Can the Lone Wolf become a pack leader.... should they even want to?

There is something unique about entrepreneurs and the way they work. Spontaneous, driven, constantly on the go, they focus all their time and energy on bringing their business ideas to life. And if their ideas fail, they go back to the drawing board and start again. So writes Alison in Entrepreneur Country.

They are the lone wolves of the business world, relying only on themselves for inspiration and successful at innovating in isolation; until a business idea takes off and then requires the input of skills, expertise and manpower. Very quickly, the lone wolf entrepreneur has to become a people manager, delegator, influencer; a leader of the pack.

It’s a huge transition and it raises the question; can brilliant entrepreneurs become great leaders?

On the face of it, the qualities associated with the two roles couldn’t be more different.

Entrepreneurs create something out of nothing. They channel all their energies into turning ideas into viable business innovations.

Leaders draw on and direct the energies of the people around them to achieve their business objectives.

Entrepreneurs work ridiculously long hours and don’t sleep. Well, not much, especially when they are on the verge of a big break.

Leaders have to set an example to their team by working comparatively sensible hours; occasionally long, but no all-nighters.

Entrepreneurs don’t like to delegate; that feels like a loss of control over their business and its direction.

Leaders recognise delegation as a key business strategy. Handing tasks and responsibilities over to those with more relevant skills leaves them free to focus on business development.

Does this mean that entrepreneurs can’t be leaders? Steve Jobs did both, brilliantly. He innovated and then created a workplace culture of innovation, because he knew he wasn’t going to succeed on his own. Young entrepreneurs are often described as the leaders of tomorrow, and if they are to make it from lone wolf to head of the business pack, these are some of the steps they’ll need to take.

Network – Once your business starts to grow you’ll need to think about bringing in outside skills and expertise. Networking is the key to finding the people who can provide them, who may eventually become key members of your business team.

Share – As an entrepreneur you have the vision and the drive to take your business concept to the next level. Share your vision with the people in your team, inspire and engage them, and you’ll take it much further.

Let Go – A lone wolf in business is also a Jack-of-all-trades; responsible for every aspect of the operation. Let others share the workload and take on the tasks they are best equipped to handle, and you’ll have more time to work on your next big business idea.

This one is going to take some doing. Letting go. So I am going to do something to help myself with this and ask other people about our new idea. Market research might will pivot massmob - A portal for pay as you go brand able mobile games. Into something else entirely.

Grow – Whether entrepreneurial talent is a product of nature or nurture is a matter for debate, but there is no question that leadership skills can be learned. Take advantage of formal training programmes or coaching and mentoring sessions to continue growing and developing them.

As starting a new business - I think - this might be useful...

We have brainstormed on our new business idea. A way of smaller brands getting in on the mobile games party.

In essence, a soft way brands can engage with their target market on mobile phones with minimal investment.

Or is it a platform for brand focused mobile competitions.

Or a portal for pay as you go brand able mobile games.

Or even more grandiose, an ecosystem to help part time freelance mobile game creators.

Who knows - what we do know is that it is just an idea. And now it's time to face reality and work out whether your idea is a viable option.

As Smarta advises, be thorough in your assessment: if the figures don't add up, chances are it's not going to work out.

Don't be disheartened, though - if you've already had one idea, there will be plenty more where that came from.

So what makes a good business idea

Once you've come up with your idea, you need to make sure there is a market for it. Do this by conducting extensive market research - find out how many people would buy into your idea, what the competition is like and what your customers will be like. Will they be able to afford your product or service?

We have done this by asking our target market with a series of surveys in survey monkey and on linkedin.

But...Do the figures add up?

Smarta advise "Look at figures from competitors to work out what sort of demand you will have. What will your production costs be like, and how much will you need to charge for your offering to make it viable? Will your target customers be able to afford it? What will your margins be like? How much repeat custom will you get?

A good idea gives the business room to grow. Don't just latch on to a trend - your business needs to be more than a one-trick pony if you want it to expand and flourish. Try to forecast how the market will look in one, two and five years - will there be as much demand for your product then?

Your business idea doesn't need to be new, but it does need to distinguish itself from the competition. Check it's unique by conducting an extensive competitor analysis, and even if you're not planning to lodge a patent, make sure it isn't violating copyright law by checking the Intellectual Property Office's patents database.

Why some business ideas don't work

One of the major causes of business failures is bad market research. While you may be enthusiastic about getting started straight away, conducting exhaustive market research is absolutely essential. Without it, you won't have the information you need when you're marketing and pricing your offering.

When the majority of business ideas fail, it's not because it was a bad idea - it's because it was the victim of bad marketing. Make sure you know exactly who your customers are, what their habits are and how they react to various forms of marketing.

(We hope we have this covered a little as kinda great marketing is what we do...)

A business which doesn't distinguish itself from its competitors will find itself struggling. Define strong unique selling points (USPs) for your business to prevent this from happening. Look at your competitors' weaknesses and build on that: is there space for a premium version of their product? Could you add value by offering a wider range or better customer service?

If your costs are too high, you'll find it difficult to make any money, so start small and keep your overheads to a minimum. If it isn't absolutely necessary to take office space, start from home instead - and while having your product manufactured in the next town may be great for your carbon footprint, there's a good chance it could hit your bank account hard.

If your proposition is badly priced, your customers will be decidedly unenthusiastic about buying from you. Make sure you look at your potential customers' spending habits and earning power to determine how much - and how often - they will be willing to pay.

If your business is started purely to make money, there's a good chance it will fail. To start a successful business, you need to be absolutely passionate about your proposition so you are committed to steering it through the good times as well as the bad.

So our new idea massmob - which has been created to help mobile developers make money - giving Manchester developers the ecosytem they need to survive is kinda passionate :)

We want to put the fun back into games creation and let talented people make money from this, from their mobile phone!

It´s not the happy that are grateful - it´s the grateful that are happy!

A great article all about something which I am going to start practising more and more. Starting tonight.

Geoffrey James writes the "Sales Source" column on Inc.com, the world's most-visited sales-oriented blog. His newly published book is Business to Business Selling: Power Words and Strategies From the World's Top Sales. And you know I think I might buy it.

He begins: "I'm utterly convinced that the key to lifelong success is the regular exercise of a single emotional muscle: gratitude."

People who approach life with a sense of gratitude are constantly aware of what's wonderful in their life. Because they enjoy the fruits of their successes, they seek out more success. And when things don't go as planned, people who are grateful can put failure into perspective.

By contrast, people who lack gratitude are never truly happy. If they succeed at a task, they don't enjoy it. For them, a string of successes is like trying to fill a bucket with a huge leak in the bottom. And failure invariably makes them bitter, angry, and discouraged.

Therefore, if you want to be successful, you need to feel more gratitude. Fortunately, gratitude, like most emotions, is like a muscle: The more you use it, the stronger and more resilient it becomes.

Practice Nightly

The best time to exercise gratitude is just before bed. Take out your tablet (electronic or otherwise) and record the events of the day that created positive emotions, either in you or in those around you.

Did you help somebody solve a problem? Write it down. Did you connect with a colleague or friend? Write it down. Did you make somebody smile? Write it down.

What you're doing is "programming your brain" to view your day more positively. You're throwing mental focus on what worked well, and shrugging off what didn't. As a result, you'll sleep better, and you'll wake up more refreshed.

Reprogramming Your Brain

More important, you're also programming your brain to notice even more reasons to feel gratitude. You'll quickly discover that even a "bad day" is full of moments that are worthy of gratitude. Success becomes sweeter; failure, less sour.

The more regularly you practice this exercise, the stronger its effects.

Over time, your "gratitude muscle" will become so strong that you'll attract more success into your life, not to mention greater numbers of successful (i.e., grateful) people. You'll also find yourself thanking people more often. That's good for you and for them, too.

This method works. If you don't believe me, try it for at least a week. You'll be amazed at what a huge difference it makes.

I will do this - for at massmob - our new idea. We are going to make this a core value - saying thank you to our developers and customers.

As mobile marketing and mobile gaming might be on the increase - but without saying thank you once in a while - we are nothing more than monsters ;)

Can you sum up your idea in ONE sentence ?

Something which is really well timed as researching a new company to start.

All in the mobile marketing area. We think...

So a great article from The Next Web - all about the power or the need to be able to sum up your idea in ONE sentence.

The hard part for me is choosing the one sentence. I know what massmob is about. I know the idea behind it. Gamifaction for the nation. But this is more of a strapline or a marketing angle - rather than an explaination.

So I have come up with a few - what I am going to do next is market research (shock horror again) to see which one rings true for people.

Here's the article.

Here’s a pro tip that’s extremely obvious, but often completely ignored by entrepreneurs everywhere: You should be able to explain your startup in one sentence. That’s it. No exceptions.

Beyond the obvious rule that founders should never start a company just because they really like calling themselves “CEO,” being able to explain what you do in as little as one sentence is perhaps the absolute best way you can prepare yourself for success. It means your company actually exists for a reason, because you realize your purpose at its very core.

This isn’t even about saving busy VCs time or the declining attention span of society. The truth is, saying something in the fewest words possible eliminates confusion and fluff, so there’s no way to dress up a terrible idea as something worthy of more than a trash bin.
What not to say

When it comes to as finding the perfect words to say while crafting your short and sweet pitch, this is the second way most startups and PR firms end up doing it wrong.

Here’s a mind-numbingly easy guideline : as soon as words like disrupt, stealth, rock star and gamification are used, all is likely lost. As for words like network, social and platform, try to be careful.

This is ideal - as it get's rid of my strapline even before I have used it!!!

Here’s another warning: If you can’t describe your company without talking about another company, you should probably hit the drawing board again. Joking about a Microsoft Kin for Tech Incubators is always fun, but when you’re wrapped up in a vision, it’s surprisingly easy to lean on the crutch of familiarity. It’s also tough to navigate this problem when providing add-on services for another service of piece of software. All you can do is stay cautious.

I may just happen to have a problem with things ending up too meta, but tech blogging about tech blogging and startups servicing startups makes us all start to look like idiots. Maybe this is a benefit or a curse of living outside The Valley, but after a certain point, people need to realize that tech startups don’t actually comprise the entirety of the world economy.

We’re a major piece of the puzzle and deserve attention, but we aren’t the center of the universe, either. Having some context about how you and your company fits into the world helps you make something that everyone needs — not just another gadget or service that only the trendiest of bloggers and early adopters can use. Honing in on a target market is fine, but for god’s sake, get some fresh air.

The beauty of the tech industry is its promise for brighter days, new solutions to problems that plague our lives and fast-acting ideas that can change the world. It’s not without its poisons, but that’s life.

If you’re focusing on making something genuinely interesting or useful in a way that leads to real progress, no matter how big or small, you’re starting off in the right direction. In that case, pitch me here in one sentence: harrison@thenextweb.com.

If you’re only looking for an exit or heard that apps are the trendy thing right now, please go elsewhere.

Is it about thinking differently? Is it about me being a bit Dyslexic..

And why is it such a hard word to spell?

Dyslexia affects 10% of the adult population; whilst recent research suggests 1:5 entrepreneurs are dyslexic. (300,000 in the UK)- so you are twice as likely to be an entreprenuer if you suffer from it.

Is this because you have to be I wonder? Apparently not, as dyslexic entrepreneurs then employ more workers than non-dyslexic entrepreneurs. Which moves it past just the surivial point!

Talents in innovation, problem solving and creativity, communicating, creating effective teams and seeing the bigger picture in business. Something we are looking at with Start up Britain with some market research into team building.

All my life, I have never put the fact I am dyslexic down and used it in a positive way. Never in school, on a CV, in an interview etc until now.

As I am not alone some very cool thinkers have been dyslexic. You may be impressed and surprised to know that:

Sir Richard Branson, Walt Disney, Bill Gates, Tommy Hilfiger, Steve Jobs, Theo Paphitis, Steven Spielberg, Lord Alan Sugar, Michelle Mone, Noel Gallagher, Roald Dahl, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Sir Winston Churchill, WB Yeats.

I know they are not all entrepreneurs, however I choose to highlight these names for you. Think and Google if needed who they are and what they have achieved.

So is it just another different way of thinking - I don't know but watch this space as from today I (and my dyslexica (I HATE THIS WORD) ) am going to do something rather different - something that hopefully doesnt need too much typing. And something which might just change the world of Mobile Marketing and gaming for brands.

When you focus on what’s being removed, it’s easier to understand the revolution

This mini blog by seth godin - is so wonderfully wise that I pop it hear to remind myself.

When you focus on what’s being removed, it’s easier to understand the revolution

We remove shelf space as a limiting factor in books.

We remove the cost of polycarbonate as a cost factor in CDs.

We remove paper as an expense in magazines.

We remove the number of channels as a limiter in the broadcast of TV.

These are not small changes. These are revolutionary shifts in what’s scarce and what’s not.

If you are still organized around them, you will fail. If you embrace their removal, you’ve got a chance.

Which is why we at Massmob - are going to create a market place for mini mobile games which removes the marketing company!

Unlucky, Great Marketing Works - you just got disrupted!

10 Ways to Find More Hours in Your Day

Here are some tips from the brilliant Ali Luke, on how to get an extra hour or two each day. So I nicked em - and put them up here.

1. Get Out of Bed Earlier

“If you normally get up at 7.30am, try getting up at 7am. That half-hour might
not sound like much — but it could be time that you use to meditate, to
exercise, to read that book you’ve been meaning to finish, or simply to get
your day off to a calm and organized start.

The first hour or half-hour of the day is often a great chance to work on
something important, before other demands crowd in on you. And if you need
your beauty sleep? Just get to bed half an hour earlier.

Today I woke up at 5am and did an hours hypno work - worked wonders.

2. Use Your Commute Productively

How much time do you spend commuting every week? Unless you work from
home, you’ve probably got at least a couple of hours each week when you’re
traveling between your home and your workplace.

Use your commuting time for something useful. If you drive, you could listen
to audio books. If you take the bus or train, you could read a book rather
than grabbing a free newspaper. And if your workplace is quite close by, you
could try walking or cycling to work — this builds exercise into the natural
rhythm of your day.

Did my social media catch up from last nights event and emailed developers. Then went to gym.

3. Tackle the Important Tasks First

Once you get to work, take a few minutes to prioritize your tasks. Get the
important ones done first (not the easy ones, or even the urgent ones).
You can afford to spend at least an hour working on big, important tasks
rather than on all those little urgent ones.

If you work like this, you’ll usually save time: the urgent tasks will still get
done, and you won’t spend hours procrastinating over the important ones.

This one tripped me up - so gonna get back to it - I think my market research is the most important thing I can do - but is it also finishing my book for Amazon?

4. Don’t Check Email So Often

Your colleagues and clients can wait for a few hours — or even a day or two –
for you to reply to their emails. If there’s something truly urgent, they’ll pick
up the phone.

Keep your inbox closed when you’re working, and only open it when you’re
ready to spend 30 minutes or so dealing with emails. It’s much more efficient
to batch-process your emails than to keep popping in and out of your inbox
to deal with individual ones.

Love it - am going to bring in the Tim Ferris Style Email Autoresponder from today (Again)

5. Reduce Interruptions

If colleagues have a habit of hanging around your desk to chat, or if the phone
is constantly ringing, you might find that it takes you half the day to finish a
simple task like writing a letter. Constant interruptions don’t just eat up time –
they also break your concentration.

When you’ve got a big task to focus on, let your calls go to voicemail. If you
have an office door, close it. If you work in a cubicle, wear headphones:
having them on makes it less likely that people will try to strike up a
conversation (you don’t have to listen to anything through them).

Way ahead of you...

6. Stay Focused on Your Work

You might have heard the saying “procrastination is the thief of time.”
When you want more hours in the day, procrastination can be a real problem.
A few minutes chatting, browsing the web, updating your Facebook status,
and so on, can easily turn into hours of wasted time over the course of a day.

When you’re working, work. If your concentration is slipping, take a proper
break: go and get a glass of water, or stretch your legs a bit. And if you’re
facing a difficult task, try breaking it into small steps or stages so that it’s
easier to tackle.

Love it - will do - water is in front of me and I am ready to go again :)

7. Go Home on Time

If you’re supposed to finish work at 4pm, but you never make it out of the
office door until 6pm at the earlier, then it’s no wonder you don’t have enough
hours in the day.

In some jobs, it is difficult to get away on time (if all your colleagues work late,
you might feel obliged to do the same). But if you’re staying because you only
ever seem to get any work done in a mad dash at the end of the day, then your
working habits need to change.

Thank you - am leaving at 4pm.

8. Delegate Some Chores

Perhaps you seem to be the only person in your household who’s capable
of unstacking the dishwasher or ironing the clothes. If your evenings get taken
up with a long list of chores, see whether you can delegate some of those.

Your partner, housemates, or kids can pitch in and help out. Even if you just
free up 20 or 30 minutes every evening, you’ll have a bit of extra time to spend
on something important to you.

Hmmm

9. Eat Dinner at Home

Although going out for dinner might seem like it saves time (after all, you don’t
have to cook) — you’ve got the time cost of traveling to the restaurant, ordering
the food, waiting for it to arrive, paying the bill … and it might well be faster just to cook and eat at home.

If you don’t have much time to cook during the week, try making extra portions
at the weekend so that you can freeze some. That way, you’ve got an
almost-instant meal (and one that’s probably healthier and cheaper than a
restaurant meal, too).

Do this one already

10. Limit Your TV Watching

If you put the TV on as soon as you get in from work, it’s easy to end up
spending hours slumped on the sofa. Instead of watching whatever happens
to be showing, try watching just one or two programs each night.

You might also want to have at least a couple of TV-free evenings; a great
chance to read a good book, or to work on a project around the house.”

Great - no more soaps ;)

You see I am going to need all the time I can get to launch my new start up business called Massmob. An idea to bring gamification to the nation... It's all about mobile marketing and how we can use engagement with games as an innovative advertising platform.