Tweet

New Business Rules For A New Year

Written by: Riley Cardwell

Article Overview: What makes you better than everyone else who does what you do? What are some of the maybe not so obvious elements right before your eyes that can set you ahead of the pack?

New Business Rules For A New Year

We’re already more than halfway through the first decade of a new millennium.

Things are moving fast and change is coming even faster.

Everyday it seems we hear that old rules just don’t apply anymore.

So if the old rules don’t apply, what does, and how can we discover and apply them in business?

Shortly before old rules are swept away, we see unorthodox thinking and ways of being.

Most importantly, people’s willingness to simply break the old rules and try something new shows up practically everywhere from staid corporations suddenly willing to experiment to individuals who leave a paycheck and start up their own enterprise.

In times of uncertainty and at the beginning of new eras, suddenly people are willing to try things on the fly and modify and correct along the way. Simply put, this is called “ready – fire – aim.”

In other words, today’s competitive business climate calls for a minimum of tinkering before a product or idea is brought to market and a swiftness in actually getting it out in people’s hands so the market can give the critical feedback needed that takes a product or idea from good to great.

We often hear people complaining they are held back from implementing their future or dreams due to lack of money. What is really true a lot of the time is simply a lack of drive and imagination.

One old rule really does still apply – where there’s a will, there’s a way. The truth is, lack of money is just an excuse. Find a need and fill it. Creating something from nothing has only one real rule. Get out there and try something!

Another old rule that no longer applies is you need a college degree to be successful. If you want to see what kind of success a college degree will buy you these days, simply walk into any fast food restaurant and you’ll find most of the people behind the counter will have one.

Yet, some of the most successful business people out there today never finished or even went to college because they we’re too busy succeeding in business and finding out how to do it as they went.

While securing knowledge you need is important, there are many ways to do it and many don’t call for sitting in a classroom for a minimum of four years.

Resumes are another area that artificially holds people back. While a good resume can be a valuable employment tool, an individual with drive will win out almost every time over a resume.

Employers today are hiring and looking first and foremost for people with a need to succeed. It really is true that a foot in the door created by a drive to succeed will often trump a good resume.

All of us have some kind of expertise, but most of us don’t think of it that way. We think that just because we know a lot about something, so does everyone else.

Wrong.

Don’t undervalue your knowledge. What is common knowledge to you may not be to a lot of other people. Don’t undersell yourself. Charge what you’re worth.

What do you know you could be the best at doing? What do you know you could make money doing right now? Don’t let yesterday’s rules hold you back.

Related Articles
  Rule 20 Rules are Made to be Broken
  Failure Comes From Not Following Your Additive Rules
  Q: How can I make my employees accountable?
  Letting go of our rule books
  The New Rules of Success

Article Tags:



Related Forum Posts
How to valuate a business - Hi Garth - here is how we did it at Northern Crown Capital when I was helping them raise venture capital for Toronto-based entrepreneurs. Assume the start date is 2003 so 2008 projections are 5 years out: How Northern Crown Capital Valuates a Business 2008 Financial Projections Earnings Before Tax $5,865,000 Tax Rate 42% Taxes $2,463,300 Net Earnings $3,401,700 Amount Seeking to Raise Today $3,500,000 Discounted Value of Future Opportunity, 5 Years Out 2008 P/E Ratio 15 Value of Company in 2008 $51,025,500 Discount Rate Applied 30% Year 2008 $51,025,500 Year 2007 $35,717,850 Year 2006 $25,002,495 Year 2005 $17,501,747 Year 2004 $12,251,223 Value of Company at Investment in 2003 $12,251,223 Less: Investment Amount $3,500,000 Present Value $8,751,223 Discount for Risk & Private Company 40% Less: Discount for Risk & Private Company $3,500,489 Private Company Value $5,250,734 Present Value (What the Owner Keeps) $5,250,734 60.00% Financing (What the Investor Gets) $3,500,000 40.00% Total $8,750,734 100.00% I hope this helps!
My entry - 1. The Best Business Books Ever: The 100 Most Influential Business Books You'll Never Have Time to Read - this is a fascinating book about the history of Business theory, and I'd recommend it to anybody. 2. The Big Book of Small Business: You Don't Have to Run Your Business by the Seat of Your Pants, by Tom Gegax. Ditto. 3. PADI: The Business of Diving Book Okay, so this book won't be of use to anyone who doesn't want to start a scuba store, but I did, and this book was of course invaluable to me in reaching that goal.
How She Does It - Interesting to see what are the most popular threads in this folder, judging by how many hits each thread gets. There must be a lot of moms out there who want to start businesses. I'm currently reading How She Does It: How Women Entrepreneurs are Changing the Rules of Business Success, by Margaret Heffernan. Some interesting statistics: Between 1997 and 2006, privately held businesses owned by women grew at 3 times the rate of all American privately owned firms, women's companies are creating jobs and growing profits at twice the rate of all firms and are responsible for more payroll than all of the Fortune 500 companies combined. This book tells the stories of a few women who have made it big...recommended reading so you know that "you can do it, too."
Exclusive: Interview with Results - Hi Forum Members, I'm helping start up a Business Coaching and Consulting company here in Toronto, Ontario, Canada (a Subsidiary of RSC Business in Los Angeles). As a Research and Development Intern I am required to practice my listening and interview skills by surveying Small and Medium Businesses on thier Business. This Survey is designed by RSC Business to also assist the Business being interviewed more insight into their own business. I am looking to interview about 30 businesses across North America over the span of 3 months. At the end of these interviews I will be publishing a report of the results and they will be made available for free to the Interviewees. The Report data will include responses from a minimum of 100 interviews. I would like to extend this opportunity to members of the Forum. If you would like to have this short 20-30 minute interview conducted on your Business and you reside in North America please send me an email or PM. Please contact me at andy[at]jvprosperity[dot]com to arrange our interview and to get free access to the results when they are published.
Re: HAPPY NEW YEAR! - Happy New Year!


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Tweet

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

The Substance Abusing Employee

••••••>SEO Tip Of The Day: HTML Validation

Why Use an Advertising Agency

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.