Struggling Entrepreneur

 

 75- Jon Gillespie-Brown and his book [41:32m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

How can you determine if you have what it takes to become a successful Entrepreneur?

Well, in this episode of The Struggling Entrepreneur, we are pleased to bring you an interview with Jon Gillespie-Brown, the author of the book that is titled So You Want to be an Entrepreneur? How to Decide if starting a business is really for you.

This book is published by Capstone (A Wiley Company) and has recently been released.

The elements that make this book different from others that claim to lead you to the holy grail of launching your business confidently are:

- the profits from this book will be going to the Grameen Foundation, which is a non-governmental organization that provides assistance for disadvantaged people worldwide in starting their own businesses and becoming entrepreneurs;

- instead of lots of theory and description, this book is filled with thought-provoking worksheets and templates that can help you prepare, analyze and determine if the path of the entrepreneur  is really for you; and

- these worksheets and templates also include samples from an individual character in the book called Jane. These samples will help you see what your potential peers would be thinking, as well as give you a roadmap for what might work for others–and then, of course, might work for you.

As you will hear in this podcast episode, Jon Gillespie-Brown has a rich history in the academic environment with some of the top universities, as well as experience in the corporate world, as well as launching several of his own ventures. One of his latest firms is Digital Ventures. 

He also has most of the information about his book at the link of:  http://www.tobeanentrepreneur.com

Jon’s interview can be a learning experience for those aspiring entrepreneurs, as he describes the resources to explore carefully whether or not you should launch your own business and attempt to become an Entrepreneur.

Copyright (c) 2008, Matrix Solutions Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

 

 74A- Hints for the freelancer and SoloPreneur [16:31m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This is a bonus episode of The Struggling Entrepreneur podcast series. It deals with hints and tips and recommendations given by several blog posts by Raj Dash, who is known as the Internet UltraGeek.

These posts deal with the challenges of being a “Solo-Preneur” (that is, an entrepreneur who has no one other than his own self to run and manage the business). Raj Dash also deals with Freelancers –as a matter of fact, his home page web site offers an ebook Guide for Freelancing.

In addition to these challenges, Raj offers some hints and tips go get you through the obstacles (both mental and emotional) when you are by yourself. These include socialization, client management and the need for social interaction.

Raj also gives some productivity hints and tips for the Freelancer and Solo-Preneur.

Thanks to Raj Dash for delivering these blog posts, which are narrated by the host of The Struggling Entrepreneur.

Copyright (c) 2008, Matrix Solutions Corporation and also www.rajdash.com. All Rights Reserved.

 

 74- Rogue CFO helps Entrepreneurs [44:44m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

In this episode of The Struggling Entrepreneur, we interview a small business owner and consultant in financial matters that help startup entrepreneurs. Chris Benjamin calls himself The Rogue CFO — no, not “rogue” in the sense of negativity or scoundrel, but in the positive sense of a wandering CFO. That is correct–he wanders into your business to help you avoid the financial pitfalls (and he will even be a temporary CFO, if you need), and then he will depart at the appropriate time: when your business is stable.

In this interview with Chris Benjamin, we see an entrepreneur who is motivated, passionate about the world of finance and business plans that help other aspiring entrepreneurs. He assists them with the correct and necessary tools to launch their business successfully, and then keep the business going well financially–especially when he is in the role of a CFO.

As you will see, Chris exploits his strengths in the area of funding, finance and business planning–but yet, he has had to go down the road of a solo entrepreneur, and thus has had to do the sales, the marketing, the promotion, the networking, the service and support and all else that goes into providing the value to his customers.

 What is particularly interesting is the list of the free resources that he provides in his web site and blog. Among them are:

- A Primer for Raising Capital;

- The Path to Launching a Successful Startup;

- Why You Don’t Need a full-time CFO; and

- White Papers on Valuation and Financial Projections for the startups and entrepreneurs.

The above deliverables are easily located in his blog and web site, which are simply done and easy in which to navigate.

With the enthusiasm, passion, culture and affinity with other startup entrepreneurs, it is easy to see how Chris has obtained plenty of referrals through word-of-mouth marketing to grow his business.

The lessons learned and “words of wisdom” he gives during this interview are gems that are simple, yet crucial, for the entrepreneur’s success. He also gives us his direction of how he can outsource those areas in which he is not as strong as his passion–financial success for the entrepreneur.

Copyright (c) 2008, Matrix Solutions Corporation.  All Rights Reserved.

 

 73- Go for No! Interview with Andrea Waltz and Richard Fenton [53:50m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

In this episode of The Struggling Entrepreneur, we explore the themes of (1) failure and (2) getting “NO!” as a response when entrepreneurs ask for the business. In most discussions with entrepreneurs, these two themes have negative meaning and evoke shudders and feelings from which to stay away.

However, if we take a look more closely at the refusals we get as entrepreneurs –especially if we compound them together collectively when we think of failure– we can change our mindset about them to the point of even looking at them as stepping-stones to success.

The 2 people interviewed in this episode — Andrea Waltz and Richard Fenton of the firm Courage Crafters — guide us through the book which they authored that deals with this topic. The book is called Go for No! YES is the destination; NO is how you get there. In addition, their training program of the same name offers tools and techniques to help implement the mindset shift.

In the book and training, Andrea and Richard developed a change to the failure-success model, in which the road to success in business is via failures.

They have also defined the FIVE FAILURE LEVELS (which take you from the Ability to fail to Failing bigger and  Faster, and even Failing Exponentially) “and what it takes to Progress Through Them.”

However, what was new and most interesting to me was their Science of Setting “No” Goals.  As you will hear in this episode, a direct and positive impact on your business results can be achieved with this methodology.

Their training program (also called GO for No!) is based on several CDs and discs. And thanks to Andrea and Richard– as a special bonus for the listeners of this podcast series, you may want to use the coupon code given in the discussion to get nearly a 50 per cent discount for it. Here are the details:

The Go for No Great Package is offered for the listeners of The Struggling Entrepreneur Podcast. You can go to the site at:  http://tiny.cc/Pd38v

And the code for $52 off is SE1 and it is functioning now.

In addition, there are several free resources available, including a free ezine now titled Go for No!.

Copyright (c) 2008, Matrix Solutions Corporation. All Rights Reserved.