Entrepreneur - The 10 Winning Habits

1. Make a list of people to call up/ follow up with

Every day is an experience for an entrepreneur – specially the start ups. There will be thousands of people to talk to including your customers, suppliers, government agencies, investors and advisers. Start the day with a list of important calls that you have to make for that day – which may be a telephone call (for low priority or non-urgent) to personal meetings where it matters the most. Try to postpone/remove people who are nice to talk to but mean nothing to your business or add no value.

2. Send a sales proposal to a prospective customer

A start up journey is like bicycling – you fall down if you stop peddling. And that peddle is called sales – I personally try to send at least 1 sales proposal (by email, post, etc.) to my prospective customers everyday – irrespective of volume of business expected or possibility of getting business. You can be lucky if your competitor is not doing this daily – who knows you could be the only person approaching the customer!

3. Follow up for any pending payments

If sales is what drives a venture, it is cash that keeps it alive – and any pending payments at an early stage of a company are like cancer – keep following up for your payments diligently. This is more important than making business plans and approaching investors.

4. Speak to your employees

I have always realized that the role of an entrepreneur is to find people smarter than herself, and motivate them to achieve their goals. One of the most important aspects of this is to constantly communicate with your employees, sometimes talking about their professional issues, and other times about general or personal ones. Make it a point to talk to your people daily. I learned this during my stint at Asian Paints, when through daily team-building, dialogues and discussions; we could take up our performance 200% in 1 month.

5. Analyse your performance against your target metrics

As an entrepreneur, we need to balance thinking with action. If we keep running, then no matter how fast we are, if we do not analyse which direction we are headed to, we will not go anywhere. I have seen a very highly successful entrepreneur, who raised his 3^rd round of venture capital funding recently, measuring and analysing his company performance almost on a daily basis. The key metrics could be product development (number of modules ready, lines of code written etc.), page visits to websites, revenue, expenses, customer inquiries etc.

6. Check your bank account

I do not know how many start ups do this, but I get some internal motivation by checking my company accounts daily – it can as well de-motivate you if you are not acting upon how to get the cash in or control the cash out!

7. Remain updated with Google Alerts

In current scenario, there is no time to read newspaper, listen to radio or watch TV but it is always important to stay updated – with what is happening around the world as well as in your business domain. Google alerts is a good way to stay updated, as it gives a summary of news/blogs etc. on your relevant keyword and sends you a mail on the same.

8. Give some time to family/friends

Being an entrepreneur is a rewarding though stressful situation. It is always good to give some time to your family and friends, so that you are refreshed for another day at work. Have a nice time, go out for dinner, watch a movie, or just talk about your lives. You would want someone to share your success with! These are the people who will be the happiest when you come live on TV someday to collect the "Highly successful Entrepreneur" award!

9. Introspect, but do not procrastinate

For 5-10 minutes daily, spend some time thinking about yourself – where did you start, where are you now, where do you want to be – think big! If you introspect, and start thinking that you have grown, that's the first step towards growth. I have found people being happy with their current status, and never introspected about why they started as an entrepreneur.

10. Make a "To do list"

This is obvious – you cannot do things unless you write them down. Personally, I use my mobile's task app or memo pad to keep track of things. And then I keep ticking or deleting the task as it is completed.

I am sure that there are lots more to the list, depending on your stage and priorities, and I will be happy to listen and learn from your experiences. I am sure there will be lot of distractions to your work, and some of them very valid that you will have to immediately address, but a disciplined approach will help you take out time for that too.

 

What do Corporate look forward to in Fresher’s?

 

Corporate are increasingly making a hiring decision once again thanks to the resurgence in the economy. There seems to be a big demand for freshers. Companies are busy fighting the bulge by hiring at the base to sharpen the pyramid structure. 

 

A must for Fresher's Motivation

You are about to get the best job you deserve but you are not sure of the Interviewer's mood or the questions he is going to shower. You are also inexperienced to give professionally correct answers; hence the fear syndrome.

Well that is not a new situation and even very experienced people sometimes mess up. But please remember there are some basic rules and believe me they WORK. However corporate making a hiring decision is more cautious than ever before. They have had a hard time recently. They also have a target to follow and jobs to retain. They are also looking at their bottom lines and limited budgets for wages.

 

Understand their concerns. You will succeed.

 

Willingness to learn:

 

 Corporate know that you are a fresher. They know you have acquired a certain degree of relevant hard skills as elaborated under your "academic qualification" but they are sure they shall have to train you in the desired Vertical thus making you a super specialist.

They fully understand that a fresher is suitably qualified but still not employable.

 

Subordination:

Though organizations love to talk of and look at long term perspectives most employers should and do give importance to their immediate goals. They are looking at you NOW as a subordinate. They won't care about your self-esteem. They would expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.

 

Professionalism:

Leave traces of college behind you. They want a potential employee, not a student. If you are inappropriately dressed your dress will be noticed. If you are impeccably dressed YOU will be noticed.

 

So might as well wear a business suit, pack your documents carefully in a folder and go prepared. Focus on your skills and try to align them with the job requirements. Include and elaborate only on the relevant projects / assignments handled successfully. Interviewers do not have much time listening to your whole story of successes.

 

Location:

Distances do not just bother you; your employers are also aware of this. In case you can relocate your residence make sure you say that. However, try to get a job on your own turf, if possible. It always helps. I have known many people to have to deal with social, geographical, cultural and language issues besides having to tackle a new job.

 

Positive attitude:

 

Nobody wants a liability. You are required to be a self starter. Train yourself to:

• Understand the problem professionally; not emotionally
  
• Handle the problem with a careful eye on the weakness
  
• Solve a problem and not just raise it
  
• Think positive and constructive
  
• Think creative- have a view of your own
  
• Expect success & Be an optimist
  
• Motivate self and colleagues to accomplish goals
  
• Look at failure and problems as blessing in disguise
  
• Identify an opportunity
  
  

Communication Skills:

 

As a fresher your hard skills are already rated in your CV and relevance might not be disputed / challenged through some questions on them are not ruled out. However, the biggest nightmare before corporate and candidate is the communication skills.

Comprehending, analyzing, and responding (verbally or in writing) is what interview is majorly about.

 

Problem solving:

 

Corporate are looking at candidates who can understand and solve the problems whether they relate directly to the vertical / job profile or not. Multitasking is the order of the day and seeking help and giving help is being positively termed as Teamwork, delegation etc.

Be Smart and be ready to execute the work successfully is the mantra.

 

Clear Identity:

         Be honest - your CV might be cross checked

         Ensure your CV and Face book profile match

 

Know your worth:

 

Recruiters know "A cheap employee is expensive". However, you need to be lucky to get fancy salary right in the first job. You have to earn your way up to be a Vice President. Be reasonable and market friendly.

 

Confidence:

 

Face the interview with confidence. We all want confident employees.

"Do not worry over what they are thinking about you.

They are busy about what you are thinking about them….. "

 

Remember - They also want employees.

 

 Be Prepared for Inevitable Questions:

 

To know about your attitude and aptitude your prospective employer might ask certain questions and expect clarity of thought , vision, likes & dislikes , that is, more about your personality and prospective behaviour expressed our clearly. Do not worry if you know the probable questions and are prepared.

 

• Why did you select your college?
  
• If given another chance, how would you pursue your academics & why?
  
• What subjects did you like the best & why?
  
• What subjects would you like the least and why?
  
• Elaborate your most rewarding college experience.
  
• Who was your best teacher and why?
  
• Your biggest challenge as a student and how did you tackle it?
  
•   Are your grades in line with your academic achievements?
  
• You preferred doing project/ assignments alone or in groups?
  
• Do you have plans for further studies?
  
• What extracurricular activities you have participated?
  
• What are your greatest strengths as a student?
  
• Why did you choose your major?
  
• Has your college experience prepared you for a career? How?
  
• What is your greatest weakness?
  
• How do you handle stress and pressure?
  
• What is your greatest strength?
  
• How would you describe yourself?
  
• How do you think a friend or professor who knows you well would describe you?
  
• What motivates you?
  
• What accomplishments are you the most proud of? Why?
  
• Why should I hire you?
  
• What qualifications do you think will make you successful in your work?
  
• What things are most important to you in your job?
  
• What are your short term goals and long range objectives?
  
• How do you plan to achieve your goals?
  
• What do you see yourself doing five years from now?
  
• What do you see yourself doing ten years from now?
  
• What are the most important rewards you expect in your career
  
• What do you know about our company?
  
• What interests you about this job?
  
• Why do you want to work here?
  
• If you were hiring a college graduate for this job, what qualities would you look for?
  
• What do you think it takes to be successful at this company?
  
• What can you contribute to our company?
  
• What new ideas do you think you can bring to this company?
  
• Describe the relationship that should exist between a manager and employees.
  
• In what kind of work environment are you most comfortable?
  
• Are you willing to travel?
  
• Are you willing to relocate?
  
• How do you feel about working evenings and weekends?
  
• Is there anything I haven't told you about the job or company that you would like to know?