Entrepreneur's Table

Guest Author Do You Have the Right Focus to Make Your Dream a Business Instead of a Hobby? We'd all love to make a fabulous living doing what we love to do. And often it's really possible. Yet, I was speaking with someone who wanted to make a living as an artist. This isn't any particular person, because I've had this conversation with folks numerous times. And, it's not always about art. Sometimes it's about coaching. Sometimes it's about cooking. Sometimes it's about walking dogs. They spoke to me at length about how much they loved doing art, and how it fed their soul, and how important it was to their well-being. Very inspiring stuff, and it felt great. But, when I asked them, "How do you want to help other people with your artwork?" they couldn't answer me. "It's art! It exists for its own sake. It should have value in and of itself." This person was right. Art does exist for its own sake. And it does have value in and of...

It is wonderful what you can find when you are looking for something else. Believe in Yourself to be Successful Dr. Jerry Osteryoung Executive Director of the Jim Moran Institute for Global Entrepreneurship at Florida State University "Why do some entrepreneurs do incredibly well and the others do just okay? Why do some firms keep on expanding and others just barely hang on to one location?" "The answer lies in the belief system of the entrepreneur. I met an entrepreneur in Tampa who had started a business selling spiritual lambs (www. myspiritualflock.com). When I first saw the product, which is a nicely crafted lamb with spiritual significance, I thought this entrepreneur was going to tell me that she needed to raise some money for production and distribution. Unfortunately, I was going to have to tell her that raising funds for this product was not going to happen and to prepare her for this ." READ MORE.

A Bank for Social Entrepreneurs by Social Edge — last modified 2007-02-03 11:19 Hosted by Patrick O'Heffernan, Fundraising and Strategy Expert (December 2006) Social Entrepreneurship . .. Resources on Social Entrepreneurs, Publications and other related topics. Please note that a few entries are not yet filled. If you are an expert in these fields, feel free to write the entries yourself. Or even to create one if you think it is relevant to social entrepreneurship.

The Power of Self-Talk by Dr. Jim Will You've got a great company, an excellent compensation plan, terrific products and some awesome leaders. So what's keeping some of your people from tapping into the incredible potential that you know they have? I had the privilege of having lunch with Yogi Berra once, and we discussed his famous quote regarding baseball: "Ninety percent of the game is half mental." I agree with Yogi-a lot of baseball and a lot of direct selling are mental. I like to refer to the mental game as our inner thoughts-our self-talk. Great leaders consciously or subconsciously manage and control their self-talk. READ MORE Direct Selling Start-Ups: Ten Traps to Avoid by Dan Jensen Direct selling is the essence of free enterprise. Thousands of direct selling companies have sprou...

Posted in the Mangosteen Journal : From Direct Selling News Liquid supplements have yielded a harvest of fruitful financial results for direct selling companies and their distributors. While 2006 results aren’t yet available, Nutrition Business Journal, the nutrition industry’s leading business publication, estimates sales of nutrition products by direct sellers reached $6.4 billion in 2005. Results are often fueled by automatic-fulfillment programs, which send products to distributors or health-conscious consumers each month while delivering automatic revenue for direct sellers. Numerous liquid-nutrition-focused companies haven’t yet seen their 5th anniversaries, including The Limu Company, MonaVie, Sibu, Vemma, VivaTRU and Xango, among others. All are growing rapidly (see the November issue of Direct Selling News for more on liquid supplements ). Read More. Scroll to Sipping Supplements.

Wall Street Seeing the Value of Direct Selling Direct Selling News reports a growing facorable trend in the stock market's attitude toward direct selling companies. Read more.

I have launched a clearinghouse blog for those interested in Affiliate Marketing . There is good information there and there will be much more as time goes by.

Visit these entrepreneurial sites today: Toner Overnight - My Friend, Great Deals The Health and Business Benefits of Mangosteen Juice Pre Paid Legal Services and Business Opportunity Identity Theft Shield Gift and Incentive Books Energion Pastor Tom's Bookstore Business Opportunities Fund Raising Ideas Health and Wellness Random Proverbs for Business The Entrepreneur's Table The Shoestring Conspiracy - Ministry Ideas Weblogs Mangosteen Health Benefits and Business Opportunity QHEALTHZONE - Home Page - Qualitry Products from Nutrilite

Entrepreneurship is partly about thinking with such a large vision that no box can contain it. That being the case, thinking "outside the box" is a given and global thinking is implied.

I must admit I get a little perturbed when people complain about lack of money and success when they haven't done the things that they can do to change their circumstances. When we operate on the assumption that the world or God Himself owes us a living when God has already given us opportunities, we limit means which He Himself may have provided for our support. I do not suggest that we veer away from a life of faith, but that we, especially those of us in ministry, at least lay before Him the question of whether or not He'd have us make a few tents along our missionary journeys. That is why I promote entrepreneurship, knowing it is not for everyone, but I suspect is for some who are not responding.

My Health and Wellness Journal While I write about business and entrepreneurial principles with a broad brush, there are actually a few that I own and promote. I choose them for the integrity of the company, the efficacy of the product, and the opportunities in the compensation plan. While I spend more time analyzing writing, and speaking than working any one business, here is one where I believe a person can have real success. For more information go to my Discover site

There is some wonderful and thoughtful material on this blog which I will be returning to read and ponder. This relates to the subject in Entrepreneur's Table because Christians, and especially social/spiritual entrepreneurs struggle with it. Is it honorable to make money? Flying Embers : "Wealth brings independence, a satisfaction that your family will be able to enjoy a comfortable home and weather life’s storms. I could go on and list countless other things that wealth brings without damning your soul. So, I thought I would begin to post articles concerning the attainment of wealth the way Godly people through all ages have accomplished it. These are the time tested, righteous pursuits of wealth that have worked in all generations. It will be worth our while to carefully consider what the wealthy say about the attainment of riches." I'll be checking in to see what I can learn. Co-published at The Dream Factory

"Entrepreneur" comes from the French word for undertaking : entreprendre . It entered the English language in the late 1400s. From it, we derive, "enterprise." The first part of the word is "entre," to enter, also French. An entrepreneur, therefor, is one who enters into some undertaking and it is implied that he/she is leading the way. We need people today who will undertake great causes develop great enterprises. Will you be one?

It Takes Time We previously discussed the "EYE"s of time but did not exhaust the topic by any means. Everything takes time - especially if they are important enough to deserve our attention and effort. Here is yet another acronym: TIME, with the "t" for temperance, tenacity and transience, the "i" for indeterminate, individual, and instantaneous, the "m" for mastery, magnification, and ministry, and the "e" for experience, expectation, and excitement. T is for temperance, tenacity, and transience. It is for temperance because time must be carefully and wisely budgeted, managed, and leveraged. It is for tenacity because we need to stick with something through boredom and hard work if we are going to see it through. It is for transience because it is passing by never to return. The moments in which we live are fleeting. The opportunities are in transit. They will soon be gone and cannot be recaptured. In summary, time is temporal and flee...

Novel Journey: It Takes Practice! : " Proverbs 13:4 The soul of a lazy man desires, and has nothing; but the soul of the diligent shall be made rich. Lord, Please help me to be diligent to exercise this gift. Give me a vision of what I will be in the future if I work hard. Thank You for all You are teaching me on the way. Amen" Janet's prayer is the perfect addendum to our comparison between what NIV translates as Cravings VS. Desires . Thanks for bringing it on home, Janet. The story here is wonderful!!!

Cravings Vs. Desire Below is an excerpt from my article in The Dream Factory on Cravings or Desires . Proverbs 13:4 - "The sluggard craves and gets nothing, but the desires of the diligent are fully satisfied." So what is the difference between the desire of a dilligent person and the craving of a lazy person? From the start, we nod our heads knowingly, acknowledging that this proverb is true. A craving is a carnal drive that overwhelms our judgment and woos us into reckless thinking and action. The key is to distinguish between the two and to dilligently pursue what is real and lasting.

Co-published in sister blog: Vast Possibilities . The Road to Success The = Definite article – Indicates something specific . We must be specific about: T – Time – A goal is a dream with a date on it. It takes time to develop. H – Hope - If there is no hope, there is no dream, no goal, no objectives, and no action. E – Expenditure of Energy . Nothing will happen without work. Road = Indicates process . We must fall in love with the process of moving toward success, not just the outcome. R = Repentance . The word means change of mind, heart, and attitude. Change is necessary. O -= Opportunity thinking (as opposed to obstacle thinking. Embrace obstacles as opportunities. A = Attitude – The way we approach life (attitude) determines the heights we attain (altitude). D = Destination – Roads go places. Always have the desired destination in mind. To = A tiny preposition. It denotes direction . Success is gradually, purposefully, prog...

A New Pattern We have a pattern problem. We have developed behaviors that we practice consistently, habitually, and without much thought. We start practicing these behaviors before we crawl out of bed in the morning and condition ourselves to practice them before we lay our heads on our pillows at night. When we realize that some of these behaviors are negative or destructive, we have a battle on our hands removing them. When we determine to introduce positive practices to the mix, we find that there is no room for the old is crowding out the new. The first change is in our attitudes . Then we can address behaviors. We need new patterns. We need to replace old, worn-out,, useless and even harmful behaviors with newer, more nurturing and positive actions. What are the steps? First, we must make the determination that we are going to introduce change into our lives. This comes out of careful evaluation and resolve. We must pray for guidance and strength. Our creative God will work...

Big Ideas Someday, after mastering the winds, the waves, the tides and gravity, we shall harness for God the energies of love, and then, for a second time in the history of the world, man will have discovered fire. - Pierre Teilhard de Chardin Since once again, O Lord, in the steppes of Asia, I have no bread, no wine, no altar, I will raise myself above those symbols to the pure majesty of reality, and I will offer to you, I, your priest, upon the altar of the entire earth, the labor and the suffering of the world. - Pierre Teilhard de Chardin The way to love anything is to realize that it may be lost. — Gilbert K. Chesterton Perfect love is rare indeed - for to be a lover will require that you continually have the subtlety of the very wise, the flexibility of the child, the sensitivity of the artist, the understanding of the philosopher, the acceptance of the saint, the tolerance of the scholar and the fortitude of the certain. - Leo Buscaglia Christi...

Spiritual Entrepreneurship Spiritual entrepreneurship is what happens when people of faith launch out in blod kingdom ventures incorportating all the principles that we bring to this table. For that reason, this discussion must be broad enough to embrace all bold venturers. Are you one?