Young Entrepreneurs
Are entrepreneurs born or formed?
Do you know? I am not sure. But I believe that young people can be encouraged to think and act in entrepreneurial ways. Entrepreneurs take responsibility for things that others think they cannot change. Imagine imparting that spirit to more young people.
As far as I know none of my ancestors were entrepreneurs. My grandfather was a farmer. That requires certain entrepreneurial characteristics. My grandparents left their home in war-torn Hungary to move across an ocean to a new world to a foreign place and a foreign language. What would make them do that? What they were running away from or hoping to find? That took courage, risk and vision. Was that entrepreneurial? Maybe.
Upon arriving in the new world – my grandparents found work. They did not start a business. My father learned a trade and found a job.
So without entrepreneurial training, why did I, at the age of seven, set up my first lemonade stand? Why did I pile our comic books into our wagon and walk around the neighborhood with my younger brother selling and trading our precious comic books? Did that make us young entrepreneurs?
Why did I sell apples for my Scout Troup so boldly that I won the award for the bestseller in the region? Why did I knock on doors to sell pens, peanuts and sponsorships for my high school band? Was that the sign of a born entrepreneur?
When I had my paper route I thought about ways to offer extra value to my subscribers. I was 13 years old. Did that make me a born entrepreneur?
After university I entered the corporate word as I had been encouraged to do. After almost twenty years of corporate servitude why did I suddenly leave the safety of a corporate job to launch my own business? It was both frightening and exciting.
So are entrepreneurs born or formed?
I don’t know.
It might be a combination of the internal spark and the experience of growing and learning.
If you are not yet an entrepreneur – you might still become an entrepreneur one day.
George Torok
Host of Business in Motion
Entrepreneur
Friday, March 30, 2007
Monday, March 26, 2007
Peter Drucker: Business Insights
Peter Drucker: Management guru
Enjoy these business quotes from Peter Drucker. He was the first and still the greatest management guru. Enjoy these pithy quotes from his books.If you read his works you might notice that many other business experts are simply paraphrasing Peter Druker's words.
Management fads are a substitute to thinking.
Wherever you see a successful business, some once made a courageous decision.
The leaders of the past know how to tell: the leader of the future will know how to ask.
Ideas are somewhat like babies – they are born small, immature and shapeless. They are promises rather than fulfillment.
Don’t subscribe to the theory that innovation can be achieved through committees.
It is who gets promoted that tells more about what a company stands for.
There are no irrational customers, only lazy merchants and manufacturers.
Business has only two functions – marketing and innovation.
The above insights are from management guru, Peter Drucker.
George Torok
Host of Business in Motion
Enjoy these business quotes from Peter Drucker. He was the first and still the greatest management guru. Enjoy these pithy quotes from his books.If you read his works you might notice that many other business experts are simply paraphrasing Peter Druker's words.
Management fads are a substitute to thinking.
Wherever you see a successful business, some once made a courageous decision.
The leaders of the past know how to tell: the leader of the future will know how to ask.
Ideas are somewhat like babies – they are born small, immature and shapeless. They are promises rather than fulfillment.
Don’t subscribe to the theory that innovation can be achieved through committees.
It is who gets promoted that tells more about what a company stands for.
There are no irrational customers, only lazy merchants and manufacturers.
Business has only two functions – marketing and innovation.
The above insights are from management guru, Peter Drucker.
George Torok
Host of Business in Motion
Sunday, March 18, 2007
Test Your Business Systems
Test Your Business Systems
When do cars break down the most?
When it is extremely cold or extremely hot.
It is the extremes that test any machine.
It is the extremes that test any system.
The best way to test any equipment is to subject it to extreme conditions.
So how do you test your business systems?
How do you test your customer service?
How do you test yourself?
If you haven’t tested your systems you really don’t know if they are good. If you are afraid to test them – that speaks volumes about your confidence in your business systems.
Are you testing your business systems under extreme conditions?
If not – you don’t really know if they will work when you most need them.
It’s no excuse to say, “Service was bad because we had more customers then we expected.”
Test your business systems under extreme conditions. Then fix the things that break down.
George Torok
Host of Business in Motion
When do cars break down the most?
When it is extremely cold or extremely hot.
It is the extremes that test any machine.
It is the extremes that test any system.
The best way to test any equipment is to subject it to extreme conditions.
So how do you test your business systems?
How do you test your customer service?
How do you test yourself?
If you haven’t tested your systems you really don’t know if they are good. If you are afraid to test them – that speaks volumes about your confidence in your business systems.
Are you testing your business systems under extreme conditions?
If not – you don’t really know if they will work when you most need them.
It’s no excuse to say, “Service was bad because we had more customers then we expected.”
Test your business systems under extreme conditions. Then fix the things that break down.
George Torok
Host of Business in Motion
Friday, March 09, 2007
Entrepreneurs' Month: January
Entrepreneurs’ Month: January
I recently learned that January is the month for the most business start-ups. Entrepreneurs seem to wake up in the dead of winter. They rush out to start their new business.
So I am curious. Is it New Year’s resolutions that drive these newly self-discovered entrepreneurs? Do they want to make a big change this year? Are they determined to make a difference?
Or was it the time away from work that allowed them to think? Did they realize how much they hate the boss, the grind and their fellow employees? Are they tired of not being rewarded for their brilliance?
Did the family-time over the holidays encourage or depress them – or both?
Entrepreneurs are motivated by different reasons. All of them are emotional and the Christmas and New Years holidays are rife with emotion. If you are tempted to start your new business in January – maybe you should wait until the New Year urgency wears off.
If you are a newly self-declared entrepreneur – congratulations! Now you have to get past the initial jubilation and sustain your business.
Just remember anyone can start a business. But it takes a determined entrepreneur to sustain and grow the business.
If you started your business in January – are you still serious about it two months later?
George Torok
Host of the radio show "Business in Motion"
I recently learned that January is the month for the most business start-ups. Entrepreneurs seem to wake up in the dead of winter. They rush out to start their new business.
So I am curious. Is it New Year’s resolutions that drive these newly self-discovered entrepreneurs? Do they want to make a big change this year? Are they determined to make a difference?
Or was it the time away from work that allowed them to think? Did they realize how much they hate the boss, the grind and their fellow employees? Are they tired of not being rewarded for their brilliance?
Did the family-time over the holidays encourage or depress them – or both?
Entrepreneurs are motivated by different reasons. All of them are emotional and the Christmas and New Years holidays are rife with emotion. If you are tempted to start your new business in January – maybe you should wait until the New Year urgency wears off.
If you are a newly self-declared entrepreneur – congratulations! Now you have to get past the initial jubilation and sustain your business.
Just remember anyone can start a business. But it takes a determined entrepreneur to sustain and grow the business.
If you started your business in January – are you still serious about it two months later?
George Torok
Host of the radio show "Business in Motion"
Sunday, March 04, 2007
Resilience: New Blog
Resilience: New Blog
Sharon Bar-David has a new blog on the topic of resilience in the workplace.
I found this excerpt from a recent post on her blog particularly grabbing.
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Resilience, according to one definition, is ‘The ability to recover quickly from setbacks’. Clearly, the execs in the study demonstrated superb resilience. The problem for most ordinary folks, however, is that they let their fear of the world ‘out there’ drive their actions. They fret that they may not survive if they ever lost their current position and this serves as a deterrent from taking proactive action. I have seen, in the course of my change-related workshops, many a good people staying long after they needed to leave, or fearing to speak up solely due to their horror of what may happen and their lack of trust in their own resilience.So yes, resilience is key: nurturing our resilience, believing in it, trusting in it.
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How resilient are you – and what do you do to build and maintain your resilience?
Because there is one thing you can count on – that is change. And not always the change that you anticipate.
George Torok
Business in Motion
Sharon Bar-David has a new blog on the topic of resilience in the workplace.
I found this excerpt from a recent post on her blog particularly grabbing.
----------------
Resilience, according to one definition, is ‘The ability to recover quickly from setbacks’. Clearly, the execs in the study demonstrated superb resilience. The problem for most ordinary folks, however, is that they let their fear of the world ‘out there’ drive their actions. They fret that they may not survive if they ever lost their current position and this serves as a deterrent from taking proactive action. I have seen, in the course of my change-related workshops, many a good people staying long after they needed to leave, or fearing to speak up solely due to their horror of what may happen and their lack of trust in their own resilience.So yes, resilience is key: nurturing our resilience, believing in it, trusting in it.
----------------
How resilient are you – and what do you do to build and maintain your resilience?
Because there is one thing you can count on – that is change. And not always the change that you anticipate.
George Torok
Business in Motion
Saturday, March 03, 2007
What do You Want?
What do you want?
What are you offering?
Have you noticed how much difficulty some folks have with these two simple questions?
What could be more direct? What could be simpler?
All business is an exchange of value. We enter most relationships with some expectation of give and take. You get something and you give something. I accept that. So please tell me the give and take that you have in mind.
You left me a voice message. Tell me what you want. What are you offering? Why should I call you back?
We meet at a “networking event”. What do you offer? What do you want?
You ask to meet. What do you want? Why should I meet with you?
If you know what you want and tell me – then I might be able to help you. If you don’t tell me then I can’t help you. If you tell me and it’s not right for us – we both move on.
If you know what you are offering and tell me – then I might want it – or refer you to someone who does. If you don’t – I can’t. And it makes you annoying.
If the give and take is a secret – don’t bother me. I don’t have the time and patience.
What do you want?
What do you offer?
What could be simpler? Don’t be difficult. Don't be annoying.
George Torok
Business in Motion
What are you offering?
Have you noticed how much difficulty some folks have with these two simple questions?
What could be more direct? What could be simpler?
All business is an exchange of value. We enter most relationships with some expectation of give and take. You get something and you give something. I accept that. So please tell me the give and take that you have in mind.
You left me a voice message. Tell me what you want. What are you offering? Why should I call you back?
We meet at a “networking event”. What do you offer? What do you want?
You ask to meet. What do you want? Why should I meet with you?
If you know what you want and tell me – then I might be able to help you. If you don’t tell me then I can’t help you. If you tell me and it’s not right for us – we both move on.
If you know what you are offering and tell me – then I might want it – or refer you to someone who does. If you don’t – I can’t. And it makes you annoying.
If the give and take is a secret – don’t bother me. I don’t have the time and patience.
What do you want?
What do you offer?
What could be simpler? Don’t be difficult. Don't be annoying.
George Torok
Business in Motion
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