To be an Entrepreneur ..

To be an Entrepreneur(excerpts from experts) - 

You'll need intense passion and real need to succeed to get started, but also enough to get through the intense 12-hour days when the chips are down and everything and everyone seems against you. But, if you're competitive and pigheaded enough to get over the failures without wasting time feeling sorry for yourself, and if you can inspire enough good people to join you.

You’ve got to be good at something and not only be good at it, but you’ve got to love it, and then you’re willing to work and do whatever it takes. Then, if you’re fortunate, that turns into something that creates wealth for you.

Find something you love to do, that you are passionate about and also good at. Have the goal to be successful and plan to give it all you've got. Critically important, make sure you are hands-on and the one driving things because no one will care about your business like you do. Be involved in all details and be aggressive at attaining your goals, and know how to pivot when necessary.

You’ve got to go back to the basics. Find a need, solve a problem and, most importantly, make sure you have a customer. If those things are in place, and you have the ability to scale, now we’re talking. It’s going to be incredibly hard work. Harder than you’ve ever imagined, but it’s the best time to be an Entrepreneur. The time is now!

Don’t think about the money. Go out there and do something that you really, really love, even if it’s not something you went to school for. Find out what your passion is. Do something that you absolutely love and you’re going to look back over the years and say that you enjoyed life.

Success is not about money ..

Think of happiness as a business best practice and a success fundamental

Career: Ask yourself

• Am I passionate about the work?
• Am I one of the world's best at doing this work?
• Will the market compensate me well enough for it?

Small Business: Much of the potential for success depends upon two things

• Your ability to effectively function physically, mentally, and emotionally.
• How well you balance where the business stops and your personal life starts

Money:Truth

• Wealth only provides options, not a guarantee of happiness.
• If you can’t be happy without money and stuff, you aren’t likely to be happy with it.

ref:

• http://www.businessinsider.com/success-is-about-time-not-money-2015-2
• http://www.forbes.com/sites/jimblasingame/2014/05/19/success-is-not-measured-only-by-money-and-stuff/
• http://www.businessinsider.com/warren-buffett-graham-and-doddsville-lecture-2015-8

Entrepreneur's important lessons in 20s ..

1. The difference between success and failure is self-confidence and persistence
2. Any limitations on personal growth are self-imposed
3. Networking is the key to success
4. Be passionate and decisive
5. Importance of surrounding yourself with people who will push you to be better
6. Need to hire people who are better than you
7. Learn to be patient
8. Learn the importance of asking yourself the hard questions
9. No matter what you're doing, you should always try your best
10. Don't let business get personal. It's just business. Shrug it off
11. Learn not to sell yourself short
12. There's no replacement for hard work
13. A fancy degree and natural talent don't entitle you to success
14. Being a leader can be lonely at times

ref: 

• http://www.businessinsider.com/best-lessons-entrepreneurs-learned-in-their-20s-2015-1
• http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/228134
• http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/237077

Global Entrepreneurs Recommend Books ..

ref: 

• http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/247511
• http://www.entrepreneur.com/slideshow/247292
• http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/246961

1. Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill -- recommended by Sandile B. Magwaza

2. Start by Jon Acuff -- recommended by Kimberly Edwards LaComba

3. The Lean Startup by Eric Ries -- recommended by Matt Barber

4. Zero to One by Peter Thiel -- recommended by Franklin McCullough

5. Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki -- recommended by Mannan Gupta

6. The 100 Dollar Start Up by Chris Guillebeau -- recommended by Nawaz Dangra

7. Produced by Faith by Devon Franklin -- recommended by Say Smith

8. The Crowd: A Study of the Popular Mind by Gustave LeBon -- recommended by Ingo Behle

9. The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey -- recommended by Puna Snamandla Gumede

10. The Pursuit of Happyness by Chris Gardner -- recommended by Vrush SG

Career advice at work ..

1. Do what matters early on

Focus on identifying specific tasks or objectives you can achieve early on to establish your reputation as someone who gets things done. Be sure to choose a goal that matters to the company and its business objectives.

- Ryan Stoner, ryanstoner.com

2. Focus on the problem in its simplest form

One of the most important things you can learn as an entrepreneur is to focus on the problem in its simplest form, one that you can describe in one sentence. Then come up with the simplest answer to that problem. If you know a problem exists, then you can determine the demand for an actual solution.

- Andy Karuza, SpotSurvey

3. Listen more than you talk

Listening carefully with 100% focus and commitment is such an important thing. My colleague is great at it, and every time I am reminded that by just listening well, you pick up a lot of what it eventually takes to succeed, or, for example, to complete a final sale. Customers will literally tell you what they need when asked.

- Ridaa Murad, Christina Ventures

4. Over-prepare, and then go with the flow

Whether it’s sales calls, meetings, presentations or anything else associated with job-related duties, over-prepared individuals can relax once they are in the hot seat. It gives you the ability to maintain a grace under fire and creates room for necessary improvisation and flexibility. Nothing will ever turn out as planned, and when you are over-prepared, you can compensate for this dynamic.

- Jon Cline, Rokit SEO

5. Slow down

I walk quickly, especially when I’m at an event location and getting things done. At one of my first large events, a colleague told me to slow down—more specifically, to saunter. When I slowed down my walking, my brain slowed down. And during the walk from Point A to Point B at an event location, I could better assess how to handle four tasks at once. Saunter is my new middle name.

- Sydney Owen Williams, Planet Green Socks

ref:

13 Pieces of Career Advice to Help You Flourish at Work - http://success.com/article/13-pieces-of-career-advice-to-help-you-flourish-at-work

24 Proven Steps to Make You a Master Networker - http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/243159

50 Quotes on Leadership Every Entrepreneur Should Follow - http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/243861

Entrepreneurial Quotes ...

1. If you are not a brand, you are a commodity - Robert Kiyosaki

2. Chase the vision, not the money, the money will end up following you - Tony Hsieh

3. Continuous effort - not strength or intelligence - is the key to unlocking our potential - Winston Churchill

4. Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts. Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm - Winston Churchill

5. Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference. Never, never, never give up. Difficulties mastered are opportunities won - Winston Churchill

6. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do - Steve Jobs

7. I don't know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody - Bill Cosby

8. If you have an important point to make, don't try to be subtle or clever. Use a pile driver. Hit the point once. Then come back and hit it again. Then hit it a third time - a tremendous whack - Winston Churchill

9. A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty - Winston Churchill

10. Money is like gasoline during a road trip. You don’t want to run out of gas on your trip, but you’re not doing a tour of gas stations - Tim O’Reilly

11. Don’t worry about people stealing your design work. Worry about the day they stop - Jeffrey Zeldman

12. Trying to get everyone to like you is a sign of mediocrity: You'll avoid the tough decisions, you'll avoid confronting the people who need to be confronted - Chairman Powell

13. It is no use saying, 'We are doing our best.' You have got to succeed in doing what is necessary - Winston Churchill

14. Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning - Winston Churchill


ref:

101 entrepreneurial quotes - http://www.businessinsider.com/101-best-inspirational-quotes-for-entrepreneurs-2013-9

50 entrepreneurial quotes - http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/240047

Leadership Quotations from Chairman Powell - http://govleaders.org/powell.htm

At the end of the day it’s your career and nobody else’s, Please own it !

Secrets of Success:

Biggest Career Mistakes:

ref

Read a book today ...

“There is no friend as loyal as a book.” - Ernest Hemingway
 
“I cannot live without books.” - Thomas Jefferson
 
“A room without books is like a body without a soul.” - Marcus Tullius Cicero

“That's the thing about books. They let you travel without moving your feet.” - Jhumpa Lahiri, The Namesake

“A great book should leave you with many experiences, and slightly exhausted at the end. You live several lives while reading.” - William Styron, Conversations with William Styron
 
.. Now let's make a new life long friend by reading a book ...

Life

Inspiration - https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B_hC-3L4eq17bktNVWJHbHk3Zjg&usp=sharing_eid

Psychology - https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B_hC-3L4eq17LWRzRW43NnZTdGc&usp=sharing_eid

People Management - https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B_hC-3L4eq17dlhVV3VJQXlSaVk&usp=sharing_eid

Financial Management - https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B_hC-3L4eq17VHRlSzN2bS1VSms&usp=sharing_eid

Jiddu Krishnamurthy - http://www.jiddu-krishnamurti.net/en/krishnamurti-ebooks-free-download

Technology

Software Architecture - https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B_hC-3L4eq17YVFtQXRKN1Y1SnM&usp=sharing_eid

Java - https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B_hC-3L4eq17REdOa053SFF0Rm8&usp=sharing_eid

Android - https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B5BO97vHUkN2ZmV0cE5wMXFabFU&usp=sharing_eid

C++ - https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B_hC-3L4eq17UEtoRXdMVk9teEk&usp=sharing_eid

Richard Stevens(Unix) - https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B_hC-3L4eq17QzgtdkFVU0pXT2s&usp=sharing_eid

Linux Programming - https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B_hC-3L4eq17T29hNmpYNTNQSmM&usp=sharing_eid

Hadoop - https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B_hC-3L4eq17VFZfdVE0Z2NCUzQ&usp=sharing_eid

Arduino - https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B5BO97vHUkN2VzEzTXFtRS1tSXc&usp=sharing_eid

Technology miscellaneous - https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B_hC-3L4eq17aUhtODlfa25Idlk&usp=sharing_eid

Miscellaneous

Kids - https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B_hC-3L4eq17WU1uckJGa1NVYXc&usp=sharing_eid 

Miscellaneous - https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B_hC-3L4eq17bEthMS1VY0dLLUE&usp=sharing_eid

Journals

YOJANA(govt of india public administration journal) in Telugu - https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B_hC-3L4eq17TDdhWndMVThyckk&usp=sharing_eid 

KURUKSHETRA(govt of india rural administration journal) - https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B5BO97vHUkN2ZnAxWWhwLUswekk&usp=sharing_eid

Telugu

BhagavadGita - https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B5BO97vHUkN2fm5sOTh6THhKZEdjNzlmSG9FcGhfNXJsQ0RfVUwtWlNsOG16eXhjbG14R0E&usp=sharing_eid

Andhra Culture - https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B_hC-3L4eq17aGxna1hrWUtXbWM&usp=sharing_eid

Yandamuri Veerendranath - https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B_hC-3L4eq17MDVJYW0wY09ibDg&usp=sharing_eid

Oka Yogi Aathma Katha - https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B_hC-3L4eq17R0tPQkphRVRiYlU&usp=sharing_eid 

Telugu Miscellaneous - https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B5BO97vHUkN2ZC1sTEd1RmJEMUU&usp=sharing_eid

Telugu Miscellaneous(from other blogs) - 

• http://kktimepass.blogspot.com/2010/06/t.html
• http://kktimepass.blogspot.com/2010/03/great-online-telugu-books.html
• http://kktimepass.blogspot.com/2010/03/online-books-in-teluguby-author.html

Characteristics every Entrepreneur should have ..

ref: 

• http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/240559
• http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/232991

1. Adaptability

What you start out to do will not be exactly what you’re doing when you are ultimately successful. As you roll out your enterprise, you’ll discover that things you expected to work well don’t work at all. You’ll stumble into things that you didn’t expect to work that will. You’ll have to be able to adapt.

You got to be a entrepreneurial chameleon. What makes chameleons so unique is obviously their ability to blend into any background. If they need resemble tree bark, they can. If they need to resemble a brightly colored green leaf, they can do that too! As a successful entrepreneur, you will need to be as flexible as chameleon. This means that you need to be able to quickly adapt to various situations and work comfortably with numerous types of clients with different personalities. Never go for Win-Lose always go for Win-Win. You and your client must always win within the deal.

It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is most adaptable to change.

2. Persistence & Passion

To succeed, you will have to be willing to persist through difficult times. You must be passionate about what they are trying to accomplish. Likewise, they must be willing to commit whatever is needed of them. 

3. Resourcefulness

A vital ability for an entrepreneur is knowing how to make the most of what you have. Your assets as an entrepreneur will be limited, so use them to the fullest. Tapping into a network is the key.

In the long history of humankind those who learned to collaborate and improvise most effectively have prevailed.

Killer lessons from World-Class Entrepreneurs

ref:

• http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/239950
• http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/240510
• http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/236687

1. Success comes from handling difficult situations well - All you have to do is ask for new challenges. Do one thing better. Pick one thing you're already better at than most people. Just. One. Thing. Become maniacally focused at doing that one thing. Work. Train. Learn. Practice. Evaluate. Refine. Be ruthlessly self-critical, not in a masochistic way but to ensure you continue to work to improve every aspect of that one thing. Financially successful people do at least one thing better than just about everyone around them.

2. Absolute clarity and an eye for unexpected opportunities - Take responsibility of your life. Don't blame the economy, your company, location and lack of resources. You should realize that it's you and your jaded focus that has to change for good. The moment you get clear on that, your life will shift from complexity to simplicity.

3. Shifting your circle of influence - There comes a point in your life when you realize who really matters, who never did and who always will. Once you get clear on who you are and what you want, you must re-evaluate your "Circle of Influence". Who you associate with is who you become. The term "role model'' is not used enough in our society. It’s extremely important to have role models. A role model will raise your standards. A role model will not let you get complacent. Finding a role model or mentor will spark your mind because they are playing the game at a higher level than you are. If you hang around five confident people, you will be the sixth.

Keep Startup Alive <=> Keep Creating Value

ref: 

• http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/238779 
• http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/240480
• http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/237422

value proposition = creating enough incentive for someone to take action

A business valuation is a set of processes and procedures used to determine the economic value of an entity or set of assets. You must have strong value for your customers or, well, you won’t have any. But beyond that, you must provide substantial value to multiple other parties involved in the life cycle of your business in order to attract and retain employees, partners and capital.

1. Create value
The first stage in the value cycle is to design and market a product that consumers are eager to use because it meets their most important NEED better than competing products.

2. Capture value
The second stage of the value cycle is choosing business activities so that customers are willing to pay for a product at a price high enough above the company's costs to generate sufficient PROFIT and create a return for shareholders after compensating employees and suppliers.

3. Renew value
The final stage in the value cycle is filtering out the noise from the market signals (from changing customer needs, upstart competitors and changing technology) to identify how a company must ADAPT to stay ahead of competitors.This value renewal is the most difficult part of the value cycle for startups trying to survive over the long term.

The SUCCESS 25's Legends in Personal Development

ref: http://www.success.com/article/the-success-25s-legends-in-personal-development

1. Maya Angelou (1928–2014)
2. Dale Carnegie (1888–1955)
3. George S. Clason (1874–1957)
4. Stephen Covey (1932–2012)
5. Viktor Frankl (1905–1997)
6. Paul Harvey (1918–2009)
7. Napoleon Hill (1883–1970)
8. Charlie “Tremendous” Jones (1927–2008)
9. Og Mandino (1923–1996)
10. Orison Swett Marden (1850–1924)

The 3 Things You need to land Venture Capital

ref: http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/238933

The first thing is to know WHO IS YOUR CUSTOMER

• What compels customers to buy this product or service?
• What problems does this product or service solve? Why is it better than the alternatives?
• Why is it worth the price?
• Does it compel you to tell others about your experience?
• Are your customers asking if they can invest in your company?

The second thing is to know about YOUR TEAM

• Passion - The entrepreneur must demonstrate a contagious excitement about their vision for the company.
• Tenacity - The entrepreneur must prove they have the stamina and willpower to stay with their vision through thick and thin.
• Flexibility - The entrepreneur must be willing to reevaluate and refocus their plans when things don’t work out as anticipated.
• Commitment - The entrepreneur must be willing to invest enough of their own money into this project to convince investors they are serious.

The third thing is to know about existing OPPORTUNITY

The Best Advice successful Entrepreneurs ever got ..

ref: http://www.businessinsider.com/successful-entrepreneurs-best-advice-2014-11?op=1

1. There are no shortcuts to success

2. If you're not being told 'no' constantly, you're not pushing hard enough

3. Get into only that business where you can make a difference. Competitive advantage is everything and focus on your core-competency

4. Being comfortable is the enemy. Staying hungry forces you to push yourself to continue to survive, grow, and evolve

5. Learn to say 'no' and focus on what you do best

6. You are who you associate with

7. Don't chase the money, Money is always a by-product not the primary goal

8. We always trade against our time and Time is a precious commodity

9. Don't ever ever give up. Understand every detail of your business not just the big-picture

10. It's OK to ask for help

11. Simplicity is everything

12. Business should be a win-win for everyone

5 Thoughts that Crush Success ..

ref: http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/240018

1. "I'm not an expert." 

No one starts off doing anything as an expert. Expertise is built up over time. You have to make yourself an expert. When considering a project or business, don’t ask if you’re an expert. Rather, ask if you love the subject matter. If you're passionate about the subject, you’ll do everything you can to soak in as much information as possible.

2. "It's already been done." 

You may see your ideas unfold elsewhere in the marketplace and be developed by other people. But that doesn’t matter one bit. If you know that a lot of people need your product or service, the fact that competitors exist validates your plans. Bringing an idea to life and then executing your plan better than others matters a whole lot more than the uniqueness of your concept. Challenge this thinking by asking, "How can I do this better?" 

3. "I don’t know the right people."

Tap the contacts you have. But if you don’t know the right people, make it a point to get to the right people. Contrary to what you may have heard, reaching out to the right people can work if you try hard, even if you don’t have a special connection. Turn this thought into “Whom do I have to get to know -- and how?”

4. "You need money to make money."

You don’t need money to make money. Lack of resources might prompt you to keep your operations lean and mind fresh and sharpen your focus. You can be extremely successful by being smart about expenses and business planning.Think instead, "How can I do things better because my operation is small?"

5. "I always …"

When you run your own business, the lines between your personal and professional life blur. Your personal attributes often dictate the success of your business. When you think about yourself, you often think of what you are now. But when you think of your business, think of what it could be. Mastering the way you think is the first step toward success in any business. 

5 Essential Reads for Startup Entrepreneurs

ref: http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/235508

1. The Advantage: Why Organizational Health Trumps Everything Else In Business by Patrick Lencioni

2. Principles by Ray Dalio

3. In The Plex: How Google Thinks, Works, and Shapes Our Lives by Steven Levy

4. The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers by Ben Horowitz

5. The Four-Hour Work Week: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich by Timothy Ferriss

3 decisions that may change your life ..

ref: http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/239312 (article by Tony Robbins)

Any permanent positive change is not going to be easy but it's going to be worth it !

Decision 1: Carefully choose what to focus on !

Where focus goes, energy flows. Do you tend to focus more on what you can control or what you can’t? If you focus on what you can’t control, you’ll have more stress in life. You can influence many aspects of your life but you usually can’t control them.


Decision 2: Figure out, What does this all mean ?

Ultimately, how you feel about your life has nothing to do with the events in it or with your financial condition or what has (or hasn't) happened to you. The quality of your life is controlled by the meaning you give to these events happening around you. Your life takes on whatever meaning you give it. 


Decision 3: What will you do ?

The actions you take are powerfully shaped by the emotional state you're in. If you're angry, you're going to behave quite differently than if you're feeling playful or outrageous. If you want to shape your actions, the fastest way is to change what you focus on and shift the meaning to be something more empowering. You can’t change your patterns if you’re not aware of them.

Any permanent positive change is not going to be easy but it's going to be worth it !

Sara Blakely's tips to start business from scratch

ref: http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/238846

No. 1: Don’t worry about doing things the ‘right way.’

No. 2: Don’t get discouraged.

No. 3: Show up in person.

No. 4: Be the person that cares the most.

No. 5: Fake it till you make it.

No. 6: Keep a sense of humor.

Start Your Business With Little to No Capital - essential qualities

ref: http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/236961

If your idea and plan of execution aren’t well thought out from the beginning, no amount of money can turn it into a winner. Have a great idea but very little money? Don’t let that stop you! Yes, there will be ridiculously long days with little to no sleep. Yes, you are going to be stressed. But those that want it bad enough will make it. Hard work is an absolute necessity, but when you are starting a business with little to no capital then you must be prepared to dedicate everything you have into making the business a success. This might mean cold calling, handling customer support, dealing with billing and accounting, and every other working part of your business. You will wear many hats and it will require the majority of your time and energy if you are to make it.

Here are eight tips that can help you get your idea off the ground with limited funds:

1. Build your business around what you know. 

2. Tell everyone you know what you are doing. 

3. Avoid unnecessary expenses. 

4. Don’t get buried in credit card debt.

5. Make sure your receivables policy won’t sink you. 

6. Build up sweat equity. 

7. Take advantage of free advertising and marketing. 

8. Get ready to hustle.

9 Books Bill Gates Thinks Everyone Should Read !

ref: http://www.businessinsider.com/bill-gates-favorite-books-2014-10?op=1

1. 'Tap Dancing to Work: Warren Buffett on Practically Everything, 1966-2012' by Carol Loomis
2. 'Stress Test: Reflections on Financial Crises' by Tim Geithner
3. 'Business Adventures: Twelve Classic Tales from the World of Wall Street' by John Brooks
4. 'Making the Modern World: Materials and Dematerialization' by Vaclav Smil
5. 'The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History' by Elizabeth Kolbert
6. 'The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined' by Steven Pinker
7. 'The Man Who Fed the World' by Leon Hesser
8. 'The Bully Pulpit: Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and the Golden Age of Journalism' by Doris Kearns Goodwin
9. 'The Rosie Project: A Novel' by Graeme Simsion