Teaching kids entrepreneurship

Check out this video and tell me if you agree that it actually promotes the most negative stereotype of entrepreneurs as greedy and manipulative - in it for the money and part of the problem in our consumption based economy.
"Let's Raise Kids to be Entrepreneurs ..." http://on.ted.com/8Qs5

The video at the end of this TED presentation is a more positive and inspiring view of entrepreneurship but most of the commentary seems to be focused on his own version.

Thought provoking, but not convincing that this is what we should be teaching kids in school.

Learning Entrepreneurship at School?

I am starting to see more articles and commentary about the "need" to teach entrepreneurship at school. Is that a good idea? I have taught Entrepreneurship courses at Concordia in the Continuing Education program, mostly to young adults seeking relevant knowledge to advance their careers or to manage their own business.

Should Entrepreneurship be taught sooner?  Probably not in elementary school, but high school or college?  I tend to agree with Rick Spence (Financial Post, June 28, 2010), that the emphasis should be on entrepreneurial qualities such as creativity and innovation, problem solving, critical thinking, collaboration, persistence and leadership. I would add curiosity, self-confidence and independence.

Entrepreneurship packaged as a course is more appropriate at levels where students are considering career options. But it would help to have some early education on basic economics from savings and investment to financial and economic systems. I fear the bias of many teachers is that big business is evil and that entrepreneurs and the capitalist system create more social problems than solutions.

It would be an improvement to have some balance added to that point of view.  I'm not optimistic.  The media focuses most high profile stories on the disasters and the criminals among us.  It's hard to find the heroes to emulate.  After Donald Trump or Richard Branson (whom not everybody loves), who do we have doing good PR for business and entrepreneurship as a means of having fun and doing good?    

Do you Tweet?

Nope, useless waste of time. 
Wrong!        

Follow me on Twitter

Like the old days when you first built a Web site, the only reason you are now looking at Twitter is because ... "it's cool,
my kids tell me I have to,

customers are asking for it". 

Let me give you some other reasons.  

My Thoughts on
How to Use Twitter for Your Business 

First let's review what it is.  Aside from all the "New Media" hype and the old media fascination, Twitter is essentially a simplified version of the bulk email newsletter or a short form (140 character) Blog entry.  So if you use either if those, you need to check out Twitter.com

It also has elements of the social media sites, like Facebook or LinkedIn, but is simpler, more spontaneous, easy and fun. Not looking for fun?  Then consider that it is also interesting, informative and occasionally entertaining to be a Twitter follower.  You get new personal insights as well as some good tips, tricks, and tactics from the people you already know and respect - from Harvey Mackey or Tom Peters to Bill Cosby or Tony Robbins.  You choose for yourself if you want to follow the gurus or to be a celebrity groupie.

I use Twitter to maintain contact with friends and associates, think out loud, play with words, create new content, add to my Web presence and build a new audience.  Any of those may be important to you and your business.  It's easy and fast to set up and use or you can just visit and browse the content. Try it. 

Or visit my Twitter account and follow me if you're interested.
Follow me on Twitter
See you there.

Every Business is Global

You may think your little local business is too small or unimportant to be affected by the global economy, but unfortunately there is nowhere that is sheltered from the fallout - good or bad. 

It doesn't matter whether it's an oil leak in Louisiana, or a torpedo off Korea, or civil service perks in Greece, the consequences for the global economy will get passed on down to you and your business, wherever you are.  It may be interest rates, tax increases, program cuts, exchange rates or simply changes to your operating costs and demand for your products and services, but you will see a connection.

So what?  Well, obviously you don't have much control over events or any more ability than the plethora of erroneous experts to predict the event.  All you can do is BE PREPARED.  That means plan and manage with a large margin for error.  We live in volatile times and can only expect the unexpected; on top of the potential for the worst case scenarios.  

I don't mean to be too pessimistic, it is also possible that things could turn out much better than expected.  Be prepared for that too. 

Nobody said it was getting easier.  

FREE Business Plan Guide to Join "Entrepreneurs Only"

I am now offering a FREE copy of "The 10-Minute Guide to Business Plans" when you join the "Entrepreneurs Only" mailing list.

The subscribers receive regular updates, tips, ideas and information to help entrepreneurs be better and do better.

The 10-Minute Guide is a quick summary of all the basics to prepare an effective business plan and includes the recommended financial projections and a sample of a successful plan from a client.

Check it out yourself at: http://www.diybusinessplan.com/FREE10-minuteBusinessPlanGuide.htm

I will be pleased to have you join us with entrepreneurs from around the world.  
  

Do-It-Yourself Business Plans

It's done.

I finally expanded the quick 10-Minute summary into a Complete Do-It-Yourself Guide to Business Plans.


Including:

• A clear concise 50-page Guide that describes all the requirements for a great Business Plan .


• Valuable ideas and information on the personal and strategic business decisions required before you start


• Recommended Templates for your Financial Projections


• A quick summary 10-Minute Guide to Business Plan basics


• An actual sample Business Plan that delivered results

Check it out at: http://www.diybusinessplan.com/DIYcompleteGUIDE.htm


Why Do-It-Yourself?


As a management consultant, I have often been hired to help with Business plans. (As an entrepreneur, I've also written a few of my own.) But if you hire someone, it still needs to be "your" plan. Nobody can go away and write it for you.


It needs to reflect the entrepreneur's passion, competence, knowledge and commitment to the business. A consultant can help with the planning process, words, numbers, and presentation, but investors, lenders and strategic partners need to know the entrepreneur behind the plan, not the consultant.


Learn how. And do it yourself.

Breaking even is hard to do

Checking my portfolio after reading the Canadian market was up 60% since March last year, I was disappointed to see that I was just barely above the original investment values before the crash.

That didn't seem fair as the crash of 2008-2009 was widely reported as knocking values down by only 40%. I was expecting to be up by more than that.

Unfortunately, it's a lesson in the inconvenient truth of basic arithmetic. If your original investment is down by 40%, then it has to come back by 67% to return to break even. Do the math.

I agree it doesn't seem fair, but that's how it works. Breaking even is hard to do.

Being concise

Finally we're writing the all important Executive Summary to the Business Plan. And, of course, it has to be concise.

(Most advice also says to write it last, but I think it's a good starting point as an outline of all the points you will cover in more detail - so I recommend that you do a draft Executive Summary first.)

But the final objective is prepare a brief (1 - 3 page) summary of the key points in your Business Plan, which might be a 20-page document or more, plus all the supporting data in appendices.

An excellent guide to the Executive Summary is available at Garage Technology Ventures (Garage.com). They emphasize that aside from being concise and still answering all the important questions the Executive Summary is primarily a selling tool for your Business Plan. It allows potential lenders, investors or strategic partners to quickly decide if they are interested in participating in your plan.

And even more important than the executive summary is that one sentence or paragraph in your cover letter or e-mail (or elevator pitch) that convinces them you may be onto something that could be a viable business.

Golden Glow of Winter Olympics 2010

This week it feels especially good to be Canadian. Sorry (which we apparently say too much), but I just cannot help myself.

Being Canadian is sufficient to feel proud and strong after being such successful hosts of the Winter Olympic Games and winning an all-time record 14 gold medals. I know I didn't do much more than watch and cheer, and clap with my red souvenir mitts, but I still feel part of the team that hosted the games and did so well in almost every event.

Proud to get to know so many new Canadian heroes.

So many who worked so long and hard for their few seconds, or their long ordeal over ice and snow, to prove they could be the best in the world. Such an inspiration to us all to persevere in pursuit of our own goals - however humble they may be.

Go Canada! There is more for us to accomplish and more of us to expose to the world.

Olympic lessons for entrepreneurs

Enjoy the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, but don't miss the opportunity to learn some lessons to help your business go for gold!

You can help your business to perform like an Olympic champion if you take these ideas from the Olympics as your inspiration:

• Have a four-year plan to achieve Olympic records



• Decide: Go for gold, or Quit.



• Learn from your losses



• Push your limits



• It's not for the money



• Don't cheat



• It's never too late

To see the full article visit: "Olympic Lessons for Entrepreneurs."

Be inspired to take your performance to Olympic heights.