Adrian Nantchev's Blog, page 21

Help Others get What They Want You'll get What You want - 77/101 Entrepreneur Mistakes & Lessons

Entrepreneurship is about solving problems, and the more you help others get what they want, the more they'll give you what you want, and that could be money, respect or influence.If you want to get rich; then give others what they need and they'll make you rich. Solve peoples' problems and they'll make you rich.Looking back at the invisible hand principle: if the baker wants to get rich, then he could bake more bread, make it cheaper or make different kinds of flavors. By making it cheaper, he can sell more break. By making more bread, he can sell to more customers. And by making new kinds of bread, he can charge more for the unique flavors.The more you give people what they want, the better. In every business, you need to figure out what kind of problems can you solve. Also, when you think about it: an asset is really just an excuse for someone to pay you money in exchange for a service or a goods.Define different customer personas and understand exactly what they may want, and then give it to them in your business. Understand and create different kinds of people that you can appeal to in your business.For example, let's take the baker analogy: "". Maybe they'll like some cinnamon bread, or maybe they just want more bread. Perhaps make the pretzels unviable for them. Etc.When you understand your customers and know what they do not want and what they do want, then you can create the perfect products for each customer type.Remember: the more you give people, the more they can give you. The more problems you solve for other people, the more they'll reward you.Question of the day: what are you doing now to help people get what they want?There are another 100 mistakes that I made here.

Understand the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics - 76/101 Entrepreneur Mistakes & Lessons

Talks about entropy (the natural decay of the world), which shows that no business or venture is immune from mistakes or failures. Ensure your business has all the loose ends tied up.So you have to ensure that the chances of mistakes are reduced, limited and contained. As disorder is always increasing, and the bigger a business gets, the more chances of failure and break down is possible.When you are sorting out the problems in the business, it diverts attention, energy and money to sorting it out. You have to ensure that your systems are running smoothly and efficiently.Even the biggest businesses in the world can suffer from break down, decay or mistakes. Be careful of breakdown of communications, keeping things updated and on the lookout for ways to improve your business.Remember that you'd want to reorganize your business every 2 years, in order to keep up with developments and changes in the world.Also, this law talks about like attracting like, which touches on what I spoke about in the previous lesson. If you are positive, it'll infect others and you'll become even more positive. Which further explains why success begets success.If you are successful, you'll continue to be successful. If you are reading, learning, building and such, then you'll continue to do so.Question of the day: what are you doing now for as a contingency?There are another 100 mistakes that I made here.

Understand and Accept that Success Begets Success - 75/101 Entrepreneur Mistakes & Lessons

This is a strange but true phenomenon: the more success you have, the more success you'll get.This is an interesting concept that I've come to learn and realize: the more success you achieve, the more success that'll come to you.For instances, as people begin to buy from you and see that other people are using your products, then more people will buy from you.Getting to the point of success is rather difficult. There are many factors such as:How willing are the customers to buy your stuff.How mature is the market?How does your website convert?How many people are coming to your website?How do the prices compared to your competitors?It is important to get reviews for your website and for your products. Places like Google My Business and TrustPilot are important, because when your customer see that other people trust you, then they are more likely to buy from you.People are also more likely to trust you when they have had repeated exposure and see you a few times.Customer feedback is important, because they'll have the final input on your product. With my potato business, I used to use envelopes and I'm slowly moving onto using big boxes to package big potatoes in. I've come to realize people prefer boxes.It's imperative that you deliver on your promise. What you say you'll give them is what you need to give them. Under promise and over deliver.The main two factors for online businesses are:The amount of traffic to your website.Website conversion, the chances of someone actually buying from you.You can have 100 people come to your site and make just as many sales as if 1,000 did. The more people you send to a website that converts effectively the better.Lastly, the psychological effects of success increases your confidence, so you begin to expect success and you begin to have a sense as to what will work and what will not work. Success becomes an instinct.Question of the day: what are you doing now to get a success?There are another 100 mistakes that I made here.

Customers are Your Best Referrals - 74/101 Entrepreneur Mistakes & Lessons

Your customers are very important in your business. You want to keep them happy as can be. You want them to come back to you and buy from you again and again. Never mistreat them, never scam them, always give them your best service.Note: the customer is not always right, but he is the one you want to be happy with your service. When someone is not happy, see it as an opportunity to make your business better and to turn his discontent into a brand champion, so he can spread and tell other people about how good your business is.When you make customers happy, they are happy to tell other people about you. They are happy to advocate your brand and business with the world. And it means more to people when someone they know and trust is giving you a good word, as opposed to you having to tell them how good you are. When you can get customers telling other potential customers how good you are, then that means more to them than you telling them how good you are.Because a good word from another customer is better than from your marketing. So focus on creating happy customers.So, when you have a coupon code that has expired, let them have the discount. When all it costs is £2 to make a customer infinitely happy, then make them happy. You have to firm but fair, otherwise some customers may try to abuse the system and your trust.I've had some customers in my Potato business that would spend £16 on a top of a range potato with the special delivery option, which means it'll arrive tomorrow before 1pm. It arrives and I have evidence that they got the potato, but they then say to me that the potato never arrived and are asking for a refund. Yet, when I show them the evidence that they got the potato, they are quiet.Focus in your customers. Make them happy.When they are happy they'll share their good experience with others and then other people will buy from your business.The happier they are with you, the better they'll promote you when you are not with them, and then your customer acquisition cost will go down the drain.Question of the day: what are you doing now to increase your referrals and word of mouth?There are another 100 mistakes that I made here.

Build a damn good reputation- 73/101 Entrepreneur Mistakes & Lessons

A good reputation takes years to make, a only a few seconds to destroy.When you have a good reputation as a business, then the customers will come to you and you'll have more influence in the world.With a reputation that you are honest, do what you say you will and do good and solve problems for people, then your reputation will carry you a long way.You can build a reputation through knowledge, if you are sharing your knowledge with the world then people will trust you because of it. This is rather easy to do, but hard because you need to have enough knowledge within you to share with the world.Another way is through your actions. Abraham Lincoln was known as "Honest Abe" where he sought to always tell the told the truth.What happens when you have a bad reputation: people come to you and trust you. You don't want to destroy their trust, do you?Question of the day: what are you doing now to increase your reputation?There are another 100 mistakes that I made here.

Be Honest, it's the Best Way to Build a Business - 72/101 Entrepreneur Mistakes & Lessons

Because lies, scams and deceptions hurt your reputation and your business.You can make money in the short term, but people will catch on, tell others and your reputation will be damaged. And when this happens, people will not shop from you anymore. Your first punishment is that people will know you're a scam and deceived them, so they will stop buying from you which means your income will cease.You don't want a bad reputation. You need to have a good reputation in your dealings with all people and your actions.Be genuine in your venture, otherwise people will hunt you down.When you to start develop the wrong reputation, it begins to make it difficult to do business.Reputation can take years to build, but only seconds to destroy.Treasure how people see you and your business. Your public image is important.And honesty is the best way to do business.If a customer says you got their order wrong, or that there was some mistake, then correct the problem and bend over backwards for your customer.It is better to turn an unhappy customer in someone that is thankful and loves your business, as opposed to keeping their money that they spent hoping to get a good service. I'd prefer the long term gains from them spreading a good reputation about me as opposed to having the short term profit.Reputation is everything. Treasure it.Question of the day: what are you doing now to increase your reputation?There are another 100 mistakes that I made here.

Aware that the Market and World Always Changes - 71/101 Entrepreneur Mistakes & Lessons

The world is changing, I touched on this earlier with the lesson about having to change your business every two years, but you've got to adapt to change, to ensure you are future proof.A few years ago in the video games industry, there was a very popular video game that was released called , which was a rather scary game, but people loved that and what is what made it so popular.In late 2014 people were playing it all the time and sharing videos of others playing it on YouTube and elsewhere. People could not stop talking about it.But over time, new games were released and people stopped playing it. Over time interests and tastes change. Where is the game today? It is forgotten about, but there is probably a dedicated fan base, but the market, and the money, has gone elsewhere.Colonel Sanders, the founder of KFC used to have a motel and a restaurant on Route 25 in Kentucky in the 1930s. That is, until the government changed the route of Route 25 and then his business dried up. They moved the route elsewhere, and suddenly his source of customers disappeared.Be careful and watchful that your Route 25 does not change or disappear.In my potato business I used to get my potatoes from a local supermarket, and what was annoying is that every few weeks the potatoes they supplied would change. So over time the sizes of their potatoes would vary as I'd always try to use the biggest ones for my customers.Furthermore, the supplier whom I used for the packaging stopped creating the original boxes I used as they phased them out in December 2016, which meant that I had to get a new supplier. I had no control over their logistics and their decision to stop making the boxes, so I had to go elsewhere.The world is constantly changing, you've got to be on the lookout for change.Question of the day: what changes do you see on the horizon in the next 15-30 years?There are another 100 mistakes that I made here.

P>(E*1.5) - 70/101 Entrepreneur Mistakes & Lessons

This formula is something that I slowly developed once the coin dropped in early 2016 about how you need your passive income to exceed your expenses, then you are financially free.Financially free means that you have an income without having to do any work. You have money coming to you all the time and you could stay in bed and still afford your expenses. It just means that the income from your assets is exceeding your expenses, thus you have free time to do what you really want to do in life: pursue the arts, learn new skills, travel, etc.The formula means that your passive income (P) has to be greater than your expenses (E) multiplied by a factor of 0.5 -2.5. The total cost of your expenses have to be multiplied to create a margin of error. This margin covers any emergencies, rainy days or unscrupulous spending, etc.This is an investors approach: creating a margin of error before you consider yourself financially free.This is how you can define your goal for your passive income from your assets:Calculate your monthly expenses: rent, food, clothing, fuel, insurance, etc. The multiply it by a factor of 0.5 -2.5, this number is your choice and is a reflection to the level of risk you want to be exposed to. The higher the number you multiply it by, the safer you'll be. If I my expenses are £1,000 a month, then a factor of 2.5 would then take it to £2,500 a month.So, you could say P>(E*2.5), and the £2,500 is now your monthly target income for your assets to cover. You can lower the factor, but I'd prefer to aim high and achieve more.Once you know your monthly target, you now have a goal and purpose to work towards. This is why I don't like just being busy for the sake of it, as this goal give you a path and something to focus on.Dream, work, build and create. Then prosperity will come to you.Question of the day: what are you doing now to increase your income? What is your P target? How much is your E?There are another 100 mistakes that I made here.

Understand Your Personal Finances - 69/101 Entrepreneur Mistakes & Lessons

This is something that I'm slowly coming to terms with in my personal life: finances. It used to be daunting looking at my bank account and seeing what's happening.What one of my mentors did was he as an hourly update on his finances and the performance of his company.By looking at your finances it is facing reality.Your bank account and the success of your personal finances is down to your assets. The more things you have putting money into your pocket, the better.You create assets by solving people's problems, which really is an excuse for them to pay you something.This kind of stems from understanding the vocabulary of money.You've got to know where you stand financially. People often talk about living within your means, which is a rather inclusive way to think about money.The opposite to that would be an expansive viewpoint, which is to say: expand your means.When you realize that assets puts money into your pocket, then the more of them you have the more income you receive.Assets separate time from income, which means that you have no ceiling to how much money you can make in a single 24 hours period.Remember, assets can be books, rental property, dividends from stock, money invested in crowd funding, an online business.You want to work on creating assets and you create assets by solving people's problems. For instances, this book solves 101 problems for other entrepreneurs. It teaches them, answers their questions and enlightens them.Thus, with more successful assets putting money into your pocket, the more bareable it is look at your finances. But, you have to face reality and deal with your money.Question of the day: what are you doing about your personal finances? What glass ceiling are you working on breaking in your life?There are another 100 mistakes that I made here.

Listen to Everyone, but be Choosy what you Absorb and Accept - 68/101 Entrepreneur Mistakes & Lessons

Everyone knows what to do, but not everyone knows what they are talking about. Knowledge and opinions are like arseholes, everyone has gone one. Be careful who you listen to in your life, because everyone can talk the talk, but not everyone can walk the walk. Not everyone knows what they are on about as bullshit walks and money talks.I was at a pub in mid December 2016 with a another entrepreneurial friend and his girlfriend came along, and she is new to business and entrepreneurship. Some of her old friends came along too and one of them was rather talkative and was giving me some ideas, but he was rather idiotic and annoying. He knows some good stuff in life and I think was a musician of sorts. So he does know what the is on about in general, but not so much in the specific topic we were discussing. So if he knew a little bit about business, I may have respected more. He'd have been a jack of all trades, but master of one.Listen to those that really know what they are talking about, this is why I say you should read successful people's biographies. Because these people have had successes and their journey has been written down.Not everyone knows what they are talking about, whether in the form of blogs, videos, articles, etc.So some people will share their experiences, and that can be valuable too, but you have to take it with a pinch of sale.Listen to them but take it and compare it with what you already know, and if it is worthwhile or compliments what you know then accept it. Otherwise, you can learn, thanks to that person what, no to do in life, and that can be just as valuable as knowing what to do.Interviews and podcasts are generally good, because the person being interviewed knows what they are talking about.Abraham Lincoln once said: "I've never met a person I could not learn something from, often it was what not to do in life".Question of the day: who are you taking your advice from whom you know you should not?There are another 100 mistakes that I made here.