Starting a New Business?

People often ask me about things to be kept in mind or precautions to be taken if they are starting with a new venture. Starting a business is a multi-step process that can feel overwhelming when you're on your own, but I will make it easy to stay organized and on track while you start your business. It was a lazy Saturday afternoon and I was surfing the Internet when I landed on this page which had 10 most common mistakes listed to look out for if you are creating a new business. Here I am warning you guys about each one of those mistakes.

Don’t forget to take the Start a Business in 30 Days at the end of the article.

1. NOT THINKING THROUGH YOUR BUSINESS NAME

Your business’s name says a lot. It’s the first thing people encounter about your brand. If it’s too silly or cutesy, people won’t take you seriously. If it’s too hard to say or spell, you cause issues with branding. If it’s too milquetoast (think AAA Towing), it’s easy to forget. Spend the necessary time to not only come up with a few memorable names for your business, but also to search to see if others in your industry are using the same name. Ideally, you want to appear at the top of search results for your business name, not 10 pages later.

2. NOT HAVING A WEBSITE

In this day and age, you simply can’t afford not to have a website. And yet half of small businesses don’t have one. Websites are no longer cost-prohibitive, and many you can create on your own with templated site builders or simple content management systems. As for maintenance? A little ongoing effort can go a long way in terms of keeping your dedicated website looking fresh and remaining relevant in search results.

3. NOT HAVING A BUSINESS PLAN

You might think that your little ole business isn’t big enough to necessitate a business plan, but you’d be wrong. Even if it’s a two-page document outlining what your business is about and your goals for the company, it’s something you can look to over time to ensure that you’re staying on track.

4. STAYING A SOLE PROPRIETORSHIP

By default, when you start your business, you operate as a sole proprietorship. But with this business structure, your personal assets aren’t protected. That means that if someone were to sue your company, you personally would be liable. You don’t want that, so look at creating an LLC or corporation.

5. NOT MARKETING

Sure, you scored a few customers early on, but that doesn’t mean you don’t need marketing. The trick with marketing is: you’ve got to do it when you don’t need it. You might be flush with business now, but in a few months, that could change. It’s what you do now that will ensure that you keep a steady stream of customers coming all year long.

6. NOT NETWORKING

This is especially true for people who work from home. It’s all too easy to stay in the office and focus on the business, but the truth is, you need to get out and meet other people. Not only can it help you find new customers, but it can also connect you with powerful players in your industry who can serve as mentors or help you in other ways.

7. TRYING TO DO IT ALL

At the start of your business, you’ll need to take on everything yourself, but many entrepreneurs make this a habit. After a year or two, they’re ready to have a nervous breakdown because they can’t. handle. so. much. stress. You’re better off delegating the stuff you’re less good at to others. Hire freelancers or outsource work to a firm. If you’ve got enough work and budget, hire your first full-time employee.

8. PUTTING ALL YOUR MARKETING EGGS IN ONE BASKET

Another mistake many new entrepreneurs make is using only one channel to market their business. But it takes a well-rounded marketing strategy, including content marketing, public relations, email, and maybe advertising to get the best results.

9. STAYING STAGNANT

Are you of the line of thinking that “if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it?” If so, you’re missing out on serious opportunity for growth. If you continue to innovate, improve and expand your product line, and find new ways to be relevant to your audience, you’ll always remain competitive.

10. ASSUMING YOU HAVE NOTHING TO LEARN

Sure, you have plenty of knowledge about your industry, but there’s always more room to grow. When you stop learning, you stop developing, and that’s deadly for your business. Stay sharp about your industry and business in general by reading blog content, books and magazines, and by attending webinars, seminars and workshops.

I you are all set to start your business but just need some guidance, take this Start a Business in 30 Days: http://articles.bplans.com/start-a-business-in-30-days/.

Do let me know if this post was helpful in the comment section below. Love…BSR.

Defeat Negative Voices in Your Head

We all go through a phase in our lives where we self-doubt and act like paranoids. There is this nagging little voice in our heads that rules us. It tells us not to do anything productive because it may require efforts and there are chances that we could fail. It tells us that we are not good enough to do a certain task. So, all we want to do is keep on lying in our beds waiting for things to happen and life to unfold. And while we wait in our so called comfort zone, we end up becoming a slave to this negative voice and it starts governing our lives.

Let’s defeat that negative voice!

Acknowledge the voice

The inner voice has always been there.   Since it has always been there, we tend to go about life without acknowledging that it is actually there and what it does to us.  So the first step, just like with any problem, is to acknowledge it.  Be truthful and honest with yourself, as this is not something that can be easy for some people to admit, but it is necessary.  Once you make yourself aware that it is there and what it does to you, then you are in a better position to deal with it correctly.

Drown it with positive thoughts

Whenever you catch that voice telling you something negative, counter it with something positive.  For example, say you are supposed to go work out, but that voice says “no, we’re comfortable here, let’s not move”, counter it right away with a “yes, I can do it, and I am doing it!”  The more you do that, the more that negative voice will be eclipsed quickly, and eventually all that will remain is the positive rebuttal.  So in that regard, you are submerging the negativity with positivity.

Visualize your goals

Typically that negative voice is a direct result of having the wrong visualization in mind.  For example, you focus on how comfortable you are and that’s why you are less likely to move and go work out.  Now, instead of feeding that negative voice with the imagery that it needs in order to get you to do what it wants, change the imagery to what you WANT to accomplish instead.  Say you have that dessert in front of you and that voice tells you how much you should get it and how it will be good…think about that body you want to have and that feeling of being in complete control of yourself.  If you have this huge task to do, instead of thinking about how boring it might be and listen to that voice that says not to do it, think about the feeling of completing that task and how it will help you be more successful.  Visualization is key and having the right kind of visualization makes all the difference.

Afterthoughts

Think positive.  Life is good.  Too many people miss the silver lining because they’re expecting pure gold.  Positive thinking isn’t about expecting the best to always happen, but accepting that whatever happens is the best for the moment.  So keep smiling and keep staying true to your heart.  Someday, the negative voice inside you will have nothing left to say.

What negative thoughts do you often struggle with?  How do you cope?  Please leave a comment below and share your insights with us.

I will be sharing a lot of other tips also during my upcoming event ‘The Power of Real You’ on 17^th May in Pune. To know more about it, visit my site: www.bhupendrasinghrathore.in, will love to see you there.

Love..BSR

Give your Career an Early Start

To begin with, I am working away and enjoying my time in Chandigarh and I am having super fun. Therefore I wasn't able to upload any blog in the previous week and I got a few texts over WhatsApp regarding the same. So I decided to take some time out from my schedule and say hello to MS Word.

I am a regular visitor of job portals and other sites. It gives me an idea about the current industry trends and I like to keep myself updated at all times. I also enjoy reading the blogs which are a part of these websites since they give so much information in a dynamic way.  So I landed on one of the blogs which was about all about ‘Starting Young’. It basically talked about how giving your career an early start in life can make difference and give you an edge over the others. It was a good write –up which encouraged me to search for all the biggies who started at a very young age and left a mark in their respective industries. So here they are:

Mark Zuckerberg

We love Facebook don’t we? So here is the story of all the hard work what this little boy put in. He mastered programming while still in middle school. He was making computer games as a 13 year old boy. He made a music player called Synapse at 16. He was brave enough to reject buy-outs from AOL and Microsoft. He created Facebook at 19. He became a billionaire at 23. He had been working for 15 years already.

Steve Jobs

This American entrepreneur, marketer and inventor who gave us our iPhones and iPads began his journey even before he entered his teenage. His first internship was at the age of 12 with HP. He started working with Atari games at 19. He was already selling his first product at 20. He had his first company "Apple" at 21. By this time, he had already worked for a decade.

Richard Branson

Here come my personal favourite. He started his first business, a magazine at 16. By 20 he had an audio record mail order company. By 22 he created Virgin Records. By 32 he had an airline and was already a millionaire. And all of this happened in a time span of 16 years.

Michael Jackson

The legend was an early beginner too. He was a part of a band at age 6 and became a lead vocalist by 8. By age 10, he was already touring and opening acts. By 17 he had released four solo albums and delivered a billboard no.1 hit as part of Jackson 5. By 24, he released thriller and won 7 Grammy's. By this time he already had a singing career of 18 years.

Christiano Ronaldo

He played his first club match at the age of 8, beat that! Interestingly, his father was a kit-man there. At age 10, he got his first league match. He got his first signing by 12. He scored his debut league goal at 17. By 18, he was signed by Manchester united and given jersey no. 7. Today, he is worth more than a 100 million$ and has been playing over two decades. Isn't he a miracle child?

Too much inspiration in four paragraphs, isn't it? There are many more on the list, but the point I am making here is that we should understand the importance of time. If there is something that you are passionate about, make an effort to pursue it instead of waiting and becoming a victim of the rat-race. Remember one thing that there is a price you need to pay for making your dreams come true. It depends on you if you are willing to take that risk or if you want to live within the boundaries of a secured life.

I am coming back in the city real soon and am starting off with a massive event ‘ONE TEAM, ONE DREAM - a power talk by Mr Bhupendra Singh Rathore’ on the 5^th of May. This workshop is going to be all about mastering the art of building world class teams and the secrets of keeping people connected.

To know more about it please visit my site: www.bhupendrasinghrathore.in ‘or’

Contact: Girish 8055572233
                Prashant : 9730180048

See you at the event and until that time, loads of love, BSR.

Never Never Never Give Up

This blog is not going to be about useful tips or fancy quotes from great personalities. It is going to be about a simple thing that I experienced at my office.

One of my colleagues is a plant lover and he has these beautiful money plants in fancy wine bottles all over his desk. One could just look at his work space and it was such a stress buster. This inspired me to have some greenery at my desk too and I asked him to get a shoot for me. After few days he got this shoot in a gorgeous wine bottle which looked quite okay and I placed it right in front of my eyes. The plant did well for some days but eventually started loosing its health and was almost on the verge of dying. I thought I couldn't do anything about it because let's admit, you cant get bright sunlight in an office space. But I had to do something to save it and so I began hunting for a spot which could help the plant survive for at least some days. Finally I got a place near the huge glass window which would ensure the plant some sunlight during the day time, but then again the sunlight was not directly hitting the spot and I was really doubtful whether this would help.

Some days passed by and the plant was still dry and dull. Eventually I forgot about it as work grabbed all of my attention.

One fine day (I don't know after how many days) the same plant grabbed my attention as miraculously it underwent a makeover and was looking so healthy. It had lustrous fresh leaves all over with long roots and it grew longer than some of the plants at my colleague's desk. What a fighter!

I am sure you are wondering why am I talking about a random plant and what have you got to do with it. Well, I am sharing this little story about the brave heart money plant so that you takeaway a very important lesson of life, that is, perseverance from it. As I told you the plant was almost on the verge of dying when I placed it at the new spot which didn't have right amount of sunlight too for survival. This is how exactly some of you are feeling right now, wanting to bloom and blossom but at the same time not sure about the opportunities available at hand. Let's go back to the plant, the plant too didn't have enough sunlight but it struggled and survived in the given situation and it did well looking so beautiful at the end. In the same way, no matter where you are right now, I want you to find opportunities for growth that will help you make a better professional. I want you to persevere and continue in the course of action even in the face of difficulty and with no sign of success because you never know when you would find new roots and lustrous leaves.

I also want you to watch this video about Master Blaster's Perseverance over 22 years. 

Wish you a great time ahead.

Lots of Love, BSR.

Rocking tips from Amitabh Bachchan

I absolutely adore Amitabh Bachchan. This is not because of his celebrity status but because of his calm personality and humble nature. I am sure every Indian agrees with me on this. A legendary actor with a career spreading across four decades, he has found a place in our hearts. But everything was not rosy for this young lad when he landed Bombay for the first time. But this guy was a fighter and he overcame every obstacle with sheer determination, hard work and not to forget, professionalism.

So I took some time to understand how he as a person applied some things to life that made him what he is today. That is when I found these tips that can be used by entrepreneurs to make a mark for their business and to overcome the trials and sufferings by becoming a stronger person.

So here are four tips from the superstar himself that will make every entrepreneur rock.

1.       Keep on trying till you succeed – He had 14 flops when he began his career as an actor. Can you imagine that? Most of the people are unaware of this fact that his first hit movie was Zanjeer which happened years later and all that time he was struggling with establishing a name for himself in the movie business. He persevered and gave in all his efforts to achieve the super stardom.

Lack of persistence is what brings failure to most of the entrepreneurs. They begin their business with high expectations and when no results surface all they think about is quitting and most of them unfortunately end up doing that. So, now you know that you need to hang in there until you turn your vision into a reality.

2.       Let bygones be bygones – We all are aware of the very famous Coolie incident which literally cost Amitabh Bachchan his life. He was declared clinically dead for 11 minutes. But that didn’t stop this brave heart and he came back with a bigger bang.  

This is the one quality that every entrepreneur should possess. You have to come out of your failures and start with a different approach to make things work for you. You should belive in your ability to stand up again.

3.       Life and entrepreneurship is like a boxing ring – Amitabh Bachchan once said, “Alone with an adversary, with nothing to defend yourself with except your own guile, strength and the will to fight. No external support and no avenues to escape. Just that roped square and the screams and encouragement from without. The outside. Never inside, never of any assistance, just words and voices. You fight alone and you fight strong. There will be voices, but no one comes in to help or hold. They sound good, but they remain distant. Demarcated and away.”

4.       Keep experimenting – Over the decades Amitabh Bachchan has portrayed various roles and has experimented with each character that he has portrayed on the screen. The once heart throb of many had to eventually play the role of a supporting actor and he did that with grace and dignity. He adjusted himself to the changing trends of the industry so that he laste in the business.

Every entrepreneur should keep himself updated with the latest changes happening in the market around him and make use of these trends to make profits. At the same time, you should regulate your impulses, forecast the future and try something new.

I hope I have given you more reasons to love Amitabh Bachchan and your job.

Love, BSR.

6 Tips to Socialise on the Social Media

This is the 21^st century and it is all about being virtual. No matter what type of brand you are—big or small—you have to show your presence online if you want to be in the game. I interact with a lot of entrepreneurs on a day-to-day basis and for some ‘social media’ is the next big thing. Others believe that it is just a poweful fad which wll fade away. Whatever it may be, I feel every business owner should make complete use of it while it is in the spotlight.

Let me put down some of the advantages of social media for you. Firstly, it increases brand recognition and in turn pools in more opportunities for you. The marketing costs are less as compared to traditional media which is a very important benefit as more profits and traffic is generated ith less investment. It provides a richer customer experience as customer interactions happen on a one-to-one basis and you get improved customer insights. The list can go on but I want to talk about how can you use these readily available tools to grow your network and business.

Even I was a complete social media twat some time back. ‘Face-what? Twit-who? You-how?’, these were my reactions; but it’s very simple, just follow the tips given below and you are good to go.

1.       WEBSITE: When considering your online marketing strategy, your website MUST come first. Think of it as sort of a “base camp” that you will connect to/from any number of external points. Your website is property owned by you, whereas social media pages are owned by someone else. Look at social media sites as simply a vehicle to get your message out there and drive traffic back to what you have control over. Still, getting “social” is an important component to any marketing plan.

2.       FACEBOOK: with an estimated 800 million active users it is ranked as the most used social networking service in the world (by the number of active monthly users). Lucky for you, starting a business page - and tapping into the power of Facebook – is pretty easy. Once your page is created, users ‘like’ it (opt-in to get your posts) and your news will be posted to their ‘wall.’ The Facebook interface makes it easy for your fans to ‘like’ or share your posts and when they do, their friends (the average user has 130 friends) will see this activity, therefore putting your brand in front of an audience you may not normally have access to.

3.       TWITTER: A micro-blogging social media site, Twitter has an estimated 300 million users world-wide. I have found that Twitter is an awesome way to connect with people and/or other businesses participating in the same event. Following a hashtag at a concert, live performance or webinar creates a richer experience. As a business owner you can utilize this at events your company participates in – try it! – I’ll bet you’d be blown away by the response.

4.       YOUTUBE: YouTube is a video sharing social media site that is owned by Google. There are more than 48 hours of new video uploaded to the site every minute. Isn’t that WOW! As a small business owner, using video in your online marketing strategy – and the back-end key words of your YouTube video -  is just as important as your other online strategies.

 I use this site to share videos from my events. I also vlog at times about certain things and trust me, it is a great way of increasing brand recognition.

5.       GOOGLE+ : Google is a power house. Some of the features of Google+ include: Circles, Hangouts, Messenger, Instant Upload, Hashtags and more. These products are definitely designed with the user in mind. The downside – there is no way to create a vanity url for your brand page.

Even though this is Google’s fourth go at a social media site, you cannot deny the importance of adding your brand to there, if for search engine rankings alone.

6.       LINKEDIN: LinkedIn gets 2 new members every second, putting it at 135 million active users in more than 200 countries. Traditionally viewed as the spot to put your resume and search for a job, LinkedIn has grown into a robust networking site. From job listings to interest groups, there are great benefits to keeping your profile up-to-date. I always recommend dedicating an hour or so a week maintaining your LinkedIn profile. Also, be sure add your company listing, and update it as well. Use your LinkedIn company profile page like a resume for your business.

 There are more than 100 thriving social media sites online right now and more popping up every single day. It’s enough to make a persons head spin! But I would recommend that you have your business placed at least on the sites mentioned above. Having said that, don’t forget to follow me on the same platform (links provided below)-- networking is the key, remember? Love, BSR.

Website: http://bhupendrasinghrathore.in/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CoachBSR?fref=ts

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/brkthruwithbsr

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrOy9v1ga20nJe26m53I7mw

Google+ : https://plus.google.com/+BhupendraSinghRathore

LinkedIn: https://in.linkedin.com/in/breakthroughwithbsr