Posts tagged ‘young entrepreneurs’

Dec 9

5 Things That Will Happen To Any Entrepreneur

5 Things That Will Happen to Any Entrepreneur

1. Sales fluctuations – In business, regardless if you’re an attorney or an entrepreneur running a sales recruiting firm (executive recruiters Los Angeles), the best salesman / saleswomen win in business.

You’ll begin to notice that every now and again, your client base’s needs shift as do their concerns and the best entrepreneurs can sniff that out and alter their sales and marketing accordingly.

Those who get too comfortable with what worked yesterday find themselves full of frustration and devoid of business capital.

2. A changing environment – It’s going to happen. Every business and every industry changes – it always seems to when everything is almost too comfortable.

As young entrepreneurs, when confronted with this situation, the change must be embraced rather than fought. When the recruiting industry started to change due to social media, I was given the option to adapt or to take a big hit.

Adaptation is part of being a successful entrepreneur – note: adaptation is easier if you see the changes around the cornet, but nevertheless you must go with the flow.

3. Self-doubt – Business has ups and downs. During the downs, we think we are a lot worse than we are and during the ups and always perform above average due to the confidence increase.

As an entrepreneur, you must learn when you are feeling this self-doubt and gauge how realistic your feelings are; self-doubt leads to nervousness which kills performance. Know your triggers and what is making you feel that way.

For instance, I always know I’m in a down mood when I begin eating unhealthy for a week or so and, knowing this trigger, I pick myself up and go to the gym. Resiliency and going through the motions will overcome self-doubt…that is, if it’s combined with hard work.

4. Mistakes, mistakes and more mistakes – When you’re young and running a business, the first year or so is going to be chalk full of mistakes…here’s the secret: we all know step one which is to learn from our mistakes (the obvious), but step two which is just as important is to not get down on ourselves for making them.

Beating yourself up for mistakes that are due to a lack of experience when starting a business is similar to beating yourself up for inevitable events that are out of your control. Write them off and move on.

5. You will find times of true enjoyment – Running a business is very difficult. The work is highly demanding, the amount of creativity needed is infinite, but so is the payoff which comes in the form of enjoyment and fulfillment in what one does and what we accomplish.

I’ve always found that if you work through the bad times and keep on going, luck eventually sways your way. You can be wrong more than you are right, but if you work through the mistakes and can jump the hurdles rather than fold, you’ll love what you do.

Ken Sundheim started KAS Placement Recruitment in 2005, a recruiting firm specializing in sales and marketing recruitment.

Sep 25

5 Important Facets of Business

Even the best business owners mull over the things that they are doing correctly and the areas in which they can improve upon; improvements and consistent growth are conducive to a successful career.

Therefore, it’s important to touch on a few things that should be taken into consideration for any level of business owner:

1. Don’t have regrets, rather have learning experiences – Many times, when we make mistakes as business professionals, we tend to get down on ourselves too much and get overly pessimistic regretting our actions that probably were not as bad as we think they were.

In business, the name of the game is to learn. Being overly tough on yourself does nothing to solve the problem the next time around.

2. If you dream, you can do – Sometimes, the only things that prevent us from becoming truly great is the lack of confidence and vision that we possess. This is as opposed to intelligence or our perceived natural ability.

It took Thomas Edison and Henry Ford more than one try, but like many others who have achieved great things, they kept at it and relentlessly pursued their dreams.

3. The money comes only if you don’t prioritize it – The best business professionals are not driven by money, rather they are driven by the love of what they do. When we are fully engaged in our everyday work, the money naturally flows in.

Conversely, when all we think about is how much money we are making, our abilities become hindered by a motivation that is not sincere.

4. Things come in due time, don’t push – Many business professionals are impatient which is a natural human thought process, however the business professional’s actions become overly pushy which gives an outward appearance that seems too eager and can appear fake.

Have faith that when it is time and if you work towards your goals, they are going to happen. It may not be tomorrow, but the work will pay off.

5. Don’t judge as none of us are perfect – The best business professionals spend less time judging themselves and others and more time upgrading their skills. To focus on our own shortcomings or someone else’s doesn’t always put us in the best frame of mind.

If we quickly glance at all of our mistakes, we will surely find out that we are not perfect and therefore, should not expect others to be. While breaking this habit takes practice, it is well worth it.

In the End

Business professionals should want to consistently get better and, although improvement is tough, it is the price we have to pay to be successful. Keep at it as the rewards are well worth the work.

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About

Ken Sundheim is the CEO of KAS Placement marketing recruitment and is a known leader in the executive search world. When it comes to sales and marketing recruiting, sources like WSJ, NYTimes, Fox Business News, AOL, MSN, Chicago Tribune, BusinessInsider, About.com, CBS MoneyWatch, MTV, San Francisco Chronicle, Monster.com and many more look to Ken Sundheim for job search advice. Ken also helps recent college graduates find marketing jobs as a consulting function through KAS which can also be found on the KAS site.

Aug 28

"ken sundheim google, salary negotiation"

When We Dream Big

When we dream big and believe in ourselves, we become resilient to adversity and we push ourselves to achieve things that we never thought possible of us. It’s our dreams and relentless goal setting that makes us better.

Every business professional knows that it is easier to become negative and freeze when things don’t go our way, but there are the few that embrace it as a challenge. Some learn while others stay stagnant.

Personally, I’ve been hit by such a mass amount of adversity in my career as a young entrepreneur that I’ve had times where it has been difficult to get out of bed, though I’ve done it and I have made a pact with myself to always do so.

When we see our future, we must ask ourselves as to what we see. Is it positive? Does it drive us or does it allow for improvement or does it hinder our abilities to achieve what is necessary?

Negativity can bring all the wrong friends. It is easier to remain negative than to think positively when analyzing the prospect of achieving our dreams, thus the masses take the easy way out and tilt the majority of people to the “it’s never going to get better side.”

Chasing our dreams can be lonely, yet not doing so can leave us feeling empty. When all is said and done and our time on this planet is up, would you rather be one who chased and fought for their dreams or one who simply thought that the possible was impossible thus making it so.

About

Ken Sundheim is the CEO of KAS Placement, an executive search firm specializing in sales and marketing recruitment for organizations around the globe.

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Aug 22

Entrepreneurship as a Successful Career

Entrepreneurs come in all sizes, all nationalities, all have unique outlooks on both business and life, but when you define the true entrepreneur, you actually come up with a lot of similarities between those who run a successful business.

They do it as their career and they do it well. When we analyze their ability to be successful, we can come up with the following:

Entrepreneurs take the limited resources that they have and spin gold out of a bad situation. They understand that nothing is perfect and it never will be, but this drives them rather than gives the entrepreneur a pessimistic attitude about their current situation.

Entrepreneurs look at hurdles as problems to be solved not game ending events. This breeds a resiliency that is able to shine through even during the toughest of times and also instills a great deal of confidence during the times that revenue is being readily generated.

However, these individuals manage the ups and downs of business to where their mood is generally separated from their logic.

Great entrepreneurs can adapt to the situation rather than expect the situation to adapt to them. In conjunction with this ability, they have a passion that allows them to convey the benefits of their product or service in a clear, direct manner to clients.

Passion comes out in speech patterns and a belief in something gives an added punch in one’s voice. To the entrepreneur, this comes naturally – the majority of – while the others make sure that they learn this key business point.

Successful entrepreneurs continually learn and are never satisfied with their current performance always looking to upgrade their abilities whether it be through finding the right mentor or locating the right books to read. They view satisfaction as complacency…a word that is held in very negative regard to this bunch.

Want to Make Entrepreneurship Your Career?

Successful entrepreneurship starts with a change in habits and beliefs. Nobody can instill the need for these in someone, but once they are instilled, anyone can make business ownership a successful career.

About

Ken Sundheim is the CEO of KAS Placement (www.kasplacement.com) an executive search firm specializing in recruiting sales and marketing personnel.

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Jul 31

Can I Quit My Job To Be My Own Boss?

At some point in their career, the majority of business professionals (young and old, fat and slim, tall and short) think about quitting their job to become an entrepreneur. Unfortunately, many who do, fail and many who would succeed, don’t ever try.

Here are my thoughts in less than 500 words on the topic:

The Odds Are Stacked Against You More Than You Know

Personally, I don’t rely on statistics when it comes to the number of failed businesses in the U.S. annually because it doesn’t take into account small businesses who never “formally” close meaning that people keep their companies as a tax-shelter or for consulting as a second job instead of announcing that it no longer makes money.

How Do I Quit My Job and Succeed?

1. You have to know what you’re getting into – Marketing is part of many jobs that I have and I am writing this at 4:40 a.m. so that I can be in client meetings today. As my company has grown, I have had to do this less, but businesses are very, very time-consuming and you have to be willing to work.

2. You have to choose the right business – Don’t think Bill Gates. Rather think reinventing a business model that exists and has current market demand. Many entrepreneurs think that they have the next best idea and quit their job only to come to the realization that nobody is interested in their product or service.

Ken Sundheim speaks to students at NYU about entrepreneurship in summer 2012.

3. You have to know who to sell to – Formulate a plan as to who is going to buy your product or service and base your marketing, sales pitch, website, etc. on attracting them. You could have the biggest rifle in the woods, but until you actually know how to attract a deer, you’re not going to be able to shoot anything.

4. Think a lot, but not too much – Don’t think things through for two years, but don’t get pissed at your boss and quit because you’ve been mulling over an idea for 2 days that your cousin liked. Smart business professionals succeed because they make good choices. Begin to do so yourself.

In the End

I don’t want to deter anyone from quitting their job to open a business, rather I want to deter people who are not prepared to be an entrepreneur and want to encourage those who are.

For more videos: visit KAS Placement YouTube

Ken Sundheim is the CEO of KAS Placement, an executive search firm specializing in sales and marketing recruiting.

10 Considerations Prior to Starting a Business

Business plans can be great, but many don’t consider the sales and marketing aspect of the endeavor along with how realistic the venture in question is. While nothing is going to be perfect when starting a business, some aspects do need to be thought over as failure to do so can equate to a tremendous amount of time and resources wasted.

With that being said, what are some of the key points that entrepreneurs want to think about? From both personal experiences and from speaking with aspiring entrepreneurs, I have come up with 10 considerations that each aspiring business owner should consider prior to pulling the trigger on any business.

1. What are you going to sell? The big question here is whether there is an existing market. I also recommended aspiring entrepreneurs keep it as simple as possible and this means not reinventing the wheel, but rather reinventing what already has an active market base.

2. Who are you going to sell to? When answering this question, the entrepreneur must keep digging. If you’re going to sell a product or service to companies, don’t stop at the types of companies, rather list the people within those organizations that are going to be making the decisions as to whether or not the organization should purchase your product or service.

3. How are you going to reach these individuals? Once the target is determined, the accessibility of that target(s) needs to be examined along with a game-plan as to how to make these individuals aware of the company’s existence.

Things such as cold-calling, search engine optimization and targeted e-mail campaigns are all viable options.

4. How are you going to market your company? Does the entrepreneur wish to be the cost leader? Does he or she wish to be more exclusive and expensive? There is no right or wrong answer to this question, but the entrepreneur should make a decision based upon their gut feeling and the information that they acquired through proper business planning.

5. How much are you going to charge? When I first started my business, I would under-cut the competition to an extent that the consumer would be irrational not to give me a shot.

However, this was not sustainable for my organization. The best recommendation I could give regarding is to have a current pricing plan (before an industry reputation is acquired) and a future pricing plan (what the entrepreneur hopes to charge after brand recognition).

Business is a never-ending process of negotiation and the entrepreneur must have a pricing plan for when to bend and when to stand tall.

6. How long is an average sales-cycle? When figuring out expenses, it is important for the entrepreneur to have a rough estimate regarding the time it is going to take to sell his or her product or service from 2 points:

a. From the minute they call their firm operational.

b. From the minute that they contact their target individuals (see #2 and #3).

7. Who are your competitors? There are a few ways that buyers find a product or service. Let’s take two into account which are word of mouth and through the internet. For an entrepreneur to really know his or her competitors, they must do research in the shoes of a buyer.

For instance, when Googling particular keyword phrases, what companies consistently come up? There’s a hint as to how to find the players in just about any industry.

8. How are you going to fund the venture? The option that I recommend for many aspiring entrepreneurs is to start a business while you’re currently working and transition to full-time once the company is showing signs of yielding revenue.

The option that I often discourage aspiring entrepreneurs from looking into is venture capital funding which can be a huge waste of time not to mention that the entrepreneur is going to become an employee in the rare sense that he or she can sell their business.

9. What do you need to learn? Entrepreneurs, rather than thinking delegation, should be thinking as to what tasks they can achieve themselves and, thus save money by learning how to do those entrepreneurial necessities.

Entrepreneurship is about cutting-costs and being resourceful. The aspiring business owner should be well aware of what it is going to take for them (without using costly vendors) to ensure their business is operational.

10. What are you going to do for office space? When I started my company, I worked out of an apartment smaller than my office. It was not ideal, but I saved a lot of money. Pulling the trigger on an office should be one of the last things on the start-up’s mind.

Instead, focusing on #1 – #9 should yield a better return on investment when compared to paying for commercial real estate that the business owner does not own.

In the End

Remember, the more organized the entrepreneur is, the more successful they are likely to become. As an entrepreneur myself, I don’t consider under planning something that is conducive to a successful company, but over planning does not work either.

Ken Sundheim is the CEO of KAS Placement a recruitment agency specializing in sales and marketing recruiting throughout the United States and Canada.

Jul 4

What Makes the American Entrepreneur?

A Strive to Learn, Learn, Learn – My education from Fordham University was great, but it only accounted for a percentage of my knowledge which attributed to my entrepreneurial success.

Though, the best thing that I learned in college was how to study. Entrepreneurs need to consistently read; they must consistently grow themselves. The internet has allowed for mass amounts of global competition making it harder for the American entrepreneur.

Hunger – Running an executive search firm during the worst recession I should see during my working years, I quickly learned that if there are 30 tigers and only 25 antelope, you must remain competitive and hungry or you don’t eat.

I think that when I stated the KAS Placement recruiting firm, I was reliant on raw talent and hunger which alone, won’t make someone successful, but during a recessionary period or any period, the hungrier entrepreneur will even tend to beat the most intelligent entrepreneurs.

People Savvy – Some of us are born with people skills and that’s great if you are, but if you were anything like me, you need to work at them. Simply knowing that people appreciate being appreciated will give any entrepreneur a push in the right direction.

While you can’t rely on contacts 100%, one could argue that account management (quality of service as well as demand being equal) is nearly 100% people skills.

Still the Land of Opportunity?

While America still may not have the economy of China, it’s just like anything else in life – to the entrepreneur, America is what he or she makes of it. Even though there is less money to go around, things will get better and, for now, the American entrepreneur can still prosper.

Ken Sundheim speaks to college graduates of New York University.