So you want to be an entrepreneur?
By Matthew Toren Entrepreneurship can be exciting, energizing and an entre to a world of sharp, talented and creative people. You may also find yourself exhausted, broke, discouraged, and unable to even collect unemployment. While some people may fall into starting a business, most make the conscious choice to become an entrepreneur.
If you're debating whether you're ready to start your own business, answering the following questions in today's guest blog may help make up your mind...
Why? Simple on the surface, this may be the most important question you should ask yourself. Do you have a vision for a company that you think could be successful and make a difference. Have you dreamed of working for yourself? Do you want to control your own destiny?
If the first answer to why is that you want to make a lot of money, its absolutely the wrong answer. Sometimes entrepreneurs do very well financially, but often its a struggle. And people who are in it for the money first don't have the right perspective to successfully grow a business. If you want lots of money, look into selling cars or some other big-ticket item. Leave entrepreneurship to people who love the process as much as the results.
Do you absolutely love your dream? Starting your own business is the most time-consuming and absorbing thing you will ever do. Figure on spending almost all of your waking hours working on it, thinking about it, talking about it and selling it to others. Indifference just wont cut it. Without that absolute commitment, you may walk away before your business has a chance to succeed. Its that love and belief that will keep you going when things get tough, and they will.
Are you responsible? You will be asking people for money, making promises, building a group of people who will be counting on you to deliver a product or service, to generate a return on their investment in your company, to keep them employed and paid once you hire them. This means being accountable, taking responsibility, finishing what you start, executing your plans and working your butt off to keep those promises. The bottom line for everything in your business comes down to you.
Can you make tough decisions? The final arbiter on everything to do with your business is you. Are you prepared to look at problems and decide on a solution that you can live with? Can you fire someone who is just not doing their job? Can you tell people theyve made a mistake, or you have, and what needs to happen to fix it?
Are you determined? Its rare for an entrepreneur to start a business and have everything go well. You can lose customers or key employees; you can struggle to make payroll or a delivery date. Investors can walk away at the last minute. Events can fall through or flop. You can fail completely and have to start again. You may lose friends or supporters. It takes faith in yourself and your dream to survive the rough spots and keep going. You have to be able to lift yourself up and start over after every blow.
Are you willing to sacrifice? Big dreams and starting a business can easily take over your life. Personal time, extra cash, a social life, relationships often fall by the wayside because there just isnt enough time or money. Luxuries such as season tickets to your favorite sports team or dinners out at the newest restaurant will probably go by the wayside. You may not remember the last time you just sat down and read a book for fun or went to a movie. Entrepreneurs trade in many things other people take for granted to live their dreams and make them come true. If those choices arent for you, then you may want to head in another direction.
There is a glamour and magic to starting your own business. Its exciting and amazing, particularly when everything starts to come together. But it is a demanding life, and not for everyone. Make sure its a fit for you before jumping into the world of entrepreneurship.
If I was starting my own photography or video business, I might think about some general names:
Griffith Enterprises
Campbell County Studios
AskGriff Productions
Jellico Photography
So looking at those, there are a couple of problems. First, names like Griffith Enterprises are a little obscure. If you heard someone say, "I went to Griffith Enterprises" you would have no idea why. Campbell County Studios is a little better, but people aren't really going to know what sort of studios it is -- and it will limit you if you ever want to do work in another county or state. AskGriff Productions is also too vague. Jellico Photography is pretty straightforward, but what if you want to do video? Web design? What if someone is in LaFollette or Rocky Top and they would rather hire someone from their home town?
When choosing a business name, keep the following tips in mind:
Choose a name that appeals not only to you but also to the kind of customers you are trying to attract.
Choose a comforting or familiar name that conjures up pleasant memories so customers respond to your business on an emotional level.
Don't pick a name that is long or confusing.
Stay away from cute puns that only you understand.
Don't use the word “Inc.” after your name unless your company is actually incorporated.
Ask family or friends if it makes sense -- and then ask them, "Could it be seen as offensive in ANY way?" (Sometimes these little things will pop up and kill a business)
Avoid new or trendy words (i.e. bae, fam, etc.) because they will soon be unpopular.
Logo Design:
The Next thing to think about when starting a business is what sort of logo would your business have? Nike has a swoosh. Disney has a castle with a Disney signature. Playboy has a rabbit. What would YOUR business have? Today we will begin planning out a logo. These can be on signs, billboards, clothing, on a letterhead or on business cards. Logos are also used to develop company branding. The Oakland Raiders shield, the Nike swoosh, The Vols "T", or the Chevron standard are examples of known brands. It becomes the symbol by which a company is identified. A good logo should be easily recognizable, fairly simple, and be able to be reproduced with limited colors -- including black and white. When I taught graphic design before, I drew a whiteboard full of logos (see below) which are easily recognizable (or were at the time) and I used only one color -- black.
Here are some color examples of logos:
Once you have a basic logo in black and white, it's easy to use Photoshop to create a variety of modifications of your logo. The "Espresso A-Go-Go" logo (below) demonstrates that.
Another example is the NBA logo (below) showing black and white, 2 colors, and 2 colors with an effect. Note the differences between the heads/ears of the three examples. Even though they are slightly different, they are still recognizable as the NBA logo.
Your logo should be describable ("It's a big golden M"), effective without color, memorable, and scalable.
Remember, it's okay to keep it simple -- and stick to what works. This example shows two similar companies and their different approaches to logo design and corporate branding:
I want you to conceive a logo that depicts you, your style, your business, etc. Begin sketching ideas on paper for now and turn in your final business papers on Friday. Don't over-complicate things or be too literal -- look at all of the most recognizable logos and you will notice that very few demonstrate what the company actually does. For example, if your company was called Sun Beach Productions you don't have to use a sun shining on a beach. Still confused about what makes a good logo? Check out this logo design tips article or from a professional logo designer for some extra information.
Here's a demonstration of the logo development process:
Finally, I would like you to find some examples of well-designed logos [and poorly designed logos] and bring them in to class. Check newspapers, junk mail, catalogs, etc. I will use the examples to showcase the differences.
And speaking of "The Bad" and "The Ugly"... here are some more examples of logo design gone wrong:
Here are some examples of black and white logo's [these are for car companies, obviously] to show you that it's possible.
Click Image to Enlarge
A few more well-known logos in black and white:
This was a tribute to Apple founder Steve Jobs after his passing:
Finally, here are some examples of student-created logo's:
There are many websites and blogs out there that focus on logos and logo design. I will list some as I discover them:
Now, although logo's need to be able to be depicted in black on white, the color selection is critical as well. Psychologically, we all react to colors in a similar way. Red tends to excite us, for example -- which is why a lot of kids cereal boxes focus on red, while healthy cereal aimed at adults tends to be focus on green which makes us envision health or peace.
Here's a great color chart relating to logo design.
Here's another great psychology-based chart for logo design and color:
Sometimes logo's can even include some subliminal imagery:
This is saying that Amazon has everything from a-z... but also demonstrates a smile.
In 2005 B&R changed their logo include the embedded 31 from the number of flavors they offer.
This one is really only noticeable if you're a nerd -- the top row is the binary for 80 and the bottom, the binary for 20.
In this case, the negative space between the E and the x shows an arrow. This psychologically makes people envision them as moving forward or being fast.
The Milwaukee Brewers embedded the M and B in the mitt.
Sun used an ambigram (can be read from any direction) -- even though the logo doesn't include any "S's".
If you look in the mountain's negative space, you'll see a dancing bear.
Some have said that the word "tit" appears here -- but if you look at that section, it's two people sharing a chip and a bowl of salsa.
As you look at their logo, picture the yellow circle as the front wheel of a bicycle.
Design Questions: Think about how people will recognize your business. This may include business cards, flyers, signs, etc.. 
.jpg)
