5 good #intentions: #entrepreneurial #habits

Entrepreneurial Habits to Develop

Joe Pulizzi recommends in his blogpost two habits to acquire as an entrepreneur:

1. Start with writing down your business AND personal goals
2. Thoroughly review these goals

I can support his idea to keep your eyes fixed and to keep your focus on your goals. If you still want some end-of-the-year reading you can also read one of his recommended books (7 habits of highly effective people by Covey). If you want to go more in depth on Entrepreneurial Habits feel free to follow Mark Hopkins. Especially the focus on "I can do it" in his posts are highly motivating.
My personal Effectuation-approach has helped a lot of entrepreneurs in succeeding. It contains only 5 easy principles:

1. The Bird in Hand Principle. Entrepreneurs start with what they have. They will look at who they are, what they know and who they know. Their education, tastes and experience are examples of factors which are important in this stage. Besides these examples, this is also the stage where entrepreneurs look at their 3F’s, better known as friends, family and fools. From this point, they will look at their abilities. So an entrepreneur does not start with a given goal, but with the tools he or she has. 
2. The Affordable Loss Principle. An entrepreneur does not focus on possible profits, but on the possible losses and how they can minimize those losses. 
3. The Crazy Quilt Principle. Entrepreneurs cooperate with parties they can trust. These parties can limit the affordable loss by giving pre-commitment. 
4. The Lemonade Principle. Entrepreneurs will look at how to avoid contingencies. Surprises are not necessarily seen as something bad, but as opportunities to find new markets. 
5. The Pilot-in-the-plane. In this stage, all the previous principles are put together. The future cannot be predicted, but entrepreneurs can control some of the factors which determine the future.

Every year in May infinite.company members can stretch their ideas in the "Effectuation Weekend". If you want to join our network of succesful entrepreneurs or want to be instructed on Effectuation feel free to mail me at jackie@infinite.company.


http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/238403
http://diversitymbamagazine.com/ten-entrepreneurial-habits-for-a-successful-career
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effectuation

5 good #intentions to pave your #entrepreneurial #road

What kind of good intentions will you make for 2015?
Some entrepreneurial suggestions by experts in the upcoming days.

Get completely in control 

Don Hofstrand said that Entrepreneurs tend to have a strong internal locus of control. Locus of control is a concept defining whether a person believes he/she is in control of his/her future or someone else is in control of it. For example, we all know people who believe they have no control over their lives. They believe that what happens to them is dictated by outside forces. People who feel they are victims of outside forces have an external locus of control.

 “it’s not my fault this happened to me.” 

By contrast, entrepreneurs have a very strong internal locus of control. They believe their future is determined by the choices they make. Entrepreneurs want to be self-directed. They want to be in control of their activities. This is linked to the “locus of control” discussion above. Entrepreneurs often don’t fit well in traditional employment positions. They don’t want to be told what to do. Entrepreneurs know what they want to do and how to do it.

Break patterns 

Carrying the issue with you 

Have you become so attached to your issue that you can’t seem to drop it? Some people constantly have the problem they face on their back. One gets the sense that they get some satisfaction out of it. It is rarely about the issue, it is the habit of constantly carrying it. In a way we become addicted to our issues, sometimes even carrying it with pride.

Constantly checking on the issue 

We drop the issue, but we constantly check on it. This pattern is like someone putting a baby down to sleep and then lifting the covers so often to check if it is still asleep, that soon it wakes up. Scratching until it itches, just to make 1000% sure. Again, it is not the baby (issue) that is awake, but the person waking it with their pattern. This person really does not have any intention to drop the issue.

When this (happens)…then I’ll… 

We have probably all been guilty of this pattern at some point or another. Constantly holding out for something else, getting ready, waiting, never doing. We actually get to believe ourselves when we say that, but who are we fooling? Only ourselves!

Not being totally committed 

Talk is cheap but if in your heart of hearts you are not totally committed and prepared to break the pattern, you won’t. You can’t have one foot in, one foot out. This pattern is actually easier to break than one would think - sometimes just asking yourself whether you are committed will already help you make a shift.

So now what? Celeste Du Toit, the YES paradigm coach, recommends in her article to that once you realise the pattern you can do something about it. So stop doing it! Don’t do less of it; stop totally, and turn around. Notice it constantly and break its neck. Get help if you need to, a coach or a confidante, but there is no going halfway - the only way out of a pattern is to break it!

Next time we I will talk about:

1. Developing entrepreneurial habits 
2. And how to pass your skills on to your team

http://www.extension.iastate.edu/agdm/wholefarm/html/c5-07.html
http://www.entrepreneur.co.za/breaking-pattern/

5 Steps on your Path to Business Success

The idea of infinite.company is to encourage small and big entrepreneurs to go from idea to market, linking a lot of talents available in the market.
In my way of dealing with new businesses this makes a lot of sense. It means you’ll start, even if you don't have the money,  as early as possible.
Our way for a quick launch puts you ahead of the competition. This is especially important when you’re capitalizing on changes in the marketplace or new technology.
Back in the mid-nineties, I was working at a Bank. I had the idea of using XML-based payments on an asynchronous way. I had the opportunity to do my project. On the day of launch, we knew one other bank in the world doing the same. Just two months after launch, seventeen Banks launched the same. A month later this figure had risen to 100. Our early start was a huge competitive advantage in bulk payments and brokering transaction messages for dealers. Compared to other EAI-tools I spend 13% of the budget, focussing on what was needed for the Bank.
Knowing this, you’re probably wondering:

What’s the shortcut to launch my business quickly? 

In my years of experience, I’ve found that only one shortcut ultimately leads to success.

 The best shortcut is to take a long-term view. 

In other words, even if you want to launch your business at speed, there are no shortcuts. There’s no way around putting in the hours. Any entrepreneur who’s started a business can tell you plenty of battle stories about how hard they worked in the early days.
There’s a good reason for that: building a business is hard work. There’s no way around any of the following. In fact, it doesn’t make sense to talk of a way “around” them. These aren’t obstacles blocking your way, but the path to a successful business.

1. Do your homework. As an entrepreneur or a business owner, being well-informed about your business, your industry and your target market is very important. However, you may be tempted to overlook doing your own research in favor of asking for professional help. Though this route may seem easier, doing your own research beforehand could save you time and money. Your research may also allow you to ask specific questions, rather than vague ones.
   
2. Step back when the feedback tells you to. You may believe you have the perfect idea. But if your research shows a less than ideal marketplace, or if there’s a high failure rate of startups in the sector, there’s a reason for that. Don’t kid yourself into believing your business will be different from all the rest. Learn everything you can about what went wrong for others, then decide whether the opportunity is still for you. If you really want to move forward successfully in today’s economy, it’s important to think long-term. In his recent bestseller about the hotel industry, Heads in Beds, Jacob Tomsky writes about his early days doing valet parking and other unskilled jobs. Thanks to cash tips, the money was good — the advancement potential, not so much. When he was tapped for a management position, he had a difficult choice to make. He’d be earning less money in the immediate future, but his long-term career prospects would dramatically improve. He ultimately agreed to move into the white collar ranks, but his dilemma highlights an important point. 
3. Become a member of infinite.company Chat with experienced entrepreneurs or ask advice from other starters. Becoming a member links you to a lot of possibilities, whether is in finding the right talents or asking advice from experts or even a business developer focused on your domain.  
4. Consider your timing. There is one critical element that many business owners fail to consider when embarking on their business startup. Timing! How is the current market and local economy? What is the current competition like in your industry? Is the timing right for you? Maybe you are not the expert in finding the answers to all these questions. We can help if you want to.
5. Adopt a beginner’s mind. Beginner’s mind is a zen concept that’s about dropping all your assumptions. By letting go of what you think you know, you’ll ask better questions, get better answers, and receive more insight into what’s possible and what’s not. I love this quote on Joel's blog:

We are all experts. Experts in our job, in raising children, in crossing the road, in signing our name. Its difficult to let go of being an expert. Because it means confessing that we really know nothing. What we know belongs to the past. Whereas this moment now is new and offers its unique challenges. If I let go of being an expert, I can listen to others with an open mind. Then I can find that even a beginner has something to teach me.”

So, remember, the best shortcut to a successful business is to repeat the mantra: There are no shortcuts.

Sources:
http://www.canadabusiness.ca/eng/blog/entry/4867/
https://hbr.org/2014/02/take-a-step-back-to-propel-your-career-forward/
http://www.forbes.com/sites/groupthink/2014/12/05/when-launching-a-business-timing-is-everything/
http://joel.is/tag/beginners-mind/
http://scottduffy.com/

1 big thing infinite.company does for business ideas

We all have our reasons for not getting started. Unlike Erik and Joeri, who were ready to jump right into entrepreneurship, some of us may be more hesitant to take the leap.

• Every time I tell people about Infinite.company, they want to know more. Not only is it an intriguing concept, but also it’s a concept that works. The Inifinite.company membership means a lot to theMatchBox: we saw in increase in business opportunities simply because together with other members we can apply for projects that we couldn’t handle on our own. And furthermore, there’s always somebody that can support you for technical or business issues, which is very welcome for a start-up company like theMatchBox. (Joeri Mesens, Belgium, founder)

• A few months ago, I took the big decision to start taking charge of my career and become a freelancer. A big motivator that fueled my decision was the fact that I could start on a nice project from the very start, a project brought to me by infinite.company. Without this opportunity in place I would not have had the kickstart I had now. In fact, it might have meant that I would not be freelancing right now at all, whereas it is probably the best decision I ever made in my career. Right now, I am happily continuing on subsequent projects through infinite.company's strong and pragmatic-oriented network. (ET4IT, Netherlands, founder)

Most of us create excuses and put up roadblocks for themselves:

• It's too late
• I have to be certain for my kids
• I can't afford it
• The project's too big
• I can't do that and do the job I have
• I'll just start tomorrow

And the biggest one of all?

• I'm afraid

Unfortunately, our fears, combined with the crazy stories we tell ourselves about why we can't succeed, keep us from getting started.
In order to bring your big idea to life, infinite.company created an environment to let go of all your excuses. Simply step away and get on with it.
If we believe in your market, we engage to find a first customer for your products or services and we go for it ... together!

Some testimonials on infinite.company by Early Adopters

Between my time at Cronos and Infinite.Company I got stuck in transition. I was really struggling to find my way, wondering what direction I would take next.
I had always liked creating and building things, so I was sure I wanted to build companies and help starting entrepreneurs. I also was sure I would leave their shares at them, unless they want me to participate in their idea. The possibility to make a difference in approach was attractive. How many times in your life have you been ready to make a move? I kept asking myself, how was I going to make an impact? How was I going to put my ambition to work?
Then a friend gave me a book that helped me to convince myself of my idea: The Starfish and the spider. It was really an enlightenment saying "You are right on the spot!". The book inspired me in many ways and helped me to take a look at the IT services from a whole new perspective. It got me to try a new business model in IT products and services, and to put myself into a better position to discover my Big Idea.
The first conclusion I reached was that the future is this new businessmodel. Everyone I talked to since August 2014 confirms this. Some companies I worked with in this model even stressed it with strong statements:

• Every time I tell people about Infinite.company, they want to know more. Not only is it an intriguing concept, but also it’s a concept that works. The Inifinite.company membership means a lot to theMatchBox: we saw in increase in business opportunities simply because together with other members we can apply for projects that we couldn’t handle on our own. And furthermore, there’s always somebody that can support you for technical or business issues, which is very welcome for a start-up company like theMatchBox.

• A few months ago, I took the big decision to start taking charge of my career and become a freelancer. A big motivator that fueled my decision was
  the fact that I could start on a nice project from the very start, a project
  brought to me by infinite.company. Without this opportunity in place I would
  not have had the kickstart I had now. In fact, it might have meant that I
  would not be freelancing right now at all, whereas it is probably the best
  decision I ever made in my career. Right now, I am happily continuing on
  subsequent projects through infinite.company's strong and pragmatic-oriented
  network. (ET4IT, Netherlands)
• "I recommend all my subcontractors and suppliers to work with infinite.company. It's the first company with clear added value to its clients and members." (procurement officer, https://www.wefashion.com/)

It seems a pretty smart idea. We offer help and it changes the course of business of some. The end of my struggle?

Guiding Principles of Infinite.company

Guiding Principles

INFINITE.COMPANY will be a 'non-risk' company, based on a network model. All profit that INFINITE.COMPANY generates will be paid back to catalysts, members, customers, charity and R&D.

• To be a community committed to the success of our Customers
• To embrace our competitors with ethics and respect
• To attain professional fulfillment while having fun at work
• To understand that profit is a consequence and not a goal

Culture

We believe that cross-company collaboration is better and more productive. That’s why we established a more flexible, horizontal network from the very beginning. The same applies for our own management structure. Trust, freedom and creative autonomy are our pillars. Our solution and network is focused on finding the best solutions for customers in a faster and more effective manner.

Our mission

To be the all-encompassing platform for businesses to attract, source and select the right talents and projects.

Read our full paper at infinite.company

How Infinite.Company will change the Consultancy Industry

Start with One Talent

Customers are facing a myriad of challenges when looking for the right Talents. The odds are that, if they use infinite.company for their search, there will be lots of Talent available for their projects or consultancy requests. We fix the gaps in their Talent Search.

Make Things Simple

Common practices (based on distrust) have led to an overly complicated and expensive consultancy industry a lot. We are grabbing the opportunity and disrupting the market by bringing in a trust-based transaction model. We simplify!

By solving a difficult problem the easy way, we have created a great opportunity for everyone. Searching for talent and project-teams (circles) has never been this easy.

Slash Prices Dramatically

By building trust in our transaction model, we significantly reduce costs and will pass these savings to customers and members. Entrenched players are not able to compete because their history and business models don't allow it. The different memberships are based on fixed fees.

Get Close to Customers

By creating a direct transaction between all people involved, we build a better relationship with customers than everyone else in our market. We translate requests into services that better address both needs and desires. Customers will have free access to the system.

Be YOU

Our system is completely open and transparant. So be authentic, learn and win.

3 Differentiators - Not Perfect. We Favor Variety and Diversity

We are not perfect

Ofcourse we are not perfect ... we are suboptimal.
We don’t have to be perfect in order to thrive within our environment.
We have to be slightly better than our competitors.
We are organized on optimal efficiency and are based on the concept of perfect enough.
By doing this we don’t waste both the time and money of our customers and of ourselves.

We favor variety and diversity

The greater the variety and diversity of the work that members undertake, the stronger they and we will become. The key to our evolution is our ability to explore new possibilities... new ways of co-evolving with our customers and ourselves. This also means the strength of INFINITE.COMPANY is based on the variety and diversity of combinations, perspectives or compositions of skills and experience that we contain ourselves.

Connectivity and Co-evolution

Infinite.company is built on connectivity

Success arises from the interrelationships, interactions and interconnectivity of all individuals within our network and between our network and its environment. 
This means a member can take a decision or action, although it can and will affect all other individuals in the company. The ways in which members connect and relate to one another is critical in the survival of the system, because it is from these connections that the patterns are formed and the feedback is disseminated. 
The relationships between the members are generally more important than the members themselves. The company evolves like the connectivity of the Internet. 
Chaotic and unpredictable.

Infinite.company evolves in co-evolution

Our network exists within an environment, but is also part of that environment. Changes in our network have to be seen as co-evolution, instead of mere adaptations to the environment. As our network's environment changes, members need to change to ensure the best fit. But because they are part of their environment, when they change, they change the environment, thereby requiring themselves to change again. It’s a constant process of evolution.

Investing in Talent Improvement

Talent Improvement

Customers

We promote the correct Talents and Technologies into projects and consultancy requests from end-clients by using a Talent system based on new data-driven insights. Being a customer of infinite.company is free of charge. 

You can get in touch with disruptive tought leaders and members free of charge. You can make use of all network facilities available to our members, such as procurement, timesheets, invoicing, CRM, shared offices, talent system, HR, and many more ... 

Members

We invest in Talent Improvement by giving you insights into areas of Technical and personal strength as well as areas of potential improvement on an on-going basis.

We develop your talent by:

• improving social presence and presence
• participation in bootcamps
• invitation to workshops
• invitation to numerous events

We bring knowledge to our members through advise from ourselves, partners, customers and other members. You gain access to current, exciting projects, as well as on-going personal development, within a peer-peer structure. A win-win for all concerned.

All included in your membership fee.

Be an early adopter and subscribe on http://infinite.company or mail to jackie@infinite.company
We have 5 tailor-made membership formats.

#Project #staffing ... A #talent way of looking!

Besides my consultancy job I used some time this week in talking about the DNA of infinite.company. Co-creating, being validated by potential members and customers makes the ecosystem really strong. 

So ... it's been an amazing week again. Combining prospecting, explaining the concept and the business model is challenging. But simplicity rules: we are a network that enables direct transactions with a circle of talents (or tribe, or projectteam, or whatever you like to call it) and customers. The model based on trust creates a win-win for both parties: end-customers and customers profit. 

The international attraction makes it really challenging to keep focused on what's happening in the Belgian Market and speeding up to have the concept launched around the world. If we keep the same speed I bet we launch with about 5000 IT specialists in Belgium and the Netherlands. 

It feels great to offer projects cross-company from within the Network. Almost every new opportunity is dropped in the network and it seems that consultants and companies like the network way of working. 

Anyway ... I include a quick picture revealing the project talent search engine. But don't hesitate to contact me if you are curious about what's going on (jackie@infinite.company) or subscribe on our landing page.

I also put a lot of effort on the charity part of the community. If you want to help me in making this viral just tweet or do a status update where you refer to our landing page. Everyone who signs in is asked to donate at least 1€ to charity of his choice. If you sign in and have no charity of your choice we donate it to http://www.armentekort.be/

Choosing not to live in the past

"And then there is the most dangerous risk of all — the risk of spending your life not doing what you want on the bet you can buy yourself the freedom to do it later." - Randy Komisar

What happened this week really frightens me. It felt like we are really transforming a complete business model and it seems to work. I will just drop one story of this evening. Being introduced by a partner as a solution to find Java Developers to X we both received a mail from X at 6:45 PM: “For your information, our company's policy is to approach candidates directly not through recruiting agencies.”

So I answered quickly: “ hi X, It's quite easy. We run a network that, among of other benefits, has a talent system that connects you to the people you are searching for and you deal with them directly. No intermediate. The engine and business model disrupts the complete classic recruitment and broker market.

And best of all ... it's for free. Our primary goal is to create a connected network of companies that supply customer solutions.” .

At 19:42 I received a request to meet next Tuesday. It’s really amazing. Easy as well.

Yesterday In London we met 2 recruiters and hopefully one partner in crime and a company offering enterprise search solutions. They were really amazed by the win-win-win that was offered to them.

The developers are doing a great job in connecting the front- and backend and we have attraction from big integrators. Even before we really start off. Having satellites in different European countries with local empowered catalysts is a pretty good way to start.

It is important because as a “startup” we want to move fast and make decisions as soon as we see that they are necessary. Whether it’s killing a feature which is not getting much engagement or introducing a new support channel, it can be easy to put these things off. Especially big changes like adjusting our pricing or making the model completely transparent.

I try to weave this notion of doing what I love and what I’m passionate about and believe in, right into the culture of my favorite IT Business. I will stretch everyone involved and remind them that they can do whatever we want, even turn “normal” models upside down in the whole world in one day, if needed. And once we are there, you will realize it wasn’t that big of a deal, and you I will push you in so many other disruptive models too.

Subscribe on infinite.company if you are interested to learn more. The newsletter is delivered every tuesday

The Freedom of Connecting

infinite.company is transforming the ICT eco-system. It changes everything assumed as "normal". We have a disruptive business model of profit sharing between customers and members. Completely open and transparent, more customer centric an customer-friendly. We use technology to operate a "network and market"-place at a lower cost than traditional integrators, passing the profits of lower rates to customers and increasing rates of traditional companies by using a new way of working. Customers have average savings of 17% on their rates and ICT freelancers and companies will have steady, strong returns in return of a fixed membership fee. The beta-solution of infinite.company has earned among the highest satisfaction ratings in the industry.
At infinite.company one of our values is “Freedom”. We like our members to connect and to form the strongest team possible to face customer challenges.
This means we think about what affects the way we work and we try to optimize to be more productive.
It means stepping a way in your thinking that working directly with a customer and bringing in only your capacity is the right answer ... we collaborate, connect and share.
We’ve had a number of occasions where we’ve been at full capacity and feeling overwhelmed, and after a brainstorm figured out how to do more if we share with other members we had more time and productivity and the customer a cheaper and better solution.
With freedom ... You choose to work directly with your customer or share your opportunity with the infinite.company. Whatever makes you happy is fine by us but we challenge you to share and not being afraid on your so called competitors. There’s plenty of fish in the sea.
Don’t be the unhappy shark. I’m convinced if you surround yourself with other infinite.company members you will achieve more, as an individual and as a company… and you will be proud to be a member of infinite.company and are willing to put the label on your site and marketing stuff.

A proud member of infinite.company

I’m doing my best to document the important Things I learn along my way of creating infinite.company. This includes lessons key of how I’m succeeding with startup ideas, as well as lessons for enjoying the journey.

I don’t know whether the same lessons will apply to you, but I hope you’ll find my journey useful. Take what fits, and tell me what doesn’t work for you: we are agile and willing to adapt. I’m pretty sure my DNA won’t change but the cooperation will grow with your bright ideas.

Don’t forget to subscribe on the website if you like to have all the news in your own inbox.

One of the benefits you will certainly appreciate is the membership itself. As it gives you access to a large bunge of people that share the same passion: creating quality solutions for our customers.

We welcomed 6 new members in the past week. It’s growing very fast as these are 38 new consultants that joined our network.

About me

First of all I am a father of 4 children: Esmée (15), Elise (13), Laurens (9) and Lyam (7). They taught me trust, loyalty, and unconditional love. We grew into a strong and tight team. Organically. No one set the rules or gave us a manual to cope with our challenges. I studied Computer Science, Strategy and Organization. The first 11 years of my “career”, that’s how they call it out there, I started working at a Big Belgian Bank. I had the notion the bigger the “Bank”, the more efficient and sophisticated it would be. My internal drive was to grow the Bank to become the best Bank in Belgium. I can safely say, because they probably will agree, I did not succeed. I learned big institutions suffer from horrible internal politics, hire expensive consultants to determine where to go next, try to change, when most change-projects from the past decades ended with partial completions and frustration in boardrooms. So did some of my “change”-ideas. 

I’m passionate about doing whatever it takes to make individuals and organizations excel. I will make sure that your t's are crossed and your i's are dotted, and that you aren't blind-sided by day-to-day issues. I keep your focus on your core business priorities, knowing that we both believe that your own passion is the easiest way to develop a successful business.
That’s why my personal goal is to help individuals and organizations in their development. That's what infinite.company is all about. I combine fun, improvement and inspiration to achieve results and added value for my customers. I enjoy supporting individuals and organizations by sharing knowledge. Combining my passion for ICT with my enthusiasm for professional development and entrepreneurial management created a lot of opportunities for myself and the people around me. I love my job and feel blessed to have the opportunity to blend my outside interests into my career.

After the bank, I worked as a technologist and consultant for many companies. The biggest challenge was to find ways to express my ideas on business and economic development to these companies. I began to detect that I think on another level and have a rule-set that cannot be explained. The best description for my entrepreneurial thinking I have found is called “Effectuation”.

The best fit in the form of a company structure I found at Cronos in 2007. I was involved in 24 start-ups 'till i phased out.

So I decided to focus on what drives me and my passion, the support of freelancers and starting entrepreneurs in making their dreams come true. Or changing established companies in agile, flexible companies. To the point: I started the infinite.company.

It is our task to challenge. The end result is our economy will grow, and regenerate. So let’s create it together. Let's start with a lean Core! Subscribe now at infinite.company