Or should that be ripe? Who knows! Anyway, how do you know whether you have what it takes to run your own business in today’s turbulent, innovative, changeable business world? I’ve pulled together an alternative list that would have business advisers, bank managers and accountants cringing!

 If you are right for running your own business you will see boundless opportunities, whereas, others do only what the boss has told them to do. You’ll relish change whilst people not ready for start up seek order, routine, stability and security. Many small business owners view their talent as a craft, to be worked on over years, constantly improving and refining their skills. Other people wonder  how much pension they will get.

If you are considering start up you’ll be looking forward to personally influencing people, customers and employees alike. If you regularly exercise positional authority, stay in a proper job! Great entrepreneurs build their business based on trust and sincerity, whereas, if you like to control everything, consider something else.

People starting their own business are always motivated to do more and inspire people to push the boundaries. If you think offering incentives to work harder motivates, think about taking up a hobby instead!

Entrepreneurs are always around interesting people, those that are involved in the latest idea, the most innovative of products/services and, are at the leading edge. Others court the ‘old boy’ network, meet with mundane and boring business people and don’t understand the real meaning of interesting.                    

You are known for being occasionally opinionated, or is that passionate, because you have strong views, if you keep quiet and don’t rock the boat, perhaps running your own business isn’t for you. If you are always looking at new ways/ideas and regularly stick your head above the parapet and your colleagues think this stuff is just b*****ks. Yep, go on, get out and start something.          

Finally, if you truly do real work that adds value and the other people around always look busy and work harder than anyone else they know, then perhaps now, is the right time to think about jumping to your own ship.

Obviously there is more to it than just this but, hey, has it helped you make a decision?

If only it was another blip, a rough spell, a dip in the economic cycle but this time its not. Things have shifted and they have shifted radically. The financial sector will go back to ‘business as usual’ there is not doubt, despite new rules and regulations. But for most of us, the sand has moved and people’s mood has changed. The tide has more than just turned.

The eclectic mix of urgency, technology, culture and transparency will continue to drive truly interesting times over the next few years. This shift was happened already, an economic crisis just gave it a good old nudge. Much is going to change but some of the most fundamental are:

Innovation – Progress is a sure thing but it won’t just come from the big corporates, most innovation in the future will come from small groups of people or individuals. Innovation will be rampant in information technology, biotechnology, nanotechnology, science and clean energy. For the business owner now is the time to ring fence your R & D budget and protect it as if your life depended on it. Research suggests that those who invest in R & D during a downturn will out perform those when things get better.

Fast and slow – The unabated swing to doing things fast ever increases. It’s hard to see where it will stop? There will be a point when we out run ourselves. Things move so fast now that many regard market research and preparing for a product launch with precision, completely outdated and that most products/services just need to be launched and then learn from that. Basically, stuff the research beforehand. Whether it’s reckless or responsive depends on your market place. There are times to slow down, take stock, understand the purpose and consider growth to ensure you don’t get mowed down in the process but also maintain an air of unabridged control. Perhaps we need to fail fast and grow slow?

Talent – Your employees will be the hub of your business not you or the business entity. Prepare for some huge changes in the way you will need to attract, lead and retain exceptional people with huge heaps of knowledge. There will be a war for talent and retention will be a large part of the small business owner’s role and output. No point in attracting bright people only to lose them because you can’t lead for toffee. Business owners will buy peoples ideas and creativity not how many hours they work. How much collective talent you have will dictate how competitive you are in the future.

Customer Experience – The relationships with customers will need to be more significant and intense. Getting customers attention is an expensive process, so keeping them makes more sense. They will expect more of an experience as your products/services become less important or different. They will seek out a meaningful relationship with you as the world around us seemingly becomes more superficial, untrustworthy and potentially faceless. Watch as we go back to deep, caring conversations with customers as we reject being told how good companies/brands are.

Technology – It’s not going away and so we can’t ignore how positive it can be. It has changed our processes, systems, marketing, efficiency, production, health and much more. Expect the pace of change to increase in excessive amounts and be prepared for it. No longer can you scoff at such inventions as Google and Twitter. Many small businesses still don’t have an electronic database and then wonder why they are struggling to keep their head above water! Social media will form the most substantial part of your marketing budget as we go more viral and word of mouth makes a huge comeback.

We will get through this immediate crisis even though the pain will be felt for years to come. Perhaps a shake out, rationalisation was overdue? Unfortunately, for some, it’s been a terrifying shock. What is more important though is how business will respond to the permanent, deal breaking changes in human behaviour, expectations and technological advances that will literally mean the difference between survival and growth. There is still going to be fall out, not because of a financial crisis across the world but because business simply failed to change.

My latest article! Click on the link below:

http://www.articlesbase.com/entrepreneurship-articles/does-small-business-success-come-from-a-magic-number-986186.html

Excerpt from my book “Leading whilst on your own.”

Those focused on the goals ahead are rarely distracted by the mundane. They are destined for greater success. It’s evident all around us. Small business people who get distracted, lack focus, forget what they were supposed to be doing and then wonder why they are just surviving or it takes them a long time to implement something. These people are the ones that only get a product/service to the introduction stage of the product lifecycle. Then they get bored or distracted by something they perceiveto be more interesting. I call them Jackdaws. Examples:

• Shiny things like new products where there is no market in the first place.
• Worrying about the competition too much.
• Feeling de motivated which leads to an everdecreasing circle.
• Chasing the wrong customers.
• Coming up with lots of ideas they never execute. Not even one.
• Focussing on numbers rather than value adding activity.

Oh and one more, under confidence! It’s a hard line discipline you need to be aware of and learn to manage as soon as possible. Start today.

This is a great little video. Thanks to funding universe at www.twitter.com/fundinguniverse for sharing it

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6MhAwQ64c0

Pricing is always viewed as that issue in small business that’s sensitive and difficult to identify. It makes people uneasy especially if they don’t value their work. In the past some pricing has been based on supply and demand. Some companies look at competitors prices and fix theirs based on that benchmark. Others look at their overheads and stick a margin on top to ensure profit.

Rarely do we consider our true value based on competency, ability, knowledge and craft. Invariably, we stick our finger in the air and decide the price based on which way the wind is blowing (perhaps a little unfair but very true.) What we need to do is understand the power of establishing price in the minds of our customers and acknowledging our value.

Setting price is obviously important especially when we acquire a new customer. Once we give a price, we have established that price in a customers mind which is then very difficult to change. That first figure shapes your present and future pricing structures. It shapes how much your customer thinks you are worth and what they are willing to pay.

It’s called an anchor and, as customers, we refer back to that first anchor whenever we buy more. That’s why it’s critical to save yourself a lot of hard work later on and identify your true value right from the beginning. You can’t set you day rate at £500, only to realise a few months later your actually worth is £700. It will take you ages to hike the price up to what you really feel it should be and, where you feel valued enough to motivate yourself towards the customers aspirations.

The first price you give to a new customer influences not just today but for the rest of your relationship with them. Really understand what the customer values and make sure you deliver those values in an unusual, different way. Then you can charge a valuable price for your product/services.

The old sayings are the best!! It’s better to do a few things really well than a lot of things badly. Whenever we take something new on, something else has to go. A good look at what you are currently doing is the next step. You need to distinguish between real work and busy work:

-       Real work contributes significantly to the growth of your business, busy work stunts growth

-       Real work impacts positively on your bottom line, busy work distracts you from your bottom line

-       Real work utilises your skills, expertise and knowledge, busy work underuse’s you

-       Real work is challenging, busy work is mundane and boring

-       Real work only you can do, busy work is what anyone can do which is why you should outsource it!

If your work overwhelms you but doesn’t challenge you, you’re probably suffering from too much busy work! Put together a list of all the work that comes in on one day. Identify which is real work and which is busy work. You know what to do next!

To be an excellent leader you have to start with yourself. Leadership is an internally driven insight and an internal source of action. It comes from within and is as much about being in touch with your emotional side as your rational and logical one. Great leaders know where they get their results from…their people and ensure that this is at the forefront of their mind when it comes to growing their business.

Understanding yourself and the basis of your behaviours and attitudes is essential. Try answering theses thought provoking questions:

-       What do you believe about yourself?

-       What do you believe about other people?

-       What do you believe about life?

-       What do you believe about leadership?

Then when you’ve done that ask these intriguing questions, what does this belief give me? What does it open up? What does this belief cost me? What does it stop me from seeing? The essence of a leader will come from the answers.  It will start you on the road to becoming an authentic, inspiration leader where opportunities readily flow, your people become more productive and actually enjoy what they do. Do not underestimate the power of getting you ‘right’ first!

Reading the statistics on business start up can be a frightening experience if a tad worrying. Statistics show that about half of all new UK small business start-up companies fail within the first 3 or 4 years, a staggering sum. The figures for the US are a little better. The reasons for failure are varied and often unquantifiable, however, what is clear is that business growth is very much down to the self-limiting factors exhibited by the people running small businesses.

Whether it’s cash flow (a sales problem really), or management ability (probably), it doesn’t really matter. The problem is often internal and I mean in the start up owners mind. There are no definitive rules for successful start-ups but perhaps the points offered in the article in the link below may help if you are thinking about starting a business shortly:

http://annholman.co.uk/articles/