Do you have the make-up of a successful entrepreneur?  You might be surprised at what’s really important if you’re looking to create a long term business.

Brad Johnson of FranchiseSmartKC shared an interesting study in his latest newsletter on the traits that are shared by successful entrepreneurs.  The study was done by the Guardian Life Small Business Research Institute and was released back in June after they had interviewed over 1100 small business owners with the idea of identifying the traits that make up a success oriented small business owner.

Unfortunately there are no absolute roadmaps to success that would apply to everyone (no silver bullets), but this kind of study cangive you some directional ideas of things you should be thinking about.  Read on and let me know your thoughts.

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Once again proving that it pays to spend some time on Twitter (at a bare minimum to see what people you know are up to and to pick up cool things they find interesting) – here’s a great video that I found very inspiring!

It’s a short film (16 minutes) entitled Validation and I think it says a lot about what motivates us and maybe an observation on how bad things are today (in terms of how we treat each other).

Check it out:

If you can’t see the video or it’s not working, you can find it online here:  Validation

I’d love to get your thoughts on the video?  Did any of it ring true for you?  Share your thoughts in the comments below!

Shawn Kinkade  Kansas City Business Coach

Looking through the lens of nostalgia, business used to be simple.  You could set up a road side stand (or the equivalent) and offer things that people wanted locally.  Your long term success totally depended on your local reputation and at the end of the day it was more about how you interacted with the community and your customers then it was about having some sort of great business model or get rich scheme.

Honest weights, Square Dealings – with the fish specials of the day.  Back in the day, it wasn’t just a numbers game, it wasn’t about having a sophisticated sales and marketing strategy or coming up with a surefire closing technique.  It was about doing the right thing, adding value and helping your customers win (while you win as well).

Sounds refreshing doesn’t it?

Somewhere along the way, we lost sight of those values – maybe because slow and steady wasn’t good enough or all of the technology got in the way of good business practices.  However…the good news is that we’re starting to see a return to the good old days – people are using the technology that’s out there to break down the barriers, not create more of them.  Let’s look at few examples:

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A couple of weeks ago I wrote about the danger of chasing rainbows and the importance of recognizing that your business is a tool to help you get what you want out of life.

I have a couple of different clients that are working on what they really want out of life, who they are, what their core values are.  It can be a very difficult exercise to work through.  However I think the payoff for uncovering your core values and your mission  – all of that hard work is huge!

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