From J-O-B To Fire Your Boss!

So your tired of your J.O.B. (Just Over Broke) and you want to Fire Your Boss. I want to help prepare you for what lies ahead. Some of you will have done a bunch of preparation for the big day. Others will simply find themselves at a point one day at work when they say, "I've had it, this is it I'm outta here!!" While I can't say I didn't have the latter, I did, however, prepare myself for what was to come. Only to find out I didn't prepare enough. So I'm going to give you a few quick points to have in line before you Fire Your Boss.

1) Do what you Love: I know, I know this is almost a cliche. However, it is the most truthful statement in forging out your own piece of the pie. Some of the most highly paid individuals are doing what most would consider a vacation. Tiger Woods, Kobe Bryant, Tom Brady. Each of these people play a game and make hundreds of millions of dollars. The same is said for entertainers; go ahead, think of your favorite musician or actor. These people sing, dance and play make believe and are compensated VERY well. Granted, these people also have a tremendous amount of talent to go along with their chosen profession. I've got a question for you, what came first, the talent or the profession.

2) Work: Be prepared to work more now than you did when you had a boss. That's right, now you have to do the same amount of work that the entire business was doing before. It won't be like this for long, but in the beginning you have to be the one to set up everything. This is normally when we lose most people. People tend to leave their J.O.B. for greener pastures of days on the beach and sleeping late. Saying things like, "What's gonna happen, I'm not gonna get fired." This is the kiss of death. Let's go back to the athletes and entertainers for a moment. Do you think they just decided they were going to choose that profession and then the next day they were signing contracts with the Yankees. NO, they spent their entire lives WORKING to be the best and now their compensation reflects that work. Some may say they are overpaid, but they are only getting what the market will allow.

3) Change: That's right, what made you good at your J.O.B. is not enough for you to Fire Your Boss. While you might have been stressed at work, the stress of owning and operating your own business is completely different. Your boss treating you like an incompetent child may be frustrating, but not having any money to pay your bills is more frustrating. The only difference is that now you have nobody to point the finger at except yourself. This is by far the most difficult process new entrepreneurs have. They expect that the mindset they've had is going to be good enough. Wrong!! Take the athletes and entertainers again. Everyone of them is used to being the best player or star on there team or cast. Then they hit the big time and EVERYONE is the best. It's time to take your game to another level. This means your mentality has to change, which means you have to change. What you are doing now is what has gotten you to where you are. So, in order to go further you have to do something different! Keep practicing, this game is never over and there are no time outs.

Making the transition from J.O.B. to Fire Your Boss truly is a life changing experience. You'll notice things you once thought were huge deals barely even matter. Your ability to make decisions and handle large tasks will begin to grow. And as you practice and practice and practice, your compensation will also garner what the market will allow. This process can absolutely free up your life if you're willing to take the necessary steps. Do yourself a favor and find a mentor, this always helps to shorten the learning curve. I hope this helps you on your Journey. Until next time, Happy Marketing!

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Tips to Build a Successful Consulting Engineering Firm

Many of these firms know who their paymasters are. They had been able to develop very excellent working relationship with their clients that make them kept returning with more assignments. Even though they have excellent working relationships, they always clarify the scopes of works required right from the beginning of the project.

This is very important as many clients have high expectation towards their consulting engineers. It is alright to be frank with them as to what you could or could not do. If certain projects or assignments are beyond your capability, you should acknowledge your own shortcomings and advice them to employ other experts. Many said that "honesty is the best policy", and this advice still stands today.

You may end up losing the project to another engineering consultant firm, but it is still better than to secure the job but unable to perform. Many customers appreciate your frankness and openness and would likely return to you for other projects. You also avoid the risk of being entangled in law suit filed by the client.

When you first submit your proposal to a potential client, be as clear as possible about your scopes of work. You should always be affirmative in describing to the client on why he should engage you instead of other engineers. Present clearly the benefits of engaging you versus the cost.

Some consulting engineers also committed the mistakes of spending too much time trying to convince a prospect client. However, there are no fixed rules on how much effort you should spend. Just stick to your business sense and let your intuition guide you.

There are also many engineers who established their own consulting engineering firm thinking that they no longer need to work for somebody else. This is wrong. In fact, instead of just working for one boss previously, you will now have many "bosses" as all your clients are your paymasters.

You may need to work twice as hard but always bear in mind that whatever effort that you have put into your own firm, one day you will enjoy the fruit of your own labour. It may take many years before you can see your business prosper, but the satisfaction gained from building an enterprise by itself is already a satisfying process.

Practicing engineering consultancy is a lifelong process and you should constantly upgrade yourself. This is called continuing professional development. Otherwise, you may find that other business could easily overtake you.

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How Effective Business People Succeed

These days, it's quite challenging to make it big in business. There are many factors you have to contend with. There's your competition, and of course, the poor performance of the world economy as well. However, some business people still manage to hit the jackpot. We could all learn a thing or two from the qualities of these successful entrepreneurs.

While some people are just naturally adept at handling businesses, there are quite a number who have to work hard at their trade. This just proves that successful entrepreneurs aren't always born, they're made. So if you want to get started on being part of that exclusive group, check out these qualities of successful entrepreneurs.

1) Resourcefulness

When the going gets tough, the tough gets resourceful. As an entrepreneur, you'll sometimes come across a situation wherein you don't have everything you need. These are the times when resourcefulness is crucial.

Find a suitable replacement for what you lack and then proceed. Or if you find yourself in a bind, you have to be resourceful enough to make the situation work to your advantage.

If you're just starting out, don't expect everything to be spoon fed to you. Most of the time, you'll have to go looking for what you need yourself!

2) Bravery

Most people don't think that entrepreneurship has anything to do with bravery, but you'd be surprised at how courageous a lot of successful entrepreneurs are.

One of the more subtle qualities of successful entrepreneurs, bravery applies to any situation where a person has to take a risk. Those who want to stay in the safe zone won't make it big.

If you want to be successful, you're going to need to cross the danger zone every once in a while. Of course, bravery is not the same as impulsiveness. You still have to think things through and plan carefully before making any kind of leap.

3) Taking Responsibility

One of the great qualities of successful entrepreneurs is being responsible. I have lost count over the number of people who seem so excited about their business at first, only to leave everything else to someone else's hands after the first month.

If you want your business to flourish, you have to be responsible for everything that happens to it. You have to train and delegate trustworthy and dependable people to handle your business operations; or else, you risk losing everything to bad management. This has happened so many times before. Don't add your business to the statistics.

By adapting these qualities of successful entrepreneurs, you'll definitely have a higher percentage of achieving success!

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7 Steps to Success

Every great business started with an exceptional idea. The better developed the plan the better the chance of success. For everyone that wondered if there is a surefire design for business success I can only say every plan is different, but a few common steps will be important to tapping the potential of any business idea.

1. Dream Big - Part of the reason many business plans fail is they don't dream big enough. They seem content to pattern what they do after something that has already proven successful. What is it about your dream that sets it apart from everyone else? What will you provide that no one else does?

2. Don't Rush - Like a good pot of stew let your idea simmer for a while. As you retrace your steps through the plan you may find concepts that need adapting and little considered ingredients begin to enhance the flavor of your dream.

3. Know Who You Are - Take the time to cast your business vision into an understandable set of directives. The better you understand yourself as a business the better you can brand your concept in the minds of potential and actual customers.

4. Triple Check Laws Related to Your Idea - You may want to hire an attorney for this or simply engage in multiple calls making sure you have all the applications and licenses you need to take your business live.

5. Determine Whom You Developed the Business For - This means you need to know whether your focus will be in the money you will make or the people you will serve. As backwards as it may sound it is likely you will make more money by focusing on the customer. When they are satisfied they reward you with repeat business and referrals.

6. Never Assume You Have Arrived - There will always be revisions needed in your business. This may mean an alteration in product line up, a change in website design or even the potential addition of new products. Long-term resting is not an option.

7. Marketing is a First and Foremost Duty - Contrary to what you may have heard products do not simply sell themselves. No matter how good your product may be there is great importance in letting people know about it. Don't be timid. I know it may feel uncomfortable, but toot your own horn. Get testimonials and publish them. If you believe enough in your product to start a business based on that manufactured good then you should be equally excited to find ways to tell others.

This isn't a one-size-fits-all concept, but I do believe the points are applicable to a greater or lesser degree to virtually all businesses. No one wants to fail, but not every entrepreneur takes the time to methodically interpret the architecture of the business plan. If they do they may not take the time to take the chisel to status quo ideas in favor of something that might become known as a revolutionary idea or concept. Many such concepts are the brainchild of entrepreneurs who waited long enough to understand and observe the brilliance of at least one prime business ingredient that is often overlooked.

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The Number One Skill Entrepreneurs Need

Would you like to know the number one skill for entrepreneurs? Well it's the same one that all CEO's need - to understand the company P&L and Balance Sheet. Right about now some of you may be grumbling. Some may even be thinking that you are no good with numbers and that your dreams of being an entrepreneur are crushed. I ask that you not be so mellow dramatic and if you are freaking out, then you need to first focus on your mindset shift before you can go any further.

The truth is you need to understand the numbers whether you plan on keeping your business at six figures or grow it to eight figures and beyond. In fact understanding the numbers is a key strategy employed by GE in its leadership academy. And you all know that there have been more CEO's to come from GE than some of the top business schools combined! The numbers help you to fully understand and therefore influence things like, your margins, business cycle, purchasing trends, overall sales, expenditures and so on. In essence it gives you full control over your companies and therefore your own success.

So what's the first step to understanding the numbers, if you are numbers challenged? Rest assured you do not have to go back and get your MBA. In fact the easiest way is to start by pulling out the spreadsheet or Quickbooks report and look at the basics, profit and loss. Look at where all the money comes from, when it comes in and where it all goes. If you are really intimidated enlist the help of your CPA or bookkeeper, they love numbers. Ultimately, you need to grow comfortable looking at, working with and understanding those numbers - regardless of their size.

It's time to face the numbers. Go, pull those reports and start studying!

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