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Please, just keep your pants on
Too many entrepreneurs get so desperate that they give away the kitchen sink when in fact all their prospect wanted to know was that they could do a good job.
As an entrepreneur, it's hard to start a business and to keep it going year-after-year profitability creating value and jobs. But many do so very successful, and yet those who fail seem to do so falling often on their own sword.
How to run the race consistently well
While I can't sit still when it comes to making my life as diverse as possible, I certainly remain focused on the end goal.
After having breakfast with Jo Burston, founder of Inspiring Rare Birds, at Mercer Kitchen in Soho, I realized for the first time that the change I am experiencing in business happens to many others in a similar manner. Somehow, we get most of changes right or at least we get more right than we get wrong. When this happens everything falls into place and no obstacle is too hard to overcome.
Am I good enough?
I am always asked to help friends out with marketing. It's been something that I am asked every week by at least one person. I tend to shy away from it. I know you are thinking "why?". The truth is that I think deep down that I won't be good enough to help them. They deserve the best to get their business idea off the ground or take their business to the next level. And that may not be me. It may be one of my team members. It may even be a competitor.
Here's why:
So when you look at subscribing to education programs, you need to ensure that they are legitimate and conducted by experienced industry professionals.
Walt Disney, Bill Gates, Ann Wintour: entrepreneurs who failed then inspired us to do better
That’s the basic principle of a television show called Shark Tank, which has just started airing in Australia and has been running in the US since 2009. The Sharks comprise of four entrepreneurs, with a combined wealth of somewhere in the billions of dollars who must judge the business presentations of ‘wanna-be’ entrepreneurs.
The feedback was good. Actually, it was more than good. It was great.
The mentors and entrepreneurs that I showed the plan to liked it so much that they wanted to invest. I gave it a lot of thought as to what I needed to take the business forward and decided that a little investment would help get the business to the first stage of growth, so it would not be a bad idea.
I chose a passive investor, who acted as a mentor but didn't tell me what to do. To be honest, at times I wish he had.
The business model was strong. In fact, I am proving that today. What wasn't strong is my understanding of how to run a startup. My other business Insomnia Marketing and Communication had been successful from the get-go because the brand was built on my capabilities.
But with Marketing Eye, I was trying to do something different. I was attempting to change the business from being about me, to being a true brand that stood alone.
At first I failed. The first years business results were not as big as the first year in Insomnia. In fact, nothing like it. Yet I had more money, resources and people.
The mistakes I made were evident:
Next week I will be 44. I don't feel old. I feel mentally sharp and physically fit. I juggle many things as a business owner, a mom a weekend athlete ( I just ran a half marathon two months ago). I just don't feel old. I have spent 15 years in corporate, owned and grown a business, beginning a new business. I feel I am finally hitting my stride in my career and can be seen as an expert in my field.
Some entrepreneurs are neurotic
It's a Saturday and I am sitting in my friends living room talking business while at the same time reading emails and catching up on the latest in business news.
As we talk I realize that entrepreneurs are no different from celebrities, movie stars, singers, musicians or any other career that is centre stage.
The reality is we all have a bit of neurotic behaviour in us - whether we like it or not. Some entrepreneurs are more neurotic than others - micro-managing, controlling, double A-Type personalities that find it hard to accept another person's way of doing things, and then others just tip the iceberg.
Many entrepreneurs have a goal, or an idea of where they want to be. They are achievement orientated and often lack discipline, needing to hire the latter in to complement their existing skill base.
Another weekend has just passed, and we went over the same old topic that keeps popping up; what do we want out of life and why do we do the things we do.
We read theories about entrepreneurs and what makes them tick; money, competition and passion. It's like a broken record that keeps on repeating itself. I for one wish that someone would come out with something a little different. Some piece of inspiration that is going to make me stop in my tracks and go "yeah!".
I am not an over-the-top passionate person - or at least that is my self-reflection. While I get up early each morning and race to the office, with a coffee and croissant from my local cafe on the way, its more a sign of routine than anything more "entrepreneurial". Meld that in with organized and fluent chaos, and big ideas followed by what seems like an endless stream of tactical plans - then you have me in one.
What I do have though is dreams - lots of them! In every aspect of life, I dream and its these dreams that push me to keep going day after day. But that still isn't getting to the route of things and the more I realize it - the more I see things from a different perspective.
The first point being that no two entrepreneurs are the same. We are all dealing with our own set of influencers and motivators that make us who we are. Just like no two people are the same and let's face it; what makes us different makes us beautiful.
