Feeling Entrepreneurial? (Part II)

If you decide you want to follow your dream, here are tasks to accomplish in the early days of your new company.

1. Establish an accounting process, and pick a year end date.
One approach is to purchase a desktop accounting software package. Another option is to hire or contract an accountant.

2. Select your company name.
This involves verifying that the name is available, and registering it in your state. If you would like a Web presence, check if your desired domain name is available through a service such as Network Solutions. If you plan to protect your name and/or logo with a trademark, you can check the ability to use your desired name by visiting uspto.gov.

3. Obtain the necessary business licenses and permits.
This will vary by your location and type of business.

4. Obtain an Employer Identification Number from the Internal Revenue Service.

5. Set up a Dun and Bradstreet DUNS number by visiting dnb.com.

6. Discuss your business plan with your insurance agent.
Together, determine your needs for business insurance.

7. Loans, if you need them.
Don't assume that you can easily get a loan. Take time and discuss your options with a professional financial advisor or your banker.

A. Personal Loans
Banks, credit unions and life insurance policies are avenues to explore when seeking a loan. Be prepared to have your credit history scrutinized and in many cases you'll need collateral or a sponsor.

B. Business Loans
There are three types of business loans that you may qualify for. Have all of your documents ready, including your business plan and pro forma, and speak to your banker about all available options.

If you have steady accounts receivable (AR) that are not delinquent, you may seek a loan secured by your AR. You also may seek a loan to be secured by your inventory or equipment.

If your business holds real estate, you could apply for a loan secured with real estate.

If none of the above is right for you, visit the Small Business Administration at sbaonline.org.


8. Is venture capital for your business?
Venture capital firms (VC) are an option if you are planning a high and rapid growth business in which your investors have potential to make five to ten times their initial investment. VCs usually invest between $250,000 to $2,000,000 in a company. In return they take considerable ownership of the company. They generally make their decision on the strength of the management team and the viability of the business model in the current market.

If your company does not fit this profile, that is OK. It may be better to spend your time seeking funds in other ways.

If you are interested in venture capital or recruiting angel investors, visit garage.com. You'll find some great resources online, and in addition, they conduct a seminars several times a year called Boot Camp for Start Ups.

The book, "Financing the New Venture" by Mark Long is a good primer if you're new to raising funds.

9. Select a bank and establish banking accounts.

10. If you have decided to incorporate,
you may need to set up an Operating Agreement, create Bylaws, establish a Board of Directors, distribute share or unit certificates, and many other tasks related to the establishment of a corporation. Your legal advisor can help you determine what you need to do.

11. Create templates
for vendor contracts, client contracts and other legal documents such as a Non Disclosure Agreement or Transfer of Rights.

12. Set up accounts
with a printer, office supply vendor, and other special vendors your business requires. If you're on a tight budget, you may want to check out vistaprint.com for their low cost and free business card offers.

13. A lawyer would be helpful in the following areas:

• Establishment of your business
• Client and vendor contracts
• Partnership agreements and negotiations
• Corporate set-up, if so desired
• Leases
• Employment and labor issues
• Trademarks, copyrights and patent issues
• Tax planning

How to Select a Lawyer:

• Contact your local Chamber of Commerce or professional associations for a referral
• Check out lawyer candidates at MartindaleHubbell.com
• Check status of your lawyer candidate with the local chapter of the American Bar Association, or the national office at (312) 988-5522.

14. An accounting professional would be valuable in the following ways:

• Understanding of the consequences and benefits of each business form (i.e., C Corp, S Corp, LLC, etc.)
• Set up of an accounting system and procedure
• Tax planning
• Preparation of tax documents
• Payroll issues
• IRS audits

We've listed some of the tasks you may address when you decide to work as an independent contract, or form your own business. We urge you to find professional advisors to guide you through this new territory successfully.

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Feeling Entrepreneurial? (Part I)

By Peter Dowling, JD, CPRW, ARM, CPCU

Jan had lunch with Margo for the first time since Margo left the firm to work freelance. Now Jan is considering making the move to freelance. Before she does she wants to know what to expect and how to prepare.

What are the principle differences between working for yourself and for an employer?

Here is some of what you can expect 'on your own.'

• Potential for higher earning
• Make your own hours
• Make decisions about the direction of your company and your career
• More responsibility
• Potential for favorable tax benefits
• No unemployment insurance or worker's compensation, as an independent
• Income may be erratic or difficult to collect
• Cost of doing business may be more than you anticipate
• If you're working at home it may be a challenge to define your work hours and manage interruptions and distractions

Initial Steps -- Before You Decide to Quit Your Day Job

1. Create a business plan.

How will you do business? How will you attract clients? How much will you charge for your services or product? Who are your vendors? How long will it take to establish yourself? How long before you break even?

2. Construct a practical budget.

Do you have the necessary funds to get your business started and to keep it running through your break-even point? Are you prepared to seek outside funds in the form of a loan or investment? How long can you survive without an income?

3. Will you set up office in your home initially, or rent space?

Working at home can save money. You may qualify for tax deductions. However, will it harm your professional image, and is your home space appropriate for your business?

4. Select the legal form for your business. (Corporation, Limited Liability Company, etc.)

This decision is crucial as it may affect your tax liability and method, your Social Security tax responsibilities, your privacy, and your personal liability for debts.

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7 Things To Evaluate In An Employee Evaluation

Source : A Touch of business.com

Why An Employee Evaluation is Important

Even if you own a small business, performing regular employee evaluations helps to keep employees on track with your goals for the company; reward good work performance, and help to give the employee direction.

Employee evaluations are also important to you, as the business owner, in order to determine if you employ the right people for the roles they play in the company and to use the evaluations in order to call attention to areas that need improvement.

Evaluations offer an excellent opportunity to review stages that employees are at and where and how they can grow to another level.


What Items should be Present in an Employee Evaluation?

While many companies are moving toward self-evaluations and software, the same elements are present as when using the old-fashioned form method:

• Job performance.
• Attitude.
• Ability to listen.
• Readily accepts responsibility(s) and is accountable for actions.
• Commitment/dedication/ownership of his/her job.
• How well the employee interacts with other employees and customers.
• Desire to learn and grow with the business.

1. Employee Evaluation - Track Performance

• Overall employee performance is the culmination of all evaluation criteria. Many supervisors use a scoring system and determine a level or percentage based upon the scoring of the other items in the evaluation.
• For this reason, many business owners have opted to perform a 30-day evaluation and, from then on, perform scheduled evaluations every six months instead of yearly. Many businesses learned that a year was too long to “touch base” with the goals, achievements, and areas that needed improvement with their employees.
• Additionally, performing 6-month evaluations add incentive for promotions and pay increases.

2. Employee Evaluations Determine Employee Attitude

• To many people, attitude is everything.
• An employee who has a positive nature and attitude is an asset to any business, large or small.
• Employees who have a positive outlook will always see a glass half-full; not half empty. These people strive for a sense of accomplishment and pride in their work, not for a sense of preserving ego, but having their own sense of a job well done.
• While having a positive attitude can be taught through examples of others, books, and seminars, those employees who are forward-thinkers and positive thinkers as a part of their personality are great assets to businesses.

3. Employee Evaluations Show an Employee’s Listening Skills

• Hearing is much different from listening. While employees hear what you or supervisors say, have they listened?
• Let’s use the analogy of parenthood. Parents know instinctively if their child has listened to directions---and not only heard the directions, but show he or she has listened by following through with the desired action.
• The same theory applies to employees. While they are not children and should not be treated as such, listening skills are as important as any other aspect of their jobs and tasks.

4. Employee Evaluations Ascertain an Employee’s Level of Responsibility and Accountability

• A responsible employee is an accountable employee.
• This means that there should be no excuses and no finger-pointing if and when confronted as to why certain tasks were poorly performed---or not performed at all.
• Caution should be exercised when determining an employee’s level of responsibility and accountability because, often, the business owner did not explain a process thoroughly or in a way that the employee understood well.
• Additionally, bear in mind that if there is a problem involving tasks and their completion, the finger is most often pointed at the business ownership itself.

5. Employee Evaluations Show How Much an Employee is Committed to His or Her Job

• Tardiness and many sick days is often an indicator that the employee is not committed or dedicated to his or her job. In other words, the employee is “there for a paycheck.”
• Commitment and dedication to one’s job also leads right back to the business ownership and “employee cultivation.”
• Does your business provide job incentives such as regular pay increases, bonuses, paid vacation, health insurance, and a reward system? Often, if a business has benefits that offer growth and tokens of appreciation or “rewards,” employees feel more attached to the business’ personality and benefits package and system.

6. Employee Evaluations Include an Employee’s Level of Social Skills

• An employee who possesses a positive and professional set of social skills creates several advantages for a business.
• If an employee not only works well with other employees, has a team-player spirit, these qualities spill over into having great customer service skills. This not only helps to maintain a smooth-flowing and cooperative work environment, established and new customer relationships can be developed and maintained using even ONE employee’s good social skills.
• Letters of commendation from customers should be filed along with employee records, for instance, and included in an evaluation.

7. An Employee Evaluation can Help Determine the Longevity of an Employee

• The longevity of an employee includes how much the employee is excited about the field of the business.
• If your business does its job by incorporating bonuses, incentives, rewards, and evaluations, employees who love the field itself are most likely to stay and grow with the company.
• In addition, employees who are excited to be working in a field they have a passion for are also seekers of additional knowledge and know-how, can be cultivated for managerial positions and motivate others, and are most easily cross-trained.

Important Points to Remember with Employee Evaluations:

• Develop and write down goals, strategies, and measures for success to compare with those of employees.
• Give consistent ‘credit where credit is due’ and do regular evaluations at smaller intervals of time such as every 6 months as opposed to yearly. This will add to employee performance and employee relations.
• Be fair when assessing evaluations; sometimes the business itself needs fine-tuning in order to gain better employee performance.
• Leave enough time to go over evaluations with employees. Many business owners take their employees to lunch when conducting an employee evaluation in order to “lighten up” the atmosphere.
• Makes sure all assessments have data to support them such as letters of commendation as well as documented dates and times with mishaps of the employee so that an employee can never interpret their evaluations as part of favoritism or used as a personal attack.

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Tips for Getting Free Advertising through Press Releases

How is a Free Press Release Different from a Blog or Article?

A press release most often is sharing an announcement or commentary on a topic that is of community interest; in other words, “newsworthy.”

A press release is written about or around a current event or a topic that is of great interest to the public or a business sector and can pave the way for sales of a product. Microsoft®, for example, strategically uses press releases and announcements when a new version of software is about to be released. Because many computer users use Microsoft® products in their work and personal lives, the company’s press releases are newsworthy.

Unlike articles written for magazines or websites, press releases are not just about what a company offers. In fact, it is not until one reads the end of the release that it is discovered who the author was and how to get more information.

Press Releases are also FREE advertising. The trick to getting newspaper and television coverage is by making what your business offers of interest to people in the present time.

Note: If your press release does not follow the guidelines in this article, your free press release will be seen as merchant advertising and will be treated and charged for as such.



Finding the “Hook” for your Business’ Free Press Release


Finding the relevancy of your products or services to a topic of current interest is called a “hook.” Your business products and services need to “hook on to” an event or discussion of importance.

If your business serves just your regional area, you need to find a topic of great interest in your local community. If your business serves customers on a national or international, the topics have a wider range from which to choose.

For example, let’s say that your business sells communication equipment such as CB or HAM gear. Now let’s suppose a serious earthquake happened in another area or country and those areas had lost methods of communication. Add to that, perhaps your own area is earthquake-prone.

You could devise an emergency communication program and offer free communication in case of a serious earthquake in your own community. In your press release, you would explain who, what, where, why and how your communication system would work for people in your immediate community.

This type of press release would be termed a, “Human Interest” story. Because your business is offering a service to the community, it would be seen as informational to help ease worry as well as commendable on the part of your business in offering a free service.

Even if such an event would not take place, your customer base would grow simply because of the advertising you gained for your humanitarian efforts; raising the trust level for your products and services in the area.


Does your Business Have a Historical Tie?

Community history is always newsworthy. Does your business operate out of a historical home? If so, who was the family and what did they do in the community during the “good old days?”

Is your business family owned? Did you have ancestors who settled in the area? What was it like during those days? Do you have photographs you can share?

Is your business marking an anniversary of being in business for over 10 years? Is there someone in your employ who has an interesting background and story to tell?

In general, people like to read about people. Stories about people and history are always of human interest and are interesting topics to write about.


Who Writes the Press Release and How to Submit One

Any good writer can write a press release, especially if the writer has had experience with writing for the press.

If there is a story to tell but you know of no one to write it, call a newspaper and find out who you need to speak to about your press release. Most newspaper offices have different departments; you would not want your free press release on emergency communications in the “Garden” section.


At this point, you can do one of two things:

1. Go for it. Submit your completed press release by fax, mail, or hand-delivery. Be sure to include any photos as well as the contact information for you and any other people mentioned in the article who are available for interview.
2. Submit a query. Send a letter to the editor or reporter about the press release you would like to do. Many times, especially if the story is particularly newsworthy, a reporter will come out to interview you and write the story themselves. Again, have any photos on hand as well as the contact information of any other people who can be interviewed.

You can also submit completed press releases through a number of press release companies on the internet, although the chances of your releases being printed for free (without any fees whatsoever) are greatly diminished.


Important Points to Remember when Writing and Submitting Press Releases:

1. A press release is not meant to sell your business’ products and/or services.
2. READ the newspapers or publications before you submit a press release.
3. Find out the appropriate editor or reporter for the department you are appealing to.
4. Have photos and a contact list of other people who can be interviewed.
5. ALWAYS thank the press outlet for publishing your press release.

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These days there is an ever-increasing trend of people working from their homes. And it is easy to see why; working at home is cheaper and more convenient than commuting to an office.

However, as can be expected with this thriftiness and convenience, working at home comes with a certain risk: that of distractions and temptations to laze around the house having fun or relaxing.

When it comes to working out of a home office, there are many things that can stand in the way of your productivity. This article will outline a few of them and recommend ways to avoid them and get the most out of the time you spend working at home.

Avoid Distraction at all Cost

The most important thing to avoid while working at home is distraction. This can come in many forms, but will always detract from your working abilities. The most common source of distractions, unsurprisingly, is you.

Since so many at-home jobs these days involve computers, it is easier than ever to spend a few minutes here and there surfing the net or listening to music. But a few minutes here and there can add up to more than expected.

It is important to keep your workplace free of entertaining distractions. For many people this means having two different personal computers: one for work and one for play. This will help you stay focused on the task at hand. You will be amazed at how much more work you get done when you spend the entire day working with no messing around!

Home Office Organization Techniques

Another way to ensure that you get the most out of the time you spend working at home is to make sure that your office is optimally organized. Simply having the most expensive desk, chair, and shelving available is not enough; your home office’s furnishings have to mesh with one another.

In other words, you should consider things like how much space they occupy before purchasing them. Doing so will help you come up with an office layout that is maximally efficient. In these days where people are either tight on money or tight on space, or both, something like the Techni Mobili Computer Desk is a popular choice.

What Room of the House to Use

Another factor that will contribute to the efficiency of the time you spend in your home office is its location. You should make sure the area you have set aside to do at-home work is not used for other purposes, if possible. It does not take any more than a person walking by to distract you from your work and require you to spend extra time refocusing your attention.

As far as time is concerned, every little bit adds up, and, as the saying goes, “time is money.” There are other factors associated with your home office’s location that you should also consider. For example, how much sunlight gets to your office during the time you work?

How many electrical outlets are available to you without using a surge protector? Do you have space to perform all the working actions you need to perform? And finally, do you feel comfortable working in the area you have chosen?

The All-Important Office Desk

The office desk you choose to use is one of the major factors determining how comfortable your working area will be. For this reason, it is important to put a large amount of planning into the purchase of your office desk. Available models vary according to available features, quality of materials used, storage space, etc.

It is important to know your needs before beginning to shop for a desk. For example, you should not buy a desk with four drawers intended to store paper files if your work does not involve keeping any kind of paper records. Office desks can be expensive, and picking one that suits rather than exceeds your needs is a great way to save some money.

Sit on It for a While

Women at a deskPicking the right office chair is another great way to save. It can be tempting to buy the most expensive, comfortable chair on the market, justifying it as a “business expense,” but ultimately you should consider how much time you plan on spending sitting in the chair each day.

If your back can handle sitting at a cheap chair for the few hours per day you spend working at home, you can save serious dollars by purchasing an inexpensive chair or using one you already have around the house. All things considered, the most important thing to consider when planning the layout of your home office is practicality; does your design allow you to complete the work you need to complete in a clutter- and stress-free environment?

If not, try to come up with a plan for reducing the elements involved with your home office that are cutting into your efficiency. And remember, your home office is yours; there is nobody to blame for things not getting done but yourself.

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Business Ethics To Practice

There is a lot of tension that business managers have to learn to deal with in today's business environment. Shareholders want higher profits, but the workforce wants higher wages. Consumer want lower prices, but suppliers want to charge more for parts and supplies. In the midst of all that, companies need to keep a close eye on business ethics issues.

Ethics in business has been a concern for businesses for a while now, but events of the past years has mad it even more of a focus. It seem like it should be such an easy thing; do what is right and you won't get into trouble, but deciding what is right seems to depend on who you talk to.

Business schools teach managers have a responsibility to grow the business and get the best return for the stakeholders, but some times the stakeholders have conflicting concerns. How do business ethics apply to that type of situation?



3 Important Business Ethics


While there are often times that the answer is not clear cut, there are a few standards that will help you avoid major missteps.


Honesty

One business ethics rule you should never violate is to tell the truth. Regardless of what problem you might face, you will never go wrong by being honest. If you need to make a decision that is not popular, or may even harm one group or another, be honest with the people involved.

Most of the major business ethics scandals over the past years have come as a result of business leaders that were dishonest. Knowing right from wrong, they chose wrong, and then lied about what they had done. Those in the organization that were not involved in the original problem ended up getting in trouble when they participated in the cover up.

Perhaps the most basic tenet of business ethics is maintaining honesty. Those you deal with may not agree with you, but they will respect the fact that they know that you are telling them the truth. That goes a long way with people.


Integrity


Business WomenThere are times in business when people do something that may be honest, and it may be the right decision for the company, but they go about it all wrong. You have heard stories of companies that announce layoffs the week before Christmas.

Many times these companies new about the decision weeks or even months before it was announced, but in order to avoid problems, they put off the announcement until the last minute. Integrity in business ethics would say that you tell your people what is coming so they have the opportunity to prepare for the layoff.

The same is true with price increases for your clients. If you need to increase prices you need to be honest and up front about the increases, not try to slip an increase in unnoticed. This type of behavior usually backfires, and the reputation of your business is harmed in the process.


Security

One area that has improved over the years is the issue of security of information about your clients and customers. There have been too many examples in past where a company has sold customer contact information to a third party for marketing purposes. You customers end up on a junk-mail list because the company owner saw an opportunity for a quick pay-day.

You need to apply business ethics by making sure that any information you collect about your customers is kept completely private. If your customers do not feel safe with your business they will quickly go to your competitors, and you will have a hard time trying to win them back.


Code of Business Ethics

One way to make sure the people in your organization abide by your business ethics is to write a Code of Ethics for your organization. This sends a message to your employees and your customers that you practice good business ethics.

Be prepared to spend some time getting this right. It isn't something you can typically knock out over lunch one day. You need to make sure it truly captures your view of business ethics for your organization. If you do this half-heartedly, your customers and employees will see through it, and they will probably doubt that you truly hold to the business ethics that you claim are important.


Points To Keep In Mind…

• Many problems can be avoided by being honest with the people involved.
• Sometimes businesses do what is right, but they go about doing it all wrong.
• A Code of Business Ethics lets your customers and employees know what is important to you.
• Once you lose the trust of the people you deal with it is very hard to get it back.
• Your Code of Ethics needs to truly reflect what you believe and not just something you threw together.

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Five Common Mistakes Entrepreneurs Make and you Should Avoid

One thing that all entrepreneurs have in common is that they all make mistakes. Unfortunately, time and again we see the same mistakes repeated by many entrepreneurs.
Mistakes.


Entrepreneurs Make #1 – Unclear Goals

Not having clear goals and a clear mission is like trying to drive through a foreign city without a map. he easiest way to avoid making this mistake is to write down your goals and strategies. Too often people can be thrown off course by innocently misinterpreting the goals and strategies. To assume that everyone involved with the business has a clear understanding of its mission can cause many more errors down the road.

In addition to writing down the goals of the business, be sure to write down measurements for success! Set your goals with timelines or milestones in mind and keep focused on meeting those objectives.


Mistakes Entrepreneurs Make #2 – Trying to prove you are Smart

The quickest way to make enemies is to try and prove you are the smartest one out of all the people you work with. Trying to prove you are smart is self-serving and has everything to do with ego; you will end up looking foolish for not listening to the advice of others in business.

No one has all the answers. Where you become smarter is when you realize that there are many other talented people who you can learn from. If you are fortunate enough to be surrounded by such a group of people, learn to be gracious and acknowledge and give credit to them for helping you along the path of building your business successfully.


Mistakes Entrepreneurs Make #3 – Greed

This may sound like a silly question but: are you in business to simply make money? Or, have you become an entrepreneur in order to march to the beat of your own drummer?

Becoming a successful entrepreneur involves the creative efforts on not only your part, but also on the part of others who contribute time and money toward your business. They want to succeed with you and are more likely to stay with you as long as they are valued---by you.

This means that you cannot keep the whole pie to yourself. Just because you might feel that you work harder than others do, does not mean that you are entitled to all the business equity. Think of it this way: with the help of others' contributions of time and money, what might the value of your slice of the pie be worth down the road?


Mistakes Entrepreneurs Make #4 – Hiring the Wrong People

Your business is not being set up as a social gathering and filled with all the people whom you like. Your business needs to be comprised of knowledgeable and talented people who are good at what they do.

Successful entrepreneurs concentrate on hiring the people they need---not just people they like.

Part of writing your goals and strategies includes creating job positions for people to fill. Without a clear-cut job description and list of duties for those areas, how would you know the best people to hire?


Mistakes Entrepreneurs Make #5 – Not Knowing when to Let Go

Many business owners refer to their venture as their “baby” and, in many ways, building a business is just like rearing a child.

As an entrepreneur, you are starting with a seedling of life that you will nourish and grow and the “child” begins to mature. Over time, other people contribute their time, skills, and money into the business and, as the business grows, the relationships change.

Be prepared to hand over responsibilities to others so that you do not suffer from “burn out.”


Important Points to Remember to Avoid Making the 5 Biggest Mistakes:

Coffee Cup Nespaper and cell phone

• * Develop and write down goals, strategies, and measures for success.
• * Give credit to others who are smarter than you.
• * Be fair with sharing the equity in the business.
• * Hire the people you need---not just the people you like.
• * Learn to give responsibility to others at the right time.

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Top 7 Entrepreneurial Traits Needed For Success

Source : A Touch of Business.com


Entrepreneurial Traits: Entrepreneurial Traits - symboloized by a man at his deskSo you think you might be the next Bill Gates but those around you are telling you that you just don't have what it takes?

Well, people have studied entrepreneurs for years, trying to determine what makes them successful at starting a business.

Why are some people more persistent than others? Why are they willing to take risks?

What keeps them from feeling overwhelmed? How can they spot an opportunity that others fail to see? In general, what makes someone a successful entrepreneur?


What Is an Entrepreneur Anyway?

Are you an entrepreneur? How do you know? Well, first you need to understand what an entrepreneur is.

According to most modern dictionaries, an entrepreneur is someone that starts a new business when they see an opportunity at hand – an opportunity with success written all over it.

However, finding such opportunities is not easy and when found, even more difficult to turn into something of worth.

The Small Business Administration (SBA) keeps the stats on business failures and claims that more than half of new businesses will disappear in the first five years.

That is why it is important to determine before you begin if you have what it takes to make it as a business owner.


Top 7 Entrepreneurial Traits Needed For Success

Here are the seven characteristics that researchers find over and over again. If you have these traits, your odds of success are far greater than those that do not.

• Self -Confidence – This means that you trust your abilities. You are willing to face the adversities that are going to happen. You believe you have what it takes to act upon and solve these problems.

• Risk - Taker – This means you trust your hunches, even without a lot of evidence. Keep in mind, however, that success isn't about luck. Once you have the idea, effort and hard work must take place.

• Financial Savvy – You must understand the value of money and have an understanding for how much things cost. Most entrepreneurs learned this skill at a young age by earning their own money through endeavors such as babysitting or mowing lawns. Entrepreneur typing on a computer4. Observant – You know what the next trend is going to be by observing what is going on around you. You will always be looking for new ideas and new ways to make money.

• 5. Competitive – You want to win and you are not afraid of others out there that feel the same way. You know how to stay ahead of others.

• 6. Strong Work Ethic –You are honorable and have a strong work ethic. By making your deals honest, you have an excellent reputation.

• 7. Knows When To Relax – Although you understand the value of hard work, you also know when it is time to step back and enjoy leisurely activities. You realize that burning yourself out is not the way to succeed.

Having these characteristics is not a guarantee that an entrepreneur will be successful. But with these characteristics, an entrepreneur has just the right ingredients for success.

Luckily, the items on the list are learnable. If you want to be an entrepreneur, be honest with yourself and then get to work.

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How did Henry J. Heinz Achieve Such Extraordinary Success?

Source : A Touch of Business.com

HARD WORK. This phrase comes to mind when reading about business leader Henry J. Heinz, whose products’ presence on just about every table makes people include him as one of the greatest business leaders in American history.

Henry J. Heinz – Working Since Nine!

Heinz was one of eight children born to German immigrants Heinrich Heinz and Anna Margareta Schmitt.

He was born in Birmingham, Pennsylvania, but the family would later move to Sharpsburg (on the outskirts of Pittsburgh).

Heinz started in ‘business’ very young. At just six years old, he was already helping his mother look after a backyard garden from which they sold vegetables to neighbors. At age eight, young Heinz would be selling produce already door-to-door!

By the time Heinz reached 17, he was already earning $2,400 annually, a staggering amount during those times.

Laying the Foundation for Heinz

In 1869, Heinz founded his first company – the Heinz Noble & Company with L.C. Noble – to sell horseradish but it was not successful and it ended in bankruptcy in 1875.

Never the one to just give up, Heinz established F & J Heinz with family members and started selling products, one of which was tomato ketchup. In 1888, Heinz bought out his partners and re-organized the firm to the H. J. Heinz Company and it is still the name of the firm to this day.

As a business leader , Heinz was known to be fair in his treatment of employees and was a great supporter of safe and sanitary food practices. In fact, in 1906, he lobbied in favor of the Pure Food and Drug Act. He was also known to be very involved in church activities and did many philanthropic works during his lifetime.

The Henry J. Heinz Quick Bio

• Full name: Henry John Heinz
• Birth date: October 11, 1844 (died May 14, 1919)
• Birth place: Birmingham
• Key success traits: a hard worker to the core, a strategist, never a quitter
• Company: H. J Heinz Company
• Industry: Food & Tobacco

Tidbit:
Heinz’ well-known tagline “57 varieties”, applied in 1896, actually bears no actual meaning. Heinz just happened to like a shoe store ad he saw while in New York City which said “21 styles” and wanted to copy it. In reality, Heinz was already selling more than 57 types of products at the time the slogan was introduced.

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