Generation Archives - GUJRAT INDIA

Entrepreneurship – Craze of Present Generation

An Entrepreneurship sets up an enterprise for profit motive and rightly so. But if you start your business with the ‘Show me the money’ attitude, rest be assured that you will not go very far!

Ever wondered why in the world of Entrepreneurship, some carve a niche for themselves and stand out from the crowd, while others, even though successful, have a mundane existence?

Well it all lies on certain qualities that an Entrepreneur may possess or the way certain activities are conducted by him/her. Here are special skills which you need to hone to become the Successful Entrepreneur.

Everybody has a certain goal in life which just refuses to go away or change. You must understand this goal to be the calling of your life. Write down this goal – It will time and again remind you, how important it is to achieve this goal and will not let you sleep till you achieve it and become a celebrated Entrepreneur.

Share your Dream with Right people – Law of Entrepreneurship

In this world of make belief, you should be able to distinguish between the good, bad and the ugly. Many Entrepreneurial dreams die a quite death because somebody labelled it ‘stupid’ and constantly put you down till you also started believing your dream to be stupid and chose to abandon it. Share your dreams with only those whom you trust and are actually the propellers of your life.

Find yourself a Mentor – Key Role in Entrepreneurship

Someone who has already been there after many trials and turbulence is the right person to advice you. Somebody who has been there and done with can impart some priceless wisdom which you can use to carve a niche for yourself. But you must be very clear about what you will gain from the mentor-men-tee relationship. This will determine whom you can tap for assistance. The right Mentor will always short-cut your leaning process and give you the push you need and help you to stay task focused.

Observe deeply and Practice Incessantly

An Entrepreneur must consciously set aside some quite time to take on board any new ideas, things to learn and allow your mind to wander. You never know what your ‘downtime’ can fetch your business! Similarly only incessant practice will make an Entrepreneur perfect. Short cuts have never helped anyone in life. It is only your endurance for more and more practice that will give you results.

Seek Challenges in Life

The yardstick of success of an Entrepreneur is measured by the challenges he/she has overcome. Never be scared to consciously seek challenges in your Entrepreneurial life. Remember challenges are not setback of life. They are simply life’s way of requesting you to make full use of the resources and tools available with you to resolve them.

As an Entrepreneur you must have the skill set to select the right tool at the right time to overcome the challenge.

Welcome Criticism – Challenge in Entrepreneurship

In your journey as an Entrepreneur, be ready to welcome criticism from associates/stakeholders/clients/ and sometimes even friends and family. There will be people out, there highly critical of your product/service. You must possess the gall to take such criticism in your stride and take them positively. If praise motivates you, then criticism must stimulate you to do better and better, not the opposite. If you cannot accept criticism, then your ego is getting in the way of your best judgement.

Be Self Driven not Ego Driven

An Entrepreneur must be proud, confident, self assured but not ego driven. Be humble and let your feet be planted firmly on the ground. Let your actions and achievements speak for you, not your boating and bragging. The more you brag, the more will sound phony. Remember, it is the empty vessel which makes the most noise.

Carve a niche for yourself

An entrepreneur must try to find out his niche area. Each of us has a special ability, a quite story which sets us apart from others. Play around with this strength and craft your own persona. Of you try to become a carbon copy of some you admire, you will never be able to make a name for yourself. Remember, the original always looks better than the copy. So leave your idol on the pedestal to be admired from a distance.

What Goes Around Comes Back.

As an Entrepreneur, you must try and help and benefit others. Give whatever you have in abundance- your time. your service or knowledge to those who are badly in need of it. You will be amazed at what you stand to gain when you give it to others.

Value Learning over Money – Basics of Entrepreneurship

An Entrepreneur sets up an enterprise for profit motive and rightly so. But if you start your business with the ‘Show me the money’ attitude, rest be assured that you will not go very far! Instead show humility and value what you have learnt in your journey as an Entrepreneur. Money will follow you steadily and surely, if you apply what you have learnt.

Be Thankful

Be thankful that you could become an Entrepreneur, be thankful that you could learn your failures, be thankful that you are at the receiving end of so many blessings and above all, be thankful that you are alive!

Gratitude always unlocks the fullness of your life and indeed will make you the celebrated “A Successful” Entrepreneur.

Beyond Buzz – The Next Generation of Word-of-Mouth Marketing By Lois Kelly

Beyond Buzz: The Next Generation of Word-of-Mouth Marketing By Lois Kelly, Amacom (American Management Association), 1601 Broadway, New York, NY 10019, ISBN 0814473830 , 978-0814473832, $24.95, 240 Pages, 2007

Lois Kelly’s first book Beyond Buzz: The Next Generation of Word-of-Mouth Marketing drills deep into how marketers must move beyond talking at their customers and align themselves in their lives, to make the relationship connection, and thus the resulting sales. Kelly has an impressive resume that includes time at Harvard and has contributed articles to Advertising Age, Brand Week, USA Today, and The Wall Street Journal. Ms. Kelly understands the need to listen closely to consumers to find out as much about what turns them off and what turns them on, to drive sales. The bad news consumers share with service providers and manufacturer’s in surveys or in discontinuing use, might not be what corporations want to hear, but Kelly’s viewpoint has interested clients such as Dunkin’ Donuts and Sun Microsystems.

Chapters cover Enough with the marketing blah, blah, blah-let’s talk about something interesting, Make meaning, not buzz, Have a fresh point of view (or several), Listen up: Seven ways to uncover talk-worthy ideas, Nine themes that always get people talking, Straight talk: Talk like you talk, talk like you mean it, talk in these ten new ways, Shift to a conversational marketing mind-set, Building a “talk” culture, Be more interesting-conversations, passion, and an honest point of view. Additional features include a forward, an introduction, and a resource appendix. A must-have guide for prospective new-construction homeowners, manufacturers in the factory-built construction industry and those looking for a “green” alternative to site-built housing.

If you’re looking for a cutting-edge book on how to reinvent your customer relationships, pick up a copy of this important new business book.

Coffee Shop Marketing and Lead Generation

What is Lead Generation?

Lead generation is creating a consistent flow of business and income for your coffee shop with minimum effort and costs.
Lead generation is knowing that your coffee shop is fully booked everyday of the week for the next year. Rather than unlocking the doors every morning hoping and praying that someone will pop in for a meal or a cup of coffee.
Lead generation helps you to plan your future and takes the uncertainty out of running your coffee shop.
Lead generation helps you to build a product worth selling, namely your coffee shop, because you can rest assured that the new owner will make money since it is fully booked for the next twelve months and you can sell your coffee shop for a far higher price than you would have been able to without the reservations.

Coffee shop advertising works well but the magic happens when you make your advertising efforts pay off in as many ways as possible by using every opportunity in your coffee shop to turn your client or clients into reserved return visitors.

Step one: When customers make a reservation at your coffee shop for a special occasion such as a birthday, anniversary, product launch or any other occasion make sure that you get the following from each member at the table in a way that is fun.

Full Name
Postal Address
E-Mail address
Telephone Number
Date of Birth

As an example, have a lucky draw for a meal at your coffee shop at a suitable time during the event in return for their personal information. When you hand over the prize to the winner ask everyone at the table if any of them have special events coming up soon that they would like to reserve right now, be quick and efficient so that you do not disturb the ambiance.

Step two: Take some pictures of everyone at the table, if you cannot do it yourself make sure that you have a staff member or friend that can assist you with the task.

Most people are very thrilled when they are the centre of attention but do ask your patron if you may place these pictures on your Facebook or other social sites that you belong to.

Step Three: Confirm with your patron if he/she would enjoy publicity in your local newspaper for the event that is celebrated at your coffee shop, instead of just placing your ad as usual in the paper call your newspaper agent with this story, he/she will be eager to give you bigger space at the normal price. Your clients will love you for it since you are over delivering on value for money.

Step four: Print pictures of the event and post it to each attendees postal box, inviting them once again to book their next event big or small at your coffee shop.

Step five: Make a follow up phone call asking the client if they have received your note with their picture in the post and if he/she have enjoyed the article about them in your local newspaper. This is also the time to ask if you may e-mail them your special offers in the future and once again ask if they have an event big or small that they would like to make a reservation for now.

This method of coffee shop marketing and advertising works magnificently and it has proven itself in various industries such as insurance, real estate and every industry that is commission driven, a coffee shop is exactly the same you have no guarantees that someone will visit your shop amongst the thousands that are available. Create your own security and your own certainty with minimum cost and a little bit of effort.

Warning:

Within six months of practicing this strategy you could appoint someone to do it for you because it is a full time activity that must be kept in place, you cannot start it and then stop because it has become part of your image of what your coffee shop offer. It is now a part of the menu, taking it of the menu can ruin your reputation and your business.

Brand value is very much like an onion. It has layers and a core. The core is the user who will stick with you until the very end. Edwin Artzt

Useful Lead Generation Tips For Small Businesses

Owners of small businesses will always try to find ways to save money on various processes. They would often try to do or handle key business aspects or operations and when they see that they are not capable of doing these, only then would they consider the option of hiring new employees or outsourcing their requirements.

One of the business processes that small business owners can handle or manage is lead generation. This marketing process refers to the practice of getting more queries from potential customers or clients. This can be done by employing different strategies and following useful tips.

If you are the owner of a small business, below are some tips you can follow to achieve success with your lead generation campaign:

Group or divide your market. If you have a business, you would assume that everyone can be a client or customer. This is true. However, you need to know how to gauge the interest and communicate with each group of potential consumers. As such, you need to segment your market into target groups of prospects who share the same qualities and habits and determine what communication will work best with each group. Business experts say that B2B telemarketing is an effective segmentation tool. You can consider outsourcing this job if you want to properly segment your market.

Optimize lead nurturing. One of the most common reasons why many of your leads never convert into paying customers or clients is because you did not do enough to guide prospects through the sales cycle. Lead nurturing is therefore important in turning more leads into clients or customers. Prospects may not convert since there may not be enough contact or communication during the critical decision-making phase of the sales cycle. One popular lead nurturing strategy that is still effective today is sending your leads personalized follow-up emails.

Post only quality content. Lead generation also depends greatly on social media and other online campaigns. As such, it is important to always have outstanding content since this is helpful in capturing sales leads. In addition, in online lead generation, having interesting content on your website, landing pages, and social media sites can spell the difference between a quick glance and a double take or an ignore and subscription.

Lastly, don’t disregard your existing customers or clients. Happy, satisfied customers are always excellent sources of referrals. Business experts say that prospects that are referred to a company by a friend or colleague are four times more likely to make a purchase than those who encounter your business on their own. As such, your existing customers or clients are a valuable pool of leads that you should never neglect or overlook.