Top Seven Tips When Starting A Business

Having your own business is fantastic! There are many benefits and rewards to running your own business including controlling your schedule, doing what you love, maybe working from home, etc. But just having a passion to own your own business isn't enough to guarantee success. Before you get started consider the following seven points, and then proceed with wild abandon!

1) If you can, continue to work another job while preparing your own dynasty. Having an additional income at the beginning of your new happy path will allow you the freedom of not stressing over the ticking clock and potentially dwindling resources. If money isn't an issue, hey, go for it like a man/woman on fire.

2) Get your focus on. A business plan is nice, as it gives you a path; however staying focused is the numero uno requirement of getting to where you want to go. If investing a ton of time into a business plan helps you process, go for it! If investing a ton of time into a business plan is more of a distraction do a different type of strategic plan. If you are a new business a business plans 'projections' are pure fiction, so create and implement a plan that is going to help you stay focused and forget what you 'feel' you should create.

3) Along the lines of staying focused, do not go out and buy a bunch of stuff that will just distract you. Same goes for office space. Until you know your specifics and have a focused timeline limit the distractions.

4) Know yourself...I am talking honest assessment. None of us are perfect so what we are looking for here is to know ourselves well enough to work with and around what we know may be self-imposed stumbling blocks, etc.

5) Know your family/friends...If you have a vision and in your gut know you are on the right path stay on it. Family and friends have the propensity to err on the side of caution or sometimes criticism when it comes to something they are not familiar with. Accept it is from a place of love, or jealousy or wherever and do not let it deter you.

6) Find the like minded...Find those who think like you and are on the path or down the path you want to go. There is tremendous value in tapping into the experience of someone who is ahead of you. Trust me, they will be flattered you asked.

7) Take action...Proceed with action rather than just chatter. It is up to you to act. Act on your own behalf as it will be you who experiences the outcome. Do not expect others to carry you. This is your deal and your experience. That is not to say don't ask for help (see #6). Just don't overextend your stay when tapping into others.

There are a ton of great ideas out there. Most of them never pass 'Go' and never collect their $200 though. So, above all else, remember all the planning and talking, consulting and confabbing in the world will not get you where you want to go. Plan, and then act.

Denise Dahl, MPA is the owner of Epiphany Planning & Development. She has over two decades of working with entities ranging from individuals to company's like Campbell's. Denise is a Coach, Consultant and Adjunct Professor. She focuses on consulting and coaching within the realm of action oriented growth and leadership. More information is available at http://www.epiphanyplanning.com/. Or visit her blog http://the-happy-path.com/.

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Seven Great Skills You Need To Be The Best Leader Your Team Ever Had!

My favourite boss was handsome and charismatic with a wicked sense of humour. He walked the floor each Friday, stopping by a hundred or so desks just to say hi and ask what we were working on. He made a point of remembering our names and memorized snippets of personal news about each and every one of us. Jack Steele MBA didn't get to the top because he was a natural born leader. He got there because he watched how others operated, copied their strengths and worked hard to hone a few key skills. These are just seven of those skills he passed on to me and over the years, I've done my best to polish them.

Hold your people in the highest esteem - for as long as you can. That doesn't mean you condone failings. Every person you lead has massive potential. It is your job as leader to nurture, develop and encourage their growth, learning and their personal development. On the other hand, if your people continually screw up then deal with it. Mentor them, coach them, chastise them then get rid of them if you really have to. But don't forget that there are rarely bad workers, only bad masters.

Focus on the end game. If you can't see where you are going then how will you know you've succeeded? Having a clear vision of the future is vital if your team is to succeed. But please don't keep it to yourself. Present your vision with passion. Enthusiasm is infectious so fire up your team with a clear, well articulated picture of the destination. And when you do communicate it, make sure that everyone understands what the vision is. Ask for feedback. Prompt them to describe the vision in their own words. Don't assume that just because you design great slides, that everyone can see the road ahead.

Plan six weeks ahead. If there is a crisis at the end of the month, you are already set for the next cycle. This is one of the best pieces of advice I ever got. And planning is not just about listing down all the things you need to do. It is about taking your vision and mapping out the smartest way to achieve it. Mindmapping is a great tool to do this. Once you have created your list of planned activities, date them. Type every activity into a spreadsheet. Sort on the date and hey, you have a schedule. Now you can go into the detail and build your team's weekly task sheets and your daily To Do lists. Simple. Try it then practice it. But remember, only perfect practice makes perfect.

Be as organised as you can be. Build your daily task lists from your six week plan. But don't make your To Do lists too long. Unrealistic task lists become a stinging whip for even the most energetic teams. Make room for upsets and unforeseen demands that always shoot into your inbox, out of the blue.

Automate as much as you can. Don't waste time hunting for information. Build your PC dashboard with RSS feeds so you don't have to research stuff. iGoogle? is a great way to do this. Every contact should be on your phone and regularly sync this with your PC. Insist on reports in WORD so that you can cut, paste, highlight and review on screen within the team. Set your screen for a comfortable brightness and font size. With a solid folder structure and disciplined filing, all you need is a click or a tap to keep information under control.

Confront conflict before it gets out of hand. In my experience, the only folk who enjoy conflict are soldiers and psychopaths. The rest of us normal people avoid it at all costs. No-one wants a fight at work. But sometimes, you have to face that dismal boss, chastise that irritating colleague and call to account a poor performer. And if you want to be a good leader, you have to learn how to manage conflict. Wrapping up criticism in praise is always the best way to start the conversation. If you are on the receiving end of a vitriolic volley then smile, apologize and ever so gently walk away. When your attacker is calm, that is the time to bundle up your issues among the nice words. One warning though. If your target is a psychopath, don't try this tip. It doesn't work. Find yourself another job instead.

Use your wit whenever you can. Seeing the funny side of things in stressful times, laughing at yourself and bringing a sharp wit into play can make a massive difference to every team. People spend half their waking hours with people they didn't choose as friends. As their leader, if you make those eight hours productive AND entertaining no team will ask much more of you. Although if you work for an undertaker, this may not apply. Good leaders are neither born nor made. They work hard at it, with passion, with commitment and then over time, build up trust and respect so that everyone wants to follow them. Take these tips on board and you will soon be the best leader your team could ever wish for. Good Luck!

Charlotte StClair has thirty years experience in managing people, projects and companies. She has worked in many different organizations, in government and in the private sector. Charlotte is a writer on a wide range of business and IT related topics and can be contacted at http://www.772consulting.com/.

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Top Seven Tips and Things to Avoid When Washing Your Motorhome

Well, I guess it goes without saying that some of the things we think are the simplest to do, often cause the most aggravation. Perhaps it's because they are such easy jobs, that we forget some of the pit falls along the way. Today's discussion is about washing your own motor home and saving the money. It's not easy to find a truck wash, or a carwash which is willing to wash your RV. And if you hire a mobile car washing or auto-detailing service to come to your house and clean your motor coach, sometimes the price is a little overbearing.

You see, after I retired I bought a big motor coach and I went to every single city in the United States over a seven-year period. It was absolutely exhilarating and fun and I must say; what a great country we live in. Nevertheless, I often washed my own motor home because I didn't want to go to a truck wash which used hydrofluoric acid because it might ruin decals. Secondly, I wanted it done right, and therefore I did it myself.

Now then, I'd like to talk to you about some of the things you should avoid and give you some tips to help you clean your own motor coach just like me. Below are some tips;

1. Be very careful not to put too much water on top of the vehicle
2. Be sure to close the windows
3. Only use soft bristle brushes
4. Only wash the vehicle in sections
5. Use a shut off nozzle
6. Make sure wash water run-off stays out of the storm drain
7. Have a step ladder available to clean the windows outside

If you put too much water on top while you are washing, then it will puddle on top and could leak into the cabin, or drip down the sides and leave streaks. Worse, if the puddles are on top and you drive away it will go all over the side and ruin your perfect wash job. And if you leave your motor coach there for a while with the puddle-water on top, mosquitoes might lay their eggs.

I recommend using a soft bristle brush which is 18-inches wide, the kind of brush you might use on a hardwood floor. Also, make sure all the windows are closed because the water will leak in, especially if you are using a small pressure washer, or a garden hose with a powerful nozzle. Speaking of nozzles make sure you have a shutoff nozzles so you don't waste water. And speaking of water, make sure that your dirty wash water doesn't go into a storm drain and pollute.

Lastly, you need a stepladder to make sure that you clean the outside windows perfectly, because if you are inside your motorhome that's the most important part when looking out. Indeed I hope you will use these tips to do a perfect job when you clean your own RV. Please consider all this and think on it.

Lance Winslow is a retired Founder of a Nationwide Franchise Chain, http://www.truckwashguy.com/ and now runs the Online Think Tank. Lance Winslow believes writing 24,222 articles by July 22, 2011 at 2:22 PM is going to be difficult because all the letters on his keyboard are now worn off now..

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