In my last blog of 2009 - my focus for my blog in 2010 will have more entrepreneurial articles for you to read in addition to my usual investing and finance articles. Because the markets were failing in early 2009 and most people (including some economists) were afraid that the sky was falling, I wanted to focus most of my blog articles on investing to motivate you all to take advantage of the cheap stocks and begin investing.
But now that we have avoided the so called impending "doom" of America and the rest of the world, the economy is on a better foundation and companies are starting to increase their earnings. Which also means they will soon increase employment (just a little bit) and banks will increase their lending and credit will eventually be a little more relaxed in 2010 or early 2011. Companies have become leaner with less staff (meaning they force their employees to work longer hrs without a salary increase) and more concerned about their bottom line because now they are or should be concerned about the threat of entrepreneurs.
In the past, it was an American cultural belief that "bigger is better". Nowadays, this belief has changed to "less is more" mainly because of the wave of new technologies that are leveling the playing field for entrepreneurs and/or small businesses. Look around - the business jargon of today is to persuade businesses and individuals to consume less energy, to drive fuel efficient cars, use green energy, conserve, etc. Most big mega-companies cannot respond quickly enough to these rapid developments and advancement in technology the way a small business or entrepreneur can (except for the companies that the government deems "to big to fail"...but dont get me started on that.)
So if you've ever thought about becoming an entrepreneur or establishing your own business - then 2010 is the best of times to do so. There are several websites and technology applications that are "entrepreneur friendly" to help you should you decide to become more entrepreneurial...and if you're creative and know how to work smarter - then you really don't have to work like a dog as most entrepreneurs have done in the past. Google Apps and Google Adwords allows entrepreneurs and small businesses to operate more efficiently and professional no matter what your budget may be. Some other good mentionables are Kudzu.com, Yelp.com, and Yahoo Local Business.
Let's be realistic, the odds can be against you if or when you try your hand at entrepreneurship. If you're not bringing to the marketplace an original idea or a different approach to an already existing idea then failure is likely during the first 2 years. For example, there are several shoe stores in every mall or place where we shop, so it will be difficult to establish another shoe store where people shop just because you would like to open a franchise or think you would be good at managing a store. So the idea of another shoe store is not original, however, there was room for a different approach and Zappos.com brought a different approach to shoe buying. It brought the shoe directly to the customer - and made available several more varieties instead of the customer going out to buy and search for a particular shoe at a mall or whatever. I know this is just one industry where an entrepreneur challenged the approach to traditional shoe buying, but there are several opportunities just like zappos.com waiting for you in every industry if you look for them.
I'm not just talking the talk, but as with all my articles, I'm also walking the walk. I have several projects I'm working on to even better establish myself as an entrepreneur in 2010. I've finished my 3rd book, "Black Insolvency" which is ready for its debut January 2010 on MLK's bday. I'm also a director/co-founder of BEL Advisory Group, LLC, a full service financial firm offering innovative and intelligent financial and tax advisory services for primarily small businesses and individuals.
So get to work people - don't just think about being successful - try, try, and try again until you are successful. If you fail, then try another idea, or try another approach. But at least try! And 2010 is the best year to do it.
BE FREE
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