My good friend and colleague Bob Winfield, owner of Sign Force told me people start a business for two main reasons,
· Desperation
· Inspiration
While I may argue, in the end, I think we entrepreneurs can safely slot (or wiggle) into one of those categories. Whatever may set the businessperson on this new path, one thing for sure, they need to commit. Commitment means building the business plan, setting the goal, investing, surrounding themselves with professionals, and the most important element, they must create a revenue stream, and this means customers.
Centuries of barter and trade have proven people do business with those they know—like—and trust. The best form of marketing is word-of-mouth referrals. Part of the repertoire of “needs to be done” for most company owners is developing a source for referrals. Whether that be trade show participation, associations, organizations, networking groups, volunteer, board membership, etc.—take your pick. At the end of the day, we are buying in to create relationships, to build up “trust” with the “hope” strategy of creating a referral generating source.
These are the ingredients as basic as cake batter. Now the days are busy with the planning, the meeting, the dealing with fires, the day-to-day, and sometimes we may wonder when do I find the time to just “think”. When does the entrepreneur have a meeting with themselves to sit down with a problem | strategy | opportunity and ponder?
One step at a time
Take this thought further to consider, who does the same entrepreneur discuss this with prior to making a decision?
· Are they looking for advice?
· If so, are they prepared to take it?
What would make friends and family qualified to provide advice?
· Do they have the same experiences?
· Are they risk takers?
· Do they operate in the same sphere?
Would you accept advice from competitors?
· Are you really willing to share YOUR unique differential with someone in the same field?
· Can you trust that the information would be held in confidence?
A different lens
Consider the same situation from a different perspective. How much more value would be gained from “learning” from the experience of others?
For instance, in a group of seven people committed to maintaining, like a vault, all information shared in confidence (take the learning (the stories), not the detailed information) who may be in very similar or different roles, absolutely different industries, but have business ownership, professional status, and entrepreneurship in common SHARE their particular experiences as it applies to a situation. Would this kind of information be of value in your own decision-making process?
Instead of someone talking at you as though they know and are qualified to tell you what to do, you gather ideas—YOU—on equal footing—from the experiences of peers within the group. You take what is applicable—the learning—to your situation—to the decision-making process.
Lissa Daub from the Strong Impact Academy understands this value well.
“Here’s a successful 17-year business owner who had not read any of the books or participated in any type of coaching or training other than what was required for his safety program. As we were working through the program with four other business owners at different stages, we talked about what gets in the way—more pointedly “how do you stand in your own way”. During the conversation this business owner shared “I thought it was just me who had those thoughts, issues, barriers, etc.”.
“I really see FORUM as a bridge to help business owners know it’s not just them. This is the space to knock those barriers down that they put up in front of themselves.”
We want to be part of positive change. And this is the value of a FORUM.
If you’re interested in learning more about including a FORUM as part of your business practice, we’d be pleased to engage in a meaningful conversation. Give us a call.
Disclaimer: Please note that the information provided, while authoritative, is not guaranteed for accuracy and legality. The site is read by a world-wide audience and employment, taxation, legal vary accordingly. Please seek legal, accounting and human resources counsel from qualified professionals to make certain your legal/accounting/compliance interpretation and decisions are correct for your location. This information is for guidance, ideas, and assistance.
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Disclaimer: Please note that the information provided, while authoritative, is not guaranteed for accuracy and legality. The site is read by a world-wide audience and employment, taxation, legal vary accordingly. Please seek legal, accounting and human resources counsel from qualified professionals to make certain your legal/accounting/compliance interpretation and decisions are correct for your location. This information is for guidance, ideas, and assistance.
