The Truth About Entrepreneurship

When it comes to marketing your business, I believe that it takes several methods to be truly successful in the long term. There are countless books and resources about networking, online marketing, closing the sale, prospecting, time management, website development, and the list goes on.

In reality, it takes a combination of several well-planned strategies. Sure you need to know the basics of marketing, networking, getting referrals, and internet marketing. But you also need to know how to run a business. An entrepreneur is always a sales person first, a business person next, and then a professional in his/her chosen industry.

For example, I am a great event producer and meeting planner. I have more than 15 years of experience in a variety of event capacities and industries. That alone wouldn’t have made me successful as an event planning entrepreneur. Thankfully, I also have been a sales professional, so I understand sales cycles, the buying process, and how to close a sale. Sometimes it is more difficult to ‘sell yourself’ than a product or service; that is what entrepreneurial success takes. Additionally, I've run offices and managed staff and earned a Masters Degree in Business Administration.

So before you ‘jump off the ledge’ and start your own business, in a full-time capacity, be sure that you are comfortable in the following roles:

1. Selling Yourself – your experience, your ideas, your value
Prospecting
Networking
Followup
Closing the sale

2. Know the basics of business –
Budgeting
Web content development
Legal issues (corporate structure, basic contracts, etc.)
Negotiation strategies
Business and strategic plans

3. Understand your product and service better than your competition

It takes more than industry expertise to be a long-term successful Entrepreneur. With a lot of planning, experience and personal motivation it IS an achievable goal!

The Blessing of Distraction

I had an enlightening life experience over the past few weeks. For the past two years, my parents have been my beloved Uncle Wayne’s caregivers. He was a Parkinson’s patient for 10 years and under the care of Odyssey Hospice for the past 5 months.

And yet it was surprising that when he came to live with me and my family, while my parents were out of the country on vacation, he began to fail rapidly and passed away just last week. As an entrepreneur, this new responsibility took a toll on my business. I had to postpone or cancel meetings and networking events to stay in my home office as he required more and more care. Basically, I was distracted and I put my business on the back burner – or so I thought.

Oddly enough, in the time Uncle Wayne lived here, I landed new projects and bid opportunities that I had not given attention to in the past. I kept saying ‘you’re not going anywhere Uncle Wayne; you are my good luck charm.’ He just beamed! He was so proud of me and my accomplishments. He asked me about my goals, my projects and ‘how did you learn to do all of this?’ Through our numerous and in-depth conversations, Uncle Wayne helped me think differently about my business.

After he died, I was in a funk. I can’t say I was depressed, but I was definitely off my game. I had gotten used to working from my home office. I realized that prior to his living here, I had been spending so much time out in the community networking and volunteering, that I had actually lost focus on why I’m in business in the first place.

So, out of this life-changing experience came a career change too! I have reworked my strategic plan, selected the few networking opportunities in which I will continue to participate, and I’ve recommitted to the sales process of my business. There are projects that I’m working on now that I’ve always dreamed about. I needed the ‘distraction’ to get my head on straight.

As I heard recently from Matthew Best, a business coach that I respect, and then learned personally, distractions are often a way to take a step back and refocus. So the next time you find yourself ‘distracted,’ take a moment to think about what you are ‘distracted’ from and decide if, in the big picture, it’s really worth your time!