Mompreneur, dentist, franchisee, CEO, brick and mortar retailer, E-commerce Business Owner, Service Provider? How do you define yourself?

Merriam-Webster dictionary defines an entrepreneur as “one who organizes, manages, and assumes the risks of a business or enterprise.” That’s true, of course, but this definition doesn’t tell the whole story—namely the entrepreneur characteristics that define their success and, more importantly, the intrinsic drive it takes to achieve that success.

There are 5 entrepreneur characteristics that are common among anyone who strives to start and run his or her own business. These characteristics are found in entrepreneurs at any age, in any industry, and at any socioeconomic level.

The 5 “C’s” of entrepreneur characteristics are:
• Commitment: An entrepreneur has to be 100% committed to his or her idea, vision, product or service, and business strategy to achieve his or her goals. Call it dedication. Call it perseverance. By any name, commitment is one of those entrepreneur characteristics that embodies the daily drive to take another step closer to his or her dream, to stay focused, and to work tirelessly in the face of adversity.
• Confidence: Entrepreneur characteristics like confidence go hand-in-hand with commitment. Entrepreneurs have to believe in themselves and believe in what they’re doing. Whether it’s creating social change, inventing a new product, or improving a service, confidence is an entrepreneur characteristic that enables them to strive under pressure and be a strong leader.
• Creativity: Entrepreneurs are creative by nature. They have a knack for seeing things from a different perspective than most people, and then developing an inventive product or service to improve other people’s lives and businesses (and sometimes both). It’s said that entrepreneurs are born. If so, creativity is one of the innate entrepreneur characteristics that causes them to see the brick and imagine the building.
• Courage: An entrepreneur has to be courageous. After all, it’s scary to venture out on your own with little more than a dream and the passion to create something out of nothing. Courage is a characteristic of entrepreneurs that gives them the grit and conviction that success is possible if they never stop working towards their goals.
• Collaboration: Entrepreneurs are born leaders, but they also know they can’t do everything themselves. They see the big picture and bring others on board who share their vision and fulfill a key part of their business. Entrepreneur characteristics like leadership and collaboration enable them to beat their competition because everyone works as a team to achieve a specific goal.

While these are only five of the many entrepreneur characteristics, they are all critical for someone to carve their own path in business. Whether his or her desire is to make money or improve the lives of others (or both), he or she almost undoubtedly personifies the 5 “C’s” of entrepreneur characteristics.

Do these entrepreneur characteristics sound strangely familiar? Are you an entrepreneur that needs a jump-start in your business? We specialize in career coaching to help nurture these entrepreneur characteristics for those who hear the call of their own venture. We also support people in recognizing and pursuing other career paths when confusion sets in and they feel overwhelmed by what to do next. But then you probably knew that already.

I’m very curious about what’s happening ‘out there’. I read in today’s LA Times in a letter to the editor that this person can’t believe that even 30% of employed people feel ‘safe’ in their jobs. The piece is a complete bummer. I’m sorry that the LA Times chose to print this piece. I’m sorry that the media is fanning the flames of defeat and what looks to me like ‘resignation’. Yes, there are a lot of lay-offs and the job market is very tough. Does this mean that we should all buckle and fold and not lift ourselves up and get out there and connect and put our best foot forward? There are jobs out there. And there are ways to work; even if it’s for less money, less time, less security there are ways to keep yourself at it, on top of your search, on top of your game. I keep Winston Churchill’s words by my desk: NEVER, NEVER, NEVER, NEVER GIVE UP.
I have been without a job. I have taken jobs and later thought about the wardrobe I bought to wear to the job…I kept the receipts in case I decided I didn’t want the job or the suits it meant I had to wear! We always have a choice about how we approach what’s happening in our lives. You absolutely never know what’s going to happen next. Good or bad if you put yourself out there and make the most of your time you will know that you’ve done something to move yourself forward.
Take a look at all of the resources that are on this website under Resources. There are so many good links here. I was just on Indeed.com – it’s on my site; I went on and asked ‘where are the jobs?’ This site gave me great information about where the jobs are based on their information. They have information on trends, postings, and a wide variety of interesting pieces. I hope you’ll make use of what I’ve added to my site for you. We at Daisy Swan & Associates aren’t going to give up. I’m not going to give up being optimistic. We are living in a time of great abundance. The hits we are taking hurt. And those who recharge (often from being burnt out, unhappy at their jobs, sick of working for people they didn’t want to work for anyway), retool and repackage themselves will be the real winners.

Article Source: Melissa Barber, Circuit City – City Life

The job market’s tough for new grads, and not only because of a faltering economy. Many employers dismiss today’s 20-somethings as the Entitlement Generation because they expect even their first entry-level job to offer them personal satisfaction, great benefits and high pay.

Really, young people are just seeking balance, says career strategist Daisy S. Swan, founder of Daisy Swan & Associates. This younger generation has seen how stressed modern workers can be, she says, and they hope to avoid a similar fate. “They want what a lot of people want, they just want it sooner.”

Equipping your grad for cubeland
First, however, they need to prove themselves, and that may mean working nights and weekends. “More than ever, at any time in our work history, flexibility is at a premium,” Swan says.

For that reason, any new grad needs to be accessible after hours and able to work from home. A speedy laptop with built-in wireless is a must, as is a BlackBerry or similar smartphone. The Nokia N810 Internet tablet is the best of both worlds; it offers email and Internet access and is small enough to carry everywhere.

College professors may have been tolerant of lost notebooks or late arrivals, but a grad’s new boss won’t be. Even if your grad isn’t naturally organized, tools like digital voice recorders and USB drives can help. If she tends to run late or get lost, having GPS navigation can save a sales call.

Whether working from home or the road, “be vigilant about staying in touch,” Swan advises. Just don’t make the fatal mistake of getting too attached to your electronics. If you tappity-tap on your laptop or cell phone during a meeting with your boss, you look like you just don’t care.

What did you just say?
Technology helps us communicate at lightning-fast speeds. It also means anyone can make a big workplace blunder in the blink of an eye. One of Swan’s clients wrote an email venting about her problems with a free gym membership—a company perk. Then she realized she had sent it to a senior VP, much to his annoyance. “It wasn’t the kind of attention she wanted,” Swan says.

How do you recover from a mistake like that? The old-fashioned way, Swan says: apologize in person. “Technology—it’s kind of got the last laugh on us,” she says. Emails and IMs often make things more complicated when an issue’s best resolved face to face. Knowing when to use technology, and when to turn it off, is the skill that might (one day) get your grad that job with the four-week surf vacation.

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More tips for grads
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* Don’t play on the Internet at work. They know.
* Do check to make sure your online presence is free of keg party photos—or at least upgrade your privacy settings so employers can’t stumble upon them.
* Do build a personal website that reflects your professional accomplishments.
* Don’t communicate via text message unless absolutely necessary. “OMG that reprt was due ystrdy???” is not something your boss wants to read.

Article Source: Melissa Barber, Circuit City – City Life