Expert Shares Effective Entrepreneurial Habits

Written by Innovate New Albany@InnovateNA13 years ago

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American Express’ Open Forum website holds a wealth of tips, guidelines and trends for small business owners. One recently posted article by journalist Elaine Pofeldt who has interviewed dozens of successful entrepreneurs highlights the five most effective habits of entrepreneurs:

Plan tomorrow’s agenda today. Scott Cullather, CEO of inVNT, a live events agency in New York, meets with his key support team before the close of business to go over what’s coming up the next day. “We review and forecast what tomorrow is going to look like and how we’re going to get through that,” he says.

Put your meetings on a diet. Ask entrepreneurs who left corporate America what they don’t miss and they’ll tell you it’s the endless, often unproductive gatherings around the conference room table drawn out by flabby agendas and presentation technology that takes forever to set up.

Find a way to manage e-mail that works for you. The key is to avoid getting sucked into constantly responding to and sending e-mails, which delays you from finishing projects on time. David Allen, the well-known author of Getting Things Done  offers a free PDF of smart tips, such as putting e-mails you need to act on—and those you don’t—in separate inbox folders.

Never stop selling. You’ll lose productive days if you wait until you’re almost done with your current projects to pitch new business. Projects can get dropped, clients can run short of cash and other things can go wrong in an economy like the one we’re in.

Exercise regularly. Cullather puts on his running shoes at 5:30 or 6 am daily and hits the streets. When he travels, he hits the gym—often a great chance to spend time with clients or network informally.

Visit American Express’ Open Forum to see the post in its entirety.

Innovate New Albany, the city’s incubator for technology startups, entrepreneurs and small businesses, features 16,000 square feet of space within the New Albany Business Park’s Signature Office Building, 8000 Walton Parkway.