New summary available for The Affluent Entrepreneur

May 22, 2015 - PRLog -- People who are in business for themselves depend on their own creativity and willingness to work hard. In The Affluent Entrepreneur, Patrick Snow offers 20 principles, inspirational messages, and helpful ideas about how to start, grow, and run a business while maintaining a healthy work-life balance. He offers his own story as an example of what can be achieved with the right tools and attitude. The key to achieving affluence—or financial freedom—is to identify a marketable personal passion and create a unique product or service around it.

Snow offers entrepreneurs the following tips:

*Finding the right product: Every business begins with a unique product or service, often based on a current or rising trend. No matter the product, it should offer a unique selling proposition to the prospective customer and reflect the entrepreneur's passion. Work that flows from a personal passion is not really work at all.

*Beginning a business: Before starting a business, entrepreneurs must cultivate the right "no matter what" mentality, check in with their spouses for familial support, and plan to invest time and energy in self-improvement. These preparations are as important as a good business plan.

*Funding the enterprise: Entrepreneurs need capital to start and grow their businesses. The best way to fund a business is with cash flow or savings. If these options are not available, the next stop should be friends and family who are willing to lend money. Banks or other commercial financing should be a last resort.

*Minimizing overhead: Leveraging technology will keep overhead low, as will setting up the right compensation packages for employees. Salespeople should be put on a commission-only pay scheme. Owners should focus as much attention as possible on prospecting for customers and closing sales. Anything that does not drive revenue directly should be passed off to others whenever possible.

*Closing sales: Businesses fail when their pools of prospects dry up, when they cannot close sales, or when they cannot collect on invoices. One way to maximize sales efforts is to focus on bigger deals and large-lot sales. Salespeople should look for win-win transactions.

*Marketing and branding: Advertising costs far more than it is worth today. Instead, marketing will drive more sales. Marketing efforts include publishing books, sponsoring events, being quoted in the media, and otherwise getting the company and product name in front of prospects. However, building a brand around an entrepreneurial name and product does take time.

To learn more, please visit www.bizsum.com