Characteristic of an Enterpreneur

Character and Integrity
The most important factors to achieving all of these and thus, building that status for the business is a good, strong, and dependable character. Your business depends on your integrity while your integrity depends on delivering what you promise. The most significant quality that is most related to success in business is integrity.

Good and Definite Knowledge of Business Ethics and Values
A successful entrepreneur isn’t only profit-oriented. He has his own defined values and beliefs that he cares about and stands for, and he uses these as guides when dealing with his employees, his customers and when making decisions. This kind of entrepreneur is known to give great value not only to his customers but his colleagues and employees as well.

Ability to Listen and Willingness to Learn
Having the ability to listen well and having the willingness to learn makes an entrepreneur eager to keep finding ways for improvement. He listens to his customers about their ideas, feedback, needs and even complaints and uses this in a positive way for the growth and progress of the business. He also listens to his colleagues or employees for their own advice and views that may help make the business run better, or help provide better services for the customers.

Passion and Optimism
An entrepreneur loves his job and his business that it’s actually addicting. Fellow colleagues and employees feel the vibe and customers sense the positive aura. This entrepreneur really believes in the product or service that he’s selling and he knows everything about it.

Innovation and Creativity
An entrepreneur should have the ability to constantly think up new ideas and see a new place in the market that might be a good opportunity to take advantage of. Customers love the fact that this kind of entrepreneur never runs out of ideas to sell new products and provide better service. Having this ability also helps the entrepreneur and his business to stay up and running longer. A longer time in the market tells the customers that this business must have a good reputation, can be trusted and relied on because otherwise, it wouldn’t be in the market for long.

Commitment and Self-Discipline
An entrepreneur who is committed to his business and is well-disciplined has a high chance of successfully drawing in the customers and building the business’ reputation. Self-discipline helps the entrepreneur focus on the job at hand and the goals to achieve, and commitment keeps the entrepreneur working hard for the business.

“I was taught that the way to progress is neither swift nor easy.” - Marie Curie.

Psychology Of Success

Successful entrepreneurs and other successful individuals generally have habits and patterns of behavior that people considered to be failures do not. Successful people often do things that failures don’t like to do. These people probably don’t like doing these things to but the overriding purpose of their desire to succeed drives to do what may seem unpleasant. Successful people appear to have methods of doing things that differ from what unsuccessful people do.

The Psychology Of Success / What Sets Successful People Apart?

Successful individuals and entrepreneurs appear to have common traits which do not seem superhuman. These are all ordinary traits which these people have cultivated to a high level because of their overriding purpose to succeed. These are the nine qualities enumerated:

A high level of drive and energy.

Enough self-confidence to take carefully calculated, moderate risks.

A clear idea of money as a way of keeping score and as a means of generating more money.

The ability to get other people to work with you and for you productively.

High but realistic, achievable goals.

Belief that you can control your own destiny.

Readiness to learn from your own mistakes and failures.

A long term vision of the future of your business.

Intense competitive urge, with self imposed standards.

How Can I Use The Psychology Of Success?
Probably the most important aspect of the psychology of success is your attitude. If your attitude towards life is a desire for an easy way then you are in for a disappointment. You must develop an attitude of concentration on your mundane tasks and of course on your priorities. An attitude for excellence will make you determined to achieve the highest level of results in your endeavor.

An attitude for self-improvement will make you grow in your skills and knowledge. The first and best asset that you can have in your business is you. If there is any way an asset can be developed to increase in value than you should spare no effort to realize it. This holds especially true for you and your growth.

The Psychology Of Success / Courage and Persistence
Courage and commitment doesn’t mean that you should have no fear but you should push your ideas with the courage of conviction. Try your hardest and don’t be afraid to fail. Just be sure you learn from your failures.

Successful Businessmen

Successful businessmen are successful leaders. Small or big business demands a lot energy and effort to nurture the growth and development of an entity. A business' reputation is never attained with any easy formula other than hard work. Qualities of leadership may lay dormant within us be must awakened with time and developed with training for us to lead our team in an effective way.

The term "leadership qualities" can be defined as the ability of a person or businessman to willingly make other people or employees follow him. A successful businessman has within his arsenal the following qualities to pursue the envisioned goals or combat adverse situations.

Good communication skill.Good and effective communication is the first key to establish good business relationships. However communication skill requires high thinking power, good general knowledge, greater comprehensive abilities, sufficient command over languages and substantially higher abilities to deliver thoughts.

Honesty.This may be the most valuable characteristic of a successful business leader. All religious messengers have put greater emphasis over honesty and it is no less important for running a successful business. A businessman must be honest to his employees and to the patrons/customers if he expects his business to thrive. Honesty, in other words, brings integrity. And integrity is the most admirable trait of the successful enterprise. The rule of thumb here is first of all you should be honest to yourself. If you never cheat yourself then you never think to do it for others.

Fairness.A good businessman knows the consequences of injustice done with the staff members or team members. They always play fair and dispense justice with an unbiased manner. Leaders tend to hear every team member and seek evidence to prove the views presented.

Creativity.Success of the business always relies on the creativity of the team. Many times this creativity comes from the leaders' creative qualities. Their way of thinking out of the box, ignites the imagination of those around them. Creativity always demands great imaginations or the vision of the future. This visionary outlook enables them to carve the future growth paths for their business developments.

Progressive.Creativity is never confined to leaders only. Successful leaders pass it to the other team members by training and mentoring. The progressive thinking of leadesr give way for the development of the team members and this progressive team assures the progress of the business itself.

Assertiveness.Not aggressiveness, but rather a balanced act of responsible aggressiveness is needed to implement decisions. This quality of assertiveness is desirable to obtain desired results.

Independence.This attribute is found universally among managers and successful business owners. A great leader also supports an independent nature among those that he supervises. A spirit of indepence builds confidence among individual team members. This independent nature saves the team from the victimization of stopping the work flow and gives them respect among their co-workers.

Magnanimity.This is the ability to give credit to everyone who deserves it. Leaders try to spread credit as much as possible and to inspire a feeling of confidence. In return this feeling binds the team, making them stronger. This is one of the most important qualities of leadership because it emphasizes a giving nature, thereby creating strength.

Humanity.One of the most desirable attributes for the success of any business is a deep regard for humanity. This is a feeling of equality. As every human is equal, no one is above or below others. When instilling the qualities of leadership, a sense of humanity should be second nature.

Sense of Humor.This is the last but not least of the qualities of leadership. A sense of humor makes the leader popular among the team and this creates a healthy stress-free environment in which to work.

Pay Debt With Your Life

Irzen Octa, an Indonesian businessman, died in a Citibank office under mysterious circumstances last March, while debt collectors were questioning him about money he owed on a Citibank credit card. Now, two of the three collectors convicted in Octa's death are reportedly on the run from the law.

Octa, who owed Citibank more than $11,000 at the time of his death, met with third-party collectors on March 28, 2011, in an attempt to negotiate a settlement. He was found dead in the Citibank office that afternoon. Following Octa's death, there were conflicting reports as to the cause. Medical professionals have disagreed on whether hypertension played a role in Octa's death, and whether he was physically assaulted before he died. Post-mortem reports from various doctors have given his cause of death as asphyxiation, brain hemorrhage and "blunt violence,"

The debt collection industry in Indonesia is not strictly regulated, and it's common practice for banks based elsewhere to hire local companies to do their collections work in the country. In the past, Citi customers in India have alleged that debt collectors working on behalf of the bank threatened to kill them or remove their organs if they did not pay.

Banking On Life Insurance

The majority of Generations X and Y consumers would consider buying life insurance policy from their bank -- significantly higher than older generation, where only about a third of these consumers say they would consider it.

 Younger generations are open to receiving a broad spectrum of products and services from their bank. These consumers are more likely to need life insurance than older generations. In addition, many of these younger consumers have no existing relationship with a life insurance agent or financial advisor so buying life insurance from their bank is not just another convenience -- it provides an opportunity to get the financial protection these consumer really need. Awareness of bank-sold life insurance has reached 54 percent. While this is encouraging, there is still a large portion of the population that needs to be educated. 44 percent of all consumers would consider buying life insurance from a bank.  7 in 10 consumers who said they would consider buying life insurance from a bank were interested in simple products. Much of banks' success with life insurance has been as a wealth transfer solution, selling single premium whole life and universal life. If banks expand their energy on selling term and other basic protection products broadly to their customers, they would have more success.

Cheeky Customer Paid With His Life

Insurance is an important part of our lives but how many of us are aware that the underlying principle of every insurance contract is Uberrimae fidei or contract of utmost trust?

The principle is that the customer is expected to honestly disclose all the information in the proposal form. Most of us do not understand much about insurance or which kind of policy to obtain, the quantum of insurance to take, etc.

So we invariably rely on agents representing insurance companies who may not fully explain the principle of Uberrimae fidei. Therefore, it is not uncommon to find, particularly in the case of life and medical insurance, the proposer (or consumer) hiding certain vital information concerning his/her health; concealing may be done on one’s own volition or on the advice of the agent.

This often leads to claims being rejected. It is better to admit unpleasant facts, at the risk of the insurance company rejecting the proposal or charging a higher premium. What the policyholder forgets is that when a claim arises, first and foremost an insurance company will check the genuineness of the claim and of the information provided by the policyholder.

In another case, Mehfooz Mirza of New Delhi had obtained accident insurance cover. His vehicle met with an accident and he lodged a claim. To the shock of the claimant, it was rejected on the grounds that there was no valid policy in existence. The baffled policyholder was told by the insurance company that the cheque given by him towards the premium was returned unpaid by his bank, so the policy stood automatically cancelled.

He had been informed by the insurance company about the bounced cheque, but he seemed to have neglected the advice. Feeling aggrieved, he filed a consumer complaint before the District Forum which was rejected. The Forum agreed with the contention of the insurance company that there was no policy in existence as the cheque had bounced. Eventually, the matter came in appeal before the National Commission, which also upheld the order of the District Forum. Hence, due to his own negligence, the claimant became the victim; instead of getting paid by the insurance company, he ended up spending time and money seeking judicial remedy; all because of his own failure to ensure that the cheque was honoured.

Every consumer should remember that when dealing with an insurance company, the easiest thing is to obtain a policy; obtaining claims is another matter; so avoid being cheeky, else you are playing with your life and those of your loved ones.

AXA Offers Peace Of Mind

The desire to enhance financial security for our family and to ensure we have sufficient funds for our children’s education and a comfortable retirement are the three key milestones many of
us wish to achieve. While we understand the importance of starting early in financial planning to achieve our financial goals, other more pressing matters such as buying a car, owning a house, or providing for day to day expenses tend to make us defer this action.

When faced with this dilemma of choosing between planning for the future or immediate gratification, the latter always seems more appealing but it is often at the detriment of our future.
Take saving for retirement as an example where inadequate savings for the retirement years are a major concern of many.

The average EPF savings of an active member at age 54 (a year before the retirement) is approximately RM132,000. Without taking into consideration inflation as well as investment returns, a simple calculation reveals that when you reach the age of 75, the average life expectancy of a Malaysian, you will have only RM550 to spend every month. This amount is definitely insufficient for many who look forward to a comfortable retirement that includes travelling around the world with their loved ones.

If inflation is taken into consideration the picture is even gloomier. Inflation is not the only concern. Medical upkeep is another concern that is troubling many of us. Compounded with rising cost of medical treatment, medical upkeep will form a significant portion of our household expenses.

According to a recent consumer research conducted by AXA Affin Life Insurance, those aged above 35 years old cited health and its associated healthcare cost as a key concern as they anticipate that they are likely to encounter increasing health problems as they age.

Younger consumers, between the ages of 25 to 35, share the same concern for health as they become increasingly aware that illnesses such as cancer, diabetes and heart diseases have no age or gender bias and are becoming more common among the young.

To top the concern, they share their fear of the rising medical costs, potentially limiting their treatment options. There is a genuine fear that a sudden and unexpected major hospitalisation will wipe out their hard-earned savings.

The general preference of consumers is that they would like to have the ability to take care of themselves financially when they are old, so as not to burden their families. Most also acknowledge the fact that they had been slow to act, often torn between what is needed now versus what is needed to prepare for the future.

On this note, AXA Affin Life believes it is important to continuously educate our customers on the importance  of financial planning. We believe education will impart knowledge and knowledge will motivate the will to act now. Part of the education process is to advise customers on the range of solutions available to help them achieve their financial goals while addressing their concerns.

At AXA Affin Life, we tailor our financial solutions with customers at the heart of our innovation.
Our investment-linked plan –Wealth Protector – is tailor-made to the customer’s affordability level while giving customers  the control to prioritise and channel their savings towards the three financial goals. At the same time, it provides you with a comprehensive range of protection that includes disability, death, hospitalisation, critical illness and accident.

You will have access to comprehensive medical coverage with no lifetime limit on the total amount that you claim (except for Special Benefits) and covers you up to age 81, well  into your retirement years, ensuring that you have access to medical care when you need it most.

With such a customer-centric solution, we hope to remove the dilemma of whether this is the right time to start and empower our customers to start immediately.