Creative Entrepreneurship™

Starting a Design Business with Minimal Capital

Key Takeaways

·      Know where you wanna go

·      Network 

·      Keep track of all your expenses to know your profitability and find yourself a network of resources to build your business through networking events and mentorship

Started with a 10,000 line of credit

I bought a little bit of inventory at a time. This side hustle turned into a full-time gig and I started by using my family as guinea pigs and bought my equipment and ordered whatever materials I needed to advance my business. 

How would you expedite your success in design? 

Network as much as possible. Go out there meet as many people as you can in the industry of Jeter word try to connect people through even you know doing style shoots and stuff like that so that's how you will get a little bit more visibility.  People would get to recognize you because nobody wants to work with and you if you don’t have a good portfolio. 

https://www.designmantraa.ca/
linkedin.com/in/supriya-mehra-6aa4a2122
428 Gibraltar Drive, Studio 10, Mississauga ON

Email:-[email protected]

Phone Number:-(647) 998-7527

Adam Sinkus is a Culture-Driven Leadership trainer and consultant. He
teaches leaders how they can drive the culture of the business. He also
shows companies how poor culture and leadership impact productivity and
profit. He has worked with companies in many verticals over his 10-years in
leadership and training. He is soon launching the ACES Leadership Model
which blends core leadership principles with culture-driven initiatives to
help leaders motivate and build successful teams.

How Leadership Affects Change
By Abel R. Garza

In business, we find that change is inevitable. Change is the evolution of which companies continue to compete, succeed and perform at peak performance. Is all change good or do we just embrace the idea that we should transform regardless of need?  In theory, flexibility and good leadership practices lean toward a successful transition. A seasoned leader may find a path forward by practicing certain skills favorable to change. Inevitably, we see leaders practice transactional and or transformational leadership when necessary. Business is a turbulent environment that requires leadership legerdemain. This co-existence of transactional and transformational characteristics is a continual process based on organization and vision.

Transactional Leadership

The concept of transactional leadership is not new (Burns, 1978). The concept was mentioned in 1981 by Bernard Bass on the principle that it coincides primarily with the manager's views (Bass, 2008). The transactional concept focuses on organizational goals and the connection to effort and reward. These responsive characteristics hone in on personal and basic human needs by appealing to the follower’s self-interests (Maslow, 2014). Rewards and punishment are contingent on performance. In exchange for the transactional leader’s performance objectives, the follower may concede that a job well done will be rewarded. This contract between leader and follower will be honored extrinsically.  The transactional leader will actively or passively manage and monitor progress according to standards while taking corrective action when necessary to obviate errors. It is often assumed that this form of leadership is consistent with unmotivated employees that are walking the preverbal line only to maintain their existence in an environment of supervisors micromanaging every process. The transactional leader may focus on short term goals, standard rules, and procedures that often create a circumscribed approach that minimizes the creativity and generation of innovative ideas (P C Tripathi, 2006, p. 112). Transactional leadership can be perceived in many ways, the autocrat, stickler, goal setter or the one that shouts bonus.

The Autocrat

The military has been using many styles of leadership throughout its existence. Autocratic leadership in the military can be easily associated with the idea of: I give the orders and you follow through or I know the mission and what the organizational goals are so while I’m in charge this is how it’s going to be. In return, the follower will gain the necessary experience or the adoration of his superiors (Bieda, 1978).  With most military organizations, the leader will focus on managing the performance of individuals and the performance in a structured environment (Spahr, 2016). If you consider the analogy of military in Garrison over a deployment location; one may be more inclined to function under a transactional style of leadership whereas during a wartime situation requires leaders at all levels. No one person has successfully managed people into war, they must be led (Kotter, 2001).

The Box Approach

Transactional leaders will reward followers with basic human needs. This tacit agreement between leaders and followers lends itself to the necessary goals and measurable standards of which to abide and in doing so are rewarded or punished. Understanding the needs of what followers want can help leaders reinforce subordinates for the successful completion of processes. Many CEOs that utilize the Box Approach have an understanding that value comes from communicating the goals of the organization in a clear and concise manner that will allow for controls i.e. financial, culture, or both to ensure that uniformity and predictability become standard behavior. Leaders of the Box Approach subscribe to the idea that policies and procedures are developed to reinforce desired behaviors (Farkas & Wetlaufer, 1996).

The Goal-Setter

The necessary steps to accomplish a task or move toward the vision of an organization is not always clear. A simple request to establish a budget or increase customer satisfaction may not be as straight forward as one might think. This usually raises more questions than answers. People are good at many things, but reading minds is not one of them. The goal setter is meticulously establishing short term goals that include the necessary steps to accomplish that goal from their team. Where do we get data, why do we need to coordinate, which managers will be involved, when will this happen or who will take control of each project? The goal setter will be creating goals that teams will be able to accomplish and not figure out for themselves. They will not leave it to chance and will spell out the specific details for what needs to get done, systemically. The goal setter will not be vague. Often goals will be met with omitted details, but planning is essential in creating an explicit and motivational link that will evoke the desired behavior to produce (Halvorson, 2014).

The Quid Pro Quo

What motivates? Motivation is personal and is individualized. What motivates one may not motivate another. People wake up in the morning and have a passion for something in their lives that usually gives them the fuel they need to start their day.  When asked what drives you, is the answer obvious? Many would jump to the idea that money is the primary motivator and that people would have fewer problems if they just had a lot of it. Leaders will find a balance of what motivates and allow people to fulfill those extrinsic needs through by way of reward.

Transformational Leadership

The Transformational leader is a formula for change and synonymous with the charismatic leader. The nomenclature alone connotes change. This connotation has some thinking that this is the most effective form of leadership for change. Leaders who are considered transformational arouse emotion in their followers which in turn motivates followers to move passed the preverbal circumscriptions of manuals and standard operating procedures. They enlist people in their ideas and provide the framework to think outside the box, to be proactive and distinguish themselves as moving past organizational goals and beyond self-interest (Nikezic, 2010). James M. Burn was first to introduce the transformational connection between leader and follower. James Burns and Bernard Bass define transformational leadership as someone who evokes commitment toward an organizational goal with the sole intention of transforming the central mission. Transformational leadership has evolved toward the exploration of characteristics that move beyond the standard and emphasize individual consideration, intellectual stimulation, charisma, and vision, (Burns, 1978; Bass, 2008)

The Mentor

Transformational leaders are showing individual consideration when spending time with followers: teaching and coaching. The result is the promotion of self-development. When leaders begin to treat people as individuals rather than group members; it elicits des...

For many people accounting is a foreign language. Building a business is daunting enough, now you’re telling me that I have to do the math! Fortunately, there are people like Susan Boles who have dedicated their lives to helping businesses grow using data collected from your business to strategically make better decisions. So how does an accountant help in making crucial decisions for my business? 

When it comes to income statements, balance sheets, and cashflows, accountants are invaluable, but understanding that there is more to just balance sheets to grow your business. Profitable projects that can be scaled and sluggish projects that can be eliminated are valuable information that can help determine the direction of the organization. Using data to make valuable decisions is not uncommon in business. Using data allows a business to look at how they approach future projects based on the information obtained by current projects. 

Key Takeaways

·      Don’t overwork yourself

·      Look at your business data and analyze the data to make better decisions

·      Outsource to save money

 About Susan Boles

Susan Boles is a Virtual CFO & Growth Architect for agencies & consultants at ScaleSpark. She helps them break out of growth stalls by fixing back end processes and creating systems designed to scale. She has over a decade of experience as a CFO and software consultant and she's on a mission to help founders build sustainable, profitable businesses - because growth is only hard when your business isn't built for it.

ScaleSpark: https://scalespark.co 

Break the Ceiling Podcast: https://scalespark.co/podcast 

Twitter: @thesusanboles

Instagram: @thesusanboles

How to publish a book in today’s digital world.

For many people, the idea of writing a book can be daunting. You may have questions like who do I hire, what is the first step where do I publish? MK Williams has experienced the emotional vicissitudes of self-publishing and wants to pass along her knowledge to aspiring writers. It is essential to understand why you want to write your book and write it. 

What you need to write a book
1.       Idea

2.       Time 

3.       Write

Recommended Resources

There are many online resources that will assist you in publishing and formatting your book. The platform Amazon Kindle Publishing forums are a great resource. This can be a frustrating task but understanding that there are many approaches to publishing and based on your genre it could change. 

http://www.asana.com

https://filmora.wondershare.com/

https://www.thecreativepenn.com/

Steven King

Rules to Live By

·         Be kind

·         Be Introspective, Look Within Yourself

·         Be Humble

https://www.facebook.com/1mkwilliams/
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjvBO4kjuBSYe6Bi3RYQAQA
https://www.amazon.com/M.K.-Williams/e/B06XK438L5%3Fref=dbs_a_mng_rwt_scns_share

Sales are one of the most important parts of your business. Without sales, you don’t generate revenue. This is true for any business you may have. You might be thinking that you are a service-based business or you are the only employee, why do you need sales. They will just come to me once I open the doors for my business, right? Wrong! You have to get out there and grind. You have to get out there and start getting people in the door. There are many ways to generate leads and advertise, but once you get that lead you have to sell your product or service. Knowing how to close the deal is important in scheduling that appointment, mailing out that product or contracting that deal. 

Do Your Reps!

The more you sell the better you get. How do you get better you may ask yourself? A good example is when you start with a basic script. You have your elevator pitch down and when you talk to a potential customer you can identify who you are what you do and how you can help them. As you go through your script you will receive rebuttals, questions and concerns that need to be responded, answered and met with how your product or service is going to fix this pain. The more you do it, the more you say your elevator pitch the better you get and the better you start to understand your customers. When you start talking to people you begin to understand where the market is going. After talking to 100 people you start to understand where your niche really is and where customers want to go with your product or service. You will have your finger on the pulse.

3 OF THE MOST POWERFUL SALES TECHNIQUES

Pain in the Market

One of the more difficult things to do in business is identifying the pain in marketing. When a company can identify the pain in the market, its ability to rectify this and present this to customers as a solution becomes very attractive. Continually looking for resolutions for the pain in the market could include asking questions, market research and finding out what impact it’s having on customers. 

Fear of Loss

One of the more important aspects of sales is when you hear 10 days only or you will lose out on this amazing deal. The fear of loss becomes consistent with something inveterate in all of us. Loss is a large component in the sales industry and by limiting accessibility or interjecting competition into the conversation, the thought of loss could be overwhelming. This house will not be on the market for long, we have had three other people looking at it and have all mentioned that they will be putting in a bid. You need to get in on this house before someone takes it from you. You deserve this house. 

Address Concerns

Address the concerns of the customer. If a customer says that it is too expensive, your response could be something like, if we are to show that there is value and make it to where it is affordable is that fair? How you address the concern is up to you, but if the potential customer is concerned about the price, address that with meeting or coming close and asking once this objection or concern is met, would there be anything stopping you from moving forward with the purchase? 

http://www.anthonypgarcia.com/

What is important in marketing? Branding, logos, digital marketing… it is all-important and we talk to Dr. Kevin Flora about how he has been able to create a company that utilizes videography and content creation to catapult his company to six figures. 

For some of you consumed by Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube videos, content is king and you can either be a consumer or a creator. The concept of getting in front of the camera may be daunting for many, but the truth is it is essential in getting your business branded. Companies like The Holler Creative, they have managed to take the burden of creating content to twenty of their expert team members. This has led to pivoting and changing throughout the trajectory of The Holler Creative. 

So, what is digital marketing? It is the selling or promotion of products or services by leveraging online marketing techniques that are awe-inspiring. This content is often used in social media, blogs, and email marketing. Why would anyone want to create content for their business? Kevin explains that it is important to create content to set yourself apart from everyone else. As your business evolves so does your technique, but one thing remains consistent. You want to grow, scale and expand your team.

• Growing Your Business
• Scaling Your Business
• Expanding Your Team

Although there are many ways to grow your business, building a funnel, customer management, and team building remains the more important concepts for growth. As we reach areas in business that challenge us, we must learn to adapt and pivot accordingly. 

Scaling your business should be a part of every entrepreneur’s end game. Visualize the start of a business and what it should be is consistent with some of the top business builders in the world. Many people see the idea and work their way backward. When you know your destination, you can plan a scaleable strategy. 

Building a remote team through freelancers takes the burden off you doing everything yourself and allows you more time to directing the company. Make sure that you know what the freelancer will be doing. You can utilize sites like upwork.com or indeed.com. These are essential resources for finding quality people who want to help. As an entrepreneur building a team of freelancers, it is important to maintain communication, keep the jobs relevant to what they do and figure out how many freelancers you need for the job or projects. 

How to contact Dr. Kevin Flora

theholler.com

802C S. Main Street

Corbin, KY 40701

859-687-6063

Do The Damn Work

Principles to live by: 

• Earn the right
  • What did you do to see the result
  • Take the necessary action
• Struggles build the strength that drives success
  • Challenge yourself to look at the struggle to build the strength for success
• Intentional discomfort
  • Don't be complacent 

Own your path
Create your path

The Challenge
Keeping everything simple

Have a powerful filter.

Establish a personal growth community on social media

PUSH Phase

• Priority
• Utilizing
• Secret
• Hustle

Meditate by just being quiet and pensive (visualize what your alter ego would do and attempt to see the challenges you might face during the day. 

Some bad habits: 

• Not having discipline
• Not getting enough sleep

Make sure that you keep yourself strong, have a good relationship, have worthwhile work and have amazing adventures.

Building content for companies can be a challenging feat. Cedric Bollag has been building content for close to four years now. His business in Switzerland takes him to parts of the country where he interviews business owners and invests his own money in startup companies.

Content Creation

Building content is a great way to set your company apart from the crowd. Consistent content allows you to establish a following where you can showcase your product or service and help engage with your audience on a different level than written. Because video provides the opportunity to build emotion, it can be a powerful way to get results as well as boost your SEO.

It is important to know which direction you are taking with your content. You should have a vision of where your content is going to go and how it is going to be used. This type of planning allows you to build a strategy around your niche market.

Know your audience and build according to your niche. If you have established yourself in other areas of the market, consider tackling those areas separately. Understanding your audience gives you some insight into how your content will connect with your customers.

Providing Superior Quality

When providing content to customers, it is important to have the right people doing the right jobs. From the initial shoot to thumbnail it is important that there are people working on providing the best product for the customer.

Content can be recorded on almost anything nowadays. From smartphones to thousand-dollar cinema cameras, content can be recorded and edited to create some stunning results. Whether you choose 1080p or 12K video, it is important to give the customer quality products.

Sleep

When starting a business, we oftentimes forget what’s important, family, time and even sleep. Poor sleep will increase lathery, weight gain and often times contributes to less productivity. Getting the right amount of sleep helps with concentration and overall health.

Leaving Your Legacy

Leaving a legacy for many people can mean many things. For some it’s being a great father or mother, for others, it’s changing the world and leaving your stamp on the future. What will they etch in your tombstone? How do you want to be remembered? The impact you leave on your family, friends, community or the world can be a book you write, money to your descendants, or a business you started. What will be your legacy?

Cedric Bollag

https://www.facebook.com/cedric.bollag

Starting a barbershop can set you back quite a bit of money, but if you plan right you may be able to start with minimal capital. The idea of starting with minimal capital will require extensive planning, knowing your target market and how much money you will need to bring in to break even. For many barbershop startups, you can easily start with 100 to 200 thousand dollars, but David started by saving money for his vision with only 8,000. He has grown his business and now has five other barbers working at his shop. 

Have a Plan

Start with a plan. David is an avid reader of the bible, and he mentions that planning is essential in mapping out your specific goals. Know how much money you are investing in and how much money you are going to need to sustain your business. This can give you a good indication of your target market.

Target Market Analysis

Understanding who your customer is can make or break your business. Research demographics, population, and look at prolific barbershops and how they are making money. You could for example search for adult males in the area. Culture and ethnicity could play a role in how you market your business.

Obtaining Permits

Remember that there is always going to be regulation and licenses that are required prior to opening up your store. Your permits may require you to have local and state requirements. Many states require a license and local governments may have city ordinances that need to be followed. 

Branding Yourself 

There are three main areas of focus for South Town Barbers. 

• Location and cleanliness
• Customer Service
• An Amazing Haircut

“This is what will keep people coming back and sets us apart from everyone else.” Establishing a brand for yourself can be challenging but using social media like Instagram or Facebook to promote your business can help. “Primary business is from returning customers and if they are treated right, they will bring others with them.” 

South Town Barbers
https://www.instagram.com/southtownbarbers/?hl=en

Grey Bug Photography
greybugphotography.com

The Creative Entrepreneur
thecreativeentrepreneur.net

Starting a business is challenging enough but starting a videography business requires some key components to building a business. First, we need to start a portfolio. Have a name, website and if you don’t have any equipment. Find a company that will rent it to you. If you have the equipment, just use what you have and work from there. Have some lighting and utilize your resources. 

Building a portfolio

Video has become a central part of many areas of the digital world. Professional quality videography has become ubiquitous in social media, advertising and business. Building a portfolio is essential in standing out from the crowd. How do you build your portfolio? Practice, practice, practice! Initially keeping your videos short and to the point so that you can showcase your best work. Customize your portfolio to utilize categories and essential areas of your niche market. Get creative and put together a myriad of clips that might showcase all of a category in one clip. 

Create a Business Name

Looking for a name can be easy for some, but one thing to consider is when you are naming your business is trying to add the business name that many people on the internet are searching for. A good keyword in your domain will get you a lot of free exposure and may save you money when you begin to optimize your website. 

Building your Website

When building your website make sure that you utilize keywords that are relevant to your business. Creating content online is not just for video. You want to make sure that you are telling a story in the verbiage that you use on your website. Make sure that all the content on your website is relevant information and it coincides with your phraseology. 

Rental Equipment

Many people starting out don’t have the means to purchase an expensive video camera. If you are using a DSLR or some form of camera equipment, you will have limits to what you can produce but doable. Consider renting equipment from your local camera shop to get higher-paying jobs. 

Utilize your Resources

Essentially you can work with what you have. If you have something that will create videos, then you are ahead of the game. Use your phone, internet and camera equipment to get those essential sales. Practice your craft and use the camera equipment that you have available to create content.

Type of Equipment used:
Red Camera
Sony FS7
Canon EOS C200

Need Videography Contact Rogy Productions

http://rogyproductions.com/
https://www.facebook.com/RogyPro/

The Creative Entrepreneur
thecreativeentrepreneur.net
https://www.facebook.com/TCEPodcast/