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Holiday Shopping Lists

Topic: Entrepreneur Evangelist | Comments (4)

Posted on December 18, 2009 by admin

Santa ReadingMy love of lists (must be a project manager thing!) gets me again.  The Vaynerchuck brothers at VaynerMedia have offered up what they consider the Top 10 Top 10 Lists for Entrepreneurs.

Part of what makes the list a great one, though, is that it got me thinking about all of the things that entrepreneurs have to be good at in order to be successful.  Some of us approach owning our own business as freelancers, who just want some flexibility.  Others of us approach it as starry-eyed captains of industry looking to build something earth shattering.  Others simply want to build a business that allows them to have a life that they can spend with the people they love.

Their list covers things like:

  • Books
  • Social Media
  • Start-up Pitches
  • Email Writing Tips
  • VC Questions
  • Online Tools

And more.

But each of those entrepreneurial goals means being good at different things.

The Freelancer has to be good at scheduling, juggling and building in a sales pipeline that is not too big.  They need to save money to get them through dry spells, and they need to build a network of other freelancers they can share leads and jobs with when the need arises.

The Mogul needs to know how to inspire, delegate and lead.  He needs to be ready to build an organization that can function without him, and how to spot strong talent and convince everyone to row in the same direction.

The Lifestyler needs to know how to outsource and scale, and get out of the dollars-for-hours time-trap as quickly as possible.  Part of that requires focusing on a fine-tuned niche, being as commoditizable as possible, and then building out a network that can support those objectives.

Each of those is so different, and so most of the entrepreneurial advice out there doesn’t fit everyone, because too many things have to change, depending on your objective.

So, my question is: based on the type of entrepreneur that you want to be, what is the single best piece of advice you have ever received?