Building Teams for your Small Business

Shared by Elizabeth Saunders, Founder and CEO, Real Life E®

Entrepreneurs often specialize in coming up with the big idea. When it comes to management skills, they’re usually lacking. With that in mind, the Young Entrepreneur Council asked its own for advice to share with startup founders as they set about building their teams.

1. Take time to train them

“Many entrepreneurs have the deluded expectation that an employee should show up able to do their job. No matter how competent they are, an employee will require training and integration time. An added upshot, thinking about employee training cycles and growth paths really gets you thinking about how to grow your company.” —Charlie Gilkey | Principal, Productive Flourishing

2. Create an entrance interview

“We’ve created some documents for new employees to fill out right when they start about how they like to work, be rewarded, have meetings, etc. By having this written down, it gives our whole team an understanding of how new team members might fit in and creates a better work culture.” —Caitlin McCabe | Founder & CEO, Real Bullets Branding

3. Project management systems save

“Entrepreneurs can keep the big picture in their head, but employees need to have the details in front of them. A good project management software is a great way to keep the team focused and on task. Efficiency and productivity increase when you measure accountability with project management software.” —Lucas Sommer | Founder CEO, Audimated

4. You don’t need a manager

“Teach and empower your employees by giving them parameters to help them do their job autonomously. A sales rep doesn’t need a script, she must understand what makes a product valuable to a customer, and the many ways to point out those benefits. A service rep does not need a “company policy” to refer to, but rather a strategy for solving problems so the client is satisfied.” —Vanessa Nornberg | President, Metal Mafia

5. Set quarterly themes and visions

“Our first year in business, we just did business day-to-day. But we found that even though we were doing awesome things, sometimes we got stuck in a groove because we weren’t shooting for a big goal. So we started setting a quarterly theme for our company. This theme goes into everything we do those three months, and everyone is focused on making that goal a reality. It helps focus efforts.” —Trevor Mauch | CEO (chief entrepreneurial officer), Automize, LLC

6. Open-door policy

“Employees (especially new ones) are bound to make more mistakes than necessary if they feel they can’t ask you questions or get your feedback. Make sure you are accessible and available as much as possible. Literally, keep your door open to give the impression that anyone can visit to bounce an idea or ask a question of you.” —Benjamin Leis | Founder, Sweat EquiTees

7. Culture is king

“Put your employees first, and they will take better care of your customers. As you are building your team, you must define what the inside of your company is going to look like. Your internal brand ultimately dictates how the company is represented on the outside. If you try to design the customer experience first, it will be forced and unnatural. Try to design the employee experience first.” —Nick Friedman | President, College Hunks Hauling Junk

8. Hire to get stuff done

“A small company cannot tolerate people who are lazy, procrastinate or are unable to use limited resources to push forward projects. You need people who can follow through, find clever solutions and workarounds with a sense of urgency, and can take charge of a problem and drive it to a successful solution.”—Matt Mickiewicz | Co-Founder, Flippa and 99designs

9. Practice transparency

“I’m always very honest with my team regarding financials and clients. In this economy, it’s important to be upfront with folks in every aspect of the business—particularly when you’re first getting started. Young professionals enjoy being an integral part of the planning and decision-making process, and it can also help them better understand how the business is run.” —Heather Huhman | Founder & President, Come Recommended

10. Share how to kick butt

“I’m working on this, but it’s become obvious that letting someone know how to kick butt increases the likelihood that they will do so. Smart, talented people want to feel smart and talented, and that’s on you as a business leader. Entrepreneurs are often self-motivated and we forget that getting the most out of people means showing them how to succeed.” —Derek Shanahan | Co-Founder, Foodtree

11. Encourage openness and honesty

“You never want your employees to be afraid to tell you the truth. You can encourage openness and honesty by: 1) Responding calmly when they tell you something has not gone as you expected 2) Talking through a plan for moving forward 3) Agreeing on follow up and accountability.”

Five great lessons from the creator of Startups.com

We acquired the domain name Startups.com a few years back. We briefly tried a Q&A site for entrepreneurs and startups, but that didn’t work out. Then last year we decided to launch Startups.com as a daily deal site for webpreneurs. After one year we had to pull the plug.

This post is my personal reflection on what went wrong. The paint is still fresh, and I’m still a bit sore with the pain of failure on my shoulders… but it’s not the first one in my entrepreneurial life. I am moving beyond it and focusing on what I’m really passionate about.

Genius former chess champion Garry Kasparov said something to the effect of, “I have always learned something from the games I lose that helps me become victorious in the next game.” I am trying to adopt that attitude by offering this reflection upon what went wrong with Startups.com in the hopes that it will help other entrepreneurs.

Lesson 1. Do your thing

Money follows passion, not the other way around. It’s almost impossible to have a great vision for something you if you don’t have the passion for it. But as Sam Walton put it simply, “Capital isn’t scarce; vision is.”

Do your thing, and don’t let other people (or things) distract you from your own path. It’s very hard to do when you read over and over again that Groupon is kicking ass, or how Instagram was an overnight success (which was hardly “overnight” when you scratch the surface of the people involved).

Temptation is everywhere, but you know what? I came to realize that temptations are only tempting when you’re not doing your own thing. If it’s truly YOUR thing and something you’re passionate about, hardly anything can get you more excited than what you’re already doing.

Clearly selling isn’t our thing, publishing is. Publishing attractive and inspiring content to help webpreneurs become more successful. We thought we could also help webpreneurs with deals. Wrong call. Publishing is one thing, and selling is something very different. It involves customer service 24×7, lead generation, funnels, merchants, refunds, and a huge list of etceteras.

Follow your passion, do your own thing, and don’t let distractions and what may seem like bigger opportunities distract you from YOUR thing. If you get distracted, it means you haven’t found your thing just yet… but that’s okay. Just keep looking.

My key takeaway from this is: Don’t chase the new flavor of the month, because it’ll surely become “yesterday’s online fad” as Seth Godin discussed in his awesome post about, “How To Make Money Online.”

Takeaway #1: Just do your own thing, keep your head down, and hussle.

Lesson 2. There are no shortcuts

From afar, your neighbor’s greener pasture looks very nice (and much greener!) That happens here on The Next Web as well, when we read about the latest startup to getting funding, or the biggest acquisition this week.

You are not your neighbor. Be yourself, and stick to it no matter how long it takes you. You wanna be doing all of the latest, greatest things, because from afar, nothing looks complicated. But again, execution is what counts, and that’s what makes the difference at the end of the day.

At Startups.com we decided to take a little shortcut and we bought a script for a daily deal site. We wanted to move fast and cut corners everywhere we could. In retrospect, it doesn’t seem to have been the right decision. It took us five months to get where we wanted to be.

One day it struck me: if we had built it from scratch, we’d have done it in 3 months, and it would have been our own fine and dandy, shiny product. Instead we ended up creating Frankenstein. No one had ownership of the beast, and it never worked as well as we had wanted.

Don’t get me wrong, we’re all for open source stuff like WordPress, MySQL, and PHP. I’m not talking about reinventing the wheel here…

I love the story of a butterfly. A good-hearted man saw a butterfly struggling to emerge from its cocoon, and he very gently took scissors and cut open the cocoon, “so the butterfly could get out easier.” Well, it ends up that although he had the best of intentions, a butterfly actually NEEDS to struggle to break its cocoon so it can develop the strength to fly.

Think about the struggles you’re going through with your own startup. Don’t always take the easy path, because you too are developing your skills to become wildly successful. Think of the biggest companies around: Amazon, Apple, Google, Facebook… do they look like a result of a shortcut to you? No. Not by a long shot.

Takeaway #2: The road to success is long, no matter what they say. If you can’t stand it, just think of the alternative: Get a “regular” job, and the road to success will become… infinite.

Lesson 3. Do one thing

Marketplaces are very tough, and daily deal sites are even tougher. The jury is still out about the daily deal sites: are they just a fad, or are they here to stay for the long run like webmail, apps, etc?

Seen from afar, the daily deal opportunity seems pretty easy, but it really isn’t.

In any marketplace, you have to build two sides of the equation at the same time: buyers and sellers. Without the sellers, buyers who come to the site leave right away because they find nothing to buy. Without the buyers, the very early sellers don’t get their merchandise sold, so the ball stops right there: they don’t promote it to their friends, and they never comes back to offer another product.

Marketplaces normally take a long time until they hit the mainstream, like Etsy did a while back.

At the company, besides running Startups.com we were running KillerStartups.com and a bunch of other initiatives that I’m too embarrassed to share with you here. What can you expect from that? Multiple successes? Hardly. We all face limited resources, budget, people, and energy… We have to admit it, and do just one thing. And excel at it. The world is uber-competitive now, if you’re not amongst the best at what you do, most probably you’re not gonna get anywhere.

Every time an entrepreneur reaches out to me for advice, I tell them the story of when I was a little, 8-year-old boy. At school they taught us how to light a piece of paper on fire with a magnifying glass. You let the sun shine through the glass, and voila! Fire. But in reality, it’s not that easy, because the critical factor is that you stick with it long enough that the little piece of paper lights on fire.

Well, what did that 8-year-old me try to do? Burn 4 different little pieces of papers at the same time. A little bit of magnifying glass time to each of them. What did I get? Nothing. Later in life I realized that if I want to burn 4 different pieces of paper, I need to stick with the first one long enough until it’s on fire. Then I can use that piece to light the next 3 pieces on fire. Simple, but it’s not always easy to stick with that very first piece long enough.

Takeaway #3: Do one thing, no matter how small. When you have it burning, you can make it bigger, better, faster and stronger… later.

Lesson 4. Know when to fold up your tent and go home

It’s very hard, and there’s no winning recipe for it, unfortunately. And you’ll never know for sure if you did the right thing, or if you screwed it up big time by throwing in the towel. I wish there was an easy way to know for certain if quitting is the best option. Actually, maybe there is… If you’re quitting a project to focus your time, energy and limited resources into something you really believe in, then you’re on the right track.

It’s even harder when you read the Steve Jobs’s quote, “The problem with the Internet startup craze isn’t that too many people are starting companies; it’s that too many people aren’t sticking with it.”

Argh! Painful. Keeps you awake at night and makes you think harder and harder, not to mention adding even more stress to your decision process. But still, you need to move forward, and if you feel you’re going nowhere, maybe shutting down is the best thing to do. Or pivot the same project.

But sometimes you need to kill the old to give room for the new to be born. Sometimes the right solution is pivoting, like what Odeo did when they refocused on Twitter. Or what Catherina Fake did with Flickr.

At Startups.com we were 6 months down the road and we realized it wasn’t working. We couldn’t make it work. Our passion wasn’t in selling, but in publishing. Felix Dennis, founder of Maxim magazine, found that out as well when Maxim tried to approach the catalog business. It wasn’t working for them either. They brought in a consultant who told them point blank, “You’re not creating a sales catalog, you’re just doing a magazine.” And then it hit them: their publishing experience was playing a bad trick on them.

We’re no quitters, so after 6 months we decided to give it our all and 6 months later look at where we were at. Seeing it in retrospect now, it was 6 months too long. Wasted resources, wasted time. The writing was on the wall. But we decided to persevere, on the wrong path, so we lost more money, resources, and lost opportunities doing something else. We should have folded 6 months ago rather than keep going and going for an extra 6 months… in the wrong direction. Lesson learned, but a very personal call. Pretty hard to pass those learnings along, you’ll have to make your own calls.

Life goes on to live another day. And another project comes up to fire up your belly and you go full force into it. That’s what we entrepreneurs do.

Takeaway #4: It’s very hard to time the end of a project… when that one isn’t working. How would you know if a project is working? Easy: you’ll be happy (yes, despite the never-ending challenges). As simple as that.

Lesson 5. Focus, execution and details

Boring? You bet. But these 3, by far, are the ones I find the hardest things for us entrepreneurs to do. Really. We’re full of ideas, we want to change the world every minute. Wherever we look, we see opportunities. Tons of them. And most of the time, they’re better looking, larger, more interesting, appealing and exciting than the one we’re busy dealing with.

At the ‘idea stage,’ everything seems possible, so unlimited thinking is great. That’s romance, without the hassle of actually doing it. But when rubber meets the road, that’s when things get tough, and romance goes to the toilet. An angry customer on the phone; your site is suddenly painfully slow; you get flagged on PayPal for transactions. A critical employee called in sick. Tons of unanswered emails. Disappointing sales that day. The email server is having issues and you can’t deliver the emails to your subscribers. That gets to your co-founder’s head and instead of a dialog to work things through, you start fighting.

Well, you get the picture… I wasn’t talking about your company, I was sharing and venting some of the things that I’ve experienced..

Our own personality is sometimes our worst enemy. We need to constantly keep fighting that, every single day.

At Startups.com we got enamored with the idea of Daily Deals, but not passionate about the execution and the details of the entire beast. Others did much better than we did, obviously they had the expertise, vision, passion and willingness to make it work, and dive into the details. We didn’t. And it showed, big time.

Takeaway #5: Keep working at your only thing, until you find love in the details. As they say, the devil is in the details (and so is success).

Closing thought: I took something I read from Internet entrepreneur Jason Calacanis when I emailed Noah Kagan at AppSumo to say: “You win. We lost. Next.” The day you stop thinking, “there’s still something I could do,” you might just be dead. And dead we’re not. Let’s go full speed ahead, and make it possible.

Entrepreneur’s Don’t Let Bad Press Stop Them

by J. Jennings Moss, Editor, Business Journal Online
July 12, 2012 | 12:36pm EDT
Last Modified: July 12, 2012 | 5:21pm EDT
One of the greatest traits among entrepreneurs is their ability to completely ignore doom-and-gloom headlines. They’re like MAD magazine’s Alfred E. Newman, famous for his “what, me worry?” approach to life.

I’ve been to countless events for entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, and startups over the last three years, and rarely have I heard any grumbling or pessimism about the economic climate. They’re much more about opportunities out there today and the potential for growth tomorrow than they are about the prospect of bad times ahead.

That attitude strikes me after a check-in at CNBC.com this morning. Topping the business-news site is a story from the New York Times with a headline that sort of makes you want to hit a bar somewhere: Fiscal Cliff Starts to Hit Growth: US Economy ‘Is On Death Row’.

Here’s the story’s lead:

With the economy having slowed in recent weeks, business leaders and policy makers are growing concerned that the tax increases and government spending cuts set to take effect at year’s end have already begun to cause companies to hold back on hiring and investments.

Economists say the magnitude of the effect remains unclear and the fiscal uncertainty is probably not the economy’s main problem, but is instead one of several factors—along with Europe’s troubles, the spike in oil prices this spring and a continuing hangover from the housing bubble—restraining growth.
Hopefully, the men and women coming up with ideas for the next brilliant business won’t be paying much attention to that Sturm und Drang. Or maybe they’ll be reading through the bad news, eying openings for moneymaking opportunities. Because for those with a true entrepreneurial spirit, sitting still and waiting for economic calamity just isn’t an option.

Kaufman Study Shows Motives For Startups

Need proof that interest in entrepreneurship is alive and well in the United States and around the world? Consider the 5,000-plus individuals who have already taken the “Are You An Entrepreneur?” survey, adapted from a Kauffman FastTrac questionnaire and posted on forbes.com since June 1, 2012.

While most survey respondents rated themselves high on many of the 17 personal characteristics, traits and skills that bode well for taking an entrepreneurial plunge, the results also clearly indicate areas in which aspiring entrepreneurs see themselves “needing improvement” – and underscore the perception that entrepreneurship is very much a social enterprise. The top five attributes to hone before starting a business, according to those surveyed, are:

1. Networking – 19%
2. Persuasiveness – 16.3%
3. Market awareness – 15.6%
4. Business knowledge – 13.5%
5. Self-discipline – 9.1%

On the other end of the scale, the traits in which founder-wannabes felt they needed little to no improvement included ethics (1.7%) and accountability (3.2%). In other words, they feel well equipped with honesty and integrity, and they take responsibility for their own performance.

“Passion to be an entrepreneur” is the top reason for wanting to start a business for nearly half (48.5%) of those surveyed. Following at a distant second and third are “I want to be my own boss” (29.5%) and “I have a great idea/innovation” (17.4%). Surprisingly, only 1% say their interest was driven by a lack of success in finding a job.

So, with interest in entrepreneurship high, what did survey respondents see as their barriers to entry? Money, money, money – and figuring out how to get started. Topping the responses to a question about the “biggest obstacle to starting my own company,” 36% of aspiring founders cite financing, followed closely by “knowing where to begin” (34.7%). Much farther down the scale of concern are fear of failure (10.1%) and finding a partner (6.5%).

It’s encouraging to find that many, if not all, of the reasons holding back the thousands of respondents can be readily addressed through training, education, mentorship and connecting with other entrepreneurs who have ‘been there, done that’ and now are succeeding in creating jobs and building global economies.

Kauffman FastTrac^®  is the leading provider of learning curricula that equip aspiring and existing entrepreneurs with the business skills and insights, tools, resources and network to start and grow successful businesses. Kauffman FastTrac was created by the Ewing MarionKauffman Foundation.

Why working philanthropy into your startup is valuable

There are ways for a startup with limited resources to get involved in charitable activities without continually asking employees for donations. It’s a topic I’m passionate about, as I believe doing good helps the community as well as feeds a positive corporate culture. It also helps establish trust and a solid reputation for your company that ultimately impacts how you do business and support customers. Ultimately, goodwill to the community contributes to the success of your company.

Focus your philanthropy

When determining how to integrate social responsibility into your company, it is important to map out a program to support this activity in the long term. One of the best ways I’ve found to build in philanthropic work is to focus on one or two beneficiaries for the company as a whole. Often, startups can barely afford support staff let alone have a whole barrel of money to donate. By limiting the focus, you can have a greater impact. At the same time, you can keep the company-sponsored charitable activity lighter so that your employees do not feel overwhelmed with the number of events to participate in. In our early years, we’ve typically tried to have one or two events per quarter.

In addition to the sweat equity your team can provide an organization, there are also programs in existence, like the Entrepreneur Foundation, that enable startups to allocate private equity to a donor-advised fund. Such programs can be interesting options for companies that don’t have extra money to donate. And, as entrepreneurs, we hope our donated stock, once we have a liquidity event, will have significantly more value to that organization in the long run than we initially thought.

Philanthropy contributes to culture

Beyond the rewards to your community, philanthropic activity can significantly benefit your corporate culture when used properly. It allows for opportunities to build relationships both within your company and across your industry.

Building a company culture is all about building relationships and respect, and charitable activity is great for team building. For example, whether you host an internal fundraiser or gather a group to clean up a community park, the activity requires individuals to interact across departments. Especially when the project is focused more on a group activity, it encourages employees to get to know each other on a different level — and with colleagues they may not interact with day-to-day.

Beyond your own company, community events can also provide opportunities for your employees to interact with their peers in the Austin area; the tech industry has the Austin Cup and the Entrepreneur’s Foundation Service Day, for example. Having a network within the community helps your employees feel they are part of the larger Austin community and can establish linkages to like-minded companies and people.

At the same time that we foster our corporate philanthropy, SailPoint Technologies    Inc. also makes a point to encourage and allow our people to take time off for their personal charitable projects. This creates a balance for employees to remain dedicated to their own personal causes while feeling good about contributing to the company’s efforts.

Social responsibility attracts, retains talent

Providing opportunities for community involvement can also help you attract and retain talent. I have found this to be especially true for the under-30 crowd, which is a very socially aware age group. Companies like TOMS have reminded people of the importance of doing good for others while building a company. While we don’t all have a business model like TOMS, the younger generation expects their employers to give back in other ways. My experience has also taught me that when you bring people onto your team who care about the community, they are more likely to get passionate about the work you are doing and the team you’ve built. A dedication to helping a community thrive translates to a dedication to seeing our company grow and thrive and to making our community a better place.

As entrepreneurs, we all strive to creatively solve problems, build great companies and, most importantly, work with talented, committed and humble people. Philanthropic work is one of the components to help you do just that.

But remember that regardless of how you translate being socially aware for your company, you need to be authentic in your actions. Outsiders and your employees will see through any lip service you give to charity work. Get out there and plant a tree, serve a meal or paint something, and spend time with your team outside the office. You might be surprised what you learn and how it will impact you and your business in the long run.

What Do Investors Want?

What do investors want? I’ve read more than 100 business plans in the last two months. Entrepreneurs are overwhelmingly predictable on this point. Investors want disruptive. Investors want game changing.

But not just saying it. Being able to believe it. Two of every three plans says it. Only a very few make it actually believable.

And believable, in this context, is still a matter of huge uncertainty. Nothing in startups is fully believable. The closest you get is an interesting market story about solving a real problem and doing something important differently, and a team that seems to have experience and background that indicates it can execute the idea.

The best thing I’ve seen in a while on what investors want — at the high end of venture capital — is this one on The Anatomy of a Successful Entrepreneur, that appeared on TechCrunch about a week ago. Post author Rip Empson digs into the recent Kaufmann data on venture capital, adds some analysis by Fred Wilson, Chris Dixon, and others, and comes out with the short list shown here.

 

Creative Fundraising for Startups

Contributed by Mark Shreve, WeDidIt Blogger

Fundraising is one of the most vital aspects of any organization. Whether you need money for an educational, scientific, philanthropic, creative, or business-related cause, comprehensive knowledge of how and where to solicit funds is essential. WeDidIt helps nonprofit organizations raise money through engaging crowdfunding campaigns. But for the past twelve months, we’ve been coming at fundraising from all angles in order to finance our own business as well as advise our nonprofit clients in fundraising.

In our initial conversations with our current clients, one of their biggest concerns was that online fundraising – and crowdfunding in particular – is a new(ish) model of raising money. They were concerned that if they launched a WeDidIt campaign, the fundraising they did with us would be a replacement to previous methods of fundraising. This isn’t the case at all. Crowdfunding is an excellent way to reach potential donors who you wouldn’t have access to through more traditional channels.

An important rule in raising money that we tell our clients and follow ourselves is that you should capitalize on every opportunity to raise funds that you can. As we continue to grow our own company, we’re continually seeking new opportunities to raise funds outside of our general sales operation.

Here are the five sources we used and considered for raising capital:

1. Business Plan Competitions. After we finalized our business plan, we researched and applied to several business plan competitions and eventually won the MillerCoors Urban Entrepreneur Series. A solid business plan is a must if you’re thinking of entering a competition, so get yourself some good business plan software to improve your chances.

2. Business Accelerator/Incubator Programs. We’ve applied to at least a dozen accelerator programs over the last 12 months from TechStars New York to Y-Combinator in Silicon Valley. Although we didn’t join any of the accelerators, the interviews and process was rewarding because it made us think about our startup venture in very productive ways.

3. Crowdfunding Project. We launched a crowdfunding campaign directed at our friends and family through our own software and website. The costs were minimal and the returns were better than we’d expected. We raised 127% of our funding goal and showed the world that crowdfunding does work.

4. Investors, Friends & Family. We reached out to people we knew that we thought could help. This wasn’t always asking for hard cash, but for networking opportunities and advice as to where to look for funding. When courting investors, make it a priority to get in bed with investors who can also add strategic value to your startup or organization. Great investors have money AND experience. Use them both!

5. Bank Loan. Loans are one of those resources that make the most sense when your organization has sufficient enough cashflow to handle your monthly loan payments. If you’re a startup still discovering your business model, loans may not be for you. But if you’re fortunate enough to have significant cashflow already, a loan can provide you smart capital without the loss of equity.

Seize as many opportunities to raise capital as you can and don’t think that one fundraising project will replace another. It’s like when you were younger – if you get an allowance, that’s good. If you get a job, that’s great. If you can get an allowance and have a job, you’re doing it right.

To learn more about WeDidIt, check out their Small Business Spotlight featured on Up and Running last week.

Fundraising image courtesty of Shutterstock

Rhonda Abrams offers good advice to graduates looking to start a small business

Some of those who graduate from college will have newly minted degrees in entrepreneurship. Many more, who’ve studied other fields, will one day start their own businesses as well. Throughout America, and the world, millions hope to own their own small business or launch the next big thing. So I think it’s time for a Commencement Address for aspiring entrepreneurs.

First, have big goals. I don’t necessarily mean you have to aim to build a huge corporation, worth billions of dollars. You can be a success — a big success — without creating the next Google or Facebook. Perhaps start small, but don’t be afraid to have a big vision — especially when you’re young. Stretch your imagination; be bold.

• MORE: Rhonda’s column index

Make a difference. Businesses only succeed when they meet a real need. But those needs can be petty or small: Think of those who’ve created reality shows about housewives and New Jersey. Instead, look to fill needs that are important, your contribution positive. Do something — create something — that has an impact. It doesn’t have to be world-changing — you don’t have to invent a miracle medical device or devise a way to feed the world’s poor. But whatever you choose to do, try to have a beneficial impact on the world you inhabit.

Create jobs — and I mean good jobs. One of the sure-fire ways you can change the world for the better is to grow your business in ways that you create good jobs for others. By good jobs, I mean jobs that pay a fair and living wage, where employees are treated with respect and they have a chance to have their ideas valued. Think of the impact you have when an employee of yours goes home with pride in the job they’ve done, feeling respected and valued, and with the ability to support themselves and their family. There is no end to the good you have done. And they, in turn, help you succeed.

Make something. I often say that there are two main types of businesspeople: builders or traders. Builders create — new products and services — whether physical or digital. The long-term health of our economy depends on these new creations. Traders serve an important need, but they aren’t the fuel for our economic engine. I’d rather be a builder.

Don’t be greedy. Even if your goal is to get rich, you don’t have to get filthy rich. Don’t focus on making a fortune; instead focus on creating a great business — focus on your product and your people. A baseball player — I believe it was Mike Piazza — said the only way to hit a home run was not to concentrate on hitting a home run. The same is true in business — just go out and hit the ball.

Share. Recognize that whatever success you do achieve, you won’t have made it all on your own. Your family, teachers, customers, employees, even suppliers will have helped you succeed. You may have had the benefits of going to a good public school, benefiting from the help your fellow citizens have given you. Remember that it took a network of people to enable your success; in return, be sure to support and give back to that network. And help other entrepreneurs who come after you.

Fail. Don’t be afraid to have crazy ideas. Great entrepreneurs typically fail, so don’t be afraid to try things that don’t work, launch businesses that go bust. If you’re afraid of failing, you’ll clip your own wings. So recognize failure for what it is €” a chance to learn what went wrong so you can make sure you set it right.

Finally, remember that the origin of the word is entreprendre; French for “to undertake.” Take a look at that word — “undertake.” Notice that it emphasizes an attempt to act, and not the outcome of that action. You undertake something. What matters is that you have begun something; you’ve started on a journey. And although traveling on that journey may not always be a smooth ride, at least you’re in the driver’s seat.

So to those of you just starting out on your journey of building your own businesses, I wish you all the very best of luck on your entrepreneurial road.

Top Choices for small businesses

By IBISWorld Analyst Lauren Setar & Research Editor Matthew MacFarland

Across the United States, industries, businesses and consumers are climbing out of the Great Recession’s lows. US gross domestic product is forecast to grow 3.3% per year over the next five years, a welcome change from the meager growth of 0.6% per year between 2007 and 2012. Some industries, however, aren’t just recovering – they’re flourishing.

IBISWorld has compiled a list of these standout industries based on their contributions to the economy as a whole (measured as industry value added), absolute revenue growth and establishment growth over the past 10 years, as well as performance expected through 2017. Whether by focusing on environmentally friendly practices and operations or benefiting from technological advances, these industries are expected to continue their meteoric rise and far outpace the rest of the economy:

• Generic Pharmaceutical Manufacturing
• Solar Panel Manufacturing
• For-Profit Universities
• Pilates & Yoga Studios
• Self-Tanning Product Manufacturing
• 3D Printer Manufacturing
• Social Network Game Development
• Hot Sauce Production
• Green & Sustainable Building Construction
• Online Eyeglasses & Contact Lens Sales

Thinking green

Over the past decade, the dramatic rise in energy costs and an increasingly vocal, environmentally conscious public have led to the growth of green industries. The Solar Panel Manufacturing industry has been at the forefront of the green industrial movement with average annual revenue growth of 32.3% from 2002 to 2012, including expected growth of 9.4% in 2012. As the federal government looks to reduce the United States’ dependency on fossil and other non-renewable fuels, green energy firms have reaped the benefit of substantial subsidies. Without assistance, solar power generation firms would have little chance against entrenched, traditional fuel sources. Moreover, falling silicon prices have allowed US firms to compete with low-cost manufacturers abroad. Over the next five years, revenue for the Solar Panel Manufacturing industry is expected to continue expanding at an average rate of 8.2% per year.

The construction industries were early victims of the Great Recession, but the Green and Sustainable Building Construction industry capitalized on the green movement and weathered the downturn well. Since 2002, industry revenue has experienced annualized growth of 28.9% and anticipated 18.3% growth in 2012. Firms in the industry construct energy-efficient buildings that are often largely composed of sustainable materials. Aided by local and state building codes that promote the use of energy-efficient building design and materials, demand for green construction has skyrocketed. Government programs like Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) and Energy Star have also driven demand forward. Over the five years to 2017, revenue for the Green and Sustainable Building industry is expected to grow at an average annual rate of 22.8%.

Taking care

Along with their heightened concern for the environment, Americans are increasingly seeking ways to become and stay healthy. Consumer awareness of the harmful effects of UV ray exposure and the prevalence of skin cancer has led to the rapid emergence of the Self-Tanning Product Manufacturing industry, which has experienced average annual revenue growth of 22.7% per year since 2002.

With the dangers of tanning beds foremost in many consumers’ minds – a study by the National Cancer Institute found that tanning lamps and beds can more than double the risk of skin cancer – self-tanning products have become more popular. Heightened interest in such products has led to more innovation. Today’s offerings produce a more natural tan for a wider range of skin tones. In 2012, revenue for the Self-Tanning Product Manufacturing industry is expected to grow 18.1%, with average annual growth of 10.7% projected over the next five years.

Consumers are also seeking alternative ways to stay fit. The Pilates and Yoga Studios industry provides health-minded Americans with conditioning routines focused on building strength and flexibility. From 2002 to 2012, the industry grew an average of 12.1% per year and is projected to expand 5.1% in 2012. Pilates and yoga studios were highly resistant to the recession; instead of facing negative growth in 2008 and 2009, revenue merely slowed. In the five years to 2017, industry revenue is expected to grow at an average annual rate of 4.8%.

Emerging technologies

The accelerating speed and accessibility of the Internet has led to skyrocketing growth for web-based industries. Over the past five years, social networks, in particular, have become an integral part of life for many consumers, connecting them with others and helping them find a cheap alternative source of entertainment. The Social Network Game Development industry owes its existence to these needs, and as sites like Facebook have grown exponentially, so too have social network game developers: Since 2002, this industry grew an average annual 128.0%. The industry’s games are usually free to play; developers earn revenue through the sale of virtual goods that enhance game-play and through advertisements shown onscreen. Unlike most of the economy, the recession was a boon for the industry because under- or unemployed consumers spent extra leisure time with these low-cost games rather than with expensive console games or software. In 2012, industry revenue is expected to grow 20.0%, and over the next five years, revenue is projected to grow at an average annual rate of 22.0%.

As the speed and security of online monetary transactions grow, online retail for more products will become commonplace. Eyeglasses and contacts are increasingly being sold through online stores thanks to the higher prevalence of broadband Internet in households. Between 2002 and 2012, revenue in the Online Eyeglasses and Contact Lens Sales industry has grown 28.2% on average annually; in 2012, revenue is expected to grow 11.9%. New technologies, such as virtual try-on systems in which shoppers upload a picture to see how frames look on their faces before ordering a pair, have made customers more confident in their online purchases. Over the next five years, industry revenue is expected to grow 8.8% per year on average.

Rapid technological advances, falling costs and a greater need for new medical devices have led to the growing presence of 3D printing, a process in which successive layers of material are laid down until the product is finished. 3D printers allow the manufacturer to create something from precise schematics in a single build process. The 3D Printer Manufacturing industry’s revenue has grown an average of 8.8% per year since 2002, with 20.3% growth expected in 2012 alone. As the cost of producing these high-tech machines decreases and printer technology is refined, they will be used for an increasing number of applications, such as aerospace-related part manufacturing. With the rapid pace of innovation already present in the industry, double-digit annualized growth (14.0%) is projected to continue into the next five years.

Other upstarts

In 2012, the For-Profit Universities industry’s revenue is projected to grow 5.0%, and over the next five years, revenue will grow an estimated 3.6% per year on average. As more and more high school students seek a college education after graduating, gaining admission to traditional public and private universities has become more difficult. At the same time, state budget cuts have shortened the resources these institutions can use to cope with the influx of students. Stepping in to alleviate the heightened demand for higher education, for-profit universities have become a common sight in education in the United States; since 2002, the For-Profit Universities industry grew an average of 13.6% annually. Classes taught at for-profit universities are often accessed through alternative means to the classroom, such as through TV programming or the Internet. The low cost of teaching online classes has been particularly essential to the rapid growth of these institutions. Moreover, with the high unemployment caused by the recession, workers and high school graduates without a job chose to continue their education rather than combing the job market. Independent of state budgets and able to avoid the high tuition costs of private schools, for-profit schools grow by selling shares to investors.

The Generic Pharmaceutical Manufacturing industry has found sustained growth over the past 10 years, with average annual revenue growth of 9.6%. As the median age of the US population increases, more consumers require a greater amount of prescription drugs. Generic drugs are sold without patent protection and tend to be cheaper than brand-name drugs, making them more attractive in the face of rising overall healthcare costs. Many industry operators have closed inefficient plants and removed redundant sales positions to cut costs, expanding profit margins. However, as more consumers qualify for private insurance, insurance providers will gain more leverage to negotiate lower drug prices, which could reduce the industry’s profit margins. Still, revenue is expected to continue rising, with 8.1% growth expected in 2012 and average annual growth of 6.3% projected through 2017.

The Hot Sauce Production industry has heated up over the past 10 years, with average revenue growth of 9.3% per year and expected 2012 growth of 4.5%. While the recession did cool the industry’s prospects, rebounds in 2010 and 2011 reestablished it as a rapidly growing part of the food sector. Demand for hot sauce has been driven by demographic consumption trends, immigration and international demand from Canada, the United Kingdom and Japan. As Americans’ palates have become more diverse, hot sauce has earned tenure on the dinner table. Demand from supermarkets and grocery stores has reflected the change in consumer taste, and food retailers are dedicating more shelf space to ethnic cuisine. Ethnic supermarkets – also growing rapidly – more prominently offer a variety of hot sauces than more traditional stores. Hot sauce production isn’t expected to burn out any time soon: Over the next five years, industry revenue is projected to grow at an average annual rate of 4.1%.

To download full research reports for the industries discussed in this article, click on the report titles below.

Generic Pharmaceutical Manufacturing, Solar Panel Manufacturing, For-Profit Universities, Pilates & Yoga Studios, Self-Tanning Product Manufacturing, 3D Printer Manufacturing, Social Network Game Development, Hot Sauce Production, Green & Sustainable Building Construction, Online Eyeglasses & Contact Lens Sales

Five Things Congress Can Do To Increase Small Business Startups

A just-released Kauffman Foundation study found that fewer than 8 percent of all businesses in the U.S. were new businesses in 2010, continuing a steady decline in startup activity since the 1980s.

That’s bad news for the economy and the job market, since Kauffman also has found that startups create more jobs, on net, than existing businesses.

So what can policy makers in Washington, D.C., do to get the great American startup machine cranking again? Here are five ideas:

1. Give a green card to foreigners who earn post-graduate degrees in science, technology, engineering and mathematics at U.S. universities.

Today, many of these foreigners are taking their talents back to their native countries because of the difficulty in obtaining permanent visas in the U.S.

That not only deprives U.S. companies of the highly skilled workers they need, it also depletes what had been a rich pool of potential entrepreneurs. A study conducted in 2007 found that 25 percent of all engineering and technology companies started in the U.S. between 1995 and 2005 had at least one key founder who was an immigrant. Now many of these would-be founders are leaving the U.S. “after we train them in the best university system in the world,” said Giovanni Coratolo, vice president of small business policy at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce    U.S. Chamber of Commerce Latest from The Business Journals Follow this company .

“We should welcome them with open arms and use their skills to foster innovation and job growth in this country,” he said.

2. Continue efforts to make capital more accessible to startup companies.

That means quickly implementing the provisions of the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act, which was signed into law last month, particularly the provision that enables businesses to raise capital through crowdfunding.

The Securities and Exchange Commission    Securities and Exchange Commission Latest from The Business Journals Best Buy loses fourth high-ranking executive Dave Deno to parent of Outback SteakhouseShopNBC and ValueVision CEO Stewart has pay cut by a thirdBody Central reports first quarter earnings Follow this company also needs to refrain from heavyhanded regulation of crowdfunding, which allows businesses to obtain small investments from lots of individuals through Internet intermediaries.

“The SEC needs to give this new industry the opportunity to cost-effectively help small businesses access capital, not undermine it from the beginning,” said Karen Kerrigan, president and CEO of the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council.

The National Small Business Association contends startups also would benefit from legislation that would allow credit unions to make more business loans. This bill, however, faces an uphill battle because of strong opposition by the banking industry.

3. Preserve some health care reforms, particularly the ban on insurers discriminating against people with pre-existing conditions.

This ban may not work if the U.S. Supreme Court strikes down health care reform’s individual mandate, because premiums would go up for everyone unless more healthy people, as well as sick people, join the risk pool. But something needs to be done to end “job lock” — the phenomenon that forces people who would be great entrepreneurs to continue working for somebody else because they can’t get or can’t afford health insurance on their own.

Many small business advocates think Congress should start over with health care reform because it failed to make insurance more affordable. Health reform advocates, such as Small Business Majority, contend insurance will become cheaper for individuals and small businesses in 2014, when health insurance exchanges bring more competition to the market.

4. Expand tax incentives for startups.

Startups, like other businesses, would benefit from simplification of the tax system, because the complexities of the current tax code cost businesses too much time and money. But until the elusive goal of tax reform is achieved, Congress could consider more robust tax breaks for startups and their investors.

Given a so-so economy, “the incentives for startup entrepreneurs need to be far more dramatic,” Kerrigan said.

She suggests cutting income taxes in half for startups during their first three years, and expanding the capital gains tax exclusion for investments in small business startups to all startups, not just C corporations.

Even less dramatic tax breaks would be helpful. The National Federation of Independent Business    National Federation of Independent Business Latest from The Business Journals 5 things Washington can do to boost startupsKnow when to start your own businessMaryland Business wants to be voice for small business Follow this company , for example, is pushing legislation to allow startups to deduct up to $20,000 of their business expenses during their first year, up from the current startup deduction limit of $5,000.

5. Boost confidence by showing Washington is up to the nation’s challenges.

Entrepreneurs, by nature, are optimistic — otherwise they wouldn’t take the risk of starting their own businesses. But the inability of policy makers in Washington, D.C. to solve the nation’s most pressing problems has got to be taking a toll on business confidence.

It’s an election year, so don’t expect miracles, but if Congress could agree on more bipartisan measures such as the JOBS Act, that just might encourage more would-be entrepreneurs to take the plunge and start their own businesses. For example, some of the ideas here already are included in a bipartisan bill known as The Startup Act. Congress would send a powerful signal to entrepreneurs if it would take up that bill, debate it thoroughly, modify it if necessary, and then pass it.

Congress’ current course — pointing partisan fingers at each other and waiting for the results of the November election — won’t inspire anyone to start a business.