17 Ways to Know You Were Born to Be an Entrepreneur

Holler dear reader, I know you have been enjoying articles you read here. This is one from a favourite author of mine on inc.com. This article is by Jeff Haden  @jeff_haden. Enjoy it! It can be hard to explain to non-entrepreneurs why you choose such a challenging journey. Here's what to tell them. Being an entrepreneur is hard. Really hard. You put everything on the line: your talent, your creativity, your ideas, your money... and yet you still do it, sometimes again and again. That's why your your friends often don't understand. (Sometimes your family doesn't even understand.) "Why don't you just play it safe and get a job?" they ask. The next time people ask, show them this. Here's why you're an entrepreneur: 1. You hate the idea of finding yourself in the wrong life. Unexamined decisions, unforeseen consequences, drifting along with the current... it's easy for people to end up in places they never would have chosen. And then they feel trapped. And late at night they often wonder what it would be like if their lives would be different. Entrepreneurs don't wonder--at least not for long. They wonder... and then they go find out. And that's because... 2. You want a calling--not just a career. Anyone can build a career; all you need to do is a land a job to find your life's work. Very few can build a business from nothing--and make it their life's mission. 3. You embrace your own definition of success. Maybe it's money. Maybe it's status. Maybe it's power. Or, more likely, it's living life the way you want to live--and in the way that makes you as happy and fulfilled as possible. 4. You're not afraid to dream. And you're not afraid to fail. And you're not afraid to succeed. 5. Your happiness comes from seeing others succeed. And the best way to do that is to be in the position that best allows you to help them succeed. 6. You were once told you weren't good enough. So you decided to prove those people wrong. But along the way your motivation shifted. Now you don't care what other people think. Now you're not trying to prove other people wrong. You're just trying to prove to yourself that you are right... because you are the only person whose opinion truly matters. 7. You don't care about doing the expected thing... you care about doing the right thing. And to do that, you have to be in charge. 8. You don't care about choosing from the best available option available. Instead, you want to decide what is the best possible option... and then go and make that happen. 9. You want a better life for your children. And you feel the best way to do that is to set an example by believing in yourself. 10. You only want your earnings capped by your talent. Work for others and they decide what you can make. Work for yourself and you decide, through your effort and perseverance and ingenuity, what you can make. 11. You ask, "Why not me?" Entrepreneurs don't assume wildly successful people possess special talents or gifts from the gods. Entrepreneurs look at successful people and think, "That's awesome. They succeeded... and I will too. "People do great things every day--so why not me?" 12. You want to look back on a life well lived... instead of at a retirement watch. That watch? It means you served a company. A life well lived means you served others, and by so doing, also served yourself. 13. You want to be remembered. But not just for what you did; more importantly, you want to be remembered for the kind of person you were--and the way you made other people feel. 14. You believe effort should always beat politics. And the only way to ensure politics doesn't play a part is to run your own business--and build a company with a culture you and your employees love. 15. You've decided merit is the only currency worth earning. Seniority, corner offices, fancy titles... they're great. But they are also often given (and not always to the most deserving.) Accomplishments are always earned. 16. You feel business is the last unexplored territory. And you're convinced new discoveries are out there waiting for you. And most importantly... 17. You simply don't know any other way to live your life. So you don't even try. Why would you? You're an entrepreneur @jeff_haden JEFF HADEN | Columnist Jeff Haden learned much of what he knows about business and technology as he worked his way up in the manufacturing industry. Everything else he picks up from ghostwriting books for some of the smartest leaders he knows in business.

10 Things You Should Know About Jack Ma, Founder of This Year's Biggest Tech IPO

Hey guys! I know it has been a while since we communicated right? How have you been? Well I decided it was time for us to share this article from one of my respected authorities for all things good....okay most things :) Here it is, my latest discovery!

By Seth Fiegerman culled from Mashable

Jack Ma may not be as much of a household name in the U.S. as tech executives like Mark Zuckerberg or Jeff Bezos, but that might change soon.

Fifteen years ago, Ma gathered a group of friends in his one-bedroom apartment to create Alibaba, a service that would help small businesses in China use the Internet to connect with markets abroad. Alibaba is now the largest ecommerce service in China, a country with more than 600 million Internet users.

See also: Alibaba: What You Should Know About the Most-Hyped IPO of the Year

This week, Alibaba is expected to raise more than $21 billion in what will certainly be the largest technology IPO ever and perhaps the largest public offering of any company ever. The company's market cap is expected to be around $160 billion, more than double that of eBay and slightly more than Amazon.

The funds raised from the IPO will help fuel Alibaba's expansion into the U.S. and other new markets. The public offering will also add to Ma's personal fortune — Bloomberg puts his net worth at $21.9 billion — and further cement his reputation inside and outside China as a businessman to be reckoned with.

What will he do with his growing fortune and clout? There are some clues from his improbable journey to this point.

1. Jack Ma started out as an English teacher

Ma wasn't a particularly good student. He was lousy at math and twice flunked a test to get accepted into what he later described as the "worst university" in his home city. At a young age, however, he developed a love for the English language and practiced it by bike riding 40 minutes to a hotel where he could converse with foreigners. He was eventually accepted into a university where he studied to become an English teacher.

"When I graduated, I was the only one of 500 students assigned to teach at a university.

    My pay was 100 to 120 renminbi, which is like $12 to $15 per month

My pay was 100 to 120 renminbi, which is like $12 to $15 per month," Ma told Inc magazine in 2008. "I always had a dream that when I finished my five years, I would join a business — a hotel or whatever. I just wanted to go do something."

2. Ma's campaign to bring the Internet to China began in 1995

During a trip to Seattle in 1995, Ma stayed with a friend's family, and was introduced to what was then referred to as the World Wide Web. He searched for the word "beer" online and discovered there were no results from China. When he returned to China, he decided to change that — first with a website called China Pages and later with Alibaba.

3. He was focused on competing with Silicon Valley from the start.

"Since we were working on China Pages, I've always said our competitors are not domestic websites, but overseas websites," Ma said during his original pitch to employees (video, below) about Alibaba in 1999. "Our competitors are not in China, but in America's Silicon Valley ... We need to learn the hardworking spirit of Silicon Valley."

In order to achieve that vision, Ma marketed Alibaba as a global company, and never shied away from taking on better funded and better known competitors. He went head to head with eBay, effectively blocking the latter's expansion into the company. As Ma famously put it later, "If eBay are the sharks in the ocean, we are the crocodiles in the Yangtze river."

Ma touted the company's fighting spirit and origins from outside Silicon Valley in a letter to investors included with Alibaba's IPO filing:

    Alibaba is not the creation of a few technology innovations or a couple of whiz kids. We have developed an ecosystem that has been built by tens of millions of participants who are passionate about the future and steadfast in their belief that the Internet should be fair, open, transparent and shared. Together, these participants have invested time, energy and passion into this ecosystem, and today the world can see what they have accomplished.

4. He is not a coder. He barely even uses technology.

Despite having founded one of the largest technology companies in the world, Ma is not actually tech-savvy. Quite the opposite:

    "I was trained to be a high school teacher. I know nothing about technology,"

"I was trained to be a high school teacher. I know nothing about technology," he told Charlie Rose in one interview. "The only thing I can use my computer [for] is [to] send, receive email and browse."

According to a Businessweek profile from 2012, "Ma shows little interest in technology: He doesn’t spend much time online and depends on a colleague to help him download U.S. TV shows to his iPad. Instead, he dabbles in poker, traditional medicine and other pastimes."

5. He's a performer at heart

His parents were both professional pingtan performers, a traditional form of storytelling in China. Ma seems to have inherited some of their penchant for performing in public, as you can see in the video, below. Fast forward to the 1:05 mark to catch Ma singing the theme song to The Lion King.

6. Jack Ma: martial arts lover, general in waiting

“People don’t realize how much martial arts and kung fu novels influence Jack and his strategy for business,” one anonymous person close to Ma told The Financial Times. “They also helped shape his idealism because they are all about upholding the righteous way.”

Ma has also said he would have been a military man if he had been born in a different time. “I had always wished that I was born in a period of war.

    I could have been a general

I could have been a general,” he said at one point. “I thought about what I could have achieved in war.”

7. He's not afraid to admit mistakes

Ma has repeatedly joked in recent recent years that he would like to write a book called Alibaba: 1001 Mistakes, and for good reason.

"We expanded too fast, and then in the dot-com bubble, we had to have layoffs," Ma said in the Inc interview. "By 2002, we had only enough cash to survive for 18 months. We had a lot of free members using our site, and we didn't know how we'd make money. So we developed a product for China exporters to meet U.S. buyers online. This model saved us. By the end of 2002, we made $1 in profits. Each year, we improved."

8. He doesn't exactly hold shareholders in the highest regard

Ma has said many times that investors rank on the low end of his priorities. As he told Charlie Rose in an interview, investors sometimes flee when Alibaba goes through a crisis, while customers and employees show more loyalty. He echoed that in his letter to investors in the IPO filing.

    I have said on numerous occasions that we will put “customers first, employees second and shareholders third.” I can see that investors who hear this for the first time may find it a bit hard to understand.

    Let me be clear: as fiduciaries of the company, we believe that the only way for Alibaba to create long-term value for shareholders is to create sustainable value for customers. So customers must come first.

    Next come our employees, because in today’s knowledge economy, employees are most important in having satisfied customers. Without talented, happy, diligent and passionately committed employees, our commitment to serving customers will be empty. A company that does not have satisfied employees will not have satisfied customers, and without satisfied customers, we could not possibly have satisfied shareholders.

9. Ma is now the richest person in China, and ranks among the 50 richest people in the world

Not bad for someone who once earned about $15 a month working as a teacher.

10. He is now focused on environmental and education causes

He stepped down as CEO of Alibaba last year to focus more on environmental and education causes, though he remains active involved with the company as its executive chairman and one of its largest shareholders. Ma is particularly interested in combatting China's rampant pollution, which he says has taken the lives of multiple young people he's known.

“In China, because of problems in water, air and food safety, in 10 or 20 years, we will face a lot of health problems, like increased cancer," he told The Financial Times. "So that is one area where I will invest my money and time."

Have something to add to this story? Share it in the comments.
Topics: AliBaba, Business, stocks

4 Things You Can Say to Make Your Boss Hate You

Occasionally, I come across, some good material and I have an obligation to share it. Check this one out.

By Dominique Rodgers

Monster Contributing Writer

By the time you’re an adult operating in the working world, you should have absorbed the message that you need to think before you speak. Still, some employees haven’t and others don’t understand just how bad some of the things they say come across to others.

Whether you realize it or not, there are some key phrases that will make any boss instantly crazy. Protect your job by striking these four from your conversations.

“That’s not how we did it at my old job.”

And your point is…? This statement is a problem because it doesn’t help. If you think the old company did something better, say that without making it sound like you miss them. More helpful would be to say something like: “We found XYZ software to be a better fit for this application, and I think that would translate here.”

“Although managers like you to apply your learnings from past experiences, no one wants to hear how great your last company was,” says Christine DiDonato, founder of CareerRev, a leadership development training company. “If it was that great, why did you leave?”

“So-and-so isn’t doing his work.”

If you’d like bonus points for getting everyone in the office to hate you, not just the boss, become the workplace tattletale. This statement is awful not just because it’s childish, but because what your co-worker does is none of your business.

“Focus on your performance and not your colleague. The boss will take care of that issue. Statements like this only create bad relationships and poor team performance,” says Steve Langerud, a workplace consultant.

“How’d I do? How’d I do? How’d I do?”

Fishing for compliments is a career-limiting move, according to Jonathan B. Smith, founder and CEO ofChiefOptimizer, a business development solution for rapidly growing companies. When you were hired, it was for your confidence, skills and ability to work independently. Don’t throw that all away by seeking constant reassurance.

“The addition of an employee to an organization should bring more capability, capacity and additional profitability to an organization,” Smith explains. “An employee who is insecure and needy is a drag on morale, productivity and profitability. You don't want to be the employee that fishes for compliments, constantly looks for reassurances and is repeatedly apologizing for simple oversights.”

“That’s not my job.”

If all the selfish office misanthropes can ever get it together enough to form an organization, this will be their motto. And it’s the worst statement on this list.

Similarly terrible phrases include:

●     “This is not what I signed up for.”

●     “Can’t someone else do that?”

●     “Will I get a promotion or a raise if I do that?”

These statements demonstrate “a bad attitude, lack of effort, lack of commitment, and/or lack of caring. These are the statements of someone who is not a team player and cares only about themselves,” says Todd Cherches, adjunct professor in HR at NYU and CEO of BigBlueGumball, a management and leadership development consulting firm.

On Negotiation- What to AVOID!

Some Lessons on Negotiation

This piece was inspired by a show on radio co-hosted by a man that is well respected in many circles. He's none other than Pastor Magnus. He spoke on a very wonderful topic. We have all done it in some way, shape or form. The fine art of negotiation. It could be during an interview, when it comes down to agreeing on what the remuneration will be. It could be some juicy business deal a friend wants to introduce you to that would involve you parting with some money as an investment vehicle. It could be deciding what you would be paid by a satisfied client  after a successful consulting session or service delivery. It could be in deciding what you have to part with in return for some favour, take for example when Esau traded his birth-right for some porridge...hmmm. It could even be in deciding who you wish to spend the rest of your life with. That's very important!
From the foregoing, it is very important in determining one's destiny: for example, the job you decide to "manage" because you "had no choice" can affect your health and productivity if the work place is very far from home and what you earn as take home salary can't really "take you home".

So what are the rules for successful negotiation since it is very important? Here they are

1. Do NOT negotiate when you are tired or weary. Check this scenario out- you just got in from work exhausted, and moments later, a friend comes around talking about a mouth-watering deal that he wants you to be a part of. He's so excited and wants you to act now now! Take it easy. Life is full of opportunities. If you miss this one, it would not be your last. A bigger one is coming down the way. You have to be present in mind and body to make an informed decision.

2. Do NOT negotiate when you are in a hurry. This is closely related to the first. If it looks like the deal will be missed if you do not sign it now and your mind is many things on your TO-DO list, PLEASE DO NOT SIGN!

3. Do NOT agree to a negotiation when you do not have full information about what you are going into. This is very important. Whether its a job opportunity, or a super duper deal, or even a ridiculous investment such as N10 yielding N1 million-just joking:)-if you do not have enough information on it's inner workings, please do NOT sign the dotted lines.

4. Do NOT negotiate or close a deal in the absence of a qualified lawyer. This is important as the lawyer can act as a third party to the deal and if the other party wants to play a game, there will be paper work to back up every transaction.

There were other scenarios in which negotiation would not be advised for any body which Pastor Magnus spoke elaborately on. Furthermore, he reminded us that negotiation should be done in an atmosphere where both parties mutually benefit. A situation where one party smiles to the bank while the other is depressed because they have been conned or cheated should be frowned at. To drive home his point, he cited an instance of a man who wnet about buying filling stations from people at peanut rates just because they were in a tight situation and this man took advantage of them. Today those filling stations are moribund. You can catch Pastor Magnus tweeting @MagnusInspire or on Gloria Maduka's show on Inspiration 92.3 fm [www.inspirationradiong.com] on Tuesdays at about 3pm.

AMAZING! These Girls are being paid while they acquire a Skill!

YES I know it sounds crazy but believe me it's true! One lady is making a positive impact in Nigeria. Her name is Mrs. Sandra Aguebor- Ekperuoh.
What does she do? Simple-she replicates herself in the ladies she trains and she trains them for free! What's more, she pays them while they are learning. That in itself is s feat as the opposite is the case in most scenarios. 
It is expected that you pay so that you can appreciate whatever it is you are being trained for. I got wind of this info today and it sounded really strange that this woman wanted to train as many women as possible without any fear that the market would be "flooded" by professionals. Indeed she noted that as long as people kept buying cars, there would always be a need for mechanics-well trained mechanics.
Recently, she has diversified her training offerings to include Speed boat engine repair among others.
You can see more information on these at - www.ladymechanicinitiative.com

Mrs. Sandra Aguebor-Ekperuoh is Founder, Lady Mechanic Initiative, a not-for profit organization set up to create new opportunities for economic and social independence for Nigerian women by training them as auto mechanics, a profession traditionally dominated by men. Aside the Lady Mechanic Initiative, she also doubles as MD&CEO, Sandex Car Care. A business which specializes in providing a range of auto repair and maintenance services to its customers. 

Sandra is the first professional female mechanic in Nigeria, maintaining motor vehicles for a number of individuals, companies and international agencies in Nigeria. 

She had a stint with Bendel Transport Service now Edo Line in Benin City as Officer-in-Charge, Maintenance and Repairs. She later joined the Nigeria Railway Corporation in Lagos from where she resigned to setup her own auto repair business. 

Sandra Aguebor-Ekperuoh acquired her technical skills from Benin Technical College and Auchi Polytechnic, all in Edo State. She also has a degree from The Goethe Institute, a German school based in Lagos. She is also an alumnus of the Pan-Atlantic University’s Certificate in Entrepreneurial Management (CEM) programme. 

Sandra has received several local and international awards for her work. One of such is the National Productivity Order of Merit Award, a national award conferred on her by His Excellency, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, GCFR, President and Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. - culled from Fidelity SME forum