Entrennovation: And how it can make you rich.

Wozniac, Jobs, Bezos, Musk, Page, Brin. Some names may be unfamiliar but these names may ring a bell. Apple, Amazon, Tesla, Google. Arguably the most successful companies in the world, founded by some of the most innovative and entrepreneurial minds of our era. Most people think, "Oh, that could never be me" and I'm not here to tell you that it could be, however, I'm also not one to say it couldn't... I don't know about the rest of you, but I know that I am done reading about these, "how I make a hundred bazillion dollars just watching YouTube videos or whatever these posers are saying because I have tried just about every method and half of them are scams and the rest require you to be some freak that lives in their office and types on their computer day and night without human contact to make more than a hundred bucks a month. I'm sure there are some of you out there and I mean no disrespect, but I know I speak for many of you when I say that I want to have a life outside of my computer screen. I want to get out there and control my own growth. So, lets get into it!

The word in the title happens to also be the name of this blog, but what the heck does it mean? Well, the word is made up by yours truly so go you for finding the one blog explaining its meaning to you. I appreciate it. Really, I do. Getting back on track though, the word is obviously a combination of two root words: Entrepreneurship and Innovation, which generally go hand in hand regarding running a business. However, understanding each word separately is imperative to mastering the way you can effectively employ their meaning in everyday life. Now, let me get this straight, this is not gonna be one of those "get rich quick" schemes I mentioned earlier. This is a long, grueling process that can yield incredible results. (I mean cash of course)

1. Entrepreneurship

Let's start by looking into the etymology. I find that understanding this can help to really grasp the meaning, implication, and application of the word. It is interestingly derived as a combination of two words. The French, entreprendre, meaning undertake and the English, enterprise. Now, one can reasonably conclude that the full meaning is to undertake an enterprise. Now, many of you at this point, as would I, are thinking, "Gee, thanks man. I couldn't have looked that up on Google myself." 

BUT!

Entrepreneurship is so much more than a mere definition! Its a mindset, a personality, a kind of charisma, if you will. To get into this mindset, you must have a keen eye for what works and what doesn't, but more than that, you need to have an eye for what people need. Keep you're receptors open at all times, maybe people are complaining about their pipes beginning to degrade and leave contaminants in the water but all the local plumbing companies are just too expensive or are booked up. The obvious idea would be to look for freelance plumbers that maybe charge a bit less for their services and hire them as a way of getting their name out to more customers. Becoming the most affordable plumber in the area can lead to great profit if you can keep that comparative advantage in regards to other plumbing companies. This is obviously just an example, but the point is, finding an untapped market in your community is a great start to growing a successful business because if your community needs that product or service, than more communities state, country, or even worldwide may be suffering from a gap in that market as well.  

This brings me to my next point. How do you know which markets are worth investing time and energy into and which are not? There really is no single answer to this, it depends on where you are and what the market in your area needs. If you want to get into the car-wash business but your area, like mine, has a gas station car-wash combo on seemingly every corner than that business may not be the way to go. A flooded market is usually not the best investment unless you plan on changing the game to have an edge on your competitors. We'll talk about that more in the Innovation section but, getting back on track, finding your right niche is more of a personal thing. Do what you know, if you know event management and you cant't seem to find a reasonable company in your area, then focus on that. I personally am in that business right now. My area, being a fairly wealthy suburb of NYC and bordering many other well off communities, is full of DJ services and event companies that charge outrageous rates per hour. I found my niche as a small, mobile, affordable, DJ that did parties for family friends but found myself being hired by more and more friends of friends and elementary schools, etc. My edge, though was my price point. Reasonable enough for a school to afford for a dance and refined enough for a Christmas party or employee get together that only needs some light background music. Either way, I quickly made back my equipment investment and have been upgrading my gear ever since while still keeping my prices low. 

You can actually check out my services if you live in the Tri-State area at https://g.page/hudson-events-entertainment 

After you have identified a market that you are interested in pursuing, you need to asses it. Evaluate that opportunity for possible risk and reward. You may be tempted to simply do a pros and cons list, however, a SWOT analysis is a much more realistic way to evaluate your idea.
Here's a template you can use.

In layman's terms, think of strengths and weaknesses as internal aspects of your soon to be business. Things that you create and change. Referencing my entertainment business, a strength would be that I am mobile and affordable while a weakness would be that I am my only employee and cannot do multiple parties at once. Opportunities and threats on the other hand, are external variables that affect your business. Using my business as an example once again, an opportunity would be that my clients are able to market for me and secure new clients for me by simply providing a positive experience. A threat may be that other companies have more professional equipment and can host much larger parties to make more profit. If you would like more information on SWOT, leave a comment and I'll post a more in-depth explanation.

Once you have made your decision on whether or not you should pursue this business, you need to understand the true purpose of this business. Sure, your business could be based around helping people or providing the best customer service around but, as cold as it sounds, your goal is simply to generate profit. All that customer and helping s*** is great but if you can't make money then all of that is in vain. You can't help people and make a difference if your business doesn't make any money. You cannot lose sight of this concept. Which brings me into our next point, how do you stay in business? Well, in many cases, that is all about our next root word, innovation.

2. Innovation

Woo, yes you have made it this far. Half way in your journey to building the skills needed to build a business idea. I applaud you! Now, back to business!(Pun Fully Intended) 
Normally I would look at the etymology of the word to gain insight into the meaning behind the word but it's really not all that interesting or helpful. Let's look at the definition:

Thank you so much Google, what would I do without you? Poor definitions aside, innovation in the business world is the process of translating an idea into a form that can be sold or used to fill an untapped customer need. "Hey, isn't that what you just said we needed to do as an entrepreneur?" Yes and no. As an entrepreneur, you look for simply an untapped need as we discussed earlier. When it comes to innovation, however, the need in society doesn't necessarily have to be untapped, it could just be underdeveloped. By that I mean, you will be able to revolutionize the product, service, or production to make your company stand out.

Take Cicis Pizza for example. They have managed to build clientele in an already flooded market by changing the game. Whether you like their pizza or not is your own personal preference, but they did successfully take the common pizza shop and revolutionize it into something that many people (Not me) love. What I am trying to get at, is that innovation does not always need to fill a need that isn't met in society because the pizza market is plenty filled, especially in New York. It is a means to improve what is already there. Especially in today's technologically advanced world, truly new ideas are really few and far between. This is why innovation is imperative to growth and stability in today's market. 

That being said, how does this affect you and me and how can I get in on the innovation sensation? (See what I did there?) First of all, much like entrepreneurship, it is also a mindset! Looking at the world in a new light, an innovation fueled light. Once again, you need to be constantly looking for ways to improve. Whether you see a way to revolutionize the production of a common good to lower overheads, or you can design a new perspective on a product that makes it more useful. Whatever it is, it's your vision, your idea, your innovation. "How do the two correlate though, and how can I really use these two principles in everyday life?"

3. Correlation & Application

Man I must really like these "-ation" words!

As you may have already noticed, the two root words seem to have many similar attributes. First, both have the letter n. Seriously though, both are very similar and, naturally, work together very well. However, one without the other is possible, but not nearly as successful. One can create a business, never innovate, and maybe they'll get by if they chose the right business. Or, someone could figure out a way to revolutionize that same business but have no idea how to get the idea off the ground. This is why both mindsets are necessary to be successful and even make a lot of dough. Shhh, Don't tell anyone. Or do tell anyone, tell everyone, in fact. Small business growth is what's keeping the world so great, competition forces innovation and innovation creates competition. New businesses mean new jobs and new jobs mean more spending money and more spending money means more customers which means more successful businesses! 

Woo, sorry, I just get excited when I talk about simple economics benefiting growing economies. I hope my goofiness doesn't scare away any readers, or maybe it draws them in? Let me know in the comments! Thanks! 

Well, before that got out of hand, I was discussing how the two mindsets can be used to create your very own successful business. The key to operating as an entreprennovator is to think like one. You need to be able to take the mindsets you have learned about in this blog post and apply them in everyday life. First, I would find what you're good at or what you enjoy doing because there's no point in starting a business if you don't believe in it. Once you have found that, you need to see if you can find your niche in the market. How do you do that? You observe. When you're out driving to work, look around. When you're out having lunch, listen to what people are saying. (Don't be creepy of course) But use that information to formulate ideas in your head, write them down, and evaluate them. Here, you're going to want to use SWOT and evaluate all of the aspects of your business as well as similar businesses you will be competing against. Look for an edge, this is where that innovation mindset really comes into play because if you can really make your product or service stand out, you'll be making big bucks in no time. Now, I'm not going to go over super in depth about how to get your business started with regards to marketing, sales, or accounting. If you would like me to do a post on that, leave a comment!

After analyzing, you're ready to start implementing your idea. No idea is too small, big, crazy, or stupid. If you think you can get people behind it, then you got yourself a business! Keep thinking, keep doing, keep entreprennovating!

Thank you so much for reading, I appreciate it. Any other topics you would like me to discuss, leave them below in the comments. Be sure to check back as I should be posting every week, if not more. Make sure to:
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