing inventory, processing orders, handling returns and shipping products efficiently requires systems and processes that I underestimated. What seems simple when you’re selling a few items per week becomes overwhelming when you’re processing hundreds of orders.

    I tried to save money by doing it myself, but soon discovered that the hidden costs were costing me more than they were saving. Fortunately, I decided to hand it off to a fulfillment company before it got too late. Consider using a third-party logistics provider (3PL) or leveraging services like Amazon FBA. Each option has trade-offs in terms of cost and scalability. Remember, while self-fulfillment gives you control, it also costs you in space, time and systems.

    4. Cash flow management will test your business skills

    Ecommerce creates unique cash flow challenges that catch even the best entrepreneurs off guard. You typically need to purchase inventory before you sell it, and payment processing companies often hold funds for new businesses. Add in the costs of advertising, website hosting and fulfillment, and you can quickly find yourself cash-strapped and underwater.

    You can plan for these realities by maintaining adequate working capital and understanding your cash conversion cycle, which is the time between purchasing inventory and collecting cash from sales. If you’re not careful, you can run out of money during growth periods. This can be especially stressful.

    Try to avoid risking too much by oversizing your inventory. It’s tempting because your cost of goods is lower, but the trade-off in terms of your cash position can derail your business. As you grow, you can transition to holding inventory for better margins and faster shipping times.

    Related: How to Properly Manage the Cash Flow of Your Startup

    5. Social media is your lifeline, not just marketing

    In traditional publishing, I could rely on established channels and industry connections to reach readers. In ecommerce, social media isn’t just another marketing channel. It’s everything. Platforms like Instagram, TikTok and Facebook are the primary discovery mechanisms for many consumers, and not just younger demographics anymore.

    I quickly learned that treating social media as an afterthought or delegating it entirely to agencies was a mistake. Social media drives your brand’s awareness and traffic to your online store. It enables direct customer engagement and provides social proof through user-generated content. So you have to own it.

    The key is consistency and authenticity. Customers detect when brands are simply pushing products versus genuinely engaging with their community. Invest time in understanding each platform’s culture and create content that is appropriately relevant. One viral post can save you multiple times what you’d have to spend on equivalent advertising.

    Ecommerce offers tremendous opportunities for entrepreneurs willing to approach it strategically. But it’s not a magic wand. Success requires more than just a good product idea. It demands understanding of digital marketing, operations management, financial planning, and yes, sometimes nerves of steel.

    As a 3X founder and veteran book publisher, I’ve brought thousands of authors to market, including several that climbed the New York Times bestseller list. Like most publishers, I always relied on traditional channels to handle sales and distribution, including, of course, Amazon. It always worked for me, but it’s expensive because you lose more than half the retail price to the middleman.

    Frustrated with the business model, I decided to cut both the retailers and wholesalers out by selling directly to consumers through my ecommerce platform. I became both a publisher and an ecommerce seller.

    While I experienced some success, going from zero to more than $1 million in revenue in less than one year, the transition also caught me off guard. I discovered that what looked straightforward from the outside was far more complex in practice. The highly competitive world of online retail is a minefield of logistical and financial challenges that can derail even the most prepared.

    The rest of this article is locked.

    Join Entrepreneur+ today for access.

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    Tom Freiling

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  • The Top 5 Mistakes Smart Entrepreneurs Keep Making | Entrepreneur

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    There’s a funny thing about experience: It doesn’t always make you immune to failure. In fact, some of the most seasoned, intelligent founders I’ve met — including myself — have walked straight into the same fire multiple times, thinking this time would be different.

    After buying, building, burning and selling businesses ranging from $1 million to over $20 million in annual recurring revenue, with teams as small as five and as large as 500, I’ve seen these mistakes up close. Not once. Not twice. But over and over. I’ve made them myself. I’ve watched peers make them. And most frustratingly, I’ve watched incredibly smart entrepreneurs make them while fully aware of the warning signs.

    Why does it keep happening?

    Because we convince ourselves that this time is different. We raised more capital. We’re in a new vertical. The economy has shifted. We’ve got better advisors. But these so-called differences rarely change the fundamentals. These mistakes don’t care about your funding round, your pitch deck or the decade you’re building in. They always find a way to show up … unless you deliberately learn to recognize and avoid them.

    Here are the top five mistakes smart entrepreneurs keep making — because intelligence alone isn’t protection.

    Related: 5 Common Entrepreneurial Mistakes There Is No Excuse for Repeating

    1. Outsmarting simplicity

    Smart founders love strategy. We love architecture, systems and layered thinking. But too often, that intelligence leads us to outsmart ourselves by overcomplicating something that should’ve stayed simple.

    In one of my earlier ventures, we created an onboarding system so “intelligent” that it required a five-step identity verification, AI scoring and three user roles. It was technically perfect — and completely unusable. Not a single customer made it through the first interaction without needing help. We had engineered a fortress when all the customer needed was a front door.

    Simple is not a synonym for lazy. Simple is scalable. Simple gets used. If your product, process or pitch can’t be explained in one sentence, you’re not impressing people — you’re confusing them. Don’t make the mistake of confusing complexity with value. Often, it’s the opposite.

    2. Overbuilding before testing

    It feels so good to build. It feels like progress. It’s measurable. It’s exciting. But building without real customer validation is like sailing without checking the tide: You might be moving fast, but you’re heading toward a sandbar.

    I once spent months and hundreds of thousands of dollars building a tool we were sure the market wanted. We built features on top of features, tied in AI recommendations, created dashboards, reports, you name it. But we hadn’t tested the core value with real users. When we finally launched, the silence was deafening.

    We didn’t fail because we couldn’t build. We failed because we didn’t listen.

    Your MVP should hurt a little. It should feel unfinished. Because the moment you build past the point of user feedback, you’re building for yourself — not your customer. Build to learn. Then build to scale.

    3. Ignoring customer feedback that hurts

    Let’s be honest: Some feedback cuts deep. Especially when you’re passionate. When you’ve poured years into a business or a product, hearing that it’s confusing, clunky or not worth the money feels personal.

    At one point, while scaling one of my companies, we were receiving consistent complaints about our service response time. We brushed it off. “Growing pains,” we said. “We’re expanding.” But the complaints kept coming, and we kept rationalizing — until the damage was no longer subtle. Clients started leaving. Our reputation took a hit. And fixing the problem cost ten times what it would’ve if we’d acted earlier.

    Feedback, especially the kind that makes you wince, is gold. Don’t dodge it. Don’t argue with it. Use it. Because every complaint you ignore becomes someone else’s competitive advantage.

    Related: 5 Common Mistakes Leaders Make and How to Fix Them

    4. Misjudging your own burn rate

    This is one of the deadliest mistakes. And ironically, it’s more common among founders who’ve raised capital or had prior exits. You think you’ve got room. You think you’re being strategic by “investing in growth.” And suddenly, your company’s financial discipline goes out the window.

    I’ve run tight operations. I’ve also run operations with fat budgets and too much confidence. The tight ones were stressful, but lean and sharp. The overfunded ones got bloated fast — extra hires, experimental campaigns, unnecessary vendors. All in the name of growth. But here’s the thing: Growth doesn’t matter if you don’t survive long enough to reach it.

    Every dollar should work. If you can’t justify it with near-term utility or long-term leverage, you’re probably burning money you’ll wish you had six months from now.

    Being a smart entrepreneur doesn’t mean ignoring your burn rate; it means obsessing over it. Because financial waste isn’t just inefficient — it’s existential.

    5. Hiring more people to solve the problem

    This one is almost a rite of passage. Things start breaking — operations, marketing, delivery — and the instinct is: “We need more people.”

    Founders tell themselves that scaling the team will fix it. VCs sometimes push for headcount growth as a signal of momentum. But nine times out of ten, it’s the wrong move.

    I’ve scaled teams from five to 200+. I’ve watched entrepreneurs stack up departments like LEGO blocks, trying to fix broken pipelines, unclear roles or systems that never worked in the first place. The result? More meetings, more chaos, more burn. Not more progress.

    Throwing people into a broken system just gives you more breakage.

    What I’ve learned is that most problems can be solved by a few qualified individuals with clarity and autonomy, not by hiring a battalion. Talent density beats volume every time. If your house is on fire, you don’t fix it by moving in more tenants. You put out the fire.

    Related: 10 Stupid Mistakes Smart People Make

    Intelligence isn’t insurance

    It’s easy to assume that once you’ve built or sold a company, you’ve “earned” your wisdom badge. But the real test isn’t whether you’ve experienced these mistakes before — it’s whether you keep making them.

    Experience without reflection is just repetition.

    I’ve built companies with world-class teams. I’ve also watched great ideas burn out because I refused to listen to the basics. These five mistakes show up over and over, usually wrapped in new branding, new market conditions or new funding. But they’re the same patterns, and they still kill momentum.

    So here’s your call to action: Audit yourself.

    Where are you overcomplicating? Where are you building without feedback? Where are you hiring instead of solving? Where are you ignoring warning signs because they’re inconvenient?

    The smartest move you can make isn’t being clever — it’s being clear. Because clarity builds endurance. And endurance is what separates the companies that survive from the ones that almost did.

    There’s a funny thing about experience: It doesn’t always make you immune to failure. In fact, some of the most seasoned, intelligent founders I’ve met — including myself — have walked straight into the same fire multiple times, thinking this time would be different.

    After buying, building, burning and selling businesses ranging from $1 million to over $20 million in annual recurring revenue, with teams as small as five and as large as 500, I’ve seen these mistakes up close. Not once. Not twice. But over and over. I’ve made them myself. I’ve watched peers make them. And most frustratingly, I’ve watched incredibly smart entrepreneurs make them while fully aware of the warning signs.

    Why does it keep happening?

    The rest of this article is locked.

    Join Entrepreneur+ today for access.

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    Roy Dekel

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  • Episode 003: The Courage to Scale Down: Why I Walked Away From My Thriving Business

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    What happens when everything you’ve built stops feeling like you? How do you get the courage to scale down?

    This isn’t a story about burnout or business failure—it’s about the radical courage to honor who you’re becoming, even when it makes zero logical sense.

    In this episode, Meghan shares why she walked away from a globally successful business that was thriving by every metric. The real moment she knew. The price tag of freedom. And the terrifying question every successful person faces: “Who am I without this?”

    If you’ve ever felt disconnected from something you worked hard to build, wondered if you’re allowed to want something different, or questioned whether success is supposed to feel this heavy—this conversation will hit different.

    Because sometimes the most courageous pivot isn’t growing bigger. It’s trusting the whisper that says it’s time to scale down and come home to yourself.

    Perfect for anyone ready to redefine what success actually means.

    Covered In This Episode

    In this episode, you’ll discover:

    • Scaling down can lead to greater joy.
    • Listening to whispers of change is crucial.
    • Letting go can lead to freedom.
    • Redefining success is a personal journey.
    • Joy can be found in simplicity.
    • Trusting your inner voice is essential.
    • You don’t need a five-year plan.
    • Embracing the unknown can lead to magic.

    Subscribe and listen to The Courageous Pivot Podcast on:

    If you’re loving the show, please be sure to leave a review!

    Chapters

    00:00 Welcome to the Courageous Pivot Podcast
    00:27 A Day in the Life Post-Pivot
    03:19 The Joys of Scaling Down
    04:28 The Whispers of Change
    06:11 My Journey to Empowerment
    09:51 The Reality of Success
    11:08 The Decision to Pause
    14:31 Embracing the Unknown
    16:28 Reflecting on the Pivot
    19:18 Final Thoughts and Next Steps

    Additional Resources

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    Meghan Telpner

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  • Beginning Again: Introducing the Courageous Pivot Podcast

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    I asked every AI app what I should do. Then I sat on a video call with my amazing assistant, Jen, asking myself questions while she patiently watched me click around as I attempted to make a decision.

    The truth is that beginning again is hard, but not in the ways I’d expected.

    Once upon a time, I had a dream to build a really big business, serve people well in a way that created transformation in their lives, earn a lot of money, and retire early.

    I did that.

    At 43, I decided to scale down my business and see what free time felt like. Freedom 44 was the mantra.

    I did that, too.

    Around 18 months after shifting my view on life and goals and time and how I wanted to use it, I had an idea, as happens to us chronic entrepreneurial types.

    The idea was sparked by the surprising conversations that followed my decision to do significantly less, professionally speaking, than I was capable of.

    What I had thought would happen, didn’t. What I never expected did.

    I thought I would be kindly asked to leave the entrepreneurship community group I was a paying member of. Instead, the founder took me out for dinner.

    I thought I would be the one no one wanted to be seated with at the community dinners. This is one of those dinners where people stand up and say they just published their 10th book, and there’s a copy for everyone to grab on your way out. Or the person who said he’s working to scale his business to $1 billion in revenue.

    I stood up and said I was working on my pickleball game (it’s still not good), and that I was scaling down my business, cutting my operating costs by $1M/year, and scaling my revenue to 1/15th of what it had been the previous several years.

    What followed was more demand for my time from high-level people than ever before.

    I was praised for bravery. I was asked for private calls on the subject. In short, I was applauded. I didn’t think anyone would care. And I didn’t care that no one would care. This was a decision for me, definitely not my ego.

    Ultimately, I realized that in the entrepreneurship world— we think the game is to grow, scale, acquire, be acquired, sell IP, get investors, and then exit.

    What I didn’t realize was that to build a business you love, make it ridiculously successful by all measures — impact, growth, customer experience, and loyalty, rich in community and reputation, deep team commitment, joy and profitability — to softly close the doors instead of maximizing an exit is seldom done.

    Which brings me to this new beginning. I am diving into the idea of courageous pivots. I want to write a book on the topic. As I began hashing out an outline and speaking with potential publishers, I realized that maybe I wanted to do this differently.

    Every aspect of every execution of my businesses over the years has had a community aspect. It started with a green smoothie cleanse, coached online via my blog (this was pre-social media and hashtags), and concluded with a global community of certified instructors and graduates of an online cooking school that spanned 80+ countries.

    I wondered, what would happen if I did this with community in mind? What if you came along with me as I explored this topic, gathered research, and spoke to people who have done it, are doing it, and/or are guiding others on how to make big life decisions and challenge beliefs.

    In starting from the beginning with something new, I also asked myself what starting fresh in 2025 could or should look like? Starting at the beginning, when I am not trying to build something massive, but creating for the art and joy of creation.

    Answering this question is what landed me on Substack, starting on a brand new platform, which still feels quiet (like Google Reader in 2009 or Instagram in 2012).

    The trailer will be coming later this week. It’s all beginning. Again.

    Please subscribe on Substack, and also on your favourite podcast app:

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    Meghan Telpner

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  • 7 Business Lessons I Learned While Planning My Daughter’s Wedding | Entrepreneur

    7 Business Lessons I Learned While Planning My Daughter’s Wedding | Entrepreneur

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    My 26-year-old daughter recently got married. I’ve been to dozens of weddings and have enjoyed them, but this was the first time I was involved in putting a wedding together. In the months of planning for this week with my wife, I learned seven valuable lessons that can relate to business.

    We thought about having a traditional wedding, so we searched for a wedding venue to hold the reception. However, we ran into a problem. Our guest list included about 500 of our closest friends — most of them were my daughter’s network of fans, friends, students and others.

    Paying $50-$150 per plate for a reception venue was out of our budget for that many people. We had a choice: We could whittle down the list or put the wedding together ourselves. We did both.

    We got the guest list down to 300 people, and to still save as much money as we could, we did the wedding ourselves. My wife was the wedding coordinator, and I was her assistant.

    What does a DIY wedding look like? Well, we bought custom stickers and placed 400 stickers of the bride and groom on 400 water bottles. We borrowed vases from friends and had many of our own from previous events. One of our friends is a design hobbyist, so she made dozens of table settings and bouquets from real flowers and fake flowers. I could go on.

    However, what was MOST important about planning this wedding were the lessons I learned in doing it:

    Related: 8 Important Lessons From Leading Entrepreneurs

    1. Communication is essential

    We had several WhatsApp groups to facilitate communication. We had regular meetings for status updates and planning various elements of the wedding. My wife and I were in constant communication. We went to the venue, our church, many times to prepare and plan.

    Poor communication is one of the biggest barriers to success. Miscommunication and misunderstanding will sink your business.

    Maybe my wife asked me to “put vases on the table,” but I didn’t ask which vases. This can result in the wrong vases being on the wrong tables.

    Your business is the same. Communicate clearly — in fact, when the task is highly important, you should over-communicate.

    2. Be clear on the goals you’re trying to accomplish

    As we went through the weeks leading up to the wedding, we kept in mind the key goals we needed to accomplish. We knew the bride and groom had to get married — that was most important. Other goals we had were good food and a fun environment, among other things.

    Your business is the same.

    Be clear on what goals you want to accomplish in your business, including the various projects and tasks that are a part of your business. If you’re not clear on your goals, it’s going to be very hard to know what success looks like and how to even be successful.

    3. Get help

    While my wife shouldered the bulk of responsibilities for the planning of the wedding with my support, we could not have done the wedding by ourselves. We had friends and family helping us at various stages of the wedding.

    One couple helped us for weeks leading up to the wedding. Other friends also offered assistance on the day of and in the weeks before the wedding.

    Running your business is the same. It’s very difficult to serve your customers and grow your business if it’s just you. Seek help by building a team, and seek help from friends, mentors and even your family. You’ll need help in different ways from different people.

    Help could take the form of paying a lawyer to help you draft a legal agreement the right way. Help could take the form of a good business friend giving you advice on a new hire.

    Don’t be afraid to get help in starting and growing your business.

    4. Who you partner with is important to your success (or failure)

    My wife and I were partners in ensuring a successful wedding. We trust each other and do our best to work together. It’s the same in business.

    In order for a partnership to be successful, you must understand what’s important to your partner. Understand how they communicate and their styles of working.

    A partner can be a POWERFUL asset to your business as they can help offload the thinking and actual work that needs to be done in order to grow a business. However, the wrong partner can be detrimental to your business.

    Related: 25 Lessons Business School Won’t Ever Teach You

    5. Prioritization is essential — Don’t major on the minors, and don’t minor on the majors

    Prioritization is important, especially as the complexity of your projects increases. There’s only so much you can get done in a given day. Time is finite. Hence, being able to prioritize is essential. In preparing for the wedding, we had to constantly prioritize. For example, today, we’re going to set up tables. Tomorrow, we’ll set up vases. As we got closer to the wedding, we had to “let go” of some things and scale back on other things.

    You’ll need to do this in your business as well.

    What needs to be done TODAY? What can wait until later? What MUST be done this quarter, and what can be held off to another day?

    As you work with others, also understand that YOUR priority might not be their priority. Hence, having shared goals and an understanding of what’s important to you, your partner and/or your team is important.

    6. Who are the stakeholders?

    For the wedding, we knew there were several important people or groups of people we had to consider. The bride and groom were the most important. The groom’s parents were also important, so we had to consider their needs and concerns. We also had to think about our church ministry and their concerns and needs for the wedding.

    Your business is the same. You’re NEVER solo in your business. There’s you, your employees (or team members), your customers, possibly government agencies, vendors and others.

    Consider the stakeholders who are important to the success of your business, and think about their needs and concerns.

    Related: 5 Lessons From The Most Successful Entrepreneurs

    7. Get advice from others

    Critical to the wedding’s success was our wedding coordination team. This team was made up of my sister, my daughter’s best friend, my wife, my daughter, my daughter’s fiance and me!

    We had regular meetings with this team to get their input and their help with much of the planning for the wedding — cake, clothes, housing and so much more.

    You also need advisors in your business. You can get advice from peers who are fellow business owners. You can get advice from books and podcasts. You can join a mentorship community. You can also hire a consultant to guide you with certain aspects of your business.

    My daughter’s wedding was a success, and now you know why. A wedding is a one-day event. However, your business can take years to grow and be successful. You can’t build a successful business alone — it takes guidance, purposeful planning and a bit of luck.

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    Ramon Ray

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  • How Business Leaders Can Embrace Social and Environmental Responsibilities | Entrepreneur

    How Business Leaders Can Embrace Social and Environmental Responsibilities | Entrepreneur

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    In a connected and digital world, consumers aren’t interested in just the products they’re buying – they want to know the faces behind them.

    Entrepreneurs today have corporate social responsibility. Profit results from motivated employees, loyal customers and new investors wanting to be involved with a business that is mindful of its surrounding community and environment. To be successful, entrepreneurs need an eye for sustainability.

    What does social responsibility look like? What falls under the umbrella of environmental sustainability? This article will explore ethical entrepreneurship and what it means to run a business and understand consumer behavior.

    Related: Ethics in Entrepreneurship: Learning from Elizabeth Holmes’ Lies

    Ethics explained

    Broadly defined, ethics is the theoretical study of “right” versus “wrong” – it provides a lens into morality and judgment.

    • Applied ethics assesses what a person should (or shouldn’t) do in a given situation. Many fields — from engineering to science, public service to business — incorporate applied ethics.
    • Business ethics pertains explicitly to the trust built between consumers and business owners. The discipline rose in prominence in the 20th century as society became consumer-based and held corporations accountable for their influence on the environment and social causes.
    • Clarity and transparency about core values are key to cultivating this public trust.

    Related: 7 Critical Pieces of Business Advice for Entrepreneurs Just Getting Started

    Being an ethical entrepreneur

    When starting a new business, entrepreneurs today must focus on well-defined goals. They consider their personal aspirations, tolerance of risk, the strength of their strategy and their potential to execute said strategy. Forward-thinking is critical: What impact will their businesses have, what values will they endorse, and how will they be consistent in doing so?

    Communicating corporate values to employees ensures business representatives act with the customer in mind rather than themselves. Entrepreneurs can develop an ethics statement and make it public. A strong foundation allows leaders to highlight scenarios that show ethics in practice and clarify what to do when those values are broken. Allocating the time to define and communicate core values encourages workplace integrity, attracting stakeholders.

    Related: Are Employees Truly More Ethical in the Office? A Behavioral Economist Debunks This Deeply Rooted Belief.

    Why transparency matters

    By 2025, millennials will comprise an estimated 75% of the American workforce. This generation wants to be led by business leaders who are driven and accomplished, act as willing mentors, and don’t shy from transparency in their personal and professional lives.

    Similarly, millennials, as consumers, expect businesses to be transparent on social media. They want brands and CEOs to share their values and be reassured that these individuals are fair, respectable, and considerate – and worth their money.

    While millennials have a strong presence on Instagram, Gen Z leads consumer behavior on TikTok. In fact, out of all the age demographics, Gen Z has the biggest influence on consumer trends. They have an estimated buying power of over 400 billion dollars in the United States alone.

    As digital natives, Gen Zers expect businesses to be authentic and relevant on social media. They want to buy – and accept brand deals – from businesses spearheading social change and prioritizing fair labor, diversity, inclusivity, and sustainability.

    Across the board, 70% of consumers feel a stronger connection to brands with CEOs with active social media accounts. They like brands that positively contribute to society and help people in need. Overall, 81% of people think brands are responsible for being transparent on social media. Entrepreneurs are expected to:

    • State company values.
    • Welcome discussion.
    • Clarify how and when customer data is used.
    • Explain all facets of billing and fees.

    Above all, entrepreneurs should stand by their word and keep their social and environmental stewardship promises.

    Related: How to Balance Ethical Growth and Competitive Advantages

    Social responsibility

    Having a core ethics statement and being transparent about it is necessary for ethical entrepreneurship — but what activities do business leaders actually participate in? How do they engage their social responsibility?

    Entrepreneurs can take part in philanthropic work, whether donating money, products, or services, volunteering with nonprofits, or partnering with charities and local community groups. Business leaders might also encourage their employees to volunteer. According to a 2017 Deloitte Volunteerism Survey, 74% of working Americans thought corporate volunteerism provided an improved sense of purpose. In addition, 89% believed companies that sponsored volunteer activities boasted a better work environment overall. Social impact is a significant motivator, as well. Of the millennials surveyed, 75% felt they would volunteer more often if they had a better understanding of the impact of their work.

    Ethical entrepreneurship ensures fair wages, treatment, and working conditions, and it promotes community engagement in matters that truly resonate with the business. This authenticity radiates to all stakeholders: investors, employees, suppliers, and customers.

    Environmental sustainability

    Business owners also have a responsibility to the environment. Sustainability (defined by the UN World Commission on Environment and Development) is the balance between meeting the needs of the present without compromising the future. It operates under the assumption that resources are finite.

    As suppliers of a service or product, entrepreneurs are part of a cycle that requires giving back and doing their part to ensure the longevity of resources. Business owners can adopt green habits, such as reducing paper waste, incorporating reusable products into their practice, lowering emissions, and improving energy efficiency by using LED bulbs, for instance.

    Consumers look for companies with a dedicated mission to environmental sustainability and are willing to pay more for sustainable products. While millennials and boomers think about the materials a company uses, Gen Z is starting to focus on the manufacturing process itself. A company focused on sustainability – from material sourcing to manufacturing, shipping, and selling – benefits not only from a strong reputation but also from the long-term cost savings of improved operational efficiencies.

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    Prabhat Sharma

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  • Magic Johnson, Shark Tank’s Daymond John and Other Celebrity Entrepreneurs Share Unfiltered Advice | Entrepreneur

    Magic Johnson, Shark Tank’s Daymond John and Other Celebrity Entrepreneurs Share Unfiltered Advice | Entrepreneur

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    Have you ever wanted to reach through the screen to interrupt a TED Talk speaker or raise your hand during a MasterClass course?

    You’re not alone.

    Entrepreneurial education has dipped its hand into the sexy jar of sweet offerings never before experienced by knowledge-desperate entrepreneurs in wait. New offerings weave incredible real-life, story-based content with thought-provoking presentations and platforms harnessing iconic names and faces of the brands we love.

    Many have wondered what the next iteration of offering might provide that hasn’t already been served up to an ever-growing marketplace of need.

    An A-list of celeb entrepreneurs shared behind-the-scenes experiences for attendees at the Wealthflix business conference’s inaugural event in L.A. earlier this summer. The list includes Magic Johnson, Daymond John of Shark Tank, Sprinkles founder Candace Nelson, branding superstar Shaun Neff, Beyoncé’s father and noted music executive Mathew Knowles, former Virgin executive Jason Felts, and Ashlee Simpson-Ross — all mixing classic tales with never-before-heard nuggets of personal experiences not usually touted in business books.

    Related: 8 Important Lessons From Leading Entrepreneurs

    Best practices and lessons from the stars

    The classic fourth wall that marks an actor’s acknowledgment of the audience was shattered by the presenters and for good reason. The celebs shared best practices and lessons learned through stage speeches and sit-down interviews to enhance the learning for audience members. The shared realism of the Magic Johnson’s of the world couldn’t come at a better time.

    The data can no longer be seen as a cute detail at a cocktail party of those already in the catbird seat. The Kaufman Foundation’s research reveals that 100% of net new job creation in the U.S. comes from the world of startups. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics shines a different and compelling light, including the staggering statistic that 37% of minority youth are unemployed.

    To meet the moment, Duquan Brown, the former manager of artists like Tyrese Gibson and Busta Rhymes, has put together an experience centered on dismantling outdated educational practices while infusing networking opportunities and behind-the-scenes interviews and conversations that bring entrepreneurs inside the mind of a Magic Johnson or Daymond John. “Thoughtful learning options provide all of us an incredible opportunity to support entrepreneurs and the journeys that define their success,” shares an impassioned Brown.

    Recent labor data illustrates an expanding need, especially for Gen Zers, to find entrepreneurial education. Approximately 70% are considering a permanent stage left exit to start their own companies. Analysts might scoff at the impact of a labor pool representing just over 8% in 2022. How will the naysayers feel in 2025 when that number jumps to 20% and then to 30% by 2030? This generation is marked by a need to feel connected to their work and the stories that constructed their individual horizon lines.

    Unconventional advice

    On the one hand, Magic Johnson, who may be just as well-known for his business triumphs as an NBA Hall of Famer, believes that an entrepreneur’s pitch should be perfect. “When you come into a meeting and pitch your idea, I expect you to have the answers. If you don’t have the answers, how can we establish trust,” exclaims a passionate Johnson. When pushed for clarification, a never-nervous and always-prepared Johnson says, “I eat pressure for breakfast — if I ask you five questions and you can’t meet the moment, then you’re not somebody I want to do business with.” It’s this kind of brass-tacks education that audience members clamor for and why an alternative approach is just as welcomed by entrepreneurs.

    Daymond John started with $40 in his pocket when he founded FUBU, and even back then, he struggled to find his answers in a sea of uncertainty. Fast forward to today, and John works diligently to educate and support those lucky enough to present their business ideas to him. “I am of two minds. If you come to me acting like you know everything and I find that you don’t, we won’t make perfect business partners. Now, if you openly respond to a question saying you’re in front of me because you don’t have the answer, well then I respect that,” says John with the steady, steely-eyed focus we’ve become accustomed to on Shark Tank.

    The semi-structured but moderated conversation allows John to freestyle, sharing that the “hacking” phenomenon plays a significant character in his success story. “I used to hack myself, constantly testing my assumptions against those things that have meaning in my life — kids, family, friends, community.”

    The founder of Sprinkles, Candace Nelson, embraced the family notion of going into the cupcake business with her husband, Charles and celebrating the profoundly successful Sprinkles exit even after 22 years of marriage and counting. “It just works for us. I know that people say never to go into business with family. We understood our roles and allowed each other to grow in those roles,” shares Nelson whose cupcake empire has sold over 75 million cupcakes.

    The challenge for Nelson and countless entrepreneurs comes when success is knocking on the door, and control has to cede if scaling is a realistic option. “I struggled to incorporate others into the business at first. Would they know how to bake my recipes? Could I trust them? I finally relented, and outside of a few hiring learning lessons, it became a huge success.”

    Magic adds, “We [entrepreneurs] shouldn’t be afraid of partnerships. You don’t have to own 100%.” A prescient statement by Magic as news now breaks of Johnson’s ownership stake in the NFL’s Washington Commanders, with Josh Harris, as the sale became official at the reported tune of a record-breaking $6.05 billion.

    Jason Felts, the youngest CEO of a Richard Branson Virgin company, embodies the notion of Johnson and the lesson of Nelson, building KEMPA Home with a family friend and cultural icon, Ashlee Simpson-Ross. “We had been friends for decades. Our families have been friends, and we always shared our thoughts about our careers. I wanted to start KEMPA, and it dawned on me that Ashlee should be a part of this. Now the Creative Director Simpson-Ross is harmonizing her creative and musical muscle to bring “vacation home” with Felts and the KEMPA team.

    Related: From Idea to Successful Exit — 8 Lessons Learned From Building and Selling a Startup

    Entrepreneurial community building

    Like many who shared the stage with her in L.A., Candice Nelson sees collaborating and teaching as essential building blocks for the next generation of business owners. “We’ve launched Pizzana, a chain of Neapolitan pizzerias, and continued to expand our portfolio of investments with CN2 Ventures supporting early-stage businesses.” Pizzana, of course, isn’t just your run-of-the-mill outfit – a collaboration borne out of Sunday night pizza parties with their friends and now business partners, actor Chris O’Donnell and his wife, Caroline.

    Shaun Neff, a branding expert whose little black book of influential business partners reads like a once-in-a-lifetime Hollywood Hills summer bash, remembers the days before collaborating with the likes of Kevin Durant and Kendall Jenner. “I still remember the feeling when somebody would hand me a $10 bill, and I’d reach into my backpack and hand them a t-shirt with my name on it. And, then, to see my merch worn by recognizable and global figures. Unbelievable,” a reflective Neff shares.

    Neff talked about community and brand building throughout his career, shedding light on the confidence level necessary to establish and bring a brand back from the dead. “I remember Sun Bum vividly. I was asked to come in, invest, and turn it around. I didn’t want to do it. I woke up countless times convinced I shouldn’t jump in. I’m glad I did,” smiles Neff. You’d smile, too, if the reported sale to SC Johnson of $400 million is accurate. Neff, though, isn’t celebrating success the way one might think. This self-proclaimed creative junkie hails the opportunity to be selective and creative with projects that align with his life and family. “I just feel blessed.”

    The lessons from the star-studded celeb entrepreneurs were diverse, filled with poignant tales and anecdotes, and steeped in a shared passion for giving back to those on the precipice of success. Johnson delivered a pin-point pass sharing the realities of entrepreneurship even if he is the undisputed champion of optimism. “I don’t want people to think that every deal I’ve been a part of has succeeded because that just isn’t true. We all need to learn from our mistakes and ensure that they [mistakes] don’t happen again.”

    Effortlessly, Magic provides sage advice minus the shine of an over-produced sound bite for an engaged audience to chew on.

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    Dr. Rod Berger

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  • The 3 Greatest Lessons I’ve Learned After 25 Years in Business | Entrepreneur

    The 3 Greatest Lessons I’ve Learned After 25 Years in Business | Entrepreneur

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    In June, I reached a milestone with my business, PostcardMania: 25 years in business. It got me thinking about all the lessons I’ve learned as a business owner and entrepreneur.

    Starting out, I was greener than green. There have been hard times when I didn’t know what I was doing, but I’ve made it from nothing to $97 million in annual revenue, over 350 staff, and we’re still growing — averaging 20% revenue growth over the last three years after a year of growing at a much slower rate of 5% in the decade previous.

    Through those experiences, I grew as an entrepreneur and gained valuable business insights, but I sure wish I had someone to confide in at the time.

    I want you to avoid some of the missteps I made on my journey, so I’ve taken some time to nail down the three greatest lessons I’ve learned over 25 years of business ups and downs — thankfully many, many more ups than downs.

    Related: 10 Lessons I Learned as Someone Who Has Spent 10 Years Running a Business

    Lesson #1: Your marketing budget and revenue growth are tied together

    There have been times in my career that I’ve had the choice to either pay myself or pay for marketing. In 1998, I was a graphic designer with a dream and a computer — and that’s about it!

    When I started PostcardMania, I put as much of my money as possible into marketing. I barely paid myself a living wage for years because I was so determined to grow my business.

    I drove an old Nissan Pathfinder to save on a car payment. I used credit cards to help pay for things at times (although you should definitely avoid getting into debt if you can) and even took money out of my own home to purchase a building for PostcardMania (this was a hugely smart move for me and worked out great).

    Those sacrifices paid off when my business took off. The more I marketed, the more leads came in, and the more my revenue skyrocketed. As PostcardMania achieved steady growth, I increased my marketing budget too. I noticed that my revenue increases mirrored the amount I invested in marketing. The more money I put into marketing, the more money we made.

    Think of it like the classic board game Monopoly. At first, you feel hesitant to spend the $1,500 you start out with in the game (I didn’t even have that to start with in real life!). But you quickly find out there are two types of players: the ones who hoard their money to try to play it safe and the ones who spend all of it on properties — and now I have enough money to actually invest in real estate, and I have a lot of that now too.

    Eventually, everyone realizes that the players with the most properties win because every time someone lands on that space, they get cash.

    It’s the same in the real world. If you don’t spend as much money as you can on marketing, someone else will — and your business will pay for it in the long run. But if you’re the one marketing, over time, you’ll get that money back and then some.

    So, buy Park Place … and New York Avenue. Then, once you get some more cash from those, put houses on them. You get the picture: The biggest winners don’t play it safe. They make moves all over the board.

    Maybe you aren’t currently spending any money on marketing and need to set a budget. Take the time to sit down and create a marketing budget ASAP, because it’s your first step to success.

    Related: 7 Business Takeaways You Can Learn From Monopoly

    Lesson #2: You need a unique selling proposition to beat your competition

    A unique selling proposition or USP is a one-of-a-kind aspect of your business that none of your competitors have. Take Zappos, for example. Tony Hsieh started one of the first online-based shoe retailers, but even back then, he had competition.

    What set him apart? Free shipping on all returns and exchanges. He realized that what prevented people from purchasing shoes online instead of inside a store was not being able to try them on before a purchase. By eliminating the issue of spending money on returns, people could buy as many shoes as they liked without worry and just return the pairs that didn’t work without financial penalty. Zappos sold to Amazon for just shy of a billion dollars in 2009.

    When I started PostcardMania, we set ourselves apart from the competition by being first at a lot of things — the first to sell direct mail postcards directly to businesses for really low prices, for example, rather than paying $1200 for 5,000, we sold them for $329 for 5,000; the first to offer free marketing advice without charging a retainer, including having a blog before the word was coined; and the first to offer every service needed, from order placement to postcard delivery, under one roof. We didn’t have just one USP, we had several!

    Those first years in business were a rocket ride to eight figures. In just four years, we rode an industry disruptor’s wave to over $10 million in annual revenue. We were growing close to 100% year after year.

    But my competitors caught on. They quickly started doing the things we were doing, and the effect on our bottom line was unsettling.

    I knew I had to do something, so I took inspiration from Zappos and Tony Hsieh.

    I looked for something within my industry that people hated and which could prevent them from buying — and I found out it was the fear of not getting a return on their investment. People wanted to know they’d get results from mailing postcards, so I addressed the issue head-on. I hired a full-time person (which has today turned into an entire department) to track the results of our successful campaigns and figure out which factors contributed to that success.

    Today, we have thousands of successes analyzed and over 750 case studies published on our website (we only publish with permission) where clients can view exactly what businesses in similar industries did to bring in revenue. None of my competitors do that!

    So, take some time to sit down and define what makes your brand unique. Be sure to go deeper than just claiming to have “the best customer service” or “the best product.” Then market it like crazy, and watch the results come in.

    Related: 4 Critical Business Lessons I’ve Learned as a CEO

    Lesson #3: Create an integrated sales funnel to generate a better return on investment

    When marketing your business, you need a whole arsenal of tactics. When those tactics work in harmony to move a prospective buyer from unaware to aware to interested to purchasing, it’s called a sales funnel. An optimized sales funnel integrates online and offline technology.

    A game-changer for me was when I added digital advertising to our direct mail campaigns. We knew we had to stay ahead by investing in the latest technology, and that meant digital targeting features and website integration.

    Postcards in the mailbox were no longer just postcards in the mailbox — they became launching points for people to connect with a brand online. Mail pieces at home, ads on your social media feeds, brand reminders on the videos you watch and at the top of your inbox, it all works together to feed traffic to your website, where the real magic can happen.

    Whether a prospect enters a sales funnel with a mailer or a click on a website, the key is always follow-up. Every action your prospect takes should prompt them to take another action that brings them closer to buying. Once a prospect progresses far enough along your funnel that they visit your website, you want them to fill out a form, email you, call you or even make a purchase if your site has an ecommerce system.

    Too many business owners look at this first website visit as the be-all-end-all in that prospect’s customer journey. But one of the biggest lessons I’ve learned in my 25 years is to never give up on a lead — and I do mean never.

    For example, if a prospect visits your site but doesn’t convert, you can still follow up with them offline through a technology called direct mail retargeting. It works like digital retargeting ads but uses physical mailers instead to encourage them to return to your website or make a purchase. These mailers are automated, so you don’t even have to lift a finger to launch the process.

    Related: 21 Lessons I Swear By After 21 Years as an Entrepreneur

    Never underestimate the power of tangible advertisements. That’s why direct mail has been such a powerful marketing tool for me — it allows the recipient to touch, feel and see more than the typical digital ad.

    Keep in mind that it can take time for people to take action, so stay consistent with your follow-up. I continue to email, call, mail to and display ads to every prospect that has ever visited my website and converted, regardless of time or inactivity. My sales funnel is on constant repeat until someone asks to be removed because I would rather be a little bit annoying to a few leads that I can remove than repeatedly miss out on the day someone else is ready to buy.

    Last year, I actually looked into whether emailing old leads was worth it. I asked my email specialist a couple of years ago to compare our sales logs with our email habits and the age of certain leads. Over the course of June and the first two weeks into July, 782 leads that were 3+ years old responded to our emails, and 53 of them placed new orders. Over the same period, 526 leads that were 5+ years old responded and 29 of them placed new orders — and summer is our slowest season. That’s 82 new clients over the course of just 6 weeks that I would’ve missed out on if I didn’t follow up with every lead every day.

    So, even if it seems daunting to start, keep at it, closely track your results, and stick to what works. It took time for me to learn how to build a sales funnel that generates over $80 million.

    Lastly, remember that experience is always the greatest teacher. Keep trying different marketing techniques, and you’ll find your own truths as well. I’m sure I’ll learn even more over the next 25 years of owning a business. The lessons never stop.

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    Joy Gendusa

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  • Don’t Let These Myths About Entrepreneurship Hold You Back | Entrepreneur

    Don’t Let These Myths About Entrepreneurship Hold You Back | Entrepreneur

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    Becoming an entrepreneur is one of the best ways to build wealth. Yet far too many people let fear or misperceptions about starting a business keep them from investing in their futures in this way.

    It’s time to dispel some of the myths about entrepreneurship that are holding people back.

    Myth #1: Starting a business always comes with a lot of risk.

    Truth: You have more control over risk than you may think.

    If you didn’t grow up with entrepreneurial parents, chances are you grew up believing that starting a business is far riskier than working for someone else.

    Many people are taught from a young age that a job with an established employer that offers health insurance, a 401(k) plan with an employer match and paid time off is “safe.” But that’s not true. You can perform well in a role with an established company and still lose your job with little to no warning. In recent months, there have been plenty of news stories about thousands of employees with some of the biggest companies in the U.S. waking up to discover they’re out of work.

    How does this compare with the risk of working for yourself? If you start a business with only one client, it’s similar. If you build a robust and diverse list of clients instead, you begin to bring that risk way down.

    Remember that when you are an employee, you have a single client. When you are in business, you have many clients, so if one client fires you, you are not out of business.

    The key here is to grow your business as quickly as possible, from zero clients to a diverse client base that generates at least as much income for you as your full-time job. How do you do that? Educate yourself on your business. The more you know about investing in a business and the specific industry and market for your business, the more you’ll be able to minimize your risks.

    Does starting a business come with risk? Of course. But you have a lot more control over that risk than you think.

    Related: 4 Myths About Entrepreneurship You Need to Stop Believing

    Myth #2: Starting a business is expensive.

    Truth: The government will pay you to start and grow your business.

    This myth stops a lot of would-be entrepreneurs in their tracks. Many people have the desire to start a business and a great idea of what that business would be, but let fear of the start-up costs prevent them from taking even the smallest action.

    If that’s you, instead of making assumptions about the costs, get the facts instead. Invest some time into creating your business plan, including an assessment of the start-up costs. You’ll also want to have a good handle on what revenue and expenses you’re likely to see in the first year of operation.

    The cost structure of your business will vary greatly depending on the industry and nature of your work. Thanks to technology, you can start many businesses with very little up-front capital. But don’t immediately rule out a business idea if these initial costs seem large.

    Governments worldwide have created financial incentives for people to start and grow businesses that can offset many of these costs. Business owners can access some of the best tax credits and deductions. In fact, most of your up-front and first-year business expenses are deductible, including:

    • Equipment
    • Rent or capital to purchase a location (or your home office)
    • Staffing costs
    • Legal expenses
    • Marketing

    If you anticipate operating the business at a loss in the first year, don’t despair. That’s common in many business models, and the government offers some assistance here as well. Losses from the business can offset other income, such as interest, dividends or a spouse’s wages.

    Related: Considering a Government Program to Support Your Startup? Here’s What You Need to Know First.

    Why do governments offer these incentives? Because they want more people to start and grow businesses that create jobs and provide goods and services to their community. A thriving private sector helps keep the population happy and secure. Governments see so many benefits from entrepreneurship that they offer a host of tax credits as additional incentives. Depending on the type of business you start, the location you select and the workers you employ, you may be eligible for credits that directly offset the amount of tax you owe dollar for dollar. Common business tax credits include credits for:

    • Creating jobs in economically distressed communities.
    • Hiring people from targeted groups that have faced significant barriers to employment.
    • Offering a qualified health care plan to employees.
    • Providing paid family and medical leave to employees.
    • Research and development.

    Myth #3: I’m too old to start a business.

    Truth: If you’re over 40 and starting a business, you’re in great company.

    You’ve heard many stories of successful entrepreneurs who started their companies in their college dorm room or parent’s garage. And starting a business early in life — before you have the responsibilities of raising children or caring for aging parents — has a certain appeal.

    But it’s not too late if you didn’t take the entrepreneurial plunge in your 20s or 30s. A recent study of more than 2.7 million entrepreneurs found that the average age of successful founders was 42, and the average age of founders of the fastest-growing companies was 45. And that’s the average, so plenty of people have successfully launched companies in their 50s, 60s and beyond. Colonel Sanders didn’t perfect his fried chicken recipe until he was 50, and he was in his 60s when he first franchised it, creating Kentucky Fried Chicken.

    Embarking on business ownership after establishing a career means you can bring more experience, and potentially more capital, to your venture. You also may be able to start a business while maintaining your current employment. As long as your business doesn’t create a conflict of interest and your schedule allows it, starting a business on the side can be a great option. It opens up the tax benefits of business ownership while maintaining your current salary, giving you a great on-ramp to launch your new venture.

    If you or someone in your life has been thinking about starting a business, now is the time. Debunk the myths and get started today.

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    Tom Wheelwright

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  • How Failing as a Stand-up Comic Made Me a Better Entrepreneur | Entrepreneur

    How Failing as a Stand-up Comic Made Me a Better Entrepreneur | Entrepreneur

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    In the middle of a quarter-life crisis, I began evaluating my professional career choices. While working a day job as a sales executive at a very large and successful tech company, I became jaded by corporate jargon, acronyms and daily standups. So, to spite my professional career, I started a personal blog as an attempt to go out on my own and build an audience. The premise for my blog, a.k.a. Justin’s Live, was that every weekend, I’d visit a new restaurant or bar with friends in San Francisco and write up a comedic review of the weekend shenanigans.

    My thought was that the reviews would be informative and hilarious. What I learned was that my reviews were in fact useful, as I observed readers cross-posting on their travel blogs; However, no one thought the content, or the producer of the content, was funny or entertaining.

    So, in an attempt to become a more entertaining writer for the blog, I decided to sign up for stand-up comedy classes in San Francisco. Every week, I began writing jokes and standing up at open mics throughout San Francisco. While I don’t believe I got that much funnier, I believe every entrepreneur should try stand-up comedy at some point in their lives. Here are a few ways that a failed career in stand-up comedy made me a better entrepreneur.

    Related: This Comedian Breaks Down Stand-Up, Startups and Entrepreneurship

    Farts aren’t always funny

    The first time I stood up at SF Comedy College for an open mic, I delivered the perfect fart joke. It involved my grandparents, a church pew and the act of confession. Not a single person in the room laughed. Not one.

    Fart jokes aren’t unique or special. They’re funny when the actual fart happens, but someone talking about a fart isn’t all that entertaining.

    It’s no different when you’re a valuable startup that solves a real customer problem. My former investor, Phil Libin, uses the analogy of building new apps into a developing ecosystem. When Apple launched the concept of mobile apps, there were hundreds of fart apps, but none of them stuck. It took years to build quality experiences that solved real customer problems. Farts are a shortcut. Same as the F- word. Go deeper to find substance versus relying on cheap laughs.

    The blinking red light

    Whenever a comedian bombs on stage, they get the flashing red light indicating that their time on stage is over. The quicker you fail on stage, the faster that red light flashes in the back of the audience. I became really accustomed to seeing that flashing red light, or in other words, experiencing rejection from an audience that didn’t think my aforementioned fart jokes were funny.

    It took six months of visiting late-night open mics before my sets progressed beyond two minutes. What’s more, throughout the process, my skin thickened. I noticed my performance in my day-to-day selling career improving. I was able to manage more difficult conversations, and I didn’t take “no” personally. The blinking red light taught me how to deal with rejection and failure in a very public manner. No matter how bright or fast that light blinks, don’t be afraid to face the red light.

    Related: I Recently Made My Stand Up Comedy Debut. It Was Terrifying, But So Rewarding.

    Riffing and reading the room

    On several, if not most, occasions, my written material bombed. So, during many of those sessions, I was forced to “riff,” or improvise, by engaging directly with an audience.

    As every improv purist knows, stand-up comedy and improv are two very different things; However, there are a number of skills from applied improv that carry over to stand-up comedy. The ability to take cues from an audience, accept their offer and riff on it, is one of the most important and valuable skills I’ve obtained as an entrepreneur.

    Whether it’s handling sales objections, defusing conflict or collaborating on a whiteboard, the ability to listen to a group of people, take what they give you and build upon it is a superpower.

    Nailing the punchline

    With every open mic set, I made it a goal to get at least one joke to land. It took months to get a full two- to three-minute set where I was stringing a handful of decent jokes together to avoid the blinking red light.

    These were a couple of things I learned in the process of nailing my punchlines:

    • I found that the more specific I got into the details of real-life scenarios and problems, the more those stories resonated with my audience.

    • I learned to use hard consonants because words with letters like K, B and P are just funnier.

    • By using the foundations of joke structure, I could take an audience’s preconceived opinions and expectations about everyday scenarios, like going to the grocery store, and break those expectations by injecting an unexpected outcome to make them laugh.

    • The more life experience I acquired, like getting married and having kids, the more relatable my material got.

    Coincidentally, this process and these insights were identical to the work that was required in finding product-market fit and crafting stories that resonated with investors, partners and customers. More specifically:

    • The more I focused on the specific pain of our customers and understood their business and lives, the better my “material” got.

    • During my startup pitches to VCs and customers, I learned to focus on the language I used to communicate my ideas.

    • In scenarios where venture capitalists or prospective customers had established beliefs about a problem area, I could break their expectations by showing them a better way forward.

    • The more work experience I obtained, the more I could speak to real-life business problems and tell a story about how to fix them.

    Related: How Amit Tandon Turned Comedy Into Serious Business

    It goes without saying that I’ll likely never become Dave Chappelle or Chris Rock, nor will I sell out an entire stadium to hear my legendary church pew joke. There isn’t a blinking red light big enough for my stand-up comedy career; However, not to “toot” my own horn, but I’m confident those late-night open mics helped me put the gas on my entrepreneurial endeavors. So, entrepreneurs, what are you waiting for? Let ‘er rip! (Ok, I promise that was the last one).

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    Justin Vandehey

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  • 4 Steps My Startup Took to Land a Fortune 100 Client in 3 Years | Entrepreneur

    4 Steps My Startup Took to Land a Fortune 100 Client in 3 Years | Entrepreneur

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    When starting a business, it’s natural to go after small clients: It generates revenue, sharpens your offering and lets you make mistakes on a lesser scale. But it’s not the only way to grow.

    My company was three years old when we landed our first multi-million dollar contract with a U.S. telecommunications company — at the time, we had fewer than 10 employees. Landing a Fortune 100 client may seem a far reach when you’re a startup, but it can be done.

    The total market cap of Fortune 100 companies reached an all-time high of $33.2 trillion in 2023 — a 48% increase in just one year — for a combined profit of $1.8 trillion. Winning even a small percentage of that business can bring major rewards to any startup; however, doing so requires strategic planning and grit.

    Here are four key lessons I’ve learned in landing business with some of the biggest companies on Earth.

    Related: 6 Ways Small Businesses Can Win With Big Corporations

    1. Create an irresistible value proposition

    In the wireless industry, companies compete solely on product and price. Landing a big contract meant going up against global tech giants, who heavily subsidize their products or merge the costs into other service models. We were never going to win on those selling points alone.

    To even be considered, we knew we had to create an irresistible value proposition, one that would solve pain points our competitors weren’t attuned to. To do this, we went to the source: the client. At every major company we targeted, we asked their support team what their customers’ most common paint points were.

    It turned out, at the time, a customer would be cut off by their service provider if they hadn’t used a certain amount of minutes within a specified time frame. Another common problem involved battery installation: back then it was illegal to ship devices with batteries pre-installed. So they would arrive separately, causing end-user confusion.

    Once we knew what our prospects’ biggest customer issues were, we were able to customize a solution that fixed the whole problem: a quick-start guide that addressed setup issues and automated reminders to use minutes before the cutoff date.

    We were no longer competing against incumbents on product and price, we were offering a solution no one else had — one that not only met the stipulated requirements but also reduced call center costs and customer churn.

    When you’re a startup, finding creative ways to compete on value can not only give you the confidence you need to pitch big clients; it can differentiate you from competitors with long-standing relationships.

    Related: 3 Tips for Doing Deals With Big Companies

    2. Identify your inner champion

    Selling to big companies is time-consuming. Outdated policies and bloated org charts perpetuate inefficiencies and change happens slowly, particularly when it comes to onboarding new partners.

    Not only is it hard to get all the necessary decision-makers in one room, but you then need to get them aligned: Internal politics become a major factor in this process. I’ve seen billion-dollar projects go south due to one executive not wanting to be outshined, at the expense of the company.

    For this reason, it’s critical you build strategic relationships with company insiders who have the power to champion your proposition and guide you through office politics.

    Look for the people who ask logical questions in the first meeting — this hints that they’re engaged, understand strategy and may be willing to support you. if you can convince these people your company can provide significant value, they may become strategic partners and help you close the deal. Even if you miss out on the first one, maintaining these internal relationships can lead to deal flow down the road.

    3. Offer white glove service

    Large companies often have bad customer service and that’s where startups have an advantage.

    At a large corporation, it can take days just to identify the specific person responsible for fixing a customer problem and once they are found, they may not be empowered or incentivized to act on it. When you’re a 10-person team, this is a challenge you don’t have to navigate.

    If an issue arises for one of our clients, we get to the heart of it quickly while maintaining exceptional communication with the strategic partners we’ve built inside. If a request is out of scope, we let it be known, but often we’ll still help troubleshoot it if it means maintaining the longevity of the relationship.

    As a startup, it’s in our DNA to hustle and beat client expectations. Offering a level of service that our larger industry peers can’t compete with has enabled us to achieve a 100% retention rate — a near-impossible achievement when servicing smaller companies.

    Related: 6 Tips on How to Work with High-Profile Clients

    4. Solidify deal terms upfront

    I often say I’ve learned more from the 1,000 things I’ve done wrong in business, than the 100 I’ve done right. One of these key lessons is the importance of having deal terms clearly laid out in an ironclad contract, upfront.

    When working with SMEs, deal terms are generally well understood between the key decision-makers. Paperwork is important, but there’s less risk of a deal falling through because a standard operating procedure wasn’t approved by a nameless stakeholder.

    Multinational corporations can have dozens of stakeholders involved in the closing of any one deal and if each one doesn’t sign off, all the time you spent building relationships and negotiating the contract may have been in vain.

    C-level executives leave companies and projects get canceled when leadership changes hands. That’s why it’s critical you don’t engage in any speculative work. The good news is, once you do sign off on a big contract, a large corporation’s slow-to-change culture works to your advantage, resulting in less churn and higher revenues.

    There’s no perfect litmus test to gauge if you’re ready to go after big business or not, but if you don’t take the risk, you’ll never realize the reward. If you view every mistake as a learning opportunity and don’t give up on the prospect, you can compete for world-class clients and your company will emerge stronger for it.

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    Robert Morcos

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  • 3 Ways Dairy Farming Made Me a Better Entrepreneur | Entrepreneur

    3 Ways Dairy Farming Made Me a Better Entrepreneur | Entrepreneur

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    For more than 60 years, my family has owned and operated a mid-sized dairy farm in Junction City, Wisconsin. I spent many of my formative years at the barn working alongside my grandparents, parents, uncles, aunts and cousins milking, “sweeping in” and making hay. And while I’m sure I caused them more work and stress from having to fix my daily mistakes, the experience working on that farm influenced how I’ve approached entrepreneurship and made me a better technology company founder.

    It’s well known that farm life is insanely hard work, both physically and mentally (which is why I got a marketing degree). However, beyond grit and determination, there were several less obvious lessons I learned from my family during my childhood about what it takes to own and operate a successful venture.

    These are a few of the lessons I learned and how working on a dairy farm made me a better tech entrepreneur.

    Related: The 8 Lessons Entrepreneurs Could Learn From Farmers

    Make hay while the sun shines

    There is no way (yet) to control the weather. Meteorologists can predict it, and we can plan for it, but we can’t dictate when and how much it rains. Farmers never receive “perfect circumstances,” especially in the unpredictable weather conditions of the Midwest. Farmers often have a very narrow window in which they can plant and harvest crops throughout the summer months, without any real control over what the weather will bring them. The expression, “You need to make hay when the sun shines,” still holds true to this day and is equally relevant to building a software company.

    As a tech entrepreneur, I’ve come to accept that you’ll never own or control all of the market conditions. Oftentimes, you’ll need to adapt or adjust to the macro-environment to make your business work. The benefit of doing this with software, of course, is that you don’t have the machinery or livestock that you need to pivot with (although aligning teams around a new strategic direction, particularly the larger you are, can feel like herding cattle).

    At my last company, Disco, we had a great product that solved a problem for customers; However, for almost three years, the market viewed it as a “nice-to-have.” The dynamics of the market needed to change and mature in order for the narrative around Disco to become necessary for business operations.

    There were two “hay-making” windows for Disco. First, when platforms like Slack and Microsoft Teams began building out their ecosystems, we were able to launch our app alongside that momentum to accelerate our initial growth, signal market interest and raise capital. Second, when Covid and remote work became mandatory, our value proposition around building culture across a distributed workforce was table stakes. We were able to double our revenues in a 6-month stretch, secure a Series A term sheet and have a great outcome in selling the company to Culture Amp.

    Although the conditions might not always be ideal for your venture, if you have a good product that solves a customer problem, a committed team and the revenues to sustain your business and support, be patient and know that the weather can change at any point. And when it does, make hay.

    Related: What the American Farm Can Teach Business Leaders About ‘Sowing’ Success

    Operate on the horizons

    AI and automation are improving efficiencies across every industry, farming included. We’ve seen the evolution of automated milking machines, and more recently, the introduction of autonomous farming equipment and IoT devices to monitor crop and animal health to optimize yield with data. These innovations are exciting, but the reality is that farmers need to be selective with these investments to ensure they can sustain their daily operations and keep the cream flowing.

    What I observed was how our family tested new concepts, all while minimizing capital outlay and disrupting daily operations. They approached innovation through creative and strategic financing to pilot hardware and new workflows, and they isolated tests to smaller portions of the farming operation before investing more capital. Additionally, they’d occasionally hire less expensive help (like a pudgy kid with a bad bowl cut, ahem, yours truly) to do the jobs that could be put on auto-pilot. This was my first exposure to the practice of Horizon Planning, where projects were resourced and staged according to experience and skill and during times that would minimize disruption to our cash cows.

    While building my last company, we were faced with similar opportunities and questions around how, where and when to innovate. We were often forced to evaluate the tradeoffs of paying down technical debt or building a boring but crucial HR systems integration versus developing a feature like rewards that we knew would delight our customers.

    By splitting our team and product priorities into horizons, as well as separating a smaller group to focus on “delighter features,” we could keep our operation going, pay down our technical debt and more cost-effectively deploy resources and capital on tasks that required less mindshare from our more senior engineers.

    Related: I’ve Been a Tech Entrepreneur for Over 20 Years — Here Are 5 Key Lessons I’ve Learned Along the Way

    Math and margins matter

    Imagine Leonardo DiCaprio from The Wolf of Wall Street walking into his office with Dickies pants and boots. Farmers are basically day traders with less cocaine and hair gel. The financial models involved in understanding agricultural derivatives are no joke. Not only do farmers need to endure the physical aspects of their job, but in most cases, they’re playing the role of part-time stockbroker.

    I observed my family actively monitor the market rates for milk to understand their margin and calculate COGS based on the inputs from feed prices, as well as improved operational efficiencies from investments in technologies that could help the farm scale. It taught me to look at a balance sheet and the importance of cash burn. I also learned how critical it was to stay informed of market conditions and how they impacted commodities, and more specifically, how to use tax, subsidies and legislation to help your company survive.

    At Disco, these observations and lessons helped us run an incredibly lean operation while making the company profitable. This is rare for a young, growing software business, and it’s ultimately the reason it was able to survive dry periods when growth stalled.

    There are many other reasons I’m grateful for the farming experience — dealing with ambiguity (animals are predictably unpredictable), overcoming a fear of heights and the joy of working toward creating a product that does a body good.

    While these baby-soft hands have softened over time, I’m grateful for how much dairy farming prepared me to be a technology entrepreneur. But more than anything, it taught me how fortunate I was to have that time and those lessons with my family. And for the record, I’m confident the cows are happier in California than in Wisconsin. Just ask them in January.

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    Justin Vandehey

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  • 21 Lessons I Swear By After 21 Years as an Entrepreneur | Entrepreneur

    21 Lessons I Swear By After 21 Years as an Entrepreneur | Entrepreneur

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    Starting my business, five months after September 11, 2001, was no easy feat. There was a lot of uncertainty in the world and no one wanted to spend money. To top it off, I had no clients. I was just armed with a lot of self-belief and the Yellow Pages. I’d start each day cold calling 20 companies a day, as an enthusiastic 23-year-old. At night I’d work in a call center, selling charity raffle tickets for the first 18 months until I had regular work coming in.

    Celebrating 21 years since starting my own business, I share 21 lessons I have learned since diving in and launching over two decades ago. During this time, I have operated my publicity agency through the SARS outbreak, the global financial crisis in 2008, Covid-19 and lockdowns.

    Here are my 21 lessons that I swear by:

    1. You can have the best plan in place, but it doesn’t mean it will happen this way.

    Don’t spend time overthinking every single detail, rather spend that time on the implementation of your project. Often you can procrastinate, making sure to have all your ducks in a row before you start, and while it is great to be prepared, you can’t ever plan for everything. Progress is often better than perfection.

    2. Always get your payment upfront

    You are not a bank and shouldn’t have to provide customers with a 30-day due date for payments. As we know, 30 days often turn into 90 days and it often is just one default payment that can have a massive impact on your cash flow.

    3. Take time out for yourself every day

    Whether it’s one hour of exercise or just five minutes to breathe and focus on your thoughts. If you don’t put your oxygen mask on first then you can’t look after anyone else.

    4. Don’t let the person who doesn’t chase their dreams stop you from chasing your own

    The easiest thing you’ll find on Earth is someone who is happy to tell you a whole list of reasons why you can’t achieve your dreams. Often it’s best to go about what you want to accomplish without telling anyone and then once you have reached that goal you can shout it from the rooftops. By doing so you won’t be discouraged by naysayers.

    Related: How to Maintain Motivation When Surrounded by Naysayers

    5. Put aside your tax in a separate account each time someone pays you

    This will help with your cash flow when it comes to paying your annual tax bill. If you don’t it may be tempting to spend the money that you owe the tax office each quarter or year and you’ll find yourself in trouble. Too often I hear of people who are really successful in their businesses but haven’t accounted for the tax that they will need to pay each year and then have to scramble to find the funds.

    6. Scale your business internationally

    Don’t set your sights on just establishing yourself in your own country. The world is a small place. There are people abroad that will want your product or service. If easier, you could even think about franchising your business to help make it go global and allow you to grow more than you ever thought possible.

    Related: 5 Priceless Lessons For First-Time Entrepreneurs

    7. Whatever worked last year, last month or even yesterday doesn’t mean that it will work today

    You always have to stay on top of trends and try new strategies. For example, if you are running a digital marketing campaign using social media channels, you may find that the cost per click is higher now than ever before as people are selecting to opt out of being tracked. Instead, you could implement a PR program that will help you boost your awareness with earned media.

    8. Don’t build a business that is reliant on just one client

    That’s not a business and it will become too stressful when that client leaves. Instead of spending all of your time on one major client, ensure to take some time out of your day to start securing additional clients to diversify your client base and ultimately risk.

    9. When conflict arises, take the higher road

    Do this by listening and not being defensive. From dealing with suppliers to clients, it’s important that you treat others the way you want to be treated and be mindful of how you conduct yourself as ultimately it’s a reflection of your business that you are trying to build.

    10. Ensure that you share your story and make it part of your corporate communications

    Everyone has a great story and customers will resonate with your business more by you sharing your journey and why you decided to create your own company.

    11. Find a mentor

    There is always someone else who has paved the way for you that you can speak with and learn from their mistakes.

    12. Keep educating yourself

    There will always be new ways to do things more efficiently. From listening to podcasts that deep dive into a subject you need to know more of to investing in training programs that will help you sharpen your business skillset, it’s important to keep learning.

    13. Systemize your processes

    Make sure you have all your systems in place and documented for someone else to follow if you’re ever out of action.

    14. Put everything in writing

    From client agreements to negotiations with suppliers, it’s important that you always have your deals in writing for two reasons. The first is that you’ll often be really busy and may forget what you promised someone or what they promised you and the second is that you have a record that you can refer to should there be any issues in the future.

    15. Live by your school slogan

    Nil Sine Labore was my high school motto which is Latin for “nothing without hard work” and it’s something that I reflect on daily.

    16. Control how you react and it will change your business

    You can’t control what’s happening around you in the world, but you can control the way you react to external events. There are always ups and downs as a business owner and you have to learn how to ride these waves that come your way.

    17. Love what you do

    If you don’t enjoy it, then stop doing it and change your career. Life is too short.

    18. Give back

    Whether it’s through donating, doing pro bono work or volunteering at a charity. It’s rewarding and will add more meaning to your life.

    19. Business cards aren’t redundant

    It’s the best form of remarketing. Someone, when pulling out their jacket at the next wedding they go to, or Christmas party or meeting, will find your card, possibly several months later and will think of you.

    20. Be consistent

    Whatever your marketing, sales or growth strategy is, you have to be consistent with it. For example, if you are trying to attract more business by posting on Linkedin, you can’t post three times a week and then not post for a month. You need to be consistent in your approach.

    21. You don’t always need an investor to get your business idea off the ground

    Don’t worry about finding an investor to back you to get your idea off the ground. Back yourself and most importantly believe in yourself. If you don’t back yourself, then no one else will.

    Theese 21 lessons above have been instrumental in me launching my business, staying in business and ultimately growing my business internationally. Just because you have been in the game for many years doesn’t mean that it will get easier, but you can be sure that following these strategies will help you navigate the path that lies ahead. Enjoy the ride.

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    Adrian Falk

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  • 6 Key Lessons Fishing Has Taught Me in Business and in Life | Entrepreneur

    6 Key Lessons Fishing Has Taught Me in Business and in Life | Entrepreneur

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    I’ve been fishing for as long as I can remember, and to this day, when I have some free time to myself or need to clear my head, I go out on the boat and settle in with my line. Growing up, I spent days out on the water with my father, making up some of my ultimate bonding experiences. Not only did it create a special memory for me and those who I shared the experience with, but it also helped shape me into the business leader I am today. You might ask, “How so?” Well, for starters, fishing requires patience, timing, skill, understanding and persistence; all of these are qualities you need as a business leader.

    Just like fishing, business is a numbers game. You have to cast and continue to cast if you hope to get lucky enough to catch a fish eventually. Ultimately, even the worst polecasters will catch a fish if they wait long enough. The same goes for business. To achieve success, you need to build up your resilience and ability to stay put because the overwhelming majority of the time, you won’t catch anything — but you must not let that defeat you.

    The secret to catching fish is having a constant eye out for change and being adaptable to that change. A return trip out to a favorite spot that once produced success is still no guarantee of another win. Nothing remains constant in nature, and you must continue taking risks and finding new strategies. Currents, temperature, tides and seasons are just some variables a fisherman must deal with. Only after these uncontrollable variables are accounted for do considerations of skill, equipment, patience and tenacity come into play.

    I’m the founder of a public relations firm that I started during the pandemic, and I know that fishing was one of the experiences that shaped the skills that allowed me to be tenacious enough to create the business I have today. Here are the five lessons fishing has taught me in business and in life:

    Related: 5 Things Entrepreneurs Can Learn From Fishermen

    1. Patience

    Sitting on a boat or the edge of the water, waiting for a bite, sometimes for endless hours, is a great opportunity to learn about patience and the time it takes to succeed. There is no such thing as fast-forwarding to success.

    In fishing and business alike, patience is vital because success does not come overnight. It takes time to build a successful business, and setbacks and failures are part of the journey.

    Leaders who are patient can navigate the ups and downs of business more effectively. They understand that it takes time to build a great team, develop new products or services and establish a brand reputation. Patient leaders do not make rash decisions based on short-term results; rather, they take a long-term view and focus on sustainable growth and development.

    Moreover, patient leaders are more likely to cultivate positive relationships with their employees, customers and partners. They understand that building trust and rapport takes time and consistent effort. They are also more equipped to stop themselves from any impulsive reactions or responses. As a result, they are willing to invest time and resources in nurturing relationships and building a culture of mutual respect and appreciation. In turn, this creates a more loyal and dedicated team that is committed to achieving shared goals and objectives.

    Overall, patience is a critical quality for success in fishing and business leadership. By being patient, leaders can weather storms, build sustainable relationships and achieve long-term success.

    2. Learning to enjoy activities as we do them, as enjoyment should be found in the activity itself, not the end result

    We, as a society, tend to put a lot of emphasis on making it to the finish line. But in fishing and business alike, the point is not always about the productive result. Sometimes in fishing, you work hard to go out to sea with all the right equipment and bait, but the fish just won’t bite — and you end up coming home empty-handed.

    This also happens in business; you’ll put hours of work into a project or presentation to a client, but just because you put in the work doesn’t mean you’ll get success every time. This is part of business and a natural part of life. It’s important to learn to enjoy the process. Find the joy in doing the research and the work, and you’ll begin to take a more mindful and enjoyable approach as well as continue to hone in on your craft.

    3. Just because you have some nibbles, doesn’t mean you’re going to land the fish

    As I stated before, it takes time and patience to establish something worthwhile and so it is with fishing. Just because you feel a little nibble here and there doesn’t mean you’re going to land that big client right out of the gate. However, it does mean you are on the right track. If you never put your reel in, you will never catch anything. Like in business, the worst answer isn’t “no” — it’s never trying in the first place.

    Related: Why Patience And Perseverance Are Two Of the Greatest Virtues

    4. When you feel like you’re losing everything, the only mistake you can make is to not have your line in the water

    In the times between the low tides in both fishing and life, you must not wallow in self-pity or loss. Instead, you must get your line and your mind in the water. Many people believe that they’re least likely to catch a fish during the times when the tide is low, but in contrast, that is actually the time when it’s stirring up the possibility of a good catch. Much like the act of fishing, in life, you must try new things and be fully alive, waking up each day to live your life to the fullest potential.

    5. Many of us do things with expectations; fishing teaches you not to

    In fishing, as in life, having unrealistic expectations can lead to disappointment and frustration. For example, if a fisherman expects to catch a large fish every time they cast their line, they will likely be disappointed when this doesn’t happen. Similarly, in business, having unrealistic expectations can lead to disappointment and frustration, which can negatively impact morale and productivity.

    Having expectations can create a rigid mindset that can be limiting and prevent leaders from seeing opportunities or being flexible in their approach. When leaders have preconceived expectations of how things should be, they may miss out on innovative ideas or creative solutions that could drive their business forward.

    6. The ocean teaches us a deep lesson about life

    The ocean provides us with great nourishment and beauty, but it also can cause us to experience immense pain. Just think about what happens to the sea when a storm looms above.

    That’s kind of how it is in the business world, too; it can be great and provide the livelihood we need, but it can also turn our lives absolutely upside down by creating excess stress and chaos.

    Many of us are stressed out. Stress in the workplace is a global issue that affects workers around the world. According to the American Institute of Stress, work is one of the top sources of stress for American adults. In 2022, 83% of U.S. workers reported experiencing work-related stress.

    The ocean provides us with a source of tranquility once we understand its nature as a provider and as a destroyer — as with the business world — we can find the balance needed to achieve.

    Related: I Couldn’t Sleep. I Obsessed Over My Failures. Then I Found the Weirdest Cure — Flyfishing?

    As you can see, fishing can be so much more than just a pastime. It can be the very activity you need to hone in on to create your biggest business goals. Fishing or similar activities are critical for a leader to experience because there is also value in having time when you are not connected and not reachable. It’s similar to being a plane with no WiFi. That’s when you can do critical thinking and give your brain a moment to recalibrate — “woosah,” as we say. If you are always on and reachable, you miss out on important “you time” that makes you a better and more collected leader.

    True success takes time and trust in the process. So, grab some bait, line, and contemplate your next business venture!

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    Mary Elkordy

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  • I Ran a Marathon Without Training. Here’s What I Learned and How It Made Me a Better Entrepreneur. | Entrepreneur

    I Ran a Marathon Without Training. Here’s What I Learned and How It Made Me a Better Entrepreneur. | Entrepreneur

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    Physical exercise has always been an important part of my routine. In the course of starting my company, I’ve used long-distance running and cross-training as a means to de-stress, socialize and insert some level of control and predictability into a professional lifestyle that is pretty chaotic.

    I’ll preface this with the obvious: I’m an average athlete. However, as I’ve gotten older, my approach to physical activity has actually taught me a lot about how to be a better company founder and entrepreneur.

    These are a few of those reflections and lessons I’ve learned along the way:

    Related: 5 Things Running Races Taught Me About Running a Business

    Put in the miles

    In the process of building my last company, I picked up David Goggins‘ book, Can’t Hurt Me, in which Goggins outlines his personal transformation from a potato chip and chocolate-shake-drinking, gelatinous pest exterminator to a badass Navy SEAL and Ultra Endurance Athlete. I was fascinated by Goggins’ story, particularly with how he was able to train his mind to push through pain to achieve his goals. His most famous (and insane) feat was running a 100-mile ultra-marathon in under 19 hours without formal training, which ultimately led to kidney failure and broken feet.

    Nevertheless — I thought, what the hell? If this Goggins guy can run 100 miles without training, why couldn’t Justin Vandehey, an average athlete in decent cardio shape, finish a marathon without formal training?

    So, that’s what I did, and boy, was that stupid.

    First, I attempted to condense training. I was doing CrossFit four days a week and purchased a weighted vest to strengthen my legs. According to my math, if I ran five miles each day with a 20lb vest for three months, that SHOULD equate to the wear and tear that my body would experience over the course of 26.2 miles.

    The result? I finished my marathon time at the same time as Oprah. What’s more, I had stress fractures throughout both my legs and broke three toes.

    What did this teach me? For one, I’m not David Goggins. More importantly, as an entrepreneur, the miles really matter. Whether it’s fundraising, sales or building products, how you train matters. There are no silver bullets to learning these functions or building an exceptional company. Find a coach, mentor or advisor who can help you build a plan toward achieving your outcome in each of these crucial aspects of your business. Put in the miles.

    Related: 5 Reasons Why Every Leader Should Run a Marathon

    Take the rest when you can

    In my second marathon attempt, I was committed to a plan. I purchased an online training program from Hal Higdon, updated my Apple Watch and began actively tracking my miles and heartbeat while putting in the work, including the long 20-mile weekend runs.

    My goal was to qualify for Boston, a 3:05 marathon finish according to my age bracket. I was feeling really good. I was maintaining a seven-minute race pace during my training runs and had read on running forums that adrenaline usually pushes runners to an even faster pace during the race.

    I wanted to put everything I had into training for this race, so three days before the event, I elected to get two non-prescribed squat training workouts during my taper week.

    The result?

    On race day, the adrenaline kicked in, and I maintained a 6:45/mile pace through 18 miles. However, I came out way too fast — and ultimately, those two additional leg workouts taxed my IT band to the point where I couldn’t put any pressure on my left leg. That pain led to further GI issues, which arose (literally) at mile 23. My pace for the remaining eight miles fell to nine minutes/mile. I finished the marathon in under four hours but fell incredibly short of my goal

    What did this teach me?

    Take the rest when you can get it. Ignoring taper week and doubling down when my body needed to recover was incredibly stupid. As entrepreneurs, we often can’t force an outcome by pushing all of the time. When you need to rest, or when it’s prescribed that you rest, do it. You’re working toward the best outcome for your business, and there is no extra credit if you’re overextending yourself.

    What’s more, you can’t control all of the variables that occur when things start to go off the rails. I had trained to eat during the race, but the pain that I was experiencing in my IT band triggered reactions from my body that I could have never anticipated. Sometimes negative momentum is just as powerful as positive momentum. Embrace it for what it is, and be kind to yourself when things aren’t going as expected.

    Related: How Marathon Running is Inspiring Present Day Entrepreneurs

    Embrace the suck

    After a handful of marathons and half marathons, two of my friends convinced me to join them as a third teammate in a CrossFit competition (Hey bro, did I mention I do CrossFit?) I entered the competition confident, knowing that I had just come off hardcore marathon training and felt good about my strength endurance. The competition consisted of four lifts, all of different movements to test an athlete’s fitness level.

    For the first lift, I absolutely smoked the field, which contained a heavy cardio component and a long outdoor run. However, for the second lift, we were asked to do a single rep maximum lift of a clean and jerk movement. This was purely a strength exercise, and I am without a doubt an endurance athlete with poor shoulder mobility.

    The result? I came in dead last out of 35 people on the heavy complex lift. I was pretty embarrassed with my individual performance. However, my other two friends on our squad crushed their individual lifts and raised our average to the middle of the overall competition.

    What did this teach me?

    It’s okay to suck at something and just fully absorb that failure. It keeps us honest and humble about our abilities and gives us something to build on. It also reminded me of how critical a diverse team is to overall success. We all have things we’re going to excel at, so focus on doing those things well and lean into the strengths of the others on your team. For what it’s worth, I did come in eighth place in the heavy farmer’s carry, which I’m assuming comes from some combination of hauling groceries, growing up on a dairy farm or carrying little humans (a.k.a. my kids) around.

    As entrepreneurs, we question the impossible and challenge the limits that are set for us. Many people think we’re programmed for success (nature) or that we’re born into circumstances that forecast excellence (nurture). I’d argue that this process is an evolution, not a static moment in time nor something that we inherited or are born with. It’s also a process that we should try to enjoy.

    As I train for an Ironman competition this Fall and have already discovered my lack of buoyancy and the inability to move my hands and feet at the same time, I’m trying to remember that. So, if you’re reading this and know a good swim coach, you know where to find me. I’m the lanky guy in the pool with poor shoulder mobility, laughing and crying while trying not to drown, fully embracing the suck.

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    Justin Vandehey

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  • 3 Key Lessons I Learned While Working for P. Diddy | Entrepreneur

    3 Key Lessons I Learned While Working for P. Diddy | Entrepreneur

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    The only thing I love more than sports is music, more specifically the art and science of music production and the business of music and entertainment. In fact, in the process of completing my University degree in business, I enrolled in community college courses to learn the basics of audio engineering and music production. I wanted to be a music mogul. I wanted to be P. Diddy.

    So, one afternoon while browsing the music catalogue of the Notorious B.I.G., I stumbled upon the careers page for Atlantic Records and Bad Boy Entertainment. There was a newly posted opportunity: Join Bad Boy and Atlantic Records international marketing team.

    I knew my odds of getting the gig were low, but I said screw it, “what would Puff do?”

    One week after submitting my application, I heard back from a recruiter who said the hiring manager liked my content samples as a beat writer for a Fantasy Football website. He also needed help building out his fantasy football roster. I got the job.

    That next day, I notified the registrar that I was taking a leave of absence after my Spring Semester and dropping out to move to New York to become a music mogul.

    This is what I learned in the process of working for P. Diddy and Bad Boy Entertainment — and how I’ve applied these insights to my own personal development and journey as a professional and entrepreneur.

    Related: From Paper Boy to Music Mogul: Entrepreneurship Lessons From Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs

    Land and expand

    Before joining the label, I had a very limited view into all of the alternative revenue streams that existed outside of the music catalogue. I assumed the majority of artists made their fortunes from their work in the studio. However, it became clearer to me that the music was the catalyst for building a brand that transcended Billboard charts.

    Obviously, the music had to be incredible; However, Diddy was one of the first to extend the value of his brand into other categories that have made him a billionaire, such as fashion, media and alcohol. He was able to build thriving businesses that were connected to his brand persona. What’s more, he invested time and energy into businesses he understood. The intersection of those two forces had compounding effects.

    I now apply this model to every new opportunity I evaluate or take on. I know that I have experience in enterprise SaaS sales with a passion for company building at the earliest stages. It’s what led me to start my podcast, it informs which companies I invest in and advise, and it’ll ultimately help influence which company I build next.

    Whether you’re a music icon or a business-to-business SaaS founder, once you’ve mastered your craft and established a brand persona and reputation in your space, diversify your channels of impact by expanding into connected categories in the domains that you know well.

    Related: Lessons on Innovation and Evolution From 3 Top Hip-Hop Artists

    The muffins matter

    During the release of Making the Band‘s solo artist Donnie Klang’s album, “Like a Rolling Stone,” I met P. Diddy for the first time. Diddy hosted a release party in Atlantic Record CEO Craig Kallman’s office, and I was there to represent International Marketing.

    Diddy sat in the middle of a room as the entire album played from start to finish on the giant tower speakers. He listened to every track, barely able to keep himself from dancing out of the chair. At the same time, he critiqued every track and every lyric, while he surveyed the room to see the impact that the music and the environment were having on his audience.

    Twenty minutes in, he pointed to the sky and asked to stop the music. He looked over in my direction and asked one of his assistants, “Who’s the guy by the breakfast table?” I introduced myself, to which he replied, “Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. This room needs some #$#% muffins.” Following the breakfast incident, later that day, I remember seeing a copy of a press release with Diddy’s approval on it for the album to ensure that the quality was up to his standards. His attention to the details and involvement in so many of the seemingly smaller decisions are what stuck with me.

    As entrepreneurs, we are often faced with the question of how to “run the business” without being “run by the business,” as well as when to delegate or take ownership in order to scale. Personally, I struggled with this when we were attempting to scale our sales efforts at my company, Disco, and ultimately realized that I needed to be more heavily involved in the direct selling effort to ensure that our brand, positioning and message were on point with the story we were selling.

    If you’re hosting a party, make sure the party is awesome before you decide to leave the room. If you want the party to remain awesome, the details matter. Even the muffins.

    Related: When Should a CEO Get Involved in Day-to-Day Details?

    Keep reinventing yourself

    Sean Combs has taken on many identities in his lifetime — Puff Daddy, P. Diddy, Diddy, and most recently, LOVE — all showcase the evolution, growth and maturation of a music icon, entrepreneur and father. Similarly, the music industry itself has undergone several evolutions and identity shifts. Retail sales were disrupted by digital distribution, which was enhanced through the improving infrastructure of the web and streaming.

    Watching this play out in real time taught me that we’re all a work in progress and that it’s important to continue to evaluate our position to stay relevant but also true to ourselves.

    After a year and a half in New York in an unpaid internship, bartending in NJ, cleaning up vomit to make ends meet and eventually losing everything I owned in an apartment break-in, I decided it was time to reinvent myself. To my parents’ delight, I returned to college to finish my degree.

    To be clear, my return to school wasn’t just driven by the barrage of pastry requests I was getting at the label. After seeing what was happening in the business of music and the disruption occurring to their business model, I knew I needed to get closer to the source of where those services were being built. I felt like I could build relationships with a network of entrepreneurs working on the business I cared about.

    Two months later, I interviewed for a job at Intuit. And to this day, I haven’t eaten another muffin.

    Here are a few points to summarize what I learned from working for P. Diddy and my experience as a “music mogul.”

    • Land and expand: Once you’ve nailed your craft or created your niche, experiment with channels to extend your impact in connected categories that you know well.

    • The muffins matter: Great founders don’t “run the business,” but they do sweat the details.

    • Keep reinventing yourself: Don’t be afraid to experiment and revisit your purpose or explore an alternative path that might help you get to the place you aspire to be.

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    Justin Vandehey

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  • A Billionaire Stiffed Me $30K — Here’s What I Learned from the Experience | Entrepreneur

    A Billionaire Stiffed Me $30K — Here’s What I Learned from the Experience | Entrepreneur

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    A billionaire stiffed me out of $30,000.

    Yes, you read that correctly! He paid me initially for some of my work — but refused to pay the remaining $30,000. Now, $30,000 is potentially a significant amount of money and may even represent several months or even years of income for some. However, to a billionaire, $30,000 is a relatively small sum and may not even make a noticeable difference in their wealth. It is like comparing a small pebble to a large mountain.

    Now, you might be thinking, “How could this happen, AJ? Why would a billionaire care about $30,000?”

    Those are both great questions. However, you’ll soon see that we both learned major lessons in this process. And what many would see as potentially devastating — I’ve found to be invaluable. I mean, I lost $30,000 (my lawyer hates that I’m telling you this), so, it’s still a tough pill to swallow.

    In this article, I’m going to share the lessons I learned from this experience in hopes that it will help you in business, too.

    Related: I Was Ripped Off by Someone I Thought Was a Friend. Here’s What I Learned.

    Who wants to be a billionaire?

    Now, a billionaire is totally different from a millionaire. You may have seen those graphics that show you the difference. It’s major.

    There are only 3,331 billionaires on earth out of 7 billion people. I want to explain that just in case you don’t understand this concept. I don’t mean that in a negative way. It’s just that in reality, it’s extremely hard to comprehend that.

    That means — if you measure people accordingly by net worth — “billionaire status” means you represent 0.00003% of the world’s population. That is a very specific number for an important reason.

    Let’s be honest: Most people do not understand what it means to actually be a billionaire. Being a billionaire is exactly as amazing as it sounds.

    What do you think of first when you picture a billionaire? It’s probably things like sick houses that could fit entire neighborhoods inside, a giant yacht off the coast of Monaco, beautiful people everywhere like you’re in your own music video and a dreamy aesthetic that fills each moment of your day.

    And you would be right.

    We were flown out to the home of the billionaire who stiffed me. It was epic. His guest house alone is worth $10 million — which is more than what 95% of millionaires can afford. It looks like something out of Architectural Digest, including custom cabinets in a palatial bathroom, a beautiful covered veranda and spectacular water views.

    While he owed me $30,000, he spent more than that on soft goods. He spared no expense on things like towels, napkins and bed sheets — everything had to be of the highest quality. That, and it also had to be of a high thread count!

    I was told that what he purchased the main house for — in one of the most expensive areas in the United States — was the most ever paid for a home in that state! The price tag: $60 million.

    The 295-acre property wasn’t even on the market at the time. So, he did what any billionaire with money to burn would do: He paid over two times the property’s assessed value. Not to be outdone by the guest house, the main home features 5 baths and 3 bedrooms and comes in at 7,400 square feet!

    Clearly, this man had no shortage of money. Now that I’ve given you some insight into the person who stiffed me, let me share a little bit about myself, too.

    I’m a guru maker

    I run a pretty hot boutique social media content creation agency in Los Angeles called The Limitless Company. I study entrepreneurs, I am an entrepreneur, and I work with world-class entrepreneurs. Basically, I’m a guru maker — and I create content for thought leaders. I’ve worked with the top 1% of individuals to grow their digital brand business.

    How?

    I get them famous for the stuff they are really, really good at. Then, I use that fame (or attention) and turn that into money, book deals, sponsorships and more.

    I call it ROAC: Return On Attention Created.

    We create short-form vertical video content for our clients and help them get engagement on social media. But it’s not just video clips. We help our clients build really cool and culturally relevant digital brands — brands that have the power to influence consumers with the content to drive commercial activity.

    Over my 15-year career in digital marketing, I’ve helped my clients generate tens of millions of dollars through physical products, digital products, brand deals, joint ventures and more. Currently, with the handful of clients that we’re working with now, we’re reaching millions of people every month. And all that attention we help our clients create gets monetized.

    Bottom line: I film people who are masters of their domain. But, no, not in the Seinfeld sense. It’s more like someone who is creating their reality — someone who is already a force of nature.

    I come in to help them cement their personal brand as a “GURU” in their industry. I do this for television stars, business moguls, tech founders and high-profile individuals.

    They go from being a leader in their industry to being a leader for their industry.

    Related: 3 Business Lessons You Don’t Want to Learn the Hard Way

    I learned a valuable lesson in the process — and so did the billionaire (maybe)

    We were hired to help this person produce short-form vertical video content. I spent time educating his team on the value of short-form vertical video. I explained that it’s about connecting with modern culture.

    If you want to be a successful U.S. company, I told them, you need to be connected with U.S. culture (and pay your bills). Social media cultures represent real life in many ways. It’s the lens people see through first — when they perceive reality. I tried to convey to them how important it was to get this right in context.

    But unfortunately, he got in his own way. We gave his team the videos. They had an overseas team review it and were confused as to why we didn’t incorporate logos, intros and outros all over the video. While these were previously known as “best practices,” these are not the kinds of features on a video that drive attention on social media. All these features take up valuable time, disrupt the flow, decrease engagement and make the video appear less authentic on the platform.

    I also want to mention that even before signing the contract, we allocated resources and time to the project. But that didn’t matter to him or his integrity. Because you see, when you reach that kind of level, you technically don’t have to care about anything.

    A major lesson for him and all billionaires: Just because they had that one unicorn grand slam, doesn’t mean it will repeat. This new company was different from what had made him a billionaire. Clearly, billionaires fail too — and this was very much that. Further, for me to see a billionaire try to navigate a company and industry they weren’t familiar with made me realize how much power I have. It made me see the true value of digital world skills.

    The story of the billionaire is a classic example of how things can go wrong even at the highest level. But like I said at the beginning, to a billionaire, $30,000 may not be a significant sum. It’s like a drop in the bucket to them. So, it takes a special person to be so stubborn.

    Afterward, I discovered that this particular billionaire had a reputation for not paying his bills. Even when I signed the contract with him at first, I thought to myself, “I won’t have an issue getting this money.”

    Normally, I collect upfront. However, this contract was written by his company, and for the sake of their convenience, I just moved forward with it. Big mistake. In the end, we both had valuable takeaways from the experience. I’m probably the only one who did anything about it though.

    Victim or creator? Which one are you?

    Now, this wasn’t the first time I was “screwed.” I am no longer the same person I used to be — a victim.

    I realized that there are two types of people in life. There are people who are “victims” — they idly sit back and watch life happening to them. And the other group is “creators.” These are people who see life happening for them. They are the cause. They believe that life happens for them — to create.

    The fundamental difference between the victim mindset and the creator mindset is where they place their attention. For victims, the focus is on what they don’t want. Problems constantly preoccupy their lives, and they fear the loss of control or loss of purpose.

    Creators place their focus on what they do want. Instead of focusing on problems, they find (or even create) solutions. So, when this billionaire guy stiffed me, instead of defaulting into a victim, I chose to use this as a lesson. And I carry this lesson into Limitless. I help people do a very specific thing: create a “guru” brand. This is a “vehicle” that fast-tracks their career.

    So, just like how any vehicle needs to go to a gas station and pay for gas up front, that’s how I set up my company’s services. I’m fueling their brand in the digital world the same way gas powers a vehicle in the physical world.

    Related: 8 Ways You Can Save Yourself and Others From Being Scammed

    Use this as a lesson for your own success

    There are three key things I want you to take away from my experience. First, you need to value your time as a creator. Get paid upfront for the work you do. Don’t be a victim of your — or someone else’s — circumstances.

    Secondly, never let your own success be your downfall. Get out of your own way. As a guru in any field, you have a great responsibility for yourself, your team and your audience. Take it seriously.

    Third, digital world skills have become so valuable that everyone, regardless of their socio-economic status, needs them. So, get really good at it.

    Remember: To be exceptional, you have to be an exception. As you create and build your brand, share that greatness with your customers.

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    AJ Kumar

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  • Entrepreneur | True Religion’s Co-Founder Leads Differently Today—Here’s Why

    Entrepreneur | True Religion’s Co-Founder Leads Differently Today—Here’s Why

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    I’ve been a serial entrepreneur driven by my passions my entire life. I love the challenge of creating something from scratch and am always eager to learn new things. One of my most notable accomplishments was co-founding the first-ever fashion denim brand: True Religion, which sold for more than $800 million in 2013.

    When I co-founded the company, denim had no stretch; you either wore stiff jeans or jeggings. Worst of all, there were no suitable jeans options for curvier bodies out there. They were clearly being underserved. The designs of our jeans were very technical and intentional in order to achieve a sexy jean that would fit every body type.

    In 2008, I sold my shares of True Religion and set out for my next phase in entrepreneurial endeavors. After I left the company, I started building homes, and as I was staging them, it was impossible to find cohesive styles that fit with the designs and aesthetics. It was arduous to decorate the rooms in these homes and make them look seamless, so I decided to do something about it.

    I founded Style Union Home, a luxury home ceramics brand with handmade pieces crafted in LA, two years ago to fill that gap. Since then, the line has been carried in 200 stores across the U.S., and it’s still growing.

    My passion for being the first to develop something motivated me to start all of my businesses. I have used my 30-plus years of experience founding and selling them to help shape my new home-fashions line — and I’m doing things differently this time.

    Related: What Part Does Passion Play in Your Success as an Entrepreneur?

    These are lessons that I’ve learned along the way and have incorporated into Style Union Home.

    I’d never deal with an all-male board again.

    At True Religion, I was the largest shareholder, but I was also the only woman on the board. During my time at the company, it was hard to find any support from the all-male board of directors.

    We were disrupting the denim industry, and often times they didn’t recognize how to do that because they couldn’t see or relate to the woman’s perspective. We were developing a brand for women, and they couldn’t figure out how to do that. I fought for many of my ideas that ended up being successful for the brand because I knew what our customers wanted.

    Being the biggest shareholder and not being heard was the biggest thorn in my side. The men I worked with could be exclusive; they didn’t care to listen and figure out what it was women really wanted.

    As a result, I never received the support I needed.

    For example, while we were still building True Religion, Neiman Marcus reached out and wanted us to create a dress. The board immediately shut down the idea — they said it had nothing to do with denim. They didn’t see dollars in the project, but I knew they were wrong.

    I created the dress for Neiman Marcus anyway. That denim dress was on the cover of the Neiman Marcus catalog and garnered a lot of positive attention. None of that would have happened if I had listened to the board and not gone with my gut.

    Related: 3 Super Simple Ways to Understand What Your Customer Wants

    I’m committed to hiring and working with incredible women.

    As a result of my experience with the all-male board, I knew I wanted to work with women. As entrepreneurs, we need to build our teams, and by hiring women, we have the power to ensure that they receive equal pay and become part of an inclusive environment. The only way to tackle issues like this is to make the change yourself, and everything else will follow.

    Today, I’m focused on working with women and supporting them every step of the way.

    When it comes to my hiring process, it’s really about passion for me. I look for people who are ambitious and love what they do. Of course, you want to work with people who have experience and know what they’re doing, but they should also be passionate about the work they’re putting out there.

    Today, I’m focused on working with women and supporting them every step of the way. We’re developing a brand primarily for women, and women know women. They can see the vision ahead because they understand and appreciate our customers’ perspectives and what they need.

    Related: 7 Practical Ways to Celebrate and Support Women Entrepreneurs

    Understand the difference between listening and hearing.

    Every entrepreneur should work on their listening and hearing skills — and they’re not the same. Anyone can passively pay attention to what they’re being told and repeat it back, but are you listening and absorbing what’s being asked of you?

    As a leader, you need to listen to your teams and understand their needs. They need to know that you are mindfully present. You can’t run a business with a team that doesn’t feel supported. That’s when things start to fall apart.

    An entrepreneur is only as good as their team.

    Every brand has a vision, and the only way to execute it successfully is by surrounding yourself with people who can also see the big picture. Entrepreneurs need to be able to depend on their teams, and you can only do that if you’re working toward the same goal with a solid group of people. The vigor of the people around you is fundamental to your success.

    Despite being the largest shareholder at True Religion, I never felt supported because the team failed to see what I did. It’s essential that you align yourself with a team on the same page about your vision and let them know they’re valuable.

    Stay true to your leadership style.

    Women in business obviously face a double standard in the workplace. We’ve been taught to do what we can to fit into the “boys’ club” or to tone down our feminine energy.

    But the things that they tell you to downplay (for example, leading with emotional intelligence) are what could make you a great leader in your field. We’re asked to alter our identities when we don’t need to; we just need to learn how to harness those qualities.

    Your passion is valuable. It will speak for you, and people will be receptive.

    You don’t need to be aggressive to get your point across. You can be heard by staying true to yourself and your leadership style. Your passion is valuable. It will speak for you, and people will be receptive.

    Related: The Importance of Staying True to Your Roots as an Entrepreneur

    Leadership by example is the hallmark of a good leader.

    A strong leader makes a strong team. Your actions, however small you might think them to be, have influence over your team. Respect your employees, and they will respect you in return. They have to trust you, and the only way to earn their trust is by showing them that you put your words into action.

    I would never ask someone on my team to do something I wouldn’t do myself. Being a leader does not make you superior to others. You’re all critical pieces of one big unit that only functions when you’re in sync.

    If you’re not ready for something, there’s nothing wrong with saying “no.”

    Business owners think that they have to say yes to every single opportunity that comes their way. But they’re operating on a scarcity mindset. They believe that if they say no, the prospect is lost forever. But I haven’t found that to be true at all.

    When making decisions, it’s essential for founders to learn when to say no because it can make or break their business. It’s tempting to say yes when you’re presented with a potentially lucrative offer, but you have to think strategically about the long-term impact. Before making any commitments, you should wait until you have all your ducks in a row.

    If a business owner knows they aren’t prepared for something, the worst thing they can do is say yes to it and possibly sacrifice that connection. If you’re not ready, that’s okay. Don’t do it. They’ll come back.

    I will never repeat the mistakes I made at True Religion, but I’m grateful for the lessons that I’ve been able to learn along the way.

    I’m taking all of my experience into Style Union Home’s growth plan for 2023. Aside from these lessons, we’re also utilizing invaluable information from our retailers and customers to guide us in the right direction.

    I will never repeat the mistakes I made at True Religion, but I’m grateful for the lessons that I’ve been able to learn along the way because now I know exactly how I want to run my business and how that contributes to success in the long run.

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    Kym Gold

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  • This Ukrainian CEO Reveals What it Takes to Sustain a High-Performing Hybrid Team (Even During a War).

    This Ukrainian CEO Reveals What it Takes to Sustain a High-Performing Hybrid Team (Even During a War).

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    The last couple of years has been incredibly challenging for businesses worldwide. None were left unaffected by the ongoing crises of global warming, Covid-19, or inflation. When the pandemic hit, it left companies with no other option but to adopt a new hybrid model of work culture. Each of us had to step out of our comfort zone and learn how to master work-from-home quickly.

    Just when we thought the pandemic was over, the full-scale invasion of Ukraine posed a new threat to the world economy and politics. The whole generation of Ukrainian entrepreneurs was now forced to find ways of supporting their businesses and teams regardless of the war. As the CEO of BetterMe, a company headquartered in Ukraine, I can share the experience of how I charge my team with energy and motivation, considering the major crises that keep unfolding around us in Ukraine.

    On the first day of the invasion, I was sure of nothing but one thing: If my team withstood this crisis, the company would keep thriving too. After almost a year of full-scale war, the Ukrainian tech industry is not just surviving — it continues growing day by day. According to data from the National Bank of Ukraine, IT industry export revenues actually increased by 23% year-on-year during the first six months of 2022 to reach $3.74 billion. Our teams stay strong and motivated despite the power outages, the mental health burden and the neverending bad news that the war brings daily. How is that possible?

    Related: Russia-Ukraine War And What It Is Doing To Businesses And Consumers

    Ralph Emerson once said, “Every great institution is the lengthened shadow of a single man.” Even if Emerson hinted at the leader, I believe the company is an extension of everyone who works there. If your team shares common goals and values with your business, it will withstand any storm coming its way.

    Values matter: How to motivate better performance in the workplace

    Company-wide and individual employee values should sync to achieve the best results on both sides. Such alignment makes them equals, working together towards one common goal. More than that, the company needs to know how to channel these values. If the candidates are aware of these values during the interview, they’ll know whether this company is a good match for them too.

    As a result, a value-united team will share a sense of mission they strive to achieve together. For example, at BetterMe, we aspire to make a healthy lifestyle available to millions of people worldwide. Our mission is creating happiness from within, which spreads not only to our users but also to our team. People are our greatest value, so we prioritized caring for them when the war knocked on our doors.

    Helping others became our team’s biggest motivation and value in 2022. We thought of ways we could support people, our fellow Ukrainians, at the time of this nationwide crisis. On the second day of the war, we opened free access to BetterMe: Health Coaching and BetterMe: Mental Health for all Ukrainians. Even though it was a challenging task, the team saw its tremendous value for the people and worked hard to make it happen. We had numerous volunteer initiatives throughout the year, including holding donation events or launching a charity sportswear collection to raise funds. We stay on track because everyone on the team is strongly motivated to contribute to others’ wellbeing and keep helping those affected by the war.

    Building a strong team starts with hiring the right people

    But great teams aren’t created when the crisis hits — this process starts much earlier. According to recent research, a bad hire isn’t only bad for the team but can also cost a company $15,000 on average. That’s why we practice bar-raising: It’s a great tool to cut unnecessary costs and ensure we hire the right people. This practice applies to the last interview stage, aiming to “scan” a person and see if they align with the company’s values.

    In the interview process, our C-level employees can ask the candidate anything from how they would act in various imaginary scenarios to how they envision their professional growth in the future. These questions can clarify their motivation, values and professional potential.

    Hearing their answers, your employee can assess whether this person is a good fit for your company. Bar-raising can bring you closer to that employee-company match and guarantee successful long-term relationships. Hiring “your” people creates stronger teams and companies that can deal with any crisis.

    What to do when a crisis puts your values on hold

    A crisis is only dangerous to the extent it affects your team’s wellbeing. Evolutionarily, a situation of danger puts all humans into a fight-or-flight mode, evoking our basic survival instincts and making everything else insignificant. Because how can one remain productive and motivated on a falling plane?

    When a plane is about to take off, all passengers hear instructions: “Put on your oxygen mask first before helping others.” This rule applies to business perfectly: Prioritize your wellbeing to help your clients later. Taking care of your team first is crucial to getting your company back on track as quickly as possible. When the full-scale invasion started, I instantly prioritized the safety and security of our team and their families. After helping with the evacuation, we encouraged our team to stay on track with our mental health app, regular sports, online English lessons, drawing, and planting masterclasses, floral design classes etc. Despite continuing to work hybrid, regular activities provided stability for our team in times of uncertainty.

    Related: Back-to-Office: Why Putting Employees First Will Be Your Best Business Move

    In some cases, hybrid work culture can even contribute to a sense of belonging in the workplace. For example, an online initiative can unite people who work remotely and make them feel like they’re all doing a part in a significant project together. In our case, we organized a Vyshyvanka Day flashmob when everyone recorded a short video wearing their piece of national garment and singing our national song, which lifted the whole team’s spirits. Under the company’s care and guidance, the team performance will gradually improve as everyone learns to adapt and manage stress better. The good news is — you’re all in this together.

    In times of crises and instability, businesses start seeing what matters the most. People are the company’s most important value: Whoever wins the talent race can scale better and faster than their competitors. By implementing these practices, you can get ahead in this race; strengthen and motivate the team to deliver results amidst the crisis. I know that a sense of shared mission and values in my team keeps our company thriving, even when the power outages hit Kyiv again.

    And remember: Any crisis coming your way is both a test and an exceptional opportunity for growth. It only matters how you handle it.

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    Victoria Repa

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