1. Professional Student

My degree from Baylor was a giant case study for everything I screwed up in high school. My MBA in entrepreneurship, is a giant feasibility study for what I want to do in the future – it’s the next phase in my journey as an entrepreneur. Coming out of high school, I found myself running an internet start up in the Philippines. All my classes made me realize what I could’ve done differently, especially as I continued to do contracting work for the company.

Thanks to: Clay Clary of Acton School of Business.

2. Show Companies the New Way

In addition to attempting to start my own company, I've been helping others re-purpose their businesses, primarily with marketing, towards the new trends in marketing, such as social media and the "give-to-get" mentality. I've helped non-profits as well as for profits in various industries.

Thanks to: Brandon Yanofsky of Una Causa.

3. I Went From A Job To A Passion

Going into school I was having a lot of fun in my job and worried I wouldn’t be able to return. But that fear was squashed. In addition to giving me practical business tools, getting my business degree helped me think about what kind of legacy I want to leave. Now I work for Explore Austin, a nonprofit for under served youth. I get to take 2 passions (adventure activities and helping kids) and combine them with experience from my old job (leadership training) and the skills from my entrepreneurship degree.

Thanks to: Mike Braeuer of Explore Austin.

4. PROFITING FROM A NON-PROFIT

If you're ready to get to work but not ready to work for yourself, there's one huge area of opportunity: non-profits.

With many of the expectations of a traditional business but more freedoms, you’ll get the experience you need without putting your own skin in the game just yet.

You’ll likely get the chance to spread your wings a bit more than in a bottom-line-driven business, and that means you’ll be ready to soar that much higher when you’re ready to start your own business.

Thanks to: Tony Hartl of Selling Sunshine.

Compiled by Mike Michalowicz, Author of The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur

In this video, Mike explains how to use better productivity to your advantage.

Another video by Mike Michalowicz, Author of The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur

Compiled by Mike Michalowicz, Author of The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur

You can read dozens of business blogs, taken a million courses and study all the great books out there (actually, this entrepreneur book kicks ass – no bias, mind you). 

And yes, you should be part of a mastermind group, and network, and study, and all that.  But there are other ways to grow your entrepreneurial muscle that you never considered.  Here are the top 5 unexpected ways to become a better entrepreneur

 Learn a Language

Business has gone global.  It is only a matter of time (if you haven't already) before you will be working with someone who has a different native language than yours. Even if you don't gain practical conversational skills in your new language, just saying hello in your guest’s native tongue will make a tremendous first impression. Entiende usted?

 Volunteer

Not only does it help your community, it is a great way to network with other connected people (and your occasional ex-con).  Volunteering allows you to share time together without the dark cloud of "salesyness" floating over it.

 Enroll For A Stand Up Comedy Class

Entrepreneurs need to know public speaking.  If it is selling to the management of a new prospect, or working with a  group of employees, you will always be served by great public speaking skills.  Stand up comedy teaches you to speak without a PowerPoint, gauge your audience, and master improvisation.  All key skills.

 Become A Journalist

Start writing for your local newspaper, or better yet start you own blog. The more you write about your industry, the more of an expert you become.  Plus there is a hidden bonus… you know that prospect who won't take your sales call?  They will probably take your interview.

 By Mike Michalowicz, Author of The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur

If you hate your job and have been toying with the idea of starting your own company because you want to live your life on your own terms (liberated, fearless, expressing yourself, doing what you love). The following suggestions could be all of the inspiration you need to take your first steps towards personal liberation.

Here are some thoughts and questions to support the exploration of what your transition from employee to entrepreneur might look like.

The Writing is on the Wall

How do you know when it’s time to make the leap from dancing in a cage for a paycheck to living your life on your terms? Obvious signs:

• Are you feeling under-challenged and under-rewarded?

• Are you using up all of your sick time, regardless of whether you’re actually sick?

• Do you dread going into the office every day?

• Is there a lack of room for creativity in your current position?

• Are you tired of reporting to a boss who seems clueless, disinterested, or out-of-touch?

• Have you hit your company’s proverbial “glass ceiling”?

If you answered yes to more than two of these questions, you may be ready to move on.

Self-Discovery

Learning to rely on your personal strengths while being mindful of your resources is a valuable lesson for any entrepreneur.

• What is your current skill set?

• Which areas need attention or further education?

• What will it take to get your financial life in order before you make the leap?

• Can you pinpoint the time in your life when you were happiest? What did that look like?

• What do your friends and family members think are your core talents and strengths? How do their opinions differ from your own? Are they seeing something you’re not?

• How can you take your true talent and monetize it?

Your individual strengths and interests become your gauge for defining and designing your new life. You get to choose what you do with your time and energy. You’ve got to discover what you love.

Letting Go of Fear

Fear is the biggest saboteur of your auspicious goal to reinvent yourself. In order to move past the stage of your initial “I’ll do it!” you will probably need to face at least one major fear.

• When you think about striking out in pursuit of your passion, what do the critical voices in your head say about it?

• Are your fears grounded in reality, or is your inner critic conjuring them to keep you “safe?”

• What is holding you back from creating your life as you wish it to be?

• What is the worst case scenario for moving forward on your new path?

In my opinion, fear is highly overrated. You CAN do the things you think you can’t do. So take a deep breath, create a meaningful plan, and ask for help with implementation.

Graceful Transitions

You have made the choice to change your life, and you’ve faced off with (or at least identified and growled at) the gremlins of your fears. Now, it’s time to begin your transition. The first stage of any significant transition begins with suffering and skin-crawling discomfort. The second stage of transition involves deep introspection. The third stage of transition is filled with positive energy and includes research and exploration in the outer world. The fourth stage of transition is a blast. When you reach the creative renewal phase, your vision has become clear, and you’re ready at last to create life on your terms.

• What stage of transition are you experiencing right now?

• How long have you been in this stage?

• What do you need to do right now to honor the stage you are experiencing?

When you gain a better understanding of the cycles of metamorphic change, you will begin to experience life on your own terms.

Unconventional Wisdom

Conventional wisdom tells us that in order to succeed you have to get a good job, work your ass off, climb the corporate ladder rung by rung, and start living when you retire.

I’ll tell you right now: that’s ridiculous.

The old axioms about work and job security no longer apply in our brave new world. Unconventional wisdom rules the day. Unconventional wisdom teaches us to get clear about what we want right now, at this stage of the game, and make it happen quickly.

It has been my observation that healthy personal development, as well as success in business, absolutely depends on aligning your business goals with your lifestyle choices and core values.

Whether or not your entrepreneurial vision includes employees, it can be really helpful to create a core values statement. Not only will it serve as a reminder of why you’re doing what you do, it can help you find customers whose values are aligned with your ideals. Many people I know would rather spend more to buy organic food grown by local farmers, or get a cup of coffee from a place where the employees are happy and personable. But if those vendors didn’t advertise their core values (fair trade, organic, employee-centric, etc.) many of their customers would never have found them.

Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos published the following statement on the Zappos web site:

“As we grow as a company, it has become more and more important to explicitly define the Zappos core values from which we develop our culture, our brand, and our business strategies. These are the ten core values that we live by:”

1. Deliver WOW Through Service

2. Embrace and Drive Change

3. Create Fun and A Little Weirdness

4. Be Adventurous, Creative, and Open-Minded

5. Pursue Growth and Learning

6. Build Open and Honest Relationships with Communication

7. Build a Positive Team and Family Spirit

8. Do More With Less

9. Be Passionate and Determined

10. Be Humble

What’s not to love about a company that supports a little weirdness!  Seems to me that Tony is on to something here.

At this moment, everything is up for review and change. You owe it to yourself to embrace the opportunities of a brave new world which values integrity, collaboration, and core values.

By Shann Vander Leek, Author of Life on Your Terms: The Support You Need to Follow Your Passion From Inspirational Entrepreneurs(True Balance Press)

The cool thing about the project is that she interviewed more than 40 successful entrepreneurs including me, to reveal the tremendous power of the entrepreneurial perspective. With commentary and insights by the author – an inspirational leader who, after eighteen years of working in the broadcast television industry, reinvented herself as the founder of True Balance Life Coaching – Life on Your Terms is a valuable resource for any aspiring entrepreneur and reminds us that we define success and personal freedom for ourselves. Shann has generously offered an extension on her special pre-sale promotion to the TPE community. For a limited time you can claim an autographed copy of Life on Your Terms and get some kick ass bonuses. To say thanks for ordering your copy, you will immediately receive Shann's special report, Navigating the 4 Stages of Transition as well as an MP3 recording of her Navigating the 4 Stages of Transition Teleclass.

Life On Your Terms

Compiled by Mike Michalowicz, Author of The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur

In this video, Mike explains how to turn your existing 401K into a business loan.

Another video by Mike Michalowicz, Author of The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur

Compiled by Mike Michalowicz, Author of The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur

Here is an excerpt from an email I received last week:  “Mike, you are an asshole. Anyone who calls themselves a toilet paper anything is an idiot.  I would never do business with you if you were the last sub-human being on earth.”

Ouch.  This guy clearly does not like me.  He hates my brand.  He hates what I stand for, and that is a good thing.

When your brand stirs up strong emotion it means it is working. It means your brand is significant enough for someone to take notice and speak up.

Of course you want (and need) people to love you, but you also need the haters. It is the yin and yang of brand exposure. 

Hatred for your brand means you have absolute clarity on what you stand for.  The haters simply stand for something else, and therefore rage against you. 

Of course there will be just as many people who love you because you are speaking to their beliefs.  Better yet, they will be emboldened and entrenched when you come under attack from the haters.

McDonalds is hated by many, and as a result they dominate.  President Obama has an overwhelming number of vocal haters, yet his supporters are more entrenched then ever.  Me?  I’m hated too and loving every minute of it.

By Mike Michalowicz, Author of The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur

No pictures, not much text.  Just 55 seconds until you know how to reward employees!

1. Let Them Decide Their Reward

Many times we give rewards similar to what we want, not what the recipient wants.  Find out what hobbies they have,sports they like and let them pick a reward from that category.

2. Give Them Decision-Making Power

Empowerment is one of the best rewards a person can receive.  Whatever the job is they are doing well, find a way to allow them a budget and make financial decisions.

3. Make It Experiential

Instead of giving a watch, or flowers give them an experience.  Hang gliding, a spa treatment or racing a car wont soon be forgotten.

4. All In The Family

Send flowers, a thank you card, a fruit basket or all of the above to their house addressed to the family.  This will make the  reward much more special and give everyone something to talk about over dinner.

5. Social Media Thanks

  Put a post on Facebook, Twitter or your website and let people know that your employee in accounting just saved you a cool grand and she deserves to be thanked.

By Mike Michalowicz, Author of The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur

Compiled by Mike Michalowicz, Author of The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur

Compiled by Mike Michalowicz, Author of The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur

It’s all about watching trends, but not that way you have been taught. 

 Most entrepreneurs who try to identify new niche markets to sell to simply watch the trend reports on what is becoming popular and then move into that niche.  But since all of the competition is doing the same thing, the newest, latest, greatest trends become saturated with competition over night.

There is a better way… a TPE way, of course.  The trick is called the “Non- Method”.  To use this method you must still watch the trends, but when you see a trend you must ask a new question. 

 Who is being ignored by this newest trend? 

In other words who is the group that is not included?  If moms are the new trend, that means non-moms are being ignored.  If the new trend is high top sneakers, then non-high top sneakers are being ignored.

 The ignored groups are ultimately the next group to become the hot trend.  Your job is to jump on the non-groups now and build a foundation, all while your competitors fight over the current non-non-stuff.  You know what I mean.

By Mike Michalowicz, Author of The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur

No pictures, not much text.  Just 55 seconds until you know how to brand your business!

1. Think Before You Automate

This may sound obvious but before deciding the process for automizing a task, ask yourself, "Is the process is even worth automating? If you can get rid of it, don't automate it.

2. Define Every Detail

Create a very specific guideline for what you want accomplished.  Make sure it can be measured accurately and clearly in order to later decide if it isn't being completed correctly.

3. Create A Timeline

Every task must have some sort of deadline associated with it.  Calculate how long it takes you to do, based upon the task create a reasonable deadline for each.

4. Time Wasters

For two weeks keep track of your tasks that take the most time and generate the least revenue towards your business.  If they are essential, outsource them, if not…say Goodbye!

5. Reliable Or Wreckless

Make sure your service or company doing your work is reputable.  Its your name on the line, and your secure information.  Get references,check security measures and always make sure what your being charged for is what your getting.

By Mike Michalowicz, Author of The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur

Compiled by Mike Michalowicz, Author of The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur

In this video, Mike describes how to get people interested in what you have and keep their appetite whet!

Another video by Mike Michalowicz, Author of The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur

In this video, Mike shows you how to open a beer bottle, with a wedding ring!.

Another video by Mike Michalowicz, Author of The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur

I used to think I could create entrepreneurs. Like my own personal Frankensteins. I would take them into my lab and give them all the pieces they needed (tools, tips, strategies), then jolt them with electricity (motivation) and release them into the wild. Hopefully they didn't run around and scare the townsfolk, or get chased by mobs with pitchforks and torches.

The problem was, most of my experiments ended up returning to the lab a few months later. Failure. So the questions are… Can you make an entrepreneur? Or are they just born that way? In my experience, it's almost impossible to create an entrepreneur… from somebody who truly doesn't want to be one.

Like everything in life, you can't force people to be something they're not. You can't put a square peg in a round hole, and you can't take someone doesn't have the "go, go, go" mentality and turn them into an entrepreneur overnight, or at all?

The biggest reason these lab experiments have failed is because the people I have consulted were lying to me. They told me they wanted to work for themselves. They told me they hated their boss. They told me they would welcome hard work. But when push came to shove, they didn't put in the effort.

Why? Because being an entrepreneur is not like having a "regular" job. You don't always get a steady paycheck. In fact, sometimes you could go months or years without one.

You don't get to work between 9-5 then take the night off. In fact, every entrepreneur I know works harder and longer than a 9-5 person. You don't have the support of a team of other employees. In fact, at first it's usually just you, in your home office all by yourself with nobody to help you out. Frankenstein could have started a franchise of scaring the crap out of people if he had the drive, and the brains. The good news for you is that you have the brains. But do you have the drive?

So, TPE community. Can you make an entrepreneur out of someone who doesn't want to be one?

By Jim Kukral, Author of Attention! This Book Will Make You Money

For over 15-years, Jim Kukral has helped small businesses and large companies like Fedex, Sherwin Williams, Ernst & Young and Progressive Auto Insurance understand how find success on the Web. As well as a professional speaker, blogger and Web business consultant.  Find out more by visiting www.JimKukral.Com

You can also follow Jim on Twitter @JimKukral

Want to keep you employees motivated?  Here is the stuff you already know: Pay them well.  Give them praise.  Challenge them.  Reward progress. Bla. Bla. Bla.

 I am not suggesting that stuff doesn’t work.  It surely does.  The thing is, any good entrepreneur will follow that advice.  But, I don’t want you to be a good entrepreneur who simply follows, I want you to be a great entrepreneur who leads!  When it comes to motivating entrepreneurs, here is a method I have used that blows peoples minds and turns motivation into a level of undying loyalty that is rarely experienced.

 First, I do all the above stuff. It is important and it is habitual, but then I turn it up.  The trick is in recognizing the employee’s spouse.  Yep!  The better half.  They have tons of influence over your employee’s motivation. 

 Could you imagine every morning, your employee heads to work, while the spouse barks out “How much longer are you going to work for that jerk?”  What do you think that does for motivation?  Exactly, it destroys it.

 But now imagine every morning your employee hearing “I can’t believe how lucky you are to being working at that company! Have another great day!!!” as they rolled out of the driveway.  That surely motivates employees and gets them jazzed up about your company.

 So start rewarding the spouse, for God’s sake.  Send them a card on their birthday. Send a gift on their anniversary.  Or how about this one… send them a $100 “bonus” with a note saying how much you appreciate their support for their spouse.   That will blow their minds. And the motivation you see from your employee will blow yours!

By Mike Michalowicz, Author of The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur

No pictures, not much text.  Just 55 seconds until you know how to brand your business!

1. Know Your Values

You have to know your values and where you stand, then build the brand around those values and NEVER compromise them.

2. Find A Baby Niche'

The smaller the niche' market, the easier to identify with the consumer and build loyalty among the group.

3. Save The Best Word For Last

DO NOT…I repeat, DO NOT use terms that are already used in your industry in advertisements or brand merchandise. Use terms from other industries or words that your competitors would NEVER use.

4. Repetition,Repetition,Repetition

Consistency is the key to any effective brand. Show your customers over and over you will have the same result and deliver based on your product and values.

5. Value Added= Differentiation

Instead of trying to make you look better than the competitors, focus on adding extra value to your product or service. Where is the pain? What could make this extraordinary? This way you let the brand speak for itself.

By Mike Michalowicz, Author of The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur

Compiled by Mike Michalowicz, Author of The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur

In this video, Mike tells you how to introduce children to entrepreneurship and learn the basics of business. Here is a hint…don't tell them to do it the way that you did!

Another video by Mike Michalowicz, Author of The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur

Compiled by Mike Michalowicz, Author of The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur

When should you sell your business?  At face value, the answer seems so obvious:  the moment you can make the most money.  But, as in all parts of life, it isn’t that simple.

Ultimately, you will never know the best day to choose. Many factors come into play, such as market trends, buyer desire, and those sticky little details like your profitability.  But, as of this moment there are two things you can know for sure.  You know what day today is, and you can choose the Drop Dead Date.

Every day you are another day older.  If you have a dream of retiring rather than being entrepreneur to the grave, you need to pick a Drop Dead Date.  Do this by writing down the very last date on the calendar that you are committed to selling your business.  This is your absolute, stick a needle in your eye, swear on your soul, commitment to the day you will no longer be with the business.  This promise is so great, that you must agree that even if you can’t get a single $1 for the company that day, you will still walk away.

Once you know the Drop Dead Date, you need to start working on the selling of the company about three to five years in advance. I know that is a lot of time… but you need it. You must have clean financials, clear out your debt, show positive growth trends, and be the leader in your niche.  You need to identify likely buying candidates and start showing a little leg, if you know what I mean.  And you surely need to find a broker to facilitate the sale.

The Drop Dead Date ensures that selling your business isn’t a knee jerk reaction.  It forces a clear path to the biggest financial windfall of your life. 

By Mike Michalowicz, Author of The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur

Compiled by Mike Michalowicz, Author of The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur