US Economic Outlook for 2021 and Beyond

The U.S. economy is improving after the destruction caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. This cautiously positive outlook is based on experts’ reviews of the key economic indicators, including gross domestic product (GDP), unemployment, and inflation. Analysts also have taken a hard look at interest rates, oil and gas prices, jobs, and the impact of climate change. Read more.

Outlook 2021: Must Know Small Business Trends

Notwithstanding recent global pandemic, the 2021 outlook for small businesses is very promising. The small business space is changing at an increasingly accelerated rate. Competition, automation, workplace culture and technological advances are just a few of the factors that are molding the future for small business. Small business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs need to be in-the-know about the latest market trends in order to achieve sustainable growth and profitability. Read more.

How to Build Your 2021 Business Strategy in the Face of Uncertainty

Recently, we’ve seen signs that many businesses are reopening during the last quarter of 2020. Yet uncertainty remains. In some states, businesses have reopened in recent weeks only to be told to close or reduce their capacity for customers. It’s becoming increasingly challenging to plan for the future. Consequently, many business owners and leaders might wonder how they can develop a growth strategy for 2021. 

What you need is a strategic direction to provide purpose for your business and help you set realistic goals to accomplish in the coming year. Read more.

The Psychological Price of Entrepreneurship

By all counts and measures, Bradley Smith is an unequivocal business success. He’s CEO of Rescue One Financial, an Irvine, California-based financial services company that had sales of nearly $32 million last year. Smith’s company has grown some 1,400 percent in the last three years, landing it at No. 310 on this year’s Inc. 500. So you might never guess that just five years ago, Smith was on the brink of financial ruin–and mental collapse.

Back in 2008, Smith was working long hours counseling nervous clients about getting out of debt. But his calm demeanor masked a secret: He shared their fears. Like them, Smith was sinking deeper and deeper into debt. He had driven himself far into the red starting–of all things–a debt-settlement company. “I was hearing how depressed and strung out my clients were, but in the back of my mind I was thinking to myself, I’ve got twice as much debt as you do,” Smith recalls. Read more.

Why Entrepreneurs Need To Talk About Their Mental Health

72% of entrepreneurs are directly or indirectly affected by mental health issues compared to just 48% of non entrepreneurs. That’s according to a study by the National Institute of Mental Health. 49% of entrepreneurs deal with mental health issues directly while only 32% of others experienced them. Similarly, 23% of entrepreneurs have family members who face these issues compared to just 16% of others with family members who face these same types of issues.

I’ve been an entrepreneur now for almost a decade (9 years and counting). I’m just one of 500 million entrepreneurs; we make up about eight percent of the global population, amazingly. As a category – we are exponentially more likely to suffer from mental health problems, and yet, people don’t talk about that enough – it is fetishised and glamourised, so here’s an attempt to share some data and personal experience to show the other side. Read more.

Entrepreneurship & Mental Health: A 4-part Original Series

Since 2006, Techstars has helped hundreds of startups succeed, both as businesses and as people. This original 4-part documentary series focuses on the most common mental health issues facing entrepreneurs, told through the stories of some remarkable people — and the mental health professionals who work with people in need. Read more.

Research shows a link between sleep and entrepreneurship

Many people have experienced a few nights of bad sleep that resulted in shifting attention spans, impulsive tendencies and hyperactivity the next day–all behaviors resembling ADHD. A new study found that this dynamic may also be linked to increased entrepreneurial behavior.

“We’re not advocating depriving yourself of sleep to get ahead,” said Jeff Gish, a professor of business at the University of Central Florida and co-author of the paper. “We’re saying that there appears to be an interesting link between sleep and entrepreneurship. ADHD-like tendencies can be a benefit, rather than a hindrance in spurring ventures. But there is a potential downside. Even though sleep problems might lure an individual to an entrepreneurial career, if the sleep problems persist they can subsequently leave the individual without the cognitive and emotional competency to be an effective entrepreneur in-practice. Read more.

7 Tips for Dealing With Your Coronavirus Anxiety

Are you feeling anxious? Stressed about the current events? I want to empower you to take steps to control your fears, because having anxiety about the coronavirus isn’t going to help you.

Stress can boost your immune system in small bursts. However, when stress is prolonged, like what our world is currently facing, the immune system’s increased effectiveness slows down and eventually drops in the opposite direction. Like you, your immune system gets exhausted and cannot optimally function when it is exposed to long-term stress. And, given that your immune system is responsible for fighting off pathogens and keeping your body healthy, a stressed-out immune system can result in greater susceptible to illness. Read more.

A Message from Acceler8Success Founder, Paul Segreto

My one goal for 2021 is to make a difference in the lives of people I already know or will meet, for business or otherwise. Whether it be a small task or a larger project or an impromptu lunch or even just a phone call, I want people to realize the value of the time we spend together and as such, the value of further developing our relationship. Of course, I don’t expect value to be realized without positive results. To that end, I fully expect to earn the perspective and opinion I’m striving to achieve, learning from and correcting mistakes I’ve made in the past. As Albert Einstein once said, ‘Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value.’ Happy New Year!