6 minutes reading time (1158 words)

How to be an Intelligent and Thriving Entrepreneur

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Key Advice for Entrepreneurs in 2021 and beyond

Entrepreneurship is no easy career choice. With the responsibility of starting and managing your own venture, things can get sticky, muddy, and downright arduous most days of the week. Between the initial start-up financials, bringing on and managing employees, implementing an effective marketing plan, and keeping up with day-to-day tasks to keep everything moving forward, it’s enough to make anyone’s head spin. Add to it all, the unprecedented times we’ve been living in and business ownership is truly more challenging than ever.

If you’re a new or prospective business owner needing some sound advice from someone who has been through it all, then this post is for you. With MojoMediaPros’ founder and CEO Steve Lomas as the mastermind behind all of the wisdom highlighted below, you’re sure to gain insight that will help you for years to come.

In this quick read, you’ll learn about entrepreneurship in the face of crisis (ie: a worldwide pandemic), entrepreneur survival skills, the critical importance of managing your website’s domain, and finally, a lighthearted, but incredibly useful roundup of lessons as learned from the neighborhood trash guys.

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Entrepreneurship in the Face of a Crisis

While the article linked below was published before the release of a vaccine, it’s fair to say that the pandemic – and the massive effects of it are not going anywhere just yet. As a business owner, this means adapting, pivoting, and most importantly, using the changes to your advantage. Yes, you read correctly. When times are tough, you embrace adversity! It’s a powerful motivator to actually improve established systems, relationships, etc. As Steve Lomas states, “Entrepreneurship and ingenuity form the backbone of our global economy. The world is counting on us to rise above the uncertainty and innovate, like never before. As we all prepare for the re-opening of our economy, we need to harness our creativity and our energy to improve the world — starting NOW!”

So look for opportunity, gain inspiration from unobvious outlets, and see the light that can come from an unexpected change.

Entrepreneurship in the Face of Crisis

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Essential Entrepreneur Survival Skills 

After launching numerous businesses and mentoring more than 100 companies at the Nashville Entrepreneur Center, Lomas knows a thing or two about financials when starting a company. His best advice starts with learning when to say “no.” The smartest thing you can do and often, the thing that will save the day, saying “no” is the only way to go when self-funding is even being humored. For this business, the move is risky at best with the potential of costing you everything, literally. 

Another rule Lomas discusses is to listen carefully to the professional risk-takers (investors and institutional lenders) when they are telling you your idea isn’t worth their money. Don’t just assume that everyone is wrong about your idea and choose to self-fund. As Lomas states, “Remember, it takes most of us a lot longer to earn capital than it does to spend it.”

There are a few more pieces of advice, too. If a bank asks you for your personal guarantee, just say “no.” If your business is as intelligent as you think it is, then you should be credible! Speaking from personal experience, Lomas urges entrepreneurs to never put their personal wealth and future at risk. With the link below, you can read all about his trials and tribulations. The final two rules – learn as much as you can from others’ triumphs and mistakes and as undesirable as it may be, do remember that quitting is always an option. There is nothing to be ashamed of and there will be another idea that will come along.

5 Survival Rules Every Entrepreneur Absolutely Needs To Know

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Domain Names – Way More than Branding

Your online domain name is the most important part of your company’s identity. Let us explain. Not only is it integral to your online brand, but it’s also what drives your email communication, online store activity, and internal collaboration. It is what your company is based around, operationally speaking. With that said, if you choose not to have your hands in it at all, so much can go wrong. 

Too often, Lomas has seen the dire consequences that have come with domain negligence. For instance, a common mistake is allowing a domain registration to expire, costing you your online store, which can take weeks to resolve if you don’t have control over the situation (ie: you don’t know which employee the domain is registered with or it’s a former employee with an inactive email address).

Unfortunately for many business owners, neglecting the domain name can come with even more severe consequences – like thousands unexpectedly spent and even lawsuits in some cases. If you want to avoid all of this, it’s vital you play a key role in your domain name management. As listed in the article linked below, there are several domain names related questions every business owner should be able to answer and it’s also wise to remember to slow down, read the fine print, seek counsel when needed, put renewal dates on company calendars, and always document key details like logins, email addresses, and payment methods.

The High Cost of Failing to Protect the Crown Jewels

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Lessons Learned from the Trash Guys

A light-hearted note to conclude this post – lessons we can learn from the trash guys – Steve Lomas’ neighborhood trash guys, specifically. They hustle like no other. They’re courteous – donning a smile and saying “hello.” They are efficient with their trash collection strategy, which saves them valuable time. They are courteous – always helping their customers out with the placement of the cans and issuing genuine apologies for any shortcomings. They’re smart and business-minded (ie: they issued Christmas cards to all of their customers). They aren’t legalistic. Rules are meant to be broken when it pleases their loyal customers. Finally, they are team players – they appear to always have each other's backs.

7 Powerful Lessons To Be Learned From My Trash Guys

After reading these various lessons in entrepreneurship, we don’t think you’ll be making the most classic mistakes we see every day. Being business-minded isn’t something anyone can learn overnight – even the rare genius! It requires patience, focus, and many slips and falls along the way. This blog post is truly only a snippet of things you should be aware of. If you’re looking to gain even more insight though; we’d recommend following with our blog as there will likely be more entrepreneurship posts down the road.

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