He carefully outlined each task that must be accomplished during the vital three-week period.

Week One:

• Create your main idea and define success.
• Talk to co-founders.
• Get it in writing.
• Name your business.
• Create an initial sales forecast.
• Create an initial expense budget.
• Estimate starting costs.
• Make the first sale.

Week Two:

• Define your marketing strategy.
• Create your look and feel.
• Get a presence on the web.
• Create a merchant account.
• Set up insurance.
• Create an initial expense budget.
• Recruit potential employees.

Week Three:

• Find a location.
• Set up bookkeeping.
• Make it legal.
• Initial hiring.
• Settle the financing.
• Make the sale.

Beyond Three Weeks:

• Make the sale.
• Pay your taxes.
• Focus on customer service.
• Marketing.
• Create employer policies, systems.

Berry also presented his own list of the Top 10 Startup Mistakes:

1. Unrealistic Forecasts
2. Incomplete Teams
3. Misunderstanding Equity
4. Investment or Bust
5. Ideas Do Not Equal Opportunities
6. Trying to do Everything
7. Pricing too Low
8. Failing to Plan
9. Not Enough Cash
10. No Real Need in the Marketplace

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1. Don’t let emotions cloud your decisions.
2. Accept criticism, no matter who gives it to you.
3. Never stop networking.
4. Learn from your own mistakes.
5. Learn from other people’s mistakes.
6. Around every corner lies an opportunity for you to sell something.
7. Don’t get too greedy… pigs get fat and hogs get slaughtered.
8. Try not to mix your family life with your business life.
9. No matter how successful you are, you shouldn’t stop learning.
10. Spending money on good lawyers and accountants will save you more money in the long run.
11. Don’t pick a stupid company name and if you do, don’t change it later on.
12. Hiring employees won’t solve most of your problems.
13. Be agile because slow and steady won’t win the race.
14. Being agile isn’t enough, you also have to be scrappy too.
15. Having a good business partner will be a key factor in your success.
16. Don’t be afraid of the unknown.
17. It is easier to save money than it is to make it.
18. You don’t always have to innovate; there is nothing wrong with copying.
19. Have a marketing plan.
20. Don’t under estimate your competition; you can’t always know what they are doing.
21. Watching movies like Boiler Room, will teach you how to sell.
22. If you don’t have a business mentor, you better get one.
23. Your income will be the average of your 5 closest friends, so pick them wisely.
24. Diversifying is a good way to play things safe.
25. It doesn’t matter what you want, it only matters what your customers want.
26. When others are fearful, you should be greedy. And when they are greedy you should be fearful.
27. You don’t always have to pay for advice. You’ll be amazed with the free advice you can get pick up from the web.
28. The best chances you have of becoming rich is through your willingness of working hard.
29. Even the most idiotic business idea can make money.
30. Sex sells and it always will.
31. An easy way to make more money is to up sell to your current customer base.
32. Base your business decisions around metrics.
33. There is no such thing as a safe bet.
34. You don’t have to start a business to be successful.
35. Raising venture capital is harder than being struck by lightening.
36. Staying under the radar isn’t always a bad thing. Being out in the open is a great way to attract more competitors.
37. Learn to be a team player.
38. If you ever get screwed over, think twice before you burn the bridge.
39. Learn to manage both your personal and business money.
40. Live in a location filled with entrepreneurs.
41. If you don’t take any risks, there will not be any rewards.
42. Don’t let anything stand in your way.
43. Sometimes you have to wait for good deals to come to you.
44. The smartest route isn’t always the easiest route.
45. Being too aggressive can backfire.
46. With networking, it isn’t about whom you know, it is about whom your network knows.
47. It’s never a bad thing to know too many rich people. Whether you like them or not, they can always come in handy. So make sure you always play nice with them.
48. Use your email signature to promote your business.
49. Don’t be afraid of social media. It is a great channel for customer acquisition.
50. You’ll learn more from starting your own business, than going to business school.
51. Having a personal blog doesn’t only help build your personal brand, but it helps your business as well.
52. Your competitors don’t have to be your enemies, you can learn a lot from them.
53. You can grow your business by working for free.

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Successful people are winners in our society. But what are the factors that make them so different from others? I have pondered about this question for a while and I found that there are some striking differences between winners and losers. Winners operate in a totally different frame of mind compared to losers and that is why they always got the results that losers dream of. So read on for the list of 33 differences between winners and losers.

Striking Differences Between Winners and Losers

Parting Words

Winners and losers are largely differentiated by their way of thinking. It means that if your thinking tend to be nearer to the Losers approach, it is possible for you to shift yourself back to the Winners way of thinking. All you need is to be 100% honest with yourself, admit that some part of your life needs to be change and work on it.

So which side are you on?

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THINGS THAT ARE DIFFICULT TO SAY WHEN DRUNK:
1. Innovative
2. Preliminary
3. Proliferation
4. Cinnamon

THINGS THAT ARE VERY DIFFICULT TO SAY WHEN DRUNK:
1. Specificity
2. Anti-constitutionalistically
3. Passive-aggressive disorder
4. Transubstantiate

THINGS THAT ARE DOWNRIGHT IMPOSSIBLE TO SAY WHEN DRUNK:
1. Thanks, but I don’t want to have sex.
2. Nope, no more booze for me!
3. Sorry, but you’re not really my type.
4. Taco Bell? No thanks, I’m not hungry.
5. Good evening, officer. Isn’t it lovely out tonight?
6. Oh, I couldn’t! No one wants to hear me sing karaoke.
7. I’m not interested in fighting you.
8. Thank you, but I won’t make any attempt to dance, I have no coordination. I’d hate to look like a fool!
9. Where is the nearest bathroom? I refuse to pee in this parking lot or on the side of the road.
10. I must be going home now as I have to work in the morning.

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“Everything created solves a problem.” – Mike Murdock

Your eyes see, your ears hear, your nose smells. Doctors solve medical problems, lawyers solve legal problems. Your shirt keeps you warm; your watch tells you the time. Everything created solves a problem.

I believe you were created to solve a problem and your success is dependent on your ability to discover that problem and solve it. Finding this problem is discovering your purpose, solving this problem is accomplishing your purpose.

7 Questions to Help You Discover Your Purpose:

1. What do you love to do?

   Your purpose is directly related to what you love. The most purposeful people in the world spend their time doing what they love. Bill Gates loves computers, Oprah loves helping, and Edison loved to invent. What do you love? Is it reading, writing, playing sports, singing, painting, business, selling, talking, listening, cooking, fixing broken things. Whatever you love, it’s directly related to your purpose.

2. What do you do in your free time?

   Whatever you do in your free time is a sign of your purpose. If you like to paint in your free time, then that’s a “sign.” If you like to cook, then that’s a sign, if you like to talk, then that’s a sign. Follow the signs.

   I love to learn in my free time, I have an obsession with learning. Of course, this is a sign of my purpose …which is to teach.

   What do you do in your free time? What would you like to do if you had more free time? Would you teach dance a class or a business course?

3. What do you notice?
   A salesman notices an uninspiring sales pitch, a hairdresser notices someone’s hair is out of place, a designer notices a awkward outfit, a mechanic hears something wrong with your car, a singer notices when someone’s voice is out of pitch, a speaker notices an uninspiring speech.

   What do you notice? What annoys you?

   I notice when information is not presented in a clear, practical, and simplistic form. This is a sign of my purpose. I’m obsessed with practicality and simplicity. When I teach, I try to teach in a very practical and simple way.

4. What do you love to learn about?

   What kinds of books or magazines do you like to read? Do you read about cooking, business, or fishing, whatever it is, it’s a sign. I’m always reading about self development, particularly as it relates to successful living. Of course this is also related to my purpose, which is to teach people how to succeed.

   What do you love to learn about? If you have a library, what books do you have in that library?

5. What sparks your creativity?

   Is it painting, designing, building, speaking, or selling?

   Writing sparks my creativity. I often feel like a sculptor or painter when I write. I carefully sculpt ideas on paper, ideas that impacts people’s lives; it’s a very creative process. Each word must be crafted for maximum impact.

   What sparks your creativity, do you have ideas for new food recipes, or a new creative automotive Web site?

6. What do people compliment you on?

   What “fans” do you have? If no one likes your cooking, then you probably won’t make a good chef.

   Do people compliment your writing, or your singing, or your amazing ability to sell? Once again, this is a sign of your purpose.

   People always compliment me on my speaking ability, something I was too frightened to do for most of my life. I find it intriguing that my purpose was hidden in something that I was frightened to do.

7. What would you do if you knew you couldn’t fail?

   Would you start a salon, go on American Idol, start your own business? What would you do if success was guaranteed? It’s a sign to your purpose.

   I’d do what I’m doing right now, which is teaching. Nothing is more important to me, what about you?

In Closing
These questions are signs to your purpose. They’re pointing you in the direction of a specific purpose. One question alone doesn’t tell the whole story; you must look at all of your answers collectively. Each answer is a piece of the “purpose” puzzle.

Study these questions, and your answers, and you will be well on your way to discovering your purpose.

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I turned round to find a wrinkled, little old lady beaming up at me with a smile that lit up her entire being.

She said, “Hi handsome. My name is Rose.

I’m eighty-seven years old. Can I give you a hug?”

I laughed and enthusiastically responded, “Of course you may!” and she gave me a giant squeeze.

“Why are you in college at such a young, innocent age?” I asked.

She jokingly replied, “I’m here to meet a rich husband, get married, and have a couple of kids…”

“No seriously,” I asked. I was curious what may have motivated her to be taking on this challenge at her age.

“I always dreamed of having a college education and now I’m getting one!” she told me.

After class we walked to the student union building and shared a chocolate milkshake.

We became instant friends. Every day for the next three months we would leave class together and talk nonstop. I was always mesmerized listening to this “time machine” as she shared her wisdom and experience with me.

Over the course of the year, Rose became a campus icon and she easily made friends wherever she went.

She loved to dress up and she reveled in the attention bestowed upon her from the other students. She was living it up.

At the end of the semester we invited Rose to speak at our football banquet.

I’ll never forget what she taught us. She was introduced and stepped up to the podium. As she began to deliver her prepared speech, she dropped her three by five cards on the floor.

Frustrated and a little embarrassed she leaned into the microphone and simply said, “I’m sorry I’m so jittery. I gave up beer for Lent and this

whiskey is killing me! I’ll never get my speech back in order so let me just tell you what I know.”

As we laughed she cleared her throat and began, “We do not stop playing because we are old; we grow old because we stop playing.

There are only four secrets to staying young, being happy, and achieving success. You have to laugh and find humor every day. You’ve got to have a dream. When you lose your dreams, you die.

We have so many people walking around who are dead and don’t even know it!

There is a huge difference between growing older and growing up.

If you are nineteen years old and lie in bed for one full year and don’t do one productive thing, you will turn twenty years old. If I am eighty-seven years old and stay in bed for a year and never do anything I will turn eighty-eight.

Anybody can grow older. That doesn’t take any talent or ability. The idea is to grow up by always finding opportunity in change. Have no regrets.

The elderly usually don’t have regrets for what we did, but rather for things we did not do. The only people who fear death are those with

regrets.”

She concluded her speech by courageously singing “The Rose.”

She challenged each of us to study the lyrics and live them out in our daily lives.

At the year’s end Rose finished the college degree she had begun all those years ago.

One week after graduation Rose died peacefully in her sleep.

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Focus on the smallest possible problem you could solve that would potentially be useful. Most companies start out trying to do too many things, which makes life difficult and turns you into a me-too. Focusing on a small niche has so many advantages: With much less work, you can be the best at what you do. Small things, like a microscopic world, almost always turn out to be bigger than you think when you zoom in. You can much more easily position and market yourself when more focused. And when it comes to partnering, or being acquired, there’s less chance for conflict. This is all so logical and, yet, there’s a resistance to focusing. I think it comes from a fear of being trivial. Just remember: If you get to be #1 in your category, but your category is too small, then you can broaden your scope—and you can do so with leverage.

#2: Be Different

Ideas are in the air. There are lots of people thinking about—and probably working on—the same thing you are. And one of them is Google. Deal with it. How? First of all, realize that no sufficiently interesting space will be limited to one player. In a sense, competition actually is good—especially to legitimize new markets. Second, see #1—the specialist will almost always kick the generalist’s ass. Third, consider doing something that’s not so cutting edge. Many highly successful companies—the aforementioned big G being one—have thrived by taking on areas that everyone thought were done and redoing them right. Also? Get a good, non-generic name. Easier said than done, granted. But the most common mistake in naming is trying to be too descriptive, which leads to lots of hard-to-distinguish names. How many blogging companies have “blog” in their name, RSS companies “feed,” or podcasting companies “pod” or “cast”? Rarely are they the ones that stand out.

#3: Be Casual

We’re moving into what I call the era of the “Casual Web” (and casual content creation). This is much bigger than the hobbyist web or the professional web. Why? Because people have lives. And now, people with lives also have broadband. If you want to hit the really big home runs, create services that fit in with—and, indeed, help—people’s everyday lives without requiring lots of commitment or identity change. Flickr enables personal publishing among millions of folks who would never consider themselves personal publishers—they’re just sharing pictures with friends and family, a casual activity. Casual games are huge. Skype enables casual conversations.

#4: Be Picky

Another perennial business rule, and it applies to everything you do: features, employees, investors, partners, press opportunities. Startups are often too eager to accept people or ideas into their world. You can almost always afford to wait if something doesn’t feel just right, and false negatives are usually better than false positives. One of Google’s biggest strengths—and sources of frustration for outsiders—was their willingness to say no to opportunities, easy money, potential employees, and deals.

#5: Be User-Centric

User experience is everything. It always has been, but it’s still undervalued and under-invested in. If you don’t know user-centered design, study it. Hire people who know it. Obsess over it. Live and breathe it. Get your whole company on board. Better to iterate a hundred times to get the right feature right than to add a hundred more. The point of Ajax is that it can make a site more responsive, not that it’s sexy. Tags can make things easier to find and classify, but maybe not in your application. The point of an API is so developers can add value for users, not to impress the geeks. Don’t get sidetracked by technologies or the blog-worthiness of your next feature. Always focus on the user and all will be well.

#6: Be Self-Centered

Great products almost always come from someone scratching their own itch. Create something you want to exist in the world. Be a user of your own product. Hire people who are users of your product. Make it better based on your own desires. (But don’t trick yourself into thinking you are your user, when it comes to usability.) Another aspect of this is to not get seduced into doing deals with big companies at the expense or your users or at the expense of making your product better. When you’re small and they’re big, it’s hard to say no, but see #4.

#7: Be Greedy

It’s always good to have options. One of the best ways to do that is to have income. While it’s true that traffic is now again actually worth something, the give-everything-away-and-make-it-up-on-volume strategy stamps an expiration date on your company’s ass. In other words, design something to charge for into your product and start taking money within 6 months (and do it with PayPal). Done right, charging money can actually accelerate growth, not impede it, because then you have something to fuel marketing costs with. More importantly, having money coming in the door puts you in a much more powerful position when it comes to your next round of funding or acquisition talks. In fact, consider whether you need to have a free version at all. The TypePad approach—taking the high-end position in the market—makes for a great business model in the right market. Less support. Less scalability concerns. Less abuse. And much higher margins.

#8: Be Tiny

It’s standard web startup wisdom by now that with the substantially lower costs to starting something on the web, the difficulty of IPOs, and the willingness of the big guys to shell out for small teams doing innovative stuff, the most likely end game if you’re successful is acquisition. Acquisitions are much easier if they’re small. And small acquisitions are possible if valuations are kept low from the get go. And keeping valuations low is possible because it doesn’t cost much to start something anymore (especially if you keep the scope narrow). Besides the obvious techniques, one way to do this is to use turnkey services to lower your overhead—Administaff, ServerBeach, web apps, maybe even Elance.

#9: Be Agile

You know that old saw about a plane flying from California to Hawaii being off course 99% of the time—but constantly correcting? The same is true of successful startups—except they may start out heading toward Alaska. Many dot-com bubble companies that died could have eventually been successful had they been able to adjust and change their plans instead of running as fast as they could until they burned out, based on their initial assumptions. Pyra was started to build a project-management app, not Blogger. Flickr’s company was building a game. Ebay was going to sell auction software. Initial assumptions are almost always wrong. That’s why the waterfall approach to building software is obsolete in favor agile techniques. The same philosophy should be applied to building a company.

#10: Be Balanced

What is a startup without bleary-eyed, junk-food-fueled, balls-to-the-wall days and sleepless, caffeine-fueled, relationship-stressing nights? Answer?: A lot more enjoyable place to work. Yes, high levels of commitment are crucial. And yes, crunch times come and sometimes require an inordinate, painful, apologies-to-the-SO amount of work. But it can’t be all the time. Nature requires balance for health—as do the bodies and minds who work for you and, without which, your company will be worthless. There is no better way to maintain balance and lower your stress that I’ve found than David Allen’s GTD process. Learn it. Live it. Make it a part of your company, and you’ll have a secret weapon.

#11 (bonus!): Be Wary

Overgeneralized lists of business “rules” are not to be taken too literally. There are exceptions to everything.