The Entrepreneur Toolkit

The Entrepreneur Toolkit

BY DR. EMAD RAHIM

Entrepreneur-in-Residence @OSUEntrepSchool Associate Professor @BellevueU and JWMI Fellow @JackWelchMBA Twitter: @DrEmadRahim| | LinkedIn: Emad Rahim | Skype: Emad.Rahim

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Are You An Entrepreneur?

10 Characteristics Of A Serial Entrepreneur: Are You Jay Z or Benjamin Franklin?

Franklin I know many of you are expecting me to mention Jay Z, 50 Cent, Russell Simmons, Mark Cuban or Daymond John when describing a serial entrepreneur, but I’m about to flip the script. I’m going to set this off by citing the godfather of serial entrepreneur, Mr. Benjamin Franklin.

Franklin To many, this name resonates in American history along with the likes of George Washington, John Adams and James Madison, among others – the Founding Fathers.

But very few know that Franklin was one of the historical serial entrepreneurs in America, having led a vibrant and full life as a diplomat, a philosopher and an inventor of successful products, such as the lighting rod and bifocal glasses….

Read More: http://bit.ly/1r7AYxF

What Motivates Your Entrepreneurship Spirt?

What Motivates Entrepreneurs?

There has been a lot of discussion and debates on what motivates entrepreneurs. How do you know if you or someone else is an entrepreneur?

Deeply embedded in the practice of entrepreneurship is passion.

Many startup executives have noted that having passion is one of the key drivers for entrepreneurial success. Passion drives some entrepreneurs to assume high levels of risk taking that many may see as being unconventional and even crazy‌‌..Read More: http://bit.ly/1qKYyRJ

Funding Your Business (Bootstrapping) Bootstrap Your Start-up Like Macklemore Macklemore and Ryan Lewis’ ‘Thrift Shop’ YouTube sensation has received over 400 million views and 2 million likes. You can’t help but nod your head along with the beat, bounce to rap lyrics and laugh at the video. With that said, would you believe me if I told you that they bootstrapped this successful video? Macklemore mentioned that they shot and edited the video for just $5,000 and within weeks it got over 5 million hits. They also went indie for their full length album, which is now platinum and ‘Thrift Shop’ as a single went 7 times platinum.…….Read More: http://bit.ly/1qiUR4M

Funding Your Business (Bootstrapping) Top 10 Bootstrapping Best Practices for Startups Entrepreneurial financing might be one of the most difficult and intimidating aspects of business ownership.

While entrepreneurs are filled with innovative ideas and passion, they’re often starving for the capital to jumpstart and grow their business. But instead of searching for venture capitalist and angels to invest in your business or hoping you get invited onto the show Shark Tank to pitch your idea, why not consider bootstrapping first?................

Read More: http://bit.ly/1pjvyKp

Funding Your Business (Crowd Sourcing)

10 Ways to Boost Your Startup Crowdfunding Campaign The 2008 financial crisis completely revolutionized how companies raise capital, marshal internal resources and deploy money over the long term. Crowdfunding, Crowdfunding or seeking operating cash from the public, is here to stay.

Crowdfunding simply means you get operational cash from the crowd. Well, don’t get too excited too quickly.

The way it works, investors and consumers—the funders— register via a platform, such as Indiegogo and Kickstarter.

Kickstarter Businesses then vie for a part of the cash pie by explaining their operational plans, business objectives and profitability metrics, among other criteria. Investors get paid at specific intervals during the loan term, or at maturity…..Read More: http://bit.ly/1hgrPJt

Funding Your Business (Pitching to Investors)

Pitch It Like Jay Z: How to Deliver an Investment Pitch Like a Business Mogul So, you think your business idea is cool? You will have no problem pitching it to a potential investor or venture capitalist, right?! Or maybe you believe your startup enjoys some type of momentary monopoly because you’re the only company doing what you do? Not so fast!

But do you really have what it takes to pitch like a business mogul? Particularly, Mr. Shawn Carter, also known as Jay Z. In addition to being one of the greatest hip-hop artists of all time, Jay Z’s brand creates a perfect pitch to investors and businesses alike……..

Read More: http://bit.ly/1qDxKRY

Marketing: Project or Services

Learn How To Brand From The Wu Tang Clan The Wu Tang Clan is one of the greatest hip hop brands ever created. Yes there are plenty of rappers and music groups out there today with their own clothing lines, sneakers, watches, endorsement deals and 5 Hour Energy drinks, but they learned it from the Wu Tang. Snoop Dog and Bow Wow can thank the Wu for their Hot Packets endorsement deal.........

Read More: http://bit.ly/YSJGp0

Game of Thrones: 10 Examples To Create A Cult-Like Following When I think of the HBO series Game of Thrones, I get the shakes and twitch, a sense of excitement takes over me and I am transformed into a Night’s Watchmen at Castle Black where I am standing alongside Jon Snow ready to do battle with the White Walkers. This is because I am addicted to the characters, I feign for the show and I am infatuated with the mother of dragons. Like millions of fans, I would be considered a cult follower of the show……Read More: http://bit.ly/Oq7dYm

Podcast Show Pitching your business idea to a potential investor: http://bit.ly/1jWxIws Marketing and building a brand short on cash: http://bit.ly/1ceQQCM

(0115) How to Have Startup Balance with Emad Rahim: http://bit.ly/1c1VSoX

Marketing and entrepreneurship stories: https://soundcloud.com/emad-rahim

Dr. Emad Rahim

Author Bio: Dr. Emad Rahim is an award-winning entrepreneur, educator, author, community leader and TEDx Speaker. He currently serves as the Endowed Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Oklahoma State University and teaches at the Jack Welch Management Institute and Bellevue University.

He was recognized by the United Nations Foundation as a 2013 Empact100 Honoree for his social entrepreneurship work, received a Congressional Award for his community service, recipient of the Forty Under 40 Business Leadership Award sponsored by Syracuse University and named the Certified Manager (CM) of the Year by ICPM and James Madison University. His personal story was turned into a short documentary, “Against the Odds,” and featured in the Huffington Post. He co-authored “Leading Through Diversity: Transforming Managers Into Effective Leaders” and “The 4-Tions: Your Guide to Developing Successful Job Search Strategies” and is a frequent contributor to the Refractive Thinker series, Forbes, IntelligentHQ, CEO Magazine, YFS Entrepreneurship Magazine, TweakYourBiz and several different university blogs.