These Entrepreneurs Have Great Advice For Your Small Business

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Find Inspiration With Small Business Advice From the Minds of These Innovative Legends

Owning a small business is an exhilarating ride. Every day you get the opportunity to see your blood, sweat, and tears turn into something grandiose. It will never be a cakewalk, but for those who persevere, there will be champagne toasts. The pathway to success is riddled with snags. Many entrepreneurs look forward and backward to see their life resembling the more proverbial of the Dr. Seuss’ books. When it gets to the darker pages, sometimes all it takes is some small business advice to get your business back into the mountains.

Bridging your mind with great entrepreneurs can be as easy as scrutinizing their words. The Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerbergs of the world were emulating the Andrew Carnegies and the Henry Fords. You can do the same. Small business advice fortified in entrepreneurial quotes will inspire, advise, and jolt creativity.

This article will explore five of our favorite quotes left in the wake of some really smart business moves, and the takeaway that can be applied to any small business.

  1.    “Risk more than others think is safe. Dream more than others think is practical.” – Howard Schultz, Former CEO and Current Executive Chairman of Starbucks.

Starbucks is an omnipresent force rooted in the global economy. The coffee house franchise also serves up a good cup o’ Joe. Obviously, Schultz had to make some daring moves as the company tapped into the digital marketing that made Starbucks a true industry disruptor. Before Schultz was able to transform a banal commodity into a $4 dollar craving, he had to take a risk. Schultz vowed he would revolutionize the industry and he did.  Prior to Schultz and Starbucks, no one outside of Italy was crafting and roasting coffee the way Starbucks has managed to. Now, everyone knows it’s fall when the pumpkin spice latte is back on the menu.

Applying this to your business model is more philosophical than literal. Howard Schultz is stating that at the root of entrepreneurialism is risk. Being successful takes some imaginative audacity. The worst thing an entrepreneur can do is let fear inhibit their dream and not take action. You may have the next billion dollar idea just waiting to be acted upon. Follow Schultz’s advice.

  1. “In the modern world of business, it is useless to be a creative, original thinker unless you can also sell what you create.” – David Ogilvy, co-founder of Ogilvy & Mather.

In this quote, David Ogilvy is offering a rationale for the infinite amount of quotes about taking a fearless leap into the business world. Passion and dreams are important but will not be enough to sustain a small business. Ogilvy would know. His advertising company—Ogilvy & Mather—has an extensive client list including American Express, IBM, and Dove. Ogilvy’s ethos reaches back to early ads in the 1950s in the anarchic days of marketing.

The takeaway from this is obvious. Without doing your research and assembling a practical business plan—all your efforts will be in vain. Strategic business should capitalize on market gaps, product niches, and uniqueness. Honing in on what makes your small business alluring and competitive will mean the difference between failure and success. This is economics 101. Before launching, secure a business schematic that provides a product or service that there is demand for. If that product or service is so innovative consumers didn’t even know they needed it until you sold it, then you’re truly thinking like Ogilvy.

  1.  “It’s almost always harder to raise capital than you thought it would be, and it always takes longer. So plan for that.” – Richard Harroch, Venture Capitalist.

Richard Harroch is a juggernaut of business expertise. Taking small business advice from this guy is a crash course MBA program. Harroch successfully founded two companies—Lawcommerce.com and Allbusiness.com–is an enterprise author, and has negotiated the structuring of more than 100 internet related partnerships, and secured 250 mergers and acquisitions in his time. Currently, he is the Managing Director and Global Head of M&A or VantagePoint.

Harroch’s quote hits home for small business owners. Finding seed money to start, or expand, is a continuing struggle. Whether applying for an SBA loan, reaching out to private investors, or sinking your entire life savings into your business, raising capital is a tedium in itself. When confronting the daunting statistics of business success rates it’s important to focus on the long-term. Initial investments take time for an ROI to make its way back to you. Allott for this time when you find yourself sandwiched in the intermediary between establishing capital and making a profit.

  1. “An organization’s ability to learn, and translate that learning into action rapidly, is the ultimate competitive advantage.” – Jack Welch, Chemical Engineer and Former CEO of General Electric

If business is a chess board, then Jack Welch is the step toward checkmate. Corny metaphors aside, Jack Welch is a poignant and controversial force in the business world that has likened company culture and organization to resemble a military unit. During his time as CEO, General Electric saw a 2233% growth increase from $12 billion to $280 billion. How do we follow his tactics and apply equivalent figures to our own small business?

Welch believed that a company should either be at the top as No.1 or at that company’s heels. Without going into the gritty specifics, Welch cut overhead in as many ways as he could. Efficiency and streamlining business was Welch’s mantra, leave bureaucracy to the bureaucrats. For small business owners, the same can be applied to your means. Organize your team in a manner that sharpens your operations. Cutting costs, organizing accounting, and fine-tuning employees are vital to small business’ longevity.

  1.  “There’s lots of bad reasons to start a company. But there’s only one good, legitimate reason, and I think you know what it is: it’s to change the world.” – Phil Libin, CEO of Evernote.

Phil Libin’s career has been spent as a digital architect for an array of companies and was CEO of Evernote but has since focused on General Catalyst Partners, a venture capital firm. Libin’s story is the archetypal one that shows the behind-the-scenes guy transition to leading the company. It doesn’t take a scrutinizing look at his resume to realize how this man’s potential became his job title.

Every mentor gives small business advice on how to set goals because without goal-setting there is no applicable framework to get from A to B. As a small business owner, you need to exercise some self-efficacy. We believe this is what Phil Libin is getting at in this quote—self-determination theory. If one believes they will change the Universe, this person has equipped themselves to change the World. If your goals aim for your small business to strive beyond the capacities of possibility, you’ll arrive ahead of the threshold.  

Words are meaningless unless acted on. Churn these quotes into action in your small business. Taking small business advice and implementing it into business solutions is a cornerstone in entrepreneurialism and can be your lifeline. Godspeed and good luck!

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Pet Franchise: 10 Reasons Project Managers Make Great Shop Owners

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Industry Change is an Open Door

The concept and career pathway of a special project managers has undergone critical developments in the past few years.

Advances in technology, a changing emphasis on environmental impacts, and evolution of industries have made project managers an integral career pathways in the world economy.

As the pet franchise experiences it’s own market inflation many special project managers are making the transition to owning their own business. This article outlines 10 strengths of project managers that translate into entrepreneurial pursuits as a franchisee.

Demand

The pet franchise industry is growing strongly. As the franchise sector expands, the move to seeking out a stakes is becoming increasingly profitable.

Already geared toward risk analysis, special project managers make great business owners that minimize risk, and maximize profit.

Salary

Top quality project managers potentially earn $90K once hired by a reputable company. Many work freelance.

Owners of of single unit pet franchise have the potential to make significantly more than this, and multiunit owners could more than double their salary than as a projects manager.

Professional Growth

Special project managers work in a field with no cap. Each project helps them develop new skills cultivating their professional growth. A special project manager is a Swiss army knife–each blade acting as a different skill or tool.

Owning a franchise takes this multifaceted Swiss army knife approach to business to succeed. Every day is a new challenge. Everyday a new solution is developed.

People

Whether it is dealing with stakeholders, company directors, or project staff special project managers are great with people. They are articulate and have leadership skills.

This is important when thinking about investing in a pet franchise. Owners handle staff, accountants, and management teams. Delegating and leading drives these interactions with people. Special project managers have a strong background in this aspect, and are easily adaptable.

Travel

The special project manager route can be very nomadic. Many emigrate abroad to countries with a high demand for special project managers like Brazil and Russia.

For some, this fortuitous, for others that seek more stability they look for a transition in a secure career.

Owning multi unit franchises still takes traveling. Initially shop owners spend a good portion of their time on-site. Once the shop is self-sufficient this time dwindles.

Franchisees that once were small project managers are finding they have more life work balance as a shop owner than before.   

Leadership and Management

Special project managers lead their team. They identify the risk, obtain new processes, and implement the new systems to ensure success. This takes a huge amount of abstract thinking and being personable.

Taking a new role of business owner applies this same skill-set within a different sector.

Driven

Special projects manager have the advantage of seeing their efforts turn into tangible results.

The same process happens as a business owner. The amount of success directly correlates to effort and work put in. Being able to control your profits, labor, and financial parameters are not typical of corporate America, but is standard in the pet franchise sector.

Deadlines

Depending upon the industry, a project manager is the person who creates and enforces deadlines in order to help companies evolve and cope with change.

Creating a deadline for oneself and others is imperative for success as a small business owner.

Part of owning a pet franchise is taking advantage of retail opportunities and services. Deadlines will be dictated on market trends making deadlines even more important to provide for consumers.

Flexibility

Many entrepreneurs invest in a pet franchise to break the monotony of the 9-5 culture. Small business owners and special project managers alike set their own hours.

If you’re a morning person and you find your productivity strongest early, this will be your time to work. If you’re a night owl and work best alongside the moon, you can choose this option.

Technological development makes it easier than ever to work from home if your home office is the best place for you to work.

Change

No two days are the same for project managers. This is the same of owning your own business.

You’ll never take the same ride twice.

Owning A Pet Franchise

If you are a special project manager that is thinking of making a transition into a small business owner like others in the field, please take these advantages into consideration:

  • You will gain the freedom to build your own dream.
  • Take your passion and turn it into profit.
  • Control your life and work balance.
  • Earn more money.
  • You will answer only to yourself.

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