Becoming an Entrepreneur

Starting a new company is not a trifling matter.  Here are a few missteps to avoid:

1. Neglect the support of your relative: Before you embark on a start-up project, it is important to properly obtain the support of your family and spouse.  Your success as an entrepreneur will be greatly facilitated with the assistance of their support, their advice, and their feedback;
2. Going too fast in your business: Evaluate your business model, search for financing, find your first customers.  These are all important milestones to not neglect.  These steps can take up to 12 months, enforcing the importance of carefully preparing and have a solid financial nest to support this major change in your new life as an entrepreneur;
3. Do not calculate your break-even point: It is important to assess the amount of revenues you will need to cover your fixed and variable costs.  You need to know when your business begins to generate income to support your way of life.  When you are an employee, we usually say that you need a 3-month cushion in case you lose your job.  As an entrepreneur, you will need at least 12 months working capital to cover all your costs and your salary;
4. Not to have your own office space:  It is important to devote as much effort to your business start-up and isolate yourself from daily routines.  It is possible to have your own office space at home, but is much better to get out and focus on your business plan.  Space-sharing is an excellent option, which can allow you to isolate you in order to carry out activities related to your business.  The cost might seem high, but the use of shared premises will also create new contacts, thus facilitating your business start-up;
5. Be unruly: Discipline, discipline, discipline.  Working alone, implies an iron discipline.  It is very important you set daily targets, for example, top 10 most important things to do in a day.  Keep a well balanced agenda (business development, administration stuff, quotes preparation, etc.).  Make sure you cover all your important stuff in your daily work since it is vital so you do not forget things.  Identify daily priorities and address them before the other tasks.
6. Forget yourself: It is necessary to spend personal time after a good work day or week.  Remember to insert in your calendar a couple period time of personal activities that will help you think about something other than work, i.e. physical activities, family time, reading, meditation, training, etc.
7. Forget to invoice your clients: Faster you will generate income; the faster you will make your business profitable.  However, it is not because you make a profit, you have money in your bank account.  You must collect your accounts receivable on a monthly basis or your finance can be affected.  For someone who gets into the business, getting paid quickly can be a difficult exercise, even annoying. It is important to understand that all work pays and that you do not have to feel bad to ask your customers to pay you.  There are several ways to get paid: weekly, on milestones, with a down payment, forfeit package, etc.  Never neglect the billing aspect of your business, because the tax man, your suppliers, and your subcontractors won’t forget to be paid;
8. Control and monitor your administrative aspect of your business: Avoid accumulating paperwork, financial management, etc.  Wait until the last minute will make you forget important things.  Good management, among other things allows you to avoid penalties or interest.  If you want to spend more time managing your business, or spend more time with your family and friends, feel free to do business with a professional accountant or likewise business service;
9. Neglect your pension fund: Have on hand a good retirement pension fund.  Set methodically money aside, to assure you a conformable retirement.  In doubt, do not hesitate to contact your accountant to establish financial goals and retirement plan;
10. Becoming poorer intellectually: Continue to keep to yourself inform, to participate in seminars, to train your brain.  Be a member of an association or order or a chamber of commerce, training options are a great way to get our yourself trained, and make business contacts;
11. Focus on prospects:  In your start-up phase, spend at least 50 % of your time on prospecting for new clients.  Even after making money, subsequently do not neglect this important aspect.  You should at least spend 20% of your time (with follow-up meetings).  Participate in activities where there is a large number of people, allowing you to have access to a larger number of contracts;
12. Negotiate your price: It often happens that a prospect wants to negotiate your price, branding a competitor that is willing to accept such a product or service.  In this kind of situation, it is highly recommended to not negotiate because it is too difficult then to return to your market price.  If the prospect does not want to pay for the fair value of your product or services, it is not a client for you.  If you accept, you might have to renegotiate every time you sell to this client.  On the other hand, if you want to get a good lead, and the price is reasonable, you can always offer a discount on of launch, on volume, a forfeit price, etc.

If you want to share your thoughts on this article, simply reply to this email or write to us at info@6dt.ca or info@stage1success.com. We look forward to reading your comments.

10 steps to your stage 1 project

We are often asked “what are the top 10 best advices” you could share with us for starting up a new enterprise or launching a new project or product.

1. Get your winning business plan in motion and prepare a realistic financial forecast
2. Hire the best talents
3. Be a financial savvy with investors
4. Learn or get help navigating and negotiate with financial institutions
5. Your first clients are your best marketing tool
6. Put your stamps on everything you sell and have memorable products and services
7. Always follow through your customers and clients and build lasting relationships
8. Identify project risk and mitigate
9. Review your business stages and don’t hesitate to pivot your model
10. Identify and get the best business experts for your stage 1 enterprise or project. Do not hesitate to share with your mentor or your advisor any issues with your company.

Hard work and get the best to help and advice to enable you achieve your goals

Are you ready for “BYOD”? – 9 best practices

BYOD or “Bring Your Own Device” or BYOD a trend referring to enterprises allowing employees to use their personal devices (phone, laptop, desktop unit, and notepad) in a professional location and context. The default position in many companies has been for company employees to buy their own equipment for personal and business purposes, with or without the support of the IT function of the organization. The uses varies but generally involve accessing email, contacts, calendars, documents, web apps, various applications, collaboration tools, and other enterprise systems.

With the proliferation of personal devices, lower user fees and the democratization of the use of these devices, “BYOD” is now a major trend in the world of technology. According to a survey in 2013, almost 60% of workers were accessing data related to their jobs via their privately owned smartphones or tablets. In contrast, only 1/3 of the companies had implemented management tools and processes for the maintenance and use of these devices.

There are several advantages for companies in encouraging employee to use their personal devices to access data and organizing systems, including:

• Reduced operating costs (purchase of equipment, software and maintenance costs): Supporting a personal device costs much less than supporting a corporate terminal;
• Increased productivity: By having access at all times to data and systems, employees work 37 minutes more per week according to a Cisco study in 2011;
• Increased employee satisfaction:
  • Employees are happier and more satisfied. They use what they like – and what they have invested in with their hard earned money;
  • Employees do not have to deal with the budgetary challenges of their employer, which is often a relief to them;
  • “BYOD” facilitates teleworking, promoting a better work / life balance;
• For start-ups, the advantage of reducing costs to a minimum, is undeniable;
• This is an excellence initiative for the environment (e-waste reduction).

The trend “Bring your own device” however comes with its share of problems. Indeed, companies that have adopted the practice of “BYOD” must manage and support mobile devices heterogeneous (different brands and models) and rotating in different operating systems (iOS, Android, Windows, etc.). They face great challenges in terms of support, security, control, mobile fleet management. The professional life management problem versus employee’s personal life is also part of the equation.

What should leaders of SMEs do to limit the risks of BYOD?

Here are nine best practices for sound management of personal devices in your company:

1. Implement a remote access policy and use of personal devices and distribute it to employees.

This policy should include a list of supported devices, rules on securing devices (security code activated), the definition of an adequate and secure password (Lowercase, uppercase, number, special characters, etc.),  stipulating what can and cannot be downloaded via the company network, etc.

While your employees use their personal devices, it is important to remind them that this use is in the context of work and for the sustainability of the organization. Rules of conduct and use should be dictated. Ensure that employees have read the policy, adhere to it and respect it

2. Build an optimized infrastructure for “BYOD” including mobile devices.

The creation of a separate network for personal devices allows for better management of network traffic and increased control of data flowing to and from these devices. This also facilitates separate network authentication, in accordance with the principles dictated by the policy of use of devices that connect to the network. This will eliminate unauthorized access.

3. Establish a process to manage the departure of an employee.

Whether owing to voluntary redundancy, dismissal or death, the departure of an employee must be managed properly. It is important to ensure that an employee does not carry with him or her the organization’s secrets. Actions should be taken, well in advance of the departure of the employee. This process will indicate how to proceed in such cases.

4. Establish an access and identity management.

Access and identity management is used to initiate, capture, store and manage user identities and access granted to them. Specialized tools are available to implement such a policy and to manage permissions in an automated way. Automated management ensures that access privileges are granted according to one interpretation of the policy. Access will be properly authenticated, authorized and audited in this fashion.

Access and identity management enhances security while reducing complexity and obviating many of the risks usually associated with heterogeneous environments. A logical approach for access to corporate data and systems should include an access control policy and the separation of roles in a structured way with SSO (single sign-on) in place.

The implementation of access and identity management significantly reduces the risk of a security incident even if your employees use their personal devices on a regular basis.

5. Protect sensitive information and / or personal property.

Information has an important value for organizations today. The data about your customers, your markets, your products, your suppliers, are now computerized and can be the target of a competitor or a malicious hacker. The use of personal devices increases the risks associated with access to sensitive data. This is why it is important to ensure that the data that the company has is properly secured. We have all  read the theft of banking information, patents or manufacturing techniques.

Conversely, the organization must not have access to personal information of employees, under the law on privacy. Adequate mechanisms must be put in place to prevent access.

6. Monitor and record all activities.

For various reasons, it may be necessary to know what activities took place during a given period on your corporate network. For example, you may need to trace unauthorized access or may need to confront an employee on prohibited use. The establishment of monitoring and recording  tools is necessary to maintain control of networks and organizational systems.

7.Separate the corporate data from personal data on devices.

In an ideal world, enterprise data is separate from personal data. One way to ensure this is to create a partitioned workspace on personal devices. This approach avoids a mix of personal information or applications with those corporate and helps reduce the risks that could lead to compromise of sensitive data.

8. Implement remote wipe devices.

You must be prepared to face any eventuality. Theft or loss of a device is common nowadays. If sensitive data can be found on the device, the company must be able to take appropriate actions to prevent this information from ending up in the wrong hands. The implementation of a tool for remote wipe data on the device is a perfect example of this type of measure.

9. Encrypt data on the devices.

Adding encryption on devices is an effective way to protect data from loss or theft. Today there are tools for centralized management of encryption  based on the concepts of users, groups, and sensitivity of data. By encrypting the business related data on personal devices, organizations will be able to drastically reduce the risks associated with data security.