Podcast: Play in new window | Download

I’d like to start off by saying that every entrepreneur has a unique path but the successful ones quit stability and do something they may eventually fail at – now that’s a special human ability and drive. The ones doing it, they are not doing it for the delusion of money, they do it because they know the money will come later.

The entrepreneurs that make it are the ones with genuine solutions to real problems. When Entrepreneurs are driven by a vision of the future, that’s when problem solving becomes interesting. This is the time when teams get together to fix problems – this is also the time when they expect problems to arise because to be an Entrepreneur, it is expected that you will need to put fires out. As an entrepreneur, your #1 job is to solve problems.

No company or startup can ever get from A-Z without putting out fires or solving problems. In fact, it may take months or even a year before any money is made – however, it’s the discipline and the clarity of your vision that keeps you moving ahead. This vision will also give you enough disciple and charge to do what you need to do and do as you say you say. With this beautiful combination, that’s when magic happens.

The moment you have a vision for your business, a passion and the willingness to succeed – nothing can come stop you from ever becoming successful. This is what dreams are made of!

Failure rate of businesses in the United States:

  • 90% of all businesses fail within their first 3 years
  • 50% of businesses survive after 5th year
  • Less than 5% of businesses survive after their 10th year.

Types of businesses most likely to fail: you guessed it – “brick & mortar”

  • Independent restaurants & retail stores (60% rate of failure over the first 5 years)
  • Direct sales & consulting business services (50% rate of failure over the first 5 years)

Best industries for starting a business: you guessed it – “online!”

  • E-commerce: 52% projected revenue increase from 2012-2017 with 334.3 billion will be spent by the United States in e-commerce by the end of 2017
  • Internet Publishing: 110% projected growth between 2012 and 2017 with 72 billion projected revenue by 2017
  • Mobile Games: 173% projected revenue increase from 2012 to 2017 with 12.3 billion projected revenue for mobile gaming in 2017
  • IT Consulting: 15% expected growth by 2017 with 379 billion projected industry revenue by 2017

How To Avoid Failure & Succeed As An Online Entrepreneur:

  1. Do not make emotional decisions: Choose your niche based on an emotional response –vs- being data driven can be a cause for concern. Instead, make decisions based on real data and statistics.
  2. To create your company vision, you need to be a visionary: learn more about social science. What motivates people to buy form you? Learn about the dynamics of how people make their buying decisions. Check out a book called BuyOlogy by Martin Lindstrom
  3. Do research on your industry: How much history do you know about your industry/niche? How was it doing 5 years ago? How is it performing now and how will it perform 5 years into the future?
  4. Read statistical data: Find out about long term growth of your niche/industry. How much demand is there for your product/service?
  5. Connect with other business owners: Tim Ferris when he came out with the 4-hour work week reached out to a-list bloggers and influential people on the internet to promote his book. Similar to Tim Ferris, you should be reaching out to industry leaders / bloggers in your niche as well. Check out the Neil Patel podcast and look more into the 200 outreach program to get the word out about your business / service / product. Attend conferences to maximize your relationships with bloggers and influential people.
  6. Notice your competition and the climate of your market: Learn as much about your competitors as you can. Competitors are good to have, that means that your products / services are in high demand, especially if you have a lot of competitors. Don’t invent a new wheel, use what already exists and make the business better than your competitors (service, products, web site, delivery, etc)
  7. Be a good money manager: Reinvest what you have in yourself and in your business. Its not how much money you make, its how much you save at the end of the day that counts.
  8. Be transparent & provide tremendous value: Share your successes and failures with your audience. Transparency is important because people will trust you. The age of hard selling is long gone – now people only buy from those they trust and like. If people don’t trust you, they won’t like you either. Next, provide as much value as you can. Transparency + trust = sales!
  9. Follow your passion: Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do “Steve Jobs”
  10. Continue personal development and your education: Read at least 5-7 books about your industry. Always learn as much as you can and make learning, life long. Find a mentor who is 5-10 years ahead of where you want to be and learn from them. Coaching is highly recommended!

Links discussed in the podcast:

5-Star Reviews this week:

  • Jet07_07: I found this podcast truly inspiring. William Shaker is very genuine and it is easy to relate to him. He turned a podcast on “how to become happier” into a complete game changer in my life. Thanks for all your good hard work!

If you tune in every week to listen to me speak, I really appreciate it. I have one quick 30-second favor to ask you – please go to willimshaker.com/iTunes and leave an honest review… If you have a web site you would like me to promote, put that in your review as well and I’ll read it on the next podcast. I think this is a win-win strategy.

Did You Enjoy This Podcast?

Never miss an episode by subscribing, using one of the options below and If you can spare 30-seconds to leave a rate, review and subscribe on iTunes, it would really help the show’s ranking. Thank you, in advance!

What did you learn from this podcast and how do you feel it will improve your business?