In my humble experience, higher education students in the 21st century are graduating with degrees that provide little to no substance in overcoming barriers, real-life experiences, and no pathway to think beyond remembering a formula. The higher education curriculum is still based on the notion that students should store enough information in their brain in time for the exam and then forget all the info once the semester is over. That is why the entrepreneurial mindset needs to be introduced to all students in higher education. The entrepreneurial mindset is best defined as the skills that provide a person to overcome and learn from setbacks, look for opportunities, and succeed in any setting. Let me explain three ways instructors can offer an entrepreneurial mindset in the classroom. Provide real-life examples In real life, students make decisions daily. However, in the classroom, students may be asked hypothetical questions not related to real-life scenarios. Students will look for the easy way out of the questions or remember enough information to pass the exam. When I am teaching, I provide students with a real-life scenario, and I ask them to answer with “what would you do in the situation?” For example, if you are the CEO of Amazon, what would you do to ensure that Amazon beats the competition in two-day delivery? Now you have the student thinking of opportunities and how to overcome a potential setback. When you allow students to lead in a scenario, they consciously want to decide because it’s impacting their life. Provide Solutions, not Answers At times students want the quick answer to a question and do not struggle with finding the solution. Today’s technology has given anyone access to a phone or computer the ability to find the answer to almost any question. However, instead of answering, as an educator, provide a solution or show students how to find the answer. If an educator answers right away, how is a student supposed to come up with solutions to overcome a setback? For example, instead of answering a case study question, I provide students with the proper online resources to answer the question. When you provide solutions, you allow students to solve their questions. Write Down Goals with Plans In life, there will be setbacks, especially when you plan on achieving a specific goal. When I was pursuing my Ph.D. I had the intent to graduate within three years. I wrote down my goal and made a plan for how to get to the goal. I was close to achieving my goal, but I had to wait another two semesters because my dissertation committee did not pass my dissertation proposal. Had I not built an entrepreneurial mindset of overcoming a setback and coming up with a new opportunity, I would have been devastated and never earned my Ph.D. Teach students to write down goals with plans because it’s easy to write down a goal, but how will you achieve your goal no matter the circumstances. An entrepreneurial mindset looks for opportunities, not willing to quit when obstacles happen and succeed in various settings. How will you help students build an entrepreneurial mindset in the classroom? Connect with me today if you are interested in taking the Entrepreneurial Mindset Profile survey or innovator mindset snapshot. Dr. Jay FulgencioCertified Practitioner of the Entrepreneurial Mindset Profile and Innovator Mindset Certified
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What better way to spend your evening at a networking event surrounded by people you don’t know who are eager to know you. Social networking events aren’t always pleasant, but they are much needed when you are launching a startup company. Reasons include putting a face to your company, get new customers, and hope you meet a potential investor. You’ve probably heard the cliché of having an elevator pitch ready because you never know when you’ll be in the same elevator as Mark Zuckerburg or some other famous investor. Let’s face it the chances of you being in the elevator with someone as rich and powerful as Mark Z is slim to none. However, you have a higher shot at meeting an investor at a networking event. Instead of preparing your elevator pitch, you should make your social networking event pitch. Let me give you three tips to enhance your social networking event pitch better. Short and Sweet You may have less than 30 seconds to introduce yourself and your startup before the person decides to continue the conversation or move on. First, start by introducing yourself, then move on to explain your startup and what you do for the startup. In the introduction, you should have answered what your startup company does and what your startup offers. Finish off by offering your services or product. You don’t want your pitch to be more than 30 seconds or confusing. The last thing you want is the person to lose interest or get a confused look and not know what your startup is all about. If the person is interested, they will continue the conversation and ask questions. If not, the person will move on by saying pleasure meeting you and walk on about their business. Don’t take it personally. If there is no interest, you move on to the next person. Don’t alter your pitch at the same event Practicing your pitch before a networking event is essential. If you don’t come prepared for the event it will show in your pitch, and people may get turned off. Also, be as accurate as possible with people when giving your pitch. Do not give one individual one story of your startup and then give another individual a different story. For example, if your selling oranges, don’t tell other people you are selling apples. Most networking events are small, people can overhear, and you don’t want to ruin your first impression with people by telling lies. Be consistent and practice your pitch. Carry the cards Before you go to a networking event, get business cards made. There are plenty of websites that sell business cards at low prices. Nothing amazes me more than when people come with no business cards to a networking event. Even more so when people don’t give you their business card as if they hold the keys to the kingdom of unlimited money. Always carry business cards to a networking event. It will show that you mean business and prepared. I will never forget when I was an undergraduate at a networking event. I met a business professional who handed me her business card, and I gave her back a piece of paper with my information. The disgust in her face told me everything I needed to know that carrying business cards is not optional but a requirement in networking events. Social networking events may not be your favorite thing to do, but it’s a must when launching your startup company. You don’t have to meet everyone in the room but enough people that will help you grow your business or get the word out. Prepare your social networking pitch before the event, tell a consistent story, and carry business cards. So, what networking event are you preparing for today? Dr. JayCertified Practitioner of the Entrepreneurial Mindset Profile and Innovator Mindset Certified Entrepreneurship realities are not the same as expectations. Shark Tank, the popular show on ABC, gets people to believe that they have the whips to be next billionaire entrepreneur. Entrepreneurship expectations are coming up with a business idea and hoping that a few investors will like your idea and invest. The reality is that entrepreneurship is difficult, heartbreaking, and worse than a full-time job. Let me explain the entrepreneurship expectations versus reality from my experience with startups. Full-Time Pay A full-time job pays you either on a bi-weekly or monthly schedule and to a lot of people they like the security of a paycheck and rightfully so. You put in the work, and you should get paid for your work. In a startup venture, you’ll have to put in the full-time equivalency if not more, and the worse things about it are that you usually not getting paid in the beginning. It is very rare for startups to get investment at the starting stages and if you leave your full-time job to pursue your startup who is paying you? The expectation is that seed capital will take care of your salary. The reality is that you’ll have to live off your savings or worse never get paid because your startup did not pan out like it was envisioned. Everyone gets funding There is an expectation that anyone who pitches their startup to investors will automatically get funding. A business pitch may have all the data and nice pitch deck but rarely does a startup get the funding they seek. In an article by CB Insights state that 67% of startups end up dead or self-sustaining. When investors do provide the financial backing for a startup, they are looking for a quick turn around and want superior returns. Unless your startup is the next Facebook don’t think investors will flock to your startup with seed funding. Elevator pitch You’ve probably heard of the famous elevator pitch of having a 90-second speech ready in case you bump into an investor in the elevator, and you have to pitch your business. The reality is that you will probably never run into an investor in the elevator and pitch your business. Elevators are super-fast, and not all building are extremely tall that it takes you 90 seconds to get to your destination. You are better of working your networking skills and pitching your idea via phone call or email. Don’t fall for the Hollywood dreams that every startup has success and expecting that you're only one pitch away from getting funding. The reality is that you will probably not getting the financial backing for your startup, your startup will more than likely fail, and it takes an enormous amount of effort to get your startup running. Are you up for starting your own business knowing the realities of a startup? Dr. J Real TalkDiscussing business, ed tech, and life. Follow me on social media @DrJRealTalk Today’s gig economy requires people to think like an entrepreneur and act like one. No longer are people able to get the “safe” eight to five office job. My degree in entrepreneurship gave me the valuable skills to make myself unique in the marketplace. Students today are graduating with a lack of professionalism and work ethic. The marketplace is no longer a training site for new employees. That is why choosing an entrepreneurship course in college will build the entrepreneurship skills needed in the market. Education In college students take courses that require limited creativity skills. Students come to class, sit, take notes, read the chapter, and take the exam. Entrepreneurship is not about becoming the next Bill Gates or Jack Ma but about thinking analytically on how to launch a product, analyze the market, taking calculated risks, and how to sell a product without going bankrupt. Note taking will only take a student so far. But knowing how to give an elevator pitch for a product or create a unique system to send a product can be valuable in the marketplace. Experience Millennials want to launch the new Facebook or have a company go public with billions of dollars in seed money. But the reality is that for every Facebook company hundreds of other companies fail. The statistics of a start-up succeeding is small; my first three startups failed, but the experience of launching a startup is better than sitting through a company orientation presentation. There is no feeling like getting in front of investors pitching your business only to have it being ripped apart for all the mistakes and flaws they found. If you lose, you lose on your mistakes not errors of others. Next Steps Taking an entrepreneurship course will require an open mind, creativity, and willingness to learn from your mistakes. An entrepreneurship class is not about sitting down and taking notes for the exam. Entrepreneurship class is about exploring the world through the eyes of an entrepreneur, it is about the creativity mindset needed to make the product marketable to the public, and the tenacity to continue going no matter the roadblocks ahead. Take the entrepreneurship course even if you don’t think you can do it. The skills you gain from the course are valuable in today’s economy. Knowing how to market yourself, thinking creatively, and having tenacity will go a long way in the current cut-throat environment. Dr. J Real TalkDiscussing business, ed tech, and life. Follow me on social media @DrJRealTalk Back in February of this year, I had the pleasure to attend a lecture by Martin Atkins titled Punk Rock Entrepreneurship at the 2112 incubator space in the north side of Chicago. At first, I had no idea what the lecture was going to be about except about entrepreneurship and something about punk rock. I didn’t even know who Martin Atkins was, but I attended because I am open to hearing others talk about entrepreneurship and 2112 was hosting the event. Martin Atkins is an English drummer and session musician. He is an entrepreneur, record label owner, and teaches at Millikin University in Decatur, Illinois. Martin’s lecture was refreshing, and in this post, I am going to discuss the three things I got from the lecture. The first put a connection to your product. Second, own your content. The third, start more than one business. Martin’s first point in the lecture is to put a connection to your product. Martin was against using fulfillment processes such as Amazon because customers won’t feel a connection to the product. He discussed a story about how he used to deliver his products which would take 6 to 8-week delivery process and was taking up too much of his time. He decided to go through the fulfillment process to free up time. At first, Martin enjoyed that he no longer had to deliver the order, but then customers complained about not getting the personal touch that Martin had on the product delivery. Martin went back to delivering the products himself. The second point is owning your content is highly important especially for artists. Another point Martin makes in this section is differentiated yourself from the crowd. With so many artists out in the world it's important to be different and make sure people notice how different you are as an artist. Martin explained the important nine points that every artist needs to make in their work: sign it, title it, date it, number it, explain it, place in a larger context, fame it, document it, list the ingredients. The last point and this one caused back and forth discussion with the audience is start more than one business. Martin is not just the owner of a record label but also has his own coffee, sells merchandise, teaches, and publishes. Opening up one business is hard enough but opening up multiple companies is a challenge. However, Martin did make sense when saying owning multiple businesses opens up new opportunities and more revenue streams. When deciding on a business Martin said to look at old things and make them new again, write a book, write a course and sell it, and sell merchandise. One business idea he threw out was a travel agency for rock bands. Although there are multiple sites for traveling, does a band have time to set up all the traveling logistics or what happens when the band misses a flight? 21st technology has never been greater. An individual with no name today can be a superstar tomorrow with just the click of a button and drive to be better. But starting a business is more than just clicking a button and recording. Martin’s points on punk rock entrepreneurship are valid and need to considered when launching a business: connect to your product, own your content, and start more than one business. Dr. J Real TalkTalking about real things that matter in life. Follow me on social media @DrJRealTalk Check out my special guest appearance on the Engineering a Startup podcast. The following was taken directly from the Engineering a Startup podcast website. Engineering a startup is a podcast that tells the stories of people who build things, people who change things, and people who start things. Learn what it takes to make it from people that eat, sleep, live and breathe startups. Jose was a university student excited about entrepreneurship when he joined a biotech startup, ready to execute an exit strategy and become a millionaire, until the founder refused to sign his ownership papers and showed him the door. His perspective on entrepreneurship has changed since then, but his passion hasn’t. Jose Fulgencio is the founder of LDMS media, and educational media and technology startup. He is deeply entrenched in education, as a student, a teacher, and entrepreneur, and has lots of interesting insights on the future of education, and why he thinks students shouldn’t be paying $300 for textbooks. Jose’s dream originally was to be a political science professor, until he took a course in entrepreneurship, and has never looked back. He’s been through some of the lowest lows of entrepreneurship, but hasn’t given up, and that’s what really makes him inspiring. Mr. J Real TalkEducator and blogger. Follow Mr.J @MrJRealTalk Last week I had the privilege of attending Chicago Ideas Week for the first time. Chicago Ideas Week held in October where events are held all across Downtown Chicago to bring people together to share ideas and spark innovation in their community. Events included conversations, labs, and talks. Thanks to an excellent discount from the Chicago Latino Network I was able to attend several events at a discount and even a free lab from a Twitter giveaway. Let me tell you what I learned from my events. Financial services for the common good The first event I attended was a FinTech conversation titled, "Innovating for good: How can FinTech use technology to change the way that we use financial services?" The event included companies such as TipYourself, Pangea, and MoneyThink. MoneyThink helps the first generation low-income students were instead of email they communicate via text messaging. Tip Yourself was an app used to tip yourself on a goal you are trying to reach such as saving up for a car, vacation, or whatever you desire. All of the companies are making financial services a benefit to society, not a burden. Edelman Lab - Cultural Influences Shape on-Demand Brand Positioning If you were ever wondering what the growth trends are in society, then look no more than the Google Trends website, (trends.google.com). The Lab had participants engaged in a beauty product case study to determine where resources should focus on for trends in the market. The information was helpful in learning about trends and how agencies help companies identify trends that are beneficial to the companies customers. Solving customers pains The Lean Canvas workshop was helpful in finding the right product for the right market fit. The overall night focused on getting the right customer who has a big problem and willing to pay you to solve the problem. Participants went through several activities to get at who is the specific customer, their pains, and who we plan to address those pains. _________________ solve their ____________________ problem (Potential Segment) (Hypothesize Problem) Producing a commercial via phone Univision hosted a lab titled, "produce a commercial with your mobile phone," which I found helpful and wish I knew a year ago. The lab provided apps that can help with filming and editing videos. Apps mentioned included iMovie, FilmoraGo, Quik, Viva Video, Splice, InShot. The activity consisted of filming a short commercial for a clock to practice storyboarding, filming, and editing. After the lab, I started to shoot my vlogs using my iPhone and using FilmoraGo as my editing tool, and you can see the difference yourself. Radio at it's best The last session of the week was titled, "Be the DJ at iHeartMedia." I didn't get to do much except learn what goes on behind the radio scenes and how cutthroat the radio industry can be for radio personalities. Our group did get a live radio shout-out by V103 but other than that not much on hands experience. I was expecting that we could try to be on the radio and announce the upcoming song or make a live conversation. Overall, Chicago Ideas Week was a way to get my face out in the market, learn from industry experts, and take ideas that I can use for my business. What did you take away from the 2017 Chicago Ideas Week? Mr. J Real TalkEducator and blogger. Follow Mr.J on social media @MrJRealTalk Mr. J Real TalkBusiness educator and blogger. Follow Mr.J on social media @MrJRealTalk A few days ago I was sitting working on my weekly email from a local Starbucks when next to me I could hear the conversation between an older gentleman and a young man talk about business. The older gentleman was giving all types of business advice from knowing how to manage a business, setting up a budget, to knowing what to charge as a business expense. I was trying to concentrate on my business, but the older gentleman kept talking until finally, he said something that got my full attention, “entrepreneurs always find a way to get the thing done no matter the circumstances.” I felt like going up to the older gentleman and give him a high-five. Entrepreneurs always find a way to get things done no matter the circumstances. Think of all the celebrity entrepreneurs you hear about on television (e.g., Michael Dell, Mark Zuckerberg) all of them have done what impossible to possible no matter the circumstances. John Paul Dejoria (Co-Founder of Paul Mitchel hair products) went from door to door selling his hair products to saloons when he was dirt poor. 50cent was selling his mix tapes to bootleggers so that they could hand them out to people. Michael Dell built computers from his dorm room. As an entrepreneur, you have to find a way to get things done no matter the circumstances. As Dr. Michal Morris writes in his book Entrepreneurial Intensity, “successful entrepreneurs can combine adaptability with persistence in adjusting their concept when confronted with the obstacles, both natural and arbitrary, that arise along the way.” Next time you face an obstacle in your business, startup, or life make sure you find a way to get through your obstacle, that’s what entrepreneurs do. Mr. J Real TalkBusiness educator and blogger. Follow Mr. J on social media @MrJRealTalk
July 30th, 2017 I discuss the incredible insane spirit that Elon Mush has to achieve his goals, how passion is part of the formula, and consumer protection laws.
Elon Musk gave up all his fortune to focus on SpaceX and Tesla. Would you give up your fortunate to chase your passion? Passion is part of the process. Don't let yourself be discouraged by someone else's failures. Learn about the different consumer protection laws. I talk in detail about The Equal Credit Opportunity Act and Credit Card Act of 2009. Tune in Sundays at 9pm CST on my Facebook Live to catch the best commentary, news, and opinion on entrepreneurship and personal finance. Mr. JPersonal Finance/Entrepreneurship educator and blogger. Follow Mr. J on social media @MrJRealTalk In my vlog episode 3 I continue to talk about LeBron James $1 million investment in Blaze Pizza current value at $25 million after a significant investment by a private equity firm. Subscribe to my YouTube Channel Mr. JPersonal Finance/Entrepreneurship educator and blogger. Follow Mr. J on social media @MrJRealTalk Last night's Facebook live I discussed LeBron "King" James turning his $1million investment in Blaze Pizza into $25million after a private equity firm invested in the company. How to be an entrepreneur in your own right, and establishing SMART financial goals. Mr. JPersonal Finance & Entrepreneurship educator and blogger. Follow Mr. J on social media @MrJRealTalk
In last night's Mr. J Real Talk show I discussed the new rules affecting credit scores, developing an elevator pitch, and private student loans.
Credit Scores In a new ruling public records on credit reports will not affect peoples credit scores. The two public records include tax liens and civil judgements. The new rules will affect 7% of the U.S. population and will raise their scores by at least 20 points. However, the new scores does not mean that banks and other lending institutions will not look at other factors affecting credit score and history such as high credit card debt. The best things to do is lower your credit card debt, pay your taxes, and try not to get sued. Elevator Pitch An elevator pitch is a one minute speech to persuade a potential investor you meet in an elevator to invest in your company. In reality the elevator pitch is just a speech about your business said during a business plan competition or investor meeting. In my experience the best elevator pitches come from people who are fully invested in their company, give passion, and do not have to use notecards to give their pitch. I used a template from the Founders Institute to write my pitch for this show and you should too if your having trouble writing your elevator pitch. Private Student Loans If you have private student loans you may be in for some luck. The National Collegiate Student Loan Trust recently lost $5 billion in student loan paperwork. If you have a private student loan with the Trust I highly suggest you check to see if your paperwork went missing because you may be off the hook. Let's just keep our eyes and ears open for any other company who loses their paperwork. Tune in Sunday, July 30 at 9pm CT for the Mr. J Real Talk show live on Facebook Live. Mr. JPersonal finance & entrepreneur educator and blogger. Follow Mr. J on social media @MrJRealTalk Hip hop artists and professional athletes have something in common: Most go bankrupt during or at the end of their careers. There are only so many shoe deals, commercials, and sponsorships available for either hip hop artists or athletes, and both tend to live large. Read more at http://www.commdiginews.com/business-2/50-cent-building-wealth-it-takes-more-than-a-beat-37100/#7RThvJ8sMwHOWyd7.99 Mr. JPersonal finance & entrepreneur educator and blogger. Follow Mr. J on social media @MrJRealTalk Before the birth of iTunes, the career of a music artist was entirely focused on selling albums, getting their songs on the radio. Getting on tour. iTunes changed that dynamic. Hip-Hop artists, along with the entire music industry, realized that selling albums would not guarantee financial success because people could easily download the songs for free illegally or purchase them individually from iTunes. It no longer required an album investment for a body of work. Consumers could spend less than $2.00 and buy the one song they wanted. Read more at http://www.commdiginews.com/business-2/hip-hop-entrepreneurs-establishing-wealth-outside-of-album-sales-20516/#QoGA6f3m8Y2f3UI5.99 Mr. JPersonal finance & entrepreneur educator and blogger. Follow Mr. J on social media @MrJRealTalk College students today are worried. Will their massive investment in a $100,000 liberal arts degree pay off in the future? Will the non-paying internship they’re involved with actually open the door to a career after graduation? Read more at http://www.commdiginews.com/business-2/entrepreneurship-in-college-building-valuable-real-world-skills-31802/#b6G6I1zGOt1Dr7lu.99 Mr. JPersonal finance & entrepreneur educator and blogger. Follow Mr. J on social media @MrJRealTalk “Shark Tank,” the popular ABC business reality show (also running in syndication on CNBC) has gained fame for the pronouncements of its tough-nosed business “sharks,” such as Mark Cuban, Daymond John, and Barbara Corcoran. All are blunt with their business critiques, giving the show’s would-be entrepreneurs chills up and down their spines when they pitch their own business plans to these bigwigs, hoping for an initial investment of real money. Read more at http://www.commdiginews.com/business-2/would-be-entrepreneurs-miss-the-real-lessons-of-tvs-shark-tank-33044/#LXlohppc4hEDfuk4.99 Mr. JPersonal finance & entrepreneur educator and blogger. Follow Mr. J on social media @MrJRealTalk Entrepreneurship has become an increasingly popular alternative to working for an established company. Millennials do not want to work for one company for their entire careers, and they also want control of their own destiny. Read more at http://www.commdiginews.com/business-2/entrepreneurship-lesson-test-your-concept-locally-33663/#0XM6Skqr7eu2oTH3.99 Mr. JPersonal finance & entrepreneur educator and blogger. Follow Mr. J on social media @MrJRealTalk As a student moves into middle school, his or her creative mind starts to become more like a factory assembly line, processing information and not asking questions. This is largely due to the widespread move toward constant state testing and data gathering and decades of teacher-to-student instruction where the teacher talks and students listen without having to think on their own. Read more at http://www.commdiginews.com/business-2/entrepreneurship-and-creativity-in-education-37733/#iXXhvMcdcyOjq8JR.99 Mr. JPersonal finance & entrepreneur educator and blogger. Follow Mr. J on social media @MrJRealTalk
In July 19th, 2017 show Mr. J Real Talk discussed 50cent Effen Vodka deal, the little details of purchasing a vehicle, and how fun in the sun can turn into fun in hell.
Purchasing a Vehicle When purchasing a vehicle it is important to look at the all the small details before making the purchase. People often over look additional costs such as local and states taxes, license plate fees, and other fees that can add up. Before making the purchase do your research, get a good interest rate on your car loan, give a sizable down payment, and make sure your total car costs do not exceed 20% of your monthly net pay. 50cent Selling his stake in Effen Vodka Reports are saying that 50cent recently sold his minority stake in Effen Vodka, which made him a cool $60 million. This is 50cent's second successful business ownership venture, the first being the $200 million he made from Vitamin Water when it was bought by Coca-Cola. Fun in the Sun can turn into Fun in Hell When vacationing make sure you do your research and not go extremely cheap. There are times when spending a few extra dollars is worth every penny, for example, extra leg room on long international flights and flying direct instead of connections. Trust me spending a few dollars will not only save you the headaches but also from having to spend extra on hotels or missing flights. Resources https://www.dmv.org/ http://www.taxrates.com/ https://www.hopper.com/ http://www.cnbc.com/2017/05/11/whens-the-best-time-to-book-a-flight.html https://www.vibe.com/2017/07/50-cent-ends-partnership-with-effen-vodka-60-million/ Mr. JPersonal finance & entrepreneur educator and blogger. Follow Mr. J on social media @MrJRealTalk RSS Feed
When I was building my start-up, I was also working a full-time job and getting out of credit card debt. It was not easy balancing all of this. When I focused on my start-up, I lost focus on my full-time job—and vice-versa. I knew that one day I would fully commit to my start-up, but I wanted to be respectful to my full-time job until then. Read more Mr. JPersonal finance & entrepreneur educator and blogger. Follow Mr. J on social media @MrJRealTalk As millennials, it is our dream to work for ourselves and have no boss. For many of us, that means becoming “entrepreneurs.” Media outlets have made this profession famous over the last decade—and made it sound easy to achieve success. Read more https://community.saltmoney.org/community/find-a-job/blog/2017/04/27/don-t-mistake-your-side-hustle-for-entrepreneurship Mr. JPersonal finance & entrepreneur educator and blogger. Follow Mr. J on social media @MrJRealTalk In my start-up experiences, and I've had my fair share in my 20's, the one key ingredient that start-ups need to have are a coherent working team. Yes, execution is important and yes ideas are worthless but if you don't a team that can work together during the bad times, especially when no paychecks are going around, having a well-established team goes a long way. I remember my first time at a start-up the main reason for the collapse wasn't the product or the execution but the poor handling of team management. One of the main co-founders was such a control freak that everything and anything could not have been done unless it was his way. The three of us who took part in the business plan competition that won our first round of capital either quit or got kicked out, I was the one who got kicked out. Two other start-ups I was part also failed because of the lack of teamwork. I remember the first meetings were filled with happy thoughts but as soon as work needed to get done communication diminished and daytime jobs along with excuses took priority. I recall how in an online magazine start-up, the principal founder was so upset about our first online magazine issue that he talked to me for an hour of his displeasure, and we never worked again on making another issue because everyone else had other things to do and could not get over the fact that the issue did not come out his way. Starting the next Facebook or Snapchat is difficult enough but finding the right chemistry in a group is even harder. How many mainstream startups have you heard where the primary funders broke up? Does Facebook and Twitter sound familiar? This blog post was not meant to downplay anyone I worked with because each start-up brought something valuable to the table, but the main challenge was building a team chemistry that would take the start-up to the next level. So when you are building your start-up make sure your team has chemistry because that's what will get your start-up from nowhere to somewhere. Mr. JEducator, business, and blogger on things that matter in life. Follow @joseful Yesterday I wrote a post about companies giving people with start-up and gig job experience the opportunity to work for their companies. The reason for doing so is because there are just times when no matter what you do you just happen not to find the right niche in the gig economy thus having to make money working for someone else. In this article, I am focused on a person building an entrepreneurship career regardless if they are part of a start-up or working for a company. Innovate at all times Every day I find new ways to innovate myself because I am a product that has to sell myself to the market and be ruthless in my pursuit of having the customer want to buy my services. For example, when a client wanted me to create an online professional development course with a zero dollar budget I had to innovate in what training I had in online education and resources that were low cost or free. If you are not innovating, someone else will take your place. The same in entrepreneurship if a business is not innovating some other company will take over. There's a Solution to every Problem Last night my father told me, "except death, everything has a solution, " and my dad is correct. There have been times when a student or co-worker quickly quits and says there is no solution to the problem. I then look at the problem and find a simple solution. For example, a student would say, "I can't find any resources for my peer team teaching assignment" and I would respond with, "did you use Google?" The student would respond with a no answer, and I would mention to the student to start using Google. There is a solution to every problem whether we like it or not so find the solution because innovative companies and successful individuals always do. Persistence The one word I would say that keep successful companies and individuals at the top is persistence. No matter how hard it gets or what the future holds persistence goes a long way. I wouldn't have been able to get where I am at if it was not for persistence. What lacked in the start-ups I was part of was persistence among some individuals. Persistence gets people through the tough times, makes them innovative, and can find a solution to the problem. The world is quickly changing and globalizing at every turn in every industry. Having entrepreneurial traits such as innovation, finding solutions, and persistence goes a long way in an entrepreneurial society. Mr. JPersonal finance & entrepreneur educator and blogger. Follow Mr. J on social media @MrJRealTalk When reading over job classifieds on LinkedIn most of the jobs require some sort of masters degree and/or five or more years of experience. Let's not forget that job openings are either minuscule or non-existent so how than does a person gain experience if there are no jobs to begin with? Companies should start taking people who worked for start-ups or in the gig economy seriously and here is why. Working in a start-up or gig economy job will require the person to build customer relationship skills, leaderships skills, creative ways to gain customers, and most importantly patience. I cannot think of another job in the gig economy where being an Uber driver or TaskRabbit tasker would require patience with customers who may be impatient or rude. Or in the start-up world where there is no guarantee of a paycheck every two weeks. With that being said companies should also realize that job experience is going to come from non-traditional ways such as start-up experience and gig economy jobs and no longer from the typical 9 to 5 job that most have done away with. I've had several tries in the start-up world and there has been no better training that could prepare for working in a Fortune 50 company. I can tell you that having patience and building a strong team are critical factors in the start-up world that without them the start-up will most likely fail before even launching. Being in a start-up you have to continuously innovate and be persistent because if your not than there is no traction in the marketplace. And with no traction comes no money and with no money comes no job. Why wouldn't a company want someone with start-up or gig economy experience? If anything it shows that the person is hungry for success, ambitious, and willing to go the extra mile to get the job done. There are no safety nets in the start-up world or in the gig economy and that makes the person more creative, built tougher for the tough times, and be optimistic for the future. So companies I am telling you know if you want a person hungry for success, ambitious, and willing to go the extra mile for your company don't set aside a persons application when you see start-up or gig economy experience. Mr. JPersonal finance & entrepreneur educator and blogger. Follow Mr. J on social media @MrJRealTalk |