How Sports Impacts An Entrepreneur

As entrepreneurs, we sometimes wonder where our competitive and leadership qualities truly originate. What really differentiates entrepreneurs from one another?

In order to start answering these queries, we decided to analyze different men that we consider successful in our modern day world, and we collected studies that have shown men who play sports in their younger years tend to be better leaders and entrepreneurs in their respective fields.

“Being a competitive athlete you acquire attributes that make you a better leader”

Athletic self-starters do not gain success because they are in better shape then others. They prove themselves off the court with their focused mentality and competitive nature that you can only attain through a participation in a sport. Entrepreneurs prove to be efficient leaders and their success is 85% dependent on how well they can run their organization at the maximum level of productivity.

Competitive Nature

Sports and business ventures overlapped, because one always faces challenges and will not give up until they succeed in the face of obstacles. More importantly, a competitive nature becomes instilled in the mind; you believe winning is everything and that second place is for losers. Our minds shift gears towards rising to the top and we refuse not to dominate in the realm of business and sports.

This competitive nature never departs our minds, and we perfect everything just to make sure we keep our positions at the top of the ladder. Only athletes effectively utilize this nature and often carry over their passion and potential into their respective work world. 

Leadership

There will always be a designated leader of a team, and if you are reading this you are most likely that elite leader. The team’s performance relies entirely on the leader’s ability to motivate others and perform at their own best. No team in the history of sports has ever gone on to win a championship without a great leader on their team. Therefore, an elite entrepreneur follows the same duties as an athlete and must lead his company to the top of the industry.

An entrepreneur must take charge of the team and steer the ship home safely. Companies’ future rests on the back of the leader; their mental toughness must endure through thick and thin. Although business and sports leadership occupy two different categories, the potential abilities are definitely synonymous. 

Pressure

In sports, one routinely comes across situations filled with extreme pressure, where every single move dictates the total outcome of the game. Some games come down to the wire and no one is ever perfect. Nonetheless, you face these battles and make decisions that can have major rewards and consequences. A player’s value is judged by how well he can handle pressure and stay clam throughout a game. Time and time again, we have seen great players choke under pressure, but true greatness can last through pressure.

In business, one deals with many tasks that could have huge impacts on peoples lives. As a leader of your company, your employees depend on you and your ability to make appropriate decisions. Deadlines become a huge factor and can heighten the feeling of pressure. A true leader must know how buckle down, use the mental toughness to follow through and ultimately succeed.

Practice

No athlete can reach their true potential without practice. All must practice at their highest ability and continually work to perfect their game. In addition, athletics raise their caliber by strengthening the weaker aspects of their game. An entrepreneur will have both strengths and weaknesses, but must always work like a perfectionist to transform their weaknesses into more strengths. Perfection is essential key for success.

Perseverance

Everyone possesses many obstacles in their way before they are crowned the victor. Some obstacles will be overwhelming demanding, but perseverance, drive and heart keeps a leader going and fighting for their ultimate goal.

We all know that the field of business is not the easiest game on the planet. An entrepreneur will have to jump over tough hurdles to come even close to the finish line. Much like sports, nothing is ever given to you, and you will struggle for every single thing you want to accomplish. One needs some perseverance and mental toughness to get through all the rough patches that lie in the path.

As we can see, many similar traits prove vital in the realms of sports and business. Studies show that athletes in their past are better leaders as well as business men because of the qualities of that only develop on the field

How to Start a Sole Proprietorship

Sole proprietorships are so easy to establish that you may already own one without realizing it -- all the more reason for getting set up properly so that you can make more money, minimize taxes, and avoid potential problems. 

A sole proprietorship is a one-person business that, unlike corporations and limited liability companies (LLCs), doesn't even have to be registered with the state in order to exist. There were more than 22.6 million sole proprietorships in the U.S. in 2008, according to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). And even though this type of business is easy to set up, it's also easy to ignore local registration requirements, business licenses, and paying taxes on your income. 

"It's by far the most common type of business, the easiest to set up, and the one that most businesses end up starting as," says Jerry Oster young, director of outreach at the Jim Moran Institute at Florida State University's College of Business. "You can always migrate up to an LLC or a corporation, but when first starting a business you need to make sure it's easy to start."

The following guide explains how to set up a sole proprietorship, its financial structure, and the potential drawbacks of starting one.

Dig Deeper: Sole Proprietorships Defined 

Setting Up a Sole Proprietorship 

Once you have an idea for a sole proprietorship, whether it means selling a product or providing a service, make the decision to run your activity like a business. "Be prepared to devote time, use business methods, and get set up properly so you can make more money, minimize taxes, and avoid potential problems," says Barbara Weltman, a tax and business attorney and author of such books as J.K. Lasser's Small Business Taxes(Wiley 2010).

Become a business. To be a sole proprietorship, you do not have to take any formal or legal steps at the federal, state, or local level, Weltman says. "As long as you are the only owner, you automatically become a sole proprietorship by conducting business," she adds. 

Depending upon the city or municipality where you set up shop, you may need to register your business or obtain business and/or occupancy licenses. Osteryoung suggests contacting the nearest government-sponsored Small Business Development Center (SBDC). The Small Business Administration maintains an SBDC locator. They can usually provide you with step-by-step instructions on how to set up a sole proprietorship in compliance with all local laws and regulations.

One key component to starting a business is writing a business plan. The plan serves as a roadmap so you know the order in which to implement actions necessary to start and grow the business, Weltman says. It's also useful in making you focus on various aspects of the business, such as obtaining start-up capital and deciding whether or not you will be selling through the Web. 

Choose a name. A name can describe in one or a few words what the business is all about. Think carefully in choosing a name when you start up a sole proprietorship and then protect it. 

"You have to make sure the name isn't being used by anyone else," Osteryoung says.

Pick a domain name. If you plan to create a website, as most businesses should, be sure that you select a domain name -- hopefully one that is the same as your business name, Weltman says. Even if you don't set up a website immediately, reserve the name by registering your site. Check availability of the name you want to use through Register.com. 

Register your name. If you operate the business under your name, as do many freelance writers and business consultants, you can skip this step. However, if you operate under a fictitious name, you should register it -- you're required to and it prevents someone else from using the same name in your area, Weltman says. "For example, if Jane Jones runs a dog walking business under the name Pampered Puppies, she should file with her local government that she is 'doing business as' (DBA) this fictitious name," she adds. "Check with your local government -- often the county -- to make sure the name is not already being used by another business." 

Trademark your name. "While not mandatory, it's often a good idea to gain legal protection for a business name so that no one else can use it," Weltman says. This is important if your name becomes a brand. Learn about trademark protection through the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. 

Dig Deeper: Choosing a Form for Your Business

The Financial Structure of a Sole Proprietorship 

When you start a sole proprietorship, you must separate your personal finances from your business. This helps you prepare financial statements (so you know whether you're making or losing money) and prepare tax returns. Weltman suggests establishing the following to set up business finances: 

A business bank account. Use this account only to deposit business income and pay business expenses. 

A business credit card. Use this card only for business expenses. 

Business recordkeeping. Software or online solutions can simplify recordkeeping. 

"Keep business finances and records separate from your personal activities to show the IRS that you are conducting the activity with the intent to make a profit, so that losses, which often occur during start-up years, will be deductible," Weltman adds. 

"If you start co-mingling personal and business finances it can get messy in terms of taxes and family," Osteryoung adds. 

Be prepared for paying taxes. As a sole proprietor you must file an annual return with the IRS to report your business income and expenses; use Schedule C (or, if eligible, a simplified Schedule C-EZ), which is part of Form 1040. If you do not have employees, then the business can operate under your Social Security number, Weltman says. However, once you hire staff or set up a retirement plan, you'll need a federal employer identification number (EIN), which you can obtain online at no cost from the IRS. 

"If the business is profitable, you will owe self-employment taxes," Weltman says. "These taxes cover the employer and employee share of Social Security and Medicare taxes."

Because you are self-employed, you do not have withholding from a paycheck to cover your tax obligations. Instead, you pay income and self-employment taxes through quarterly estimated tax payments (you should set aside money on a regular basis to cover these payments). "When you file your return for the year, you will then pay any shortage or receive a refund if you've overestimated your quarterly payments," Weltman says.

Check with your locality to learn about sales tax collections. You may be required to collect sales taxes on the goods and services you sell and to turn over your collections to the state, as well as to report on collections on sales tax returns.

Dig Deeper: How to Structure a Partnership

Potential Drawbacks to a Sole Proprietorship

One of the biggest arguments against setting up a business as a sole proprietorship is that, as a sole proprietor, you can be held personally liable for any and all business-related obligations. So if your business defaults on a loan, fails to pay suppliers, or loses a suit in court, creditors can legally go after your personal possessions -- even the roof over your head.

That's why many businesses choose to incorporate or establish LLCs -- those forms offer you personal liability protection for those same business-related obligations. If your corporation or LLC fails, you -- as an owner -- can still likely keep your house and other personal property. 

Obtain insurance. If you choose to stay as a sole proprietor, the best way to protect yourself is to obtain adequate insurance coverage for the unexpected. Weltman advises sole proprietors to consider the following:

Property and liability coverage. "If you operate from home, don't assume your homeowner's policy will protect you," she says. You may need to amend the policy or buy separate coverage for the business. 

Auto insurance. If you're driving your personal car or truck on business, notify the insurance company to extend protection for this vehicle usage, she says. 

Health coverage. Unless you have this through a former employer or under a spouse's/domestic partner's policy, be sure to carry adequate coverage. 

Disability coverage. Protect yourself with a policy that will pay if you can't work. 

Why entrepreneurs fail and strategies for entrepreneurial success

For an entrepreneur, it is possible that his/her idea has not taken off as he/she expected.In spite of spending lot of money , effort and time, no one is buying his product. Here are few items that can go wrong in any venture. 

§ A required government clearance never comes 

§ Funding request has been denied by a VC 

§ Lead programmer has left your company and joined Google 

§ No one has purchased your product 

§ You have run out of money before your product has even hit the market 

Failure hurts bad 

Failure brings out the naysayers. Nobody likes to talk about failure and people have strong opinions on failure. 

It often comes as a rude shock that our awesome idea turns out to be failure.The entrepreneur feels that he has wasted his time and money. He finds it hurtful to explain to everyone about it. 

Fortunately, there something good that comes out of these failures. 

Welcome to the club of failed entrepreneurs and there is a long queue 

I can tell from personal experience that failure is very very beneficial. If an entrepreneur has not failed, he has not learned many things. Most of the startups fail and it is a fact. A lot of the corporate America’s today’s top companies started from garage or college dorms. Though many might have failed some of them such as Microsoft and HP became phenomenal successes. 

If you ever read any of the Richard Branson’s book, you will be surprised to find how many business he had failed in. But today he is one of the most successful celebrated entrepreneur. 

Failure is common and we can learn a lot from it 

The point is entrepreneur do fail and there is nothing special about it. Challenges can cause setbacks to your business. 

The idea however is not to worried about them but analyze the reasons of failure. It is a fact people who never quit( or serial entrepreneurs) have much higher chances of success than those who try once and quit forever. (You may read books on top entrepreneurs to substantiate my claim). If the entrepreneurs are aware of the fact that we can fail they can look at their failure from a detached point of view without making it very personal. 

Here are some of the things, I feel are common causes of failure. Let us take a look at them 

1. The idea is not well thought and researched 

Entrepreneurs being passionate about their ideas are very eager to start their venture. Hence they probably do not put time and effort into completely analyzing the idea( pros and cons, cost, time etc.) . It may get challenging to continue a complicated and not well thought idea . 

So if the idea is complicated, its better to plan and simplify it as far as possible. Also it would be good to do some market research before starting. 

2. The execution is not planned well 

Planning is the most neglected aspect of a venture. Detailed planning involves knowing about marketing, procuring, hiring and other aspects. A good plan also documents all the risks of a project and strategies to overcome them when they occur. 

As an example, in my own venture, I did not plan for hiring. Just as the venture was about to start, I found that I could not get skilled manpower within my cost range. I had to raise salary to hire them thereby increasing my costs. 

3. Not enough networking 

Without networking, it is not possible for people to know about your product/service.Entrepreneurs are generally shy of networking. They believe a good product speaks for itself. It does, but it takes a lot of time to get popular. With smart networking an entrepreneur can get the word out faster. 

4. Not learning new things. 

People are scared of new things, mostly out of inertia. An entrepreneur who has a lot of inertia and refuses to learn new things, sets himself for failure. Flexibility and adaptability are the most important traits in this field. 

5. Products have not been marketed well 

An entrepreneur often tests the market with his new product. However due to fear of criticism and negative feedback, he sometimes holds back marketing his products and services. Less marketing means lesser knowledge about the products which indirectly affect the sales. 

6. Positioning of the idea is wrong 

Product positioning is important. it might be difficult to sell a product that is placed in an already crowded market without any differentiation. In a crowded market, more advertisement is needed to make the product stand out from competitors. 

7. Not listening to customer feedback and complaints 

When genuine customer feedback is ignored, product improvement suffers. If product suffers, sales suffer. Not listening to customer feedback and complaints means angry dissatisfied customers. Too many of them and entrepreneur is headed towards failure. 

8. Product specifications are changed too often 

An entrepreneur who has less confidence in his product often changes it frequently based on suggestions from customers.Improving is fine but too many changes cause confusion. The sales team often finds it difficult to sell the product with features that are changing constantly. 

9. The idea is too big for the budget 

Once I met a person who wanted to start a power plant based on renewable energy. Though the idea was noble and technology was great, I could not see how he could finance such a project. The project was too costly and it was not going to make money in next ten years or so. Sometimes the project does not fit into the budget and starting such a project may lead to troubles later on. 

10. Not having enough dedicated people 

Initially, a project needs enough dedicated people. They should be dedicated for the success of the project. An entrepreneur usually hire people. Many times it is difficult to find such dedicated people. 

11. Not having the right experience to take the idea forward 

Without domain knowledge, the entrepreneur finds it difficult to execute the project. He will also face scrutiny from his financiers and his customers about his ability to complete his project. It is important to either have domain knowledge or get somebody with the right domain knowledge. 

12. Failing to anticipate the competition 

Most of the time, an entrepreneur fails to see the competition. However it is there and may come either from the new entrants who are fast and nimble or from existing large companies who have huge resources at their disposal. Competition is always there and an entrepreneur can ignore it only at his peril. 

So how does an entrepreneur make sure that he does not commit these mistakes. In a business there will always be challenges. However with proper planning and execution most of them can be overcome. Here are some strategies using which an entrepreneur can overcome the challenges that I mentioned above. 

1. Become more adaptable, flexible and applying the leanings 

By being flexible and adaptable, an entrepreneur is always ahead of the competition. He knows about the new technology and his customer appreciates him for that. He learns from his mistakes and apply his learning to improve himself and his product constantly. 

2. Use customer feedback to improve your product 

An entrepreneur who does not bring his ego to the table is a winner. He engages with them and listens to them. He uses the feedback to improve his product and appears as approachable and understanding to customer. Learn to handle negative feedback

3. Go back to drawing board 

It may often happen that marketing strategy is not right or productions costs are high or product is not suited to market. A smart entrepreneur goes back to the drawing board and discusses all potential issues with his team. That way he can ensure that he is on right track. 

4. Cut costs mercilessly 

Costs can escalate because of bad planning or overspending. Higher costs leads to poor cash flow. There are plenty of areas where cost cutting may help. For e.g. using email instead of printing on paper is a smart idea. Using public transport for traveling rather than own vehicle helps to cut the gas costs. 

5. Network more, advertise more 

An entrepreneur should never shy away from networking and talking about his product. Networking helps to create the buzz about the product. 

If necessary, advertising may also be considered to promote your product. If the entrepreneur is selling to consumers, you may decide to advertise in newspapers. If he is selling to businesses, advertising in trade magazines is a good option. 

6. Reposition your product 

It is important to find the right niche for your product. Later on fine tune the product to fit into the niche. Once you are top entrant in the niche, start dominating it. 

7. Develop mental toughness and ability to think for yourself. 

An entrepreneur needs mental toughness to overcome the adversities and unwanted criticism. Being in the company of positive people helps. Also he needs to have a lot of patience. All these things can be cultivated slowly.

Does Entrepreneurship Education Make People Better Entrepreneurs?

A recent Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) report on entrepreneurship training asks a central question for anyone interested in starting a business: “Does entrepreneurship education make a difference?” 

You might think that this question has been resolved. After all, the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation reports that more than 2,000 U.S. colleges and universities teach entrepreneurship. How could all those professors teach something that might not matter? 

As surprising as it may sound, we don’t know the effect that entrepreneurship training has on start-up company success. Relatively little research has looked directly at the benefits provided by entrepreneurship education; and the results to date are far from conclusive. 

Most of the studies on entrepreneurship training look at whether people who have received this education perform better as entrepreneurs than those who have not . Studies by researchers at the University of Arizona, New York University and other institutions have found that people who have received entrepreneurship education perform better at running their own businesses. 

However, these studies don’t necessarily show that entrepreneurship education causes better start-up company performance. The same people who are good at running their own businesses might also be the most interested in studying entrepreneurship. As a result, receiving entrepreneurship training and start-up company performance are correlated, but the education doesn’t cause the performance. 

The gold standard in research is a controlled experiment. If some people are randomly assigned entrepreneurial education and others are not, then we can see if the training causes the performance. 

Researchers have conducted a few randomized experiments to look at the effect of entrepreneurial training. One study by Dean Karlan of Yale University and Martin Valdivia of Grupo de Análisis para el Desarrollo randomly assigned entrepreneurship classes to female micro-entrepreneurs in Peru participating in a micro-credit program. 

The researchers found mixed results for the effects of training The entrepreneurs who received training showed higher sales, but did not have higher profit margins or more employees. The trained entrepreneurs also scored higher on “keeping records of their withdrawals from their business, an index of business knowledge questions, the proportion that report using profits for business growth, and implementation of innovations in the business.” But they were scored no differently on “changes in tax formality, paid fixed salary to self, number of sales locations, level of diversification, allowing sales on credit, keeping records of payments to workers, started new business, proportion of clients who faced problems with business and proportion of clients who planned innovations in their businesses.” 

Lars Oppedal Berge Kjetil Bjorvatn and Bertil Tungodden of the Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration randomly assigned recipients of microcredit in Tanzania to entrepreneurship training. They also found mixed results. They observed no significant effect of training on sales or the number of employees, but found that training increased the entrepreneurs’ record keeping, tendency to use bonuses to incentivize employees, and willingness to change their product mix. 

Xavier Gine and Ghazala Mansuri randomly assigned Pakistani microentrepreneurs to receive six hours of training, the chance to participate in a loan lottery, neither, or both. Gine and Mansuri found that, for men, receiving business training reduced business failure, but had no significant effect on sales, business assets, or number of employees. For women, receiving business training had no significant effect on any of the performance measures. 

The three studies described above don’t show consistent evidence that entrepreneurship training improves the performance of micro-entrepreneurs. Moreover, experiments with random treatment of the type of entrepreneurship training provided by universities in industrialized countries have not been conducted. 

In short, getting some entrepreneurship training might increase your performance as a business owner. Then again it might not.

Who is an entrepreneur?

Before we can talk about who is an entrepreneur, we first need to understand what entrepreneurship is. Most older textbooks talk about the three production factors: land, capital and labor. Now, these don't always mean what we think they do. Land is more than just the real estate a business builds its factory or offices on. In economic terms, land is all the natural resources used in an enterprise, so this includes the ores and minerals mined from the ground and the native plants and animals. 

It does not include the manmade or organized resources such as an orchard or a herd of cattle. These are examples of the second factor of production: capital. Even though most people think of money as capital, it's really the least important form of capital. In economic terms, capital is the human creations that produce wealth, such as a car used as a taxi, an oven used to bake food for sale, a furnace used to make steel, as well as the interest that money can earn. 

The third factor is labor. This refers to all human endeavors that produce wealth, both physical and mental. Some people believe that it is the sole source of wealth, that labor alone creates value. Others believe that land is the only factor that creates wealth. Still others believe that capital is the key to wealth. But land, labor and capital have always been around, though widely unused or misused. What, then, has made these three factors of production work together to create wealth and improve people's lives? 

The answer is the fourth factor of production: entrepreneurship. This is the ability to see what others who came before missed, to make connections between things that others had not, to get all three other factors to work together to create that which had not existed before. It is this insight, this creativity, that makes the other three factors productive. 

Now, who is an entrepreneur? One example was a young man who was born in Bavaria in 1829 and emigrated in 1847 with his family to New York City, where his older brother opened a dry goods store (a store selling clothes, cloth, shoes, hats, almost anything but food). In 1853, he became a U.S. citizen and sailed to San Francisco to open a branch of his brother's store and become a supplier to the increasing number of miners following the discovery of gold at Sutter's Mill. 

He was a good businessman and his store thrived. He was so trustworthy and successful that one of his customers, Jacob Davis of Reno, Nevada, came to him with an idea. Davis was a tailor, and his customers complained that their pants started to come apart in the same places over and over, the pockets and seams. He had developed a way to rivet these stress points and used a strong fabric often used for work clothes, serge. He thought it was a good idea but lacked the $68 it took to file a patent. The San Francisco merchant saw the possibilities and became Davis' partner, and their patent was granted on May 20, 1873. 

The merchant had been born Loeb Strauss, but when he became a citizen in 1853, he changed it to Levi. Similarly, the pants he made were originally called "waist overalls," and it was not until about 1960 that they were popularly called jeans. Even though much of the company's early history was destroyed in the 1906 San Francisco Fire, May 20 is still celebrated by the company as the birthday of blue jeans. 

Often the entrepreneur is not the person or persons who actually create the new good or service. Rather, he or she is the one who has the vision of how that idea can be turned into reality for the benefit of everyone. For example, Oliver Winchester was a successful shirt maker, but he bought the patents for the Henry lever-action repeating rifle. His faith in this invention, along with his efforts in marketing it, made it the most widely known rifle of its day and earned it the nickname of "The Gun That Won the West." 

Does this mean that entrepreneurs aren't creative? Not at all! Quite the opposite, but theirs is a different kind of creativity. Often an inventor, an artist, a composer, a writer will know his or her area of interest but not know how to make others aware of their creations. 

The entrepreneur's creativity finds ways for the ideas to enter the marketplace and be of benefit to all of society. Incidentally, entrepreneurs also reward those who came up with the new ideas in the first place, which encourages them to make more and better creations. People are much more likely to be creative and productive when they are promised a reward than when they are threatened with punishment if they don't create. This promise of a reward is called incentive, and incentives are possible only when there is profit. 

The entrepreneur makes sure this situation happens, because when the others profit, so does the entrepreneur. He or she is no different from other members of society: The entrepreneur wants a comfortable life, and he or she realizes that the best way to do this is to get the cooperation of others. That is achieved by appealing to what motivates others, because people tend to do what's in their best interest. In a free market, no one can be forced to do anything against their interest, so the entrepreneur must motivate and organize for everyone's benefit. 

Health insurance advice for entrepreneurs

For an entrepreneur, skimping on insurance especially health insurance  is like playing Russian Roulette with your future.

At no time in your business’s growth will the health and wellness of employees be more important than the startup years. Think about the set-back in growth if the founder of a second year business became ill and had to miss a month. A terrifying scenario for most young businesses.

Now think about that same situation coupled with the stress of the same business founder coming straight out of pocket for all medical expenses. I’ve seen this situation where money earmarked for business growth is diverted towards medical costs and it’s not pretty.

Don’t buy into the misconception that health insurance is a luxury just because the price tag makes you sweat. Do not think in terms of price, think in terms of cost.

Don’t get too big for your britches

Take the term HMO (Health Maintenance Organization) and throw it out of your vocabulary. If you can afford an HMO you probably don’t need to be reading this article. For bootstrapping businesses concerned about the health of their employees as well as red numbers in their bank account think about High Deductible Plans, or EPO Hybrid Plans which provide less upfront benefit but also have a less stressful price tag.

Providing a proper health plan takes work

Purchasing a health insurance policy is not rocket science. However, it does take a decent amount of planning and decision making. Use the following advice as it applies to your business and hopefully the health insurance purchasing process will run a little smoother.

1. Take an inventory of your employees

Get a feel for who your employees are. How many 20-somethings, 30-somethings, 40-somethings, etc.? How many singles, married, single-parents and families? Each group is going to have unique needs to address through health insurance.

ADVICE: The health plan you offer should match employee need, not owner need or industry standard.

2. Determine how much you plan to contribute to employee expense

What can your business afford to pay towards the company health plan? A common idea is for the employer to pay the full single premium including vision and dental. Have employees cover additional cost.

ADVICE: Being equitable in the workplace is important. By covering only the single premium, the business has an easily budgeted fixed expense. Employees with additional need are expected to pay additional premium.

3. Consider offering multiple health plan options

Do all your employees fit into one need basket? Every carrier has their own set of rules, but for most, if your company has a certain number of employees eligible for health insurance you can offer multiple plan options.

ADVICE: If eligible, give your employees at minimum two plan options. One option can be a more cost effective High Deductible Plan and the other a more benefit rich EPO Plan.

4. Review your health plan every year

Do not marry your health insurance carrier. Do not fall in love with a particular carrier because of an ad you saw, because of a recommendation from an incubator colleague, or because last year they had the most competitive premium. Each year carriers release new health plan offerings, with new rates. There is no discount in health insurance for being loyal. Your current carrier may only raise rates 8 percent this year and hit you with a 30-percent increase next year.

ADVICE: Find a health insurance broker you are comfortable with and be prepared to shop your health plan to every carrier every year.

Each state has different rules and regulations that govern health insurance. I encourage you to work with a professional that can help you navigate your particular state’s regulatory idiosyncrasies.

Why I Chose Entrepreneurship Over the Security of Investment Banking

It was 11 p.m. on September 10, 2001 and, as I made my way down the elevator from the 26th floor of 3 World Financial Center to a town car waiting to take me home, I enjoyed a feeling of accomplishment. I was three months into my employment as an investment banking analyst at Lehman Brothers and ready to conquer the world. Life was good.

That feeling faded fairly quickly the next morning. Before I left for work, I received a call from my parents telling me to turn on the TV. From my apartment, I sat and saw the second plane hit the World Trade Center, and then watched as the towers collapsed on top of my office building.

The events of that morning, as well as the subsequent months working in the aftermath of 9/11, shaped and molded my view of how I wanted to spend my life professionally. The days flew by as an analyst and I started questioning whether I should blindly accept the i-banking culture, which instilled that you were part of an elite circle and privileged to be working such a prestigious firm. The more and more acquainted with the senior members of our group, the more I realized how trapped many of them felt. Many were miserable, but found themselves bound to the firm by big bonuses that fueled their lavish lifestyles. About six months into my two-year contract, I made a pact with myself that I would not become one of them.

By the end of my contract, I was ready to break free. I had begun looking at opportunities on the West Coast and was ready to make my move, when I received a call from the Los Angeles office. They had an open position, thought I’d fit in well and would promote and relocate me in return. I fell for it maybe the lifestyle would be better, maybe working in L.A. would be more fulfilling.

I quickly realized upon arrived the culture was not different. The weather was better, the pay was better and the team I joined actually shared many of my concerns, but the prevailing culture was the same.

After a number of sleepless nights, I decided to remove myself from that corporate culture and, luckily, a few of my colleagues were ready to do the same. Three of us left together to form a small boutique firm focused on the commercial real estate market. We enjoyed a great run from 2004 to 2006 and I believed I had officially broken free the big corporate job. But when several large corporations showed interest in acquiring us, I quickly realized that carrot of money and security could be dangled at anytime.

Ultimately, my partners decided it was the right time to sell (and they were correct), but I could not bring myself to jump back on that treadmill. That left a major question: if I was going to walk from the potential financial upside, I needed a logical next step.

Serendipitously, a longtime friend of mine, Mike Mothner, approached me at a New Year’s Eve party with an interesting idea for a new online-based service company. A couple of weeks later, we were brainstorming how to launch this new venture. We decided to keep costs to a minimum and were able to self-fund the new ventures. Eventually, we nailed down the details and settled on the company name for a service to help families and individuals transition all of their personal media and memories into digital format.

Fast-forward five years and ScanDigital is a nearly 90-person company that I run full-time. It has been filled with the most challenging and rewarding experiences of my life. Ironically, I am working longer hours, but even on the most challenging days it is dramatically more rewarding.

Having watched both Lehman Brothers and the commercial real estate markets collapse from the sidelines, I can only imagine the regret I would have felt had I not jumped at the opportunity to take a more entrepreneurial path. I cannot count the number of people who told me I was simply crazy to leave such a cushy and secure position to pursue something so “risky.”

As it turns out, staying would have been far riskier. This may be the biggest life lesson I have learned: sometimes, the biggest opportunity for regret comes not from what you decide to do, but from what you decide not to do.