Different Values

The term “entrepreneur” is derived from the French language and means “one who undertakes (some task).” Entrepreneurship is indeed an enormous undertaking. Many of the qualities that make people great employees do not translate well into entrepreneurship, and vice versa. Both employees and entrepreneurs want the same thing: financial stability. But employees and entrepreneurs have completely different values, and therefore, take different approaches to achieving financial stability. Identifying which group to align with is one of the very first tasks to accomplish.

Views on Failure

Many of us were raised to try and avoid mistakes, as their consequences can be dire and difficult to rebound from. As a result, many people fear failure, are risk averse, and will hesitate, or even neglect, to take necessary courses of action in their businesses. An entrepreneur understands that it is impossible to avoid risk, and failure is sometimes a reality of doing business, but is never finite. Entrepreneurs consider failure, but only as part of determining the most direct route towards an outcome, and should never be feared or avoided.

Delegation

Most employees buy into the idea that each person should be judged and rewarded for their individual efforts. Consequently, many employees spend their time specializing in particular fields where they can be lauded as “the best” in that area. Entrepreneurs believe in cooperation as a means of getting more done with less resources, and they leverage the individual talents of many towards a common goal.

Security versus Freedom

Many people that go into entrepreneurship do so as a means to seek the security they feel is lacking at their jobs. The problem with this mentality is that many business ventures require time, and sometimes major adjustments, before turning a profit, making security extremely illusive. An entrepreneur goes into a venture to express a level of freedom that cannot be achieved as an employee. Many entrepreneurs sacrifice their own personal security for the sake of creating a stable enterprise, refraining from taking money out of the business in the initial stages, which sometimes lasts for months, or even a few years.

Innovation

Many people do better as employees because they prefer to be supervised. Employees prefer to leave the actual strategy and much of the big picture planning to the executives and supervisors. On the other hand, entrepreneurs look for opportunities to improve old systems or create new ones. They are self motivated and require very little supervision.

Evaluating Opportunities

Employees tend to judge opportunities based primarily on cost in dollars and cents. Employees prefer to trade their time for the predictability of a steady paycheck. Entrepreneurs evaluate opportunities based on value. Entrepreneurs often leverage money to save time and other resources, or they trade their time for the prospect of learning a needed skill or building a business relationship.

Responsibility

Employees prefer to take responsibility for their own work or projects they are directly in charge of. Many employees do not feel directly responsible for the success or well-being of the company they work for as a whole. Entrepreneurs prefer that the company’s success begin and end with them. They take responsibility for everything that happens, whether or not their direct actions are involved.

In closing, there is no right or wrong way to travel the road to financial stability. There are both pros and cons to each approach. Making an honest assessment of yourself and your inclination towards one method or the other will save you a great deal of time, effort, frustration and expense. But as usual, don’t just take my word for it…take it for checking!

The transition to entrepreneurship is easy with a mentor. Kafi Tamu Burris (aka The ORIGINAL Rat Race Refugee) has been a full-time entrepreneur since 2005 and is an expert at teaching internet marketing domination techniques. Click here to access FREE internet marketing strategies.

Article’s Original Source.

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Trade show display association websites can help you keep up with the latest trends. You’ll get an insider’s view of the industry and stay abreast of the latest events and inventions in the display industry. Some association websites also offer extensive, searchable listings of trade shows.

In addition to industry news and advertising, you’ll find many useful articles, educational opportunities, and forums for the creative exchange of ideas.

Some of the best minds in the business answer questions like: How do you catch the attention of potential customers in an environment loaded with competing lights, color, and sounds? Once you have the customer’s attention, what do you say or do to close the sale? Learning from the successes and failures of others is much less expensive than learning on your own, and trade show association websites can give you that competitive edge.

Make sure to visit the following websites:

Trade Show Exhibitors Association

http://www.tsea.org/ – Trade Show Exhibitors Association (TSEA) has a mission to be the industry voice for exhibit and event marketing professionals. This organization has been active for more than 30 years, providing knowledge to marketing and management professionals who use exhibits to promote and sell their products, as well as to those who supply them with products and services.

This association offers education, advocacy, promotion, communication, service, and member-only discounts on a variety of products and services. They have over 1500 members. To decide if you should join, sign up to receive a sample copy of their newsletter and tip of the week email. Memberships cost from $250.00 to $675.00.

ExibitBuilder.net

http://www.exhibitbuilder.net/ – This website gives trade show display buyers an inside look into the business of designing and producing the latest exhibits. Learn about the latest ideas about lighting, structural design, graphics software, and more from the free articles on their website.

Trade Show Week

http://www.tradeshowweek.com/ – This online trade show ‘newspaper’ will keep you on top of the latest news from the industry. This site also offers an searchable Trade Show directory, which allows you to search by industry, country, state or province, and date. This directory alone is reason enough to put this site in your browser favorites.

Event Design Magazine

http://www.eventdesignmag.com/ – This online magazine caters to the creative people who come up with the latest trade show exhibit and display ideas. Get an inside look at the latest designs, technologies and products. And don’t assume that you won’t find anything that you can use as an exhibitor – one of the latest articles posted on this site gives great ideas for making the most of a bad trade show location. That’s information that most of us could use.

Jonni spent many years attending trade shows and juried art fairs as a creator of unique gift products and artwork. She now devotes her time to writing books and creating websites, including: http://www.find-displays.com

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People like creativity simply because it is fun. We reconnect with the pure pleasure of getting something that did not exist before. When we create we forget our problems, we are just being, the child comes out, we connect with ourselves and it simply feels good. Our energy pours from the inside to the outside and leaves our imprint, the object of our creation becomes an extended part of ourselves. Creativity also lives in a time and purpose vacuum. The worst enemy of creativity is a good idea.

People like innovation because it implies progress. When we innovate, we have a structure. Innovation becomes change. To change we need the reference, the constraints, the structure, the present, what is there. When we do things differently, we are also creating, but we create with a purpose, fun stops until we reach our goal. Thus, innovation has less power as a self-expression than creativity.

Then we come to the field of entrepreneurship, one of my favorite topics. Entrepreneurship is more about creating wealth than it is about creating a company. It is closely linked to creativity, entrepreneurs MUST have something NEW to offer. It is related to innovation, entrepreneurs MUST find new ways of getting in the market, making something new, doing things differently.

When we check most new businesses, they are me-too’s, and most so-called entrepreneurs are people who have bought themselves a job. They don’t create, innovate or add wealth. They shift what exists to a different person.

Entrepreneurship then is the process of exploring how to add value to others in a new or different way. Entrepreneurs capture that value in the form of wealth, and then that wealth with others: clients, users, employees, suppliers, community, governments, etc. To understand that being creative and being innovative is not enough and to be aware that there is a maximized value waiting to be discovered or created, is what entrepreneurs do best when they plan, then they take action, and finally, they evolve.

It is not a matter of luck as most people link entrepreneurship with creativity and innovation. If you don’t have anything, you create. If you have an unwanted present, you innovate. If you want to create wealth, you give that creation or innovation, the best chance. You don’t need money to create wealth, you need creativity and innovation.

It is by thinking and taking action, by consciously discovering where the creations or innovations have the highest perceived value that entrepreneurs build their wealth… and by doing so, create prosperity beyond themselves. It is not about becoming rich but building wealth.

Without the notion of creating wealth, creativity and innovation can’t find a place in the market. To be able to distinguish where the highest value is, who is the ideal customer or client is to bring prosperity to our communities, and to act upon that thought, is what entrepreneurs thrive at.

There are many tools and methods that capture how entrepreneurs create wealth. It is not an art, or a science. It is the conscious effort of making the best of a product or a service, to find those who value it best, and capture that value, what lies inside the entrepreneur.

Creating wealth escapes the obvious, and creates new valued propositions. Sometimes we use innovation to improve what is there, but most likely, the best results come from a free, playful, fun exercise of creating wealth. Whatever you do to create wealth will improve your skills and build up that wealthing muscle. Even if you compose a song in tribute to your wealth when you are showering!

Here is to your wealth and joy,

Alicia Castillo Holley is an international expert on entrepreneurship and innovation. She has started 9 companies and one not-for-profit, raised millions of dollars and trained thousands of people. She’s a recognized author, speaker and seminar leader.
http://www.wealthing.com

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Deputy US Trade Representative Karan Bhatia said that their rival country can receive penalizing trade measures from the US government if they do not open up their market to American companies and if they do not treat US firms fairly. However, Bhatia did not imply that the US government would limit China’s access to their market.

On the other hand, US Trade Representative Rob Portman has a different take on United States-China trade situation. Last week, he expressed that the US government will set up a task force that will monitor China’s compliance with global trade policies. These policies focuses on implementing of intellectual property rights, easing up local industries, and carrying out vows to open the market to US companies.

According to Karan Bhatia, China has very much profited from their access to the US market, yet China is not doing their share as they continue in not giving US companies a level playing field in their markets. Furthermore, as said by some critics, low-priced Chinese products has already flooded the United States, which resulted in financial struggles of US competitors and job insecurity in the industrial parts of the country. The Chinese government is also reported to keep the yuan currency weak in order to increase their exports.

Last year, the trade deficit went to a record low of $725bn (£414bn) because oil prices rose and demand for imports of every kind increased.

In order to pacify US citizens who might lose their jobs because of the trade deficit, US legislators have proposed laws to lower trade relations with China. The US government also gave stern warnings to China to revalue its currency, and impose tariffs on Chinese products that is already flooding the country.

Analysts say that United States government has limited options and they could not afford to get even with China because these actions could backfire at them.

In response to United States’ stern warnings and criticisms, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Qin Gang expressed that the US plan to impose penalizing trade measures on them will not help ease their trade relations. He also said that such impositions will not also be favorable to the business interests of the United States.

At the moment, people are anticipating a resolution to this problem when Chinese President Hu Jintao visits Washington for talks with the US President in April.

By Vasily Klimko Global B2B Directory http://TOBOC.com – leading importers exporters database

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If you do not have enough time to enroll in a regular course then do not stress it. You can always join a distance-learning course and attend classes on the Internet. In other words, you can learn entrepreneurship online. Not only is this convenient but it is also a whole lot cheaper. Many accredited universities also offer online programs for working professionals.

Here are some of the programs that would be of interest to you. If you have an associates degree or a high school diploma then you can opt for this course that teaches things like marketing management, entrepreneurial finance, product development, business law, and so on. If you want you could go for a bachelor’s degree course in Business Administration or Small Business and Entrepreneurship. If you are working full time then you should go for an Associate or Bachelor degree in Business Administration or Entrepreneurship that permits you to take classes on the Internet.

If you are already a graduate then you can also do your MBA (Master’s of Business Administration) online. The MBA course will teach you how to analyze your business and develop the right strategies, how to write business plans, and also introduce you to several case studies of businesses and their marketing strategies.
Business communication is another vital aspect of entrepreneurship and you can get a Masters of Arts in Business Communication from many good online universities.

Online education through a virtual campus is slightly different than attending a college full time but for the most part it is a good experience. Your classroom is waiting for your 24 hours a day and you can just hook up to the Internet and continue your education when you find convenient. Some universities even include video options where you can chat with faculty and other students to make the whole thing more personal.

If you believe that you have what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur then should seriously consider taking one of the above courses to sharpen your skills with a bit of formal education before starting your business.

Steve Seah, a Singaporean Chinese studying entrepreneurship. Wants to share his understanding about entrepreneurship and strategy of wealth creations with the world. To grab free reports and ebook, visit http://www.mywealthcreationstrategy.com and/or http://www.entrepreneur2b.com

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Equipment Used
You have to consider the equipment being used by printing services because of the fact that it will determine the quality of the work and the output that they will produce in the end. Of course, you do not want to have a poor and low quality of output products just because the trading printing servicing company that you have employed do not have high in quality and class equipment. The trade printer must have all kinds of equipment that are being used in the business. The reason for this is because it only guarantees that the trade printer can take in any kind of work that you have for them. What if they only have the machines for stationary packages that you ordered but you have realized eventually that you want to order t-shirt imprints. But because the equipment of your trade printer is only limited to stationary packages, you will now need to find another trade printer to do the job. Whereas, if you check the equipment being used and found that your selected trade printer has all kinds of printing equipment, you will save much time and effort in your business.

Cost-Effectiveness
You must understand that if you are a broker or a designer, your trade printer must be the one that offers low cost services. This is because as a businessman yourself you also need to earn money or profit out of the products you want to get printed. Think of it this way, if you will hire an expensive trade printer it might be that you will just break even with your products or might not earn than what you have to. You will just be wasting much of your time, effort and most of all your talent in designing. Get a trade printing services that offers low cost but provides quality output. In such a way, you and your trade printing service provider will both earn what you deserve.

If you take the 2 tips above you will definitely find the best trade printing servicing company.

Flyer Printing Direct is your friendly expert in Trade Printing and large flyer printing orders. Visit us today and get free options with your order.

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The role of the entrepreneur, or enterpriser, is to turn a business idea into a new business, or inject new life into an old one. At every stage of the process – from the initial big idea through to planning it and implementing and beyond – the entrepreneur can learn from the experience of others who have been there before, following the example of clear practices and precepts. In fact, many entrepreneurial successes have earned their fortunes in exactly this way.

However, there is a basic question which every firm is faced with eventually. Do you attempt to make the business grow, or are you basically happy with what you’ve got? If the answer is the latter, which perhaps reflects the traditional image of the smaller firm, then you are out of date and in a small minority.

The majority of firms are committed to growth. But in a climate of intense competition, you can’t expect to grow without entrepreneurship and innovation. And it just so happens that intense competition is a permanent feature of the new economy.

Innovation, though, always carries a certain risk, to which many – including those who wish to grow their business – seem averse, especially proprietors. According to a survey, 30% are ‘unwilling to pursue any risky growth strategies’. The figure of the unwilling is only 18% among non-proprietorial managers, though, proving they are a more go-ahead bunch altogether.

However, just a fifth of the managerial types concur that ‘Growth is all: we can’t survive in this business unless we grow. Success only comes from taking big chances, and I would risk a lot for a strategy which promised to deliver strong long-term growth.’ Those rather intimidating words might help to explain why as many as three-fifths of the firms replied in favour of relative safety, opting for a ‘medium-risk strategy – if growth prospects are reasonably good.’

But in any case, growth doesn’t seem to be the leading objective. The majority of firms ranked profit as ‘very important’, with growth next on the list (albeit quite close), followed by market share, steady employment and value for sale.

But success is divided equally between profitability and growth – both are needed, as are innovation and entrepreneurship.

The above article was written by Robert Heller, renowned entrepreneurship expert and co-author of business management website Thinking Managers along with world renowned thinker and creativity expert Edward de Bono.

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Below are 5 reasons why social entrepreneurship has become an employment alternative.

* Due to the recorded unemployment and employee dissatisfaction, social entrepreneurship has become a feasible employment alternative and at the same time solving some of our biggest social issues. Social entrepreneurs usually come up with new solutions to social problems and then carry them out in a large scale. They use inspiration, creativity, courage, fortitude and direct action to create a new reality that leads to sustaining social benefit and better future for everyone.
* Social entrepreneurship is a combination of business entrepreneurship and social change thus it offers people the opportunity to earn a living and living one’s passion. It is a field with distinct and shifting interpretations. It utilizes business principles to accomplish social purpose or execute some social change whether domestic or abroad. Social entrepreneurs are not afraid to challenge the world’s biggest problem. They recognize extraordinary potentials and are committed to help billions of poor people in the world to use their talents and skills to attain their potential.
* For people who only consider working for a nonprofit organization as they believe capitalism is bad, social entrepreneurship provides them an opportunity to make good money at the same time honor their nonprofit values. Some of the successful social entrepreneurs have also included the civic, governmental and business worlds supporting the mainstream public services ideas in welfare, schools and health care.
* No hassles for social entrepreneurship in terms of corporate legal structures and documentation as they can function as sole proprietorships and limited liability companies. A full business plan may be developed with market research, SWOT analysis and marketing plan.
* Since social entrepreneurship mostly involved non-profit activities, one has the option to file for exemption for income tax and sometimes property tax at the same time receives tax-deductible charitable contributions. It can generate operating support marked by government cutbacks.

Aspiring entrepreneurs who have the passion to develop social enterprises but lack the knowledge and financial capital to be successful may find this structure to be the best fit.

The Millionaire-Minded Single Entrepreneur, How to Start, Market and Grow your business on a single income. www.entrepreneurmillionairesecret.com download your free copy of How To Resolve Conflict Without Ruining Your Reputation

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Trade secrets are defined in the Uniform Trade Secrets Act, or UTSA, as information that includes formulas, patterns, programs, devices, compilations of information, methods, techniques, or processes. These must be commercially valuable, not generally known or readily ascertainable, and must be the subject of reasonable efforts to maintain secrecy. Adaptations of the UTSA have been enacted in 45 states. Legal remedies are available in the event of a breach.

Since trade secrets are so important, a plan should be in place to protect them. I have dealt with numerous trade secret issues in my workplace; my current employer has many trade secrets. There have been instances where these have been independently derived by competitors, or employees who switched jobs have carried them to the competition. One of the more successful techniques we have used to prevent this from happening is labeling secret ingredients with code names. This keeps the personnel actually using the ingredients from knowing the true nature of the material. Coordination with vendors is essential if this is attempted; any safety information that is accessible by employees about these materials must be detailed enough to reveal the hazards present, but vague enough to keep the composition of the material a secret. Other techniques include confidentiality agreements, non-compete agreements and reminders of these signed documents when an employee leaves. We also take appropriate legal action when a trade secret problem occurs.

Additional steps that should also be included in a comprehensive plan include having a company ID system to keep employees in their assigned work areas, keeping trade secret information under lock and key, marking written documents as confidential, and limiting computer access to trade secrets with passwords.

Another essential step, and probably the most important, is for someone in the company to keep an inventory of trade secrets and update it at least once a year. This duty can fall through the cracks in even the most organized companies. Details such as who knows each secret and how the secret is being controlled should be included. Doing this might seem like a thankless task, but if litigation does occur it will be indispensible.

An example of the legal repercussions an employee convicted of stealing trade secrets faces can be seen in the case of a former research chemist, who was recently sentenced to 18 months in prison and substantial fines for stealing trade secrets from DuPont. Sentencing can vary from extremely harsh to a slap on the wrist in these cases, depending on the severity of the infraction. In this particular case, the employee was caught by DuPont’s IT group, who noticed he had downloaded an unusual amount of documents prior to leaving the company.

Former DuPont Scientist Sentenced For Trade Secret Theft (http://www.informationweek.com/news/security/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=202804057)

The Uniform Trade Secrets Act (http://www.law.upenn.edu/bll/archives/ulc/fnact99/1980s/utsa85.htm)

Tom Philpott is a quality assurance professional with 18 years of experience in manufacturing. Tom is a 2008 graduate of Greensboro College and is currently enrolled in the Master’s Degree in Entrepreneurship Program at Western Carolina University. Webmasters and other article publishers are hereby granted article reproduction permission as long as this article in its entirety, author’s information, and any links remain intact. Copyright 2008 by Tom Philpott.

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