Raj Abraham Share 8 Qualities that Make A Great Entrepreneur

1. Focus
“It’s been said that leadership is making important but unpopular decisions. That’s certainly a partial truth, but I think it underscores the importance of focus. To be a good leader, you cannot major in minor things, and you must be less distracted than your competition. To get the few critical things done, you must develop incredible selective ignorance. Otherwise, the trivial will drown you.”

2. Confidence
“A leader instills confidence and ‘followership’ by having a clear vision, showing empathy and being a strong coach. As a female leader, to be recognized I feel I have to show up with swagger and assertiveness, yet always try to maintain my Southern upbringing, which underscores kindness and generosity. The two work well together in gaining respect.”

3. Transparency
“I’ve never bought into the concept of ‘wearing the mask.’ As a leader, the only way I know how to engender trust and buy-in from my team and with my colleagues is to be 100 percent authentically me—open, sometimes flawed, but always passionate about our work. It has allowed me the freedom to be fully present and consistent. They know what they’re getting at all times. No surprises.”

4. Integrity
“Our employees are a direct reflection of the values we embody as leaders. If we’re playing from a reactive and obsolete playbook of needing to be right instead of doing what’s right, then we limit the full potential of our business and lose quality talent. If you focus on becoming authentic in all your interactions, that will rub off on your business and your culture, and the rest takes care of itself.”

5. Inspiration
“People always say I’m a self-made man. But there is no such thing. Leaders aren’t self-made; they are driven. I arrived in America with no money or any belongings besides my gym bag, but I can’t say I came with nothing: Others gave me great inspiration and fantastic advice, and I was fueled by my beliefs and an internal drive and passion. That’s why I’m always willing to  offer motivation—to friends or strangers on Reddit. I know the power of inspiration, and if someone can stand on my shoulders to achieve greatness, I’m more than willing to help them up.”

6. Passion
“You must love what you do. In order to be truly successful at something, you must obsess over it and let it consume you. No matter how successful your business might become, you are never satisfied and constantly push to do something bigger, better and greater. You lead by example not because you feel like it’s what you should do, but because it is your way of life.”

7. Innovation
“In any system with finite resources and infinite expansion of population—like your business, or like all of humanity—innovation is essential for not only success  but also survival. The innovators are our leaders. You cannot separate the two. Whether it is by thought, technology or organization, innovation is our only hope to solve our challenges.”

8. Patience
“Patience is really courage that’s meant to test your commitment to your cause. The path to great things is always tough, but the best leaders understand when to abandon the cause and when to stay the course. If your vision is bold enough, there will be hundreds of reasons why it ‘can’t be done’ and plenty of doubters. A lot of things have to come together—external markets, competition, financing, consumer demand and always a little luck—to pull off something big.”

Raj Isaac Abraham

Entrepreneur     

https://www.facebook.com/Raj-Isaac-Abraham-765159050257036/

What Raj Abraham Explains about the Misconceptions of Entrepreneurship

Being an entrepreneur is all about serving your customer base and the employees who execute your vision. Clients and staff become your boss.

With that in mind, here are six misconceptions of entrepreneurship I discovered when I acquired ConsumerAffairs in 2010.

1. Employees are motivated by money.

Negative. Some 64 percent of Millennials would rather earn $40,000 a year at a job they love than $100,000 a year at a job they think is boring, according to Glassdoor. I’ve had to learn the psychology around why people do what they do, how they are motivated and why they show up every day, which, it turns out, isn’t always related to money.

The challenges I’ve faced in employing good workers and creating a company culture conducive to performance were unexpected. It has never been hard for me to see what ConsumerAffairs needs to do and where we need to go in order to improve sales or grow the business. The challenge has been creating an environment in which people are motivated to embark on the journey with me, because I know I can’t achieve those things alone. Marching up the hill alone without troops is impossible no matter how innovative or brilliant you are as a CEO. You need customers to buy your product, and you need good workers to execute company goals.

That’s where finding ways to inspire workers enters the picture. The catch is that you can’t just inspire with a salary. A great team, flexible schedule, appealing work environment and amazing benefits are just a few things that can motivate employees to excel in their roles.

2. Entrepreneurship is better than employment.

Here’s the thing about non-entrepreneurs. They can shut work off the second they leave the office. As an entrepreneur, the success of the business becomes part of your identity, and you bring that with you wherever you go. ConsumerAffairs currently employs over 200 people, and the pressure of their professional lives falls on me. The responsibility is massive, which is something I was not thinking about when I quit my job at a private equity firm in San Francisco to acquire ConsumerAffairs.

If you’re good at being an entrepreneur, it’s because you have a deep-seated psychological need to build a business, which becomes part of who you are. The downside is you’re not always able to leave the office at work or turn it off at home when your title is Chief Executive Officer. To prepare, read up on recruiting because you’re going to need to hire the best staff possible to keep yourself from going insane.

3. Entrepreneurship is static.

As ConsumerAffairs continues to scale up, there’s a trickle-down effect throughout the company based on my decisions. I have to always be thinking ahead to figure out what our company needs based on impending threats and advances.

As it turns out, I’m not alone in this way of thinking. About 88 percent of CEOs are concerned about cyber threats, 78 percent are concerned with the rapid change of pace due to technology and 65 percent are fearful of over-regulation, compared to 35 percent in 2010. From drones and 3D printing to self-driving auto technology and artificial intelligence, CEOs need adequate infrastructure to innovate and evolve.

4. Cash is king.

Nope. Cash flow is important, but in the end, it’s the customers who are king. At ConsumerAffairs we serve seven million customers a month who visit our website for brand leadership, reviews and information. Some 80 percent of them are researching a life-changing purchase. They come to us during their time of need, which means the pressure is on to provide them with the tools and resources they need to make the best purchasing decision.

5. Business school is the only path to entrepreneurship.

Not even close. What do I have in common with Microsoft’s Bill Gates, Oracle’s Larry Ellison and Google’s Larry Page? We all studied engineering. Data indicates three times as many CEOs and founders have earned an advanced degree in engineering than an MBA.

An engineering degree is the perfect training for entrepreneurship because it gives you a framework to apply the scientific method to real world problems. On a day-to-day basis, engineering has prepared me to find creative solutions to big problems by giving me the wisdom to apply science, technology and materials to consumer related challenges. Sure, business school can be a pathway to entrepreneurship. But it’s far from the only one out there.

6. Time is your own.

That’s a hard no. Time is always limited, so no one can say they own their calendar, including CEOs of huge companies like Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg. A carefree attitude about time management is over once you’ve entered the entrepreneurial realm. Instead, the demands of life become acute. That’s why many CEOs are accused of being aloof and brusque towards family, friends and employees. We carry the weight of the company on our shoulders in 24-hour units.

What keeps me sane is the Franklin Covey time grid, which forces you to proactively think about prioritizing and delegating. Now, I block out quadrants for everything, including family, to make sure I take care of my priorities first with the limited time I have.

Raj Isaac Abraham

Entrepreneur     

https://www.facebook.com/Raj-Isaac-Abraham-765159050257036/