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Getting started as an Entrepreneur

Invaluable advice from 15 people who’ve been there

The Green Tie Project! – The home of newbie entrepreneurs Entrepreneurship interviews – Expert advice - Guides – eBooks

@billionsuccess

email: herby@billionsuccess.com

Introduction

I recently carried out interviews with some of the most successful entrepreneurs around today,

and this e-book is the result. I wanted to collect their experiences and advice on how to start

out in the complicated and terrifying world of business. As such, we have taken insightful

chunks from each interview to help aspiring entrepreneurs better understand how to create

their very first successful business venture.

We've got thoughts and tips from some of the world's greatest entrepreneurs, each from

varying backgrounds and working in different niche markets, from technology companies to

popcorn topping businesses and from junk hauling services to published authors.

To find out their secrets – read on.

Michael Chasen “Never underestimate the power of hiring

great talent...throughout my career I made sure

that I truly looked for people who were smarter

than me.”

Michael Chasen is the former CEO of Blackboard, a popular e-learning

software used by over 20,000 educational institutions in around 70

countries worldwide. He sold Blackboard in 2011 for $1.7 billion and has

since started a new company – SocialRadar. Chasen's vision for his new business venture is to harness the power of the

social, local, and mobile revolution to create a social technology that connects people in a whole new way.

Chasen would advise other entrepreneurs to seek out talented people to work and collaborate with. A happy and talented

workforce will help your business reach its goals and full potential. Responsibility, empowerment, and sustainability is

his motto.

READ INTERVIEW HERE

Brian Scudamore “I made a lot of mistakes but I learned from every one

of them. I realized the best way for myself and my

team to avoid making the same mistakes was to

document and systemize every aspect of my business.”

Brian Scudamore is the founder of 1-800-GOT-JUNK? He started the

business in Vancouver, Canada and has since widely franchised his business

and expanded operations into WOW 1 DAY Painting and You Move Me. His businesses have been featured on Dr. Oz,

Dr. Phil, The Today Show, CNN, and many more.

He pinpoints the three key areas of success in business – people, trust, and systems. He believes entrepreneurs need to

hire quality candidates and ensure they are in the right roles within the business. Secondly, when picking management

and others to run your business you need to have full trust in their abilities. And lastly, Scudamore states that you must

have appropriate systems in place to constantly keep track of, and fine-tune, your business.

READ INTERVIEW HERE

Rand Fishkin

“I'm thrilled that MOZ has had such success, but if

it ever comes at the expense of our empathy and our

ability to be kind, I hope the market switches to our

competition.”

These are the words of kind entrepreneur Rand Fishkin, creator of MOZ, a

search engine optimization software development company. MOZ provides tools and consulting services to marketing

businesses hoping to improve their SEO and build an online presence.

Fishkin advises aspiring entrepreneurs to cultivate their original vision and passion for what they want to achieve. He

does this by steering clear of what his competitors are doing to allow himself the freedom to build something new and

different. He believes that who you hire and treating your team with respect and kindness are essential to internal and

external growth too.

READ INTERVIEW HERE

Neil Patel

“Always keep pushing hard and never slow down

when things are good. You can lose everything much

faster than it took you to build the business.”

Neil Patel is the founder of Crazy Egg and KISSmetrics, which assists

companies like Amazon, HP, Viacom, and AOL to expand their revenue.

Patel is a successful entrepreneur and one of the top influencers in the online world.

He says that some of the biggest mistakes he made when starting his business were: not hiring quality staff in an effort to

save money; doing too much at once; and stepping back from his business once he started to make money.

He advises ambitious entrepreneurs to hire 'A' employees instead of inexperienced 'B' or 'C' employees who have to be

micromanaged. Patel also states that focussing on one business model and expanding when you're ready is more effective

than rushing growth. His last piece of advice to new entrepreneurs is to keep pushing forward and ensuring you are fully

involved in the business at all times.

READ INTERVIEW HERE

Anita Campbell

“It's all about achieving your vision – whatever

that is. For me, it's being the number one site in

my niche, and doing it while being a decent

human being.” Anita Campbell founded and operates a popular website,

SmallBusinessTrends.com, which is a business blog and online

publishing company. Looking back on her 10 year web career,

Campbell assesses her successes and downfalls to help budding

entrepreneurs better understand how to grow in the world of online business.

Campbell states that her two greatest errors when she first started the Small Business Trends website were not

implementing comprehensive technological support from the very beginning, and not publishing enough content on her

blog. She believes that web entrepreneurs need to invest in quality web development, web design, and IT management

that can manage content easily and stylishly. Another tip she gives aspiring web businesses is to grow traffic by posting

quality content prolifically.

READ INTERVIEW HERE

Nick Friedman

“As an entrepreneur, you need to go out of your way

to learn things every day. Keep an open mind and be

willing to innovate. That’s how you get ahead and

really grow in this game.”

Nick Friedman is a young entrepreneur who is the co-founder of College

Hunks Hauling Junk and College Hunks Moving, both removal services

in Florida. He and his business partner started their venture after hauling

junk one summer and realizing it offered a great business opportunity for them.

Friedman says that he made a lot of mistakes when starting out, but that each mistake was a learning curve that allowed

him to learn and grow in the long-term. His advice to other young entrepreneurs is to find reliable mentors. You don't

have to go it alone - these mentors can offer advice and support. Friedman also states that when expanding your business,

you should always do so slowly and carefully to avoid risk and losses.

READ INTERVIEW HERE

Brian Taylor “When I finally did hire industry veterans...business

really took off thanks to the insight and guidance

they were able to offer.”

Brian Taylor is the founder of successful all-natural popcorn topping

company, Kernel Season's. Started as a fun experiment in college, Kernel

Season's has expanded to be the top popcorn seasoning brand in the US.

In the beginning, Taylor says he was impatient to grow his business which led to unsuccessful and costly side ventures.

That's why he suggests focussing on growing one aspect of your business at a time. Taylor was also unsure of the right

employees to hire and so ended up hiring inexperienced people. To new entrepreneurs he advises investing in quality

employees early on in their business venture to see greater growth. And lastly, he believes unmeasurable marketing

strategies are a waste of time and money, and that proven marketing methods should be used to build brand awareness

instead.

READ INTERVIEW HERE

Mark Schaefer

“I took a very fresh approach to everything and that

earned me some attention.” Mark Schaefer is a blogger, college educator, and author with published works

including The Tao of Twitter, Return on Influence, and Born to Blog. Schaefer

consults on the power of social media marketing in the corporate world and as

such shares his three biggest mistakes when starting out as a social media

entrepreneur:

Firstly, he states that he didn't do any studying or research before diving into the waters of social media marketing. He

says it was a steep learning curve which was advantageous to him in the long-run, but which was time consuming. He

suggests new web entrepreneurs do some research, reading, and studying before embarking on a web business.

Secondly, Schaefer advises aspiring web entrepreneurs to integrate their blog and website to ensure blog traffic is heading

in the right direction – towards their website and business!

Lastly, the author suggests that entrepreneurs recognize that today social media should be at the core of a powerful

marketing strategy for any business.

READ INTERVIEW HERE

Jessica Brondo

“If you believe in what you're doing, just push

on and DO IT!”

Jessica Brondo is CEO and founder of The Edge in College Prep, an

educational platform that allows students to prepare and study for

exams. She hopes to expand her business into admitted.ly, an

education technology company that turns college admissions into a

game and quizzing platform.

As a young entrepreneur, Brondo gives some advice to aspiring entrepreneurs: never give up and stay focussed. She

believes perseverance and confidence in your business vision and capabilities will allow you to be successful and reach

your goals. Brondo also states that her success has been partly due to staying focussed on her product and not worrying

about her competitors. She suggests focussing on your own company and product to grow and develop.

READ INTERVIEW HERE

David Barrett

“I believe more in inputs than outputs. At the end of

the day, you can't control what happens, you can only

control what you do.”

David Barrett is the founder of Expensify, a web platform and mobile app

that allows users to track their business expenses on their smartphones as they

travel for work. He believes this field is one full of opportunities and crying

out for expansion.

Barrett is loath to give advice as an entrepreneur, but he does suggest entrepreneurs don't rely too heavily on marketing

and sales jargon. He believes that business products should be made to be used, not sold. Barrett's goal is to get users to

find his product and share their experiences of it naturally, without being forced.

He also states that being confident in what you do and what you know will take you far, but so will being honest about

your limitations.

READ INTERVIEW HERE

Melinda Emerson

“You must hire smart people and empower them

to make decisions, even if they do things

differently than you would. When your business

can't run without you, your business will never

grow.”

In the business world, Melinda Emerson is more commonly known as

'SmallBizLady'. She is a small business expert, public speaker, social media strategist, and long-time entrepreneur.

Emerson advises new entrepreneurs to find a niche market and stick with it. Having your finger in too many pies will

waste time and money, as you chase opportunities and business all over. She also suggests implementing comprehensive

hiring procedures that ensure you always hire people who are the right fit for the role and your business. Lastly, she

advocates putting strategies and systems in place that allow your business to flourish without your input. If you become

ill, you don't want to lose your business because you can't let go of the reins!

READ INTERVIEW HERE

Jim Belosic

“A good product tends to sell itself.”

Jim Belosic is the creator of ShortStack, a popular social media

platform that allows business users to create custom promotions and

competitions on Facebook. ShortStack is a self-service platform that

lets users choose from a variety of apps, tools, and templates.

Belosic encourages fresh entrepreneurs to focus on their product and

not rely on marketing strategies to sell the product. He also suggests

that you never work for free.

Instead of trusting in investors, Belosic advises new entrepreneurs to charge customers for their product or service from

the very beginning. That way, he says, you can judge how much people need your product, and how much they are

willing to pay for it.

READ INTERVIEW HERE

Matthew Bellows

“In the context of a product strategy

decision, or any decision really, it's better to

measure twice and cut once.”

Matthew Bellows is a co-founder of Yesware, a free software tool

that allows salespeople to monitor their leads and make more sales.

Bellows has only very recently invested in marketing for his tech

company because he believes the product should speak for itself and that marketing strategies should only be employed

once you have created the best product possible.

To new entrepreneurs he suggests slowing things down; rushing decisions won't create business growth. According to

Bellows, making measured decisions that your whole team agrees with creates a common goal that everyone is working

towards and will give your business stability and sustainability.

READ INTERVIEW HERE

John Lee Dumas

“All great entrepreneurs started way before

they were ready to. If we wait to start

heading toward our dreams, we will never

get there.”

John Lee Dumas is the founder and host of an entrepreneur podcast

service, Entrepreneur on Fire, where he interviews successful

business people to share their insights.

As an entrepreneur who speaks on a daily basis with other entrepreneurs, Dumas has gathered some handy tips on how to

start your business career. He believes that aspiring entrepreneurs should stop procrastinating and forge ahead with their

vision and keep going until they reach where they want to be. He also states that creating a product which provides actual

value to customers will make your business venture stand out from the crowd. Lastly, Dumas encourages new

entrepreneurs to ask for feedback from customers to ensure their product or business is the best it can be.

READ INTERVIEW HERE

Nellie Akalp

“...it took a few bad experiences to learn that if I didn't

change my ways to keep up with the new era, I would

fail. It was a hard lesson to learn, but now I know that it

is absolutely vital to keep your business up to date.”

Nellie Akalp is the co-founder and CEO of Corpnet, which is a company that

services other entrepreneurs and small businesses by offering document filling solutions and incorporation services.

In sharing her top three business mistakes, Akalp states that she initially followed tired business models, was resistant to

change, and often didn't hire the right employees. Akalp suggests that throwing away old business models that don't apply

to the customers of today is the best way to grow your business. Akalp believes embracing change and new technology or

processes will help entrepreneurs expand as business changes over time. In overcoming her final mistake, she advises

new entrepreneurs to avoid hiring an employee because you like them, as she did, and concentrate more on the

requirements of the role to be filled.

READ INTERVIEW HERE

Conclusion

I hope this e-book has been insightful and beneficial to you as an ambitious entrepreneur. We've learnt a lot from our pick

of the top entrepreneurs working in business today and we hope you have too.

These entrepreneurs all have something in common; they had an idea, a business vision, a dream that they cultivated and

grew into a successful and profitable business. But what they all have in common too, is the bumps they experienced

along the road to success. Business isn't smooth and easy; it takes hard work, perseverance, confidence, and a great team

of people to help you along the way. Don't be afraid of making mistakes; even the most successful entrepreneurs have

made mistakes.

So, stop thinking of starting a business – push forward and begin doing it today!

Connect with me here. I am always around! herby@billionsuccess.com

Thank you for joining me