The need to take charge of one's own destiny should never be underestimated as a forceful impetus of the entrepreneurial spirit. While many people are content to work for others, some chafe under these limitations and yearn to do things their own way. Sometimes an organization is disorganized or inefficient, and a dissatisfied person can visualize better ways to improve the outcomes. In other cases, a wishful entrepreneur may be forced to work under a management that is unresponsive, incompetent, or even abusive. Many people do not respond...

Some people become entrepreneurs to counter feelings of inadequacy. Such feelings can be innate to one's personality or the result of life experiences. While some budding entrepreneurs may become discouraged or even defeated by early failures or reversals, others are driven to work even harder to overcome or bury these feelings. It's easy to see how extraordinary achievements can counterbalance, or even erase the unpleasant memory of failure. However, no matter how many successes one achieves later in life, most people never forget their early defeats. The most...

Many successful entrepreneurs are driven to succeed as emotional compensation for trauma or loss. Such events may include the early death of a parent or sibling, physical abuse, bullying, being raised in a war zone, or living through a traumatic event such as a tornado, hurricane, tsunami, mass shooting, house fire, or terrorist attack. Experiences such as these may drive an individual to work tirelessly as a therapeutic means of escaping the trauma, soothing a traumatized psyche. Material rewards and a comfortable lifestyle are sometimes perceived as compensation for...

Entrepreneurs who have experienced poverty are often highly motivated to achieve financial security. They will do whatever it takes so they and their families never have to worry about where their next meal will come from, if they will have a roof over their head, or if they will be able to pay the heating bill. They want to build the biggest cushion possible between themselves and the hardships they once endured.  One notable example of this is Thomas Edison. Edison's family lived an itinerant, hardscrabble life as his...

Some people are driven by an all-consuming fury, a relentless passion to perform and succeed. This may describe you, or a person you know. Usually, this urgency and desire to be successful is fueled by one of The 7 Clicking Points or sources of discontent that ignite an unrequited internal demand to perform at high levels to overcome a core disappointment in life. Often a person’s identity or ego is under duress and wrong must be righted, injustice corrected, an emptiness filled, and deep unhappiness amended. Part 3 presents...

It Doesn’t Matter Who You Know A common misconception among entrepreneurs is that you need connections to build a successful business. Although this is still true in some cases, there are plenty of opportunities for everyone, regardless of who they know, what family they come from, where they went to school, or where they have worked in the past.  When it comes to starting and growing an online business, it’s not about WHO you know, but it is about WHAT you know, WHAT you’re willing to do, HOW persistent you...

You No Longer Need Mountains of Cash Over-the-top multi-million dollar fundraising stories from charismatic Silicon Valley entrepreneurs often make headlines. The stories usually involve venture capitalists backing high-risk, innovative ideas put forth by well-connected young entrepreneurs with degrees from Stanford, Harvard, Yale, Google, and Facebook. Don't buy into the hype. Fundraising is NOT a necessary step for starting a new business. With readily available technology and extremely low barriers to entry, you can start a new venture with almost no money. With some e-commerce businesses, you can get started with...

Your Prior Experience May Be Super Important ...

One of the most amazing benefits of the Digital Age is that three of the largest obstacles to becoming an entrepreneur have been eliminated, making it much easier to get started in business … right away! In the past, you needed experience, capital, and connections. It wasn’t easy to acquire the experience you needed to be successful. For example, if you were opening a restaurant, you’d need to start out as an apprentice so you could learn how to manage the chefs in the kitchen, and the wait staff,...

Mindset Matters What makes you get out of bed in the morning? What’s the fire that’s burning inside you? What is the source of your desire, of your passion for life? What is it you want to prove, do, or become? What’s driving you? What is the most important thing in the world to you, the one thing that gets you all revved up, excited, and so engaged that you don’t even notice the time? We’re talking about your life’s purpose. Sure, you love your wife or husband, you love...