Every new entrepreneur worries about livelihood, whether the money is coming in today. Thus Entrepreneurs often live in the present.
That and because the past is often in the accounts books, and the future is in the forecasts. So. Onward to the business which is also livelihood!
Planning.
We will usually have a plan for the first 2 - 5 years of the business, which is before the business even gets set up, when we are hammering out the direction, purpose/vision, and the strategies and tactics to achieve the targeted successes. There will, of course, also be targets for growth. That's why salespeople always - always - have sales targets. Because the company has to grow.
A good entrepreneur will time the market, look at the economy's cycle - a bit like cooking an egg: you wait for the water to boil before you put the egg in.
Time costs money.
It's true, because overheads, rental, and services (telephone, the internet) are paid for on a monthly timeline. For a lot of entrepreneurs, the security of a paycheck is no longer there, which usually means there's no money coming in until the business brings in money. Which brings us to Planning.
Planning/Diversification.
Entrepreneurs who fail to plan is planning to fail. That's why we have contingency plans, plans for expansion, exit plans. It is the businessperson who is compartmentalised who will succeed, who will cut losses when the business for some reason fails.
The successful Entrepreneur will also have a business and a personal fund, the former to take chances with and the latter to support himself and give himself a second chance with.
Unless of course, he is savvy enough to have invested in stocks that yield sufficient dividends to support personal expenses. Which will mean that he is diversifed, and the business is likely one of his engines to gain wealth. Since most businesses are often the first serious, prolonged stab at investment however, the Entrepreneur's financial blueprint is often not diversified.
Thus. It is best to have a business fund and a personal fund. That's the first diversification anyone and everyone should have.
"Logic."
The Entrepreneur most of the time, being "logical" human beings, will pump whatever excess money they make into the business, which means the money they could have spent on leisure, on upgrades, on insurance.
The idea is "I'll look at it if it brings in the money and/or strengthens the business now."
Translation...?
Which basically means aggressive tools. Like sales-boosting programmes or equipment. Intelligence on the ground (what consumers are looking for, what are they not happy with, what they like et cetera). Acquisition of new items or areas of control that will one-up them against competitors, basically. Immediate solutions.
Because offence is often the best defense - at least when business is just starting up when the team is small and nimble, for the company coffers are often shallow at this point.
That means you can offer this Entrepreneur sales-boosting programmes (collaborations, media-product partnerships, sponsorship deals that aren't monetary), networking memberships (to target audiences), certain equipment, services (printing, advertising, flyer distribution services, telesales services).
A successful Entrepreneur however, with a more stabilised company with its established departments and a better-filled bank, will be looking for partnerships and if they've grown to a particular size, acquisitions. For him you can sell training programmes, system upgrades for cheap (throw in a quid-pro-quo as opposed to an outright monetary exchange to cement relationship/partnership/retainership if it suits the purpose), services (printing, advertising, flyer distribution services, telesales services), sales-boosting programmes (collaborations, media-product partnerships, sponsorship deals), or even better yet, companies they can partner.
Of course, if you're more aggressive and are looking for bigger fish then it might be more interesting to source for companies to merge with, or those with pockets deep enough to offer retainership.
You'll need your accountant and lawyer though. May I suggest one or two who I personally use, for a small fee? <-- see, that's how it works. Except you also negotiate your cut from your lawyer, accountant or recipient companies for referring business - but you know that.
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...once you're an entrepreneur you'll realise that it does nobody any good to burn bridges.
That's why haughty lawyers, arrogant doctors sometimes don't ever become entrepreneurs. Which is just as well, for I'm sure there are nice lawyers and sensitive doctors out there. There are always exceptions to the rule, but successful people are often described as humble, warm.
That's because they know the importance of connection and rapport. People are often business.
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