Who Are Your Organization's Entrepreneurs?

How useful would it be to identify the problem-solvers within your business? They're called entrepreneurs, and not all of them are created the same. The ability to identify entrepreneurs empowers organizations to effectively manage their workforce. Through research, we're beginning to learn more about spotting star performers who would otherwise become disengaged and flee — taking their new ideas with them.

Identifying these individuals is possible long before they enter the workplace. In fact, 42 percent of entrepreneurs have determined they want to own their own business before the age of 12, according to an ongoing study run by our company, Target Training International, of engineering students from 18 major U.S. universities.

Early findings from this research describe two types of entrepreneurs emerging:

Entrepreneurial-Minded People (EMPs): They tend to work well in teams, have an organized workplace and enjoy consistency. These individuals are happier within organizations or within a group of people working together to achieve a goal.

Serial Entrepreneurs (SEs): The second group is made up of potential serial entrepreneurs who have a desire to own their own business. Serial entrepreneurs tend to be more individualistic, have a greater sense of urgency and a desire to control. They have demonstrated an ability to sustain a business past the first year, into the higher growth job production years of a young firm.

Both entrepreneurial types are identified by a distinct challenge-orientation and improvement-focused mindset. But they differ in their attitudes towards control. EMPs are less concerned with the amount of control they can exert. They are happiest when they work collaboratively on a task, in a team, striving for solutions to complex or recurring problems.

The SE wishes to have ultimate control over her life and business. While happy to set direction for a company or team, serial entrepreneurs need to feel that their employer is not limiting their destiny.

Once you identify certain performers as SEs or EMPs, it's your job as a manager to retain them.

Make sure they have a forum where their ideas can be heard. When an SE shares his vision and is met with rejection, he will become disengaged and will likely resent the organization. He is also likely to not only plot his exit, but how to redress the rejection he experienced. That can translate into taking their ideas to a competitor or becoming a competitor himself. Similarly if an EMP is not allowed to engage in the problem-solving process or is asked to work independently, the same is likely to occur.

But how do managers identify entrepreneurial types? It's often helpful to put these questions to use, especially during the hiring process or a performance review.

Describe your career goals. The EMP's answer would more likely indicate he could care less about being in management and is happy where he is or where he is applying for. The SE will tend to say she is looking for advancement.
Describe your professional strengths. An EMP will focus on strengths directly related to the job in question. An SE will talk more about leadership and personal identity.
Describe things you're not good at. Honesty is important for both. Listen closely: If she claims to not have any weaknesses, she is likely more SE-driven. The more weaknesses he confesses to having, the more EM-driven he is.
What activities do you do to keep current in your profession? The EMP is interested in keeping up within his profession and industry. The SE is more focused on keeping up on broader scope, going beyond just her career and may discuss things she is reading, experiencing or sharing.
Entrepreneurs — whether EMPs or serial — already possess the behaviors, attitudes, and values to build successful businesses. Finding out whom within the workforce possesses the traits of an entrepreneur — and which type they are — will allow business leaders to work with their unique approach to business. Recruiting and retaining entrepreneurs will pay big dividends not just for individual companies, but also for the economy as a whole.

We Appear to Forget!

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Shri Manish Tiwari is a forceful orator. He is also a consummate liar. He lies by telling half truth. He is also an accomplished lawyer practicing in Indian courts. He either does not read English or he does not understand the language. His statements in the Press Conference accusing Anna Hazare of being submerged in corruption are more than objectionable because they are insults heaped upon the CITIZEN of India.

Let me say here at the very outset that the Constitution of India which is paraded as sacrosanct and supreme is neither sacrosanct nor supreme. It has been altered amended and changed more times than any other constitution in the world. It has even been made toothless. What we forget and what we must remember is that in the Republic of Bharat it is the citizen that is supreme and also sacrosanct because it he in his collective incarnation of WE THE PEOPLE created the constitution.

Dr Manmohan Singh is a Prime Minister that has been loaded on to the Indian people by a handful of his cronies. He has been imported into the cabinet via the Rajya Sabha. So the claim that he is the prime minister of 121 crores of Indian people is a lie. Shri Tiwari please note.

The Justice Sawant Commission Enquiry that was brandished in the Press Conferences had been rendered to a naught by the Sukhtankar Committee. Shri Tiwari lied to the nation by implication because he did not mention the deliberations of the Committee.

If the CITIZEN of Bharat is not given the respect he deserves by the public servants he has chosen to serve his ends – and the prime minister is the first amongst the equal public servants – then nothing deserves any respect whether it is the prime minister or the tricolour – which again happens to be the creation of the citizen – nor Parliament nor the parliamentarians.

First learn to respect the citizen of Bharat. Then and only then will the politicians deserve to ask for respect.


--Pyare Shivpuri

The Hindu : Opinion / Open Page : Our farmers are dying, to hell with the World Cup

The Hindu : Opinion / Open Page : Our farmers are dying, to hell with the World Cup


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India Shining, Jan Lokpal Bill, Jaago re!

Jaago re!... Courage and guts might have the same meaning but for my understanding...it takes a lot of guts to be courageous!... It's better to die standing on our feet rather crawl on our knees...

It always requires the Power of One to change the system...if you dont have the power then better support the one who has it...

It takes a lot of courage to stop the rapidly spinning wheel of ignorance...chances are you might cut your fingers but the wheel of ignorance will eventually stop!...live for the larger purpose...don't just exist!

The only first step as i see is to stop accepting nonsense....chalta hai attitude!..yahan toh aise hi hota hai....

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Our ancestors supported Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi in creating a FREE INDIA...let's join hands with Shri Anna Hazare in cleaning the Corruption and make INDIA SHINING!

The sanctimonious are far too vulnerable...Dacoity by The Law Book

Dacoity by The Law Book!


I know a Person of Indian Origin named Pyare Shivpuri. I have fed him several times at my café in Nashik. He came to Nashik in connection with his dealings with the Maharashtra State Co-operative Bank Limited. I did not believe him when he told me that to his amazement he had discovered that MSCB was a bunch of crooks supported by the State of Maharashtra and by Sharad Pawar. I probed further and the narrative that emerged was something like this.

Around 40 kilometres NW from Nashik there is Pimpalgaon. In 1989 one Madhavrao Khanderao More established a co-operative venture there and called it Nashik District Co-operative Grape Sparkling Wine and Bye-Products Karkhana Limited which was later christened Pimpane Co-operative India Limited; raised over a crore of rupees in share capital from 3,996 farmers in the Niphad-Dindori area by making promises that he knew he could not keep; acquired the patronage of Sharad Pawar; purchased some land in Pimpalgaon valued at Rs. 47,000/= (forty seven thousand); applied to the Industrial Finance Corporation of India (IFCI) and the Maharashtra State Co-operative Bank Limited (MSCB) for a loan of Rs. 30,000,000/= (three crores) bifurcated equally between the two institutions by depositing with IFCI the title deed of the land valued at Rs. 47,000/= and obtained that loan.

MSCB, later on, took over the entire responsibility of the loan and on 31st March 2005 borrower Pimpane owed to MSCB a neat sum of Rs. 271,029,000/= (twenty seven crores ten lakhs twenty nine thousand). Considering this background, it is not difficult to conclude that MSCB colluded with Shri More to create a NPA from the very start. Pimpane ceased production in 1993. Then in 2002 Securitization Act was enacted by Parliament in New Delhi. It gave ‘secured creditors’ the liberty of annexing the property of defaulting borrowers without having to go through the lengthy procedure of a Civil Court. MSCB took over the Pimpalgaon property of Pimpane around 2004 and since then has sold it to three different buyers; Pyare Shivpuri was the first one.

Now, the legal issues are whether:
(i) MSCB loan to Pimpane was a “secured loan”?
(ii) MSCB had the right to take possession of Pimpane property under the Act of 2002?
(iii) Pyare Shivpuri was right in demanding proof of ‘clear title’ of the property he was buying from MSCB?

The take over of Pimpane by MSCB is ‘dacoity’ – theft accompanied by force, in this case not a gun but a law book not the law but a law book. The 77 directors of MSCB – elected and nominated – including the present Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Ajit Pawar, the nephew of Sharad Pawar are vicariously guilty of various items of fraud proscribed by IPC.

This little scam may look insignificant in the light to Delhi disclosures but for a Bank!
http://www.moneylife.in/article/78/9431.html

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Maharashtra’s apex co-operative bank in financial turmoil - Moneylife Personal Finance site and magazine

Maharashtra’s apex co-operative bank in financial turmoil - Moneylife Personal Finance site and magazine

Do you want to clean this mess?
You might like this, even the best and the biggest falter...leaders failed!


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About Jetmobile Americas

Click The Title Link to Know More about Jetmobile and InTimeTec...

Fastest Growing Startup!
The Founder Members...(L to R) Sandeep Jain, Matt Fratzke, Jeetendra Bansal, Dan Puga, Rakesh Sawan...

www.intimetec.com

From a small office with FOUR employees to a 50 member team...and still growing!

The Solution to your Software needs...with Trust! Transparency! Integrity!


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Interview With Technical Writers Block

Click The Title Link Above...
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Cauldron of Time: Value Others Time as much you Value yours

Yesterday, during a random dinner table conversation, the question that was put to me was what do you think your purpose in life is? Ah, the fundamental question we all grapple and often ignore. Without getting too meta-physical about it, I think there is a very simple practical answer to the question. And it is simply – doing what one does to the best of one’s abilities.

I see so many people go through the best years of their lives simply watching the clock. They go to office in the morning, put in the requisite 8 hours and come back in the evening. Same routine repeats day in and day out. But what each one of us needs to realize is that we’ve only got a limited amount of time. When you’re 25, you think the entire world is ahead of you and life is limitless. But as Yudhishthira says in the Mahabharata, “the cauldron of time cooks everyone”. And THAT is a universal truth.

So given that you’ve got only a limited amount of time, let’s take that argument further. Let’s say you’ve only got a year to go, before your time is up. Would you now bring the same attitude to work and life that you have right now? Or would you change it drastically? If the answer is that you would change it drastically, then my friend the answer to life’s fundamental question is right in front of your eyes and you’re choosing to ignore it.

When we work for organizations who we think pay us less, or a boss who doesn’t understand us, or an environment which is suffocating, we all have a few choices. And the choice is to simply leave that situation and choose another one. Or to try and change the situation. But, there is a third choice: while we’re in that specific situation, life demands from us that we give it our very best. And that is what life is really all about. If you don’t like your job, change it – but while you’re working, give it everything you’ve got. Or else you’re shortchanging the most important person in the world - you! If you think your company is short-changing you – think again. Or rather trust greater thinkers to guide you. As Krishna says to Arjuna in the Gita – "do your duty because that is what you’ve come on Earth for. Do not think of the fruits of your actions." To give it a more practical twist – I say, "do not work simply for the fruits of your labor. Do it for your love of the work itself – do it because it is your bounden duty to do so. Or else, you’re actually waking up every day and cheating yourself."

Every hour and every minute of work that you’re whiling away your time, taking long breaks, chatting, social networking, or not giving your profession your best effort and dedicated focus is a minute that is completely lost, and the biggest loser in this case is you – not your organization, not your team – but you! Because the company will keep going on or shut down – but the best years of your life won’t come back ever. So go change your job if you’re not happy. But stop cribbing and complaining and cheating yourself out of the only life you’ll ever have.!!!!!!

Value Others Time as much you Value yours

post your thoughts/articles to cafebulletin.paulscafe@blogger.com

The finger bowl

A wonderful story comes from 19th century England. According to the account, Queen Victoria was once at a diplomatic reception in London.

The guest of honor was an African chieftain. All went well during the meal until, at the end, finger bowl were served. The guest of honor had never seen a British finger bowl, and no one had thought to brief him beforehand about its purpose. So he took the bowl in his two hands, lifted it to his mouth, and drank its contents down!

For an instant there was breathless silence among the British privilege guests, and then they began to whisper to one another. All that stopped; however, when Queen Victoria silently took her finger bowl in her two hands, lifted it, and drank its contents! A moment later, 500 surprised British ladies and gentlemen simultaneously drank the contents of their own finger bowls.

It was the queen’s uncommon courtesy that guarded her guest from certain embarrassment.

This is a very rare but very effective human trait …

while the most common human trait is to look for chances to humiliate/insult someone else or be neutral when someone makes mistake & let him/her go through the embarrassment … but it takes presence of mind, uncommon courtesy to follow someone else’s mistake in order to guard them from embarrassment!!

-cnt
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Nabarun Paul - Blog on BrightFuse - A Talent Community

Nabarun Paul - Blog on BrightFuse - A Talent Community

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The Art of Appraisal (Humour)

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Big Boss: This year your performance was good, excellent and outstanding.
So, your rating is "average".

Kumar: What? How come 'average'?

Big Boss: Because...err...uhh...you lack domain knowledge.

Kumar: But last year you said I am a domain expert and you put me in this
project as a domain consultant.

Big Boss: Oh is it? Well, in that case, I think your domain knowledge has
eroded this year.

Kumar: What???

Big Boss: Yes, I didn't see you sharing knowledge on Purchasing domain.

Kumar: Why would I? Because I am not in Purchasing, I am in Manufacturing.

Big Boss: This is what I don't like about you. You give excuse for
everything.

Kumar: Huh? *Confused*

Big Boss: Next, you need to improve your communication skills.

Kumar: Like what? I am the one who trained the team on "Business
Communication", you sat in the audience and took notes, you remember?

Big Boss: Oh is it? Errr...well..I mean, you need to improve your Social
Pragmatic Affirmative Communication.

Kumar: Huh? What the hell is that? *Confused*

Big Boss: See! That's why you need to learn about it.

Kumar: *head spinning*

Big Boss: Next, you need to sharpen your recruiting skills. All the guys you recruited left within 2 months.

Kumar: Well, not my mistake. You told them you will sit beside them and review their code, and most resigned the next day itself. Couple of them
even attempted suicide.

Big Boss:*stunned* (recovers from shock) Err...anyway, I tried to give you a better rating, but our Normalization process gave you only 'average'.

Kumar: Last year that process gave me 'excellent'. This year just
'average'? Why is this process pushing me up and down every year?

Big Boss: That's a complicated process. You don't want to hear.

Kumar: I'll try to understand. Go ahead.

Big Boss: Well, we gather in a large room, write down the names of
sub-ordinates in bits of paper, and throw them up in the air. Whichever
lands on the floor gets 'average', whichever lands on table gets 'good',
whichever we manage to catch gets 'excellent' and whichever gets stuck to
ceiling gets 'outstanding'.

Kumar: (eyes popping out) What? Ridiculous! So who gets 'poor' rating?

Big Boss: Those are the ones we forget to write down.

Kumar: What the hell! And how can paper bits stick to ceiling for
'outstanding'?

Big Boss: Oh no, now you have started questioning our 20 year old
organizational process!

Kumar: *FAINTS*

Post your thoughts directly:cafebulletin.paulscafe@blogger.com

Business Realities

Businesses want to reduce cost and risk while increasing revenue. To succeed as a software developer, don't try to sell working software for less money than others; instead, reduce cost, reduce risk or increase revenue for those companies. I will discuss a few ways to do these things, and do them well.

1) Provide Guarantees.
So the other person provides a lower hourly cost. So what? Does that mean that the total cost is going to be less? Most people that deal with software contractors know that an estimate is rarely worth the paper it's printed on. That's why fixed-price and fixed-date contracts are so appealing to customers: It moves the risk from the shoulders of the customer to the selling organization. As long as the buying organization is certain to make money, hourly rates won't matter. (How do you compare $6/hour and "We think it'll take about six months" to "$10,000 and it will be done in three months." How about to "I'll take 30% of gross revenues. If you don't make a dime, I don't make a dime...and this will encourage me to make it good enough to re-sell")

2) Analyze the business and provide a better solution
Joel Spolsky once wrote that

"Customers Don't Know What They Want. Stop Expecting Customers to Know What They Want."

In other words, the attitude of "Just give me the requirements" fails because it has the customer solving the problem; the software developer becomes just a glorified technical writer that knows how to write in the language of a machine.

3) Dramatically decrease the defect rate
Are people willing to pay for quality in software? Sadly, generally, the answer is no. Quality in software is hard to measure; unlike automobiles, there is usually no crash or endurance tests to compare against, especially for custom software. Yet we all know that plumbers, electricians, and roofers with a reputation for quality have more work orders than they know what to do with. Producing software with less defects, that is usable, that does what the customer expects will net a major competitive advantage for years to come.

4) Create well-documented, maintainable code
Despite all the jokes about job security, companies want well-documented, easy-to-understand and easy-to-change systems. This allows them to reduce risk, and, as we've previously discussed, reducing risk has tangible, measurable value to a company. The great thing about increasing the value of what you sell is that you can now charge more for it.

5) Provide better feedback
If you prioritize every feature, you can work on the most important features first. A series of small releases gives the customer the most important features first and the opportunity to provide feedback. This is not a new idea; it is one of the core ideals of the Extreme Programming model, and it's an excellent way to give the customer more while costing you less. (Think about this: Most large projects run late and over budget. Many small projects do not. Instead of "biting off more than we can chew" next time, why not refuse to run a large project and instead run a series of small projects?)

6) Show the customer how you will make them money or allow them to cut costs.
This one is a no-brainer. It's easy to charge more for your services and still win the bid if you are selling something fundamentally different: This is why McDonald's franchises sell for more than Jerry's Pizza Shack franchises. Imagine the two sales pitches:

Jerry's: "Hey, for $10,000 and 3% of your sales revenue, I'll let you use my name, my sign, my recipes, my suppliers for food, cups, plates - the works!"

McDonald's: "For $1,000,000 and 8% of your sales revenue, we'll give you everything Jerry does - plus throw in a lease on a furnished building in residential area X. We'll promise no McDonald's competition (except the ones you own) in a 50-mile radius of your store. We'll provide management training for your people. In fact, here's a breakdown of our 200 stores in areas with a similar population to X, and their sales compared to expenses for the first five years of business. As you can see, since 1995, only 10 of those stores failed to be profitable within three years, and they were all profitable within five years."

Conclusions
From the last example, you can see that McDonald's and Jerry's are selling two fundamentally different things. They both seem to "solve" the same problem: "I want to own a fast-food business." McDonald's chooses not to compete on price; instead, they compete on delivered results.

Most banks compete on delivered results for investment. While they may occasionally advertise that they have low or no minimum balance, it is far more common to hear about a low rate for a loan or a high rate for an investment. If we are to survive the coming bust, we must Promise and Deliver Results. These results must substantially differentiate us from other, cheaper competition.

If you try to build a house and base every decision on cost, you will probably get what you deserve. Most people know this, and factor other things into the decision. As the software industry matures, we must learn to provide and market those "other things." In order to survive, we must stop being glorified technical writers and become businessmen...and the need for good businessmen is not decreasing, but instead it is constantly increasing.

A Planned Coincidence

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All that is accepted is not the reality but a forced truth, a planned coincidence.
By being true to our own self we accept God whose ways are different. Can we face God by not being true to own self?

May be we all prefer to keep eyes closed, always, thinking that God too cannot see!

Being true to the self is not betraying the self.
Thus when I speak about being true to yourself I say don’t betray yourself. If you are not true to yourself then you are betraying not only yourself but everybody around you.
Have you ever stood in front of the mirror first thing in the morning even before attending the daily chores and looked in the eye and asked DO I DESERVE IT? AM i WORTH IT?

Have you allowed yourself some time for a reality check, for some introspection? If yes then why are you in the mess still? And why do you need to have a reality check done? - The answer lies with you.

I speak about my experiences. I too made the mistake and couldn’t identify the messages then. Hence i say certain things in life have to be done immediately not later or tomorrow. It might just ruin everything not allowing a second opportunity. It might be too late. If you think you can, chances are you will but if you think you can’t chances are you may never. Don’t just give up instead give up giving in.

Do you over stuff your plate with food and then waste it? If no, then why can’t you speak up when needed rather burst and erupt like a volcano that which burns all and destroys everything in its way? Why do you always end up cleaning others muck? What is the obligation? – The answer again lies with you.

Silence is serene but remaining silent is torture to the self. Be silent inside-out not outside-in or else you will always be taken for granted as you are now. It does no good!!!

Story Of an HR Manager

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One day while walking down the street a highly successful Human Resources Manager was tragically hit by a bus and she died.
Her soul arrived up in heaven where she was met at the Pearly Gates by St. Peter himself.
"Welcome to Heaven," said St. Peter. "Before you get settled in though, it seems we have a problem. You see, strangely enough, we've never once had a Human Resources Manager make it this far and we're not really sure what to do with you."
"No problem, just let me in," said the woman.
"Well, I'd like to, but I have higher orders. What we're going to do is let you have a day in Hell and a day in Heaven and then you can choose whichever one you want to spend an eternity in."
"Actually, I think I've made up my mind, I prefer to stay in Heaven", said the woman
"Sorry, we have rules..."
And with that St. Peter put the executive in an elevator and it went down-down-down to hell.
The doors opened and she found herself stepping out onto the putting green of a beautiful golf course. In the distance was a country club and standing in front of her were all her friends - fellow executives that she had worked with and they were well dressed in evening gowns and cheering for her. They ran up and kissed her on both cheeks and they talked about old times.
They played an excellent round of golf and at night went to the country club where she enjoyed an excellent steak and lobster dinner.
She met the Devil who was actually a really nice guy (kind of cute) and she had a great time telling jokes and dancing. She was having such a good time that before she knew it, it was time to leave. Everybody shook her hand and waved goodbye as she got on the elevator.
The elevator went up-up-up and opened back up at the Pearly Gates and found St. Peter waiting for her.
"Now it's time to spend a day in heaven," he said. So she spent the next 24hours lounging around on clouds and playing the harp and singing.
She had great time and before she knew it her 24 hours were up and St. Peter came and got her.
"So, you've spent a day in hell and you've spent a day in heaven. Now you must choose your eternity,"
The woman paused for a second and then replied, "Well, I never thought I'd say this, I mean, Heaven has been really great and all, but I think I had a better time in Hell."
So St. Peter escorted her to the elevator and again she went down down down back to Hell.
When the doors of the elevator opened she found herself standing in a desolate wasteland covered in garbage and filth. She saw her friends were dressed in rags and were picking up the garbage and putting it in sacks.
The Devil came up to her and put his arm around her.
"I don't understand," stammered the woman, "yesterday I was here and there was a golf course and a country club and we ate lobster and we danced and had a great time. Now all there is a wasteland of garbage and all my friends look miserable."
The Devil looked at her smiled and told...
"Yesterday We Were Recruiting You, Today You’re An Employee..."

BE YOUR OWN BOSS

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Starting something on one’s own is a dream for many but only a few attempt to turn it into a reality.

An Enquiry Into What It Takes To Become An Entrepreneur...
1. Entrepreneurship needs self discipline, courage and emotional intelligence, etc.
2. Entrepreneurship seems to be the flavor of season as many people are making the downturn an opportunity to start their own ventures.
3. A downturn is a positive time to become an entrepreneur due to several factors.
4. Starting a firm during an economic crisis makes the entrepreneur seriously evaluate his/ her ideas, to be cautious about expenditures, and to have a close watch on the cash flow budgets and balance sheets.
5. Also resources and funding for start ups are easily available and there are many non-profit organizations and business incubators for promoting entrepreneurship.

What Makes A Person Think About Starting A Firm Of His Own?
1. The need for self improvement and learning
2. Ambition to build a product company and also the
3. Longing to contribute something to the society.

Do You Have It In You?
A great idea, strong passion towards building up a businesses and adequate financial support are the driving factors behind any entrepreneurial venture. But besides that there are several other things that an entrepreneur must concentrate on.

Also entrepreneurship needs lot of self-discipline, courage, emotional intelligence, vision, hard work, modesty to learn from others and relentless passion which are deceivingly easy to say but extremely difficult to practice.

For an entrepreneur being successful is also directly related to how fast he can adopt to and bring about change. An entrepreneur is faced with new business models, revenue models, and changes in market dynamics, price constructs and other dynamic changes every day.

Passion
Must have the strong zeal to make his idea a reality and must be able to overcome all the challenges.

Self Motivation
Must have personal determination and drive to seek all means to make their ideas a reality. Also must be ready to face failures and learn from mistakes.

Ability To Take Risks
Must be ready to face any uncertainty in business and must be ready to take the responsibility.


All the best till Aall izz well

Are You Planning to francise?

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WHY FRANCHISE?
Are you certain that yours is the next Ray Kroc story, if only you could get the capital?
Are you tired of reading about companies and thinking, "I have a better franchise concept than that company"?

Maybe you, too, should consider franchising.

In general, companies decide to begin franchising for one of three reasons:
• Lack of money,
• People or
• Time.

For companies with too little time (or too little staff), franchising is often the fastest way to grow. That's because it's the franchisee who performs most of these growth tasks.

The franchisor provides the guidance, of course, but the franchisee does the legwork. Thus franchising not only allows the franchisor financial leverage, but it allows him to leverage his resources as well.

But still all is not well in franchising. There are barriers involved and once you overcome the barriers yours might be the next McDonalds!

BARRIERS
The primary barrier to expansion that today's entrepreneur faces is lack of capital. And franchising allows companies to expand without the risk of debt or the cost of equity. Since franchisees provide the investment at the unit level, franchising allows for expansion with minimal capital investment on the part of the franchisor.

In addition, since it's the franchisee, and not the franchisor, who signs the lease and commits to various service contracts, franchising allows for expansion with virtually no contingent liability, thus greatly reducing a franchisor's risk.
The second barrier to expansion is finding and retaining good unit managers. All too often, a business owner spends months looking for and training a new manager only to see that manager leave—or worse yet, get hired away by a competitor.

Franchising allows entrepreneurs to overcome many of these problems by substituting a motivated franchisee for a unit manager. Interestingly enough, since the franchisee has both an investment in the unit and a stake in the profits, unit performance will often improve. And since a franchisor's income is based on the franchisee's gross sales—and not profitability—monitoring unit-level expenses becomes significantly less cumbersome.

Finally, opening another location takes time. Hunt for sites. Negotiate leases. Arrange for design and build-out. Secure financing. Hire and train staff. Purchase equipment and inventory. The end result is that the number of units you can open in any given period of time is limited by the amount of time it takes to do it properly.


Ask yourself-IS YOUR BUSINESS "FRANCHISABLE"?
Franchising is a relatively flexible format, and just about any type of business can be franchised, provided it meets some basic characteristics:
It needs to be credible.
• Does your company have experienced management? A track-record over time? Is the concept proven? Have you achieved good local press or public acclaim?
It needs to be unique.
• Is your business adequately differentiated from its competitors? Is it marketable as a business opportunity? Does it have a sustainable competitive advantage?
It needs to be teachable.
• Are the systems in place? Are operating procedures documented? Could someone learn to operate your business in three months or less?
It needs to provide an adequate return.
• It doesn’t mean just profitability. If a business can't generate a 15 to 20 percent return on investment after deducting a royalty (typically between 4 and 8 percent), it's going to have difficulty keeping franchisees happy.

If your business meets these criteria, then it may be a good candidate for franchising.

PREREQUISITES
When a company makes a decision to franchise, it must first develop a sound plan for expansion. This plan must take into consideration the numerous issues confronting a new franchisor: speed of growth, territorial development, support services, staffing and fee structure, to name just a few of the most important issues.

Larger companies need to address more complex issues such as channel conflict, anti-trust issues, and resource allocation. And obviously, your entire plan needs to be subjected to rigorous financial analysis and scrutiny to fine-tune your strategy for growth.

Once your plan is in place, you'll need the proper legal documentation. At a minimum, you'll need a franchise contract, an offering circular (as required under FTC Rule 436), and, depending on where franchises are being sold, state registrations. There are literally hundreds of different business issues that must be addressed in a good franchise agreement, and the decisions made regarding these issues will ultimately dictate your success as a franchisee.

Quality control for a new franchisor involves the development of highly developed systems. Generally, this translates into the development of an operations manual that must contain not only the systems used by the business, but also the checklists, policies, procedures and tactics that will allow these systems to be uniformly enforced.

Operations manuals must be careful to avoid the creation of an agency and must also address issues that could create claims of negligence if you're to maintain an effective shield against consumer liability.

Finally, as a new franchisor, you must develop the ability to market and sell franchises. That requires knowledge of how to attract prospective buyers and the necessary materials (brochures, mini-brochures, videotapes, DVDs, and so on) that will help make the sale. Moreover, since the franchise sales process is highly regulated, you'll need to be educated in proper sales, disclosure and compliance techniques.

Every new franchisor quickly learns that when they turn to franchising, they've entered a completely different business. Regardless of how you make money as a franchisor, you'll have two roles: selling franchises and servicing franchisees. And of the two, ensuring the success of your franchisees is the most important.

Properly structured, franchising can allow small companies to more effectively compete with much larger competitors. It can also allow larger companies to gain the advantages of highly motivated unit management while reducing overhead. As such, franchising is an option that more and more companies should explore.

The key to success in franchising is successful franchisees. Without successful franchisees, no franchise system will last. But if you can put the interests of your franchisee first, those same franchisees might help you become the next McDonald's!!!

That's My Linkedin ID

http://in.linkedin.com/in/nabarunpaul

All About Starting a Restaurant

ARE YOU DREAMING ABOUT OWNING A RESTAURANT OR STARTING ONE?
• Do you think you have extra time and want to utilise it to make some money?
• Do you have the passion to indulge yourself with the restaurant business?
• If yes, then read on...
• Before you do jump into the restaurant business explained below are few attributes

ATTRIBUTES
• Drive energy and willingness to take responsibility and risks, make decisions, and accept the consequences.
• Personal initiative and the ability to not rely on others to get the ball rolling or defer decisions to others or to committees.
• Personality and human relations ability. This includes emotional stability, sociability, and cheerfulness in adversity; co-operation, tact, and considera-tion for others.
• Organizational ability with an eye to detail so that those around you don’t have to guess what needs to be done and who has to do it.
• Communication ability both written and oral. You have to be able to com-municate with employees, suppliers, customers, bankers, and all the other people you have to deal with daily.
• Administrative ability in planning, setting goals and objectives, deciding how to measure results, controlling the business, interpreting financial statements, and similar matters.
• Technical knowledge about the restaurant business. This means not only knowing what you do know but also where you may be deficient in certain skills and technical abilities so that you can upgrade yourself or hire em-ployees competent in that area.
• Good judgement, patience, and restrain.
• Leadership.
• Looking over that list you might think that nobody could ever survive in the restaurant business. However, this is only a list of desirable characteristics that are helpful in most situations, it is not necessarily indicative of failure if you don’t possess one or several of them.

1. WILLINGNESS TO WORK HARD
• One characteristic is generally absolutely essential: a willingness to work hard.
• Without that, you are almost certainly doomed to fail in the restaurant business.
• If you do work hard, you should achieve success. That success will be measured not only in having a profitable restaurant, but also in the rewards that are less easy to measure, such as being your own boss, having pride in restaurant ownership, enjoying status in the community, and owning an outlet for creative ideas.

2. OTHER QUESTIONS
• Now, honestly answer the following questions:
• Do I have the mental and physical stamina to run my own restaurant?
• Am I prepared to sacrifice my present lifestyle to this new venture?
• Are my spouse and family (if any) willing to accept the change and possible upheaval in lifestyle?
• How much income do I need to survive during this period of change?
• Can I survive if all my income has to come from a new restaurant venture that may not be successful?
• If the answer to each of these five questions is not a definite yes, it is pos-sible you may be acting on emotion rather than in an objective way. In that case, if you do not succeed, you have only yourself to blame.

ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF STARTING A NEW RESTAURANT
• The main emphasis will be on starting a new restaurant from scratch. There are both advantages and disadvantages to starting a new restaurant, and you might want to be aware of these in order to consider the alternative of purchasing an already existing restaurant that is for sale.

1. ADVANTAGES
• Some of the advantages of staring your own restaurant are as follows:
• You can select a location that takes advantage of current economic or market conditions.
• If your plans include constructing a new building, you can have it designed to your specifications to suit the type of restaurant you plan to have, and the type of restaurant you plan to have, and the type and size of building can also be designed for conditions as they exist today.
• There may be an appeal to potential customers about a new restaurant being opened. Curiosity alone may help you attract a good starting clientele.

2. DISADVANTAGES
• Some of the disadvantages of starting your own business are as follows:
• If land and building are involved, the time required to put together a fi-nancing arrangement to buy the necessary land and put together a building package can be long and the financing itself fairly complex.
• A clientele will have to be built up.
• This takes time – anywhere from a few months in some restaurants to two to three years in others. Starting a new restaurant does not, by itself, create an immediate new clientele or market.
• Building up a clientele also delays a return on your own investments, and during this time interest will have to be paid on borrowed money. In addition, it may require you to keep advancing the company new cash to keep it in op-eration.
• Any new restaurant suffers an additional risk since it will probably have to compete with already existing competitive restaurant whose sites and/or locations are more favorable and whose business is already successfully es-tablished.
• If you feel that the above disadvantages outweigh the advantages, you should then seriously consider the alternative of purchasing an already successful restaurant business. If that is the case, another alternative might be to try to reduce the risk by starting your restaurant on a franchised basis.

ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF FRANCHISING
• Buying a franchise can be a quick way to set up your own business without starting from scratch. But there are also a number of drawbacks.
• When it comes to starting a business, many people think of buying a franchise as a shortcut to success. While there is some truth to this, not all franchises are created equal, and not everyone is cut out to be a franchisee.

1. ADVANTAGES
• Your business is based on a proven idea. You can check how successful other franchises are before committing yourself.
• You can use a recognised brand name and trademarks. You benefit from any advertising or promotion by the owner of the franchise - the 'franchisor'.
• The franchisor gives you support - usually including training, help setting up the business, a manual telling you how to run the business and ongoing advice.
• You usually have exclusive rights in your territory. The franchisor won't sell any other franchises in the same territory.
• Financing the business may be easier. Banks are sometimes more likely to lend money to buy a franchise with a good reputation.
• You benefit from communicating and sharing ideas with and receiving sup-port from other franchisees in the network
• Relationships with suppliers have already been established.

2. DISADVANTAGES
• Costs may be higher than you expect. As well as the initial costs of buying the franchise, you pay continuing management service fees and you may have to agree to buy products from the franchisor.
• The franchise agreement usually includes restrictions on how you run the business. You might not be able to make changes to suit your local market.
• The main disadvantage of buying a franchise is that you have to do it their way - sometimes right down to the way the napkin holders are filled. As a franchisee, you are not the one actually running the show, and some fran-chisors exert a degree of control that you may find excruciating
• The franchisor might go out of business.
• Other franchisees could give the brand a bad reputation.
• You may find it difficult to sell your franchise - you can only sell it to someone approved by the franchisor.
• All profits are shared with the franchisor.

If you know about restaurants available for franchise speak to the owners, you might find one that suits your budget.

FRANCHISE APPLICATION, INTERVIEW AND CONTRACT
• The first step in buying a franchise is to contact the franchisor operating a franchise that you’re interested in. Usually when you express an interest, the franchisor will expect you to complete a questionnaire or application form.
• Do not be surprised that the franchisor’s questions include detailed questions about your finances. A franchisor will want to know about your personal assets, for example, because he or she wants to make sure you have a fall-back position to carry the business in case it runs into financial difficulty.
• You will probably also be asked about your spouse’s financial situation. Once again, the franchisor wants to be sure that both of you are prepared to make the financial commitment necessary to start and run the franchise successfully.
• You’re also sure to be asked questions about your experience, background, and even aspirations, questions designed to help the franchisor determine whether or not you’re the kind of person he or she feels will be able to run the business successfully and fit into the franchise model.

• For more details

Are You One of these?

Distant. Indifferent. Impassive. Disinterested. Stoical. Blasé.
Not showing any extreme or passionate emotion. Love to joke. Don’t take anything seriously and for that reason usually end up hurting the feelings of others around.


The focus is on the "self,” even if other people's emotional needs are acknowledged. Have trouble starting and following intimate conversations. Feel pressured and get angry once asked to reveal true feelings on the subject. Can stay out of touch with friends and loved ones for a long time and then suddenly resurface without a very clear explanation of what happened. Etc, etc, etc...

Then its time for some introspection.. Just DO IT? as i did it..

Have Faith! Don't Lose it...Don't Waste it...It can indeed move mountains! TRY IT