Category Archives: Entrepreneurship

Do business in Equilibrium – part 2

Life is irregular and we need to do business in Equilibrium to simplify and even the rough facets of human interaction.

Sometimes you feel like you have crossed oceans and seas to find the one-of-a-kind orange tree adorned with gold leaves. Or maybe you have found the magic lettuce from the Bear’s garden*.
You are prepared to offer it to your customers, still they are not pleased and want more.

They want More because Less is what they do not understand: the core of your business, the “elusive” thing without which your product does not exist: Your MISSION statement.

Your mission appeals to the mindset of people.
Your mission creates connections.
Your mission creates promises you HAVE to keep.
Empty your heart of misgivings and fulfill your promises by following your business pattern and delivery system.
And keep an eye on the money.
Running a business is like running a show. It is either good or bad. In the beginning it is usually bad. So don’t sweat about it. But make it good in time…Make it so good that your first business show now appears to have been held for the Eskimos, a hundred years back.

“The past is a foreign country.” – L.P. Hartley

*Source of inspiration – The Story of Harap Alb – A Romanian folk tale by Ion Creangă.

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Art by Rene Magritte.

Cruelty is not a shield but a system of betrayal

We are all Arya Stark and deft shape-shifters dancing on stories in order to survive. We are but one step into cruelty every minute on the way to achieving our goals.
Cruelty is not a shield but a system of betrayal.
We betray our shattered feelings and broken image of ourselves reflected in mirrors that don’t belong to us.
We betray our inability to live up to our vision and our words.
We give in to our doubts: “What if I am wrong, what if they don’t like me, what if I am not enough?” We betray our powerlessness of being happy in our own world. We surrender to an odd country we never dreamed about.

We betray our transcendent fear of living in a blur devoid of bounties we wouldn’t dare take with our own hands.

And we forget that “Anything can happen in a world that holds such beauty”- Peter S. Beagle.

Art by Christian Schloe.

Get away with entrepreneurship

What is entrepreneurship?
An idea, packaged into an alluring story, heralding a product designed as the solution to a problem.

How do you start?
Suppose you have a passion to find a pattern for your product and your business model. Decipher your passions and find your skills. Build on your product and create the words for an enchanting package. Start your enterprise as if you were starting a new love story. This would be your other love and type of love because you put more than just time into your idea.

Brain fueling for your idea is always hard.
All the more reason you should make use of your best. Your skills. Your skills will always help you in the direst of times. One should never stop looking for new ones as time is limited. In everything, your skills will make do.

You are likely to fail with your idea. Predictions break apart when you transfer them from paper to practice. Nothing seems to be the same. On this rugged path, you wish you had struck gold. Literally. You do business with people that assess you, judge you, jeer you, appreciate you…Everybody wants nothing but the best. And they often offer nothing in return.

No matter what you sell or do, do it right and well. Even if you don’t sell gold, leave an impression and a mark. Get the job done. If possible, leave a trail of delight that later will lead them back to you. And whatever you do, ask a simple question: Can I get away with it? Can I get away with my story/presentation/performance? We are all non/artists until we promise ourselves to put our passions into practice and become entrepreneurs.

“Art is what you can get away with.”
Andy Warhol

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Art by Rafal Olbinski.

Minimalism and business

Minimalism is something that builds on simplicity and honesty. In the right places.
It is a style of art, music, etc. that uses very simple ideas or a very small number of simple elements. And why not, it is a style in business.
Minimalism in business is simplifying your story. Your product. Your ingredients…Minimalism in business is to debunk the myth of a manifold product.

Always imagine that your product is like pizza. Consequently, the story of pizza is the story of your product. With the use of scarce resources, you create a piece of magic that solves problems, alleviates pain, increases pleasure, creates a better life, puts a smile on your face.

Everybody likes pizza. It is tasty and delightful and we all have a secret hankering for being delighted. No matter what you sell, your customers ache for new experiences, new things, new stories.

Not everybody likes pepperoni pizza. Don’t forget to personalize! Your product is (still) pizza, nevertheless build on it. Invent new flavours, create cutting-edge toppings and serve everything with a twist of originality and adventure.

The lesson learned: simplicity and personalization are the Holy Grails of modern business. Simplifying my products and tailoring my words have created shortcuts and countless smiles.

Art – Simplicity and delight by Fukutaro Terauchi.

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Do business in Equilibrium

As business owner, always imagine you are based in Equilibrium.
This film is a fine piece of art about an utopian society governed by the banning of emotions and, consequently, every form of art.
To sum up in a few gentle words, your product appeals to the feelings and emotions of your consumers, but your business dealings don’t.

When dealing with customers, you have no feelings. Because you will get a lot of rejection, and this might shred your courage into so tiny bits that you will not be able to recognize yourself. Then you start doubting the magic problem-solving power of your product. Don’t. It is still you, and your product is wonderful.

Don’t care what people say or think about you. Care if they don’t respect you and your work. And care if they don’t respect your time.

Trust your intuition. If you have the feeling that you are wasting time with a non-client, you are probably right, so stop the swapping of emails as this leads nowhere. Your time is as precious as any other asset in your company.

Businesses are not about passions. Yes, your product is your passion, but selling it (with a profit) involves cold calculations.

Don’t overthink. There are two types of clients: people who want to do business with you and people who don’t. The challenge is to detect the latest category (ASAP) and distance from them.
To be continued.

Art by Michael Cheval.

About Iulia Halatz
“Writing is an Iron Tale, must be tough and sincere to the core of human perception of pain as valor. I am the grumpy T-Rex who started writing out of pain, not because of a polished world. Writing out of love is painless and herbivore. As we sometimes taste blood, ours or others’. Nevertheless, some words are so expensive that we are better left with them unspoken or write them with the ink of a Ghost…” She is a teacher, author, small entrepreneur and cyclist.

Quote

“People buy into ideas and products based on emotions and then back up their decisions with logic.

As business owners we need to as well. Define what makes your ideal customer want to buy and play into that emotional state. It works.”
-Unknown

I illustrate with a bustle of feelings triggered by the sensual art of Issac Maimon.

Isaac Maimon

We are all Arya Stark

We are all Arya Stark, the girl with many faces. And aren’t we all enthralled with the Game of Thrones?!

She started small and acquired invaluable life lessons. We have done that, too. Minus the cruelty. However we can be cruel in our own words (and worlds).

We are all marketeers. We all sell something: our skills, our time, our successes, our failures, our dreams, our words, our ideas…
Then there are the communicators and the writers we are to be or become.

Last but not the least, we are the ones who smile first. This is the most important – I am always the first to smile…and the teacher, the negotiator, the entrepreneur, the seeker of new ideas, the communicator, the salesperson and the sportsperson.

We all wear many faces because “Your job is not to do your job but see what to do next”.
Seth Godin

…or who to change into.

 

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Art by Christian Schloe.

Failure and success

I have failed in everything: biking, I have fallen manifold; swimming, as I cannot yet, after many attempts; roller skating, I broke an arm, moreover my knees and ankles aren’t well and happy either; also at boxing I hurt my knuckles and wrist, even if only my punching bag was involved.

I have failed in communicating with some tremendously amazing people.
I have failed in my first business and in my present business as I haven’t fulfilled all my predictions.

I haven’t failed in one thing: in doing what I love and “cropping” my own type of life everyday. And in eating glass…
“Starting a company is like staring into the abyss and eating glass.”
Elon Musk (allegedly quoting a friend).

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Art by Rafal Olbinski.

Quote

“Do you know that every perfect life would mean the end of art?”
Robert Musil – author of The Man Without Qualities.

 

I have started my poems out of an imperfect heart. I have started my business out of an imperfect life wanting to do more – for me and for others.
Every person enters your life fighting the same conundrum. Your art can touch their souls and perfect some angles. Your magic might cast some threads in the community and create a better life.

John Singer Sargent

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Craving for the perfect life as illustrated by John Singer Sargent.