Author page: Xienan Shaw

Entrepreneurship begins not just with a dream, but also with the motivation to back it up. To offer a domestic parallel, we all know the apartment dweller who always thinks about how life will change “when I own my own place” — a place that will never exist because he can’t muster the energy to toss his recyclables in the bin down the hallway.

Don’t be that guy: Take the initiative to realize your dreams and join the founders’ ranks. You can start by learning from successful leaders who’ve gone before you.

Yes, entrepreneurs can be made.

Many people think that entrepreneurs are born, but that’s simply not true. Perhaps the desire or hardwiring to be an entrepreneur is somewhat innate, but plenty of folks have built booming small businesses based primarily on need or circumstances.

Of course, you do need to exhibit a few basic traits to succeed as your own boss. Not being afraid of hard work is the first one. Another is being able to handle financial uncertainty. Those are no-brainers for entrepreneurs, even ones with tons of cash in their pockets when they begin the journey.

Confidence, creativity and people skills are additional must-haves for entrepreneurs. Yet there are other less-discussed attributes that separate the best entrepreneurs from those who will never own their own place, so to speak.

 

1. They aren’t put off by failure.

It’s one thing to get accustomed to hearing the word “no.” But entrepreneurs don’t just accept rejection: They look for ways to overcome it with effective communication and moxie. Plus, they don’t accept failure as an end but rather as a reason to pave a different path. In other words, they see possibilities, not barriers.

Take the story of Sophia Amoruso. As the founder and CEO of Girlboss, she had been riding high until a couple years ago, when her star power turned sour. Facing tremendous backlash, she reimagined her role and overcame the critics with resolve and more than a modicum of transparency. Her genuine approach won her allies when she needed them most and pulled her career out of what could have been an unstoppable nosedive.

2. They sell from the heart. 

Mike Monroe, digital strategy manager at Vector Marketing, walks around with a vision in mind. Wherever he goes, he talks about his company’s vision rather than its products. He’s selling ideas, not things, which he recommends as a tried-and-true concept. “Paint specific details about how the product or service will improve the customer’s life, and that vision drives the sale,” he explains.

Don’t mistake selling for talking nonstop about the greatness of your offerings to anyone within earshot. Certainly, you need to be the lead salesperson for your business, but you must temper your desire to hustle with the realization that people hate a hard sell. Wear your company’s vision on your sleeve, but remember that closing the sale will be much easier if you don’t push too hard.

3. They seek out mentors.

Mentorship is critical for entrepreneurs because mentors share vital resources and foster connections. Consider Natalie Cofield, the founder of Walker’s Legacy, named for self-made millionaire Madam C. J. Walker. Cofield leaned heavily on mentors to guide and inspire her in her career. She is now seen as a role model for female entrepreneurs of color because she realized how crucial that role is and built a business out of it.

Not sure how to find a mentor? Look first to the people you already know or are connected to in person or online. LinkedIn is a terrific place to forge contacts and make new friendships. Mentorships can be informal or formal, but all successful ones involve trust and honesty from both parties.

4. They banish distractions.

Founders live in a constantly changing environment filled with distractions. Smart ones learn early how to focus on what’s important and push the rest to the side. Anit Hora, founder of Brooklyn-based skincare company Mullein & Sparrow, has learned to balance her life just as she balances ancient Indian medicine and Western herbalism in her products. By carefully evaluating the value of each meeting and networking event, she remains in control of her time, which in turn creates a healthier work-life experience.

Without a doubt, some days will be filled with unexpected urgencies. However, the more you’re able to set boundaries, the better you can accomplish high-priority goals.

5. They live their purpose. 

Is writing checks to local nonprofits the extent of your community support? It’s time to re-examine the way you think about charity and giving. For instance, if your mission is to support local businesses, everything you do should bolster your objective.

Take a page from the founder of Nic & Luc Jam, Leroy Bautista. Bautista invented a hot-selling line of sauces and related items, all derived from ingredients that were sourced from produce grown near his headquarters. His business plan inherently helps other local businesses. Bautista’s tale proves you can live any purpose — even one that might seem limiting to those on the outside of your vision — and make a profit, too.

Worried that you might not have what it takes to be an entrepreneur? You might just be missing a few key building blocks. Look to the qualities that have made other founders stand out and add them to your own entrepreneurial blueprint. You may own the place sooner than you think.

Beginning an enterprise needs planning not only for marketing and growing the business but also to eliminate the legal risks faced by startups. Such hazards can quickly derail a new company even before it starts running its operations. There are eight significant legal risks faced by startups today.

Every aspect of running a business is governed by one or the other law and entrepreneurs must know about all the regulations which affect their organization. The following list of major legal hazards faced by new companies will be helpful for individuals looking to begin a commercial venture.

1. Incorrect Legal Structure Of The New Business

One of the most important decisions that new business owners have to make is regarding an appropriate legal type for their new venture. The legal type of business chosen has an impact on the funding options for the company, its tax responsibilities, and the personal liability of the owners. The correct format can help save taxes as well as protect the personal assets of the proprietors in times of crisis. Investors also want to ensure that they are funding a dependable entity which makes it necessary to hire experts to identify the most suitable legal structure for the new entity.

2. Absence Of A Founder’s Agreement

Most new ventures are the product of the combined efforts of more than one individuals. The founders who are instrumental in the inception of the new company can also cause its closure. The closure can happen in the case where the roles and responsibilities of all the co-founders have not been delineated clearly. A founder’s agreement which clarifies the ownership of each member along with their duties towards the organization must be framed right at the beginning. It must also contain the manner in which the equity of a person will be dissolved when he/she wants to exit the business.

3. Not Having Proper Licenses

Every business act falls under the purview of legal regulations. Businesses must know the licenses and permits they need to have in order to function without trouble. Non-compliance with regulations can have serious legal ramifications for an organization. It can lead to hefty monetary penalties which can cause financial losses. Company owners must engage experts to know about all the legal permissions they need to possess in order to run their organization.

4. Ignorance Of Applicable Tax Laws

The ignorance of relevant tax laws is the cause of one of the most significant legal risks faced by startups. Enterprises must know about applicable taxes and the various returns to be filed in the jurisdiction where they are located. They must be aware of the documents that must be maintained for the purpose. For instance, a venture in Delhi must hire startup legal services in India  to learn about applicable taxes and get assistance on compliance matters.

5. Improper Documentation Used For The Sale Of Shares

Entrepreneurs sell the stock of their startups to investors in return for funding. Using improper documents to formalize such agreements can easily cause legal troubles. The sale of stocks to investors is guided by the securities laws which have their own disclosure and filing requirements. Companies not adhering to the regulations can be slapped with steep financial penalties which can be detrimental to their health. Properly drafted shareholder’s agreements covering all the aspects of the sale must be acquired from knowledgeable experts to avoid this hazard.

6. Using Generic Content For Website Privacy Policy

Every modern business invests in a website to promote its products or to use it as a platform for conducting business. They access personal information of visitors to manage sales or their marketing campaigns. More often than not they use generic content for the privacy policy displayed on the website which makes them susceptible to be sued for breach of personal data laws. They must get a policy drafted by legal experts which tells users about the information collected by the interface, the purpose behind its collection, its sharing, usage, and the steps taken for its protection.

7. No Legal Protection For Intellectual Property Assets

Another common legal hazard with grave financial repercussions is no or improper protection of the Intellectual Property (IP) assets of a company. A unique product or an idea must be shielded with a patent while the brand name, logo, etc. must be secured with trademarks. Copyright laws must be used for obtaining the right to use original works of authorship like software or advertising content. Correctly obtain copyrights and authorship will help the organization safeguard its valuable assets from unauthorized usage and protecting its right to commercially exploiting the assets.

8. Lack Of Employee Agreements Or Contracts

Failure to maintain adequate employment documentation can cause troubles for a startup. Companies must hire experts to draft agreements and contracts for formalizing the employment of permanent and temporary workers. These documents must contain the terms and conditions of employment and clearly define the individual’s duties and the compensation being paid to him/her. Moreover, they must provide all staff members with employee handbook which clarifies their policy on leave, employee benefits, healthcare, etc.

Conclusion

All entrepreneurs embarking on a new business venture must search for and engage professional legal services for startups. Taking the step will help avoid legal risks faced by startups and ensure that their commercial project begins smoothly and does not face any problems while running its operations.

The details of this system are still fuzzy; it’s not certain whether it will be a compilation of big data from multiple sources or whether it will be one centralized platform. However, it’s certainly going to rely on big data and high-tech analysis to make evaluations.

On the surface, this kind of system sounds like something out of Black Mirror­—a nightmarish evaluative hierarchy that would needlessly segment people into classes and exclude them from living a normal life. But are there merits to such a system, and should we consider implementing one?

Comparisons to Financial Credit

In a sense, we already have a similar credit-based system in place: financial credit, with the FICO score being the main type of credit score considered. Many of the criticisms of a social credit system could also be applied to our current financial credit system,, yet we still rely on it for the majority of our loan decisions and have become comfortable with it.

For example, as you’ll see, one of the biggest criticisms for this type of system is the type of limitation it would impose on people with a low credit score. However, there are currently and would always be options for people with low credit; it’s entirely possible to get a credit card if you have bad credit, and it would be entirely possible to build a family and lead a normal life if you have bad social credit.

Similarly, both systems allow you to improve your score over time. Rather than being permanently blacklisted based on one action or mistake, your score is fluid, and will automatically adjust if and when your behavior is corrected.

Infractions

One major point of contention is deciding which infractions, behaviors, or habits would be most likely to impact your social credit score. Some obvious infractions would be met with near-universal agreement. For example, when someone commits a premeditated, violent crime, it should be reflected on their social credit score. This isn’t much different than recording and reporting standards for felonies as they exist today. Lesser crimes, like jaywalking or littering, would come with a marginally less serious penalty on your social credit score.

The real controversy comes into play when you consider relatively innocent infractions. For example, in China, failing to visit an an elderly parent or putting out the wrong items with your recycling could result in damage to your social credit.

 

Punishments 

 

The punishments also need to be considered. If the consequences of a low social credit score are minimal, few people would object to the system. But if they’re too lax or are not incentivizing, the system would be practically useless.

Currently, the system will impose restrictions on travel if your social credit falls below a certain mark. You may also have trouble getting your children into private schools, which is much more impactful. Your credit score may also influence your social status; for example, some dating apps in China will publish your social credit score, which could influence how you pursue romantic interests. It could even spur bias in hiring decisions,preventing people from getting a job they might otherwise be qualified for.

 

Deciding on a System

 

The biggest issue isn’t with the nature of a social credit system, since most of us act as if there’s an informal one in place already. Instead, it’s with how the system is created and implemented.

For starters, will this system be centralized, with one set of standards for determining how a credit score is calculated and how punishments or rewards are doled out? Or will there be multiple sources of information coming together as one? Either way, who will be making this decision, and how will that decision be implemented?

There are several problems to work out here:

• Which infractions count, and how are they reported? The first question most people have is which social infractions or good deeds are going to count, and how are those infractions going to be reported? For crimes, this is straightforward; in addition to creating a writeup or making an arrest, a law enforcement officer could easily submit a report to the central social credit agency or each of several minor social credit agencies. It would take a lot of time, but would be somewhat clear-cut. Lesser infractions would be a bigger issue, since they would often rely on peer reporting. Peers aren’t typically reliable witnesses, so it wouldn’t take long for the system to be entirely compromised.

• How will discrepancies be resolved? There are multiple discrepancies that could potentially arise. For example, if there’s only one database, what happens if someone sees an infraction reported that they’ve never committed? Or what happens if a single infraction is reported multiple times? More importantly, what happens if you’re using multiple social credit reporting systems, and two of them conflict with one another? A blockchain-like system of verification could help here, but it wouldn’t solve everything.

• Who can “see” or request social credit? Your credit score can only be accessed by certain individuals and organizations, so would your social credit score be similarly protected? For example, would an employer be able to find your social credit score if they were considering hiring you? What about a vindictive neighbor who’s trying to find a reason to have you evicted?

• Who’s creating the analytic system? Bias is prevalent in almost any algorithm. No matter how “smart” your AI is, if it’s been created by humans, it’s going to have flaws. There would need to be a series of checks and balances to make sure the system being created is as fair and unbiased as possible.

• Can social credit be appealed? What can you do to improve or appeal your social credit? Is there a statute of limitations for when and how infractions can be reported? Do infractions expire after a certain amount of time?
  
  
  

The Potential Benefits

Obviously, a social credit system would be incredibly complicated to develop and roll out, so it would need to have some massive benefits if it’s going to be considered.

There are some potential benefits—most notably, the incentive for people to avoid committing crimes and favor doing good deeds. A society where people have a strong reason to engage in honest business practices, or be positive contributors to their environments, is a society that functions harmoniously.

There are also side benefits to consider for companies and organizations; companies would hypothetically be able to hire more trustworthy people, resulting in more efficient operations and better economic growth, and even advertisers could get in on the action, targeting ads to people with high or low social credit, or offering services for rebuilding a social credit score that has fallen to dangerously low levels.

Are the Benefits Enough?

Those benefits aren’t free, however. To get them, we’ll need to consider the right infractions to track, the right methods for processing the data, the right system or combination of systems to record everything, and enough checks and balances to ensure the overall system is as unbiased as possible. Such an undertaking would be ridiculously expensive and require lots of tech talent. It would also likely go through several iterations before we settle on a final setup—iterations which would be problematic for many citizens.

Overall, a social credit system is fine in theory. It has a ton of perks and doesn’t necessarily predict a dystopia. The problem is, there are too many variables to consider for something as subjective as a person’s social trustworthiness, and unless we’re confident in our assessments, we shouldn’t be condemning people to any lifestyle or freedom-based punishment.

Then digital communication took hold, and we began to believe the age of paper was over.

Why would anyone continue to use paper, when digital is so much more flexible?

Digital information is easier to share, easier to store. Copiers, filing cabinets, and fax machines disappeared into the digital vortex.

But yet, paper persists. And not just because insurance companies and banks are slow to move off legacy systems.

Paper persists because it’s easier to print a receipt than get a customer to enter their email address. Paper persists because an emailed love letter doesn’t have the same meaning. Paper persists because, even in a digital world, paper is still useful.

Especially for content marketers, paper has an irreplaceable power we can’t ignore.

The power of context

A few years ago, I discovered something strange about the way I used my digital devices.

When I picked up my phone, my fingers tapped their way to Instagram, or to Mail, without me even thinking about it. When I opened up my laptop, my mouse gravitated to open Mail, Slack, or Chrome.

It was as if I was interacting with my devices on autopilot.

And worse, as I started paying more attention to it, I realized this autopilot was actively subverting my intentions. I’d end up on Reddit when I meant to check the weather, Instagram when I meant to Google something.

To break this habit, I started scrambling my icons.

And it worked: With my icons rearranged, I had to think about what I was doing, instead of auto-navigating to familiar apps.

This was my introduction to the power of digital context.

I’ve always felt connected to the power of context in the physical world. Certain lighting helps me feel ready for bed, and wearing shoes helps put me in the mindset to work.

But, during this little app-experiment, I realized that the digital world had contextual power, too. And until then, I had been ignoring it.

This discovery of digital context changed the way I interacted with my devices. I began to search for ways to put digital in its place, to make space for myself to exist outside of it, on my own.

I started waiting to check my phone in the mornings, and made time to journal instead — in a real, paper journal.

I started going on walks, and left my phone at home in favor of a pocket-sized notebook. I put my phone away earlier in the evenings, and spent time instead with a good book.

I found that, in these moments, paper seamlessly took the place of digital … and then some.

Unlike digital, writing in paper notebooks and reading paper books allowed me to control the context and leave the space I needed to think and create.

And through it all, I found myself wondering why I hadn’t seen this sooner.

In pursuit of transcendence 

If I were to boil down the purpose of all technological development to one goal, it would be this:

Technology helps us transcend the physical world.

Stone tools allowed us to extend our capacity to hunt, shelters kept us safe from the elements, vehicles and telephones helped us conquer space and time, medicine conquers disease …

Technology is about transcendence, and as a species, we’re obsessed with it.

So, it’s no wonder digital entirely captivated us; it is the most transcendent technology we’ve encountered yet.

The internet connects the world in “real time,” entire libraries live in the cloud, and computers can (sort of) drive cars, answer support questions, and predict human behavior.

Never in human history have we been so untethered by the bounds of physical reality.

As we began to realize digital’s potential, we started pouring everything into it — our work, our social circles, our entertainment.

Digital technology seemed like the answer to our transcendent dreams. We could finally leave the physical world behind.

But in this digital fantasy, we forgot a crucial part of human nature:

As much as technology has helped us overcome the difficulties of the physical world, we still need it.

We are it.

The physical cues of our environments and tools affect us in ways we don’t always recognize. And this digital place was affecting us too, even if we didn’t see it at first.

Finding a separate “place” for thought

Consider, for a moment, how many things you do on your digital devices.

On just my laptop, I communicate with coworkers, chat with friends, plan meals, research motorcycle parts, watch TV, and much more.

Is it any wonder that I often struggle with ideas when I try to think at this laptop, which echoes with previous distractions?

That’s the downside of digital. Because we do everything on one device, in that one same environment, it can be hard to separate work time from playtime, social time from focus time.

There are ways to manage it, of course. I’ve written before about a few ways I separate my work time from my personal time, and how I use environmental cues to improve my productivity.

But there’s one tried-and-true way to separate from all this digital chaos.

I bet you’ve guessed what it is by now.

It’s paper.

When you work on paper, you control the context. You can choose the size, shape, and feel of your paper — even the structure and layout.

I currently have three notebooks, each with their own associations:

• Work
• Pleasure
• Private time

They support my ideas, creativity, and productivity in ways I can’t get from a phone or laptop.

And having a separate place for thinking and reflection helps me get more out of my digital devices.

Now, I use my laptop for execution, for getting work done.

I type faster than I write, so I use my laptop to hammer out first drafts of posts. This sets me up for an easy editing process and way to share final drafts.

Although the bulk of my creative process still happens on a laptop, the ideas come from my notebooks, which I captured while I was using paper to allow (and encourage) my mind to wander.

Different technologies, different contexts

When digital began taking over the world, those of us who still valued paper struggled to explain why.

The appeal of transcendence and excitement over new technology forced us on the defensive. We felt we had to explain what paper had that digital didn’t.

But really, though paper has many benefits, one of the greatest is a quality it lacks.

No matter how much technology evolves, as long as we continue to inhabit physical bodies we will always be affected by the world around us and the technologies we use.

And ultimately, different technologies have different strengths, but no technology is neutral. There is no technology, no environment, that doesn’t affect how you think, feel, or react.

Our job, especially as writers and content marketers, is to leverage the best parts of each technology, so we can access the best parts of ourselves.

Benefits of cash accounting

• It’s simple and shows how much money you have on hand.
• It’s an easier option for calculating GST, though not all businesses are allowed to use it. Get more in our Quick Guide to
  GST.
  

I hope you’re in the minority of people reading this who can immediately recall a recent time when they fully engaged their thoughts. And I don’t mean as part of a multi-task, but in a dedicated, single-minded, single-tasking way.

Chances are you’re not in that group, though. And that’s okay. 

Chances are, your distracted mind and our society’s insatiable hunger to gobble up every crumb of your attention have conspired against you truly indulging in the full wonder and complexity of your thoughts and ideas.And that’s a shame.

But hey, I feel you. I would be right there with you, except …

I recently had the good fortune to get to work on a new podcast project by Sean Jackson. It’s called THINKERS Manifesto, and it’s a beautifully produced distillation of Sean’s philosophy on how to think better.

I’ve been taking what I learned and applying it to my own thinking.

And yes, I’m already thinking better.

So as we launch this new capsule podcast (all seven episodes, all at once), I wanted to share an overview of Sean’s seven-step process … because it’s high time we all started thinking better.

And I guarantee that there will be at least one nugget in here that will make you a better thinker.

Step #1 Recognise your two different modes of thinking 

What is always the first step in solving a problem? Admitting that there is a problem.

That is why the first episode of THINKERS Manifesto is called “Why We Suck at Thinking.”

While that sounds harsh, it’s not meant as a collective insult. Instead, it’s meant as an acknowledgement of the blind spots that we all have because of the way our brains are wired.

And these blind spots make us susceptible to manipulation.

In his groundbreaking book Thinking, Fast and Slow, Daniel Kahneman outlines how our thinking is broken down into two different systems:

• System 1 is a fast, emotional, automatic thinking process driven by activity in the amygdala. Advertisers love to tap into this kind of thinking in their attempts to compel us to emotionally driven action.
• System 2 is the inverse. Driven by the prefrontal cortex, System 2 thinking is much more deliberate and analytical. In this type of thinking, emotions are filtered out and logic is allowed to take over.

Both systems can prove highly productive in certain situations, and highly destructive in others.

If you go camping and get chased by a bear, System 1 thinking is great! Athletes and musicians rely on System 1 instincts that have been honed by practice. System 2 thinking would not work well in either case.

However, System 2 thinking would work well if you were, say, planning an escape route for a potential bear chase ahead of your camping trip. And athletes and musicians use System 2 thinking to study their performances and plan future practice so that they can improve.

The key is to match the type of thinking to the situation.

A good match can yield good thinking and good decisions. A bad match … and you’ll end up pondering the best escape route while being mauled by a bear.

Ouch. Hurts to miss that one.

System 2 thinking infiltrating a situation that calls for System 1 thinking is far less likely than the opposite scenario: a situation that calls for deliberate, logical thinking instead being hijacked by emotional, reactive thinking.

What can you do to combat that when it happens?

Step #2 Create your own emotional circuit breakers 

Emotions are not inherently bad.

Quite the contrary. Our emotions are what make us human. They create the full kaleidoscope of human feelings that makes life such a wondrous, complex, wide-ranging experience.

And yet, at certain times, emotions can drive us to decisions and actions that can at best be regrettable, and at worst cause life-altering decisions with negative consequences that take years to rebuild from.

That is why knowing yourself and understanding your emotions well enough to develop emotional circuit breakers that work is so important. 

An emotional circuit breaker — like someone counting to 10 when they get angry — helps us circumvent an emotionally charged moment driven by System 1 thinking so that we can move to a less charged moment and incorporate some much-needed System 2 thinking.

But there are no one-size-fits-all emotional circuit breakers. While we can certainly take ideas from what has worked for others and try them in our own lives, all that matters to you is what emotional circuit breakers work for you.

Having these tried and trusted emotional circuit breakers in our back pockets is one of the most important ways we mature as adults, because they will lead us toward better thinking.

The same is true for understanding the importance of your environment and how it impacts your mood and thought processes.

Step #3 Put yourself in environments that complement the kind of thinking you need to do. 

Did you know that certain environments are conducive to certain types of thinking?

My guess is that you probably assume this intuitively, but there is also plenty of science to back it up.

Some people like to go to coffee shops to write. And that’s great.

But it’s important to know that environments with a moderate amount of ambient noise are good for abstract, creative thinking, but not necessarily for deliberate thinking.

Deliberate thinking — like, say, doing your taxes — is best done in a quiet, structured, organized room. 

The physical and audible environment we’re in helps shape how our brains operate, which will shape the kind of thinking we are able to do.

Be cognizant of this. Use it to your advantage in planning ahead for the kind of thinking you need to do so that you choose the right environment for that type of thinking.

Then, once you sit down to think, make sure that you actually invest your time in thinking about the right things.

Step #4 Limit your thinking to problems you can define clearly

A lot of the time we spend thinking is spent thinking about problems. 

And by “problems,” I don’t mean math problems, or obviously, urgent problems like: Do I call a plumber or a sprinkler repairman if my front lawn is flooding? 

The problem might be micro in scope about something we’re doing right now: I need a good internal cliffhanger to link one section of this blog post I’m writing to the next section. 

Or it might be specific to an upcoming point in the future: I only have an hour between picking my daughter up at preschool and the start of the basketball game, so what am I going to make for dinner? 

But hopefully it’s not something nebulous like: I feel like I eat too much and have gotten out of shape. 

Take a look at those first three problems I listed. 

What do they have in common? They are clearly defined, and there is a narrow space where a specific answer can fill in the gap causing the problem.

• Do I call a plumber or sprinkler repairman?
  
• What words will I write that keep people reading from one section to the next?
  
• What quick meal do I have the ingredients for here at home that I can cook?
  

But what on earth am I supposed to do with that last one? 

Sure, it’s a problem. I’m out of shape. I know it! And I know I need to do something about it. 

But the problem, as described there, is so poorly defined that all I’m going to end up doing is lamenting the development of the poor habits, fearing the hard work and discipline it will take to reverse them, and then not really doing anything about it. 

It’s an open invitation for self-loathing and procrastination, and certainly not the beginning of a path toward a reasonable solution. So I’m just going to waste my time and energy thinking about it in this way. 

What I need to do is redefine the problem, so that I can actually think clearly about the solution.
Let’s try this instead: I snack too much, and I’m not creating time to work out in the mornings and evenings like I did before my daughter was born. Thus I’ve gained weight and gotten out of shape, and now I need to do something about it. 

See how clearly defined the problems are there?  

I’ve narrowed them down so that I can actually create specific action plans to combat them. And now my time spent thinking about this problem can actually be spent productively.

Even if I spend most of that time rejecting the ideas I come up with.

Step #5 Harness the power of creative destruction to fully develop your ideas and find winning answers 

How often is your first idea your best idea?

Probably not very often.

Sure, your final idea — whether it’s a solution to a problem, a piece of writing, a recipe, etc. — might have seeds of your first idea in it, but if it’s truly your best, then it has probably been sculpted into its final form by chipping away at all of the unnecessary, incomplete, and just plain unsatisfactory elements that have come along for the ride during its development.

This concept is why brainstorming sessions are so much better when they are unencumbered by needing to be “right” or “good” and instead inspired by being “open” and “free-wheeling.”

Get all of the ideas out there! Even the absurd ones! The more the merrier! The crazier the better! Give yourself a massive ball of idea clay …

And then spend time discarding the bad ideas, finding the common thread that connects the good ones, and whittling those down to a final form with the directive you defined clearly in Step #4 above.

It’s the only way to stay on the path toward mature, fully-formed ideas and solutions. And if that isn’t the goal of our thinking, then we’re a long way away from thinking “better.”

But notice that I said “stay on the path toward,” not “arrive at.

Step #6 Collaborate and share intentionally 

When you have good ideas, what is it that informs those good ideas?

It’s some combination of the time and effort you invest in developing the ideas plus the experience, knowledge, and open-mindedness you have available to apply to the ideas.

Add up all of your available time, effort, experience, knowledge, and open-mindedness, and it’s a lot. You can be a wonderfully productive idea machine all on your own.

But you’re just you. One person. With a finite amount of all those elements. Your ideas will always be limited by your own limitations.

Until you share your ideas with others. Until you collaborate. 

Because now you can take the time, effort, experience, and knowledge that you bring to the table and multiply it by the time, effort, experience, and knowledge that someone else brings to the table.

Plus someone else …

Plus someone else …

And on and on.

That is how ideas grow, flourish, and spread — how ideas, literally, change the world.

And the experience helps make you a better thinker.

After all, isn’t that what you want?

Step #7 Give yourself the permission and space to think creatively and strategically 

Becoming a better thinker who comes up with better ideas and better solutions isn’t going to happen by accident.

You have to want to become a better thinker, which means learning and really understanding how you think.

That’s why we created THINKERS Manifesto: to teach you how you think and show you a path toward thinking better.

But it’s up to you to put this knowledge into action. 

You have to give yourself permission to be intentional about thinking better. We think all the time, so it’s easy to assume we can just flip a switch and think better. But it doesn’t work like that.

As you’ve learned in this blog post, you have to:

• Recognize the different types of instinctive thinking you do.
• Learn how to manage your emotions.
• Cultivate your environment.
• Define what you’re actually thinking about.
• Be willing to destroy your ideas to create better ones.
• Share your ideas with others so feedback can make them better.

That’s a lot to think about just to think, but it’s a proven process that will lead you to thinking better.

Certainly it can help to have tools that are specifically designed to make the process easier to carry out in practice, and you’ll be hearing more about such a tool in the future.

But for now, just focus on the process. Because a tool without a process for using it is just a useless paperweight.

We want you to become a better thinker. 

Notably, in a professional company where services are rendered, a lot of requirements and skills you haven’t been trained for in your profession would be needed. Likewise, challenges you do not expect would keep coming up. As a business owner or a professional business owner, every category of customer or every client would have their own unique needs, so you would need to put a lot into relating with them effectively.

The Basic Requirements for a Small Business
For a small business to run, you need:

• Business license, registrations and permits
• Financial requirements
• Legal structure
• Insurance

The Challenges of a Small Business
Here are some of the significant challenges of small business experiences:

• Unfavourable government regulations
• Sticking with few clients at their own risk
• Tax Compliance
• Unsteady cash flow

Looking at the challenges of a small business, without proper accounting, a small business owner would never be able to overcome these challenges or cope with the costs of maintaining these fundamental requirements on the long run.
However, many small business owners find themselves facing problems with accounting. Accounting remains a major challenge for many small businesses; especially when it comes to those rendering professional services.

This category of people could come from various fields and in fact, all walks to life; from doctors to lawyers, to writer, engineers, architects and consultants.

To maintain a unique accounting structure, a small business needs additional accounting requirements such as:

• Choosing the billing method that works best for you: Before you have an excellent structure for accounting, you need to figure out which billing method works best for your business and put it in place. This way, you would be able to get your payments from clients in the manner which you have previously agreed upon.

• Proper documentation of costs per client: Ensure you document all the expenses and the right bill for each client. Writing it down is far better than making a mental note, as you don’t want to bill them wrongly or forget to charge them altogether. 

• Reports on your income as well as your expenditure: These reports would help to avoid financial constraints over time. Stories would also help trace where the bulk of your money is and how to maximise your profit. 

• The embracement of online payment platforms so you can receive quick payments from anywhere in the world. Examples of such platforms include PayPal and Payoneer. 

In Conclusion

Small businesses are not easy to manage. However, with proper data (especially those obtained from accounting), many processes will be so much easier. The data gathered on your finances from accounting can help in gauging your growth rate as a business in a few years and over the years. It would also assist you in identify the lapses that need to be checked and help in maximising your profits; which is the ultimate goal.

While the idea of getting new customers to love your business and patronise you might seem cool, the cost of ensuring existing customers remain loyal to your brand is 5-25 times lower.  

Many brands do not know this secret, so they tend to focus on getting new customers rather than leveraging on their existing customers. 

This entire concept is known as, “Brand Loyalty”. Brand loyalty refers to the tendency of consumers to keep purchasing one brand’s products over others. Even if a brand keeps getting new customers, without learning the concept of brand loyalty and its application, the customers will keep leaving. 
After establishing this fact, the next question any business owner would ask is, “what can I do to ensure my customers are loyal to my brand?”

The next section will open your eyes to exactly what needs to be done.

Practical Ways to Keep Customers Coming Back Through Brand Loyalty