"The only thing that stands between a person and what they want in life is the will to try it and the faith to believe it possible. " - Vincent Lombardi
BUSINESS UPDATE
Could you get arrested, fired, or even get divorced because of a humorous status message or innocuous tweet? You just might, say cyber lawyers, as status messages and tweets are admissible as electronic evidence under Indian IT laws.
Even as Microsoft’s Bill Gates and Barack Obama joined the Twitter fraternity this week, a dozen other celebs have been creating controversies over the Web. People are even getting arrested for creating contempt of court, by tweets or wall posts, or creating trouble for governments, notwithstanding the Desi Tharoor saga.
However, for the common Tweeter or Facebooker, daily updates about what’s on his or her mind may lead to robberies, thefts, arrests, break-ups and of course a divorce, suggest statistics.
UK-based Divorce-online last month said that 20% of all divorce petitions it is handling currently contain references to Facebook status messages. “One can also take a print out or screenshot of a Twitter or Facebook post and can use it in any court proceedings either against or for you. Cases where social interactions on internet are used as evidence will only rise in the near future in India,” says cyber lawyer Pavan Duggal.
But more than courts and spouses, your innocuous Tweet or status messages are being scanned by employers, before doling out job offers. While LinkedIn is a common social networking tool for professionals, employers sneak on the Facebook or Twitter personality of the candidate to read — “what’s on his mind”.
“Assessing the soft skills of a person is very important both for the HR manager and the recruiter. It shows how a candidate communicates to people around him. It also shows his interests on a daily basis. Often the demand for profiling social networking behaviour comes from the client’s side,” says Vikram Bhardwaj, CEO of executive search firm Redileon.
On the other hand, just updating your location every time on web 2.0 sites and sharing it might not be a great idea. While you might be busy posting the beach photos while on a vacation with family, your house may be getting burgled in the meantime. A man in Arizona recently blamed his social updates, as a reason behind the theft at his house.
Experts, however advise, that it’s best not to add your boss on your network, and even if you have already done, its best to put her in a separate list. Close family members like a spouse, should be avoided. A status message implying single even though you are married or in a relationship can definitely cause a turmoil in your home network, if not the social network, says Bangalore-based Parvati Kumar, an avid social networker.
Defence personnel and spies too are not allowed to reveal their field location or unit or its commander’s name. Posting pictures in a uniform is not allowed. But many army and intelligence officials are often seen on Facebook with their profile and photo completely hidden.
Ironically, discussion forums related to Indian intelligence works and their job postings are available on some Facebook groups. Even though a user may post any objectionable or anti-national content or even organise a rally against the state, on Twitter or Facebook, the new laws make them immune to action.
“The social networking sites hosting such content are not liable to penal action under the recent amendments to Section 79 of the Indian IT Act notified in October, last year,” says Vivek Sood, a Delhi-based cyber lawyer.
Meanwhile sociologists say that the web 2.0 behaviour will increase in coming years. “Human beings are generally gregarious. Since, now the shackles of family are breaking down, people want to express themeselves more often, even what they are thinking. It is a compensatory mechanism for the non-existence of face-to-face communities. The phenomenon will increase,” says Dipankar Gupta , professor of sociology at Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University.
ENVIRONMENT SUSTAINABILITY
We are living in exceptional times. Scientists tell us that we have 10 years to change the way we live, avert the depletion of natural resources and the catastrophic evolution of the Earth's climate. The stakes are high for us and our children. Everyone should take part in the effort, and HOME has been conceived to take a message of mobilization out to every human being. For this purpose, HOME needs to be free. A patron, the PPR Group, made this possible. EuropaCorp, the distributor, also pledged not to make any profit because Home is a non-profit film. HOME has been made for you : share it! And act for the planet.
Yann Arthus-Bertrand and his team travelled around the planet over 18 months to make this film. This movie shot from the air over fifty countries has a mission and carries a message for humanity : to become aware of the full extent of its spoliation of the Earth's riches and change its patterns of consumption. http://www.youtube.com/homeproject
Contact me ravips@gmail.com for this Home movie.
ENTREPRENEURSHIP
25 Common Characteristics of Successful Entrepreneurs
Regardless of your definition of success, there are, oddly enough, a great number of common characteristics that are shared by successful businesspeople. Most can be learned with practice and by developing a winning attitude, especially if you set goals and apply yourself, through strategic planning, to reach those goals in incremental and measurable stages.
Like any activity you pursue, there are certain musts that are required to be successful in a chosen activity. To legally operate a vehicle on public roadways, one must have a driver's license; to excel in sports, one must train and practice; to retire comfortably, one must become an informed investor and actively invest for retirement. If your goal is success in business, then the formula is no different. There are certain musts that have to be fully developed, implemented and managed for your business to succeed.
1. Do what you enjoy.
What you get out of your business in the form of personal satisfaction, financial gain, stability and enjoyment will be the sum of what you put into your business. In fact, if you don't enjoy what you're doing, chances are you won't succeed.
2. Take what you do seriously.
You would be effective and successful in business only when you truly believe in your business and in the goods and services that you sell. Very few business owners take their own businesses seriously, without getting sidetracked and stay motivated, keeping their noses to the grindstone. If you are one among them, you are already your way to success.
3. Plan everything.
Planning every aspect of your business is not only a must, but also builds habits that every business owner should develop, implement, and maintain. The act of business planning is so important because it requires you to analyze each business situation, research and compile data, and make conclusions based mainly on the facts as revealed through the research. Business planning also serves a second function, which is having your goals and how you will achieve them, on paper. You can use the plan that you create both as map to take you from point A to Z and as a yardstick to measure the success of each individual plan or segment within the plan.
4. Manage money wisely.
The lifeblood of any business enterprise is cash flow. You need it to buy inventory, pay for services, promote and market your business, repair and replace tools and equipment, and pay yourself so that you can continue to work. Be a good money manager to ensure that the cash keeps flowing and the bills get paid.
There are two aspects to wise money management i.e. income you receive from client/customers and expenses required to keep your business operating.
5. Ask for the sale.
A business entrepreneur must always remember that marketing, advertising, or promotional activities are completely worthless, regardless of how clever, expensive, or perfectly targeted they are, unless one simple thing is accomplished--ask for the sale. This is not to say that being a great salesperson, advertising copywriting whiz or a public relations specialist isn't a tremendous asset to your business. However, all of these skills will be for naught if you do not actively ask people to buy what you are selling.
6. Remember it's all about the customer.
Your business is all about your customers, or clients, period. Your business is not about the products or services that you sell, the prices that you charge for your goods and services, your competition and how to beat them. After all, your customers are the people that will ultimately decide if your business goes boom or bust. Everything you do in business must be customer focused, including your policies, warranties, payment options, operating hours, presentations, advertising and promotional campaigns and website. In addition, you must know who your customers are inside out and upside down.
7. Become a shameless self-promoter (without becoming obnoxious).
Self-promotion is one of the most beneficial, yet most underutilized, marketing tools that the majority of business owners have at their immediate disposal.
8. Project a positive business image.
You have but a passing moment to make a positive and memorable impression on people with whom you intend to do business. Business owners must go out of their way and make a conscious effort to always project the most professional business image possible. You must rely on imagination, creativity and attention to the smallest detail when creating and maintaining a professional image for their business.
9. Get to know your customers.
One of the biggest features and often the most significant competitive edge the startup or SME entrepreneur has over the larger competitors is the he can offer personalized attention. Call it high-tech backlash if you will, but customers are sick and tired of hearing that their information is somewhere in the computer and must be retrieved, or told to push a dozen digits to finally get to the right department only to end up with voice mail--from which they never receive a return phone call.
You can actually answer phone calls, get to know customers, provide personal attention and win over repeat business by doing so. It's a researched fact that most business (80 percent) will come from repeat customers rather than new customers. Therefore, along with trying to draw newcomers, the more you can do to woo your regular customers, the better off you will be in the long run and personalized attention is very much appreciated and remembered in the modern high tech world.
10. Level the playing field with technology.
One of the most amazing aspects of the internet is that a one or two person business operating from a basement can have a superior website to a $50 million company, and nobody knows the difference. Make sure you're keeping up with the high-tech world as it suits your needs.. The best technology is that which helps you, not that which impresses your neighbors.
11. Build a top-notch business team.
Building a successful business requires a team that is as committed as you to the business and its success. Your business team may include family members, friends, suppliers, business alliances, employees, sub-contractors, industry and business associations, local government and the community. Of course the most important team members will be your customers or clients. Any or all may have a say in how your business will function and a stake in your business future.
12. Become known as an expert.
You naturally seek an expert to help solve your problem for obvious reasons. You call a plumber when the hot water tank leaks, a real estate agent when it's time to sell your home or a dentist when you have a toothache. Therefore, it only stands to reason that the more you become known for your expertise in your business, the more people will seek you out to tap into your expertise, creating more selling and referral opportunities. In effect, becoming known as an expert is another style of prospecting for new business, just in reverse. Instead of finding new and qualified people to sell to, these people seek you out for your expertise.
13. Create a competitive advantage.
A business must have a clearly defined unique selling proposition. Means, you should have the most compelling answer to the question "Why will people choose to do business with you or purchase your product or service instead of doing business with a competitor and buying his product or service?" What one or more aspects are going to separate your business from your competition? Will it be better service, a longer warranty, better selection, longer business hours, more flexible payment options, lowest price, personalized service, better customer service, better return and exchange policies or a combination of several of these?
14. Invest in yourself.
Top entrepreneurs never stop investing in the most powerful, effective and best business and marketing tool at their immediate disposal--themselves. Top entrepreneurs buy and read business and marketing books, magazines, reports, journals, newsletters, websites and industry publications, knowing that these resources will improve their understanding of business and marketing functions and skills. They join business associations and clubs, and they network with other skilled business people to learn their secrets of success and help define their own goals and objectives. Top entrepreneurs attend business and marketing seminars, workshops and training courses, even if they have already mastered the subject matter of the event. They do this because they know that education is an ongoing process. There are usually ways to do things better, in less time, with less effort.
15. Be accessible.
You must make it as easy as you can for people to do business with you, regardless of the business you operate. As time is the most critical resource for any business, and live examples are ‘pizza in 30 minutes else it’s free’, ‘food in drive-thru window’, ‘ready cash through drive-in ATMs’ etc. You must remain cognizant of the fact that few people will work hard, go out of their way, or be inconvenienced just for the privilege of giving you their hard-earned money. Making it easy for people to do business with you means that you must be accessible and knowledgeable about your products and services. You must be able to provide customers with what they want, when they want it.
16. Build a rock-solid reputation.
A good reputation is unquestionably one of the business owner's most tangible and marketable assets. It’s something that you earn by honoring your promises. If you promise to have the merchandise in the customer's hands by Wednesday, you have no excuse not to have it there. Consistency in what you offer is the other key factor. Consistency in what you offer is the other key factor. If you cannot come through with the same level of service (and products) for clients on a regular basis, they have no reason to trust you . . . and without trust, you won't have a good reputation.
17. Sell benefits.
Pushing product features is for inexperienced or wannabe entrepreneurs. Selling the benefits associated with owning and using the products and services you carry is what sales professionals worldwide focus on to create buying excitement and to sell, sell more, and sell more frequently to their customers. Your advertising, sales presentations, printed marketing materials, product packaging, website, newsletters, trade show exhibit and signage are vital. Every time and every medium used to communicate with your target audience must always be selling the benefits associated with owning your product or using your service.
18. Get involved.
Always go out of your way to get involved in the community that supports your business. You can do this in many ways, such as pitching in to help local charities or the food bank, becoming involved in organizing community events, and getting involved in local environment, local community welfare initiatives & local politics e.g. Jagore.com. You can join associations and clubs that concentrate on programs and policies designed to improve the local community. It's a fact that people like to do business with people they know, like and respect, and with people who do things to help them as members of the community.
19. Grab attention.
Business owners cannot waste time, money and energy on promotional activities aimed at building awareness solely through long-term, repeated exposure. Every promotional activity you engage-in, must put money back in your pocket so that you can continue to grab more attention and grow your business.
20. Master the art of negotiations.
The ability to negotiate effectively is unquestionably a skill that every business owner must make every effort to master. It's perhaps second in importance only to asking for the sale in terms of business musts. In business, negotiation skills are used daily. Always remember that mastering the art of negotiation means that your skills are so finely tuned that you can always orchestrate a win-win situation. These win-win arrangements mean that everyone involved feels they have won, which is really the basis for building long-term and profitable business relationships.
21. Design Your workspace for success.
Carefully plan and design your office workspace to ensure maximum personal performance and productivity and, if necessary, to project professionalism for visiting clients.
22. Get and stay organized.
The key to staying organized is not about which type of file you have or whether you keep a stack or two of papers on your desk, but it's about managing your business. It's about having systems in place to do things. Therefore, you want to establish a routine by which you can accomplish as much as possible in a given workday, whether that's three hours for a part-time business or seven or nine hours as a full-timer. In fact, you should develop systems and routines for just about every single business activity. Small things such as creating a to-do list at the end of each business day, or for the week, will help keep you on top of important tasks to tackle. Creating a single calendar to work from, not multiple sets for individual tasks or jobs, will also ensure that jobs are completed on schedule and appointments kept. Incorporating family and personal activities into your work calendar is also critical so that you work and plan from a single calendar.
23. Take time off.
The temptation to work around the clock is very real for some business owners. Ideally you must take time to establish a regular work schedule that includes time to stretch your legs and take lunch breaks, plus some days off and scheduled vacations. All work and no play makes you burn out very fast and grumpy customer service is not what people want.
24. Limit the number of hats you wear.
It's difficult for most business owners not to take a hands-on approach. They try to do as much as possible and tackle as many tasks as possible in their business. The ability to multitask, in fact, is a common trait shared by successful entrepreneurs. However, once in a while you have to stand back and look beyond today to determine what's in the best interest of your business and yourself over the long run. Most highly successful entrepreneurs will tell you that from the time they started out, they knew what they were good at and what tasks to delegate to others.
25. Follow-up constantly.
Constant contact, follow-up, and follow-through with customers, prospects, and business alliances should be the mantra of every business owner, new or established. Constant and consistent follow-up enables you to turn prospects into customers, increase the value of each sale and buying frequency from existing customers, and build stronger business relationships with suppliers and your core business team. Follow-up is especially important with your existing customer base, as the real work begins after the sale. It's easy to sell one product or service, but it takes work to retain customers and keep them coming back.
GOOD FOR YOU
Ten Enterprise Apps That Don't Yet Exist--but Will Be a Big Deal in 5 Years
Enterprise apps used to change at a glacial pace. Companies were scared to mess with their financial systems, inventory management and customer database for fear of messing up something that was developed 10 years (or more) earlier. But the economic meltdown taught business executives that what worked in 1999 did not work in 2009. Here are 10 new applications that will become part of the enterprise application portfolio.
1. Social Netalyzer
Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn are just starting to get traction in the enterprise. But soon they will be integral to the way companies communicate internally and with the outside world. The problem is those applications are proprietary unto themselves and are under the control of the employees rather than the company. The social Netalyzer will allow companies to see how they are being evaluated, discussed and measured in social networks.
2. Forum Former
You have one group of users at Facebook, another group of bloggers and a hash tag on Twitter marking your new product. How do you build a company-sponsored forum where disgruntled customers can get their problems resolved and ardent customers can influence your company's new product directions? You'll want to make full use of video, online seminars and distance learning to build forums where your company's next, new strategies are developed.
3. Energy Dashboard
This idea has been around for a while. Digital instrumentation will allow you to not only measure and manage energy usage but be a player in a carbon trade market where you can measure your "greenness" against your competitors.
4. Real-time Reality
What is the current state of your financials, employees, IT systems and inventory? This is the company business intelligence dashboard on steroids.
5. Compliance Thermometer
What is the current state of customer privacy records? Have you met all financial reporting requirements? What about employee safety and environmental reports? Compliance requirements have become a major corporate time-drain, and systems to measure those requirements will become part of the enterprise application suite.
6. Real Risk Analyzer
Risk analysis got a bad name in the current economic meltdown. While the quants were confidently predicting they could measure and manage financial risk, the financial time bombs were ticking. The ability to fully measure the risks in a company's financial portfolio will be a major activity for banks, insurance companies and traders.
7. Needs and People Mashup
Companies need to be able to match up their employee capabilities with project requirements. However, too often the projects are not well-defined and employee capabilities cannot be captured in standard human resource systems. This becomes even more complicated when employees are dispersed and the work force consists of full-time, part-time and contract employees. The ability to quickly match employees with new market opportunities may spell success or failure for enterprises in the next five years.
8. Where Everything Is Dashboard
Supply chain and inventory management is still one of the trickiest enterprise problems. The advent of RFID-tagged components and products should help resolve this, but a continued worldwide sourcing environment will still stymie supply-chain efforts. Not only will companies have to know where their products came from, but they will have to know what went into those subcomponents to avoid potential liabilities. Tracking everything that goes into a product will be high on the list of new enterprise applications.
9. Supply/Price Maximizer
Product and service pricing will become a real-time enterprise. In the world of consumer products, the ability to get a couple more cents per product without causing customer falloff can spell success or failure. Product pricing is difficult. Service pricing is often just a best guess at what the customer will bear. Tighter margins, greater global competition and consumers still unwilling to unlimber their wallets following the economic meltdown will mean pricing systems tuned to the second.
10. Customer Hand holder
Customer (and potential customer) education will become the key to developing sales leads that turn into sales. New products and services will continue to evolve faster than schools, informal groups or social networks can explain how someone can evaluate one product from another. Think about mobile phones where customers are going to be asked to decide between iPhones, Android phones and Windows Mobile devices. Vendors are going to have to find ways to train customers to evaluate their products, use the products to the fullest and fix glitches without getting stuck in frustrating help queues.
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