Entrepreneurship | wealthymatters

Chinese Proverbs For Entrepreneurs

July 29, 2012 9 Comments

wealthymatters 1. “In every crisis, there is opportunity.”

Most entrepreneurial ventures arise from a solving a problem. If you are faced with a problem, craft a solution and sell that solution to others.

2. “Sow a thought, reap an action; sow an action, reap a habit; sow a habit, reap a character; sow a character, reap a destiny.”

Entrepreneurship starts with an idea and ends with a destiny. You craft your destiny with your actions, habits and character. You make your destiny, it doesn’t make you.

3. “The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.”

Aside from 20 years ago, there is no better time to start a business than today.

4. “If you want one year of prosperity, grow grain. If you want ten years of prosperity, grow trees. If you want one hundred years of prosperity, grow people.”

The goal of every entrepreneur should be to start a business and find capable people to run the business so that they don’t have to. Read more of this post

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Stretch Goals

July 27, 2012 6 Comments

Reach for the sun to achieve your best.

The spur for this article is this post.As Alex puts it :Reach for the sun to achieve your best.Or as the Malayalam proverb goes reach for the stars at least you will fall on top of the coconut trees.

Stretch goals have their place.I believe Azim Premji has a good test for the ambitiousness of our goals.If you are coming in late,check this link.By setting the bar too low for oneself we do not grow ourselves as much as we could.

However perfection is far away and when we have our eyes fixed on the horizon,we are not living in the present.There is no sense of urgency.However a smaller goal with a deadline attached to it creates a sense of urgency.

So by all means have long term goals,stretch ones but demarcate smaller goals to be achieved en-route.Add a reasonable due date to achieve these short term goals.And a small trick?Make these goals easy to reach.Think how the WordPress edit page counts in steps of five?It will keep you motivated.And remember to have a way to measure your progress constantly.Measuring something draws your attention towards it.And where attention flows,results appear.Also counting down and thinking about how close you are to the finish will help you focus and keep you going longer.

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Andrew Carnegie Quote

July 26, 2012 4 Comments

wealthymatters.com

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Insights Into Selling Luxury In India

July 26, 2012 2 Comments

wealthymatters H.H. Tikkaraja Shatrujit Singh of Kapurthala is the chief representative in Asia for LVMH .He has spearheaded the development of Louis Vuitton’s business in India.

He holds that affluent customers in India are very similar to, and have the same needs and wants as, wealthy customers worldwide. The real game changer in the luxury market in India, he believes, is the aspiring middle class. And by being careful to always position a brand is always positioned at a level they are aspiring to reach,”

Hear him speak in the video below to get some insight into selling luxury goods in India.The transcript of the interview follows. Read more of this post

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About Bernard Arnault

July 26, 2012 10 Comments

wealthymatters.com The luxury goods business has always fascinated me.Only a part of this fascination is attributable to the fact that I am something of an aesthete.The other major part is pure common sense:The fat margins possible in real luxury goods.Though today these businesses might be dominated by financiers , almost all of these started out as ateliers catering to the rich and were set-up by individuals with an understanding of the tastes and inclinations of the rich,some artistic talent,an understanding of skilled craftsmanship,an ability to get things made and some flair to market their wares to their select customers.These days luxury goods companies try to extend their reach by producing mass market luxury targeted at the aspiring classes.This makes these companies subject to the vagaries of the business cycles.However by producing Veblen goods in limited editions, a small business could not have to bother about business cycles.These very characteristics of the luxury goods business make them suitable for a boot0strapping entrepreneur.

Bernard Jean Étienne Arnault is today the world’s 4th and Europe’s richest person, with an estimated net worth of US$41 billion.He was Forbes’ “the fashion person of 2011”.Bernard grew up in Roubaix, northern France. After graduating from the École Polytechnique, Bernard worked as an engineer and ran his family’s construction and property business firm, Ferret-Savinel. Read more of this post