Tag: Success Advice

Business Etiquette Around the World: Brazil

On By mehranmuslimiblogIn Business, TipsLeave a comment

In my experience, Brazil is a very exciting country to do business in. It’s a country on the move and an important member of the BRIC emerging economies. It has a promising future and that is a green light for entrepreneurs like me. It also has an amazing culture, which makes doing business there equal parts pleasure and work. However, if you’re planning on putting Brazil on your business map, I’d suggest you learn about its business culture and etiquette before you set foot in the country, which is why I’m sharing some lessons I learnt from my own Brazil experiences.

mundial-brasil

The art of small talk

First of all, Brazilians are a very friendly people and they like to build friendships alongside any business relationship. Politeness is very important to them; rudeness will get you the cold shoulder. They like to negotiate with people rather than a company, therefore it is vital that you accept that social small talk will play a part in any discussions. Favourite topics for small talk are family, football and music. Learn something about samba, Brazil’s important musicians, and of course its legendary footballers before you arrive. Topics to steer clear of are poverty, politics and Argentina. The latter is considered a trading rival.

It can be hard for entrepreneurs from cultures where getting down to business straight away is the accepted etiquette to get the hang of making small talk, but it will pay huge dividends if you do. Always make good eye contact with the person you are talking to and accept that there may be a lot of touching of your arms and backs during discussions; Brazilians like to be physically close to the person they are talking to. Also, be aware of non-verbal signals; slapping the back of the hand against the palm means they are not interested.

Be patient

Indeed, please hide any feelings of impatience at the proceedings as Brazilians will see this as reflecting poorly on you. They admire people who show self-control, so you will score points if you appear to be relaxed with how things are going. You will also need to exercise your patience when waiting for decisions to be made; Brazilian business is very hierarchical and the highest ranking person in a company makes the final decisions. It can take a while for that to filter down to you.

Formal greetings

Formal greetings may differ from your country. It is customary to shake hands with everyone on entering and leaving a business meeting. Also, shake hands with the men and kiss women on both cheeks. If possible, learn some basic Brazilian phrases in advance.

Business entertaining

Entertaining is an important part of business culture and Brazilians are quite relaxed about it, but very fashion conscious, so dress smart and don’t wear anything considered outrageous. If you are hosting a dinner, don’t be surprised if your guests are 15 – 30 minutes late; punctuality is not a strong point, However, you should be punctual, even if you have to wait.

Enjoy the culture

Rio

And, when you are in Brazil, don’t miss the opportunity to sample its vibrant culture: go to a football match; visit Copacabana beach; enjoy the view from Sugarloaf Mountain if you’re in Rio, and if you have the opportunity to experience the greatest carnival in the world, don’t miss it.

Doing business in Brazil is hugely pleasurable if you adapt to their customs and it is a vast country with huge potential, so understanding its new business culture is very much worth your while.

I hope you enjoyed this and found it useful. Please subscribe to my blog if you’d like to receive an alert when I post new content.

 

Tips on startup cash

On By mehranmuslimiblogIn Business, Careers, Success AdviceLeave a comment

Tips on startup cash

As an entrepreneur I am well aware that managing your cash flow in the early days of a business startup can be challenging. Not everyone has the comfort of a generous investor who provides a safety net, and those that don’t have sufficient liquidity need to take a ‘bootstrapping’ approach. This has saved many a new business from failing before it has barely begun and in my opinion, if you can rescue your business by yourself, you will be better prepared for what lies ahead. Therefore, I have put together 8 tips about the various ways in which you can bootstrap your business.

  1. Generate cash quickly

A business model that has the potential to generate cash rapidly is most likely to succeed if you’re bootstrapping and relying on your own finances. Not all business models will do this, so from the outset look at how you can bring cash in from the start.

  1. Watch your expenditure

Open a business bank account at the first opportunity. Using your personal bank account is risky because it is harder to keep track of incoming funds and outgoings. Discipline yourself to watch where cash goes and what demands more of it and when. There are free tools available that track spending and you should be monitoring your expenditure on a daily basis.

  1. Reduce personal spending

This is just common sense. You may have your own business but that doesn’t mean you can immediately start living the high life. You don’t have a salary as such, so think very hard about every purchase and only buy what is absolutely necessary. If possible, look at other ways to save money, such as reducing your rent by sharing with a friend.

  1. Do the job yourself

It would be lovely to outsource some tasks, but this is both an unnecessary expense and one that stops you from learning more about your business.

  1. Learn a new skill

This is related to the previous tip – if you don’t know how to perform a task that is required by your business, learn it rather than ask somebody else to do it. If you need to write code but have never done it before, now is the time to acquire the skill. You’ll save money and have a new skill.

  1. Learn the art of thrift

Apart from reducing personal spending, look at ways to reduce business expenditure. Make good use of all the freebies available, such as free versions of Dropbox and other online tools. Do you really need an office or can you work from home? Choose the latter first until you actually need to pay for premises.

  1. Invest in your website and business incorporation

This is one exception to the being thrifty tip. Make sure you use a respected incorporation service, because in the long term a shoddy service may come back to haunt you. Also, buy the web domain you want from Day One and build your brand around it from the start. It won’t cost less if you wait and you’ll miss the opportunity to establish your branding.

  1. Refuse to take ‘No’ for an answer

You might find that when you are small some suppliers don’t want to work with you. It’s essential that you build a personal relationship with these people, because by doing so you are more likely to get the service at a price you can afford. Tell them your story and what you are trying to achieve – appealing to people’s emotions is all part and parcel of running a business.

I can tell you that none of this is a walk in the park as they say, but if you follow these tips, the pay-off is considerable and you’re more likely to find you have a solid, long-term business.

I hope you enjoyed this and found it useful. Please subscribe to my blog if you’d like to receive an alert when I post new content.

 

 

 

Perseverance is a Major Key to a Life of Success

On By mehranmuslimiblogIn Success AdviceLeave a comment

Perseverance is a Major Key to a Life of Success

Each of us thrives on being successful and in doing so we often forget the difficulties lying in the path to success. We set targets and want to achieve them right away, but we are humans and may fall short on those goals. Failure at the start can lead to frustration, and it shatters the self-confidence you had at the beginning. You might consider giving up on your dreams because you don’t feel like you can ever succeed in life.

Success, despite the popular belief, isn’t a one-way path or a straight line. It is a muddled road with various ups and downs, and you should navigate it with popular care. You might fall or get lost in your way. But if you keep going, you will eventually reach your destination.

Have you ever wondered how some prominent personalities achieved great heights of success? What did those individuals do that set them apart from the rest of us? How did they stay positive, when faced with failure?  Undoubtedly, they must have some secret ingredient that helped them throughout their journey. How can we get our hands on that special ingredient?

Let’s ask a couple of successful people

Everyone knows the great Muhammad Ali, and when asked if he liked his training he replied: “I hated every minute of training, but I said to myself, ‘Don’t quit, suffer now, and live the rest of your life as a champion.’”

He ended up preparing for his fights, by pushing himself to the limit, he refused to quit when things got hard for him, and that made him the champion he is known today.

The author of Harry Potter series, J. K. Rowling, is another example of success. The manuscript of the first book was rejected by 12 publishers before Bloomsbury took it. Here’s what she has to say about her failure; “Failure meant a stripping away of the inessential. I stopped pretending to myself that I was anything other than what I was, and began to direct all my energy into finishing the only work that mattered to me. Had I really succeeded at anything else, I might never have found the determination to succeed in the one arena I believed I truly belonged.”

It seems to me that, they kept on going, remained persistent, and their perseverance helped them reach the peak of the mountain.

“When the world says, “Give up,” Hope whispers, “Try it one more time.”

What is Perseverance?

Perseverance: Steadfastness in doing something despite difficulty or delay in achieving success. Perseverance is an essential element when you need to achieve a high level of success. It is a great tool to use, and it doesn’t require any college education or training. It comes naturally and requires a strong will.

It doesn’t matter what your goal is or how long it takes you to reach that goal. The chances of your success depend largely on your willingness to persist and persevere. Because perseverance breeds success and without it, you can’t possibly reach the sky.

Perseverance means, to go on no matter what is in the way, to remain steadfast in accomplishing the difficult task. It requires a higher level of patience to develop perseverance in you.

Perseverance has more benefits than to help you master the skill of patience. Here are some of the perks of perseverance.

Trustworthiness:  Someone who practices perseverance is more trustworthy than the rest, people know you are not going to quit, no matter how hard the situation gets. You will hold your ground.

Gives you self-confidence:  It increases your sense of self-worth and confidence. You start taking full ownership of the goals you have set to achieve. You become a firm believer that your destiny is in your hands. You perceive to control your own fate.

“I am not judged by the number of times I fail, but by the number of times I succeed: and the number of times I succeed is in direct proportion to the number of times I fail and keep trying.” – Tom Hopkins

Heightens your Motivation

Perseverance essentially means you’re committed to your goal. But it enhances its value for you and intensifies your motivation level. It leads you to wonderful findings, and broadens your knowledge, about yourself and your goals.

It is a well-established fact by now, that success is not achieved overnight. There is no such thing as get-rich-fast successes in the world. The road to success is a slow and quite precarious journey at times. It takes hard work and time to build up and makes you solely responsible for your progress.

In short, it’s perseverance that’s the key to a successful life. If you keep persevering long enough, you will achieve your true potential. Just remember, you can do anything you set your mind to, but it takes action, persistence, and the courage to face your fears.

How has being perseverant helped you succeed in life? Let us know by sharing your story below!

Source