ITList Information Technology Blog » Small Business Owner http://itlist.com Current IT field related information Fri, 03 Jun 2011 16:40:29 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.2 3 Traits of a Successful Entrepreneur http://itlist.com/3-traits-of-a-successful-entrepreneur/ http://itlist.com/3-traits-of-a-successful-entrepreneur/#comments Sat, 09 Oct 2010 16:59:00 +0000 bikram http://itlist.com/3-traits-of-a-successful-entrepreneur/ What makes an entrepreneur tick? Why some becomes successful and other fails? What should I do to be successful in my field? The questions regarding entrepreneurship could be many. Different people ass different questions, but when we look closely every question boils down to this: how can I be successful as an entrepreneur?

It is believed that there are many factors that need to come together to make an entrepreneur tick. There could be many factors, but in my mind, there are only 3 things that you need to put right in order to be successful as an entrepreneur. And for the rest? They will take care of themselves.

Ability to see the need gap

To me, a prime difference between an entrepreneur and small business owner lies in the fact that small business owners follow the pack. He or she sees an opportunity and hop onto that with full gusto. There is nothing wrong in it, but doing what others are doing is not something entrepreneurs are after. They are more concerned about fulfilling the need gap.

A successful entrepreneur has the knack to find the need gap.

Ability and dedication to find the solution

For anyone to be called an entrepreneur, he or she has to have the ability to find the solution for the need gap he or she has recognized. A solution needs to be found, just knowing the problem is not enough.

A successful entrepreneur knows that the solution might not be immediate, but if he works hard, he will be able to find solution to solve the problem (need gap) he has identified.

Passion for the work

A successful entrepreneur is passionate about what he does. It is not a meager feat to identify a problem, that too on an ongoing basis. Identifying the problem may come easy, but finding a solution to it never comes easy. And an entrepreneur has to be fanatically attached to the problem to be able to find the solution, regardless of the odds.

The aforementioned traits may look nothing, but they pose the most insurmountable challenge for an entrepreneur. Those who get ahead of these, succeeds, and those who do not fails.

]]> http://itlist.com/3-traits-of-a-successful-entrepreneur/feed/ 0 3 Traits of a Successful Entrepreneur http://itlist.com/3-traits-of-a-successful-entrepreneur-2/ http://itlist.com/3-traits-of-a-successful-entrepreneur-2/#comments Sat, 09 Oct 2010 16:59:00 +0000 bikram http://itlist.com/3-traits-of-a-successful-entrepreneur-2/ What makes an entrepreneur tick? Why some becomes successful and other fails? What should I do to be successful in my field? The questions regarding entrepreneurship could be many. Different people ass different questions, but when we look closely every question boils down to this: how can I be successful as an entrepreneur?

It is believed that there are many factors that need to come together to make an entrepreneur tick. There could be many factors, but in my mind, there are only 3 things that you need to put right in order to be successful as an entrepreneur. And for the rest? They will take care of themselves.

Ability to see the need gap

To me, a prime difference between an entrepreneur and small business owner lies in the fact that small business owners follow the pack. He or she sees an opportunity and hop onto that with full gusto. There is nothing wrong in it, but doing what others are doing is not something entrepreneurs are after. They are more concerned about fulfilling the need gap.

A successful entrepreneur has the knack to find the need gap.

Ability and dedication to find the solution

For anyone to be called an entrepreneur, he or she has to have the ability to find the solution for the need gap he or she has recognized. A solution needs to be found, just knowing the problem is not enough.

A successful entrepreneur knows that the solution might not be immediate, but if he works hard, he will be able to find solution to solve the problem (need gap) he has identified.

Passion for the work

A successful entrepreneur is passionate about what he does. It is not a meager feat to identify a problem, that too on an ongoing basis. Identifying the problem may come easy, but finding a solution to it never comes easy. And an entrepreneur has to be fanatically attached to the problem to be able to find the solution, regardless of the odds.

The aforementioned traits may look nothing, but they pose the most insurmountable challenge for an entrepreneur. Those who get ahead of these, succeeds, and those who do not fails.

]]> http://itlist.com/3-traits-of-a-successful-entrepreneur-2/feed/ 0 How a Virtual Assistant Could Skyrocket Your Profitability http://itlist.com/how-a-virtual-assistant-could-skyrocket-your-profitability/ http://itlist.com/how-a-virtual-assistant-could-skyrocket-your-profitability/#comments Sat, 04 Sep 2010 16:16:00 +0000 bikram http://itlist.com/how-a-virtual-assistant-could-skyrocket-your-profitability/ A virtual assistant is one whom you hire off the Internet and who lives in a remote location away from you. In most cases he or she lives in a developing country, and because of which he costs less to the employer than a regular employee would.

But, why people got involved with virtual assistants, if their works were successfully done by regular employees, and whom the employer can monitor from the comfort of his office? This question quizzes everyone who has never used a virtual assistant for his business and for these people only I have written this article. Read it to the end and you will know why to use a virtual assistant.

Why to hire a virtual assistant

Low cost

By charging less and allowing extra cash to sit in the employer’s pocket, a virtual assistant gives a competitive advantage to its employer which is hard to match using a regular employee. A small business owner hiring a virtual assistant has an unfair advantage. He can attack the competitors by lowering the price below the industry’s norm. He can do it as his operation cost is low.

Comparable quality

When compared, the output produced by a virtual assistant is same as the output of a regular employee of the similar capability. If both of them produce comparable results then why to hire one who costs more?

Operational flexibility

A company that runs an online business could keep his operation manned 24X7 by hiring a person from across the globe. If you are in the United States then you can hire a virtual assistant from Asia, so that your virtual assistant works when you sleep and sleeps when you work. This way you could keep your online shop open and manned the entire day.

Use as a Swiss knife

You can use a virtual employee as a Swiss knife by making him do all kinds of administrative and promotion jobs. Unlike most of the regular employees, a virtual employee keeps himself involved in many fields.

Hire a virtual assistant and see your profit skyrocketing. I have seen many small and mid-size businesses transforming themselves by hiring one to do the works for which the presence of an employee in the office is not required.

]]> http://itlist.com/how-a-virtual-assistant-could-skyrocket-your-profitability/feed/ 0 Is Outsourcing Business Process a Good Strategy? http://itlist.com/is-outsourcing-business-process-a-good-strategy/ http://itlist.com/is-outsourcing-business-process-a-good-strategy/#comments Sun, 28 Mar 2010 17:43:09 +0000 bikram http://itlist.com/is-outsourcing-business-process-a-good-strategy/ The answer (to the above question) depends upon whom you are asking this question. But, for the sake our discussion, I will tackle this question from a business owner’s point of view—also because I do not want any political controversy on this blog.

For a business owner, outsourcing any business process that is not its core is a not good but great strategy. I am not saying this to put bread on a family’s table in a third-world country, I am saying this because doing things that you are not good at will cost you doubly— (a). You will not be able to produce quality work, (b). And you will end up wasting time that could be invested on doing things that you are best at.

I do not play baseball nor do I play golf. I even do not know their terminologies. How do you think I will fare, if I take a baseball bat or club in my hand? I may hit a home run by fluke, but I cannot repeat it. So, if I were wise, I would have played chess or cricket, instead of going for baseball or golf. By not doing so, I have not only made fool of me, but I also end up wasting precious time I should have invested on games that I know.

It holds true for business processes as well. If you are a programmer who has started a small company, or if you are an existing small business owner that is good at manufacturing and marketing then you should outsource designing, SEO, marketing works to outside vendors whose core competencies lies in these fields. They will do better job at significantly lower cost. And the cost incurred will be even less, if you outsource your work to the third-world countries.

Did you say quality? Don’t worry, not everyone is bad there.

Benefits of outsourcing

  • It frees up your time that you can devote on doing things you are good at.
  • It can get you better result at a fraction of the cost incurred if you had worked on that.
  • The work quality is often good.
  • It will help you speed-up the process of product creation, testing, and delivery.
  • You will get a bigger team to think on the problems that your customer’s face. Who knows, you may get a brilliant insight from there.

Above, I have just a few of the benefits. I do not claim here to know all the benefits, and I am sure, you can suggest countless more benefits of outsourcing. Why do not you post your comment here?

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