In early 2008, the Forbes Rich List noted that two people had amassed a personal fortune exceeding that of Bill Gates, the long-term head of the list. One of those men was Carlos Slim Helu. The entrepreneur made it to number two with $68 billion as a result of his amazing business acumen and his impressive list of achievements, thus making him the richest man in Latin America. His extensive business record literally speaks for itself and, as such, he can provide an excellent blueprint for young aspiring entrepreneur to follow. Luck, it seems, has nothing to do with it!

The Young Slim

Carlos Slim Helu was born in Mexico City on January 28, 1940. His father had previously moved to the area from Lebanon but displayed an amazing determination to succeed in the land that he had decided to call home. Not long after heading over to Mexico, Julian Slim opened La Estrella del Oriente, which was a dry goods store. It was relatively successful and allowed him to bring his family up in comfort. With the proceeds of the store, Slim went on to invest in real estate and found himself doing better than he ever believed that he could. Carlos Slim Helu certainly had an inspirational role model to look up to, which may explain why he was determined to do well in business.

Aside from these humble beginnings, very little is known about the childhood of Carlos Slim Helu. The entrepreneur was relatively sheltered. However, he did enjoy a great education at the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico. He graduated with a degree in engineering and found that he had a talent for understanding complex technology. This was later used to establish his niche in the telecom industry.

Grupo Carso

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Today, many men and women use safety razors to get rid of excess hair on their bodies but just under a hundred years ago that was just not possible. Blades were forged and extremely dangerous to use if you were not skilled enough. However, one man effectively revolutionized modern grooming techniques - King Gillette. Without King Gillette’s vision and drive to market his unique and innovative ideas, we may still be living in the grooming dark ages. As such, the entrepreneur can certainly be held as an example of how forward thinking is a firm foundation for a business.

The Young Gillette

King Camp Gillette was born in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin on January 5, 1855. Little is known about his early childhood, other than the fact that he moved to Chicago with his family while he was still a young child. He was definitely there by 1871 because the Great Chicago Fire decimated his family’s business that very year. The young entrepreneur was forced to work as a result of the fire as he needed to support his family.

King Gillette’s first job was as a traveling salesman but he viewed that for what it was - a stop gap until he had an idea and the resources to ensure that nothing would ever put his family’s livelihood in jeopardy again. It was during this time that he noticed the amount of maintenance his grooming tools needed. Continuously replacing his expensive razor blade was time consuming and troublesome. After realizing that this was the case, the entrepreneur had the idea to make it a whole lot easier to shave.

An Entrepreneur Is Born

Gillette soon formulated a plan to replace the old style razors. He wanted to make them more affordable for the common man but reap high profits in the process, and the entrepreneur did just that. The blade itself was simply a thin sheet of steel and was incredibly cheap to mass-produce.

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Rising food and fuel prices, unprecedented home foreclosures and a decline in the value of the U.S. dollar are current causes of consternation for economists and consumers alike. Business owners, too, are concerned about what declines in profitability may be in store. While some of the greatest minds continue to debate the length and depth of a recession, this much is apparent to me: Business owners need not give in to a negative economic mindset. Rather, by taking proactive measures now they can secure a more profitable future for their company, both in the short- and long-term.
 

Start with your staff
One of the most effective tools for determining an employee’s worth is the time-proven “to do” list. This is particularly true for support personnel, who often operate with minimal oversight. Have each support employee submit a “to do” list on Monday, followed by a status report on Friday. Use these lists to balance the workload between under- and over-tasked employees, and identify unnecessary job positions.

Cross-train your employees
Lessen the impact an absent employee has on your day-to-day operations by cross-training employees. Most workers welcome such an opportunity as it makes them feel valued by their current employer and more marketable to future employers.

Revisit your choice of vendors
Make sure you are purchasing competitively priced products or services from your vendors. Conduct on-line price comparisons and visit with potential replacement vendors. Don’t be afraid to ask current vendors for better deals via rebates, special offers, alternative products and locked-in rates.

Bring whatever tasks you can in-house
Compile a list of tasks currently being outsourced and decide if you can bring any of them in-house.

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When you became a manager, there’s a good chance that you didn’t realize that providing employee training would become a major portion of your job. However, it’s a fact that teaching is an essential function of every managerial job. When you’re in charge of managing and motivating other workers – no matter how small or large your team may be – training is something that you’re going to have to do on a regular basis.

Providing training to employees is a very specific skill, and it’s one that many managers don’t realize they need to have. Sharing information and teaching people how to perform tasks are two very different things. When you are providing training to team members, you have to focus on conveying information to them in a manner that is motivating and that will enable them to truly understand what you are saying so they will be able to transfer that knowledge to on-the-job performance.

3 Keys to Effective Employee Training

1. Recognize Your Training Responsibilities
Too many mangers think that employee training is “someone else’s job”. Even if your company has someone in charge of training, those who hold supervisory roles bear responsibility when it comes to employee training and development. If you want to lead a peak performing team, you must be prepared to coach and train your team members to excel.

Managers at every organizational level are responsible for making sure that the employees on their teams have the skills needed to perform the work required. Accomplishing this managerial duty involves providing effective training to team members about company polices and procedures and industry standards, as well as recognizing the need for skill-based training and making sure that it is available to employees who need it.

2.

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Material possessions seem to be everything today – the house, the car, the clothes, the gadgets and so on, so it is in every entrepreneur’s best interests to tap into that whenever possible. It is how most people actually make their money so all of the above industries make fantastic investment opportunities, none more so that the car dealership for sale. There is any number of car dealership types, from the used car lot that appeals to everyone, regardless of their income, because it has something for everyone, to the Porsche or Ferrari car dealership for sale that appeals to those affluent enough to want a status symbol!

Unlike other businesses that are available on the open market today, the car dealership is special. You are making a massive investment that can earn you thousands of dollars every single week let alone every year, as long as you can make it work. There are plenty of car dealerships for sale on the Internet and in business magazines so it is just a matter of finding the right one for you!

Profitability
The profitability of the individual car dealership for sale is perhaps one of the first things you should look at when considering your options to buy a car dealership because they are often so expensive to buy to begin with. You are looking at in excess of $500,000 for a decent car dealership with a good reputation and a decent level of stock. Of course, you will be buying all of the cars currently within the lot.

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Buying a franchise is undoubtedly an excellent way to get your first taste of business and a first chance to get your foot on the entrepreneurial ladder. Getting a start in business can be the hardest thing to do if you are at a loss as to where to begin or just do not have the means of setting up your own business without a little backing. As such, a franchise is a great place to start.

A franchise is effectively a big company with an established brand that has been expanded by budding entrepreneurs. A franchisor is the business in question and the franchisee is the budding businessperson that takes on a sector of that franchise. Subway is a great example of a successful franchise, although the franchise available to you may be a food company or a retail outlet or any other form of store. You will choose from those available and then meet the prospective franchisor to discuss your prospects further. The franchisor would want to know whether you are able to make a success of your opportunity, and you should have peace of mind that buying into the franchise is in your best interests.

As such, the first meeting is a big deal. It is important that you make a good impression but obtain peace of mind, and so the tips below may help you when you meet a prospective franchisor:

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Steve Jobs is not really a household name, unlike his counterparts in the Information Technology industry. However, that is not to say that one cannot learn entrepreneurial skills from scrutinising his work because it is entirely possible to do so. In fact, despite his relative lack of fame, the achievements and investments that this entrepreneur has in his portfolio are nothing short of amazing.

Who Is Steve Jobs?

Steve Jobs was born in San Francisco in 1955 and had a pretty unspectacular early life. He did fairly well at school but only lasted one semester at Reed College in Portland, Oregon. He had no interest in studying, only in computers. His love of computer technology came from the Hewlett-Packard Company headquarters in Palo Alto, literally! He attended lectures after school there on a regular basis, even working there in the summer with friend Steve Wozniak.

In 1974, Jobs began to work for Atari before backpacking in India for some time. When he returned to Atari, Jobs was asked to create a circuit board. He asked Steve Wozniak to help out and a great partnership was born.

The Apple Years

The first years after the creation of Apple in 1976, were a little rough for the entrepreneur. Wozniak largely took care of the internal components of the Apple computer but Jobs was responsible for the business side of the operation. The entrepreneur’s business sense was amazing considering his lack of experience. This was to become invaluable when Apple introduced the Macintosh in 1984. It was a huge success but Jobs was forced to leave the company two years later by CEO John Sculley after a series of rows that left Apple going in the wrong direction.

Steve Jobs branched out on his own and formed NeXT Computer.

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Reputation in business is everything. It helps you build trust and credibility with your customers and contacts; it can help persuade someone to buy from you if they’re not sure and it’s also far easier to raise your prices if people perceive you as an expert.

Building your reputation is one of the most important things you can do in your marketing. There’s nothing more powerful than this – I’d much rather buy from someone who looked as though they knew what they were doing. Wouldn’t you?

So, if it’s that important, how do you go about doing this?

Well, there are lots of ways you can build your reputation as an expert in your field. Here’s just a few – I’m sure you’ll be able to think of other things you can do too:

1. Speaking on the radio
2. Commenting on a subject in the press
3. Speaking at an event or a conference
4. Having a letter that you sent to a newspaper or magazine published
5. Being associated with a major organisation
6. Participating in on-line forums
7. Entering awards
8. Being seen on your local television news
9. Writing and publishing articles
10. Having a regular column either in the press or on-line
11. Writing a blog or contributing to the blogs of others
12. Writing e-books, reports and tips sheets
13. Holding an event and giving a demonstration
14. Being an expert on a talk show (go on, be brave!)
15. Write and publish a book

I know not all of these ideas will appeal to you, but if any of them do, go out there and give them a go. The more you concentrate on building your reputation, the more people will perceive you as an expert – and that can’t be a bad thing at all.

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