Entrepreneur

·       Curious Being – Entrepreneurs make it a habit to be open and curious about everything. They keep asking questions and generating ideas for the next moves. Ordinary people stop working when they run out of creative energy, while highly effective entrepreneurs never stop generating new ideas.

·       Turn obstacles into assets – The best entrepreneurs believe and act as if everything is a gift.

1.       First, an entrepreneur will discover what others did and did not like about his idea. Better to learn it early, before he sinks more resources into the concept, venture, or product line. Entrepreneurs must always keep potential losses to a minimum.

2.       Second, the feedback could take an entrepreneur in another direction.

3.       Third, the entrepreneur will gain an advantage over his competitors since he knows something they do not. He is ahead of his game.

·       Having a high tolerance for ambiguity – Most people need a clear set of rules and expectations. As people mature, they become more adept at assessing risk. High tolerance for ambiguity makes entrepreneurs less likely to get anxious in novel situations or when faced with uncertainty. They can think quickly on their feet and see things from different angles. The unfamiliar is simply an opportunity to adapt.

·       Using fears and anxieties as fuel – Research by Dr. Alison Wood Brooks of Harvard Business School says that he found out that trying to calm down during an anxiety attack can only worsen performance. Instead, the anxiety must be reframed as excitement. That is one reason professional athletes and successful entrepreneurs frame their anxieties as feeling “pumped up,” harnessing those normal jitters to work in their favor.

·       Focus on the cause, not effects, of confidence and success – Success represents more incredible adversity than failure. It is apparent long before the rise of modern psychology. When people succeed, they tend to focus on the cause of their success, believing they were right all along. Successful entrepreneurs have the presence of mind to resist that shift in focus. Their behavior is remarkably consistent regardless of whatever success or defeats they experience. They know that their confidence and achievements are product of a constant, internal drive to improve their craft.

·       Be proactive – Proactivity means more than merely taking the initiative. It means that as human beings, people are responsible for their lives. Highly proactive people recognizes that responsibility means the ability to choose a response. They do not blame circumstances, conditions, or conditioning for their behavior. Proactive people are influenced by external physical, social, or psychological stimuli. But their response to stimuli, conscious or unconscious, is a value-based choice of response.

“No one can make you feel inferior without your consent”

-          Eleanor Roosevelt

It is not what happens to people but the response to what happens to them that hurts them. Circumstances can hurt people physically or economically and can cause sorrow. But their character and identity do not have to be hurt at all. Most difficult experiences become the crucibles that forge character and develop internal powers, the freedom to handle difficult circumstances in the future and inspire others to do so.

Things you can influence:

·       Mood, Personal Health, Habits, Choice of Work, Personal Income, and Work and Life Balance.

Factors outside your control:

·  Weather, Politics, Economics, Public Transport, Other people’s weaknesses, and Uncontrollable Situations.

Focus on and expand sphere of influence while as outside your control you should accept things as they are and learn to live with them.

As people look at matters within their circle of concern, it becomes apparent that there are some things that they cannot control.

·       Begin with the end in mind – This principle involves envisioning the future. It states that all things are created twice, but not all first creations are by conscious design. There is a mental (first) creation, a physical (second) creation. The physical creation follows the mental, just as a building follows a blueprint. People must make a conscious effort to reach their blueprint or what they envision themselves to be.

·       Put first things first – Two factors define an activity: Urgent and Important.

·       Urgent – It requires immediate attention. For example, a ringing phone is urgent; most phone cannot stand the thought of just allowing the phone to ring. Urgent matters are usually visible; they insist on action.

·       Importance – It has to do with results. If something is important, it contributes to an entrepreneur’s mission, values, and high-priority goals.

·       Do right now (Quadrant 1) – This quadrant is a combination of urgent and important. It deals with significant results that require immediate attention. Activities in this quadrant are usually called crises or problems.

·       Turn down (Quadrant 4) – Some entrepreneurs tend to escape to this quadrant, a not important and urgent activities.

·       Dull tasks delegate (Quadrant 3) - Some entrepreneurs spend much time on urgent but unimportant activities in Quadrant 3, thinking they are in Quadrant 1. They spend most of their time reacting to urgent things, assuming they are also important. But the reality is that the urgency of these matters is often based on the priorities and expectation of others.

·       Quadrant 3 and 4 – This quadrant led to irresponsible lives. Effective people stay out of these quadrants because, urgent or not, they are not important. They also shrink Quadrant 1 by spending more time in Quadrant 2.

·       Make time (Quadrant 2) – This quadrant is the heart of effective personal management. It deals with things that are not urgent but important. It involves building relationships, writing a personal mission statement, long-range planning, exercising, preventive maintenance and preparation – all things people need to do but are not urgent.

·       Think win-win – Win-win is a frame of mind and heart that constantly seeks mutual benefit in all human interactions. Win-win means that agreements or solutions are mutually beneficial and satisfying

·       Win-win Solution – It makes all parties feel good about the decision and committed to the action plan. Win-win sees life as a cooperative, not a competitive arena. This is a based on the paradigm that there is plenty for everybody and that one’s person success is not achieved at the expense or exclusion of the success of others.

·       Seek first to understand, then to be understood – “Seek first to understand” involves a profound paradigm shift. People typically seek first to be understood. Most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply. They are either speaking or preparing to speak. They filter everything through their paradigms, reading their autobiography into other people’s lives.

·       Empathy is not sympathy – Sympathy is a form of agreement or a form or judgement, and it is sometimes the more appropriate emotion and response. But people often feed on sympathy. It makes them dependent. The essence of empathic listening is not that you agree with someone but you fully, deeply, and understand that person, emotionally and intellectually.

·       Synergize – It means that the relationship of departments within an organization is catalytic, empowering, unifying, and exciting. (1+1 => 2) In relationships, the whole is more than the sum of its parts.

·       Sharpen the saw – It means having a balanced program in four areas of life (physical, social/emotional, mental, and spiritual). This balance allows individuals to become more productive, efficient, and effective.

The Purpose of Business

·       Naert’s Model – Philippe Naert, believes that value creation is the purpose of business. He criticized the shareholder model. Naert’s model, on the contrary, proposes that economic and societal values can be pursued simultaneously.

·       Shareholder Model – A theory that focuses on maximizing financial returns on investments with zero regard for customers and employees).

·       Creating economic value – Companies create economic value by developing, producing, and delivering goods and services. Doing so maximizes value or the difference between benefit and costs. In creating value, companies are typically part of a larger value chain.

·       Modern companies on economic value – They create economic and societal values while establishing a win-win relationship between business and society.

·       Societal Values – It has many dimensions. In addition to reducing the usage of scarce natural resources or environmental damage, there are issues such as safety, health, poverty, education, gender equality, multicultural society, etc. Companies achieve higher productivity in emerging markets if they facilitate these society’s problems.

·       Van Duzer’s Model – Jeff Van Duzer, share some commonalities with Naert in his criticism of the shareholder model. He proposes that the purpose of business is twofold:

To serve customers by providing goods and services that promote human flourishing – The focus is primarily on customers and broader community. It highlights the role that business plays in bringing products to the markets.

To serve employees by providing opportunities for meaning and creative work – It tends to focus on employees and vendors. Business creates jobs that allow people (through their labor) to sustain their lives. Intentionally, it encourages the development of human potential and extends far beyond mere material sustenance.

However, in contrast with Naert’s model, Duzer suggests that profit should be best viewed to serve customers and employees. Therefore, the pursuit of profit is necessary to for business but is not the purpose of business.

·       Parikh’s Model – Indira Parikh, argues that the ancient wisdom of Hindu scriptures can be appropriated to business practices.

·       Bhagavad Gita – It asserts that people should focus on their thoughts and actions rather than the outcomes of those actions. This ancient text describes the concepts of emotional intelligence and servant leadership and is the foundation for a new terminology.

·       Karma capitalism. – Where once corporate philanthropy was an obligation, today is it viewed as a competitive advantage for attracting and retaining top talent.

1.       Greed is bad – Entrepreneurs should never engage in action only for the desire of awards. Acting on worldly desires leads to failure. Do well, and good things will come.

2.       Be fair – Enlightened leaders are compassionate and selfless. “They treat everyone as equals.” Followers will rally around them and follow their example.

3.       Act rather than react – A leader’s action today can become the “karma” that influences their status tomorrow. Leaders accomplish “excellence by taking action.”

4.       Seek higher consciousness – Leaders should view problems within their larger contexts. Show sensitivity to multiple stakeholders, including shareholders, employees, partners, and neighbors.

·       Darma – Dr Athreya, has highlighted some of the core concepts of Dharma (natural law) as enshrined in the Indian Shastras (timeless principles). Dharma can be understood as a righteous duty or the right path to uphold the family and the organizational and social fabric.

The main principles of Dharma that apply to business:

1.       Loka Sanghara (Public Good) – The practice of seeking one’s gain and catering to the welfare of others. It primally reflects all the stakeholders.

2.       Kausalam (Efficacy) – Sensible use of resources for future generations. It reflects concern for ecology as well as for stakeholders

3.       Vividhta (Innovation) – Beyond survival, the business must be the engine of innovation, constantly seeking more effective solutions to meet its economic and social expectations

4.       Jigyasa (Learning) – Change and continuity coexist. Corporate governance must keep learning from the feedback loop of society and through internal processes of questioning, challenging, debating, and training

·       Business Model – Embedded in a firm’s business plan, income statements, and cash flow projections. It is a conceptual, rather than a financial, framework. A business model makes implicit assumptions about customers, the behavior of revenues and costs, the changing nature of user needs, and competitor responses. It outlines the business logic required to earn a profit and, once adopted, defines the way enterprise “goes to market.” A business model describes how a company creates and captures values. The model’s feature defines the customer value proposition and the pricing mechanism, indicating how the company will organize itself and whom it will partner with t produce value, and specify how it will structure its supply chain. A business model is a system whose various features determine the company’s success.

The Six Considerations:

1.       A more personalized product or service – Many new models offer products or services tailored to customer’s individual and immediate needs. Companies often leverage technology to achieve this a competitive price. Millennials are particularly attracted to the idea of customization. Consider customized merchandise.

2.       A closed-loop process – Many models replace a linear consumption process (in which products are made, used, and disposed of) with a closed loop, in which used products are recycled. This shift reduces overall resources costs. Consider companies selling bottled beverages. Instead of disposing of the bottles after consumption, they are returned for reuse or recycling.

3.       Asset sharing – Some innovations succeed because they enable, the sharing of costly assets. Sometimes, assets may be shared across a supply chain. The sharing typically happens using two sided online marketplaces that unlock value for both sides.

4.       Usage-based pricing – Some models charge customers when they use the product or service rather than requiring them to buy something outright. The customer benefit because they incur costs only as offering generate value; the company benefits because the number of customers is likely to grow.

5.       A more collaborative ecosystem – Some innovations are successful because a new technology improves the relationship with supply chain partners and helps allocate business risks more appropriately, making cost reductions possible. To crowdsource new ideas. This model helps the firm improve, scale up, and market new products and technologies.

6.       An agile and adaptive organization – Innovators sometimes use technology to move away from traditional hierarchical decision-making models to make decision that better reflect market needs and allow real-time adaptation. The result is often more significant value for the customer at less cost to the company. Amazon understands, embrace, and anticipates changes, making it agile and adaptive to changing business conditions and customer requirements.