Alltopstartups » Entrepreneur

How To Find The Right Startup Incubator To Jump Start Your Dreams

Guest Author — Mon, 21 May 2012 22:40:09 +0000

The biggest obstacle that entrepreneurs face is to rise funding for their startups. Even when they have the capital to start, their lack of experience is something they cannot overcome. Finding the right incubator will swing the odds in favor of the entrepreneurs as they will receive funding and guidance from the top minds in the industry.

What do Incubators do?

Incubators help entrepreneurs develop their business either by funding them or by providing them other resources such as equipment, facility to develop their prototype or even expert guidance. The nature of the incubator varies as some of them are community based non-profit organizations helping budding entrepreneurs realize their dreams and create job opportunities for that community. Others are run by successful organizations or business men looking to invest in new technology and talent. They provide all the support that is needed in the beginning stages of the startup for a portion of the profits.

What to expect from an Incubator?

Some Incubators provide you the office space and the equipment required for a fixed monthly fee. This is perfect for entrepreneurs whose business revolves around interacting with people. Incubators are also known to conduct one on one class with industry experts, which is a paid service. If you are enrolling for this you need to make sure that this service is not merely a text book course rather, one that encompasses the experience of both the incubator and the expert.

Understand the Terms and Conditions clearly

Be cautious before giving away equity shares to the incubator. Thoroughly understand the value an incubator adds to your Organization. The most critical point is the intellectual property right, it is in your discretion and if you feel pressured at any point, know that it is time to bail out. Read through all the agreement carefully before signing it and if you have a personnel attorney ask him to check it before you sign it.

Check for Credentials

It is the duty of the entrepreneur to check whether the Incubator can deliver on their promises. The Incubator’s leadership should be able to raise enough money for you through venture capitalists and angel investors. This can be verified by enquiring about the startups the incubator worked with prior to you. The incubator should have the right network for your startup to become successful.

This is a Guest post by Girish Kumar A M, who is Serial Entrepreneur and Project Manager at www.starting-business.in which provides comprehensive details on starting your own business and running it successfully.

23 Awesome Tools And Resources For Tech Startups

Thomas Oppong — Wed, 02 May 2012 23:16:49 +0000

Every entrepreneur needs tools and resources to create, build and grow a startup. Right from an idea stage to an IPO, startup founders depend on great and smart people, partners, mentors, investors and users to build a lasting business. These resources will be useful on your way to the top.

1. The Entrepreneur.com Startup Kits: There are kits for everything from starting a restaurant to a consulting firm, complete with articles, guides, marketing tips, and more.

2. Quora : A great Q&A site for entrepreneurs, business leaders, founders, and professionals.

3. The Startup Toolkit – Tools and guidance for all startup founders.

4. Startup Compass – Benchmark your startup’s KPIs against more than 10k internet startups.

5. Sprouter – Entrepreneurship and startup expert Q&A, resources for starting, growing and leading a startup.

6. StartupDigest - Free weekly emails about startup events and programs in various cities around the world.

7. AYTM (Ask Your Target Market) – Market research for that idea or concept you have been thinking of.

8. About.com Starting a Business Hub: Content for starting a business, including checklists, a small business startup kit, and detailed articles on naming and calculating the cost of your startup.

9. Alltop Startups: Latest startup news and opinions to keep you updated on everything startup

10. Cofounda - App platform that connects entrepreneurs and investors.

11. Introduction to Venture Capital: This short presentation by Will Price, former venture capitalist and the current CEO of Widgetbox, explains all of the basics.

12. TheFunded: This community is focused on helping you raise money.

13. LiquidSpace - Airbnb for workspaces. Book last minute or plan ahead.

14. Hacker News: Users of this community add relevant and interesting stories on the topics of programming and startup entrepreneurship and consistently hold thought-provoking discussions. A great place for startup news and advice as well.

15. List of VCs active on Twitter— another good way to understand what investors are funding / thinking / doing / eating.

16.LaunchRock - Setup a “Launching Soon” page in minutes.

17. OnStartup: The OnStartup blog offers regularly updated content for a daily dose of business advice.

18. EvanCarmichael.com — Large collection of entrepreneurial articles. Includes lengthy list of famous entrepreneur profiles and case studies-

19. SBA– Your local Small Business Administration office provides helpful resources for preparing to launch your business.

20. Start-up | Inc.com: Advice for founders of start-ups and start-up entrepreneurs on writing a business plan, running a home-based business, naming a start-up.

21. LegalZoom: An inexpensive, fast, and easy to use online legal document service that can help you file the appropriate paperwork for your startup.

22. Prosper– Prosper can help you get the seed funding you need to launch your own online business.

23. SlideRocket - Create, collaborate and share stunning, media-rich web presentations.

Entrepreneurs Are People Like You

Thomas Oppong — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 16:24:37 +0000

Entrepreneurs are people like you who have gone an extra mile to make sure their dreams, visions and ideas materialize. An you are no different from them. Entrepreneurship is challenging and certain personalities thrive on the challenge and embrace the sacrifices that come with it. Identify your personality type, know your weaknesses and strengths, identify people who can fill in for you where you fall short and put together a great team-that is the beginning of the journey. You cannot do it alone but it is achievable.

That idea you have can help create jobs and help people who have big needs, but not big wallets. You don’t have to have to ready to start a business or be an entrepreneur. Just start and know where you are going. As you move along, gather people who share your dreams and visions and are smart if not smarter than you. The good news is that you don’t need a fat account to make it happen. You can start small and expand as you persist. You may be new to the process of writing a business plan, pitching your business to prospective founders, investors or partners but start any way.

You may be new approaching a angel investor or a venture capitalist but start any way. You may not even know simple accounting basics but you can still go ahead.Your small actions can make a huge difference for people in need or people who need inspiration. Every entrepreneur has a story to tell and the truth is when you hear it you will know you are not walking alone. Others have threaded on that path and have made it and you can too.

Entrepreneurship is a journey and every successful entrepreneur keeps innovating to get better. You have every right to change the world and the world will help you change it. Why not start now. There is never an opportune moment than now to change the world and make it a better place.

Your business don’t have to necessarily go public to convince you that you are successful. Every little step counts. You could help educate your local community about starting a business if you know how, you would start a business that protects the environment, you could start an online campaign to raise money for a cause you believe in or even take up a job and make the most impact with your skills and personality.

People choose to become entrepreneurs for a variety of reasons. If you believe entrepreneurship is a career option for you, do not hesitate to find the resources to help you success. Find what you truly believe in and are passionate about and make a business out it.

Don’t let someone else’s opinion of you become your reality. -Les Brown

What Shark Tank Has Taught Me About Business

Guest Author — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 14:49:27 +0000

Reality TV has been criticized as a cesspool of dysfunctional behavior that does nothing more than feed our voyeuristic desires. Critics are then proven right every week thanks to shows like “The Bachelor,” “Jersey Shore,” and “Real Housewives.”

While I agree that reality TV could clean up its act, there is one reality TV show that provides a valuable service (and I’m not talking about the show “Who’s Your Daddy?”). It’s “Shark Tank,” ABC’s reality TV show that features a panel of five investors who evaluate investment opportunities. This show can help prepare entrepreneurs for an investment pitch session while also providing entrepreneurs the ability to evaluate their idea, start-up or business to see if it is ready to accept capital.

Here are a few things “Shark Tank” has taught me:

1. How to Determine Your Business’ Worth

The reason you are there is to raise money for your company. However, it never ceases to amaze me how many small business owners have no idea what their business is actually “worth” to an investor. The worth is determined by the percentage ownership you are willing to give up based on the amount of money you need. The factor here is how much money you are actually making! It is key to know that if you aren’t making any money then you have to offer more of the company to an investor. They really are taking all the risk.

To often numbers are pulled out of a hat, even if you do have sales to date. For example a company might have $80,000 in sales over 3 years and is asking for $200,000 at 25% equity. This suggests that you are valuing your business at $800,000. This is 10 times the amount of money you have grossed over a three year period. To an investor this looks as though you are completely lost in what your company is truly worth. The odds are you will never see investment with these types of numbers.

Although you may need $200,000 you have to base it off what you are earning. If you needed $200,000 with the same revenue model up the equity to maybe 80% and see what happens or sell your business outright.

To make it easier to come up with a number first determine what EXACTLY the money will be used for. If you have an order to fill and you can’t fill it, then an investor will be much more likely to invest! You have to have a clear plan for the money. Once you have this plan see if it fits into this number scale. Sales (per the year) and a half is a good starting point. So if you sold $40,000 it is safe to ask for $60,000.

In addition to knowing the value of your business, investors want to know how much you have invested in the company or idea, how much you’ve sold, how much profit you have made, how much you need, why you need the money, and when they can get their money back.

2. No One Knows About Us

One of the popular questions asked by the Sharks has to do with sales. The response to this question ends up with the entrepreneur fumbling around the concept of: ‘No one knows we are out there” “I have no money for advertising” or other similar concepts. This is probably one of the worst excuses for why you aren’t doing well. No one knows about you because you aren’t willing to do what it takes to make your product bigger. As a business you have to learn Search Engine Optimization(SEO). SEO is a FREE service you owe to yourself to get your product known on the internet. It takes a lot of time to get your product out there and if you aren’t doing the basics why would someone invest in you?

3. Focus on the Market not the Product

Many entrepreneurs focus on their product first and then try to find a customer to buy it. While this has worked, it is not the preferred method for many businesses, especially start-ups. The lean business model is really what the Sharks are looking for. Did you fill a need and who and how many people are willing to pay for that service. While the sales pitch is important, more times than not showing that the product you created was designed around a proven need (as in people are buying and you can’t fill your orders) the Sharks will fund you. Plus this is a good problem to have!

4. Quality not Quantity

When pitching, I’ve noticed a lot of the entrepreneurs talk about growing their company so they can mass produce the product. Time and time again, the Sharks preach staying within a specialty market and charging more. It is a misconception that in order to have wealth that you need to sell your product all around the globe. More often than not if you stay in your local area your product will do much better. You can save yourself thousands of dollars and nail a specific geo targeted area. This obviously depends on the size of the market, the type of market being targeted and what it would take for you to spread your wings in the service or goods you are providing.

5. Perfect Your Pitch

As an entrepreneur, it’s your job to sell your unique solution. To do this effectively, you need to master the art of the elevator pitch. An elevator pitch is a short overview of your product/service that can be delivered in the amount of time it takes to ride an elevator. The key with your pitch is to SHOW not tell. The better you can show how your product is working the better your chances of having an amazing presentation will go. You will also have an easier time telling your story.

A strong elevator pitch must effectively communicate your company vision, mission statement, customer demographic, and your unique solution in less than 3 minutes. PRACTICE!!! You have to practice this a ton. It should be second nature. Once your nerves kick in you need to rely on repetition to get you through your talk.

6. It’s Not Personal, It’s Business

Entrepreneurs are so passionate about their ideas they often think they can convert investors with sheer enthusiasm. While investors want to work with someone who can passionately sell their own product, they do not care about the entrepreneur’s commitment or sacrifices made. At the end of the day, all the investors care about is how their investment can make them more money. This has been seen a few times where the Sharks have discussed firing the person selling their product once they have purchased the company for 100%.

Many of the entrepreneurs have found this to be disrespectful. I feel like as an entrepreneur you need to weigh your options. Do you really have the ability to make your product bigger? Are you really the right person to take you business to the next level? And do you really want to keep working on this project as a side job, while continuing to work a full time gig to pay the bills?

If viewers pay attention to what “Shark Tank” has to teach them, they will quickly master the points above and will be swimming with the sharks in no time.

About the Author: Tim works for CableTV.com as an SEO and marketing strategist. He has watched every episode of Shark tank. He and his wife are partnering in an amazing company and the lessons learned from this show have been invaluable. We love when people struggle, present good and bad ideas and especially when they get funded. Follow Tim on Twitter. @TimLCooley

[Startup And Go]: First Steps To Building A Technology Company

Thomas Oppong — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 11:13:25 +0000

“Startup and Go,” an online course put together by The Founder Institute , StartupDigest and Udemy focuses on the first steps in building a technology company. “Startup and Go” is a crash course on the first steps to launching a company. There are many courses online to help you learn new skills, Startup and Go is just prepared and put together for the entrepreneur who intends to start a new technology business. Existing entrepreneurs who have started businesses will equally benefit from this startup course.

“Startup and Go” is a collection of talks by Mint’s Aaron Patzer, Evernote CEO Phil Libin, Friendster founder Jonathan Abrams, the Founder Institute’s Adeo Ressi, and others.

Entrepreneurs interested in learning all about how to start a new technology business are encouraged to sign up and register to learn about the process of launching and building a new business. Taught by some of Founder Institute’s highest-rated Mentors, this course helps you create a strong foundation for a technology startup – from a properly researched idea, to a strong initial team.

Three basic topics covered by Startup and Go in lecture one includes – Startup Ideation, Startup Research, and Startup Hiring, Firing & Co-Founders. How do we best choose the best idea to pursue? What are the components of a good technology business idea? What is your key differentiator? What type of business will you build? How will you make money? Can you quickly articulate your idea? These are some of the questions you will find answers to when you register for this online course.

Lecture two helps you find answers related to your target market and how you can properly interpret your market. Dan Shapiro, founder and CEO of Sparkbuy Inc, a comparison shopping website recently acquired by Google is one of the lecturers for lecture two.

The last lecture(three) focuses on your dream team. It emphasis and helps you find answers to how you can find and convince great talent to take a chance on your idea. Who should you hire at the garage, seed, and funded stages? What types of management structure work best for tech startups? If you raise money, how will investors be involved?

The first 1000 readers that use the code “readwriteweb” will get access to the course materials on Startup and Go-Courtesy ReadWriteWeb.

How To Export Internationally As A Solo Entrepreneur

Guest Author — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 21:34:31 +0000

The internet opens up a world of possibilities if you’re running a business from home. It allows you to attract customers not only in your home town or state, but internationally as well.

But competing in foreign markets is a whole new ball game. To be successful, you’ll need to tailor your approach to suit customers in the foreign market. Here are some top tips to help you on your journey as a solo entrepreneur exporting overseas.

1. Take a multilingual approach

Translating your website into the language of your chosen foreign market should be a first step. Although English is the most widely spoken second language on the planet, people tend to search in their native language, even when looking internationally. Furthermore, people tend to place more trust in websites in their own language, especially when making purchases.

2. Pitfalls to avoid when localizing

There’s a lot more to localizing your website than simply translating the text. For a start, a language isn’t the same in every country it is spoken.

There are significant differences between the French spoken in Canada and France. Similarly, Spanish in Spain isn’t the same as it is in Argentina. For example, to Argentinians, “bombacha” means a type of pants worn in the countryside, while in Spain it’s a kind of female underwear! Without local knowledge, things can easily go wrong.

The most reliable translation will not be one that’s available online for free. Machine translation software will only give a basic direct translation, and the same applies to online dictionaries. It’s worth using a professional translator, who is a native speaker of your chosen country’s language, and preferably lives in that country.

3. Make use of SEO

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) helps your website show up higher in the search results of potential customers. Selecting the best keywords is a starting point for successful SEO. These keywords are simply those words or phrases that are typed into the likes of Google to find a website. The keywords are used in turn by search engines to match a website’s content with the search.

In the US, Google Analytics and AdWords are helpful to see what competition you’ll have for your keywords. However, when testing foreign language keywords, you’ll have to remember that Google isn’t the most popular search engine everywhere in the world. For example, Naver is the market leader in South Korea, Seznam is the most popular in the Czech Republic, Baidu is the biggest in China and Yandex is the leader in Russia.

4. Use ready-made sales platforms

There are multinational online websites that already have an international customer base waiting for sellers like you. The best-known are Ebay and Amazon, which allow you to sell a wide range of products. Etsy is another such site and is useful for selling handmade goods. Similarly, Folksy is good for selling craftwork.

As well as already having an international customer base, these sites can provide assistance in different languages. The only downside is that they act as a middleman. Things like ‘listing fees’ on the sites can be expensive and cut into your profits.

5. Factors involved in exporting

When selling to foreign customers, you’re going to be sending your product across international borders. If you are exporting from the US, you’ll need to follow US laws and regulations as well as those of the country you are exporting to. Before you export, you’ll need to find out what the tariff rate is on your goods. This tariff is a tax levied by governments on the value of goods imported from a particular country into another. You’ll also need to determine any import fees for the country you are exporting to.

As an exporter, you should be aware of the documentation, insurance, packing and labelling requirements. There are a number of options available to export a product overseas, from using mail services or express delivery, to an international freight forwarder. You can even arrange your own shipping or use the Shippers’ Association service. Research the options and costs to decide which is best for your products.

Exporting internationally as a solo entrepreneur isn’t always an easy road. But with care and local knowledge, it can prove to be a lucrative one.

About the author: Christian Arno is the founder of Lingo24, a provider of top translation services in the USA. Launched in 2001, Lingo24 now has over 150 employees spanning three continents and clients in over sixty countries. In the past twelve months, they have translated over forty million words for businesses in every industry sector, including the likes of MTV, Wsorld Bank and American Express. Follow Lingo24 on Twitter: @Lingo24.

Tips To Write An Effective And More SEO Friendly Press Release

Guest Author — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 17:38:43 +0000

An online press release is one of the best and cheapest ways to gain SEO traction and get valuable links for your website on relevant keywords and drive traffic via the search engines. A press release allows you media coverage, create links for your website and bring relevant organic traffic.

Here are some tips to make your press release more SEO friendly and use it effectively.

1. Keep the target audience in mind. Don’t use technical and industry jargon. Keep it simple and use a style of writing that enables ordinary users to understand and connect. Use keywords that your potential audience is searching for. Do some keyword research for it but don’t stuff the content with keywords. Use them judiciously and in a way that keeps it natural.

2. Use hyperlinks within the textual content and make the important works bold to make them stand out. The content should be hyperlinked to other useful information that the reader may want to refer to. Users and journalists like Hyperlinks.

3. The press release should have anchor text links with the keywords to your website and at least one links should refer to the internal pages of the website.

4. Keep the content short and 250 to 350 words is the limit for an online press release. You want to keep the user engaged and not lose his interest. You want the main content should be read on your website. Long press releases enter into Article territory and should be avoided. Some website may not carry them. The content should be SEO optimized and writing should be top-notch.

5. You would need to send out the press release to your existing clients, industry experts, journalists and bloggers. The more people you reach out, the more benefits you get. Include a personal email with each submission where required so that the content gets published on authority sites.

6. Always remember that you need a story to tell for it to be published. So the content should be newsworthy and interesting. Think why should the reader read the news and then write.

7. Add images and video to the news content and if possible, link the video to your website or YouTube channel.

Most of the online PR sites are free but some do charge for carrying the news. Check if you have the budget and use the paid ones as well for publishing as these websites generally offer benefits of instant publishing and content syndication. So you get more audience with little effort.

About Author: Roberta Smith is an Entrepreneur who designs and develops solutions for a business. She also writes as a freelancer for a number of online communities, including Mark Kia

Top Mobile Apps For Startups

Guest Author — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 20:00:38 +0000

Start your business off right with technology for entrepreneurial success!

Starting your own company is in no way easy—in fact, it’s downright scary. However, when you consider all of the support and resources we have access to in the current day, starting your own business is a lot easier than it was in the past. One of the things entrepreneurs can be most thankful for are the cheap, and even free, smart phone applications that will help you build a profitable business and keep it afloat in times of economic stress.

As an entrepreneur, starting a new business can be very overwhelming and knowing where to invest your money and time when it comes to day-to-day business concerns—including finding an office space, setting up office infrastructure even when you might be asking yourself, “what is a data plan?”, creating an online presence for your business, making contacts, registering a business name, and backing up your most precious files—can be a full time job for 20 let alone one person. So because your plate is already more than full, I’ve put together a handy list of bare-bones apps that will help kick start your small business and take the guesswork out of running a successful start up venture…

1. Start up Checklist (Free – for Android)

Attention start-up entrepreneurs: How would you like to have access to a tool that teaches you the ins and outs of dealing with the U.S. Government and guides you through all the necessary steps you need to take to set up and get your small business running—legally? Um yes please! The Start-up Checklist is like your welcome kit to the world of entrepreneurship. It contains everything you’ll need—including resources, tips, advice, and timelines—to get your small business registered and making profits. The thing that sets most entrepreneurs back is doubt and fear. However, this app will tell you straight up what you need to know about legally setting up your business and provide the proper sequence of actions to take in order to do so. Think of this app as your 36-step checklist head start package for business owners. It contains all of the information you need to set up your very own business—including all of the necessary government forms, spreadsheets and templates for setting up business plans and websites—to set up and grow your dream enterprise.

2. Yammer (Free – for iPhone)

Creating open dialogue is vital for any company—including small businesses trying to work together for one common goal (i.e., to lure new customers). An app like Yammer is vital for creating a strong common mission for start-up enterprises that everyone involved feels a part of. Yammer does this by creating a sort of mini Facebook within your company, to allow secure, private, real-time communication between employees and teams working together on projects. And like, Facebook, Yammer features the same rich communication tools, by letting employees to set up and invite coworkers to discuss projects, provide feedback on ideas, and invite others to attend work events, share links, videos, and images for inspiration. Plus, the Yammer app, let’s employees tag and group their posts and messages using specific key word topics, sender name, and etc., making information easily searchable.

3. Business Card Reader Lite (Free – for Android)

When starting any new business venture contacts are vital to laying the groundwork. Apps like Business Card Reader Lite makes collecting and managing contacts a synch. You can collect and store business cards in 3 simple steps:

I. Snap a photo of a business card

II. Save the contact in the Business Card Reader Lite app

III. Collect more information about your contacts via their LinkedIn, Facebook, or Twitter profiles—such as addresses, phone number, company name, job title, email, website, education, specialty skills, and even hobbies

This app will save all of your business contacts and corresponding info to your searchable address book.

4. Dropbox (Free – for iPhone)

Utilize the power of cloud computing with the Dropbox smart phone app. This app will simplify your business life by allowing all users (your employees) to share, edit, and download files from one another in a secure, collaborative cloud environment. Plus, if this business mobility wasn’t enough, Dropbox also provides a simple, secure backup for business owners, which is far superior to hard drives and multiple USB sticks, and provides adequate bandwidth for start-up enterprises.

Author bio: Jane Johnson is a writer for GoingCellular, a popular site that provides cell phone related news, commentary, reviews on popular providers like T-Mobile

Are You A Developer, Designer, Entrepreneur or Startup?

Thomas Oppong — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 09:38:20 +0000

If you are, you’ll want to keep the weekend of Friday 23^rd – Sunday 25^th March free, because Hackathon London is offering you the chance to impress potential investors, employers and peers – and nope, they won’t try to charge you, no matter how much you try to make them.

Investor and award-winning entrepreneur Mark Pearson is inviting you to The Clove Building, Butlers Wharf, in the shadow of London’s Tower Bridge, where you’ll have 48 hours to develop new ideas or work on a current project with your team.

Mark is the founder and CEO of Markco Media, the company behind MyVoucherCodes.co.uk, and has an ever-extending investment portfolio. His investments, the majority of which are residents of The Clove Building, include companies such as games development firm Noisy Duck, citizen journalism website Blottr.com and mobile application company VouChaCha.

The resident start-ups, including Markco Media, are actively recruiting and will be heavily involved in the weekend.

A number of APIs will be available for projects throughout the hackathon, including social web influence company PeerIndex, Europe’s largest online fan-to-fan ticket exchange website seatwave.com, cloud communications firm Twilio, realtime messaging service Pusher, Europe’s largest voucher and deal network Markco Media and VouChaCha.

There’ll be guest speakers and mentors throughout the weekend from the world of technology and retail, who’ll make themselves available to provide advice and guidance. Here is a list of those confirmed so far:

- Nic Brisbourne, partner at global venture capital firm DFJ Esprit

- Hugh Chappell, the founder of trustedreviews.com – sold to Time Warner/IPC media – and bit-tech.net, sold to Dennis Publishing.

- Ross Berrisford, founder of group buying website Crowdity, sold in 2011 to Wowcher.

- Ross Williams, investor and founder of Global Personals, a network of more than 7,000 online dating and friendship websites

- Other high profile names to be confirmed

So, if you’re looking for a job with some of the UK’s leading online firms, looking for investment for a project of your own or looking to start your own business and simply want to spend time around other like-minded people, you won’t want to miss Hackathon London, on the weekend of Friday 23^rd – Sunday 25^th March.

Oh, there will be free food and drinks, too. Visit www.hackathonlondon.com where you can sign up for free.

This event is run by MyVoucherCodes

Is Success A Destination Or A Journey?

Thomas Oppong — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 13:25:27 +0000

Are you successful? Is your business a success? Everybody strives to be successful at what he or she does. But in the end can you say you have arrived? People have visions, missions, goals and targets to achieve, and resources are not spared to get to that destination. Success means different things to each person or business. Success could mean money and financial independence, power, recognition, and a feeling of pride in an accomplishment. How would you define “success”? When can a person say “I am successful”. What is successful to you might not be the same with everybody. Success could be related to a simple goal to accomplish a daily task or a challenging business goal to gain a market share of an industry.

Zig Ziglar, a famous author, salesman, and motivational speaker has said that “Success is not a destination, it’s a journey.”. How true is this for your life or business. If its a journey, would you say you are on the right path or road. If you think its a destination, would you say you have arrived. I believe its a journey with accomplishments along the way. These are a few opinions from some business leaders and renowned leaders.

# Success means having the courage, the determination, and the will to become the person you believe you were meant to be. — George Sheehan

# “Success is simply a matter of luck. Ask any failure.” — Earl Nightingale

# Life is a journey and success is achieving the targets/goals set in the life. These targets may be so many including important, less important, short term and long term. Journey continues with life and so the new targets.- Jujhar Singh(Pharma and Biotech Entrepreneur)

# “Successful and unsuccessful people do not vary greatly in their abilities. They vary in their desires to reach their potential.” — John Maxwell

# “There is only one success – to be able to spend your life in your own way.” – Christopher Morley

# Success is the achievement of rational happiness – not whims, not narcissistic, not hedonism, but rational happiness – and we are each responsible for the achievement of our own happiness.-Sydney Morgan D.(CFO/Controller at Sound Answering & Business Svc)

# “Success seems to be largely a matter of hanging on after others have let go.” – William Feather

Strive to be successful at what you do and never give up on what can make you successful at achieving your own goals. The question still remains: How would you define “success”? When can a person say “I am successful”?