Ahabwe Collins

___You and your brand. When I launched my first business in 1996, I didn’t really know that much about marketing. As I mentioned in my first post in this series, I first learnt to "sell" when I was only eight years old. Remember my story about selling sweets to my school friends? People bought from me because they knew me and, of course, I was selling something I knew that they wanted! It’s possible to run a very successful business short-term, even if you don’t know anything about marketing. You can sell, sell, and sell. But if you want to run a really profitable business, you must understand the importance of marketing, which involves many steps. Confused? It only means I have gained your attention. Now let's talk! # Sales and marketing are not the same thing, but they go hand in hand. # Advertising and marketing are not the same thing. Advertising is simply one of the tools we use in marketing. # It's important to develop a brand. In the end, the most...

1.You don't have thick skin.   It seems that as soon as you announce you are starting a business every one is an expert in starting a business. Not everyone will love your idea or product, and they won't be afraid to tell you. I'm not saying you shouldn't listen to criticism, but you have to be able to take the punches and not take everything personally. 2.You don't like being "connected." As an entrepreneur, there really isn't such a thing as "disconnecting" from the world, not in the beginning anyway. You'll be living and breathing your new company while trying to educate everyone about your business. You'll be constantly thinking about how to improve things, reduce costs, and sell more. There is no such thing as a 9-to-5 work schedule when you're an entrepreneur. 3.You need to be praised for your efforts. If you're an employee, you're probably used to getting constant feedback about your performance, task and ...

The greatest entrepreneur speech ever: “Today I want to tell you three stories from my life. That’s it. No big deal. Just three stories. The first story is about connecting the dots. I dropped out of Reed College after the first 6 months, but then stayed around as a drop-in for another 18 months or so before I really quit. So why did I drop out? It started before I was born. My biological mother was a young, unwed college graduate student, and she decided to put me up for adoption. She felt very strongly that I should be adopted by college graduates, so everything was all set for me to be adopted at birth by a lawyer and his wife. Except that when I popped out they decided at the last minute that they really wanted a girl. So my parents, who were on a waiting list, got a call in the middle of the night asking: “We have an unexpected baby boy; do you want him?” They said: “Of course.” My biological mother later found out that my mother had never graduated from college and...

Sam Madden Co-founder of PocketSuite Sam Madden is co-founder of  PocketSuite , a mobile business management app helping self-employed professionals get paid.  More people are starting new businesses than ever before. That’s not because all of a sudden this year more folks have better ideas than in years past. It’s because the barriers to creating a new business have never been lower. Technology has broken down the walls and empowered anyone to start a business of any kind. Flexibility, cost and mobility have created a solid foundation for entrepreneurship to continue growing in the years to come. Here are three key reasons anyone can become an entrepreneur.

What does the chaos in your life, and the rising chaos in our world, have in common with this article from Scientific American? The story of how a caterpillar becomes a butterfly: “As children, many of us learn about the wondrous process by which a caterpillar morphs into a butterfly. The story usually begins with a very hungry caterpillar hatching from an egg.” “The caterpillar, or what is more scientifically termed a larva, stuffs itself with leaves, growing plumper and lo nger through a series of molts in which it sheds its skin. One day, the caterpillar stops eating, hangs upside down from a twig or leaf and spins itself a silky cocoon or molts into a shiny chrysalis.”

___Seize the moment when it’s offered. Over the past few years, I’ve talked to you a lot about the most important skills in business. First and foremost - the capacity to READ. Second, and completely essential: the ability to work in numbers (data). Now in the current series we’re looking at the third most important: Every entrepreneur must be a good salesperson! Some of you have pointed out that if an entrepreneur doesn’t have the ability to sell and market, no matter what other skills he or she might have, the business will sooner or later be doomed. Sadly, it’s really true. You must never be fearful or shy or apologetic about selling. Let’s recap this series so far: Part 1) Intro: Every entrepreneur must be a good salesperson; Part 2) Presentation is extremely important: Always present with passion and excellence; Part 3) Study to show yourself approved: Accounting, finance, economics, sales and marketing are the foundational skills for any entrepreneur.

Do you believe in luck? Here’s the incredible story of 34-year old William Tanuwijaya, who has created Indonesia’s first Billion dollar ‘Unicorn’, and the lucky set of coincidences that led to him raising $100 million when he most needed it… When he became a teenager, Williams’ father sent him on a one way ticket from Sumatra to Jakarta with the family’s savings, hoping he’d end up with a better life. William enrolled in a college and for three years worked 12 hour night shifts in an Internet cafe to pay for his tuition. Using his nights exploring the Internet, he got inspired to start his company, Tokopedia, as the first online marketplace for Indonesia in 2009.

#1 - Vision: Being an entrepreneur is not being a follower. Be curious. Act first. #2 - Confidence: Being an entrepreneur is an ongoing dance between confidence and paranoia. #3 - Team Spirit: Collect a team who can do what you cannot do, beyond your skills. #4 - Risk-taking: Take risks that will steer you, and avoid the risks that will sink you. #5 - Fearless of Failure: Only by learning through your failures can you reach success. #6 - Ability to Learn: Your learning curve is up to you. Every moment is a learning opportunity.

__Study to show yourself approved. There is more to sales and marketing than simply putting an advert in a newspaper or on social media. Sales and marketing is a professional discipline just like engineering or accounting. You must be conscious of the need to acquire some deeper academic understanding of this subject if you want to run a successful business or be a top executive. You know by now that I don't believe in experience which is not supported by continuous study and scholarship. Although I had a passion for selling, my own professional training was in electrical engineering which I studied at university. I also majored in economics. When I decided to go into business, I focused my studies in finance and accounting, as well as in sales and marketing. These days if you have a degree you can study things like an MBA if you want to get into finance, accounting, sales and marketing. But even if you didn’t get to university, there are diplomas you can stud...