Opinion: A Recession is a Great Time to Start a New Business
It may seem counterintuitive, but downturns and bear markets present an opportunity for entrepreneurs to start a new business.
Why? Because the “uncertainty” that traditional businesses, not to mention financial markets, reputedly hate, isn’t an issue for entrepreneurs. They aren’t worried about trying to assess and meet demand for existing goods and services. They are busy inventing or creating something you never knew you wanted or needed.
The current downturn, often referred to as the Great Lockdown, is likely to produce permanent changes in how and where we do business: home versus office; electronically versus face-to- face. It will open new vistas for technologies that can facilitate contract tracing and monitoring. It will drive the development of more sophisticated data processing equipment — and maybe even a better nasal swab!
The unique nature of this recession seems to have opened a gaping hole that an enterprising entrepreneur could seek to fill.
“Ideas are easy. Implementation is hard.” –Guy Kawasaki, Alltop Co-Founder and Entrepreneur
More and More Professionals Are Using Their Career Expertise to Launch Entrepreneurial Ventures
The American education system is set up to teach and train individuals to become experts and key thought leaders in the specific fields that they choose. Given the rising costs of education, rarely can students choose more than one area to specialize in. If and when the day arrives that one wants to start a business of their own, it is quite the challenge to learn the fundamentals of entrepreneurship later and confidently do so.
Additionally, many people have been trained in the sciences or the arts, so finance and accounting seem like foreign languages to them. So how are so many specialized healthcare professionals creating booming privately-owned businesses across the country?
As a formally trained Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm. D.), I had a unique advantage with an MBA in Entrepreneurship before enrolling in Pharmacy School. This opened my eyes and gave me the knowledge and inspiration to one day be able to start my own business. When most people hear of the Pharmacy profession, generally, they think about their local community Pharmacist at a nearby retail location. However, the skillset attained within school goes beyond the community realm and can be extremely useful in other areas.
My career, post-Pharmacy School, began in industry where I learned more about the business of pharmaceuticals which gave me the knowledge base to co-found our own health and wellness company. My advice to all of the current students that ask is that they should focus on understanding the science and craft of therapeutics, as opposed to the specific job description that they think they may land after school. Once you are an expert in pharmacology, that skill set translates into many areas from community, clinical, industrial, and yes, entrepreneurial.
How to Fight Your Fear of Leaving Your Job To Become An Entrepreneur
If you’re reading this, you’ve probably come to realize that the corporate life just isn’t for you. You’ve been thinking about leaving your job to work for yourself but you can’t seem to leave the security, safety, and familiarity of being an employee. Trust me, I’ve been there.
Going from a full-time job to a business of your own is a scary transition, therefore, you need to have a solid plan in place. As a potential entrepreneur, you should identify the problems that you could come across and where you could go for help. You should also have the right resources to dig into if you face these challenges in order to avoid failing. The following are the ultimate ways to fight your fear of leaving your job to become an entrepreneur.
Read more at StartupMindset.com
Your Complete Pros and Cons List to Starting A Business After College
With continued uncertainty in the job market and an economy in the doldrums, starting a business after college is an option that graduates are increasingly considering. In fact, around 60% of recent graduates say they would like to start their own business.
However, with college debt at an all-time high and graduates concerned about lack of experience and networks, the start-up rate for this group is much lower at 23%, according to research.
There is no such thing as a career for life anymore.
60% of graduates are unable to find work in their field and there are over 70 graduates applying for each graduate position in conformity with the statistics from https://www.ezassignmenthelp.com/
However, one way of gaining skills and experience without having to rely on getting a job in an increasingly competitive labor market is to start-up your own business.
Learn more at TheKickAssEntrepreneur.com
Who Is Guiding The Next Generation Of Entrepreneurs?
As industries advance, so too does the knowledge base and practical instruction that is passed down to the next group of young professionals. In the medical, computer, or engineering fields for example, you can actually see this evolution as technology improves and impacts our lives. But when we talk about something like entrepreneurship, who is actually leading and guiding the next generation of entrepreneurs? Have the academic institutions kept pace with the rapidly changing realities of running a business in today’s world?
My oldest son is graduating high school this year, and like many parents in America, our family has been hyper-focused on preparing him for college. But as we get closer to that day, and his prospects (and my investment) become real, I wonder if I should be questioning the system more. My son has been dabbling in business on his own since grade school, and I can see the entrepreneurial fire growing within him. Yes, a business school with a communications, management or economics degree etc would build a great foundation, but if being an entrepreneur is his ultimate path, is four years or more in this conventional system the best way to equip him for the world ahead?
19 Best Books for Starting a Business
There will never be a “one size fits all” approach to starting a business. Nevertheless, there are common challenges founders face when navigating the long but rewarding process of business formation. As you embark on your own business journey what better place to look for answers and advice than top business schools?
To help you improve your business acumen, we’ve scoured required reading lists, online newsletters, and alumni-written books, from Wharton, Harvard and others to find what they’re recommending to their students and alumni. While we can’t promise you an MBA, these books might just be the next best thing.
A Message from Acceler8Success Founder, Paul Segreto
We know that suicide happens every day but when it’s front and center we become even more aware. It’s been three years since the suicide of Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain and today I’ve seen multiple reminders of their passing. Both left this world at too early an age. I know they won’t be forgotten anytime soon.
My hope moving forward is for more awareness of suicide before it’s too late. I know when I read about a suicide it makes me recall an employee of mine that took his own life at the age of 25. Today, as I did back then I wonder what did we miss, were there warning signs and certainly, what drove him to do it? It also has me recalling, and this time with a slight smile, how I’ve been fortunate to have helped someone off the ledge, so to speak. Today, he and his family are living life to its fullest.
If you have any thoughts that may lead you to the brink, especially during these challenging times, please reach out to me and let’s chat, meet, whatever, or reach out to someone, anyone – just reach out! There are many more people than you might imagine that are willing to help, to be there for you. We’ve all faced challenges at one time or another – some quite severe. So, please, allow us to help you!Remember, the sun will come out tomorrow… it’s only a day away!
If you or someone you know needs help please visit National Suicide Prevention Lifeline or call 1-800-273-8255 today!
Entrepreneurs Are At Greater Risk Of Mental Disorders: Science Confirms
No successful entrepreneur ever said that building a company was easy. So let’s be honest about how brutal it actually is?
Why did Kate Spade, the founder of the $46.5 million company Kate Spade bags; Mao Kankan, a successful entrepreneur who founded Beijing Times Majoy Technology Co. (valued at $75 billion); and $70 billion company Café Coffee Day’s founder, V.G.Siddhartha, ended up taking their own lives?
If you are an entrepreneur, you probably are living with stress, anxiety, and burnout constantly. A recent study by Michael Freeman stated that 49% of all entrepreneurs at-risk of at least one mental illness. The same study also proved that entrepreneurs are:
- 2 times more likely to have suicidal thoughts
- 2 times more likely to be hospitalized for psychiatric ailments
In the words of Michael Freeman –
Who in their right mind would choose to be an entrepreneur? The barriers to success are virtually unlimited and most startups fail as a result.
Entrepreneurs have lower initial earnings, lower earnings growth, lower long-term earnings, greater work stress, and more psychosomatic health problems than employees. Why would anyone voluntarily accept the longer work hours, fewer weekends and holidays, more responsibility, chronic uncertainty, greater personal risk and struggle, and greater investment of emotional and physical resources required to be an entrepreneur instead of the security and long-term rewards of having a career? By conventional standards choosing to be an entrepreneur is an exercise in bad judgment.
Mental Health Tools and Resources for Entrepreneurs
Entrepreneurship can be a lonely road.
Even if you’re surrounded by a large team, founding a company means absorbing a set of risks and responsibilities greater than most can imagine. Employees depend on you. Customers depend on you. And most of all, you depend on you. After all, entrepreneurship is the process of creating your own opportunity.
But opportunity doesn’t come easy. And unfortunately for many entrepreneurs, the difficult journey can cause all sorts of associated struggles…especially when it comes to metal health and wellness.
In fact, according to researcher Michael Freeman, nearly half of all entrepreneurs will develop some sort of mental health issue during their lifetime. More specifically, Freeman found that compared to the average population, entrepreneurs are:
- Twice as likely to suffer from depression
- Six times more likely to suffer from ADHD
- Three times more likely to suffer from substance abuse
- Ten times more likely to suffer from bipolar disorder
- Twice as likely to have a psychiatric hospitalization
- Twice as likely to have suicidal thoughts
So, what’s an entrepreneur to do? Well, it starts by acknowledging that you’re not alone. That millions of entrepreneurs share similar battles with mental health and wellness…especially when living through times as uncertain as these.
And after you understand and acknowledge you’re not alone, it’s time to be proactive, using tools, goals, and systems to better understand and manage your mental health struggles as an entrepreneur.
Learn more at FutureFounders.com
Solo Entrepreneurs May Find Loneliness in Business Approach
There’s a lot to be excited about for those seeking a small-business adventure. The concept of being your own boss and building something from the ground up are two big examples.
The challenges, naturally, can be daunting, and not just in terms of financial success. Those that take the solo route to starting a business may find that the lack of daily interaction and communication may leave them with a sense of loneliness.
Here’s how Meredith Fineman describes it in a story for Fast Company: “It’s very lonely to stick your neck out there, to take on the world, even if you have a cofounder. You’re in the trenches. You’re trying to do something that has never been done before. So how could anyone else understand?”
Read more at Business2Community.com
Why the First Hours of Your Day Are the Most Important
There’s no question that Benjamin Franklin was a highly productive guy, with a CV that included writer, politician, entrepreneur, scientist, inventor, diplomat, printer and postmaster. In his autobiography, the polymath shared the details of his morning routine, which included waking up around 5 a.m. and asking himself, “What good shall I do this day?” He then set aside a couple of hours to “wash and address Powerful Goodness! Contrive days’ business, and take the resolution of the day; prosecute the present study; and breakfast.”
Later in life, he amended his schedule to include a refreshing “air bath,” which he found preferable to the cold water bath considered healthful at the time.
30 Habits of Successful People That Can Unleash Your True Potential
Adopting the daily habits of successful people will propel you to triumph in your own life.
Successful people seem to have it all — flourishing careers and thriving friendships, all while staying fit and maintaining a loving home and family life.
How do they do it?
By developing the mental, physical, and emotional practices that enable humans to thrive.
It may seem like successful people are just lucky. While good fortune can give you a boost, success requires focus and dedication towards achieving long-term goals.
The good news is that you can learn the daily habits of successful people and invite achievement into your life, helping you empower yourself to create the life you want.
The 7 Habits Of Highly Successful Entrepreneurs
Everyone wants to be a highly successful entrepreneurs. If you want to be one of them, it is easy, just adopt and follow through their habits.
If you look at all the successful businesses and companies out there, they did not achieve the outstanding result in an instant. It is through period of time. Microsoft did not get to where it is today in just a few months time. Nike did not grow exponentially within just a couple of weeks. Starbucks too, takes time to grow into international coffee chain.Rome was not built in a day either.
What this means is that all these great companies take time to grow. These businesses succeed not from just making a single decision or doing just one thing that lead them to where they are today. These leaders have gone through tough times, all the ups and downs, their products and services have been tested over and over again by the market, and because of their habits or how they do things repeatedly, got them where they are today.
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