Corporations Can Be Vile and Powerful

Businesses have always intrigued me, even the old lemonade stands children used to have. However, I realized early on there many rules and regulations, often not followed, for a business to be legitimate.

This takes me back to when I was a child watching The Flintstones. Fred and Barney were on the side of the road trying to sell Gravelberry Pies. The police shut them down when they saw them and said they had to have to be licensed to sell pies. Too bad police don't bust more businesses for things like this now.

Businesses and corporations have been under fire for a number of years now. It's been over 10 years since the Enron debacle. Other corporations that are considered evil and vile include Wal-Mart, McDonald's, Microsoft, and even Facebook. Social media has gotten bigger, thereby making Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg more exposed and observed.

On July 11 of this year, (ironically my birthday), Viacom, producer of many television networks such as BET, MTV, VH-1, Spike, TV Land and Nickolodeon, made a brash move. They got greedy and were in discussions with DirecTV to try and charge customers a ridiculous amount to have and view their family of 17 channels. When they couldn't reach an agreement, they pulled their 17 networks on 7/11/12. This spawned an outcry from DirecTV customers and the general public. Viacom has thought to be evil for years for how they have turned channels such as BET and VH-1 into ignorant and buffoon filled programming stations. They tried to exert the power they have on the public onto DirecTV. It didn't work. Less than a week later, Viacom and DirecTV reached a long term agreement. The financial details are still uncertain, but DirecTV has assured its customers that there would be no significant increase to access any station from Viacom.

One would be remissed to leave Chik-Fil-A out of this discussion. They may have been founded on a Christian foundation by Dan Casey and have some of the best customer service you will find anywhere, and tasty chicken sandwiches. However, Casey mixed business with personal by expressing his views on gay marriage. Not only that, it has been reported that Chik-Fil-A has been giving tons of their proceeds to anti-gay organizations for years. This is not as evil and vile as some of the previously mentioned companies. However, if you're a public company , you can get into a ton of trouble if you openly try to exclude a group of people. Discrimination and equal opportunity laws are nothing to play with.

Corporations will do what they can to stay in business. Some will be good, and some will be bad. None will be perfect, however. Just remember that they do hold a lot of power in the food we eat, the clothes we wear, the websites we visit, and the decisions we all make. Therefore, we must choose wisely and have our own minds. Corporations definitely have their own minds, goals, visions, and missions.

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GUEST BLOG: Becoming An Enterpreneur

I would like to introduce another guest blogger/writer. Mr. Steffon Reed is an experienced writer and entrepreneur. We both met at Winthrop University, from which we both have undergraduate degrees from. Steffon is an intelligent, driven, motivated man. He has saw success in his own businesses, and his articles and blogs have been published and well reviewed, especially on the Yahoo! Contributor Network. I'm confident you will enjoy Steffon sharing some nuggets that can help you succeed in this uncertain economy.

Have you ever wanted to become an entrepreneur and start your own business? In today's society, it seems like more and more people are looking to take control of their future and become their own boss. Then there are those who would like to become a successful entrepreneur but don't know where to start. I'm going to tell you the real steps to becoming an entrepreneur.

•1. Invest in yourself first: Take the time to find out what your ultimate goal you want to achieve in business is. Then take the time to get educated, mentored, read books, take training classes etc. The best investment you will ever make in life is and/or you business is in yourself. If you are unwilling to do this you will fail.

•2. Discover what your true passions and interests are: Simply doing things and pursuing your passions are totally different avenues. When you do things just because, you will only go through the motions because that's all you know and that's always what you have been told. When it's your passion, you will be self motivated to go above and beyond the norm to achieve excellence and your ultimate goal which brings me to my next point…

•3. Turn your interests and passions into profit: It's great to do something you love but wouldn't it be even better if that love were able to be monetized?! Discover you gifts and talents then use them to create your business.

•4. Effective Partnering: Have you ever wished you could reach a goal at 120 mph vs. a turtle's pace? Many people have and forming the right partnerships will achieve just that. Working to achieve a common goal with one or more likeminded people for the greater good will do wonders in one's entrepreneurial endeavors. Where one partner is weak the other is strong. When one partner is unsure the other is all in. Achieving success with one or more people will also keep everyone motivated.

•5. Prepare for setbacks, opposition, and be ready to overcome them: When you decide to step out into the unknown world, it's guaranteed that opposition will come your way. Friends, family, coworkers, etc may not always be in your corner rooting and supporting you to succeed. There will also be unforeseen setbacks and there is no way around it. You must find a way to stay strong, develop thick skin, and never lose sight of the goal at hand until it is done. Most importantly never quit just because a little opposition comes your way. This will take sacrifice, determination, and a strong will and honestly everyone is not built to handle this kind of adversity. Pushing through the tough times will only make you and your business better and stronger because you will gain a wealth of knowledge and wisdom from persevering through the hard times. Your character and heart will also be tested and refined. Remember when life hands you lemons make lemonade then sell it for a profit!

•6. Invest in other people: Build great relationships, have a heart to help, and look to provide people with something positive that they need that they may not otherwise have had before knowing you. Investing in other people is the second best investment you could ever make in life. When you help others get what they want out of life, you will get what you want out of life. If you are unwilling to do this, don't even bother going to the next step.

•7. Stepping out: Once you have made a decision to become an entrepreneur and you've taken the necessary steps to ensure success the best that you can and you feel good about it just do it! I realize no one has a crystal ball and nothing in life is guaranteed but if you never get off dead center and just take the chance, you will probably never do it and may miss or delay your opportunity. Yes being an entrepreneur is a huge risk but it's one you must take. Don't worry so much about taking the risk but rather how to manage the risk. The biggest risk one could take in life is never taking a risk at all.

•8. Finding your 'why': If I were to ask people if they wanted to be financially free for life everyone would say yes. If I were to ask why, it's almost certain that most people won't have a concrete reason. Everyone wants to be a millionaire but what do you once you achieve that? This is where having a 'why' or a reason bigger than you is critical. Your 'why' is what will motivate and sustain your dream because the end result won't be only about you anymore. Retiring your parents or wanting to spend more time with your family can be a huge catalyst in one's quest for entrepreneurial success.

Becoming an entrepreneur is not an easy task. On the contrary it's not as hard as people think it is either. While it will take time and effort to be successful, anyone can truly achieve this goal. Success will depend on a number of factors but ultimately it will be your choice. Unlike a stock, mutual fund, or any other investment you can control what you want to do. If you fail as an entrepreneur then you need to get a job, sorry but that needs to be said. Maybe the reason you failed is because you never truly made a choice to succeed. Simply trying a business venture out to see what happens with no passion, plan, or commitment behind it will almost always end in failure. Have a plan, set your goals, commit to your plan, invest in yourself, be willing to put in the effort and energy to succeed and you will see your dream of successful entrepreneurship come true.