Tag Archives: microbusinessowners.com

06.24.14
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Felix Dennis

By Anthony Hilb

"You must believe in yourself. You must believe you can do it. You must believe that you are the one to do it. For if you will not believe in yourself, then why should anyone believe in you?" -Felix Dennis

“You must believe in yourself. You must believe you can do it. You must believe that you are the one to do it. For if you will not believe in yourself, then why should anyone believe in you?”
-Felix Dennis

Felix Dennis, legendary entrepreneur and poet, passed away two days ago on Sunday, June 22, 2014. I discovered Felix at a rough time in my life; I was lost and confused about what I should do with my life at 23 years old. This is common, but what was uncommon was stumbling across business books by him in my local bookstore one evening. He was so honest about the nature of business in his books, and it was exactly what I needed to read. I felt like I didn’t have anyone to turn to at that time … reading his thoughts made such a positive difference for me and helped me make important decisions I was avoiding. I’m so sad he has passed away, but I am certain of one thing: The influence of Felix Dennis will live on.

I’ll conclude with a poem written by Felix about the getting of money:

How to Get Rich

Good fortune? The fact is

The more that your practice,

The harder you sweat,

The luckier you get.

Ideas? We’ve had ‘em

Since Eve deceived Adam,

But take it from me

Execution’s the key.

The money? Just pester

A likely investor.

To get what you need

You toady to greed.

The talent? Go sign it.

But first, wine and dine it.

It’s tedious work

With a talented jerk.

Good timing? To win it

You gotta be in it.

Just never be late

To quit or cut bait.

Expansion? It’s vanity!

Profit is sanity.

Overhead begs

To walk on two legs.

The first step? Just do it

And bluff your way through it.

Remember to duck!

Godspeed…

and Good Luck!

07.28.13
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The Power of Small Businesses

By Sonny O’Steen

Atlanta, GA

Americans spend much of their time watching the news about large corporations and how their decisions may affect the local economy. Make no mistake about it, the small business holds the power to the livelihoods of millions of American households. Over 20 million Americans are employed by businesses with less than 20 employees, which is quite a lot of workers. Also, small businesses generate over 11 trillion dollars a year in receipts. They produce more than 13 times more patents per employee than large corporations! That is very significant.

Needless to say, if small business owners are unrestrained, they will continue year after year adding more to the American economy than ever before. Unfortunately in today’s economy, regulation and taxes present a considerable amount of roadblocks to small business owners.

Left to their entrepreneurial spirit, the small business owner will seek to find ways to improve receipts for their business. The more receipts, the more employees and the better the unemployment numbers will look quarterly for the nation as a whole.

The power of progress rests in the hands of small business owners, not large corporations. The patent count verifies that with certainty. No other environment fosters creativity like the small business environment. Large corporations are prone to stifle creativity as their board members look to the immediate bottom line rather than the future of the company they oversee. Government economists look to the large companies to drive the economy when in fact, the small businesses can accomplish this by delivering more tax revenue because of fewer tax loopholes. If you are a small business  owner, the power of progress holds clear implications for where to focus your efforts. It suggests that you have more influence as a manager than you may realize over your employees’ well being, motivation and creative output. Knowing what serves to motivate and nourish progress – and what does the opposite – turns out to be the key to effectively managing people and their output. The small business owner champions this output and creativity every day they unlock the door.

06.03.13
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Live a Little!

ChinatowncheckersGo out and live a little! Experiencing the outside world and getting to know people is vital to your success. Getting in touch with the world helps you understand changes and what needs people have. Doing this will help you learn what kind of businesses to pursue. If you’re interested in a certain area of business, go to a meeting that is about that specific interest. Check out meetup.com in your area and see what you can find.

You can learn about the world quickly by spending time on your phone and on the internet, but there are elements of a physical meeting that the online world can’t yet fully capture. You can learn so much from partying or spending time with a group of friends in person. It’s obviously important to only carve out a small percentage of your time for partying, but taking time for those experiences is important. Forget about social networking for awhile and be social for real. Get out from behind your desk and go meet new people in person!

02.03.13
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Rework

 

Rework is the best business book I read in 2012 hands down. When I read it, I had only owned my microbusiness for about a year. A few months before I picked the book up, I realized that I loved owning a business all by myself with only occasional help from people on bigger projects.

I disagreed with people when they told me I needed to grow my business. They told me I would get bored with a microbusiness. That never happened. I actually enjoy staying small and growing at pace that’s right for me. I have more flexibility and can change course when it makes sense.

Rework was the first business book I read that agreed with my thoughts about owning a business. If you want to own a big business, that’s not a problem. Hopefully Rework will talk you into starting your business in a different way and growing at a pace that makes sense!