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Entrepreneurial Ideas for College Graduates

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StrategyDriven Entrepreneurship Article |College Graduates|Entrepreneurial Ideas for College GraduatesGraduating from college is one of the biggest milestones in a person’s life. While some graduates will move straight into a chosen career, others will be exploring options like starting their own business. If you’ve just completed college and are interested in being an entrepreneur, below are some ideas.

Clothing

If you have a passion for fashion and want to be an entrepreneur, one lucrative idea is to start a clothing business. While you could acquire specialized training, you could easily start an independent clothing company with simply some business acumen. If you’re passionate about this industry and need a few extra skills like silk screening or pattern cutting, you could always take additional courses.

Catering

For grads who are passionate about cooking, catering is another way to go. While it can be a stressful business, it has one of the highest ROI rates. If you’re interested in pursuing this type of business, you’ll want to specialize your services. For example, will you cater to businesses? Weddings? Funerals? Whatever you decide, it’s important that you build a solid team and shape your business around your niche so that you can stay competitive.

Handmade Crafts

Do you have a talent for sewing, jewelry, or other crafts? If so, you could turn a hobby into a thriving venture. Whether it’s a knitting business, a soap-making business, or a bespoke company that makes college cornhole boards, turning your talents into a business can be exciting and highly rewarding. Start-up costs for handmade businesses can be fairly low, depending on what craft you decide on. Once you’ve established your niche, sites like Etsy and ArtFire are great places to start selling your handmade wares.

Content Creation

One notable skill that college trains you in is writing. From essays to reports, most college students will have honed their writing skills over several years. If you love writing and are interested in turning it into a business, content creation is one of the fastest-growing industries online.

As with all businesses, you’ll want to specialize and decide whether you want to create content for a specific industry or a range of them. You’ll also want to decide what type of content you’ll specialize in, whether it’s articles, blog posts, social media copy, etc. While it can take time to make consistent money with content creation, it is a good place to start when you’re fresh out of college.

Event Organizing

If you spent a lot of time in college organizing workshops or conferences, you might be well-positioned to turn event organizing into a career. While this industry is demanding and fast-paced, it will suit those who love the buzz of gathering people under one roof. If you have a talent for setting up events, you can set yourself up as a freelance event organizer or team up with other people and create a company. As event organizing is quite broad, you’ll also need to decide what types of events you’ll organize. The options are endless, ranging from corporate events to private parties. While you may need special training, many event organizers use their experience as a starting point.

7 Ways To Improve Your Personal Credibility As A Business Owner

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StrategyDriven Entrepreneurship Article |Personal Credibility|7 Ways To Improve Your Personal Credibility As A Business OwnerIf people don’t trust you, they won’t trust your business. This is why it’s so important to not just prove that your business is credible, but that you are credible too.

Invest in the right qualifications and licenses

Qualifications and licenses are compulsory to work in certain industries (you can’t become a doctor without a medical degree or an electrician without an electrical license). In other cases, qualifications and licenses may be optional – but they could still be worth pursuing in order to prove to clients and employees that you know your stuff. Nowadays, there are so many flexible options when it comes to taking courses. Think about which qualifications and licenses could be a benefit to you.

Create a LinkedIn account and get people to endorse you

Every business owner nowadays needs a LinkedIn page. Certain clients may want to look you up on LinkedIn in order to get an idea of your credentials – if you don’t have LinkedIn, they may not trust you. Build a page today if you don’t already have one and start connecting with people you know. It’s worth asking these people to endorse skills as this will help you look more reputable.

Show off your achievements with a personal bio website

A personal bio website such as this one belonging to Jonathan Dax Cooke could improve your online credibility further. Such websites are a great opportunity to list your achievements in your own words and paint the best picture of you. It can be particularly good for SEO – when people search your name, they’re likely to see your bio and read it.

Join professional groups and organizations

It’s good to network with other professionals and influential people. By getting to know these types of people, you’re likely to get recommendations, which will improve your credibility. There are all kinds of groups and organizations out there that you can join. This could include local business groups or even industry committees.

Lead seminars and workshops

Seminars and workshops are a chance to pass on your skills and knowledge. This can help you to look more credible – if a client knows that you’ve run a workshop on a subject, it will show that you’re competent enough (or at the very least confident enough) to do a good job. You could host seminars and workshops in person, or you could host them online.

Give advice through blog posts or vlog videos

Blogging and vlogging is another way to pass on your knowledge and skills – and it’s much easier than running a seminar or workshop. Potential clients may read your blog posts or watch your videos and then trust you as an expert. Consider starting a blog or launching a vlog series today.

Make sure that you look the part

How you look can also impact your credibility. Make sure that you don’t look scruffy when meeting clients – keeping your appearance neat and tidy will give off the impression that you’re organized and that you take pride in your image. This guide from Marcus Lemonis explains more about how to look the part.

The Skills Every Entrepreneur Should Have

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StrategyDriven Entrepreneurship Article |Entrepreneur Skills|The Skills Every Entrepreneur Should HaveAn entrepreneur is someone who starts their own business and is responsible for building it up from the ground. As you might imagine, this is by no stretch of the imagination, but if you are determined to make it work, you have every chance of doing so.

Something else that will help you to have the best possible chance of succeeding as an entrepreneur is having the right skills. Some of the most common skills that entrepreneurs require are inherent, but most of them can be learned, so if you are willing to put the time and effort in, you could acquire abilities that will help you to run a much more successful business in the future.

With that in mind, here are some of the most important skills every entrepreneur should have:

Inquisitiveness

In order to come up with great new ideas and solve pressing new problems, you really do need to have an inquisitive mind that is always thinking about things, how they work and how they could be improved. This is probably the most important skill to have.

Communication

Successful entrepreneurs like Jonathan Sears, and Bill Gates if you want to be successful in business, you need to learn how to communicate as effectively as possible. From being able to pitch an idea to investors to directing employees how to handle a work project, and of course, dealing with customers, you are going to be doing a lot of talking one way or another, and the more eloquently you can put your point across, the more successful you are likely to be.

Time management

When you are turning a business, there really aren’t enough hours in the day to do everything that you need to do. It is your job as an entrepreneur to find the time, which means you need to have excellent time management skills, Of course, you can hire other people to help you (and you should) but if you aren’t able to fit everything you need to do into your daily schedule as efficiently as possible, you really will struggle.

Resilience

Being an entrepreneur is hard. Not all of your ideas will land, some of your big dreams will fail, and you will fall short of many of your goals. If you cannot handle those things, you will ultimately be unsuccessful in business and feel terrible in your personal life. If, however, you can handle the rejections, stresses, and bad times and learn from them, you can come back better and stronger and ultimately lead your company to great success.

Mathematics

If you want to do well in business, you need to be able to raise funds, create business plans, work out your bottom line, and a million other things that require the ability to think mathematically, Obviously, there are lots of tools that can help you with this these days but if you have an innate understanding of mathematics, you will find it a whole lot easier to succeed.

If you have all of these skills or are able to work towards developing them, then you are fsr more likely to succeed as a modern entrepreneur.

4 Signs It’s Time To Find A New Job

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StrategyDriven Professional Development Article |Time to find a new job|4 Signs It's Time To Find A New JobSometimes, there comes a moment in your life where you realize that your current job isn’t right for you. Moreso than that, you realize your whole career just isn’t right for you at all. It’s time to make a big change and find a new job. The key is learning how to identify when this time is right. As a result, you’ll avoid wasting months of your life working a job that you will eventually leave. Instead, you can spot the warning signs early, leave as soon as possible, and use that extra time to train or find a new job right away.

With that in mind, what are the telltale signs it’s time to find a new job?

You’re not appreciated by your employer

Arguably the biggest sign it’s time to leave your job is if your employer pays you no attention. Ironically, so many people remain in jobs when they’re underappreciated. Why? Because you convince yourself that it’s greedy or selfish to want some attention from your boss. In reality, you deserve it! If you do a good job, you deserve to get a slap on the back and a well done now and then. More than that, you deserve a bonus, a raise, or a promotion. Have you ever got any of these or know anyone in your business that has? If not, the employer doesn’t value their employees, so why bother working for them? You can find the same job in a different company and enjoy much better benefits and appreciation, with room to grow and earn more money or gain promotions.

You’re on an awful benefits program

Benefits were mentioned in the previous sentence, and they play a big role in deciding if you should quit your job or not. As an employee, you deserve certain employee benefits. The very least of which should be a pension of sorts. Your employer should set up a fund for you and pay some of your wages into it every month. Alongside this, they should make a monthly contribution, helping you save for retirement. If you don’t have one of these at your job, it’s a big sign to find a new one that offers a good pension.

Furthermore, the more benefits a job can provide, the better. Some careers will have better benefits plans than others. For instance, a lot of healthcare jobs come with lots of good benefits that you wouldn’t find in an office job. Likewise, teaching jobs come with loads of days of holiday and great pensions. If you currently receive very little in terms of employment benefits, it could be time to look elsewhere.

Your job is too dangerous

Does every day present significant risks to your health & wellbeing? You’ll be amazed at how many jobs out there are just really dangerous. Even simple ones, like being a truck driver, can be bad for your health. You spend a lot of time driving a massive vehicle that can easily cause accidents on the roads. And good luck getting legal help when injured in a truck accident as the courts usually favor the drivers of smaller cars. Construction workers are another common example of people doing dangerous or high-risk jobs. There are so many ways to hurt yourself on a construction site; every day could be the day you end up in hospital.

Put it this way: you shouldn’t have to worry about your health when at work. If it’s got to a point where you’re tired and sore every day, you may consider leaving. Find a job that’s safer and less dangerous to your health for a better work/life balance.

You feel unfulfilled

Lastly, look at how you feel when you think about work every day. When you leave your job and go to sleep at night, do you feel fulfilled? Does your job excite you – do you enjoy it? If you hate your job and believe it brings you nothing but a paycheck, it could be time to look for something new.

This is something that indicates if you should change careers. A sense of unfulfillment can be down to the job you perform; it just might not be the right one for you. Instead, you can change careers and embark on a journey to find a job that leaves you fulfilled. Even if it pays a little less, you’ll feel so much happier doing something that brings you joy.

If you notice any of these signs, you should reassess whether or not this job is right for you. It might mean quitting and finding the same job at a different company. Or, it could mean you pack in this career and find a better and more rewarding one.

The Ultimate Way To Increase Your Brand Awareness

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Brand Awareness is important for increasing your company’s revenue. Whether you’re a small business with only one product or a large corporation that offers a full line of high-quality goods and services, it’s essential to let people know what you have to offer.

StrategyDriven Online Marketing and Website Development Article | The Ultimate Way To Increase Your Brand Awareness

There are many ways to increase brand awareness, but none as effective as,

Social Media Marketing:

Use Social Media Platforms

Platforms such as Facebook and Twitter to promote your brand and content. Not only will these networks allow you to spread the word about your products/services, but they’ll also allow visitors to rate and review your products allowing other visitors to better understand the value of what you’re offering. In addition, social media can be used not just to push out your message but also to receive feedback, which is important for building trust.

Use Youtube To Share Videos Of Your Products/Services

This will give viewers an up-close look at what you have to offer before deciding whether or not to buy, increasing the chance that they will follow through on their purchase. You can also use YouTube’s annotation feature to encourage people who are watching your video (and especially subscribers) to visit your website and explore more videos like it.

Post pictures of your company events or work environments on Facebook, Pinterest, or Instagram. Make sure to hire a professional corporate event planner for your company events. These pictures will encourage viewers to learn more about who you are as a company, encouraging them to follow your brand.

Regularly Update Your Blog With New Content

Not only should you write about current events occurring in your company, but you should also write posts related to industry news and trends, as well as topics of interest for your target audience. By doing so, you’ll establish yourself as one of the go-to sources for industry information which will build trust among potential customers.

If You Do Not Have A Website Yet, Create One Now!

A website lets people know who you are and what services/products you have to offer without putting down their credit information first – they can take their time to learn about the benefits of your product. Then, if they like what they see, they can subscribe to your channel to receive updates when new posts are published.

Link All Social Media Platforms Together

i.e., post images on Pinterest that link back to Facebook, use hashtags that tie Twitter into the picture; this way, people who visit one site will be able to explore more content across other platforms. This is great for building traffic and increasing brand awareness by exposing potential customers of various demographics to various content related specifically to their interests.

Utilize Paid Ads On Social Media Sites

Media sites such as Facebook and Google Adwords to get your brand in front of a wider audience at a lower cost than conventional advertising methods. While social media marketing is highly effective in and of itself, it’s also a very cost-efficient method for getting your name out there, especially if you’re still working on establishing your brand.