Why you should listen to Heart over Brain while making business decisions!

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Diversified strategies for a single task

It’s tough to survive in business if you can’t see the multiple ways to do the same thing. What if it’s a do or die situation and the only trick you knew to get this job done didn’t work? Leaving technical aspects apart for few situations, no matter how small or how big the task is, you should have more than one technique at your disposal to make things work in business. If you are not able to find the way out, seek help, you don’t have to go far; there must be someone in your team, in your office who will help you out, don’t hesitate don’t underestimate anyone. You want your job get done, don’t you?

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Secret of business is a myth!!

How many patents they claim in business innovation domain every year if there is any such thing as “secret formula of business success”. Now compare it with scientific and technical patent numbers. Business is a dynamic environment which mutates and transforms its way of functioning and operation every season, every year and every decade. It might not be a wise idea to conclude and arrive at a single formula for best business result, because landscape also tends to change as per region and catchment of operation.  And hence they device tailored business solutions for desired need and outcome. There is no business school which can transform a layman into a businessman; they simply empower and enable those who are already business minded. They teach tricks of the trades based on the centuries of collective business experience of the world leaving them with an observant curiosity and tenacity to learn as they grow. In this open knowledge economy business knowledge is not a constraint. If you have guts, if you have vigor and if you really want and feel to get into business, you can do that anyway and if you don’t feel that surge of thrill when you are up to business go find a day job. If you really want to be a successful entrepreneur from deep within, you will find whole world is there to make your dream come true, you will find every other successful person is willing to share piece of their mind, though there is no business success secrets as such, it’s the experience of your own and others which will empower you. You will start learning from small things and events around you, you will see business opportunity in little things and events with which you encounter every day, but only if you really want to be an entrepreneur. It’s about perspective not the formula.  

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Free or paid, you need a mentor!

Mentors are there to guide you when you are lost, they are there to validate your dream, and they help you dream big, they help you remain sane. Everyone need a mentor at some point of time in their life and anyone can be your mentor from your wife, your daughter, your friend, your parents, your colleague your boss, or some professional mentor depending on who extend their wise advice to you when you need most. 

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From “Simply Customer” to “Repeat Customer”

There are two choices you make every now and then - either you like something of you don’t. You tend to retain what you like while discarding what you don’t like. It’s same with products, but more prominently practiced because of innumerable options available in market competing for the same position and segment by different brands.

You pick up a soft drink, energy drink or similar kind when you are a kid or teenage- either you like it or you simply don’t. If you like it, you like its color, flavor, smell, you associate it with some nice memory, you link it with some vague memory of an advertisement which you saw long back, you associate that wonderful experience of having that chilled soft drink and that cozy or adventurous environment, and you become a lifelong brand ambassador of that product. Now onwards you will pick up that same drink brand every time in future, given a choice. May be silent or talkative brand ambassador but a lifelong repeat customer for sure.  

Now your job as a company or manufacturer or promoter is to help your customer choose products offered by you.  How will you do that? We will see some strategies regarding that in the following upcoming post called “Help your customer choose what you want them to choose”.

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Don’t let them take the credit you deserve!!

If you are accountable for the missed deadline, if you are held responsible for things gone wrong then you equally deserve the credit for the task completed before time, and for that extra effort you made to deliver beyond expectation, but this is not the case for majority of employees in corporate or business structure.

No one is to blame but employees who feel deprived of the attention and credit they deserve, only because of their incompetency to get what they deserve.  They are either unaware of their basic moral rights or made to believe they don’t have any such rights. You will find many such people around who are always ready to steal the credit of the wonderful job you have done paving their own way to success, and casting the shadow of their success on you. So, go ahead claim the ownership of your work, grab the credit you deserve.  Don’t let them overshadow you.

What you can do?

·   Be "Report ready": keep the list of tasks you have accomplished in the previous week / day at your finger tip so that you can showcase your hard work at the slightest given opportunity to anyone

·         Get noticed on the go: Don’t wait till job is completed, let others guess that "it’s your baby" through excitement you show towards that particular work or task, without disclosing the details

·         Distribute the risk: keep more than one people in loop

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Govern your own circumstances.

You can’t fabricate favorable circumstances as per your wish all the time and at the same time someone or a bunch of some unlikely few can fabricate a situation not so favorable to you. Sometimes fabricated, sometimes accidental. Unlikely but possible and can happen without your knowledge and at times very swiftly. What would be your strategy? Which way out? Deal it whichever way but just don’t give up, because you know there is light at the end of tunnel. Might be lost today, might be clueless today but when you are out of darkness, out of that mess you will be incharge of your own destiny and showman of your own moves.

In those unfavorable circumstances trust your intuition, stay calm, weigh and assess in long term, don’t bother about every small loss. Your immediate priority is to survive and get going with least damage and to bounce back. If situation demands to calculate- Be Calculative- calculate your risks, create a backup plan, use the part of brain which you haven’t ever used,  Use the network you didn’t ever used. You can and you should govern your own circumstances.  

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How to earn money fast and how about a second job?

There are no shortcuts as such to earn money fast, but there are ways and tricks to enhance the possibilities and probability of earning money faster than business as usual. It needs hard work and determination backed by industry knowledge. You need to choose an industry, which is your area of interest, but be cautious to choose an industry which has either future growth potential or proven good track record.  One has to be persistence with a touch of patience, but should be ready as well to take the risk.

Risk has to be calculated and you should not put everything at stake in one go. One should be ready with a realistic backup plan as well. 

One suggestion for people with regular job who are also aspiring future entrepreneur is that you should expand your knowledge base in your future business area while you are continuing your day job and you can also expand your area of operation, may be a secondary income apart from your day job either in your chosen field or through, blogging, affiliate marketing, writing, freelance job etc. to support your dream. When there is a regular and sufficient income from your second job you can either continue with your second job with continuously reinventing your strategies or you can switch your job for a full-fledged launch of personal business. 

Learn how to materialise every Business Opportunity which comes your way in the following post - http://fromthediaryofmentor.blogspot.in/2012/02/never-miss-business-opportunity-again.html

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How to raise money to start a small business

If your requirement is of larger scale you can approach any bank but only after consultation and advice from a Chartered accountant or any related accounts personal or may be people in your business field,

Borrowing loans from friend and family may be a good idea if your requirement is not big.

Review your business plan once aging scale it down to make it more realistic,

You can bootstrap if needed, you can also cut down on fancy technological stuffs and save on fancy office interior at the beginning of your business

There is no end till what time you will keep on saving, launch when you think its right time,

Do take your intuition in account,

Know Top Advantages of Niche Marketing, in the following article http://fromthediaryofmentor.blogspot.in/2012/02/top-10-advantages-of-niche-marketing.html

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Key to TV Commercial business

TV commercials are highly competitive in nature and since viewers are getting more and more aware every day about the products, while being exposed to tempting products and offers of so many rival companies through different social media streams, one has to be very cautious while getting into TV commercial business. Few tips and question to ask yourself to get into TV commercial business -

Create a portfolio with different brands and products,

Focus on developing theme and script of your commercial no matter even if you are selling imaginary brands.

Test the commercials online through YouTube and different media channel.

Learn from the viewer’s feedback, re-launch the next version

It’s not just about what brand you choose to promote it’s about how you take an ordinary product and create a brand out of it.

It’s about how well you convey the message across to the audience, in that short period of time,

How sticky is your commercial, is it good enough for word of mouth publicity?

Does it have potential to go viral online?

Does it have wow factor?

Learn 25 Rules of success for business and online startups in the following article

http://fromthediaryofmentor.blogspot.in/2012/03/25-rules-of-success-for-business-and.html

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What should be the Long-term Targets of an online business and startups?

It’s very important to have a vision for any company and its process and strategies should be aligned to that long term vision to make it sustainable. Long term targets are generally macro level targets spread over the period of 10 to 15 years or more. Some of the essential long term targets for any online business can be-

To get established as a trusted and honest brand

To get recognized as one of the leading business faces of the industry

To get recommended as a stable brand with strong track record and consistent performance

To be known for excellence in service and product

To globally establish itself as a known brand

Should have a client portfolio which showcases some of the biggest and trusted  brands nationally and worldwide

Should have a project portfolio which showcases a healthy mix of projects which help establish company’s expertise

To accomplish some of the most challenging tasks in their industry

Should have a well established company culture and Vision in which employees have faith.

Learn Top 10 suggestions for new start-ups and entrepreneurs - http://bit.ly/zU5soj

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What should be the "Medium-term Targets" of online business startups?

Getting recognized and getting positive publicity in virtual world is much easier than the physical market domain and every startup should utilise the marketing and brand building advantages of virtual world

They need to get established as a brand in the period of 3-5 years nationally while spreading its presence globally.

They need to get noticed and get compared with some of the big companies in their industry, due to their uniqueness, innovation and great services, if not on financial parameter.

They need to expand their business in term of manpower in this growth period, they need to hire and retain faithful employees to share workload so that they can focus on larger picture

They need to start leveraging their business through synergy with similar business possibilities, like expanding their product base,

They should have a long list of loyal clients and repeat customers by now-  list length will depend on niche, demand and competition

They should have even longer list of prospective clients by now, 50 to100 or more depending, niche, location, demands etc.

They should definitely get coverage by both social and print media in the period of 3-5 years either for their contribution to that particular industry or for their unique approach, product or services, or at least for some good reason. Its very important for brand positioning.

Learn about Long-term Targets of an online business and startups http://fromthediaryofmentor.blogspot.in/2012/03/what-should-be-long-term-targets-of.html

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25 Rules of success for business and online startups

Launch early - you can’t afford to wait till you have a 100% fail-safe plan

Learn from your mistakes

Don’t repeat the same mistakes again, ..http://bit.ly/ArDoG0

Understand the legality of your business, choose your business name and content which is unique and does not attract legal notice.

Leverage your business through common attributes..http://bit.ly/xbhCGZ

Create business synergy among many businesses or support service or product line

Improve your products, services and online experience based on customer’s feedback.. http://bit.ly/xaNRyo

Reduce number of clicks to sell your products online

Reduce turnaround time

Promote relevant products

Do not get spread too thin doing multiple task yourself

Hire people for those parts of business you don’t like doing yourself

Keep track of your accounts from the day one; you are going to need those details on way to success

Maintain professional attitude from the get go …http://bit.ly/wEn1rh

Maintain focus- it’s easy to get distracted.. http://bit.ly/zuyxst

Be careful while hiring or joining friends for business…http://bit.ly/wi5I0i

Hang out with people with positive vibes, avoid people with negative spirit

Listen to criticism passively and discard everything which demotivates you

Utilize technological possibilities and help at your disposal ..http://bit.ly/yuGSYU

Utilize social media potential or hire someone to help you optimize it for you

Create a product or service capable of triggering word of mouth publicity… http://bit.ly/yibMqn

Pause to have a reality check, review and restrategize if needed… http://bit.ly/wv6vUE

Pause to appreciate what you have been doing

Don’t judge your success by someone else eye, only you know what you are getting from your business apart from money, things like satisfaction, attention , authority, control on your time and life etc. ..http://bit.ly/xLfxjc

Pay to yourself and feel good about you and what you have created.

Learn how to materialise every Business Opportunity which comes your way -http://bit.ly/x5Dv24

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How to manage Business risk

Take calculated risk

Never put all your eggs in one basket

Have a functional back up plan ready

Assess vulnerability of your business plan on different parameters and varied possible future scenarios

Keep a flexible business mindset to quickly negotiate changing business dynamics

Don't regret on mistakes made, learn from mistakes, change the strategies and move forward

Maintain professionalism in in your work even if you are doing business with friends,

Always keep few alternate revenue sources or prospects around your business, it will give you hope and boost your moral when business in down.

Always be prepared to materialize approaching business opportunity

Learn how to materialise every Business Opportunity which comes your way in the following post - http://fromthediaryofmentor.blogspot.in/2012/02/never-miss-business-opportunity-again.html

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Reading bestsellers before it’s written

You can't really afford to wait till someone gets inspired or disappointed or elevated or frustrated from everyday life or everyday business and compiles vivid colorful stories and experiences to mesmerize you, writes it down, get it published and waits till it hits the chart of bestseller, and book goes viral. By the time you are reading the book on a business trip journey or on a lazy Sunday afternoon story is as old as the first inspiration of bestseller writer which might be as old as his or her childhood memory or a decade or a year or few months old. You know the lightning pace at which the world and technology is changing, strategies evolving, myths are made and broken, breakthrough happening and believes are shattered as well as strengthened. You can judge yourself the relevance of those consolidated ideas in form of literature at this moment. 

Why not to have a glimpse of what’s going on at present in the human psyche and interaction, their hopes and aspirations. Why to wait till some skilled author will compile all this for you. Why not to go and read the first hand experiences and aspirations and lessons of millions out there writing every bit of their mind, a collective real time literature of mankind on blogs and forums and websites. Just be wise enough to know which information to relevant and which to discard. 


Similar is the process to understand your business from customer’s point of view. Now learn how to build and sell brand image of your business in following article- http://fromthediaryofmentor.blogspot.in/2012/02/6-ways-to-improve-your-products-and.html

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Business setbacks as measurement scale.

Setbacks are part and parcel of business dynamics, sometimes business has high growth momentum, at times its all time low . What is business without a little bit of thrill. Setback is the measurement of how much risk you take in business, its part of business thrill. If you didn't ever have setback probably you didn't take enough risk. Come out of your comfort zone and have courage to take risk. Calculate the risk, have a backup plan and go ahead. You can't wait till business plan is 100 percent perfect; otherwise you will be too late in the market. 

Learn what to do when things go wrong in Business here – http://fromthediaryofmentor.blogspot.in/2012/02/what-to-do-when-things-go-wrong-in.html

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How to deal with business competition

If you think you can beat the competitor with rock bottom pricing, it can only be a short term strategy, its not sustainable. Bringing prices down to attract the customers will only reduce your profit margin, and you are only likely to compromise with quality of product or services.

To survive the competition or to win it, all you need to do is to provide uniqueness in your product or service or both to the end users. When number of people is selling the same product or service you need to differentiate yourself from the masses through innovation in product and services. 


Another advantage of having uniqueness in product and service is that you can dictate and control the prices and slowly a unique category of loyal customers emerges to buy your product and services, which also help promote your business through word of mouth publicity. You will need to create your own niche market by providing uniqueness to cope with Competition. Know top advantages of Niche Marketing, here - http://fromthediaryofmentor.blogspot.in/2012/02/top-10-advantages-of-niche-marketing.html

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Expand your business through Top 10 QR Code promotion approaches

QR Code holds immense marketing potential through both virtual online as well as physical world. Most of us know the tricks on online marketing and promotion. Promotion through QR codes are relatively new compared to online community and holds innumerable and ever new possibilities based on creativity on individuals and companies, some of these less explored or unexplored vistas of QR code promotion and marketing can be as follows.

QR code on product itself - helps educate customers about the product and company

Compulsory QR coding on Company brochures & pamphlets - promotion through workshop seminar pamphlets distribution

Integrating QR Code in company Business card of all the employees - minimalistic power packed business card

Cross company promotion through QR code- leveraging advantage of extended companies

QR codes on company owned vehicles/ fleets- promoting business wherever it goes

QR codes on Corporate gift items - Festive QR coding

QR billboards - for product promotion and company brand image 

QR Countdown timer at strategic locations - for public events, sports events, new year etc.

QR Sculpture and furniture for your office

QR coding art - creating eye catching QR codes with variation (which is possible without losing the code quality)  

Learn how to promote your business through Public Relation (PR) in the next article - http://fromthediaryofmentor.blogspot.in/2012/02/tricks-of-public-relation-workshop.html

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How to keep business proposal and project schedule realistic

It's easy to get swayed away by sheer numbers - do regular reality check

Don't get overenthusiastic with numbers - get your numbers validated by partners / trusted others

Overall business plan should make sense to your over-skeptical clients

Keep all the odd possibilities in mind while preparing project time schedule 

Business strategies should reflect in numbers and should complement each other

Try to foresee all the future obstacles and keep the time schedule flexible enough to accommodate the time lost due to this obstacle

Learn how and why to use Mindmapping tools which helps you streamline your business and makes your business plans realistic- http://fromthediaryofmentor.blogspot.in/2012/02/why-entrepreneur-should-start.html

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Rock bottom price strategy for startups

Do you really need to buy those fancy stuffs for your business?

Know when is the right time to buy and from where to buy

Attend auctions to get stuffs at rock bottom prices during down time

Make business out of your existing business byproduct

Create a network of information channel

Keep track of your expenditure

Optimise your budget, review it, optimise it once again to arrive at realistic needs

Bootstrapping wherever possible 

Learn to operate with minimums financial resources in business career at least once - for experience sake 

Learn to negotiate well.

Learn How to leverage your business in 7 easy ways in the following article- http://fromthediaryofmentor.blogspot.in/2012/02/how-to-leverage-your-business-in-7-easy.html

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