Monthly Archives: January 2015

My blog audience wants to be stimulated, not lectured

January 15, 2015 by 123outsource
Categories: Social Media | Leave a comment

There are lots of blog articles out there, and most don’t get much attention. This is for various reasons. Some are on blogs that are virtually unknown. Others are just too boring, while many are too serious. Most people who read blogs are not scholars and are not reading blogs to learn. Consequently, most blogs out there are not that intellectual (except for Harvard Business Review and the New York Times.) The main thing to understand as a blogger is that you need to really learn your audience and become an expert at what they like to read about. Since you will write thousands of blog articles in your career and each one is different, it is hard to know which theme and variations they will like — but, studying your audience will help you refine this ability.

The main thing I learned on Twitter is not to give advice, especially not nagging dentist type advice. People don’t want to know what they should be doing. They want interesting facts that are presented in a fun way. People don’t want to know what they are doing wrong in their business. They want fun things that can help them do better.

I always have advice for Indian outsourcing companies. To date, I have not seen more than a few outsourcers in India who answer the phone professionally. If I were a client, I wouldn’t hire someone who has a receptionist who doesn’t communicate properly. I tell them they are losing business, but they don’t want to listen. People don’t want to know about what bad habits that they have that lose them business. They want quick and fun tips to get more business. Of course in real life, they will lose all of their leads once the leads talk to their receptionist — but, I can’t control that especially if nobody listens to my best advice.

So, my best advice goes completely to waste, but my jokes and fun tips are appreciated. The main thing is to stimulate, entertain, interact and have fun on social media. Don’t take social too seriously as it is not normally used that way. If you want a formal education buy a text book and if you want a serious consultation hire a consultant.

There are no perfect times to start a business. But, here are the signs.

January 15, 2015 by 123outsource
Categories: Startups | Leave a comment

A Hindu point of view
Some people want to wait for a perfect time to start a business. I will approach this dilemma from a Hindu point of view. Westerners see history as progressive going from simplicity to an evolved state. Hindus see history as being cyclical. Hindus think that in ancient times there was technology that exceeds the technology of today. Apparantly their literature has information that Western literature does not. My point here is that there are times in an industry where there are booms and easy money. There are also lean parts of the cycle where it is harder to survive.

Boom or bust?
If you are an idiot who starts their business during a boom, you might be able to get a foot in the door where you otherwise would not be able to. But, when the bust comes, will you know how to survive? Conversely, if you start your empire during a bust, and learn the ropes, when things start doing better you might make a fortune that exceeds what you could have made if you had started in good times. If you perfect your skills in business, then when good times come, you can really milk it for what it is worth.

A slowly rising tide
Another thing I should note is that starting a business in a field that is slowly declining is a very bad idea. There are cycles in the business world. Real Estate has an 18 year cycle. But, there are other cycles like the industrial cycle. Industry got started in the 1600’s, hit its peak in the 1800’s, and then died down in America in the 1900’s to be replaced by technology. If you trying to start a traditional manufacturing business in 2015, you might have trouble. But, what if you were an expert at robotics and incorporated that knowledge into manufacturing? You might have a winner. Or bettter yet, what if you did consulting to help other people with money use robots for their manufacturing? That might be even better as it would require less capital to get started.

Mastering what is new
I started online directories around 1999. I didn’t know much about technology, but was determined to master the art. Sixteen years later I am still struggling to figure it all out. But, I was forced to learn a lot of brand new skills. I had to learn the basics of SEO which was not easy as I didn’t have a clue. However, I had a great teacher, so I learned what I needed to learn. Next, I had to learn blogging and social media. This took me much longer even thought it was not very technical. It took me six years to get a handle on social media. But, the success of my business wouldn’t exist without having an edge using Facebook, Twitter, and Blogs. So, perhaps it is not about when you should start your business, but more about what you should decide to learn about in 2015.

Here is what is hot in 2015
Crowdsourcing, Mobile Applications, Facebook, mastering newer social networks, creating your own social network (risky, but could have a huge return,) medical technology, robotics, marketing networking such as Amazon, nd last but not least — mastering the art of managing millenials! (sorry for the joke that is really a non-joke.)
Putting aside what your love is, becoming an expert at what is hot and growing could help you become very successful in the future. Even if you don’t love social media, it could help to promote something that you do love. If you love the beaches of Thailand, your Facebook account could get you millions of clicks to your blog about Phuket. If you love widgets, understanding crowdsourcing might help you market your widgets more effectively. Although these new skills may not be applicable to a business like a grocery store, the skills you learn will cross-apply in many ways you are not even thinking of. So, gain some new skills today, and good luck with your business — whenever you decide to start it.

How do you handle your business when times are lean?

January 14, 2015 by 123outsource
Categories: Management | Leave a comment

In business, we all dream about boom times where even a new guy can make it big and quick. But, in real life, success in business depends on how you handle the lean times. Lean times are times when labor is not readily available, or when customers are hard to come by. Do you learn more efficient ways of retaining customers? Do you find ways to give your customer better service or a better deal? Do you find better ways of attracting talent?

In my personal business, I think I learned a lot more when times were tough. In my Notary directory career, I started in a boom time. Everyone made money without even trying. As a result, I didn’t learn the maximally efficient ways to get clients, or what the best pricing strategy was. As I went along, and business was rough, I got more and more intricate and complicated in my pricing strategy by really taking a closer look. I also learned that having a successful directory depends on having great listings. If you have a bad service provider, even if the listing looks good on cyber-paper, it will still be a bad listing. So, I learned to be good at assessing people’s personality, their work, and other factors using analytics and click tracking. The result of all of the things I learned was that I now know how to run a much better directory than I did seven years ago, and I am getting four times the traffic as well! But, the point I’m trying to make is that my best learning took place when business was horrible.

So, when business is bad, don’t cry. Don’t say, “if only the market would pick up.” Learn to create the right strategies for different market conditions and just ride whatever wave you are on!

Geting more clickers on your site, a humorous look at analytics

January 14, 2015 by 123outsource
Categories: Analytics | Tagged | Leave a comment

If you run a website, you want more clicks, or clickers. If lots of people visit your site every day, this is a positive state of affairs. It is good when you get new people visiting your site regularly, and keep the old ones coming back. Not all clicks are alike as some people spend a long time reading your content while others just come for a few seconds and then bounce along to their next destination. Ideally, a certain amount of clicks translates loosely into a conversion, so try to keep track of how many clicks results in a conversion and click on what pages, or from what social media channels. Putting conversions aside, if someone visits your site, spends a few minutes, and visits a handful of pages, that could translate into being considered a very high quality click, while clicks that only last a few seconds browsing might make your stats appealing to you, but are generally useless by Google’s standards and are almost completely useless in real life.

Of course, down South, black people call us whites crackers as whites in the 1800’s used to crack the whip to get slaves to work faster. So, if you get clicks from down South, your clickers will be crackers. But, I apologize for my humor and am sorry to have made a crack about clicks.

But, I have a joke.

Did you hear about the boxing match between a South African Xhosa, and a Southern Redneck?

The match was entitled: The Cracker vs. the Clicker.

Teaching experience is an excellent background to work in a BPO

January 14, 2015 by 123outsource
Categories: Management | Leave a comment

You might be thinking that teaching is academic and working at a BPO outsourcing house is business. What could the two possibly have in common? More than you think. As a business person, you need to do a lot of learning and teaching. You need to research your market, research and compare methodologies for many aspects of your business. You also need to teach new workers how to do their job. If you are experienced at teaching, you will be more patient, attentive and able to teach newbies how to do their job.

The other benefit of a teaching background is that teaching puts you in contract with under average people. If you are from an educated background, you might have limited experience dealing with or working with under-achievers. However, as a business owner or manager, most of the people you deal with will be under-achievers — and a few low-lives too! You need to know how to bring the best out of very mediocre people. It isn’t easy or fun either. But, most people will slack off unless you know how to manage them well. Being a teacher is the same as being a manager, after all, you are managing twenty-four people’s learning. Being on top of things and on top of a room full of people is similar to running a business. So, if you want to do well in BPO, try to do some teaching, or hire a teacher to assist you. Just try to get them to dress a little better than the average teacher.

There are millions out of work in Italy, Turkey & Spain, but a labor shortage here.

January 14, 2015 by 123outsource
Categories: Of Interest | Tagged | Leave a comment

In America, you can look at the statistics about unemployment, but those are deceiving. I don’t put too much faith in numbers tabulated by some “experts.” I prefer to look at reality. It is almost impossible for me to get people in America to do anything. There is always sluggishness, arguments, and stupidity. When I talk to my Italian friends (relatively new arrivals) they claim that Americans have the best work ethic they have seen in their lives — much better than Italy in their opinion. Perhaps it is the type of people in America who would stoop to work for the likes of me. No matter how well I pay, it is not good enough. People here who I come into contact with are either incompetent, mentally somewhat ill, or just plain don’t want to cooperate. That includes people who work for others who I do business with as well. India is somewhat better with work ethic, although competency in BPO companies is so low that I shudder to think of anyone actually hiring one — any one.

But, in Spain, Italy, Somalia, Turkey, and so many other countries, unemployment is sky high. The countries doing outsourcing like India and the Philippines seem to be at all time lows. For whatever reasons, they have jobs. No wonder it is hard to get them to even return emails for outsourcing gigs. I’m coming to the conclusion that unemployment might be a good thing. At least people have some incentive to get back to you and at least try.

Southern Europe don’t seem to be facing any huge political turmoil. Sure, there are the usual strikes and demonstrations, but they are not going to have a coup d’etat anytime soon. They don’t have rebel forces fighting for control assuming you don’t count the recent Syrian imports in that statistic. Why is their unemployment so high? And isn’t it possible that the rest of Europe or America could find a way to employ them?

Somalia is a much more difficult case. They have a war-torn country and it is not safe to do business there. But, what if a big corporation bought some land and had their own mini-army to protect their investment? That seems to be the only way to do business out in the wild.

Personally, these countries with high unemployment need to get into outsourcing. That is a sure-fire way to reduce unemployment to about 6%. It worked for India and Manila, it can work for Spain too. They will need to have good English skills and other technical skills. But, if India can do it, Spain can do it too. After all, Spain is more culturally similar to the countries doing the buying than India.

On hold vs. a Call Back Feature

January 14, 2015 by admin
Categories: Call Center | Leave a comment

Do you run a call center? Do you sometimes experience unusually high call volume? Every time I call for support I get unusually high call volume which makes me think that it is not so unusual. If you have fewer reps, they will be sitting around with nothing to do.

But, it might be easier for the customer to request a call back. Of course, you never know if and when the call back will happen. It’s better than being on hold for forty-five minutes. Your reps might like it better as that relieves the pressure of answering call after call without taking breaks and recollecting.

So, is it worth it? Think about it!

What about a business simulation game?

January 13, 2015 by 123outsource
Categories: Of Interest | Leave a comment

Maybe this shouldn’t be a game! There are flight simulators, virtual reality rides, but why not a business simulation game? I think that young people and aspiring entrepreneurs could learn a lot from a simulation game. There could be different settings. Since I am a fan of bootstrapping, I like the idea of having a setting where you start with millions and lose it all because you don’t know anything! Then, there could be a bootstrapping setting where you grow little by little as you learn the business. It would be even more fun if you get little notices (similar to monopoly cards) of what went wrong and why.

You just lost $3000 because you hired the wrong subcontractor. If you had gone to business school you wouldn’t have made that mistake. Or, you would be out $160,000 and would still have made that mistake!

You chose the wrong office, and your employees want to quit as a result. You should have picked an office with more trees even if it is not on the bus line.

Your habit of jogging helped you have more energy for work and got you a new contact you met in the park who is in financial planning. Congratulations, your investments just netted you an additional $1000. Had you jogged in the adjacent park you would also have met a financial planner — but, one who would have lost you $2000!

You chose a bigger office right when your business was expanding and then you took a dive. You lose $5000 this month. Try using more foresight next month (if there is a next month.)

Sorry, but you have exhausted your million that the venture capitalist gave you. You will not only be unemployed, but sued for negligence. Better luck next time.

In any case, it would be fun if someone could learn something by this game. The more realistic it is, the more fun. What would be even more fun is to base certain versions of the game on 100 real life entrepreneurs who learned by playing hard-ball in the game of life.

If you knew what you were looking for it might come faster than you think

January 13, 2015 by 123outsource
Categories: Of Interest | Leave a comment

Identifying what you want is the half the battle.

We all go through life in a huge hurry. Or at least those who I see. We think about the future, but we are so caught up in what we are doing that we don’t really think clearly. We know what we want, or what we think we want. But, in the long run, what do we really want?

How much time do you spend envisioning where you want your business to be in a few years, or in twenty years? It is hard to see that far ahead. And in real life, there are so many twists and turns on the road to success that what actually happens won’t be remotely like what you plan.

But, by envisioning our long term goals, we can influence what happens. According to yogic philosophy, what you think you become. I think about food, money and God. No wonder I am a fat amateur yogi with cash in the bank. I became what I devoted my thought to. If I would think as intensely about losing weight, I would be a thin amateur yogi with cash in the bank. I would be an expert at where the best places to get Chinese broccoli are in Los Angeles. At nine calories per serving you can’t lose.

Do you run a business? Do you dream about having a larger company with one hundred employees? Think about that daily, and it might happen. Then, when you get your one hundred cranky employees you’ll say, “But, I didn’t envision them being cranky.” Did you bother to think about their mood? Oops. Now, it will take you another ten years of envisioning happy employees. Then in ten years, you’ll realize that your happy employees are idiots. If you would just think about having one hundred smart and happy employees now, then in ten years, your dream will come true (maybe) if you work daily toward your goal. And if not in ten years, then in twenty-five. But, without the thought it will never happen.

The universe doesn’t happen on schedule. Things happen at the speed of nature. It takes nine months for a woman to have a baby. It takes sixty years to get cancer for most people. It takes four years to get through college. How long will it take you to get our one hundred employees? There is no fixed or set schedule. But, keep pressing for business growth and keep the thought in your head.

Meanwhile I have been in business for fifteen years. I have only one full-time worker and six freelancers working for me. I guess I didn’t meditate on having one hundred workers. Maybe that is because I don’t want it. I wonder what I do want. Perhaps this blog article is for me and not for you to benefit from. I’m glad I wrote it. Now, if you’ll excuse me while I ponder what I’ve written.

Wooing the call center client into a false sense of friendship

January 13, 2015 by 123outsource
Categories: Call Center | Leave a comment

Some call center agents are the type you just want to get rid of. But, there are some very personable ones out there. They would be the perfect people to woo your clients into a false sense of friendship. You know those girls who are just so nice that you want to talk to them all day? They are just so caring sometimes too. I bet after twenty minutes of chatting they could talk you into buying anything! I wonder what their conversation might be like.

TINA: Thanks for calling X Enterprises and how are you today?

CLIENT: I’m not bad. How are you.

TINA: It is a nice day today, not too cloudy. Did you have a problem with your computer?

CLIENT: Yes, the pop ups just don’t start.

TINA: Oh, I’m so sorry, pop ups can be annoying. How long has this been going on?

CLIENT: It’s been a few months.

TINA: Let’s use this gotomeeting app and I’ll see what is really going on.

CLIENT: Okay, I’m logged in.

TINA: I have disabled pop ups, and I’m doing a scan for malware. It will take a few minutes. So, in the mean time, what do you use your computer for?

CLIENT: Oh, social media is a lot of fun, and I write to my friends and family. It is for pleasure mostly — pleasure and pop ups.

TINA: that sounds wonderful. I hope you find great articles to read on social media.

CLIENT: I do. Today I read about wine tasting in Croatia as well as malware that comes from China. Very international stuff!

TINA: Well, we have all of that in the Philippines too you know. We have mostly New Zealand wine here though. Sounds like you have a lot of fun on your computer. We have just finished your scan and you had a lot of malware and spyware plus a few viruses. I have your computer all cleaned up — at no charge because you are under warranty.

CLIENT: That’s wonderful — I love you!

TINA: I’m glad you had a good experience with us. You can text me any time. And one more thing?

CLIENT: Name it — anything.

TINA: Would you like to join our car buying information network? An introductary membership is only $12.99.

CLIENT: I love you so much I’ll buy three introductary memberships.

(2 hours later)

CLIENT: (talking to himself) What was I thinking? But, at least I can enjoy my online car network without pop ups.

Outsourcing a Jihadi — a comedy about something not so funny

January 12, 2015 by 123outsource
Categories: Humor | Leave a comment

I take national security very seriously, so this skit is written in jest — Not to poke fun at those in Homeland Security who risk their lives to protect us!

The Hamas boys in Gaza found themselves outgunned and needed some help. A friend had them look around on the internet to see if they could find any helpful information. And, there it was! Outsource a Jihadi, in Gujarat, India. Mohammad and Hani in Gaza called this agency in India to see if they could obtain the services of a mercenary for hire and got more than they bargained for with Suresh.

MOHAMMAD: Okay, now let’s practice. The Israelis are hiding behind that embankment. When they surface, do you know what to do?

SURESH: Yes yes, we went over this in training class. I aim my rifle like this and then fire — “Allah hoo akram!”

HANI: You are saying it WRONG! It is not Allah hoo akram, it is Allahu Akbar. (loudly) “Allah-hu-akbar” (fires gun into the air) Are you even a Muslim?

MOHAMMAD: You dummy, you gave away our position!

(then, our three friends were subjected to a barrage of Israeli fire)

HANI: Okay, follow me. There is a tunnel that will take us to another location where we can fight.

SURESH: Okay, just to clarify, our contract doesn’t stipulate tunnels. And by the way, I am not Muslim, I am Hindu. But, I was trained by Dinesh who is a Jain, who was trained by Muslims.

MOHAMMAD: Contract? Listen, get in the tunnel, dummy, or you’ll get us all killed.

HANI: Okay, now the map says there is an opening around here. We are roughly 400 meters from our original location.

SURESH: Good. Just to let you know, our package deal is 1500 rounds of ammunition for 3000 rupees if you supply the amo with a three month contract, but next month we will be having a 10% off sale. We also have a promotion where you can get 200 backlinks to your website, and 4000 rounds of ammunition for an even better price, and a social media presence on Twitter.

HANI: Is that in the contract?

MOHAMMAD: Now, you are concerned about the contract? Forget the contract, we are fighting a war here.

HANI: So how do I pronounce your name?

SURESH: Well, I used to work at a call center outsourcing company, and went by the name John Smith. But, not that I work for a mercenary outsourcing company, you can call me Abdul-Aziz Hyati.

HANI: I’d prefer to call you Suresh, or Abdul-Aziz “Akram”

SURESH: “Allahu Akram” (bang bang) I just got two of them. You see, that guy on the left, and that other character in the middle?

HANI: You are still saying it WRONG! It is…

MOHAMMAD: Hani, he just got two enemy guys. Listen Suresh, you can say it anyway you like. Allahu Akram, Allahu Bok Choi, Allahu hino… whatever you like!

HANI: What is bok choi?

MOHAMMAD: It is some Chinese vegetable I think. I read about it online…

(bang bang… our friends are subjected to heavy shelling)

SURESH: “Areh Krishna!!!” (bang bang) I just got three more, and the others are running for cover.

HANI: Why is it that when he shoots he hits his target and I always miss?

SURESH: We received professional training using sophisticated simulation equipment. Here would you like to see the business card of our school?

MOHAMMAD: Don’t drop that here. It contains the address of your school. The Israelis will destroy the entire neighborhood if they find out.

SURESH: By the way, my buddy Dinesh, he has also been hired. He was deployed in Ashkelon. That is in Iraq, right?

HANI: No, that is twenty miles north of our exact location and he will be killing you and me in the next 48 hours. What the hell type of agency is this? You fight for both sides?

SURESH: Well, you see the contract says that…

MOHAMMAD: ENOUGH of the contract… The contract this… the contract that … “khullus!” (meaning enough)

HANI: Well, let’s celebrate, Suresh got five of them.

SURESH: Yay!!!! (throw his hands in the air and hits his finger on a metal bar) OUCH!!! Oh no, I’m injured. The contract says that if I am injured I must get immediate medical attention and get 20% extra pay.

MOHAMMAD: The contract again? Listen, all of our hospitals have either been bombed, or are overloaded. The only large intact hospital is 20 km from here and when they catch you at the checkpoint they will kill you for sure. Additionally, it is overloaded with people who have lots arms, legs, or have been so disfigured that their own mother wouldn’t be able to recognize them. You just have a sprained finger you numskull!

SURESH: Yes, and it is MOST uncomfortable

HANI: Would you like a massage? I specialize in that.

MOHAMMAD: By the way, what is this, “Areh Krishna” you said?

SURESH: Oh, I was just praying to my God

HANI: YOUR God? You mean there is more than one God now?

SURESH: We have many Gods in India in addition to Allah. Would you like me to educate you about them? I’ll do it even though that is not technicall stipulated in our contract under the terms regarding spiritual education.

MOHAMMAD: He is an infidel. And fighting on OUR side? This is blasphemy. And he is so good at it. How is this all possible. We have more in common with the Jews than with this guy. We both believe in Allah, the god of Abraham or Ibrahim as we call him, but this guy believes in false Gods. Quick. Query the Koran and see what we need to do with this guy.

HANI: It says we are prohibited from associating with him — no matter what.

SURESH: I understand completely. My Brahman friends feel the same way. But, they can cleanse themselves of my unholy Kshetria presence simply be engaging in a Ganga-Snan. A few drops of water from the holy Ganges river will purify you. It is our belief that water purifies everything and that water cannot itself be made to be impure.

HANI: Don’t we put water on people’s graves, is that the same thing?

MOHAMMAD: It doesn’t matter, because putting water on graves is not in the contract.

SURESH: If you are not going to take me to a hospital, then I shall be forced to call headquarters and get airlifted. (ring ring) Hello?

MOHAMMAD: NO!!!! The Israelis will get our coordinates from tracking your satellite phone.

SURESH: I’ll only be fifteen seconds…

(boom…. boom… a heavy sound of shelling.)

SURESH: Oh boy, I should have listened to you. No problem. We’ll just go back into the tunnel network right?

MOHAMMAD: They just bombed all of the entrances to all of our tunnels. We either run West, or we are sitting ducks.

SURESH: Well, for me, I prefer to fight my way out of this situation. And since I already have a sprained finger, I have nothing more to lose at this point in any case! Allahu Akram (bang bang)

This story ends as Mohammad and Hani run into the village behind them. Since the Israelis didn’t know their coordinates as they were running, they were able to make it. Suresh on the other hand, ran directly for Israeli troops. He killed a few more of them. Then, he crossed into Israeli territory, changed into civilian clothing and the Israelis didn’t suspect a thing. After all, his body language was completely Indian, bobbing his head back and forth and speaking with ultra-polite overly emphasized British Grammar.

ISRAELI: What are you doing here?

SURESH: I am lost. I was on a tour of a kibbutz, and then took a very long walk. Then I heard gun-fire and immediately became afraid for my life!

ISRAELI: Don’t you know there’s a war going on here?

SURESH: No, you see, I know, but I like to walk around and got lost. Everything looks the same around here, you know? It is not like my native India where I know the landmarks.

ISRAELI: Well, you are not allowed to be here. You are a security risk.

SURESH: Okay, I’ll leave. But, honestly the definition of what constitutes a security risk…

ISRAELI: Yes?

SURESH: Well, that is not in the contract!

ISRAELI: ENOUGH! Get out of here.

SURESH: Okay. No need to be belligerent. But, one more thing.

ISRAELI: What is it now?

SURESH: Our Gods are better than your Gods!

ISRAELI: Okay… this guy is crazy! (points his finger harshly towards the East!) Go!

Should established companies create startups?

January 12, 2015 by admin
Categories: Startups | Leave a comment

What a great topic! Many larger companies feel that they lack the mentality of companies that start in their garage with some unshaven guy who has superior technological knowledge, an unbreakable spirit, and a dream. Big companies tend to be very stable and slow to adapt. But, with all of the successful startups and technological change, sometimes traditional thinking doesn’t win the game.

So, perhaps established companies should have strategies for change and growth that make sense. It is common for big companies to invest in smaller startups that are in their industry or related industries that are promising. That way if the startup does well and the big company loses ground, they will end up even. Long term stability is very important if you are a big company as the shareholders’ retirement rests on your good decision making. So, a particular percentage of your holdings need to be invested in startups. But, which ones?

On the other hand, instead of investing in other people’s startups, you could create your own as semi-external organizations with budding entrepreneurs (preferably who don’t shave and have a really large garage.) It is hard to know who to invest in or who will be successful. But, there are some pointers that I would like to share.

1. A successful entrepreneur is someone who will fight until the end to be successful. They might not understand everything in the beginning, but they will find out. They feel their back is to the sea, and if they fail, their meaning of life will fail with it. If the entrepreneur has something to fall back on when the going gets rough, they might be less likely to succeed.

2. A successful entrepreneur needs to have a good IQ, at least for the types of tasks they will be involved with. However, since there are so many tasks associated with entrepreneurship and startups, it is hard to be smart at all of them. Perhaps there needs to be an entrepreneur IQ test specifically designed for those who want to be in this field. It could include managing difficult situations, finance, hiring, firing, logistics, and creating systems that work, not to mention dealing with clients and more…

3. A good entrepreneur needs to be a loner to an extent. Yes, they should have some social skills. But, if their social skills are “too good” they might feel comfortable in society which could lead to a lack of drive to succeed. Many successful entrepreneurs feel they have failed at attaining group acceptance, so to achieve self-worth, they have to succeed in some other way. Ways to identify this type are easy — unshaven, social awkwardness, a tendency to talk too much or too little, and a very socially inept wardrobe. I’ll leave the rest to you to figure out!

If big companies invested in many startups that were under their control from the seed level, if they become successful, the mother company already knows what’s going on in all ways which removes a lot of the risk of buying mature startups. In a sense it is like having a huge orange tree that produces fruit and planting seeds for other orange trees. You don’t know which seed will produce a fruit producing tree, but if you don’t plant seeds, you are sure not to get one. You could also plant apple seeds. But, then we would be comparing apples and oranges — and we can’t have that!