HOPSON POTTER BUSINESS

Know them already have a couple of years, and can be said that the development and changes in Guangzhou is a step by step I have witnessed, and had long wanted to write about them has been unfortunately not written in a variety of reasons, the day before yesterday I deliberately identify their free time were about their wife, interviewed some of their entrepreneurship experience.

Can be said that the couple’s business although not much success, but I believe their stories and experiences of more suitable to our friend was going to start small. Not much gossip I also said, let’s take a look at the couple’s entrepreneurial story! The couple are both

Mayor Ge Xuchang, Henan, and they are on the eve of Spring Festival in 1990 married, to have been 15 this year the idea of a marriage. When the two-person households are in rural areas, both through the matchmaker that understanding, from getting along to get married not to one year, married soon after the two had their first child, then there a second months, after a few years there has been a third, their life is like the original, like most rural areas, are very ordinary life is very frustrating passed. But with the birth of their third child, life was completely shattered.

Bounce back fine which is a natural thing in the countryside, they are certainly no exception, but simply can not bring home the money on the yuan, the whole family to the two people, and the father’s house simply does not speak due to some friction , above, to scratch the strict, can not only hide, and began to wish the first wife’s maiden village and village leaders who can not find them, he took them home to the valuable things gave them off.

Her family live in his wife for nearly a year, this will not last forever, because their home situation is not good, there is no income, so a big plus families, especially children, is to spend money When children have begun a large study. Finally forced to really helpless, A building with some of the villagers went to the field to work in the beginning, he was introduced to some of the villagers to follow them one to pull the Shanxi Yuncheng nitrate, work intensity, but the relatively high income, where he insisted to do two years in the past two years have earned a total of more than 20,000 yuan.

But started the second year too much for the body, as this work is dealing directly and minerals, due to come into contact with radioactive substances, to do the work of nine of ten there will be occupational diseases, see also earn less, and do go on the body would collapse, when the body began to ache, then to resign.

Back are so big no one account, to say this was a boy, not everything into account in the future to the home, the first is to return to their village party secretary there to pay up children bounce back fine, light the paid nearly 10,000 yuan. Left nearly a million were left on the intended use more money this point what a small business, but looking for a long time did not find any good industry can do, in rural areas simply do not know for what to do .

This time a junior high school students do not know from where to know their own hands a little money, he mobilized again and again over the sea fox farming, said the industry how to make, in a few years on what can be a millionaire , stand up to his rhetoric. In his strongly the recommendation, to accept his proposal, first bought two pairs of species of fox, and one pair of two pairs of 3600 is 7200, plus some construction sites, all add up to nearly 9,000 yuan, the remaining money down almost all of it.

According to their logic, 6 months, students will be a small fox, who is responsible for recovering after giving birth to each of the 2,500 yuan, so doing a year can make him a more than 10 thousand yuan, in order to earn more later money, start small foxes were born in his own supplies, and so in the future can make more money, so they wait a few big money on it!

Who knows the good time, things changed completely samples, it was a gang culture in the name of fraud by the group. They do not recover, the so-called recovery is to expand their farmers, the public security organs cracked under the gang members falling by the wayside. The rest of the fox also become a waste, simply unwanted, end their own not only put a lot of human material and financial resources, to the last drop still owes nothing outside the cost of thousands of food can be said bad luck at home.

Just recently, I was reminded of a great quote:

“Help the world by remembering to help yourself first,” is what it read.

In my opinion, I think a lot of business owners could learn something by adopting that mindset…

As entrepreneurs, it can be easy to get caught up trying to save the world. After all, most of us are in business to help

others with our knowledge, products and services. So it would make sense to devote most of our time that specific goal,

right?

Wrong!

That may sound strange to you at first, but here’s the thing…

When it comes to running your own business, the only person that can truly guarantee whether or not you will succeed is YOU.

And if your own personal development takes a back seat, you may be putting yourself at risk.

A body builder could run their own gym, sure.

But what would happen to that same body builder if they were forced to only

help clients and not maintain their own exercise regimen?

When they finally manage to get some time for themselves, chances are they will be too burnt out to care. Eventually, not

only will they have made very little progress on themselves…they may also start to lack the stamina and health to help

those they so passionately cared about.

If that happens, they’d be selling themselves AND their clients short…

That’s why you owe it to yourself and those around you to put yourself first. It’s important to develop the skills (and thick

skin) to soften the roller coaster-like blows of the entrepreneurial lifestyle.

So what do you need in order to develop a healthy mindset and continue to do what you do best?

Here are a few things to consider:

First, tell your ego to wait outside…

If you’re not the egotistical type, great. But by nature, we all let our egos surface at some point.

By staying humble and open to others’ opinions and (dare I say it?) corrections… …it will allow you to see problems with

more clarity, while growing your business, your relationships and yourself at the same time.

Another great tip, is to constantly be a student.

The more knowledge and skills you acquire, the easier it will be to solve problems.

Don’t know it? Learn it!

Don’t have it? Build it!

Even if you have to outsource something, always looks for what you can learn in the process…

The third ingredient—and one of the most important—is discipline.

When you don’t have a clock to punch or have a boss breathing down your collar, it can be tempting to kick back from time to

time.

Big mistake!

In order to get anything done, it will take discipline. Specifically, learning how to manage your time and overcome that

nasty little thing called pro-cras-tination.

Next up? A strong belief system…

I have a friend that once told me about knowing a guy who walked away—on his own free will—from a nearly half-million dollar

deal!

Why?

Because his client’s actions went again what he believe in. The client was rude to their employees and had very little

respect or appreciate for those who helped him run his business…

What are your core values?

What will you absolutely not tolerate when it comes to your business?

Speaking of walking away from bad deals, the next thing I thought I’d add is courage and conviction…

In the example above, walking away from a half-million dollars certainly takes some serious courage.

In your case, courage may simply be needed in the form of taking a risk.

Countless businesses have been started by entrepreneurs willing to sacrifice comfort, convenience and sleep while getting

started.

In one of the popular business magazines, there was once an article about one particular business owner that invested an

entire life savings while he and his wife downgraded to a one-bedroom and used milk crates as a majority of their furniture.

Now that’s dedication! But they were willing to do it, because the rewards were well worth the risk and discomfort…

Sometimes, you have to just look at things from a business perspective.

Obviously, you could apply that advice in many ways…

The important takeaway, I suppose, would be not to let your emotions dictate your actions.

And, finally, TAKE ACTION!

Market your business…

Make connections…

Start (and finish!) that project you’ve been letting sit for a rainy day…

Whatever it is you need to do to grow your business, just take make it happen.

Too many people “plan to plan” and never reach their full potential.

And remember:

The idea here, is to invest in yourself just as much as you invest in others. In the long run, your clients (and your bottom

line) will thank you for it

A small ecommerce business has the potential to be successful, but starting any new business runs the risk of failure. There are steps that you can take that will help protect you and beat the odds. Having all the information that you need to start your business is a good place to start. This includes knowing what kind of software would best fit your ecommerce store. Full featured software is recommended for businesses that are just starting out. This particular kind of software will keep you from being limited in your web store capabilities.

If you want your online store to be a success, then you will want to follow a few guidelines that will help you get started. You do not want to fail like many of the businesses that are no longer online. The following is just a few of the steps that you can take to make your ecommerce business a success.

Web Design
When you are creating your website for your online store, you are going to want something that is professional looking.

An online poll proved that sites that are not professional are less likely to make a sale. One reason is that people are afraid of being scammed and if you don’t look professional then people may assume that you are just out to rip them off.

If you do not know how to create a professional looking site then you are going to want to hire a company that will design one for you. You will want something that is unique and will catch the customer’s eye. You want them to remember your site even if they have not been there for a while. Research design companies before you settle on one. You will not want to hire someone that has a bad record. A good place to start your research is customer reviews.

Solution Software
The right kind of software can really help your small business reach your customers.

Begin looking for the right kind of software by making a list of the top needs for your business. Once you know what you need, start looking at the different software companies that offer what you need. Using your list will help you eliminate the ones that you do not offer the right kind of software for your business. Remember, customer reviews is a great place to begin to get know how a company works with its customers. Do not buy more than what you will need or use. This is one of the main problems that most small ecommerce businesses start off with.

Keep Updated
Once your business is up and running, you will want to keep the information available as current as possible. The worst thing that you can do for your business is to have old information on site. People do not want to read about things that are not current or relevant anymore. Unless your site is all about history, you want to check in often to make sure that you are up to date with all information. Also, you do not want to have information about an old sale if you are no longer going to offer the discount. This can be very frustrating to your customers.

Email Marketing
Email marketing is a highly cost effective way to advertise your site through previous customers. Once you have launched your ecommerce business, you will begin to have customer register and subscribe to your site. This is your opportunity to use this information to help bring those customers back for possible sales. Sending advertisements through the email about sales or new product information is a great way to get returning customers. Just remember to give them good reasons to stay on your list by providing value with every email campaign you send out.

Small ecommerce business success is possible. You just have to know that you may have to work a little harder than the bigger companies that are out there, but you have the potential to make a profit for yourself. Following these few simple things will really increase your odds of making a successful business.

by: Geoff Ficke

The 5 Personal Traits Essential for Achieving Entrepreneurial Success

I have worked with Entrepreneurs, Inventors and businesses large and small all over the world in my career as a Consumer Product Development and Marketing Consultant. For every 20 opportunities we review, possibly one will take the plunge and commit to the arduous processes required to successfully launch a new product, service or business. Why is it that such a small percentage of possible new enterprises ever even attempt to become a start-up, much less succeed? 

There are many reasons for this tiny conversion rate from dreaming to realization of the American dream. The most obvious is that it is hard work.

But hey, if it was easy everyone would be successfully doing it. Unfortunately, one or more of the personal traits necessary to achieve commercial success by Entrepreneurs are usually found lacking.

The 5 Personal Traits Essential for Achieving Entrepreneurial Success are the following: 

FOCUS

An old adage states, “If you chase 2 rabbits, both will escape”.

I place this first in importance because it is the trait we see most abused. For many creative people it is exceedingly difficult to chart a course, define a goal and stay totally focused on attainment of that goal. The successful entrepreneur knows this is crucial. They will focus like a laser until the task is accomplished, only then moving on the next project. Focus requires discipline.

2. Courage

No one can learn or be taught courage.

People either have it or they do not.

I have never met a successful self-made person that did not possess a modicum of courage. Courage is the oil that makes people act, move, commit and stare down and overcome sometimes great odds.

3. Self-confidence

The quiet belief in oneself, your ideas, abilities and the benefits your concept, Product, Marketing Strategy or Business Plan will provide to Consumers and/or Investors is essential to success. We all have doubts. For too many people, however, doubt or lack of self-confidence causes inertia. The self-confident Entrepreneur does not have to shout or boast. This person has conducted proper due diligence, studied the market and marinated themselves in every aspect of their project. They are anxious to present their ideas. This work becomes fun when true self-confidence is realized.

4. Diligence

The successful Entrepreneur DOES NOT TAKE shortcuts! They are diligent in conducting proper research, finding answers, seeking help and most crucially never letting the undeniably unpleasant word “no” stop their progress. They hear this nasty little two letter word all too often. But it is not a wall, just a bump in their road to achieving goals. They never alibi or blame others for their condition. Diligence, perseverance and ambition are essential to the DNA of successful self-made business people.

    5. Honesty

Being as honest with yourself, as you must be with others is crucial to achieving success in any communal or business endeavor. Providing a valued Product or Service in return for fair reimbursement is a given. Giving a bit more than you receive is always the best way to insure a lasting, beneficial commercial relationship with clients, customers, investors. We all know right from wrong, the Golden Rule, the Ten Commandments. Honesty is essential. 

These 5 Personal Traits Essential for Achieving Entrepreneurial Success are not moralizing. They are practical guideposts. All too often we see presentations of Business Concepts that seem too good to be true. They almost always are. One or more of Focus, Courage, Self-Confidence, Diligence and Honesty are missing from these incomplete and thus disposable opportunities.

It is much easier to conduct affairs in a straightforward, honorable manner. Gray areas are always discovered. The entrepreneur who thinks that they can con the marketplace will be obviated. This is never a desired outco