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The Business Leader as Ultramarathoner
Have you ever heard of an ultramarathon? A standard marathon isjust over 26 miles. An ultramarathon is usually on the order of50 or 100 miles, though there are some that span one thousand! Imagine the endurance required to run such a race. Running a business requires the kind of devotion and stamina thatultramarathoners can only dream about. Like the 100-mile runner,the successful business leader must maintain focus, keeping aneye on the path...on the mileposts that mark progress...and onthe long-range goal. Unlike an ultramarathoner, your long-distance business run endsonly when you leave the business by choice or when it dies anunnatural death. For in business the real success lies increating something you can live with for the long haul, acrucible into which you can mix your creative vision and talentsto build something unique and useful. Keeping Stakeholders Focused It's critical to your success to help your stakeholders stayfocused, too. A good business delivers value to employees,customers, investors, and the community in roughly equal measure.Lose focus in any of those areas and you can find yourself headedfor a business train wreck. What happens when a business and its stakeholders lose focus? Irecently observed a group of people at one company meeting todiscuss the project manager's dissatisfaction with pink bubblewrap. Eight people spent one hour in a meeting to talk about why bubblewrap had to be pink. Was that meeting necessary? Of course not.The focusing question to ask is: Does this meeting deliver realvalue to business stakeholders? Is it lined up with the business'principles and what it does consistently well? Best intentions aside, such meetings are indicative of deeperproblems that have gone ignored for a long time. How Many Bubble Wrap Meetings Can You Afford? In larger companies the symptoms of a loss of focus can go on foryears. The systemic problems that occur in such situationsdevelop gradually. Unless you are paying attention, you hardlynotice them until they reach an almost ridiculous peak. In smaller businesses, though, the results of defocusing can becatastrophic. They come upon you quickly like potholes in theroad because you are moving at high speed. Before you know ityou're sitting at the roadside, wondering what happened. If you are going to avoid such problems, you must take actionahead of time. You must begin before the beginning. Paying Attention Before the Beginning During a business' startup phase, well before launch, foundersand leaders must take the time to get conscious about what theyare doing and why they are doing it. Smart leaders create answersto questions like: - What is our business about?
- Who are we as a business?
- What do we believe about the right way to conduct business?
- What sort of relationships do we want to have with our customers, employees, investors, and the community?
- What is our company's unique value to its stakeholders?
- What is the unique value that our product or service brings to solving customer problems?
The time you make to answer such questions is repaid athousandfold as your business grows. Be fanatical aboutindoctrinating your staff, employees, investors, customers, andthe community about your principles and what you do consistentlywell. Do so in terms they can relate to:Employees: Focus on delivering the value of what you do consistently well to those you serve. Make sure they KNOW who you serve and teach them how to be customer advocates. Reward such advocacy. Make sure they understand the value your business delivers to each stakeholder.
Customers: Create a communication strategy that connects intimately with those you serve. SHOW the value of your focus -- don't tell, because talk is cheap. Build relationships that feed improvements to existing products and services, and get your customers involved in creating new ones.
Investors: Keep them informed about your progress. Speak the truth clearly. Hide nothing. Act ethically. Plan for the long term (even if you personally want to take an early exit).
Community: Be involved as a good community member. Pick a cause that's congruent with what you do and support it with passion. Show the community you'll be there for the long term.
Your Courage and Devotion Set the Tone Above all, have the courage and devotion to keep yourselffocused. There is no stronger example than that of your own life.Do your best to be the sort of person you want others in yourcompany to be. For they will look to you as the model foracceptable behavior, values, and creative passion. It's your race. Run it well! Michael Knowles, co-author of The Entrepreneur's Concept Assessment Toolbook (http://www.booklocker.com/books/1988.html) helps businesses take what they do best and focus it on success. A Principal in One Straight Line LLC, Michael has over 25 years of experience helping companies create communication strategies help them engage customers, employees, investors, outsourcing partners, and the community. Michael can be reached at mknowles@onestraightline.com.
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You're invited to attend... Complete Access to TWO Separate Training Tracks: ClickBank Product Publishing & ClickBank Affiliate Mastery
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Growing and expanding requires self-awareness of what you are doing and what you're not doing to move forward. If you're succeeding, keep on doing what you're doing. If you're behind, it's okay; you just need to adjust.
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Winning the War Over Loans and Debts As an Entrepreneur
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Among the things that can make or mar a business is taking loans. People take loans to meet up with their expectations. However, it takes a wiser entrepreneur to decipher when to or when not to take a loan. Loans can do wonderful things for you when properly managed. It can help solve urgent problems, cater for substantial expenses and grow businesses. Though loans can work perfectly for those who have steady income, yet it has the propensity of entangling those who struggle to earn a living. It is very important for every entrepreneur to note that a mismanaged loan is hell.
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11/16/2020 09:05 AM
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Many entrepreneurs have gone before you and figured out how things work, so that you don't have to reinvent the wheel. You can follow what other successful online entrepreneurs have done and become successful doing it.
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11/02/2020 10:01 AM
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How To Develop The Mindset Of An Entrepreneur And Become Successful
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Mindset Is Everything-You won't be awesome at being an entrepreneur unless and till you condition your brain for getting into business and then making the most of it.Any trade can be really tough to comprehend. However, if that is something somebody wishes to do, then how do you do that effectively? Here are a few great tips that I have come up with on how you are able to become that awesome entrepreneur as well.
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11/02/2020 09:20 AM
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Winning at the Proposal Game
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Submitting bids and tenders is a great way to grow and expand your business and is a great way for a small company to become a much larger company. It can be frustrating and costly to bid, this work taking you away from other business activities. However, winning a bid gives you access to a new customer and other project opportunities. You also have to consider as to whether you have the financial standing and moral fortitude to undertake large projects so choose your opportunities with great care. Smaller projects can help your company grow efficiently and profitably with less drama and anguish. Here are a few pointers to remember when producing tenders.
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11/02/2020 09:15 AM
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There Is Such a Thing As Too Much Free Content
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10/22/2020 11:34 AM
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The Pros and Cons of Working for Yourself
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Working from home offers many benefits and even a few drawbacks. It's up to you to determine if you have the personality for it. You'll need to rein in family and friends who want to take advantage of you, as well as yourself, to stay on track for creating a healthy and profitable home business.
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10/12/2020 09:53 AM
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The Impact Trifecta: Make the Most of Your Impact Efforts
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Impact can feel oddly unsatisfying. If you're feeling that your impact isn't fulfilling you, that's a clue. Maybe you're not having all the impact you want to have.
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09/29/2020 09:03 AM
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5 Things to Think About Before You Start a Business
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Before you start a business and kick off your entrepreneur journey, you need to understand a number of things. Here are five to think about before you invest your money.
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09/28/2020 09:45 AM
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Does Money Make You Successful?
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When people want to become entrepreneurs they don't actually think about the work. They think about the freedom.
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09/28/2020 09:43 AM
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Your Fear Is a Valuable Messenger
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I know you care about impact. Fear will keep you from it, if not by shutting you down, then by distractions. We all feel fear, so what can you do?
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09/02/2020 01:33 PM
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Discovering Lucrative Business Opportunities
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There are several ways to be successful today but the most popular one is almost always acknowledged as venturing into a world of capitalizing on online business opportunities. People who are able to do this easily usually reap in the positive benefits many folds.
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Ready To Position Yourself As an Expert?
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Many people naturally have the leadership abilities that are necessary to operate a successful business based on their family environment while they were growing up. Their basic character traits are often nurtured and manifested during these stages.
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Postpone Your Impact, and It May Never Happen
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When you postpone your impact, it may never happen. Life will always get in the way, if you allow it.
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08/11/2020 11:45 AM
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Do You Have What It Takes To Become An Succesful Entrepreneur?
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07/24/2020 10:25 AM
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Be Willing to Fall Flat on Your Face
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Being the leader you want to be, to have the impact you want to have, will not always be well received. You might take that as a failure. But is it?
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07/08/2020 09:48 AM
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The Secret Shame Of Having A Full Time Job
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According to experts, More than 47% of Americans today cannot pay $400 for an emergency without having to borrow that money. The secret shame is that most of that 47% had full time jobs when answering this question. That number is even worse today as millions have lost their jobs.
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07/08/2020 09:48 AM
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How Becoming An Author Builds Expertise
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If you want a fast way to become an insider within your niche, push yourself to new heights, and become the expert you know you are, becoming an author will do that for you. But, you must get started and learn all you can about marketing once the book is finished.
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07/03/2020 11:30 AM
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How To End A Business Relationship Amicably
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Ending a business relationship is never easy, but once you do let go of clients who aren't ideal, you're going to free up space to attract your ideal clients. Plus, once it's over you're going to feel so much better about your business and yourself.
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07/02/2020 11:37 AM
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Are You Honoring Your Values?
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So much is going on in the world right now, that it can be difficult to focus on your business' values. You may be going through some financial challenges due to the pandemic, and even if that's not the case, it can feel hard to consider one more thing as you pivot and adjust. I have had to make conscious and sometimes difficult choices in my own adjustments to stay aligned with my values and those of my business.
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06/30/2020 06:30 AM
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You Are Made For These Times
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Ever feel like you want to just leave everything behind and go elsewhere? I sure do. But we're here. How do we rise to these times?
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06/22/2020 08:50 AM
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5 Tips to Make Big in Business From the Expert Business Coach
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Get tips to make big in business from the expert business coach Thamizharasu Gopalsamy. One can learn business basics with this pen work.
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06/19/2020 04:19 PM
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Honest Grant Cardone Marketing Mentoring Program Review
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Do you know Grant Cardone? Do you strive for success? Are you passionate? If you want to learn from the best Grant Cardone is your guy. You are about to take a "DEEP DIVE" and become submersed into his Marketing Mentoring Program. We will take a look and I will help educate you on what I have learned, and where you will benefit by joining him on his mission to create success, and help you do the same.
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06/15/2020 02:39 PM
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When Celebrating Your Big Accomplishments Is Hard
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Celebrating your significant accomplishments can stir up feelings and resistance. Here's how to deal with that.
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06/15/2020 02:32 PM
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What Exactly Is Passive Income?
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Any income where the individual does not have to physically earn is called passive income. This of course is a very attractive way of earning an income and indeed those who are lucky enough to make a decent living this way are quite happy. Ways To Generate Loads Of Passive Income- There are currently some very popular and common ways to earn a passive income.
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06/08/2020 09:13 AM
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Find Your Fierce
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You want to have impact with your business. You'll have a lot more impact if you get in touch with your fierce.
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06/01/2020 08:48 AM
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Are You Becoming the One?
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Impact calls you on a deeper level. If impact were just about taking action, you would have had that impact already.
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06/01/2020 08:43 AM
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Respect Payroll
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Entrepreneurs at times have such passion for their product that they overlook payroll. This article describes some common startup payroll problems, and their solution.
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05/25/2020 01:14 PM
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Your Relationship With Desire Shapes Your Impact
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Your impact is a deep, unique expression of who you are. Diminishing your desire for impact rains on the parade of who you are and what you contribute.
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05/18/2020 10:35 AM
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Rethinking Your Business Plan? Be Sure to Include This
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We're in the midst of a significant disruption of business. Creating a new plan focused on this one thing keeps you on track.
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05/14/2020 09:50 AM
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How To Handle Criticism In Business
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There are essentially three types of critics. Each has a different agenda and all but one has something good to offer. It's important to understand and differentiate between these three types of critics so that not only can you quickly identify those whom you should listen to and those who you should ignore, but also so that you can learn to provide criticism yourself in a constructive and useful way.
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05/11/2020 07:49 AM
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Are You Afraid of Your Own Impact?
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It's worth it to start to explore what's holding you back from the compelling, exquisite impact that you could have. Your impact matters.
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05/05/2020 07:55 AM
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Why Is It Easy to Fail at Your Pitch
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The aim is to secure investors, and to achieve that, the pitch deck presented needs to make them sit up and pay attention. Do not become just another pitch they hear and promptly forget. Failure is not an option, and these are the common blunders that scream, "Fail":
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04/07/2020 08:35 AM
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Having Impact During a Pandemic
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The Chinese proverb, "May you live in interesting times," was never more poignant than it is right now. Every single one of us is undergoing significant change, whether we want to or not. The coronavirus/COVID-19/SARS-CoV-2 pandemic (even the name keeps changing) is making sure of that.
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Whether you are an entrepreneur or small business enterprise, one thing is for certain, we are all experiencing some form of disruption in our business as a result of Covid-19. For a very small handful of businesses, this unprecedented change is a positive one for their business, while a significantly greater number have not been so fortunate.
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Here's the Secret to Double Your Productivity
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03/02/2020 08:19 AM
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3 Common Psychological Roadblocks And How To Navigate Them
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Before we talk about common psychological roadblocks, understand that while you can read about this all day long, you may need extra help overcoming some issues. Consider getting a life or business coach depending on your own issues. This will help you work your way through it faster so that you can move on with your life.
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02/26/2020 10:03 AM
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How Can Brainstorming Be Used To Generate New Business Ideas
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There are different methods of brainstorming that work for different people. What works for you will depend on your own personality, so it's smart to try out more than one method.
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02/26/2020 10:03 AM
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Two Mantra of Successful Entrepreneur
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Great leaders are willingly make personal sacrifices and accept responsibilities for organizational failures. They put the interest of common good- their stakeholders which includes employees, government, customers, creditors, directors, suppliers, unions and the overall community at large before their interest. They adopt a 'give no excuses and accept the mistake' approach. There is a direct positive relationship between risk-bearing and entrepreneurship. Successful entrepreneurship is about identifying your passion, taking a rational risk and exploring opportunities others don't see. Risk-taking pushes you to think and act outside your comfort zone without which you become torpid, conventional and content
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02/21/2020 12:04 PM
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Why Is Copy Trading Service Useful?
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If you don't know how to trade and want to take advantage of someone more experienced, then copy trading is the right one for you. Copying more experienced traders allows you to make a return on your money with minimal risk. The most important part is to trust a company that offers a verified record or performance of their trading history.
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