Posted By Aly Juma / 16th April 2010
A recent infographic on Entrepreneurs was released by Grasshopper this week, giving us a better look at today’s entrepreneur’s. A few things that stood out to me.
- The average age was about 31 with approximately 50% of entrepreneurs being from age 26-35.
- Average education level was a college degree.
- Sixty percent were bringing in revenue of less than 100K
- Their general outlook on life was very optimistic
Now I think this shows a lot about what entrepreneurs are all about, and I especially love the question about level of optimism. Shows that its definitely not easy to be an entrepreneur and having that positive mindset is almost a necessity in creating a successful business. You can find the full survey below… what do you think about the results?
And a special thanks to Grasshopper for the Survey!
Posted By Aly Juma / 11th April 2010
Everyone always says they procrastinate, it’s their biggest weakness, so on and so forth. But is it really procrastination that we all believe we are suffering from or is it something else all together? I feel that most of us are usually doing one of two things when we are “procrastinating.”
1. Working On Other Things
Whenever I feel I’m putting off a more important task, I’m never really being unproductive, rather I’m just working on things that are not as urgent. Now, if you’re still doing work that is of value, that is actually productive, then can that really be called procrastination? You’re not really putting it off, its just not your focus at the moment. Furthermore, until the deadline is passed, there is still time to spare…
2. Incubating
Even whe we put off the more important task and focus on other things, is that task still not lingering the back of our minds? Are we not consciously thinking of how best to approach that task and coming up with ideas, plans, and ways to take it forward?
Truly, instead of saying this is procrastination, it is more like a process of incubation, where although we are not physically doing the task at hand, we are mentally preparing for it, which plays a big part towards its successful completion.
In the end, I know that as much as I may procrastinate, I always leave myself enough time to get the job done to a level of which I would be happy with. A definition of procrastination is: deferring or delaying until the opportunity is lost.
I would never say that it comes to this point, although our habits may result in added stress as we work to meet a deadline, we are still usually able to achieve work up to our own standards.
So be it working on other things or incubation, if this is the type of procrastinating we are practicing, is it really procrastination at all?
Posted By Aly Juma / 5th April 2010
When I was in college and working on my first startup, it was all about the plan. You need a business plan, you need financial projections, you need to know where you’ll be in 5 years, so on and so forth. Where did all that planning really get me? Nowhere.
Planning is all good and great when you’re doing it, feels valuable, but the fact of the matter is, nothing ever turns out quite like you expected it to, no matter how much you plan, which is truly why planning is guessing.
There is of course value in understanding the core of your business, having a clear vision, and doing research, but everything that deals with projections in particular I feel are a waste of time when it comes to the actual success of your business.
The only value I can see for creating these types of plans and projections is when it comes to funding for your business. It seems like they want to see a plan to put them at ease and show them that the company they are investing in knows what they are doing and will use this money wisely.
Aside from this funding factor, there appears to be no true business value connected with extensive planning that we so often see in startups.
What do you think? Is planning worth your time? And if so, to what extent?
