Rachel Beider

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As the year draws to a close, small service-based businesses face the challenge of not only reflecting on their past performance but also positioning themselves for success in the upcoming year. But how can these businesses stand out in the crowd to truly distinguish themselves and set a solid foundation for the year ahead? Here, 15 Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) members answered the following question to help small businesses rise above the competition and pave the way for a bright 2024.

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Entrepreneurship is a thrilling pursuit filled with opportunities, but it can also be a breeding ground for stress and burnout. To thrive in the highly demanding world of entrepreneurship, adopting specific habits is essential for reducing, and even avoiding, stress regularly. Below, Young Entrepreneur Council members explore the significance of cultivating these habits and why they are crucial for every entrepreneur. They also share the practices that not only help entrepreneurs navigate the turbulent waters but that also contribute to their long-term success and well-being.

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Slack pings, calendar reminders, text messages or phone calls and those pesky notifications—the work world can often be incredibly distracting. And for the work-from-home crowd, there can sometimes be additional layers of distraction, like a ringing doorbell, family and friends, a load of laundry or the constant urge to clean up the space around you. But whether in the office or at home, work sometimes takes the back burner to these distractions, leaving you unproductive and stressed out about how you’re going to get it all done.  According to the members of Young Entrepreneur Council, the solution is to strive for uninterrupted focus. Being intentional with both your environment and your processes can help set you up for a much more productive day. Here, eight members share their top methods for achieving that uninterrupted focus when you most need it and why these tips work so well.

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Knowledge is the key to success. This is especially true for entrepreneurs, as the wisdom shared in books can prove to be invaluable for both the budding startup founder and the seasoned business owner. From time-tested strategies for growth to profound insights on leadership and innovation, these literary gems have the power to shape the way entrepreneurs approach challenges and opportunities. Whether you're seeking inspiration, seeking to hone your leadership skills or simply looking to expand your entrepreneurial mindset, books are a must-have resource to empower and guide you on your entrepreneurial journey. To recommend a few of their favorites, Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) business leaders answer the following question:

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While it’s important to find balance throughout the year, the summer months are a great reminder to make more time for fun activities and personal or family time outside of work. A determined focus on one’s career or budding business can be necessary to achieve your goals and grow as a professional, but if left unchecked, it can also leave you feeling unbalanced, tired, stressed and like you’re missing out on precious time with your loved ones. If you think you may be letting your work life get in the way of your personal one, consider these other signs of overwork, as listed by the members of Young Entrepreneur Council. Here, they discuss these red flags as well as what you can do to finally achieve work-life balance.

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No matter how focused your business is on customer satisfaction, the occasional complaint is inevitable. Whether they occur in person at a physical store or through online channels, these complaints present a unique opportunity to turn the situation around and deliver a positive experience. By actively listening to the customer's concerns, businesses can demonstrate empathy, foster trust and find effective solutions that resolve the issue at hand and encourage that person to keep coming back. To that end, Young Entrepreneur Council members share a few key actions you can take to address negative feedback and create a positive outcome for the customer—and ultimately, your business.

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A trusted mentor can help you navigate business’s toughest challenges. Running and leading a successful business is no easy feat. That's why entrepreneurs often turn to trusted mentors, those who have already navigated similar challenges in their own businesses, for guidance and wisdom. As they grow and learn, these entrepreneurs can then pass on these valuable insights to the next generation of business owners. Below, a group of successful entrepreneurs share some of the most memorable advice they've received from their mentors. Read on to find out what lessons have stuck with them and why those words have been so impactful.

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By understanding the causes and implementing effective strategies, it is possible to overcome high performer's syndrome.

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Tracking key performance indicators (KPIs) can be an excellent way to measure the overall health of your business and predict its future successes or failures. From customer satisfaction to the cash conversion cycle, there are numerous metrics business leaders can track that will give them valuable insights into the inner workings of their businesses. Ensuring you’re paying attention to the right metrics may even save you from making costly mistakes that could be difficult to recover from. With that in mind, the members of Young Entrepreneur Council recommend tracking these 11 KPIs if you want to dive deeper into the data behind your company’s performance.

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When it comes to hiring someone for their team, nearly every employer likely already has an image of their ideal candidate in mind. Whether it’s someone who isn’t afraid to push the envelope or someone who is reliable, trustworthy and gets their work done on time, the “ideal” hire can vary from employer to employer, sometimes making it difficult for potential candidates to know what qualities they should emphasize in their application. To provide a little bit of guidance, business leaders from Young Entrepreneur Council list 11 words they’d use to describe their ideal employees and explain what it is about those specific characteristics that makes someone such a great hire.

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While not every day will be perfect in terms of motivation, if you discover your employees generally aren’t finding fulfillment or satisfaction in their work, it’s paramount you find a solution and help get them back to feeling their best as soon as possible. If you don’t, you risk your employees becoming burned out and unhappy, which could lead to them leaving your company in search of something more exciting. To prevent your staff from reaching that point, you’ll need to take a few key actions both before and after you notice a problem. According to the members of Young Entrepreneur Council, taking the following seven steps could ensure employee morale stays high and your staff feel both motivated and fulfilled on a regular basis.

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Being an entrepreneur requires a unique blend of creativity, vision and innovative thinking. To stay ahead in the ever-evolving business landscape, entrepreneurs need constant inspiration and fresh perspectives. Luckily, podcasts have become an invaluable (and readily available) source of knowledge and motivation for ambitious business minds. Whether you're just starting your entrepreneurial journey or are a seasoned professional, the members of Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) offer their suggestions by answering this question:

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As artificial intelligence continues to revolutionize industries across the globe, it is crucial for young professionals entering the workforce to develop skills that will keep them relevant and adaptable in the face of rapid technological advancements. While the integration of AI may raise concerns about job displacement, it also presents abundant opportunities for those equipped with the right skill sets. Below, Young Entrepreneur Council members explore several key steps young professionals can take to not just survive but thrive in an AI-dominated work world. By honing their skills, they can position themselves to leverage AI as a tool and remain competitive in the ever-evolving job market.

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In any organization, maintaining a motivated and engaged workforce is crucial for productivity and overall success. However, there may be times when leaders notice a decline in employee morale and motivation. Whether it’s due to external factors, internal challenges or simply a temporary slump, leaders have a vital role to play in reigniting the spark and helping their employees get back on track.  Below, 11 Young Entrepreneur Council members explore effective steps leaders can take to revitalize their teams and foster a positive work environment that motivates and inspires employees to give their best. By implementing these strategies, leaders can create a workplace where employees feel valued, supported and motivated to excel.

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From rejection and adversity to self-doubt, entrepreneurs will inevitably encounter many challenges as they work to build a thriving business. Fortunately, there are effective strategies new business owners can leverage to help them navigate the rough patches and stay motivated to achieve their goals.  Without preparing for unexpected setbacks and downturns, a new entrepreneur may struggle to maintain the focus and confidence they need to succeed. Here, 12 Young Entrepreneur Council members share their best advice for persevering through the difficulties that come along with entrepreneurship, offering tips to help entrepreneurs stay the course and find lasting success.

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Whether you are delivering a keynote speech, presenting a sales pitch or just leading a team meeting, effective communication is key to getting your message across and inspiring action. As a business leader, your ability to communicate effectively can make or break your career, as being an engaging speaker is not only essential for motivating your employees but also for pitching your ideas to potential investors, clients or partners. Below, the members of Young Entrepreneur Council recommend nine tips that can help you improve your public speaking skills and reap the benefits of becoming an engaging speaker.

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When it comes to training employees, there’s no one way to do it right—but there are a few ways you might be doing it wrong. Using outdated materials or failing to check in enough may not be intentional blunders, but they could prevent your employee from succeeding as quickly as you’d like them to in their role. However, after years of training new employees, business leaders are bound to have picked up a few lessons along the way. The members of Young Entrepreneur Council are here to share a few of the lessons they’ve learned over their careers about how to train effectively and the advice they would give other business leaders who are training new employees for the first time. 

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In today's digital age, data privacy has become a top priority for individuals and businesses alike. Small businesses in particular need to ensure that they are taking the necessary steps to protect their customers' personal information. By doing so, they not only comply with data protection regulations but also build trust and loyalty with their customer base. While implementing robust data privacy measures can be challenging for small businesses with limited resources, even small steps can make a significant impact. To that end, the members of Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) weighed in on the following question:

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As the demand for eco-friendly products and services—as well as consumers' interest in protecting the planet—grows, more and more businesses are looking to reduce their carbon footprints and adopt more eco-friendly business practices. However, many companies may not know where to start, and certain efforts may come off as disingenuous if not handled properly. To help, eight members of Young Entrepreneur Council recommend several ways companies can start going green and discuss the impact doing so can have on a company’s overall success.

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While personalization may be easier to accomplish in the e-commerce space, that doesn’t mean brick-and-mortar stores are out of luck when it comes to personalizing the customer experience. With face-to-face interactions acting as a strong advantage, brick-and-mortar retail stores can create unique, custom experiences tailored to individual customers’ needs. To do so, however, they’ll want to follow the recommendations made by the members of Young Entrepreneur Council. Below, they share eight ways brick-and-mortar stores can offer customized, personalized experiences to their customers and how doing so can help separate them from their competition.

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Everyone has a blend of strengths and weaknesses; fortunately, with work, it’s possible to improve both the strong and the weak points. To be an entrepreneur and an effective leader, it’s important to recognize areas where you may need help or improvement and to actively work on those areas so that you—and your business—can continue to grow. But determining how to improve oneself isn’t always easy, so to help, nine members of Young Entrepreneur Council discuss some of the ways in which they actively work on their weaknesses in order to grow as leaders and business owners.

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Starting a new job can be stressful, so as a leader, it's crucial to make sure that your new hires feel welcome and supported from the very beginning. Here, 12 Young Entrepreneur Council members share onboarding strategies that leaders can use to ensure new employees feel welcome and that they get off to a successful start.

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If any business is to not only survive but also thrive, it's essential to develop simple, repeatable systems for handling common business tasks and functions. Rather than dealing with inconsistencies and the need to make up new processes as various situations or problems arise, having a set system in place for how things are done can speed up work completion and improve overall productivity—and, in many cases, customer satisfaction. There are many aspects of business that entrepreneurs should be systemizing, but below, the members of Young Entrepreneur Council share some of the most impactful. Consider developing systems for these areas of your business and start improving your team’s productivity today.

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Rebranding is a significant, but sometimes necessary, step in a business's journey; however, if it's not done right, it may backfire. What an entrepreneur thought may have been a great way to update their brand to something more modern and in alignment with their company’s values could end up being a nightmare of confused customers and lost sales.  To prevent this situation from happening, consider the following advice from the members of Young Entrepreneur Council. Here, they each share one critical yet common rebranding mistake businesses tend to make and what their leaders should do instead if they want to come out successful on the other side.

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For entrepreneurs, publishing a book can be an excellent opportunity to share their expertise, experiences and perspectives with a broader audience. However, for first-timers, the process of writing and publishing a book can be daunting, and they may not know where to start or what to expect.  To help entrepreneurs who happen to be aspiring authors, a panel of Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) members answered the following question:

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As any seasoned entrepreneur knows, building a strong leadership team is critical for the success of any organization. When it comes to hiring C-suite executives, there are many factors to consider, including experience, expertise and cultural fit. However, there are certain nonnegotiable traits that should be at the top of every leader's list when evaluating candidates.  Below, seven Young Entrepreneur Council members explain which traits are critical for C-suite hires and how those traits can impact their ability to lead effectively. By looking for these traits during the interview process, leaders can make better hiring decisions and build stronger, more resilient organizations.

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Defining what makes your business unique is one of the most important tasks you can do to help answer the question of why customers should buy from you. Without a differentiating factor separating you and your competition, you ultimately give customers no reason to choose your business over another—which isn’t a helpful strategy when looking to grow your company. But if you’re new to business or haven’t considered your brand’s niche before, how do you go about determining it? The members of Young Entrepreneur Council can help. Below, they offer up 10 questions you can ask yourself that will help you define what is unique and different about your brand and explain why these are such effective questions to ask.

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As an entrepreneur, you likely often find yourself pulled in all different directions. A phone call about an issue here, a knock at your door there and an ever-growing inbox can make it so your mind is constantly distracted and you never really have time to move the needle on any of the work that needs to get done. In order to be productive then, it’s key to develop a strategy for prioritizing your time. If you’re unsure how to get started, the members of Young Entrepreneur Council have a few tips. Here, they share eight recommendations for prioritizing your time as a busy entrepreneur and explain why these methods have been so effective for them.

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Every business needs strong leadership to survive and grow. As a small-business owner, you may start out being the sole leader, but as your company evolves, you'll likely need to hire additional managers as you delegate oversight of the day-to-day operations. Hiring your first leadership roles can be difficult, but it helps to learn from those who have done it before. Below, seven Young Entrepreneur Council members offer their best advice for business owners who are looking to build a strong leadership team. Follow their recommendations before bringing your new leaders on board.

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What are the benefits of outsourcing, when shouldn't you outsource, and how can you find the right provider?

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Whether you lead a bustling startup or an established business, as a CEO, your days are likely full of endless meetings, questions from leadership or staff, “fires” that need putting out and very little time to get any actual work done. Without an intentional plan or schedule, your day can get away from you, allowing your work—and your stress—to build up over time. But adding a little structure to your workday doesn’t have to be complicated. Below, nine members of Young Entrepreneur Council speak to their own experience as business leaders, each recommending one way CEOs can build structure into their workday to help them maximize their productivity and why this is so critical to do.

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Success as an entrepreneur takes more than just a good business idea -- you also need to have the right mindset. When it comes to entrepreneurial success, your state of mind is critical. Approaching your business with positivity and a goal-oriented mindset not only helps keep you motivated through the ups and downs, but it can also inspire and encourage your team to work together toward common goals. Below, a group of successful business leaders share some of the actions you can take to cultivate an "entrepreneurial mindset" and how doing so themselves has impacted their careers. Read on to learn how to apply these philosophies to your own day-to-day life.

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Entrepreneurship is all about looking for new opportunities. Whether that means opportunities to make more money or opportunities to make a difference in a new way, entrepreneurs often keep a close eye on the business world at large, taking note of what ideas are succeeding and which need to go back to the drawing board. When a business or whole industry makes an impact, savvy entrepreneurs take notice. As business leaders themselves, the members of Young Entrepreneur Council also like to take advantage of new opportunities. Here, six members speculate about the industries they would start businesses in today if they weren’t involved in their current businesses and discuss why they believe these industries are so promising for the future.

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Convincing your employees to read through pages of dry policy and procedure—especially on a regular basis—is never the easiest of tasks. While documenting your business processes is important for consistency and clarity, this documentation only becomes valuable if your team members actually reference it. So what’s the key to making your standard operating procedures (SOPs) more interesting to your team? Below, 10 members of Young Entrepreneur Council explore this question and share their best tips for making your business's SOPs something your employees actually want to use and read.

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Even for the most successful entrepreneurs, there are only so many hours in the day. But with all the duties, responsibilities and pressures that come with being a business owner, finding ways to improve and optimize their productivity is an important, necessary part of their day-to-day work. So how do they do it? Below, seven entrepreneurs from Young Entrepreneur Council discuss their secrets to getting more done during the workday and what other leaders can do to achieve similar results. Whether you’re just starting out or have been in the game for a few years, consider this advice to change the way you work for the better.

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Cyber Monday and Black Friday are great opportunities to attract customers to your small business, but there is often a lot of competition from major retailers during the holiday season. While your small business may not be able to compete on the same level as a major retailer, there are a lot of strategies you can use to sell more products or services through the end of the year. To help you plan ahead for the big holiday sale days and beyond, the members of Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) answered the following question:

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When it comes to defining success, there’s no one right answer. It can mean owning your own business, making over a million dollars, driving a particular car or even just having more freedom with your time. But when broken down into a single workday, success can sometimes be a little more difficult to measure. Its definition can even change throughout your career as you develop both professionally and personally. This change has certainly been the case for the members of Young Entrepreneur Council. Below, they each share what they consider to be the biggest indication of a successful day and why, and why their definition of success has evolved over time.

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Many employers talk about wanting "employee loyalty," or employees who will give their all to their role and to the company in order to help it succeed. But what's talked about less is what employers can do to actively earn this loyalty from their employees, leaving employers with no action plan for how to inspire this kind of behavior in their teams. To offer some guidance, seven members of Young Entrepreneur Council discuss several areas employers can improve upon in order to earn employee loyalty and trust. Consider the following advice if you want to build a work culture of support and positive action from both sides.

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Despite female entrepreneurship trending upward—especially in recent years—on a global scale, male entrepreneurs still outnumber their female counterparts three to one. Statistics like this one, paired with feelings of doubt and a sense of imposter syndrome any aspiring entrepreneur is sure to feel when starting out, can often leave young female entrepreneurs with one or more limiting beliefs that can hold them back from accomplishing everything they’re capable of. However, according to the members of Young Entrepreneur Council, the following seven beliefs are unfounded and wrong, and below they share why a change in mindset can set you on a better path toward success and give you the boost of confidence you’ll need to thrive as an entrepreneur.

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Maintaining good relationships with your vendors helps ensure that you consistently receive the goods and services you need and achieve mutually beneficial goals. But when the buyer-supplier relationship begins to sour for whatever reason, it may be best for your business to cut ties and move on. To help you determine whether it's time to seek out a new vendor partnership, 11 Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) members shared their insights on the following question:

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In an age when more and more businesses are moving to or being created online, one advantage brick-and-mortars have over online stores is their ability to create in-person experiences and atmospheres that can surprise and delight their customers. Experiences rife with human connection and sensory enjoyment simply aren’t able to be duplicated in the online space in the same way. The key to creating those moments, according to the members of Young Entrepreneur Council, is playing to your store’s strengths. Below, they share specific strategies you can use to awe your customers and give them a truly memorable in-store experience.

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Innovation is often a key driver for long-term business success, but in order to properly innovate, you have to get creative first. A creative flow state, or any length or period of time during which a professional can think and create uninterrupted by distractions or intrusive thoughts, can be beneficial to those aiming to generate quality ideas in less time—but getting into this state isn’t always the most straightforward task. To help, six members of Young Entrepreneur Council share their best tips for getting into a creative flow state and explain how these methods help them achieve their creative goals.

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When you’re in a position of authority, and when you have the livelihoods of not only yourself but also your teams to consider, it can be easy to develop certain mindsets around yourself, your work and the way your business should be run. While many of these mindsets can be positive, many can also be toxic, threatening to overwhelm you and, ultimately, your team’s morale if left unchecked. As successful business leaders themselves, the members of Young Entrepreneur Council are familiar with the toxic thoughts that can sometimes cross your mind when you run a business. Below, they list a few of those toxic mindsets as well as share what you can do to eliminate them when you feel them start to take over.

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For most entrepreneurs, the early days of their business entail doing most of the day-to-day work themselves. However, as your business grows, so will your need to hire and effectively manage others. Expanding your team requires you to hone your leadership skills, as well as a strategic vision to keep your team on track. To help, 10 members of Young Entrepreneur Council shared some essential leadership skills every entrepreneur should nurture. Follow their recommendations to improve your management abilities and foster a strong business culture.

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When you want your business to stand out online, it's crucial to have a never-ending supply of new and creative ideas. Sometimes new ideas come naturally, but every business owner or entrepreneur will go through times when the creative juices aren't flowing when they need them to the most.  This is when having go-to strategies for idea generation can come in handy. Here, 12 members of YEC share their best methods for coming up with new ideas to ensure your content stays fresh.

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Business leaders have a lot of responsibilities. They need to be concerned with operations, finances, company culture and the hiring process, just to name a few. But each leader prioritizes responsibilities differently and responsibilities change from company to company. Below, a panel of Young Entrepreneur Council members shared what they believe is their most important job as a business leader. Here are the tasks they prioritize and why each one is key to running a successful business.

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The process of hiring new employees can be both rewarding and difficult. Hiring managers or HR representatives need to make sure each candidate not only fits into the company culture and values, but also can do the job successfully. Some hiring decisions can be particularly hard to navigate, especially as a small business owner. Below, nine Young Entrepreneur Council members shared the biggest hiring challenges they've ever faced and the steps they took to overcome them. Read their advice to help you if you're struggling to recruit, hire or onboard new talent for your company.

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Encouraging and maintaining a high level of audience engagement is critical for any brand keen on building a loyal following and a tight-knit community of reliable customers. Engagement serves as a foundational pillar to growing a business’s presence in the broader market, and those happy customers are often your best form of advertisement. However, building a loyal community is only possible if the brand is strong enough and forges a robust relationship with those customers. To offer guidance on how to achieve this goal, eight members of Young Entrepreneur Council discuss a few lesser-known ways brands can encourage engagement and why those methods are so successful.

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Some businesses have the ability to pivot and move online, but for many brick-and-mortar service-based businesses, storefronts are still king. Expanding to new locations can help a business grow, bring in much-needed revenue and serve a larger audience.

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For any aspiring business owner or entrepreneur, establishing the right practices and habits as part of your normal behaviors can set you on a path toward career success. However, there are a few habits that might actually be hindering your entrepreneurial journey rather than helping it. These habits might be things you consider to be completely harmless in the grand scheme of your total behaviors, and many entrepreneurs might not even see them as significant hurdles to overcome. Yet, the longer you maintain these bad habits, the less likely you'll be to encounter success as a result. Below, eight members of Young Entrepreneur Council examine some of the seemingly harmless habits they believe can hinder an entrepreneur’s progress and what they should consider doing instead.

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As an entrepreneur, it’s important to keep an eye on your competition and find ways to set yourself apart from others in your industry. Especially in a saturated market, it's vital to stand out with a strong personal brand. To achieve this, you’ll want to define what makes you and your brand unique. If you’re looking to do this right, follow this advice from the members of Young Entrepreneur Council, who shared eight key steps to take when trying to hone in on your niche.

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When a leader leaves your organization, even on amicable terms, it could prompt a significant upheaval in the department that they were a part of. Depending on how intrinsic they were to that department’s function, their departure may even shift the company's operations. For a business to weather this issue, the organization should try to achieve a smooth transition to the new leader. But how does a company ensure that both the new leader and the current staff will successfully adjust to this change? Below, eight entrepreneurs from Young Entrepreneur Council offer their best advice on how businesses can ensure a smooth transition of duties for all involved.

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You can't avoid the occasional upset customer, but you can quickly and effectively smooth things over. A business depends on happy customers for lasting success. Unfortunately, no matter what steps you take to prevent customer service issues, not every client is going to be happy. Whether their reason for anger is justified or not, you’ll need to address the situation and the person’s concerns. The way you respond can make the difference between a customer who’s ultimately satisfied and one who refuses to do business with your company again. To help you assuage angry customers, these successful entrepreneurs share their top tried-and-true tactics for conflict resolution.

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Information can be a valuable resource, and having enough of it is key to helping business owners make smart decisions. But lack of information or experience can also have an impact. Even seasoned entrepreneurs have regrets or moments when they wish they had done something differently if they knew at the beginning what they know now. Here, seven members of Young Entrepreneur Council reflect on their current knowledge and business experience in order to share some of the steps they wish they would have taken before starting their businesses.

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Communication is one of the most essential skills that a business leader needs to master to be successful. Great leaders may develop their communication skills early on in their careers, but they also have created and maintained habits that help them communicate more effectively. When you watch great leaders address an audience or interact with others, the practices they cultivate to help them communicate so well may not be immediately apparent. Even so, their effectiveness is unquestionable. Here, nine members of Young Entrepreneur Council share the habits they believe all great leaders have and explain why these help make them such powerful communicators.

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As the new year signifies new beginnings, most people come up with things they want to change as the January rolls around. If these resolutions stick, they could lead to an entirely new way of life. Yet so many people let these goals falter, and within the first few weeks of the new year, these resolutions are relegated to the proverbial garbage heap. However, some people really do manage to attain their goals. Some entrepreneurs have developed great success by sticking to their New Year’s resolutions, but what's their secret? Here, nine members of Young Entrepreneur Council share some helpful tricks to ensure that you can achieve your own New Year’s resolutions this year.

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Few things make an entrepreneur feel happier than accomplishing a significant goal. Many business owners approach their companies with concrete goals in mind for where they want it to be in a few years. However, when you're a new entrepreneur, it can be a challenge to plot your own course. Having an example of what others who have come before you have achieved as entrepreneurs can help you decide what you should be doing next. While it can prompt you to do something to help your business, you'll have to adapt the goal and make it relevant to your own company. Below, seven entrepreneurs from Young Entrepreneur Council discuss the most significant decisions they’ve made for their business and explain their effect on their enterprises.

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Taking risks is always intimidating. It can be scary to leave comfort and safety behind and leap toward a potentially difficult and life-altering decision. But anything worth having rarely comes from taking the easy path. To inspire you to take that "big chance" you've been dreaming about, we asked 10 members of Young Entrepreneur Council about the biggest career risks they’ve ever taken. Below they shared their stories about what happened and what they learned from following their instinct.

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When a business hires an executive, it expects to get someone who can perform in managerial positions. Because leaders are such a vital part of a company's operations, choosing the right candidate for an executive-level position is even more crucial than in other departments. Having the wrong individual in your executive core could cause severe damage to workers' morale and productivity. Developing a vetting system that can choose the best individuals for these jobs is, therefore, essential. Here, eight members of Young Entrepreneur Council examine the most effective vetting processes they've used in their own businesses to determine whether a potential executive hire is a good fit for their leadership.

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A truly timeless brand sticks with people for a long time, no matter how many trends emerge or how the world around them changes. Not every business ever reaches this stature, but it’s something your brand should work and strive toward if you want to be memorable. To that end, there are a few steps you can take to make your brand feel timeless as you’re developing it. We asked members of Young Entrepreneur Council to share the key to creating a timeless brand. Here’s what they had to say.

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If you're like the hundreds of content marketers out there that have invested in blog content, you want people to read it. If you've been watching your metrics for visits, you might realize that many visitors don't even bother with your blog. Sure, they might follow a social post from your media to your blog, and possibly read a single entry, but they won't engage further than that. So how do you get readers to come back to read about the amazing things you post? These 15 professionals from YEC expound on the methods that work for them to get return visitors and further explain why those techniques are so successful at maintaining user engagement.

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Disagreements and conflicts are inevitable in the workplace. As a leader, it’s your job to mediate any issues between workers so your company culture remains positive and productive. However, this is often easier said than done: It takes a truly empathetic and effective leader to listen to each side and help both parties come to a mutually-beneficial solution. To help you, we asked Young Entrepreneur Council members about the most effective ways to confront conflict in the workplace. Here’s what they recommend.

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Business advisers have the potential to be instrumental to a company's success. Unfortunately, not all business advisers make a positive impact, and it's up to the entrepreneur to decide which adviser they want to work with. The selection process should be as rigorous as staff selection, but should mostly focus on the adviser's previous successes. Who were their past clients? How did those partnerships turn out? These questions set the stage for expectations and temper out personal feelings toward the adviser. Here, eight associates of Young Entrepreneur Council offer their best advice for choosing an adviser that would benefit one’s business.

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When you're negotiating a deal, misinterpreted tone or poorly-chosen words could ruin an otherwise-successful conversation. Sometimes you may not know even which phrases might turn a deal sour. That's why we asked 16 members of Young Entrepreneur Council the following question:

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Every job candidate’s goal is to stand out from the rest. However, it’s not enough to talk about your education and work experiences, which may be very similar to other qualified applicants. Great candidates shine by saying things that are truly unique. To help you stand out, we asked Young Entrepreneur Council members to share some memorable things past candidates have said that really impressed them. Be sure to bring up these 15 things in your next job interview if you want to make a great impression.

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Business legal matters can be intimidating, but these tools can help you understand and streamlining the process. Starting a business means dealing with some standard legal matters, like registering your business and complying with tax regulations. This can be overwhelming for new entrepreneurs, especially if they're not familiar with these legal processes. While it's always advisable to consult an experienced business attorney, there are countless resources and online tools available that make it easier to find the information you need. To help you, we asked the members of Young Entrepreneur Council which tools they recommend to make the legal side of business less intimidating for small business owners. Try one of these suggestions when you're faced with common business legal tasks.  

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Running a business is not easy, especially as a young entrepreneur. It always feels like the industry is stacked against you, and that you're destined to fail. Keeping hold of your morals while navigating a field like this can be a challenge. Making hard decisions is part of the job. That doesn't mean that making them gets any easier with time. However, the perspective that these decisions need to happen for the good of the company and yourself can help you navigate them easier. To help, these eight professionals from Young Entrepreneur Council discuss the hard decisions they had to make, including the circumstances that led up to them, to help other young entrepreneurs learn from their experiences.

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Having a side hustle is a great way to develop a creative outlet outside of your regular career. However, these projects can consume a lot of your time, energy and money. That's why it's important to consider the required commitment and effort – and the potential return – before going all-in on your idea. To help you determine if your side hustle is worth pursuing, we asked a panel of Young Entrepreneur Council members how an aspiring entrepreneur can test the idea's viability. Ask yourself these 10 questions to find out.

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Employees who work on small teams may need to play multiple roles to ensure everything runs smoothly. With such limited resources, you may not be able to have a dedicated full-time marketing person to help you reach your full potential as a brand. That's why we asked members of Young Entrepreneur Council the following question:

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Getting any business off the ground requires sufficient capital. However, all the financial stress doesn't have to fall on you as the entrepreneur – there are other ways to secure funding for your startup without assuming 100% of the risk yourself. That's why we asked the members of Young Entrepreneur Council the following question:

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You don't need to spend a ton of money to build a great business website. A high-quality website can attract customers and give them a positive experience with your company. If you don't have much web design experience, you may be concerned about the cost and time it might take for someone else to build the site for you. Fortunately, there are tons of website building tools that allow you to create your own business website, even if you don't know how to code. Many of these platforms offer plenty of sophisticated features without the hefty price tag, while also being user-friendly. To help you explore your options, we asked the members of Young Entrepreneur Council share their favorite low-cost, high-quality website builders. Check out these DIY tools before you outsource the job.

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As a leader, you know your workplace dynamic directly impacts employee morale and, in turn, your bottom line. No matter how great your company culture might be, there is always room for improvement. But to make impactful changes, you’ll have to first understand which areas warrant the most attention.  To help you identify those areas, we asked a panel of Young Entrepreneur Council members this question:

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Internal meetings can be a fantastic strategic tool to help a business get all stakeholders of a project on the same page, but they can easily turn into massive time sinks if they are not properly scheduled and managed. Unfortunately, many companies don't strategize their meetings. The result is a once-weekly report that doesn't have any noticeable impact on the business.  There are ways to leverage meetings to be more efficient and practical, however. To help, 12 experts from Young Entrepreneur Council offer several strategies for using corporate meetings more efficiently to help business growth and productivity.

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Customer complaints are a necessary part of a business, but it can be discouraging to deal with them. A good leader knows how to look at customer complaints and extract the positives out of those disparaging comments. A skilled leader can take these complaints and turn them into a power to motivate and direct the business's positive growth. The truly gifted among us can turn these negative experiences on their heads, and use them to develop positive experiences for future customers. Below, seven professionals from Young Entrepreneur Council talk about how leaders can grow and improve their businesses by constructively using customer complaints.

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In the age of remote work and social distancing, try these video conferencing tools for your company's online meetings. Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, a growing number of businesses had already embraced remote work and conducted online meetings with participants in different geographic locations. Today, nearly every company that could switch to work-from-home has done so, and groups that once met in person are now logging into virtual meeting rooms for their everyday business conversations. Even one-on-one calls are being held over video conferencing software to replicate that "face-to-face" interaction people are missing in the age of social distancing. While the majority of the business world has adopted Zoom as their preferred video conferencing platform, there are countless other choices for businesses that need to conduct online meetings. If you're not as familiar with the different tools out there, it can be challenging to determine which fits your company best. To help you explore your options, we asked members of Young Entrepreneur Council which online meeting software they recommend and what sets it apart from the others. Try out some of their recommendations to find your new favorite meeting platform.

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While every mentor is unique, the truly great ones will check certain boxes.

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Over the years, multiple studies have shown that employee happiness is a crucial factor in developing a successful business. Employees who are happier tend to be more productive and also stay with the company long term. Unfortunately, like all forms of feedback, pinning down employee happiness depends on asking them the right questions. Many workers may be uncomfortable sharing their real opinions on the business, for fear of reprisal or displeasing other employees. Thus, companies need to be more proactive about sourcing feedback from their employees about their happiness. These six professionals from Young Entrepreneur Council share their insight into how businesses should gauge employee happiness to determine whether any changes are needed to promote employees' physical and mental well-being.

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Every business owner hopes to succeed in their venture. Access to the right resources plays a huge role in that success -- but barriers do still exist, especially for female entrepreneurs. Women in the business world often talk about the importance and benefits of supporting each other. That's why we asked the women of Young Entrepreneur Council how they tap into the right resources and lift up other female leaders in the process. Here's how they've achieved their own success, and helped their fellow female entrepreneurs do the same.

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Competition among companies can be fierce, especially those in the same field with similar messages. With so many other brands out there, it can be difficult to make your story stand out among the crowd. However, you need to identify that “something special” about your business that truly makes it shine. To help you, we asked 10 Young Entrepreneur Council members how to captivate customers through the art of storytelling. Here’s how they recommend crafting a brand story that captures attention and engages your target audience.

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Starting your own business is not a decision to take lightly. While it’s great to be your own boss with the freedom to set your own schedule, this is only part of the equation. It takes a lot more than just a dream to be a successful entrepreneur. Before you take the leap, there are some important questions to ask yourself to understand if you’re truly ready to launch your own business. To help you make your decision, we asked 10 Young Entrepreneur Council members what everyone should ask themselves before committing to entrepreneurship.

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A business is built on the reputation it gets through its dealings. Not all the press a company receives will be positive, however. Depending on how the consumers see the business, a company might have mixed reviews on social media. While you might think that positive reviews are the only thing that can aid the company, there are several critical benefits that negative reviews offer as well. Unfortunately, in their haste to do damage control, many small businesses overlook the takeaways contained within these negative comments. To help leaders deal with the inevitable negative feedback that come with running a business, eight contributors to Young Entrepreneur Council discuss the best methods of handling these comments and what lessons can be learned from them.

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A business is built on the reputation it gets through its dealings. Not all the press a company receives will be positive, however. Depending on how the consumers see the business, a company might have mixed reviews on social media. While you might think that positive reviews are the only thing that can aid the company, there are several critical benefits that negative reviews offer as well. Unfortunately, in their haste to do damage control, many small businesses overlook the takeaways contained within these negative comments. To help leaders deal with the inevitable negative feedback that come with running a business, eight contributors to Young Entrepreneur Council discuss the best methods of handling these comments and what lessons can be learned from them.

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A business can learn a lot from data. Business intelligence is the methodology that takes data and derives actionable results from it. When a company utilizes those suggestions, it can lead to higher efficiency and productivity. However, there has been a reluctance in some businesses to give data-driven results a chance. Many feel as though data can't provide the 'human element' that leads to positive change. Despite this, other entrepreneurs have brought data-driven decision-making to the foreground, and below, seven members of Young Entrepreneur Council share their best advice and stories about how data has allowed them to make smarter decisions and drive their business success.

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An awkward conversation can be a minefield -- one wrong move could spell disaster. The stakes are even higher within a workplace environment. Since colleagues tend to be in close quarters throughout the day, uncomfortable situations that stem from these difficult conversations can fester and lead to unhappiness for both parties. When dealing with a difficult discussion with a co-worker, it's possible that you will read the situation or tone badly, and snowball the debate into a disastrous exchange. To help you deal with difficult conversations a little easier, eight contributors to Young Entrepreneur Council offer advice on how to deal with these interactions and what things to avoid that could could be detrimental to your future career and prospects.

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As a small business, getting the press coverage you need to support your company's growth can be a challenge.

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