Focus Group

We hear a lot about focus groups. During the recent presidential debates, a CNN reporter ran a "focus group" in Columbus, Ohio. Wikipedia describes a focus group as

A form of qualitative research in which a group of people is asked about their attitude towards a product, service, concept, advertisement, idea, or packaging. Questions are asked in an interactive group setting where participants are free to talk with other group members.

This is true as far as it goes.

What the CNN reporter ran was not a "focus group" in a market research sense. A real focus group occurs in a room around a table, consisting of 6-12 participants, led by a trained moderator, focused on a give topic or range of given topics. Usually the sessions are taped and the participants screened and reimbursed. Sometimes they are held in a professional focus group facility with videotaping. However I've lead many successful focus groups in hotel rooms, meeting rooms in libraries, once in SE Minnesota off a small room in a bar and in Big Lake, Texas, in a bank conference center.

What CNN had was, as George W. Bush would say, "a bunch of folks." It was basically a series of two-way dialogues with the reporter asking the questions and the audience answering them. I'm not saying what she did was without value. It was very interesting, just not a focus group. A successful focus groups features a lot of give and take among participants. The moderator simply guides the discussion and backs off and listens to what people say and what they don't say.

If you're interested in focus groups, read the Wikipedia article and follow its links and references. And post a comment. I'm interested in what you have to say.

Entrepreneurship informs all my professional activities. For entrepreneurial real estate go to www.yourstopforrealestate.com/blog and for entrepreneurial writing, click on www.kearneymusicschoolmurders.blogspot.com

Economic Indicators

An economic indicator is a number that is believed to indicate something about the economy. It could be anything: housing starts, employment changes, consumer confidence, etc. There are also indicators specific to particular industries. The airline industry would have a different set than auto manufacturers or real estate agents.

A leading indicator is a number that changes before the economy changes. That is, an increase in new housing starts is often seen as a good sign because it means more people will be employed, more stuff will be bought at building supply stores, etc.

A current or coincident indicator is a number that changes with the economy. What the stock market is doing might be a current indicator, though it could also be seen as a leading indicator.

A lagging indicator is a number that changes after the economy has changed.

In real estate, for example, the number of people the agent knows is a leading indicator. As the agent's sphere grows in size, the more likely it is for the agent's business to increase down the road due to an increase in referrals.

What do you think? I want to know, so come and post a comment.

Entrepreneurship informs all my professional activities. For entrepreneurial real estate go to www.yourstopforrealestate.com/blog and for entrepreneurial writing, go to www.kearneymusicschoolmurders.blogspot.com.

Legacy Thinking

There are a couple of ways of thinking about legacy thinking. The first one is the mental state of thinking about what your legacy will be. This kind of legacy thinking is very important. It is important about what we will leave those who live after us, but it's not what I'm thinking about.

The second meaning of legacy thinking is discussed by Phillip Evans and Thomas Wurster on page 5 of Blown to Bits; How the New Enconomics of Information Transforms Strategy (Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press, 2000) which narrates what they call the "Decline and Fall of Encyclopedia Britannica." They mean, the thought process by which

the history, the myths, the shared values, and the unreflective prepossitions that define a strong corporate culture can bine business leaders to events that do not fit into their collective framework.

If you're interested in the new economics of information, you should read this book. Published in 2000, it nonetheless foreshadows in broad brush everything that has been going on in the decade since.

I want to know what you think. Post a comment.

Entrepreneurship informs all of my professional activities. For entrepreneurial real estate, go to www.yourstopforrealestate.com/blog and for entrepreneurial writing to www.kearneymusicschoolmurders.blogspot.com.

Interest

Wikipedia, the free, on-line encyclopedia, gives us "interest" as

A fee, paid on borrowed capital. Assets lent include money, shares, consumer goods through hire purchase, major assets such as aircraft, and even entire factories in finance lease arrangements. The interest is calculated upon the value of the assets in the same manner as upon money. Interest can be thought of as "rent on money". For example, if you want to borrow money from the bank, there is a certain rate you have to pay according to how much you want lent to you.

If you're interested in interest (no pun intended, but I'll take it) read the entire Wikipedia article and follow its links.

Interest is important for the entrepreneur. Keeping the amount of interest paid out, that is. The more intrest you pay the higher your expenses are, so it's best to incure as little interest as possible. Interest acts like a tax. The more you pay for credit the less you have for other things. Some credit is good, but unmanageable credit acts like a margin-sucking maggot.

What do you think? I'd like to know. Post a comment.

Entrepreneurship informs all my professional activities. For entrepreneurial real estate, go to www.yourstopforrealestate.com/blog and for entrepreneurial writing, go to www.kearneymusicschoolmurders.blogspot.com

Creativity

Creativity is key for an entrepreneur. If someone wants to start a business, it's hard to see him or her succeeding if he or she is not creative.

From Wikipedia,

Creativity is a mental process involving the generation of new ideas or concepts, or new associations of the creative mind between existing ideas or concepts. An alternative conception of creativity is that it is simply the act of making something new.

No one know what creativity is for sure or why some people are creative others not, nor why creativity manifests itself the way it does.

How do you know if someone is creative? Two standards I would invoke are originality and fostering of social improvement. Mozart was creative. Einstein was creative. Newton was creative Ibsen was creative. Jonas Salk was creative. Edison was creative. Hitler was NOT creative. Ted Bundy was NOT creative. Joseph Stalin was NOT creative. Saddam Hussein was NOT creative.

If you're interested in the subject start with Wikipedia. Read the entire article and follow its references and links. From there, cyberspace is the limit.

What do you think about this? I'd like to know. Post a comment.

Entrepreneurship informs everything I do. For entrepreneurial real estate, go to www.yourstopforrealestate.com/blog and for entrepreneurial writing and publishing, go to www.kearneymusicschoolmurders.blogspot.com

Innovation

I go with Everett M. Rogers's definition of innovation: An innovation is an idea, practice, or object that is perceived as new by an individual." Rogers goes on to say,

It matters little, so far as human behavior is concerned, whether or not an idea is 'objectively' new as measured by the lapse of time since its first use or discovery. The perceived newness of the idea is enough for the individual determines his or her reaction to it. If an idea seems new to the individual, it is an innovation." (Everett C. Rogers, Diffusion of Innovations, New York: the Free Press, 2003, p. 12)

Rogers' book is a "must have" book for the the entrepreneur. He covers just about everything there is to cover on innovation and innovation reserach. Also, read the Wikipedia artcle on innovation. It's a bit less daunting and more accessible.

What do you think? I'd like to hear from you. Post a comment.

Entrepreneurship informs all of my entrepreneurial activities. For entrepreneurial real estate go to www.yourstopforrealestate.com/blog and for entrepreneurial writing and publishing to www.kearneymusicschoolmurders.blogspot.com

Values Statement

Hildy Gottlieb writes about the non-profit world. What she says has relevance to the for-profit sector as well. Here's what she says about values statements:

Mission Statements and Vision Statements are relatively common...But that is where most organizations stop. Vision and Mission. Statements of where we are headed, and what we will do to get there.

It is the rare organization that takes the time to then define HOW they will do that work - the talk they want to walk.

The only way we can create an amazing future for our communities. If we do our work in a way that reflects universally shared values. This ensures we do not squander our time and resources rationalizing our actions, and it helps ensure we are not potentially squandering our community's goodwill.

Further, if your goal is to create the future of your community - the lofty goals of your vision statement - then you will want to ensure your work reflects the values you want to see in your community.

A Values Statement provides the tools for the organization to accomplish that. First, the Values Statement will look outside the organization, to the visionary outcomes you want to create for your community. What values will need to be present in the community for your vision to come to pass? What values would the community need to emphasize? What values would have to be the norm?

From there, your Values Statement will look inside, to see how your own work will model those values, to teach those values by example. How will your work reflect those values? How will you ensure you are modeling those values to the community?When you have a tough decision to make, will you always err on the side of those values? (Hildy Gottlieb, "3 Statements That Can Change the World: Mission/Vision/Values," www.help4nonprofits.com/NP_Bd_MissionVisionValues_Art.htm)

Well, folks, what we used to call our "market" is not our "community." Whatever your enterprise, you're selling community. Entrepreneurs need to know this and to know what their values are and what values residen in the communities which will support whatever enterprise the entrepreneur is trying to start.

If you're interested in this, check Help4NonProfits.com website and read through all her stuff. As a old community organizer, I heartily endorse what she says. And Post a Comment.

Entrepreneurship informs all my professional activities. For entrepreneurial real estate, go to www.yourstopforrealestate.com/blog and for entrepreneurial writing go to www.kearneymusicschoolmurders.blogspot.com.

Mission Statement

A mission statement is "a brief [written] statement of the purpose of a company, organization, or group, according to Wikipedia, the free, on-line encyclopedia." I added the part about being written down. It's crucial that it be written down.

In a sense a mission statement is a promise the entrepreneur makes to the world of what the entrepreneur sees possible and what specific actions he or she intends to take to bring it about.

Hildy Gottlieb, in "3 Statements That Can Change the World: Mission/Vision/Values", www.Help4NonProfits.com (2007), says,

To distinguish between Vision and Mission...add the letters 'ary' to the end of each word: Vision-ary and Mission-ary....A visionary is someone who sees what is possible, who sees the potentisl. A missionary is someone who carries out that work.

I cannot overemphasize that both the vision statement and the mission statement be written down. When you write it down you own it. You can tape it up on the wall in front of your desk. You can keep it in a notebook for future reference. You can use it in your communications. You can use it to train employees and board members. If you don't write it down, you can't do any of these things. You can't share it. Instead you can mislead yourself and be fuzzy in your thinking with others.

What do you think? I would like to hear from you, so post a comment.

Entrepreneurship informs everything I do. For entrepreneurial real estate, go to www.yourstopforrealestate.com/blog and for entrepreneurial writing go to www.kearneymusicschoolmurders.blogspot.com.

Vision Statement

Google "Vision Statement" and you'll find a site called Time Thoughts; Resources for Personal & Career Success.com that defines a vision statement as:

A vivid idealized description of a desired outcome that inspires, energizes and helps you create a mental picture of your target. It could be a vision of a part of your life, or the outcome of a project or goal.

If you're interested in this, read the entire entry and follow its link.

The vision statement is more than just an interesting exercise. It puts into writing the entrepreneur's core values are and what things are most important. When we write things down, we own them. They mean more to us. As the entrepreneur goes forward he or she can look back on it and revise or reaffirm it. If the entrepeneur's core values have changed, he or she can analyze these changes and what they mean for their goals. If entrepreneurs don't know who they are or what's important to them and why they do what they're doing, their enterprises will either fall short of their objectives or entrepreneurs will feel frustrated and angry from being inauthentic.

If you find this interesting, post a comment. I'm interested in what you think.

Entrepreneurship informs everything I do. For entrepreneurial real estate, go to www.yourstopforrealestate.com and for my entrepreneurial writing blog to to www.kearneymusicschoolmurders.blogspot.com

Watercooler Effect

From Wordspy.com: "The effect created by two or more employees having an informal, face-to-face conversation, as though at a watercooler." To read the entire entry go to www.wordspy.com.

Wordspy.com is an excellent source of words that have come into common usage but haven't yet made it into the dictionary. Most of them are silly, but some are good, like "cleanout", the act of taking everything out of a house and hauling it away. If you want to keep track of what's new on the block, look at neologisms. They tell you what's new. I prowl Wordspy.com just to get new ideas. And if the change continues to accelerate, the dictionary may get more and more out of date. Plus, I like learning about words.

The watercooler effect is basically viral marketing. Information and opportunities are passed from person to person. Back when we all watched I Love Lucy, people used to congregate around the watercooler and talk to each other. Of course that was when you could work for the same company all your life. Now, they project 5-20 careers in a lifetime.

What do you think? Post a comment.

Entrepreneurship informs my entire professional life. For entrepreneurial real estate, go to www.yourstopforrealestate.com/blog and for entrepreneurial writing go to www.kearneymusicschoolmurders.com

Regression Analysis

From the free, on-line encyclopedia, Wikipedia:

In statistics, regression analysis is a collective name for techniques for the modeling and analysis of numerical data consisting of values of a dependent variable (response variable) and of one or more independent variables (explanatory variables). The dependent variable in the regression equation is modeled as a function of the independent variables, corresponding parameters ("constants"), and an error term. The error term is treated as a random variable. It represents unexplained variation in the dependent variable. The parameters are estimated so as to give a "best fit" of the data. Most commonly the best fit is evaluated by using the least squares method, but other criteria have also been used.

Regression analysis offers another powerful set of tools we can use to understand our businesses. It can tell us what factors best influence buyer behavior. That is, if we know buyers' age, income, gender, and so forth, how much do all of these factors affect the propensity of a customer to buy and which factor is most important, which second, and so forth.

Further, we can look at various factors of our business, revenue, expenses, mean receivable days, etc., and find out which has had the greatest impact on profit or sales growth.

However it is very complicated and arcane to the normal person, and the "regressor" must be trained in its usage.

If you are interested in this, read the whole article and follow its links and references. And post a comment. I'd like to know what you think.

Entrepreneurship informs all my professional activities. For my entrepreneurial real estate, go to yourstopforrealestate.com/blog and for entrepreneurial writing and publishing, www.kearneymusicschoolmurders.blogspot.com

Sticky Content

For "Sticky Content," Wikipedia gives us:

Sticky content refers to content published on a website, which has the purpose of getting a user to return to that particular website or hold their attention and get them to spend longer periods of time at that site. Webmasters use this method to build up a community of returning visitors to a website. Examples of sticky content include the following: Chat room, Online forum, Webmail, Internet games, Weather, News, Horoscopes, and much more. Sticky content is also sometimes called sticky tools or sticky gear. Websites featuring sticky content are often referred to as sticky sites.

Having a sticky website is important because users are more likely to come back to it and to tell other people about it. These are called network externatlities, and in everything we do we need as much as we can put ourselves in a position to leverage network effects. Imagine Velcro that sticks to everything. The ideal website is like that.

Is your website sticky? What do you think? Post a comment.

Entrepreneurship informs my real estate practice and my writing. For entrepreneurial real estate, go to www.yourstopforrealestate.com/blog and for www.kearneymusicschoolmurders.blogspot.com for entrepreneurial writing and publishing.

Prediction Games

From Wikipedia, the free, on-line encyclopedia: "A prediction game is a game which allow users to guess at the outcome of future events. Prediction games are generally operated online and are free for users to play. Points are awarded to players who most accurately predict the outcome of an event, and those points are converted into cash prizes."

You may have noticed that various news organizations started prediction games about who would be the vice presidential candidates. I never heard how they came out which probably means they weren't very accurate. A number of entities have used them successfully, particularly if those in the game are (1) independent, (2) diverse, and (3) and knowledgeable of the topic of the game. See Cass R. Sunstein, Infotopia; How Many Minds Produce Knowledge (New York: Oxford Unviersity Press, 2006). He reviews a number of prediction games on pp. 4-6.

If you're interested in prediction games, also called prediction markets, read the wikipedia entry and the Sustein book. I'm interested in what you think, so post a comment.

Entrepreneurship informs everything I do. For entrepreneurial real estate go to www.yourstopforrealestate.com/blog and for entrepreneurial writing to www.kearneymusicschoolmurders.blogspot.com

Secondary Market

Wikipedia, the free on-line encyclopedia, has:

The secondary market is the financial market for trading of securities that have already been issued in an initial private or public offering. Alternatively, secondary market can refer to the market for any kind of used goods. The market that exists in a new security just after the new issue, is often referred to as the aftermarket. Once a newly issued stock is listed on a stock exchange, investors and speculators can easily trade on the exchange, as market makers provide bids and offers in the new stock. In the secondary market, securities are sold by and transferred from one investor or speculator to another. It is therefore important that the secondary market be highly liquid (originally, the only way to create this liquidity was for investors and speculators to meet at a fixed place regularly; this is how stock exchanges originated, see History of the Stock Exchange).

Here's the problem we have now: Trust has gone out of the system and investors don't trust one another. Lack of trust slows business to a crawl and acts like a tax on revenue. If we can restore trust (or confidence) to the system we can begin to put Humpty Dumpty back up on the wall and things will get better.

Entrepreneurs don't have to be financial experts, or sophisticated investors, but they need to know the tools to talk about their own investments and to understand what is said in the media about what is going on in the financial markets.

If you;'re interested in this topic, read the full Wikipedia article. And post a comment. I'd love to hear what you have to say.

Entrepreneurship informs all my professional activities. For entrepreneurial real estate go to www.yourstopforrealestate.com/blog and for entrepreneurial writing and publishing to to www.kearneymusicschoolmurders.blogspot.com

Product Differentiation

Wikipedia, the free, online encyclopedia, give us:

In marketing, product differentiation (also known simply as "differentiation") is the process of distinguishing the differences of a product or offering from others, to make it more attractive to a particular target market. This involves differentiating it from competitors' products as well as one's own product offerings.

Differentiation is a source of competitive advantage. Although research in a niche market may result in changing your product in order to improve differentiation, the changes themselves are not differentiation. Marketing or product differentiation is the process of describing the differences between products or services, or the resulting list of differences. This is done in order to demonstrate the unique aspects of your product and create a sense of value. Marketing textbooks are firm on the point that any differentiation must be valued by buyers. The term unique selling proposition refers to advertising to communicate a product's differentiation.

Entrepreneurs must demonstrate how something is different than is what is out there. And not just in features, but how it meets a need better than competitors'. As a realtor, I'm continually working to differentiate myself from competitors. I want potential customers to see me as a very different kind of realtor. People want different, not just more of the same.

Anyone interested in the concept should read the entire article and follow its links. And I'm interested in what you have to say, so post a comments.

Entrepreneurship informs everything I do. For my entrepreneurial real estate blog, go to www.yourstopforrealestate.com/blog and for my entrepreneurial writing blog, go to www.hatman2.blogspot.com

Expense

Expenses are one of the drivers of cash flow. Wikipedia, the free, on-line encyclopedia, gives us this description of an expense:

In common usage, an expense or expenditure is an outflow of money to another person or group to pay for an item or service, or for a category of costs. For a tenant, rent is an expense. For students or parents, tuition is an expense. Buying food, clothing, furniture or an automobile is often referred to as an expense. An expense is a cost that is "paid" or "remitted", usually in exchange for something of value. Something that seems to cost a great deal is "expensive". Something that seems to cost little is "inexpensive".

In accounting, 'expense' has a very specific meaning. It is an outflow of cash or other valuable assets from a person or company to another person or company. This outflow of cash is generally one side of a trade for products or services that have equal or better current or future value to the buyer than to the seller. Technically, an expense is an event in which an asset is used up or a liability is incurred. In terms of the accounting equation, expenses reduce owners' equity.

The International Accounting Standards Board defines expenses as...decreases in economic benefits during the accounting period in the form of outflows or depletions of assets or incurrences of liabilities that result in decreases in equity, other than those relating to distributions to equity participants.

Those interested in this should read the entire entry and follow its links and references.

The entrepreneur must watch expenses carefully, keeping them to a minimum and to ensure that every expense is justified and has a reasonable chance of returning value or revenue at or above some predetermined benchmark in a specified length of time.

What do you think? Post a comment.

Entrepreneurship informs all of my professional activity. For entrepreneurial real estate, go to www.yourstopforrealestate.com/blog and for entrepreneurial writing to www.kearneymusiscshoolmurders.blogspot.com.

Authority

Wikipedia, the free, on-line encyclopedia says, in part:

In politics, authority...is often used interchangeably with the term "power". However,... while "power" refers to the ability to achieve certain ends, "authority" refers to a claim of legitimacy, justification and right to exercise that power. For example, whilst a mob has the power to punish a criminal, such as through lynching, many people consider only the courts have the authority to order capital punishment.

This is important for entrepreneurs because if they can achieve a sort of ligitimacy in the market place, their products sell faster and their business grows more quickly. Or, if they can import legitimacy they can make their products better known, and word of mouth will spread farther and wider.

What do you think? I'd like to know. Post a comment.

Entrepreneurship informs everything I do. For entrepreneurial real estate, go to www.hatman2.blogspot.com and for entrepreneurial writing, to www.kearneymusicschoolmurders.blogspot.com

Failure Analysis

Wikipedia, the free, on-line encyclopedia, gives us this:

Failure analysis is the process of collecting and analyzing data to determine the cause of a failure and how to prevent it from recurring. It is an important discipline in many branches of manufacturing industry, such as the electronics industry, where it is a vital tool used in the development of new products and for the improvement of existing products

Dictionary.com, the free, on-line dictionary, defines failure, among 7 meanings, as:

An act or instance of proving unsuccessful; The lack of success as in 'His effort ended in failure. The campaign was a failure.'; Nonperformance of something due, required, or expected, as in a failure to do what one has promised or a failure to appear; A subnormal quantity or quality as in an insufficiency or the failure of crops; Deterioration or decay, esp. of vigor, strength, etc., as in 'The failure of her health made retirement necessary.'

Keep in mind that failure can be defined many different ways. The word tends to be too emotionally loaded, so I define "failure" as underperformance on key objectives. Success would be meeting or overperforming on key objectives. For example, if the purpose of the Iraq war was to find and eliminate weapons of mass destruction, not finding any, the war underperformed and analysis would look into the causes for its underperformance.

The entrepreneur should always have a clear set of objectives for all his or her major thrusts, measurement systems to measure success or underperformance. Then after the measurement period has concluded, determine whether to drop the effort, or retool it to make it successful.

If you're interested in either of these two concepts read the entire articles. And what do you think? Please post a comment.

Entrepreneurship informs all of my professional activities. For entrepreneurial real estate go to www.yourstopforrealestate.com/blog and for entrepreneurial writing and publishing, go to www.kearneymusicschoolmurders.blogspot.com

Human Capital #7--Knowledge

Dictionary.com, the free, on-line dictionary give 10 meanings of the word knowledge, the following of which are relevant here:

Acquaintance with facts, truths, or principles, as from study or investigation, or familiarity or conversance with a particular subject or branch of learning, as in a knowledge of accounting or Knowledge of human nature, the body of truths or facts accumulated in the course of time, the sum of what is known.

The entrepreneur must have knowledge of his or her industry, of the story of that industry, of all the particular threads that are interwoven into that story, of how they are changing, unraveling, becoming more tightly woven together, or finding new threads becoming woven into the tapestry. Knowledge the entrepreneur does not have has to be sought from outside. And knowledge the entrepreneur does have must be constantly and consistently updated. For a fuller treatment of "knowledge" read the entire dictionary entry.

I'm interested in your opinion. What do you think of this? Post a comment.

Entrepreneurship informs my every aspect of my professional activities. For entrepreneurial real estate, go to www.yourstopforrealestate.com/blog and for entrepreneurial writing, go www.kearneymusicschoolmurders.blogspot.com

Human Capital #6--Trust

This is a revision of my post from 9/19. Wikipedia, the free, on-line encyclopedia says:

Trust is a relationship of reliance. A trusted party is presumed to seek to fulfill policies, ethical codes, law and their previous promises....Trust is a prediction of reliance on an action, based on what a party knows about the other party. Trust is a statement about what is otherwise unknown -- for example, because it is far away, cannot be verified, or is in the future.

Our current economic crisis is a crisis of trust. Investors believed that mortgage-backed derivatives were based on mortgages which were backed up with colateral. They weren't. Now, that the sh*t has hit the fan, no one trusts anyone anymore. That's because trust which has been built up over a long period of time can disappear in a heart beat. Now banks don't trust each other; people don't trust the government; people don't trust each other; the government doesn't trust banks; other countries don't trust us; and so on.

The good news is that trust can be rebuilt. We have to start somewhere. I think John McCain's proposal to buy up home mortgages is a constructive idea. I'd like to learn more about it. Somewhere, we have to start trusting each other. Until we do, we will never repair the damage.

What do you think? Go back and read my post from 9/19. And read the whole Wikipedia article and follow the links. If something resonates with you, post a comment.

Entrepreneurship informs everything I do. For entrepreneurial real estate go to www.yourstopforrealestate.com/blog and for entrepreneurial writing to www.kearneymusicschoolmurders.blogspot.com

Human Capital #5--Character

A person's character is another aspect of human capital the entrepreneur brings to the table. Dictionary.com, the free, on-line dictionary, gives a range of meanings for the word "character" germain to this discussion:

The aggregate of features and traits that form the individual nature of some person or thing; Moral or ethical quality, [as] a man of fine, honorable character; Qualities of honesty, courage, or the like; Integrity, [as]: It takes character to face up to a bully. Reputation [as] : a stain on one's character; Good repute.

For an entrepreneur, the issue of character is central. People are less likely to follow anyone who does not have integrity and character. less likely to partner with him or her, less likely to buy their products. In every endeavor, the person without character is swimming upstream in a repids. Entrepreneurship is no different than other aspects of life.

I'm interested in what you think. If this resonates with you, post a comment. And if you're interested in character, go read the whole entry and follow the links.

Entrepreneurship informs all my professional activities. For my entrepreneurial real estate blog, go to www.yourstopforrealestate.com and for my publishing blog go to www.kearneymusicschoolmurders.blogspot.com.

Human Capital #4--Leadership

Leadership is one of the primary qualities an entrepreneur needs. It's a component of his human capital. Wikipedia gives leadership as "the ability to affect human behavior so as to accomplish a mission; influencing a group of people to move towards its goal..." There's more on leadership in its article. If you're interested in leadership, read the whole article.

John C. Maxwell, in The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership (Nashville, TN: Nelson Business, 1998), asserts on page 1 that "leadership is the lid that determines a person's level of effectiveness. The lower an individual's aility to lead, the lower the lid on his potential. The higher the leadership, the greater effectiveness." Maxwell goes on to argue that leadership is a skill that can be learned. An entrepreneur can learn to become a great leader. Those who are born great can become even better. Maxwell has written a lot on leadership. You should check out his stuff, it's a good read.

If this resonates with you, post a comment.

Entrepreneurship informs everything I do. For entrepreneurial real estate, go to www.yourstopforrealestate.com/blog and for entrepreneurial writing, to www.kearneymusicschoolmurders.hatman2.com

Connections

For entrepreneurs, nothing is more important than their connections. Dictionary.com, the free, on-line dictionary, gives 18 definitions for connection. Among them:

The act or state of connecting; The state of being connected, as in the connection between cause and effect; Anything that connects, as in connecting part, link, bond; Association, relationship, as in the connection between crime and poverty; A circle of friends or associates or a member of such a circle; A group of persons connected as by political or religious ties; Associates, relations, acquaintances, or friends, esp. representing or having some influence or power.

Connections comprise your social capital, one of the three things the entrepreneur brings to the competitive arena. Your connections supply you with information and opportunity, potential employees or business partners, and a chance to expand your reach. The best way for an enetrepreneur to get his or her products sold is to have them recommended by someone else. That's one area that the power of social capital, or, connections, manifests itself.If you're interested in all the definitions, consult the whole article.

If what I say resonates with you post a comment.

Entrepreneurship informs everything I do. For entrepreneurial real estate, go to www.yourstopforrealestate.com/blog. For entrepreneurial writing, go to www.kearneymusicschoolmurders.blogspot.com.

Human Capital #3--Intuition

Dictionary.com, the free, on-line dictionary, gives 6 different meanings of the word "intuition." Among them are:

direct perception of truth, fact, etc., independent of any reasoning process; immediate apprehension; a fact, truth, etc., perceived in this way; keen and quick insight; the quality or ability of having such direct perception or quick insight

Insight is part of the human capital that the entrepreneur brings to the competitive arena. Learn more about it by reading the full article.

Intuition is important to entrepreneurs. They are helped if they can look at a situation and get a good intuitive grasp of the essential truth of a situation or possibility. Those who can do it have a leg up. Still, though even strong intuition has to be backed up by research and data. Malcolm Gladwell talks about this in his book, Blink; the Power of Thinking Without Thinking (New York: Little Brown and Company, 2005), a follow-up to his very successful and very excellent Tipping Point.

If anything I say grabs you, post a comment.

Entrepreneurship informs all my professional activities. For entrepreneurial real estate, go to www.yourstopforrealestate.com and for entrepreneurial writing to www.kearneymusicschoolmurders.hatman.com

Human Capital #2--Experience

Dictionary.com, the free, on-line dictionary, gives us eight meannings for "experience". Among those:

'the process or fact of personally observing, encountering, or undergoing something: business experience';'the observing, encountering, or undergoing of things generally as they occur in the course of time'; 'to learn from experience; the range of human experience; knowledge or practical wisdom gained from what one has observed, encountered, or undergone: a man of experience; philosophy';'the totality of the cognitions given by perception; all that is perceived, understood, and remembered.'

Experience comprises some of the human capital the entrepreneur brings to the competitive arena. Any area where the entrepreneur lacks experience will have to be supplied by someone else. My uncle, for example, got $50,000 from his father back in the 1950s. Uncle was an actor, so he dumped all of it into producing a broadway show. He lost it all because he had no experience producing anything and therefore didn't know what he was doing.

If you like what I say, post a comment. And consult the whole Eictionary.com article.

Entrepreneurship informs everything I do. For my entrepreneurial real estate blog, go to www.yourstopforrealestate.com and for my entrepreneurial writing blog go to www.kearneymusicschoolmurders.blogspot.com.

Human Capital #1--Ability

Ability is one form of human capital. Human Capital, from Ron Burt, is one of the weapons that the entrepreneur brings to the competitive arena. Dictionary.com defines "ability" as:

[The] power or capacity to do or act physically, mentally, legally, morally, financially, etc.; competence in an activity or occupation because of one's skill, training, or other qualification [such as] the ability to sing well; abilities, talents, special skills or aptitudes [as in] 'Composing music is beyond his abilities.'

If the entrepreneur does not have the superior abilities to support what he or she wants to do, they're going to have a bit of tough sledding. And if you're interested in looking at the derivations and different meanings of the word, read the whole entry.

If you like what I say, post a comment. And subscribe to my blog so you can have my posts sent to your email every day.

Entrepreneurship informs all of my professional activities. For entrepreneurial real estate, go to www.yourstopforrealestate.com./blog and for entrepreneurial writing, go to www.kearneymusicschoolmurders.blogspot.com

Statistical Sampling

From Wikipedia, the free on-line, encyclopedia, we have this:

Sampling is that part of statistical practice concerned with the selection of individual observations intended to yield some knowledge about a population of concern, especially for the purposes of statistical inference. Each observation measures one or more properties (weight, location, etc.) of an observable entity enumerated to distinguish objects or individuals. Survey weights often need to be applied to the data to adjust for the sample design. Results from probability theory and statistical theory are employed to guide practice.

Entrepreneurs have to be knowledgeable about statistical sampling so they can evaluate statistical studies about their market or their industry. Also, if entrepreneurs are thinking of designing a study to find out some information or other about their market, then they're going to have to know about sampling.

There are dozens of ways to sample, so consult a professional. If you're interested in sampling, you should look at the whole Wikipedia article and follow the links and references. Also, post a comment on this blog.

Entrepreneurship informs all my professional activities. For entrepreneurial real estate, go to www.yourstopforrealestate.com and for entrepreneurial writing go to www.kearneymusicschoolmurders.blogspot.com