8 Entrepreneurial Qualities That Contribute To Success

8 Entrepreneurial Qualities That Contribute To Success There are entrepreneurs who are extremely successful and everything they touch seems to turn to gold, and there are some that do not see as much success. What are the deciding factors that separate those that crank home run after home run and those that struggle at the plate? While the majority of entrepreneurs have no problem working hard, not all work smart and possess the following entrepreneurial qualities responsible for driving success. 1. Not being afraid of delegating tasks. As entrepreneurs, we tend to always have a full plate and feel that we can take on any task. In reality, if we keep adding to the already-full plate it is eventually going to collapse and create a mess. Don't be afraid to delegate tasks to an experienced member of your company that has the ability to get tasks completed. 2. Managing time effectively. Proper time management is necessary to distinguish between extremely urgent tasks and those that can wait. Use a notebook or whiteboard to prioritize your tasks by writing them down. Mobile devices and tablets have calendars and notepads, but nothing is more effective than actually writing down your "to-do" list. Focus on one task at a time and don't let new "to-do's" disrupt your focus. Knock them out one at a time. 3. Visualizing goals and success. You need to see your goals and success in your mind first if you plan on making them a reality. Not only do you need to visualize the end result, but you also need to visualize every step that it is going to take to get there. Napoleon Hill said it best: "What the mind can conceive and believe it can achieve." 4. Listening and communicating well. If you aren't a good listener and communicator it will result in miscommunications and wasted time, not to mention added work to correct the miscommunications. Time is one thing that all entrepreneurs would like more of. How often have you wished there was more hours in a day? Avoid wasting priceless time repeating and redoing tasks due to poor communication. 5. Understanding your time is valuable. While it would be great to be able to give everyone the time that they wanted, it would leave you with little to no time to accomplish the things that you need to get done. If a sales representative has a question, they should address it with the sales manager. If a customer has a question they should be speaking with your customer-care representative. While people might demand your time, it doesn't mean that you have to grant them the time. Your time is valuable, so don't waste it on disruptions that should be handled by other members of your organization. 6. Seeking help when you need it. We often let our stubbornness prevent us from asking for help. Have you ever been stumped and someone comes along with the answer and you think, "Why in the world didn't I think of that?" Often times a clear mind and different viewpoint can quickly solve a problem or provide an answer to a question. Don't be afraid to ask for help when you need it, as it can also help to strengthen the communication within your organization. 7. Getting out of the office. As an entrepreneur, you have probably spent several 18-hour days behind your computer or worked through the night late at your office until the sun came back up. It is important to break your day up, for both your physical and mental health. Take a few breaks throughout the day and walk around the office or take a walk outside to clear your head and give your eyes a break from the computer. Leave your office for lunch, even if you bring it — go eat outside and get some fresh air. Want to jumpstart your day and have healthy energy throughout the day? Go to the gym bright and early before you hit the office every morning and get a good workout in. You will have a clear mind, abundant energy and improved mental focus. 8. Giving back. It is important to understand how lucky we are, as entrepreneurs, to do what we love. When you are appreciative of what you have accomplished and then take a step back to see what you can do to give back, it gives you a feeling like no other. My company helps several 501(c)(3) organizations with their nonprofit marketing each year. Helping several nonprofits that support causes I believe in is a great feeling. "You can have everything in life you want, if you will just help other people get what they want," said Zig Ziglar. Nobody said being an entrepreneur is an easy thing to do, and while these qualities will not translate into automatic success, they sure can help. By Jonathan Long Source: Inc.

All Entrepreneurs Need to Tell These 6 Stories

Think you've got your pitch down cold? Good for you, but your work isn't over.

All Entrepreneurs Need to Tell These 6 Stories

You may have one story down, but you've got five more to go, says Eileen Gittins, the CEO of Blurb. Gittins was speaking at the Dell Women Entrepreneurship Conference in Austin on Monday.

Gittins' company started out as a way for people to make well-designed photo books in somewhat less than an eon. Since then, Blurb has grown into a popular platform for e-books, publishing about 7,000 titles a day and reeling in about $100 million in revenues a year.

As Blurb grew, Gittins learned how important it was for her customers to believe there were real live people behind it, and to trust in them. Blurb has no retail stores and no salespeople--it was all about the computer screen. Gittins found that storytelling was key to developing her brand and her culture, and came to believe that all entrepreneurs have to be able to tell these six stories.

1. The pitch.

The first story, says Gittins, is the pitch, which she calls "the story to get you started." You tell what you are doing, what you have on offer, and why the person listening should care about you. Gittins must have a good one--she's raised $80 million in venture funding, and, as she puts it, "kissed so many VC frogs I don't even remember their names."

2. The story about your company.

This tells what you do, why you do it, and what distinguishes you in the marketplace.

3. A personal story.

"A personal story can advance your business more than you can imagine," Gittins said. Her company has an all-hands meeting every month: "I get the engineers to show up at 8:30, which is an act of god," she said.

At those meetings, each department nominates someone to tell a story of something that happened recently in the business. It can be of success, failure, or something in between. The stories help build trust between colleagues. And, Gittins says, and at some point, "People don’t want to hear from you. What they really want to do is hear from the guy who runs customer support or the CEO's assistant. Those tend to be the personal stories."

4. The catalyst story.

This is the most important one, said Gittins. The form is predictable: There's a hero, there are obstacles, the hero overcomes the obstacles, and all is sweetness and light. But the use of this story is anything but: "One of the great things about the catalyst story is it's a great way to help your people understand some of the change you want to surface at your company," Gittins said.

"We started in the world of personal publishing, where you make a photobook for your mom or the people you know. Now we're doing self-publishing, and if people aren't authors they don't understand it."

The catalyst story, she says, needs to be specific as to date and time. And by the time it's over, it should be obvious to everyone in the audience what would have happened without the catalyst.

5. The branding story.

At a small company, this story may rely heavily on the founder’s own story.

6. 'The vision thing.'

"This is the biggest possible vision of where your company can go," says Gittins. And it often starts out a bit like a children’s story: "Once upon a time…" or "Imagine a world where…"

One of her favorite variations on "the vision thing" is to imagine the characteristics of the hypothetical company that would put her out of business tomorrow. Once you've done that, she says, "you've just defined the vision for what you need to do to pre-empt that from happening."

By Kimberly Weisul

Source Inc.