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Although the youngest generation in the workforce might not dream of labor, most people want some say over how they spend their 9-to-5.
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Amanda Breen
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Leaders: Stop Micromanaging and Do This Instead
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Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
One of the most common complaints of entrepreneurs is, “I’m doing everything and can’t get it all done!” I’ve been there, and I know just how easy it is to take everything on yourself until you end up completely overwhelmed.
But there’s no glory in being an entrepreneurial martyr, and certainly no business sense in it either. It’s time for entrepreneurs to stop thinking it’s their job to pile on the hats, despite the costs. Here’s what to do instead.
Related: 8 Secrets to Success in Business
Prioritize to protect your brand
As a business owner, there are certain things you and you alone should own. Namely, the big-picture tasks of setting your company’s vision and protecting your brand. This has always been hugely important to me, to the extent that some might say I’m territorial about it. But you have to be.
You created your brand, and you know it better than anyone else. You know what products or services will align with your mission and vision and what could threaten what you’re trying to build. As the business owner, you might choose to retain ownership over partnerships. This way, you ensure any partners you engage with have the same commitment to quality you do so that joining forces with them will strengthen your brand rather than weaken it.
Related: 5 Ways Your Business Can Protect Its Online Brand
Hire for your weaknesses
To stop taking responsibility for every single part of your business, you need a team to support you. What is the best way to create one? Don’t hire to replace yourself; hire for your weaknesses. In other words, don’t hire people like you who share similar strengths. Hire folks with wildly different skill sets and even opposing perspectives, so you can have a robust team that fills all your gaps.
If you’re unsure of your strengths and weaknesses, it’s worth taking the time to figure them out. First, consider what areas of the business only you can handle. Maybe it’s strategic planning, forming strong vendor relationships or managing production. Also, think about the parts of the business you enjoy. Your strengths won’t always magically line up with the fun parts of entrepreneurship, but there’s a good chance the areas where you naturally excel are also the areas you’re drawn toward.
Next, consider where you’ve had hiccups in your business. Even if you’re a young company, the odds are that you’ve encountered friction at least a few times. Was it when you tried to handle customer service? Did you flub a technical matter? Being honest in conducting a self-assessment will help you determine the exact types of people you need most.
Related: 4 Reasons Why You Should Always be Hiring for Your Business
Trust your team
This will help you create a more functional business and prioritize properly to protect your brand. Of course, there’s one major caveat: none of this will work if you insist on micromanaging. You have to have enough trust in your team to give them the autonomy to execute their roles.
As a business owner, you shouldn’t be the one stepping in to comment about the color of a banner ad in a newsletter or weighing in on email copy (unless graphic design and marketing are your strengths). The little things should be left to the people you hired to own them. If you can’t trust them to make decisions, you need to hire new people or do the hard work required to relinquish control.
Wearing all the hats as an entrepreneur is unsustainable and not in your business’s best interest. It results in burnout and pulls you away from the areas where you contribute the most. By prioritizing, hiring for your weaknesses and trusting your team, you’ll go much further and faster.
Related: What Happens When You Empower Employees Instead of Micromanage Them?
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This Founder Has Created a System to Help Women Entrepreneurs Manifest Their 2023 Goals
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Hilary DeCesare is the founder of The ReLaunch Co., and the author of RELAUNCH! Spark Your Heart to Ignite Your Life. She sat down with Jessica Abo to talk about how we can achieve our goals in 2023.
Jessica Abo: Hilary, so many people left the workforce in 2022. There was the Great Resignation, Quiet Quitting — how did we get here?
Never in our history have we had three massive types of relaunches happening. We have global relaunches: the pandemic, war and financial crisis. We have business relaunches like the ones you’ve mentioned. And then there are the personal relaunches that can be attributed to relationships or health. It’s the trifecta: All three coming together at the same time, which produces an excessive amount of stress around all of us. So it’s a global relaunch epidemic that’s happening right now.
Talk to us a little bit about the system that you’ve created.
It’s really designed to help you weather the storm because you’re going to have another relaunch. What is a relaunch? A relaunch is a transition. And what we all hope to have happen is a successful transformation. And that’s what we help women do is get to that point to be able to relaunch themselves successfully and avoid the traps that can fall when things are starting to come together where it’s like, “Oh my God, yet another relaunch, another relaunch.” So not having to take a step back but constantly be moving forward.
What are some of the other traps that women fall into?
When you are at a higher level of stress, a natural way that your body is trying to get out of this situation is fight, flight or freeze. We’re not able to accomplish everything that we want because to get back to operating from a sound level, you require a power source. The power source that I’ve created is called 3HQ™. The three H’s are the head, the heart and the higher self. Using this trifecta is what allows people to become manifestation magnets, to elevate themselves in their business and their personal lives.
Can you break down each of these for us? Starting with the head.
A lot of times you hear, “You gotta get out of your head.” When you are spinning into a negative thought spiral, there is nothing positive about that. When we talk about the head, we’re talking about you being able to get out of your own way and to be able to very clearly look at your identity of where you are right now and where you want to go, and making sure those two match.
So how do we get from that place and move into our heart?
In order to get into that heart center, you have to realize that a thought is triggered before an emotion (this is scientifically proven now) and we want to make sure that we can control our thoughts. When you can control your thoughts, then you can control the emotion that is attached to them. What many people don’t realize is that thoughts and emotions repeating over time create our belief system and many of these were triggered when you were young. It’s when the heart and the head are working together that you can then tap into your higher self–that best version of you.
We want to bring you to a higher level so that when you think about goal setting, you start to realize that what you really need to be doing is goal betting, and that’s betting on you.
This is all so fascinating. Hilary, what made you want to come up with all of this in the first place?
I spent over 10 years in Silicon Valley at a Fortune 500 tech giant, and then I started to actually help the CEOs, entrepreneurs and venture capitalists that were supporting these types of companies. I realized I wanted to be changing people’s lives in a bigger way. My book, RELAUNCH! Spark Your Heart to Ignite Your Life, shares my own anecdotal stories and those of my clients to exemplify how 3HQ™ really manifested. If we can master 3HQ™ within ourselves, imagine where we can take business leadership and revenue to expand our businesses as we move into a 3HQ™ world.
So what’s the first step in all of this?
You have to tune in. You’re tuning in and realizing that you have negative thoughts — emotions that are coming up for you, and realizing that you have limiting beliefs. Once you do that, you can change the channel. When you’re feeling stuck, this is when you tune in to elevate yourself, and then you say, “What is the first step I can take?” It’s that first step and doing what you need to immediately act upon.
And was there ever a time in your own life that you had to tune in and change the channel?
I was raising quite a bit of capital for one of my companies and I was at Niagara Falls. I’m walking along the edge with a gentleman that’s also helping me raise money. And I had this intuitive hit to get away from the edge, and as I turned around in my stilettos, I literally came six inches away from this guy. Now you may be saying, “Oh my God, was he trying to push you off? You never know, right? But I tuned into how I felt and I had to change this channel. Well, two years later, this guy who was one of my board members, actually took down the company. I got a call from the SEC and they were investigating him for a Ponzi scheme. You talk about tuning in and changing the channel? This channel had to be changed and I did it.
And to date, your company has helped more than 6,000 entrepreneurs and C-suite executives. How do you help them?
There are many different ways to work with The ReLaunch Co: you can work with us on a one-to-one basis, in a group coaching capacity, or bring us in to train the executive leadership team to understand that businesses have thoughts and an identity that could be potentially holding you back. We take you through a step-by-step 3HQ™ process toward that higher version of your company where you’re actually going to break through that revenue ceiling.
What’s next for you and The ReLaunch Co.?
What’s next for us is perfecting 3HQ™ from a growth perspective. C-Suite executives may know the secret, but it’s getting it to midline management, the employees and the culture of the business that will allow us to create an impact on a global level. That’s what we are destined to be able to do for others.
And finally, Hilary, what do you want to say to the person out there who’s feeling stuck? Perhaps their New Year’s resolutions have already fallen flat? What do you want to say to that person?
Very few actually meet their goals and are able to understand that they’ve been thinking externally about everything. This is the year to bet on you. If you take that first step to relaunch now, it will be a different year for you.
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Jessica Abo
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Experts Predict Record-Setting $1.1 Billion in Super Bowl Bets
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This Sunday’s Super Bowl LVII will make history as the first to feature two Black starting quarterbacks: Kansas City Chief’s Patrick Mahomes going arm-to-arm against Philadelphia Eagles Jalen Hurts. Also notable about this game? It will most likely make history for being the most bet-upon game in U.S. history.
Per Bloomberg Business, legal sportsbooks are projected to take in over $1.1 billion in bets. That’s an increase of 16 percent from last year’s total, which would make it the most money legally laid down on a single game. (Emphasis on “legal.” Illegal gambling bookings are notorious for not sharing stats on their criminal activities.)
Related: Super Bowl Halftime Show Will Look Completely Different for the First Time in a Decade
The bank-breaking prediction is largely thanks to more states allowing legal betting than last year, notes Bloomberg. Since last year’s Big Game, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts and Ohio have legalized gambling, bringing the new total to 33 states and Washington, DC.
To that end, expect a lot of commercials commanding you to download various apps and get in on wagers before the game is over. FanDuel is tossing its chips into the Super Bowl commercial pot in a big way with a live bet on whether retired tight end and very active shill man Rob Gronkowski can successfully kick a field goal.
What did I get myself into…https://t.co/SYGyJDmhu1@FDSportsbook | #KickOfDestiny pic.twitter.com/VllUQZc0j2
— Rob Gronkowski (@RobGronkowski) January 9, 2023
As of today, 2/7, Draft Kings has posted the following betting odds:
- The Philadelphia Eagles are 1.5 favorites against the Kansas City Chiefs.
- The Over-Under total is 51 points.
- Coin flip: Heads +100, Tails +100 (meaning if you bet $1, you stand to make $2).
Good luck!
Related: Super Bowl Commercials: The Standouts, the Confusing and the Horribly Timed
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Entrepreneur Staff
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Win Back Your Time With These 4 Alternatives to Boring Meetings
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Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
There is perhaps one thing all employees will collectively agree on: Meetings steal time, and a lot of it at once, too.
The average number of meetings held every week has been steadily climbing, and that’s no surprise in today’s hustle culture work environment. A survey conducted by Dialpad of more than 2,800 working professionals found that around 83% of them spend between four and 12 hours per calendar week attending meetings.
On average, employees end up spending 30% of their workweek attending meetings, and in some cases, these sessions are nothing but wasted hours that could’ve been used more productively.
Meetings are not only taking a toll on employees but on the economy as well.
The burden of meetings in the workplace is not only costing employees, and their employers valuable time, but it’s also costing the economy billions each year. One study predicts that unproductive meetings cost the economy around $37 billion annually.
Amid the pandemic, teams quickly managed to navigate the virtual office with video conferencing platforms to help them effectively communicate and link with their fellow team members. Although this presented a temporary solution for the time, the aftermath has seen employees now complaining of video fatigue, unorganized meetings, limited digital features and a lack of work-life privacy for those employees working from home.
It’s often hard to say whether meetings can be productive or not, yet in the same breath, depending on the need or requirements of the company, most meetings end up becoming catch-up sessions for employees, leading to valuable hours being lost and team members being held back.
Instead of deep diving into the pros and cons of meetings, it’s time to take a look at some of the alternatives to meetings that entrepreneurs can embrace in the new year. Though the transition might be hard at first, it’s often better to stay ahead of the curve than to continuously implement outdated practices that no longer serve the good of the company and its employees.
Related: You Might Reconsider That Team Meeting When You Find Out How Much it Really Costs
1. Embrace digital collaboration tools
With the rise of technology in the workplace, whether it’s onsite or remote, it’s time that entrepreneurs embrace collaboration tools that help to establish more transparency and team assessment.
Using digital collaboration tools will not only help streamline communication and brainstorming sessions, but it can help keep employees accountable with team reports and provide entrepreneurs with more transparency in terms of the reflected reports. Additionally, it’s possible to set near and long-term goals, making it easier for employees to track their progress, and define their productivity.
It’s better to have a shared objective among employees, to ensure that every person is on the same page and that there is clear guidance going forward. This not only helps employees make better use of their time but also helps them work more effectively in teams towards a company goal.
Digital collaboration can help to break down teams as well, making it easier for like-minded employees to discuss work-related topics, spark creativity among each other and boost employee communication efforts among each other.
2. Make better use of email
Yes, that meeting you scheduled could’ve been an email, and it’s a shared opinion among many employees these days. Instead of having employees attend meetings that might have nothing to do with their work, try and send out a team email that contains the most important information you want to share.
For decades we’ve been using emails to communicate with clients, businesses and other colleagues, and most of the time we’ve managed to get the right message across.
It’s important to make use of emails more sparingly instead of filling up employee inboxes with hundreds of unnecessary and unimportant emails every day. Make sure to send out one or two emails every day, perhaps one in the morning and one at the end of the workday to make sure all employees are on board for the next day.
Emails work just as well as regular meetings, especially for the smaller and less important information sessions that don’t necessarily require an entire team to attend.
Related: Got Too Many Meetings? Here’s How to Cut Back
3. Send a recorded video
Another alternative could be to send a recorded video to employees. This is perhaps more suitable for situations where a walk-through of a new project or process needs to be discussed, or an explanation needs to be added to a specific point.
Video messages can be short yet informative and, in some ways, they can be a bit more personal than simply sending out a daily email or weekly roundup newsletter.
With video messages, it would require you to record on demand and cover as much information within the video snippet as possible. There is also the possibility that you might need to edit the video, which will require you to have access to video editing software.
Although this alternative might not be the most conventional, it’s by far an easier and more time-efficient practice than having members join a conference call that requires a stable internet connection to maintain video quality throughout the call.
4. Initiate message threads
Often employees that work in an office or on-site will collaborate through a team management platform such as Slack, Nifty or Google Teams. These platforms allow for seamless communication between members and can easily be an avenue through which employees can share information and other important documents.
As an entrepreneur, it’s easy to share a message or document via the platform that will help to initiate a thread that can get employees more involved. Keeping employees engaged means that everyone is clear about the message and those that have any queries can have their questions answered in real time.
It’s perhaps best practice to initiate a thread once all employees are online or present and indicate when a thread has ended. This way employees will know when they are required to attend and whether relevant information will be shared among participants.
Related: Could Banning Meetings Be the Key to a Happier Workforce?
Final thoughts
It’s not possible to completely cancel out the importance of meetings, whether in person or virtual. Today’s employees often regard meetings as pointless and a waste of time, and instead of having this attitude manifest itself within your company and business, ensure that you seek out some alternatives to unproductive meetings.
The idea with meetings is to share valuable information between interested employees, but also ensure that all team members are on the same page regarding progress and any potential changes that might be ahead. Be sure to choose an alternative that suits the company and its employees, and better yet, make sure to implement a structure that encourages employee engagement and effectively communicates the message.
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Pierre Raymond
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Look for stocks to lose 30% from here, says strategist David Rosenberg. And don’t even think about turning bullish until 2024.
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David Rosenberg, the former chief North American economist at Merrill Lynch, has been saying for almost a year that the Fed means business and investors should take the U.S. central bank’s effort to fight inflation both seriously and literally.
Rosenberg, now president of Toronto-based Rosenberg Research & Associates Inc., expects investors will face more pain in financial markets in the months to come.
“The recession’s just starting,” Rosenberg said in an interview with MarketWatch. “The market bottoms typically in the sixth or seventh inning of the recession, deep into the Fed easing cycle.” Investors can expect to endure more uncertainty leading up to the time — and it will come — when the Fed first pauses its current run of interest rate hikes and then begins to cut.
Fortunately for investors, the Fed’s pause and perhaps even cuts will come in 2023, Rosenberg predicts. Unfortunately, he added, the S&P 500
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-0.61%
could drop 30% from its current level before that happens. Said Rosenberg: “You’re left with the S&P 500 bottoming out somewhere close to 2,900.”At that point, Rosenberg added, stocks will look attractive again. But that’s a story for 2024.
In this recent interview, which has been edited for length and clarity, Rosenberg offered a playbook for investors to follow this year and to prepare for a more bullish 2024. Meanwhile, he said, as they wait for the much-anticipated Fed pivot, investors should make their own pivot to defensive sectors of the financial markets — including bonds, gold and dividend-paying stocks.
MarketWatch: So many people out there are expecting a recession. But stocks have performed well to start the year. Are investors and Wall Street out of touch?
Rosenberg: Investor sentiment is out of line; the household sector is still enormously overweight equities. There is a disconnect between how investors feel about the outlook and how they’re actually positioned. They feel bearish but they’re still positioned bullishly, and that is a classic case of cognitive dissonance. We also have a situation where there is a lot of talk about recession and about how this is the most widely expected recession of all time, and yet the analyst community is still expecting corporate earnings growth to be positive in 2023.
In a plain-vanilla recession, earnings go down 20%. We’ve never had a recession where earnings were up at all. The consensus is that we are going to see corporate earnings expand in 2023. So there’s another glaring anomaly. We are being told this is a widely expected recession, and yet it’s not reflected in earnings estimates – at least not yet.
There’s nothing right now in my collection of metrics telling me that we’re anywhere close to a bottom. 2022 was the year where the Fed tightened policy aggressively and that showed up in the marketplace in a compression in the price-earnings multiple from roughly 22 to around 17. The story in 2022 was about what the rate hikes did to the market multiple; 2023 will be about what those rate hikes do to corporate earnings.
“ You’re left with the S&P 500 bottoming out somewhere close to 2,900. ”
When you’re attempting to be reasonable and come up with a sensible multiple for this market, given where the risk-free interest rate is now, and we can generously assume a roughly 15 price-earnings multiple. Then you slap that on a recession earning environment, and you’re left with the S&P 500 bottoming out somewhere close to 2900.
The closer we get to that, the more I will be recommending allocations to the stock market. If I was saying 3200 before, there is a reasonable outcome that can lead you to something below 3000. At 3200 to tell you the truth I would plan on getting a little more positive.
This is just pure mathematics. All the stock market is at any point is earnings multiplied by the multiple you want to apply to that earnings stream. That multiple is sensitive to interest rates. All we’ve seen is Act I — multiple compression. We haven’t yet seen the market multiple dip below the long-run mean, which is closer to 16. You’ve never had a bear market bottom with the multiple above the long-run average. That just doesn’t happen.
David Rosenberg: ‘You want to be in defensive areas with strong balance sheets, earnings visibility, solid dividend yields and dividend payout ratios.’
Rosenberg Research
MarketWatch: The market wants a “Powell put” to rescue stocks, but may have to settle for a “Powell pause.” When the Fed finally pauses its rate hikes, is that a signal to turn bullish?
Rosenberg: The stock market bottoms 70% of the way into a recession and 70% of the way into the easing cycle. What’s more important is that the Fed will pause, and then will pivot. That is going to be a 2023 story.
The Fed will shift its views as circumstances change. The S&P 500 low will be south of 3000 and then it’s a matter of time. The Fed will pause, the markets will have a knee-jerk positive reaction you can trade. Then the Fed will start to cut interest rates, and that usually takes place six months after the pause. Then there will be a lot of giddiness in the market for a short time. When the market bottoms, it’s the mirror image of when it peaks. The market peaks when it starts to see the recession coming. The next bull market will start once investors begin to see the recovery.
But the recession’s just starting. The market bottoms typically in the sixth or seventh inning of the recession, deep into the Fed easing cycle when the central bank has cut interest rates enough to push the yield curve back to a positive slope. That is many months away. We have to wait for the pause, the pivot, and for rate cuts to steepen the yield curve. That will be a late 2023, early 2024 story.
MarketWatch: How concerned are you about corporate and household debt? Are there echoes of the 2008-09 Great Recession?
Rosenberg: There’s not going to be a replay of 2008-09. It doesn’t mean there won’t be a major financial spasm. That always happens after a Fed tightening cycle. The excesses are exposed, and expunged. I look at it more as it could be a replay of what happened with nonbank financials in the 1980s, early 1990s, that engulfed the savings and loan industry. I am concerned about the banks in the sense that they have a tremendous amount of commercial real estate exposure on their balance sheets. I do think the banks will be compelled to bolster their loan-loss reserves, and that will come out of their earnings performance. That’s not the same as incurring capitalization problems, so I don’t see any major banks defaulting or being at risk of default.
But I’m concerned about other pockets of the financial sector. The banks are actually less important to the overall credit market than they’ve been in the past. This is not a repeat of 2008-09 but we do have to focus on where the extreme leverage is centered.
It’s not necessarily in the banks this time; it is in other sources such as private equity, private debt, and they have yet to fully mark-to-market their assets. That’s an area of concern. The parts of the market that cater directly to the consumer, like credit cards, we’re already starting to see signs of stress in terms of the rise in 30-day late-payment rates. Early stage arrears are surfacing in credit cards, auto loans and even some elements of the mortgage market. The big risk to me is not so much the banks, but the nonbank financials that cater to credit cards, auto loans, and private equity and private debt.
MarketWatch: Why should individuals care about trouble in private equity and private debt? That’s for the wealthy and the big institutions.
Rosenberg: Unless private investment firms gate their assets, you’re going to end up getting a flood of redemptions and asset sales, and that affects all markets. Markets are intertwined. Redemptions and forced asset sales will affect market valuations in general. We’re seeing deflation in the equity market and now in a much more important market for individuals, which is residential real estate. One of the reasons why so many people have delayed their return to the labor market is they looked at their wealth, principally equities and real estate, and thought they could retire early based on this massive wealth creation that took place through 2020 and 2021.
Now people are having to recalculate their ability to retire early and fund a comfortable retirement lifestyle. They will be forced back into the labor market. And the problem with a recession of course is that there are going to be fewer job openings, which means the unemployment rate is going to rise. The Fed is already telling us we’re going to 4.6%, which itself is a recession call; we’re going to blow through that number. All this plays out in the labor market not necessarily through job loss, but it’s going to force people to go back and look for a job. The unemployment rate goes up — that has a lag impact on nominal wages and that is going to be another factor that will curtail consumer spending, which is 70% of the economy.
“ My strongest conviction is the 30-year Treasury bond. ”
At some point, we’re going to have to have some sort of positive shock that will arrest the decline. The cycle is the cycle and what dominates the cycle are interest rates. At some point we get the recessionary pressures, inflation melts, the Fed will have successfully reset asset values to more normal levels, and we will be in a different monetary policy cycle by the second half of 2024 that will breathe life into the economy and we’ll be off to a recovery phase, which the market will start to discount later in 2023. Nothing here is permanent. It’s about interest rates, liquidity and the yield curve that has played out before.
MarketWatch: Where do you advise investors to put their money now, and why?
Rosenberg: My strongest conviction is the 30-year Treasury bond
TMUBMUSD30Y,
3.674% .
The Fed will cut rates and you’ll get the biggest decline in yields at the short end. But in terms of bond prices and the total return potential, it’s at the long end of the curve. Bond yields always go down in a recession. Inflation is going to fall more quickly than is generally anticipated. Recession and disinflation are powerful forces for the long end of the Treasury curve.As the Fed pauses and then pivots — and this Volcker-like tightening is not permanent — other central banks around the world are going to play catch up, and that is going to undercut the U.S. dollar
DXY,
+0.70% .
There are few better hedges against a U.S. dollar reversal than gold. On top of that, cryptocurrency has been exposed as being far too volatile to be part of any asset mix. It’s fun to trade, but crypto is not an investment. The crypto craze — fund flows directed to bitcoin
BTCUSD,
+0.35%
and the like — drained the gold price by more than $200 an ounce.“ Buy companies that provide the goods and services that people need – not what they want. ”
I’m bullish on gold
GC00,
+0.22%
– physical gold — bullish on bonds, and within the stock market, under the proviso that we have a recession, you want to ensure you are invested in sectors with the lowest possible correlation to GDP growth.Invest in 2023 the same way you’re going to be living life — in a period of frugality. Buy companies that provide the goods and services that people need – not what they want. Consumer staples, not consumer cyclicals. Utilities. Health care. I look at Apple as a cyclical consumer products company, but Microsoft is a defensive growth technology company.
You want to be buying essentials, staples, things you need. When I look at Microsoft
MSFT,
-0.61% ,
Alphabet
GOOGL,
-1.79% ,
Amazon
AMZN,
-1.17% ,
they are what I would consider to be defensive growth stocks and at some point this year, they will deserve to be garnering a very strong look for the next cycle.You also want to invest in areas with a secular growth tailwind. For example, military budgets are rising in every part of the world and that plays right into defense/aerospace stocks. Food security, whether it’s food producers, anything related to agriculture, is an area you ought to be invested in.
You want to be in defensive areas with strong balance sheets, earnings visibility, solid dividend yields and dividend payout ratios. If you follow that you’ll do just fine. I just think you’ll do far better if you have a healthy allocation to long-term bonds and gold. Gold finished 2022 unchanged, in a year when flat was the new up.
In terms of the relative weighting, that’s a personal choice but I would say to focus on defensive sectors with zero or low correlation to GDP, a laddered bond portfolio if you want to play it safe, or just the long bond, and physical gold. Also, the Dogs of the Dow fits the screening for strong balance sheets, strong dividend payout ratios and a nice starting yield. The Dogs outperformed in 2022, and 2023 will be much the same. That’s the strategy for 2023.
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2 Key Steps to Improve Both Yourself and Your Business
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Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
Understanding yourself and your demons is what separates average entrepreneurs from great ones. The ability of a business owner to look inward and not only understand their abilities but also focus on ways they can improve those abilities and curtail their weaknesses is a key factor to success, no matter what industry they’re in. As an entrepreneur, you can approach personal development in several ways. Here are two that I focus on to make myself a better husband and leader in business:
Accept your shortcomings
The first step in accepting your shortcomings is to acknowledge that you have them. It can be one of the most difficult parts of the process, but it’s the foundation for all forms of personal growth. Accepting your shortcomings and weaknesses takes a high level of self-awareness, which is critical for entrepreneurs.
You need to ask yourself: Am I living up to all of the potential that I have within me? If the answer is no, it’s your responsibility to reflect on the causes of your shortcomings and why you’re not maximizing the potential that you know you have. Are your shortcomings due to a lack of discipline? Are they the result of a negative habit? A lack of self-esteem? Fear of failure?
Once you identify the root causes, develop a plan to address your shortcomings. Don’t be afraid to push yourself. This could involve setting goals, seeking training or education, and committing yourself to consistent habits that you know will lead you to success. It’s big, it’s scary, and it’s challenging, but it’s going to force you to grow, and in turn, your business will as well.
Overcoming shortcomings will serve as milestones on the road to reaching a better version of yourself. You won’t know what you’re capable of unless you’ve gone up against a giant obstacle and won. When you face your demons and win, you send a clear message to yourself: I am a badass, and I can overcome obstacles that are in the way of reaching my goal.
When you’re feeling down, you have reference points to anchor your self-worth to. You’ve overcome struggles in the past, so you know you can overcome the current one. You find validation within yourself. You stop seeking external validation because you’ve already proven to yourself that you’ve got what it takes. When you become good enough for yourself, you stop caring what other people think.
I’ve been up against these giants for nearly my entire life, from being addicted to heroin at age 18 to running 37 miles on my 37th birthday. Each time I’ve faced one of these big, hairy audacious goals and won, I’ve been more confident and capable as a businessman, leader, friend, husband and father.
As much as you might feel that your shortcomings hold you back, once you overcome them, they differentiate you as an entrepreneur. Accepting your shortcomings, adjusting and moving forward is the exact same process you will face as an entrepreneur in growing your business to the best possible version it can be.
The more you practice this in your business, the more it provides you with more tools in your belt for the next challenge you face as an entrepreneur. If you have a pulse, it means that you’re going to face struggles in this life. The same goes for a business. There will always be new obstacles to face and new challenges to overcome, but accepting the shortcomings of yourself and your business and moving forward is what will lead you to be a formidable competitor in any industry.
Refine yourself constantly and consistently
Your job in personal development is never over. Frequently, people become content with where they’re at when they’re comfortable, and they stop pushing themselves to grow. When they end up in this position, it means they’re no longer showing up for themselves and who they care for. There are endless ways you can continue to work on yourself, but here are a few key suggestions:
Manage your time effectively. Learning effective time management in your personal life is going to be one of the greatest skills you will learn as an entrepreneur. Time management forces you to analyze critical tasks and establish clear priorities. Identify your most important tasks, and focus on those first. Get to the root of why you’re procrastinating. Identify what that habit is all about.
Create a schedule, avoid distractions, and know when to delegate tasks when other people can take on the workload, letting you focus on the most critical tasks in your life. All other elements of personal development depend on managing your time and developing habits of success.
Take care of yourself mentally and physically. The road to being a successful business owner is going to be full of struggle. It’s tough, and it’s taxing. It’s also what weeds out those who can endure from the people who can’t. If you are going to perform your best as an entrepreneur — as a leader within your business — you need to make sure you’re paying your necessary dues by taking care of yourself mentally and physically. Set aside time in your schedule to make sure you’re showing up for yourself, moving your body and recharging in the ways you find rewarding.
Commit to learning 24/7. Constantly seek to expand your knowledge. Read a book. Listen to a podcast. Look for mentors and educational resources. There are endless online resources and courses that can teach you valuable skills and knowledge, but it’s up to you to make sure you’re carving time out of your day to commit to learning. If you’re starting entrepreneurship and you don’t have the capital to spend on courses, there are tons of free resources on YouTube and podcasts with valuable information.
This will help you learn from others who’ve both succeeded and failed, not only in entrepreneurship but in every other aspect of life that is relevant to you. Committing to expanding your knowledge also helps you stay informed on the latest developments in your field, which helps you stay ahead of the competition. If you want to come equipped with the right tools and skills as an entrepreneur, you have to make learning a priority.
Personal development is about staying uncomfortable, becoming comfortable with what’s unfamiliar, and honoring yourself. Ask yourself every day: What am I doing to create a new ceiling for myself and raise the floor of what I once was? Make intentional decisions to continually raise the ceiling of what’s possible for you. You’ll learn to adapt to change, and your business will grow with you. If you focus on facing the demons that currently control your habits and overcome them, it’s inevitable that you’ll witness endless growth within yourself and your business.
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Trevor Cowley
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8 Secrets to Business Success
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Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
Yearly small business growth takes a vision and a plan. You need to envision where you’re going and develop a step-by-step guide to get there. Most of the time, growing your business requires doing things a bit differently.
Many entrepreneurs get so bogged down in day-to-day operations that their growth goals become a distant memory. You may look back in Q3 and realize that what would have been possible if you started in Q1 may not be feasible this year at all. Avoid this scenario by understanding your goals and setting a path toward growth.
Here’s what you should do differently to catalyze small business growth.
1. Set 3-5 goals for the year
Always start with goals. Set three to five overarching goals for the year with detailed steps on how you will achieve each one. Break down the plan by quarter. Assign due dates and add them to your calendar. Make room in your schedule to prioritize each step.
Building a digestible structure helps you achieve your goals systematically instead of having them all on your plate at once, which might end up overwhelming and demotivating. Allow your team to assist with bringing your goals to completion. Share due dates on when each step will be finalized each quarter.
Related: 7 Steps to Achieving Any Goal in Life
2. Be transparent with your team
Bring your team into the process. Be transparent about what you aim to achieve this year and how you plan to get there. By sharing your vision, your team gains visibility into their roles in accomplishing each goal. This enables collaboration and helps your team feel involved in what the business achieves.
Further involve them by asking for input and ideas. You might be surprised by how helpful their perspectives can be. Stay open to recommendations as long as they point to more efficient strategies or better solutions.
Related: 5 Things Preventing You From Being Transparent
3. Get to know your customers or clients
Be creative in getting to know your customers or clients. Send surveys and check in personally. Share in their wins as often as you can. Go beyond merely following them on social media and reposting content. Surprise and delight them by sharing their goals, growth and other exciting news they may share.
Offering special attention to your clients enables them to envision a strong, long-term partnership with you. That mindset leads to raving fans who sing your praises and help grow your brand.
4. Challenge yourself
Challenge yourself each week to be 1% better. Reaching for that small 1%, even broken down over the year, will enormously impact your success. Think about continuous, mindful and meaningful improvements. Address your weaknesses and fortify your strengths. Make your impact through small wins over time.
Related: 12 Actions You Can Take to Become a Better Person and a Better Leader
5. Do what you love
Determine what you love and do more of it — in business and life. This keeps you motivated and combats burnout. For example, traveling will be at the top of my list this year. With careful planning, a workcation — or an extended stay vacation with a mix of fun and work — is one of my main priorities and a practice worth following.
Find what you enjoy (i.e., a big city, ocean, etc.) and take a workcation as part of your upcoming plans for the year. You will return re-energized and ready to tackle the road ahead. Plus, you more than likely have new business ideas that you discovered while away from your business’s day-to-day activities and stresses.
6. Practice listening
You gain so much more from conversations if you simply learn how to listen. So often, leaders listen to respond as opposed to genuinely listening to what is being said. In doing so, they miss out on subtext and depth in the conversation, especially since much communication is nonverbal.
When you focus on listening, you gain a more accurate sense of what is being said and why it matters. And truly, doesn’t it feel great when you know you are being heard?
Related: How to Listen to Your Employees
7. Find a mentor or coach
Find a mentor or coach. More specifically, find someone in your industry that you admire because they perform better than you in your space. They will help you develop better strategies and overcome challenges.
A mentor or coach will provide a learning experience, offer a bird’s eye view of your company and help you reach the next level. Working with someone who understands your challenges and has risen above them can be priceless.
8. Set your goals high
Knowing what is truly possible, set your goals high. As an accidental entrepreneur, if you had told me 11 years ago that my business would grow to a more than two million dollar business, it would have been hard to imagine — it would have felt crazy.
With hard work, delegation, a dedicated co-founder and a team that supports us, it is now our reality. We continue to put goals and systems into place to sustain and multiply this growth.
Follow these secrets to success to make 2023 a standout year for your business. Remember, success is achieved in your personal life as well as your professional life. Be sure to enjoy the entrepreneurial journey along the way.
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Lauren Gall
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Get a Special Deal on Valentine’s Day Roses
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Disclosure: Our goal is to feature products and services that we think you’ll find interesting and useful. If you purchase them, Entrepreneur may get a small share of the revenue from the sale from our commerce partners.
You’ve been spending so much time focusing on your productivity you may have forgotten that Valentine’s Day is just around the corner. If you’ve got someone special in your life, you still have time to get them something special this Valentine’s Day and save a bundle while you do it.
Flowers are always a winner on this romantic holiday (and are known to boost emotional health). But florists know when to mark their prices up. Fortunately, we’re marking things down this Valentine’s Day, allowing you to save over half off two dozen roses (with a glass vase) from Rose Farmers for a limited time. Now through 11:59 p.m. February 6, you can get a digital voucher for just $49.99 — a big discount from the typical $109 price, without any coupons needed.
Rose Farmers is an organization that connects consumers with some of the finest rose farms in the country. Through their premier collection of roses, they can deliver unparalleled beauty all over the continental U.S. for prices unrivaled by other florists. Their team picks the freshest roses (of all random colors) and assembles them in a beautiful glass vase for delivery. That way, you can avoid the lines at the flower shops while still getting the perfect gift for your special someone in time for the big day.
Valentine’s Day shouldn’t have to be a struggle. So make it special this year with a gorgeous collection of two dozen long-stem roses from Rose Farmers. Now through February 6, you can get a digital voucher for roses and a vase with free shipping for just $49.99. Just remember when redeeming to make the delivery date one to two days before you need the flowers to ensure they’re delivered on time.
Prices subject to change.
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Entrepreneur Store
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10 Things Every Working Woman Should Do This Year
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Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
Self-care has become an all-encompassing term that has strayed from the importance of everyday commodities that keep us in good health and spirits. Though pampering and “treat yourself” moments still have value, here are ten ways to invest in yourself to produce long-lasting, positive results.
Related: 8 Self-Care Tips From Wildly Successful Entrepreneurs
1. Put money into a 401(k)
It’s never too early (or too late!) to start saving for the future. Depending on your employment status, there are different retirement savings accounts. 401(k)s are the most common since these are employer-sponsored and often come with an employer match. However, freelancers also have options, such as a SEP-IRA or a high-yield savings account, to put away extra, tax-free dollars for retirement.
2. Schedule a health checkup
Self-care first includes taking care of your physical health. It’s easy to discredit regular checkups when you’re feeling healthy, but make this the year to get your blood work done. It creates a baseline for your health to identify areas needing improvement or extra attention.
Also, choose areas in your life where you can make small changes. Improving your health doesn’t always mean a drastic overhaul; it may be as simple as drinking more water or adding an extra 30 minutes of exercise to your day.
Related: 3 Key Tips for Optimizing Your Physical Health as an Entrepreneur
3. Review health insurance benefits
Many people with health insurance aren’t sure exactly what it does and doesn’t cover. If you’re unsure, talk with your HR representative or your health insurance provider to get an overview of deductibles, co-payments and other supplemental benefits you may not be aware of. Then, decide if the health care plan makes sense for your current lifestyle.
Are you paying for benefits you don’t use, or do you need additional benefits that aren’t covered? Selecting the right plan will help ensure you have what you need without paying the extra expense for anything you don’t.
4. Ignite your curiosity
Maintaining healthy cognitive functions through new pursuits gives a boost to the brain. Get curious and find what speaks to you. This can be anything from exploring local museums, embarking on different hiking trails, learning a new language or reading more books.
There’s no limit to what you can do, and these activities can ignite more creativity and motivation in your work. While it may be helpful to look to others for inspiration, make them enjoyable so you’ll want to make them a regular occurrence.
5. Prioritize mental health
Mental health has been at the forefront of people’s lives over the past few years, as many have experienced burnout. We often equate productivity with a value that drives us to go beyond our means and leads to anxiety, stress and depression. Take note of your everyday stressors and see how to reduce or eliminate them. Then, replace them with relaxing outlets that allow you to recharge.
There are various ways to prioritize mental health, from practicing positive self-talk to meditation to scheduling an electronics-free day. You may have to try different solutions before you find one that fits.
Related: 5 Ways to Protect Your Mental Health as an Entrepreneur
6. Implement good sleep habits
Consistent sleep is one of the essential factors of good health but one that is often overlooked. For many, it can be challenging to wind down from the workday. Therefore, you must “train” your body to prepare for sleep by getting into a nighttime routine.
Create a sanctuary for yourself to improve your sleep habits. Enjoy a soothing cup of herbal tea, perform a skincare routine, and snuggle in with a good book rather than scrolling through your phone. Additionally, ensure your bedroom is dark and cool for ideal sleep comfort and turn on soothing sounds if it helps lull you to sleep.
7. Try something new
What have you wanted to try but have always held back? Maybe it’s public speaking or contributing to a blog. Whatever “new” has been on your to-do, make a plan, schedule it on your calendar and go for it. It’s common to hold back from these activities due to fear of the unknown or failure, but trying new things helps create confidence and can be the catalyst you need to push you to the next level.
8. Learn to set boundaries
Boundary setting is crucial to relationships yet can be difficult to master. It doesn’t always involve simply saying no to people’s requests. Instead, it requires protecting your own values when people violate them. Setting boundaries may mean spending less time with certain people, removing yourself from toxic situations, or declining invites to events that don’t improve your life. Explore areas where boundaries will help you grow, and keep in mind growth itself is a work in progress.
Related: How to Set Boundaries to Build Thriving Relationships
9. Spend quality time alone
Learning how to enjoy time spent alone is a valuable gift. We are inundated by a false sense of connection through the internet, which often makes us feel lonelier than ever. Then, we overschedule our calendars to make up for human connections, only to feel drained afterward. Slow it down and plan a few solo dates a month to see how it feels to be truly present with yourself.
For those who aren’t used to spending quality time alone, it can feel awkward and uncomfortable initially, but these stem from your own perceptions. Take in a matinee, sit in a coffee shop and read, or enjoy a concert or event you’ve wanted to attend. Alone time has been linked to improved stress management and greater life satisfaction, so it’s worth trying to give yourself more time.
Related: Turns Out, Those Who Like Being Alone Can Be More Creative
10. Get active
Getting active can take on several directions. It can be physical, emotional or spiritual. The point is to engage with people and pursuits that feed your soul. Whether volunteering within your community, setting yourself an exercise goal, or learning more about personal development, there are endless ways to get active and invest in yourself this year.
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Kelly Hyman
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Give Delicious Wine for Less Than $6 a Bottle with This Valentine’s Day Deal
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Disclosure: Our goal is to feature products and services that we think you’ll find interesting and useful. If you purchase them, Entrepreneur may get a small share of the revenue from the sale from our commerce partners.
Trying to achieve that elusive work-life balance? With so many tasks to complete as an entrepreneur, it can be hard to remember the important dates. If you need help finding the perfect Valentine’s Day gift, take advantage of this deal during the Valentine’s Day campaign and score big savings while knocking something off your to-do list.
Your valentine will love having 15 bottles of delicious mixed wines with this deal from Wine Insiders, and it will only set you back $79.99 — making each bottle less than $6. Just act before February 6 to score this 73% off deal for a digital voucher. Then schedule the delivery or hand over the voucher as the gift for your loved one to redeem whenever they’d like.
Wine Insider has decades of experience providing customers with tasty wines. With wine-tasting experts sampling bottles from all around the world to discover the best of the best.
Wines selected from Wine Insiders have earned over 1,400 awards since 2015, showing just how delicious these varieties can be. And though shipping isn’t required for the voucher, Wine Insiders partners with some of the best wineries in the world to have the bottles sent directly to customers — eliminating the middleman and creating a simplistic shipping process.
Customers like LeAnn shared, “I love trying different types of red wine. You can use them for all kinds of events, bring them to parties, or use them for cooking too.” And Steven raved, “The quality of the wines is very good for the price.”
Take advantage of this Valentine’s Day price drop and get a digital voucher for 15 bottles of mixed wine from Wine Insiders for only $79.99 — no coupon code required — now through February 6 at 11:59 pm Pacific time.
Prices subject to change.
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Entrepreneur Store
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Apple earnings show steepest sales decline in more than 6 years
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Apple Inc. posted its largest revenue decline in more than six years amid underwhelming sales of iPhones, Macs and wearables, but its shares pared back most of their initial losses in after-hours trading Thursday after the company blamed its smartphone declines on supply issues.
Apple’s
AAPL,
+3.71%
iPhone revenue fell to $65.8 billion in the fiscal first quarter from $71.6 billion a year before, whereas analysts tracked by FactSet were looking for $67.8 billion. The performance comes after Apple warned in November that its iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max shipments would be impacted by pandemic-fueled production constraints at a major Foxconn
2354,
-0.35%
facility in China.Chief Executive Tim Cook said on Apple’s earnings call that he believes the company would have shown iPhone sales growth in the quarter had it not been for the supply constraints.
At the same time, he noted that it’s “very hard” to estimate the company’s ability to recapture lost sales, “because you have to know exactly what would’ve happened.”
Apple shares ended the extended session Thursday down 3.2%, after having been down as much as 5.6% in after-hours trading.
After reporting a quarterly revenue record for Macs in the September quarter, Apple fell way short of those heights in the December quarter with its Thursday afternoon report, and the company missed expectations by a wide margin. Mac sales declined to $7.7 billion from $10.9 billion a year earlier, while analysts had been looking for $9.4 billion.
Those big misses helped drive total revenue lower on the year and fueled a miss on the top line, despite a sizable beat in the iPad category. Overall revenue declined to $117.2 billion from $123.9 billion a year ago, while analysts were looking for $121.4 billion.
Dating back to its report for the December 2017 quarter, Apple has only missed revenue expectations twice, according to FactSet, including one time when the company issued a formal warning ahead of its official results.
The smartphone giant’s sales decline of 5.48% was its steepest year-over-year fall since the September quarter of 2016, when sales slipped 8.12%, according to Dow Jones Market Data.
Apple executives once again declined to provide a traditional financial forecast, though Chief Financial Officer Luca Maestri shared on the call that he expects Apple’s year-over-year revenue performance in the March quarter to be similar to what was seen in the December quarter. That would actually mark an acceleration of sorts, he said, since the December quarter benefited from an extra week.
Within iPhones specifically, Maestri also anticipates that year-over-year revenue growth will accelerate.
Apple’s profits fell as well in the latest period, as the company generated net income of $30.0 billion, or $1.88 a share, compared with $34.6 billion, or $2.10 a share, a year earlier. Analysts were modeling $1.94 in earnings per share.
Maestri called out “significant foreign-exchange headwinds, supply constraints on iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max and a challenging macroeconomic environment” in discussing the company’s smartphone performance. Mac growth was negatively impacted by economic conditions, currency pressures and tough comparisons to a year before.
Within its iPad segment, Apple showed sharp growth. Revenue increased to $9.4 billion from $7.3 billion a year earlier. The FactSet consensus was for $7.8 billion.
Maestri noted that the iPad business benefited from the launch of new iPads during the quarter as well as comparisons to a year-earlier period in which Apple faced supply constraints.
Revenue for wearables, home and accessories came in at $13.5 billion, down from $14.7 billion a year before and far below the $15.3 billion that analysts were modeling. Services revenue rose to $20.8 billion from $19.5 billion and beat the FactSet consensus, which was for $20.4 billion.
Shares of Apple have fallen 14.2% over the past 12 months, though they’re up 16.1% to start 2023. The Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA,
-0.11%
is off 4.4% over a 12-month span but ahead 2.7% so far this year.[ad_2]
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7 Tips to Help You Write the Book You Always Dreamed About
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Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
Whether we tap into our lived experiences or allow our minds to spin a yarn, writing a book is a magical form of art. Yet, whereas over 80% of the population say they have always wanted to write, apparently only 1% start and complete their book. Thought-provoking, isn’t it? If we were to gently dive into the thoughts of those who never start or finish their books, what might be their primary hindrance?
The good news is that as writers, we can bring together all our entrepreneurial and leadership skills and abilities from which to draw upon. Strategy development, time management, innovation, effective marketing, continuous learning, agility and managing change are some of the many business aptitudes that will enhance the life of an author.
Related: How to Write a Book (and Actually Finish It) in 5 Steps
The “aha” pieces of the puzzle
What are the steps we should take to realize our dream of writing that novel, manuscript or book? In my case, it was letting go of preconceived assumptions and embracing learning, growing and connecting with the vibrant writing community as an aspiring author. When my fingertips dance across the keyboard, the self-doubt evaporates into the admixture of words, characters, scenes and settings. A few months ago, I started writing my first book, a fictional novel. To my surprise, I finished my first draft in four weeks.
Let’s explore and transform seven common obstacles into “aha!” moments that will prompt you to write that book:
1. I don’t have time
Whether or not we love them, plans, structures and goals help us move forward. The same applies to writing a book. Can you find a window of time in your average day to create the time? Nothing earth-shattering. Can you set up a consistent writing pattern, perhaps a daily 30 minutes or a few hours every second day? If so, you are a step closer to your dream.
2. I don’t know how
Start with an idea, and there are methods, formats or templates available to develop that idea. I created an outline first and expanded from there. Some authors follow their impulses without an outline. There are helpful resources, such as writing software (like Scrivener) story development templates (like Save the Cat) and, of course, online grammar writing assistants such as Grammarly. And there is the vibrant writing community of editors, proofreaders, fellow authors and readers, all of whom can be of help.
Related: 9 Tips to Stay Motivated When Writing a Book
3. I need to be more creative
Over the years, this was a thought that I kept repeating to myself. Putting pen to paper is a process of learning and growth, much like the other facets of life. When I started baking sourdough bread, I did not expect my first bread to be edible; in fact, it was dense and flat. But my husband cheered me on and even proudly ate it. When editing, the experience can be daunting. It involves writing, rewriting, revising, editing and rewriting again. But it hones the craft. You have the option of working with professional editors who tell you if your story feels too vague or too flat. Not all successful authors are natural-born writers and neither am I. But I enjoy the growing knowledge enveloping me like rays of sunshine while I edit and refine my story.
4. My first attempt is/was not successful
It’s no surprise they are called messy first drafts. Unless you choose to share it, your first draft is just for you to read. I still love my first draft, though. At a writing seminar, the lecturer told us that our story would probably be dreary if we didn’t rewrite 90% of our first draft. So, when writing the first draft, the rule is to write, write and write. No fixing, no editing. This will prevent us from judging our writing too soon on the journey.
5. Publishing a book is too challenging
There are various publishing paths. The traditional route of working with an agent and publisher is one option, or you could access a specific provider who will help with writing, editing, publishing and marketing. There is also self-publishing as an independent author. There are success stories from all; it is up to us to choose the right course of action and enjoy the path we choose.
Related: This is the Future of Book Publishing
6. I am not comfortable putting my name out there
This is easy. Choose a pseudonym, a pen name. I have a pen name. For instance, many great writers like Stephen King and Agatha Christie used pen names. There is no universal rule; you choose what you feel most comfortable with.
7. I have other commitments
Many authors manage a successful career while still having other commitments, whether a full-time job or something else. Many become full-time authors and authorpreneurs. So, it is not impossible.
Whether it is a fiction or nonfiction book, the writing journey ahead is like an unwinding spool of ribbon, rolling and growing. As a result, my debut book will be meeting its readers in the summer of 2023.
Let’s imagine yourself sitting behind a table. You admire a stack of books in front of you. The room is bustling with excited laughter and chatter. A line of fans in front of you, one by one, and you are signing their books. Imagine hearing someone tell you how much your book meant to them. Imagine the spark in your eyes and the beam on your face.
Aha! It’s time to begin! Let’s start writing and crafting that tale that your future readers deserve.
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Gulcan Telci
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Meet the World’s Richest Dog in Netflix’s ‘Gunther’s Millions’
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From millions in real estate to jet-setting around the globe, the world’s richest dog is rolling in the dough.
Gunther VI is a German Shepard with a net worth of $400 million. It sounds too good to be true, but Gunther is the heir to his grandfather Gunther III’s fortune, also a German Shepard, who was owned by mysterious German countess Karlotta Leibenstein. Before the countess died in 1992, she left her $80 million estate in the paws of the pooch — she didn’t have a living heir after her son’s tragic death.
Although we know German Shepards are among the smartest breeds, it’s unlikely a dog can be trained in finance. So the countess left Gunther’s fortune in the hands of Italian pharmaceutical heir Maurizio Mian — a friend of the countess’ late son.
Now, 30 years later, Mian has built a lucrative and lavish empire for Gunther’s descendants, including a $7.5 million Miami mansion he purchased from Madonna on Gunther’s behalf, which was then sold for a profit at $29 million.
Under Mian’s care, Gunther’s original $80 million inheritance has grown to a whopping $400 million, but not without cost.
Netflix is set to unpack the unbelievable tale and the questionable handling of Gunther’s assets in a new four-part investigative docuseries, Gunther’s Millions, premiering on February 1.
Keep scrolling for more details about Gunther and the new documentary.
Who is Maurizio Mian?
Before Gunther’s bloodline fell into the hands of Mauizio Mian, the Italian entrepreneur was known as the heir to the successful pharmaceutical company Istituto Gentili, which was instrumental in developing a treatment for osteoporosis, according to the Daily Beast.
After going to medical school, Mian became a university professor before assuming the position of Gunther’s handler. Under Mian’s care, the Gunther Trust was established and now owns several businesses and corporations, including The Burgundians, an entertainment group comprised of rotating aspiring models who sing and dance for the lucky dog.
However, The Burgundians fell apart after Mian allegedly conducted “science experiments” to study happiness, according to the outlet. He went on to buy several sports teams including the Pisa Sporting Club and formed another music group, The Magnificent 5, with the purpose of procreating and birthing ideal humans, according to the outlet.
Is the tale of Gunther’s millions real?
Based on a glance at Maurizio Mian’s suspicious resume, the entrepreneur’s credibility is questionable. As it turns out, the story behind Gunther’s riches is a farce that Mian created to avoid Italian tax laws, according to the Daily Beast.
Furthermore, Fox Business notes that there is no evidence that a countess ever existed, and other reports claim that there might be more than one Gunther among us.
Additional reports also show that Mian tended to inflate and change his stories to the press over the years.
Although Gunther’s past might be made up, Gunther IV is very much real and currently lives in Italy.
“He has a very nice life and is very well taken care of,” Emily Dumay, executive producer of Gunther’s Millions, told Fox. “Throughout the years, there were multiple Gunthers. Obviously, Gunther does not necessarily travel or do all the activities — that’s something the caretakers do,” she added. “So, sometimes they will have stand-ins. They will have a stand-in if they feel it’s not appropriate to bring Gunther due to safety reasons. They’re also very protective of him.”
How does Gunther spend his money?
While it’s not exactly clear how Gunther amassed his great fortune, or how he swipes his credit cards with his paws, he definitely isn’t roughing it.
The hound has an entire staff that waits on his needs, including a private chef who presents him with gold-flake-covered steaks, and both a legal and public relations team, per Forbes. He is also protected by a security team and often visits a high-end groomer, Fox Business found.
Additionally, the film’s executive producer told Fox that Gunther’s handlers are always looking to expand his empire, and they are currently discussing “a digital collection” that will allow fans to digitally interact with the pooch.
Furthermore, Gunther is said to own multiple mansions and villas, and he prefers to fly private over commercial flights.
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Sam Silverman
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Why You Need to Become Your Own Cheerleader
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Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
We all like to be celebrated and cheered on. But how would you feel if no one or very few people cheered for you after you’ve accomplished making it to the next step in your goal, or when you went from 20 sales to your first 100 sales? Or how about when your business launch that you worked so hard on was a success? I’m sure for a lot of us, it wouldn’t feel good. The hard truth is, those who we feel should celebrate our accomplishments and milestones with us are often not the ones who do. We have to learn to be okay with that.
In all honesty, that was a hard pill for me to swallow. For years, I’ve genuinely cheered people on and supported them. I love to see anyone working on and accomplishing their goals. So, when I wasn’t receiving the support that I had been giving for years, I felt slighted. And it wasn’t because I felt that someone owed me. It was more so, “Hey, we can get so much further when we support one another. So, why aren’t we?” But then I was so busy working on my projects that I didn’t have the capacity to worry about who wasn’t supporting me. I tend to focus more on those who do support me.
Related: Stop Worrying About Why Your Family and Friends Don’t Support Your Business
Why you should become your own cheerleader
It’s not easy to get to a point where we can say “I’ve invested so much of my time and finances in making my dream come true, and I’m finally here.” So, it’s understandable to be proud of yourself and want others to be proud of you as well. But when we expect others to be our cheerleaders instead of us being our own biggest cheerleaders, we set ourselves up for frustration and maybe anger at times.
In Be Your Own Cheerleader: An Asian and South Asian Woman’s Cultural, Psychological, and Spiritual Guide to Self-Promote at Work, Neelu Kaur writes, “Alongside being a super rock star in your role at work, your other job — and actually the most important job you will ever have — is to manage your mental health. This is no easy task and takes constant vigilance of what you allow in and out of your precious mind. The other piece of mental health management that is quite challenging to control is the internal dialogue you have with yourself. The inner critic can run the show and your job is to make sure you keep it in check. The inner critic doesn’t rule the show; you do. You ultimately have a choice: Are you going to work for your inner critic or are you going to manage and lead your inner critic? Empowerment comes from a place of managing the negative inner dialogue.”
I love this passage because although the author is speaking in terms of the workplace, it’s something we should apply to our personal and professional life. Life would be so much better if we did. We must learn to be our own cheerleaders and recognize the benefits of it. Hopefully, these five tips I’ve shared will help you.
1. Don’t have expectations for others
No one cares more about what your goals are than you. You know what your vision is and how you plan to make that vision a reality. No one else understands that, so you can’t expect them to care just as much as you. Of course, it’s nice to receive support of any kind while on your journey, but don’t weigh yourself down with negative emotions if you don’t receive it.
Related: How to Deal With Unsupportive Friends and Family
2. Celebrate any milestone
It’s freeing and a confidence booster to celebrate yourself. It doesn’t matter the size of the milestone you’ve reached or what the accomplishment is. Celebrate everything. The more you celebrate yourself, the less you will care about those who didn’t celebrate you.
3. Cheer yourself on
Write your goals down, and once you’ve reached them, be proud of yourself. Give yourself a mental high five, and maybe treat yourself to something nice. Speak positively to yourself. I’m a firm believer in manifestation being a real thing, so I often speak what I want in my life as though it is. Know and understand that you are deserving as much as anyone else.
4. View yourself as your ally, your own best friend
Being your own best friend means supporting and motivating yourself just like you would a friend — showing up for yourself when others cannot or will not. You will gain more self-awareness, confidence and compassion for yourself in doing so.
5. Practice positive affirmations
Practicing writing positive affirmations is another way to cheer yourself on. Affirmations motivate you, challenge you, and push you to reach your full potential in life.
Related: 7 Ways to Keep Yourself Motivated
So, celebrate your accomplishments even if no one else does. Don’t expect anyone to be supportive, and also don’t be angry if they don’t. Showing yourself the same support you would a friend, will boost your confidence and happiness.
In conclusion, being your own cheerleader isn’t about being arrogant or thinking you’re better than anyone else, but it’s about making sure you don’t feel the need or desire to count on others to validate you and your accomplishments. It’s also about keeping taking steps to keep your mental health in check.
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10 Strategies for Hiring and Retaining New Employees
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In a competitive job market, employee retention is everything. Long-term business success can be attributed to employees who feel like their efforts are acknowledged and that they’re contributing to their organization’s goals. Hiring and training new people can be costly, so prioritizing retention can save you a lot of money, foster a winning office culture, and encourage innovative thinking.
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It’s important to keep in mind that job candidates are evaluating your organization just as much as you’re interviewing them for a role. Keeping applicants engaged during the interview process can make all the difference when recruiting the people your business depends on. If they don’t feel valued during the hiring process, why would they think they’d be valued as an employee?
Here are 10 strategies for hiring the right talent and limiting turnover so your business can thrive.
1. Simplify the hiring process.
Having plenty of qualified applicants is great, but make sure you’re not losing the right person because your hiring process is inefficient or unclear. This is the first impression you’ll give a potential employee, so be sure to present a positive image of your company by using a hiring platform like ZipRecruiter. It’s arguably one of the best, cost-effective services for streamlining the hiring process. ZipRecruiter even syncs to your Applicant Tracking System (ATS) to optimize your application flow and can help you discover new hires.
Not only that, businesses can tap into ZipRecruiter‘s Invite to Apply feature to invite top candidates to apply for their jobs. The company says jobs where employers use the Invite to Apply feature receive more than 2.5 times more candidates.
Related: Best Way to Hire Employees: 3 Tips for Landing Top Talent
2. Find the right employees.
Consider the values you’re looking for out of a new hire. Aside from technical capability, ask interview questions that help you understand what motivates a candidate and how they interact in a group setting. Phone screenings, pre-employment behavioral assessments and time-saving screening questions effectively determine if someone would be a good fit before investing valuable resources into further recruitment.
3. Play to your strengths.
Though every employer should offer competitive compensation, you can still find and retain quality people by playing to your strengths. Do you have a strong company culture? Offer an employee discount? Is your business involved in the community? Offer unlimited PTO? Not everyone is purely motivated by salary. Some people may simply believe in your company—and that’s someone you want on your team.
4. Personalize communications with applicants.
Sometimes submitting a job application feels like throwing your resume into a black hole. Even with an automated response, knowing your application will be reviewed by a human can make all the difference. As it turns out, you can hire faster and send personalized messages to job seekers through ZipRecruiter. It’s an opportunity to keep applicants engaged in the hiring process with a professional experience.
Related: Looking for Employees? 4 Things You Need to Know About Online Job Boards.
5. Be transparent.
Hiring has a lot of moving parts, and things don’t always go as planned. Maybe a project you were hiring for fell through or isn’t happening as soon as anticipated. Perhaps someone wasn’t the perfect fit for a specific role, but you know they’d be a contributor in a different position. Hiring can be a long-term game, so stay organized and be honest every step of the way. Communicate a transparent process for applicants to keep in mind and answer their questions to the best of your ability. You never know when you’ll cross paths again.
6. Prioritize the onboarding experience.
Set your employees up for success from the beginning with a winning onboarding and orientation process. By investing time in developing onboarding materials, you’ll get your new hires up to speed faster. They’ll feel like they know the organization better and can contribute to their new role sooner. Company swag and personalized welcome emails from coworkers are also simple ways to make someone feel part of the team.
7. Provide a clear path for advancement.
Along the lines of transparency, don’t push talent away because of stagnation in career growth, salary, or skill development. Offer employees a roadmap for promotions and what qualifies them for a merit increase. Mentorship opportunities for new and existing staff can develop new leaders while giving insight into the promotion process. Your employees will deliver their best work when they know they’re working toward something.
Related: How to Find Employees: 4 Tips for Hiring the Best
8. Create an environment of open communication.
Keep lines of communication open between employees and leadership. This gives employees a voice and can lead to positive changes in the organization. Consider conducting regular employee engagement surveys that allow staff to provide feedback on career satisfaction, office culture, business outlook and career development. Acting on the results from the surveys and using that data to improve the employee experience can lead to improvements across your organization.
9. Place emphasis on employee wellness.
In a world where working from home has become the norm, job flexibility is highly relevant. People are more likely to do their best work when their company understands they have lives outside of their 9-5. Offer simple perks like flexibility with leaving early to take care of family members or summer Fridays. Encourage personal wellbeing with healthy snacks in the office, physical fitness stipends and mental health resources.
10. Give employees recognition.
Employees need to feel appreciated, and there are plenty of inexpensive methods to do so. Acknowledgment of their accomplishments goes a long way, especially when it’s coming from leadership. Create opportunities for employees to get recognition from their peers with regular work share-outs, office emails highlighting big wins and awards.
Whether you’re hiring your next employee on online job boards like ZipRecruiter or via your internal networks, keep the above tips in mind to help make sure you hire the right person and keep them around for the long haul.
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10 Travel Beauty Essentials You Need
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Work environments aren’t limited to traditional offices these days. Many opt to work anywhere with Wifi to create a better work-life balance. Others travel extensively for their jobs, heading from city to city with few home stops in between.
When traveling for work in any capacity, it’s convenient to have a “go” bag packed with your favorite beauty essentials. It takes the guesswork out of packing and ensures you are stocked up before boarding your next flight.
Related: 5 Beauty Products Every Traveling Entrepreneur Needs in Her Suitcase
Here are ten must-have beauty items to keep you looking polished and professional wherever you are.
1. Face cleansing wipes
A pack of travel-sized face cleansing wipes can easily be tucked into a carry-on and used in a pinch. Get rid of dirt, grime and old makeup easily when a full facial cleanse isn’t an option. Find wipes with soothing ingredients like aloe or eucalyptus to perk up the senses and calm the skin.
Also, make sure they’re alcohol-free to avoid stripping the skin of needed moisture post-flight. Simple Exfoliating Facial Wipes with aloe vera, pro-vitamin B5 and vitamin E are gentle yet effective for all skin types. When you’re in a hurry but need to wipe the slate clean, so to speak, these will be your saving grace.
Related: Packing Hacks for Business Travelers
2. Eye mask and earplugs
Studies show people sleep better in dark, quiet environments, which makes an eye mask and earplugs an essential travel combination. It’ll help you sleep more comfortably on a plane, train and in your hotel room.
It’s easy to fall off your natural sleep cycle when traveling from time zone to time zone, which is the first thing that will affect how you look and feel. Protect your sleep schedule for the sake of not only your beauty routine but, more importantly, your overall health.
Related: How CEOs Optimize Their Sleep Schedule
3. Lipstick
It’s amazing what a swipe of lipstick or tinted lip balm can do to make you feel immediately put together. A bold color can feel empowering, while a neutral tone can add just enough of a hue to feel poised and ready to go. Remember to keep lips moisturized by sloughing away dry, cracked skin and applying a lip treatment at night. Then, tuck a favorite shade into your “go” bag and keep a reserve at home so you’ll always be prepared. Get the pigmentation you desire with the hydration you need to keep lips flake-free.
4. Dry shampoo
Dry shampoo buys time between washings to keep hair looking and smelling fresh. Adding dry shampoo gives a boost to limp locks and helps out with oily strands. Spray directly at the root and allow the product to absorb before styling. It’s a simple solution to give life back to your hair when stretched for time. Plus, it keeps hair from drying out from washing it too much.
A go-to for travelers is Act+Acre Plant-Based Dry Shampoo. Its clean, scent-free formula does the trick when heading straight from the plane to an important meeting or from a day in the office directly to a business dinner. Plus, the small travel-sized container can be discreetly tucked away and pulled out to use whenever needed.
Related: The Must-Have Items in These Entrepreneurs’ Travel Bags
5. Face moisturizer
Climate changes can quickly dry out the skin leaving behind a tired appearance. A lightweight moisturizer keeps skin healthy, supple, and bright. Choose one with SPF for sun protection and a formula designed for your skin type. Neutrogena’s Healthy Skin Face Lotion contains SPF 15 and alpha-hydroxy acid to boost skin tone.
Also, if you want to limit the use of a heavy foundation, a tinted moisturizer works as a good substitute, such as EltaMD UV Daily Tinted Broad-Spectum SPF 40. It provides light coverage without the caked-on finish foundation can often have if the skin is too dry.
6. Eye drops
Those who wear contacts already know the importance of eye drops when traveling. However, even if you don’t need glasses, eye drops soothe tired eyes after a long commute or after hours of looking at a screen. There are several name-brand options, but generic eye drops work just as well to brighten up the eyes and keep them from feeling so dry.
Related: 5 Ways to Use Eye Contact in a Business Meeting to Get What You Want
7. Mascara
Mascara is one of the top beauty essentials many refuse to leave home without. It’s another product to pack to make the eyes pop. Opt for a smudge-proof formula like CoverGirl Smudge Proof Mascara that’ll stick with you during a day of travel without smearing. Add a few coats but avoid layering it on too thick to keep the look natural and business-appropriate.
8. Concealer
A hydrating under-eye concealer helps to camouflage dark circles and instantly brighten up the face. The trick is to tap the product into place rather than rubbing it back and forth with a brush or beauty sponge. CoverGirl Turblend Undercover Concealer is ideal for all-day wear, providing a matte finish. Use the third finger to dab it under the eye and smooth it out gently. A concealer stick is important when traveling for work to keep the face looking fresh.
Related: 15 Business Etiquette Rules Every Professional Needs to Know
9. Blush stick
A blush stick provides a two-in-one advantage when used as a blush and eye shadow and doesn’t require a brush to apply. Stick to a neutral shade like the Charlotte Tilbury Moon Beach blush stick, a peachy, rose gold hue, and use clean fingertips to blend into the cheekbones for a natural-looking flush. Work situations don’t necessarily require a full face of makeup; sticking with a few beauty essentials can keep you looking polished.
10. Dental floss
Though floss may not be deemed a true beauty essential, it’s necessary to have it with you at the ready. Nothing is worse than experiencing an entire meeting or client dinner with food stuck between the teeth. Never get in this type of compromising position (and subsequent embarrassment), and remember to add it to your bag.
Consider these ten beauty essentials part of your travel arsenal to prepare you for wherever your work travels take you next.
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Kelly Hyman
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Get the Most Out of Your Gaming with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate
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Being an entrepreneur is hard work. You have a lot going on, so it’s important to find time to relax and blow off some steam. Hobbies are important for success because they allow you to clear your head and return to work later with a more positive mindset. If gaming is your hobby, then you owe it to yourself to game the best way you can: with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate.
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Xbox Game Pass Ultimate includes everything in Xbox Live Gold, plus more. That means you’ll get access to the world’s top online multiplayer community with millions of people to play with. You’ll also get free games every month and up to 50% discounts in the Xbox Store. Then, Ultimate gives you access to more than 100 high-quality games with new titles added all the time, letting you play with friends on a console, PC, smartphone, or tablet. You’ll have even more member discounts, deals, and in-game perks to look forward to, and access to the Xbox Cloud Gaming beta to play games on all of your preferred devices (provided you’re in a market where the beta is available).
Additionally, you’ll get instant access to EA Play at no extra cost. With EA Play, you can play a collection of EA’s most-loved series and titles, access exclusive in-game challenges and rewards, enjoy special member-only content, and get trials of select games for up to ten hours. Put together, it’s one of the most comprehensive gaming experiences you’ll find anywhere — and you can get it all at a significant discount.
For a limited time, you can get a two-month subscription to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate for 70% off — that’s only $8.99 (reg. $29).
Prices subject to change.
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Tap into Your Inner Kid with This Robot Building Kit
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There’s plenty of evidence that adopting a hobby can help make you a better entrepreneur. So, if you need to chill out and de-stress from time to time, why not look to your childhood? Adults are driving the toy industry these days, and whether you’re just looking to relax or you want to find some inspiration, allow this Robot Building Kit to be your guide.
We’re encouraging entrepreneurial adults to tap into their inner kids during our Kidults promotion! We’re dropping prices on cool adult-friendly toys from January 24 to January 30, so you can indulge in some fiscal responsibility while trekking down memory lane.
This STEM education robot and car block toy is perfect for kids of all ages (even adults). The two-in-one kit includes 901 building blocks, allowing you to assemble your robot or car into a configuration you like. The DIY blocks are easy to put together, and all are ASTM and CPSIA standard with smooth surfaces and rounder corner designs, so if you use them with young kids, they’re perfectly safe for ages eight and up.
When it comes time to code, the companion app makes it easy to control using coding commands. You can also use the included remote control within 30 meters if you prefer. The Bluetooth connection via the app lets you program, add voice control, chart paths for the robot, and more. Everything is intuitive and accessible for kids and adults, making it an excellent educational and bonding experience.
Don’t give up your inner kid. During our Kidults promotion, running through January 30, you can get this Robot Building Kit for a specially reduced price of just $129.99 (reg. $292) — that’s 55% off.
Prices subject to change.
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