WHAT IS BETTER, PASSION OR EXPERIENCE?

Lord Alan Sugar

To start up a business, which is more important ingredient for a successful business to flourish?, Passion or Experience?  


Wikipedia defines passion as an emotion applied to a very strong feeling about a person or thing, an INTENSE EMOTION, compelling feeling, enthusiasm or desire for something. A person is said to have a passion for something when he has a strong positive affinity for it.  Love and Passion for something are often used synonymously. 


Experience on the other hand is defined as a general concept that comprises of knowledge of or skill in or observation of something or some event gained through involvement in or exposure to that thing or event.  People who have gained enough experience in your field of work, are often referred to as experts.


*Do they carry same weight, is passion as good as experience? 
*Can a person reach the same result by having either or is one likely to be better at reaching the final result? 


Take for instance Mr A, who opens a Barber shop because he actually loves cutting hair and thinks that he can earn a earning out of Passion. His passion to barb is an emotional force that opens his mind to every aspect of cutting, so, he will seek out answers to questions, make and challenge every negative situation - even when all logic tells him to give up.  His passion is the life-blood of the business so he will make his decisions based on his gut feelings and intuition.

Miss B on the other hand opens an estate agent business because she has a 5 year experience working with an estate agent. Out of an experience from the past, Miss B amassed knowledge which forms the basis of her instinct to make future decisions and directions.  It does not always determine that it is right or they any good, it just means that Miss B has spent a lot of time doing it.


So what happens when after both Mr A and Miss B both become successful in their fields?


Often times, Mr A and others who started their business out of love usually continue in the field while Miss B and similar business owners often venture into other line of business out of either achievement, success boredom or even business going out of "fashion"  


Having both passion and experience is a starting point and ingredient for a successful business.  Ask yourself if whatever business you are hoping to venture into is worth your time and effort and not just because everyone around you is going into it.  However, in the absence of both, either one is better than none.


written by Chantle White

FIVE TOP Employer RESPONSIBILITIES

There are many one-man businesses out their that are growing and looking to expand and employ staff.    At this stage, be aware that there are a few responsibilities required by the Law as well as general ethical responsibilities required of you towards your team to make sure they are happy, well looked after and fit for the job.  

1. First, you must check that your staff are eligible to work in the UK. If they’re not, you could be fined £5,000 per person. As a small business, that will be a high price to pay.

2. Once you are sure of your employee eligibility, you  must create a safe environment both physical and emotional aspect for your staff to work in. You are required by Law (HSE Publications) to ensure your staff can do their job safely and you must take out employer’s liability insurance.

3. Ensure that your employee gets a written statement of employment within two months of starting. This can either be a contract or a statement and set of policies covering the date they started work, their salary, hours of work and holiday entitlement, your policies on sick leave and pay, and pension availability, how you or your employee can terminate the job, and what disciplinary procedures are in place.

4.You must avoid discrimination in recruitment, advertising and selection procedures. Your business can be taken to an employment tribunal by someone who believes that they did not get the job due to discrimination. Avoid asking for personal details that are not related to the job, such as their race or marital status instead,  at recruitment stage, clearly state the skills the candidate needs and the tasks they will perform. 

5. You should also pay your staff appropriately.  The National minimum wage rates from October 2010 

For adults aged 21 and over is £5.80 - £5.93 per hour. 

For 18-20 year old is £4.83- £4.92 per hour and 

For 16-17 year olds is £3.57 - £3.64 also per hour.  

The government has also accepted a recommendation from the (LPC) Low Pay Commission to introduce an apprentice minimum wage of £2.50 per hour.

Employees are not expected to work for more than 48hours a week which includes overtime. 

There are many other responsibilities but getting this five right will benefit the business enormously. 

For more info go to www.direct.gov.uk/

Written by Chantle White

Hot Topic - Do Women Make Better Bosses Than Men? www.insidesuccess.co.uk

A leader is a person that influences a group towards the achievement of a goal. Men and women have lead and still lead in different ways. Who makes a better leader is a matter of a personal opinion arising from experience. Take for instance, the currently running BBC program, the  Apprentice aired Monday nights on BBC1 at 9PM and followed immediately on BBC 2 is one of the entertaining program that makes good viewing documenting how both genders handle leadership roles.

The Apprentice is edited for entertainment purpose so we see a lot of the female contestants moaning and crying and both genders panic under pressure but watching it gives an insight to how gender rates, of cos, every week, there are winners and loosers. We see how some tasks are easier for women than men and vice versa. Many factors are taking into consideration and leadership should be judged on individual merits.

Rewind to, say the 30s, industries and organisations used to be seen as masculine or male dominated, mainly with centralised authority division of labour, expertise, specialisation, principles, rules and regulation but society have come of age..

Fast forward and emerging organisations are more relaxed with growth in female leaders due to collaborations, empowerment, interpersonal relationship and interdependence that are unavoidable today.

Women are more emotionally intelligent as opposed to men which proved valuable during the boom years when productivity was high, new businesses emerged and old ones got better. A new generation of career women is born and for this reason men, who were held high for their hard skills abilities are now told that that was not enough when it comes to leadership.

Let us know what you think, do leave your comments.

Written by Chantle White

Can BlackBerry PLAYBOOK compare to Apple's IPAD?

Blackberry soon releases its Playbook developed by (RIM) which will compete with Apple's Ipad and hopes to be the leading tablet computer. Both playbook and Ipad are similar so comparing the two products is inevitable.  As Ipad is the first to bring out the new product, customers usually warm and reward the original innovator and similar product ie the playbook might have a tough time getting notice by the consumers.  


So is blackberry playbook any better than apple's Ipad or just a clone?


At first glance, Play book looks like a clipboard, portable and light weight ; 7 inch screen makes it easy to carry and maneuver compared to the Ipad which is 9.56 inches.


In terms of performance and features, BlackBerry Playbook looks to be an absolute beast. The Playbook is designed to capture all the functionalities of the ipad and at the same time, offer the productivity of a notebook computer. 


BlackBerry Playbook also has multitasking capability over Ipad. The tablet computer can run multiple programs at the same time, without having to sacrifice speed and performance; a feature the ipad is severely lacking in. The powerful processing power makes the product ideal for both casual use and work and comes at a much lower price than the Ipad.

It is likely that Playbook will retail at a lower price than Ipad,  it might get a larger share of the market force because pricing is a major incentive for a lot of customers who will find it affordable to replace their laptops especially while on the move.  

Written by Chantle White