List of Entrepreneurship articles published on Maven Inc’s ToughNickel platform.
Prior to writing online, I operated a Marcom/graphic design agency for 16 years. Thanks to that, most of my earliest articles were about entrepreneurship and business management. Nowhere near the sort of entertainment and lifestyle write-ups that I’m doing now.
None did well as far as traffic is concerned. That, despite me pouring hard and soul into every write-up or guide. Looking back, I guess my problems include being too jaded by my own experiences and trying too hard for a different approach.
Rather than pen inspirational and encouraging guides, I wrote about pitfalls and mistakes, and traps. Often, in an excessively dark tone too
I refused to accept that people read entrepreneurship articles not just for information, but also for inspiration. I wanted all to know what a hellish realm lies within the business world!
Anyway, I have long since deleted most of these. As for the remaining ones, I’ve either left them to rot or extensively rewrote them for ToughNickel.com. The following are what I currently have on this great platform.
1. Business Startup Checklist
One of my earliest entrepreneurship articles, one that was previously published on my first blog. The topics discussed within are admittedly simplistic, but more often than not, companies with great potential fold overnight because certain fundamentals were persistently ignored.
If you’re starting your own company, trust me, you will want to pay attention to such basic matters. Before it’s too late.
2. SWOT Analysis for Entrepreneurs
I wrote this as a joke.
Not kidding. Back then, I was involved with a charity organisation and there was this lady who would painstakingly dissect every proposed project with a SWOT analysis. Her utter obsession with the system soon resulted in the classic analysis framework becoming a private joke for the rest of us.
It was, admittedly, nasty of us. When writing this article months later, I also realised that simple as it might be, a SWOT breakdown is still one of the best first steps to examining the feasibility of any endeavour.
In other words, this write-up is usable by any aspiring entrepreneur, I also angled it to examine individual and industrial factors, rather than a specific business idea. Here’s hoping that the “questions” that I listed would help prevent doomed ventures. Being your own boss is an attractive idea, but too often, it can be a fruitless ordeal too.
3. Inverted Pyramid Format for Effective Business Writing
The Inverted Pyramid writing format was one of the very first topics I had to sit through when studying journalism at NTU. In a nutshell, it’s a brutally simple writing style that aims for brevity and ease of editing.
Applied to the world of commerce, I think there is no writing method more effective in dealing with the harsh reality that few customers would ever read your written communications in full. In short, this formula, rigid as it is, helps you get the key message across immediately.
This objective, in turn, must always be your foremost objective when preparing any business communication.
4. Stoic Wisdom for Company Owners
This was a research piece, one that I became quite passionate about over time.
In essence, I learned the hard way that entrepreneurship, or being your own boss, is hardly about making easy money or living the good life. (Or having your say in everything, as some local civil servants love to tell me) In the beginning years especially, life is all about a barrage of crises to deal with each day.
And so, knowing what is worth getting flustered over, is crucial to staying sane.
Vice versa, knowing and accepting what you cannot control is part of survival over the long run. The same goes for preparing for inevitable downturns.
5. Effective Staffing, The Greek Mythology Way!
This was a creative experiment. I love Greek mythology, and so I wanted to mesh that “love” with human resource concepts. I ended up discussing ideal staffing policies with the Greek Olympians as examples.
Greek Olympians, as in the major gods of Ancient Greece. Zeus, Apollo, Athena, etc.
Goofy as this might sound, I encourage you to consider that mythology, or religion, has always been an expression of ideals. Whether the Ancient Greeks consciously intended for it, or not, whom they chose as their leading gods, and the personas they described these gods with, reflect their thoughts on how civilization is best managed.
You do not have to agree with their views, of course. But who supposedly ruled from Mount Olympus will still give you an inkling of the sort of people you ought to have in your startup.
6. Tips on Effective Public Speaking
This is, of course, not an entrepreneurship article. However, I believe the techniques of effective public speaking will benefit any aspiring company owner.
Because entrepreneurs frequently have to do investment proposals, sales pitches, staff pep talks, and so on. Right?
I’ll put it this way. If you can effortlessly inform, persuade, or inspire with just spoken words, you’re halfway to being a great business leader.
I’ll add too that this long article is a condensation of the speech communication course I took at NTU. Till today, most of my faculty mates consider that one of the best modules we sat through.
7. Guide to Getting AdSense Approval
Right, this is more of an online earning article. But let me put it this way. If your entrepreneurial aspirations involve starting a web portal, getting AdSense Approval is likely one of the first must-dos in your revenue strategy?
Moreover, the often obscure requirements for a successful application are themselves, a great checklist for your content. On top of highlighting to you the things not-to-do if you want to legally earn revenue online.
In other words, this guide will not only help you earn from Google ads, it will also lay the way for more lucrative endorsements.
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