Tag: succeed

As much as I would love to say that being an entrepreneur is smooth sailing, I know that I would not be telling the full story.

I’ve had some astronomical wins over the years, but in fairness, I have had just as many failures.

The lose comment "I just got lucky I guess" is a load of horse radish. Seriously, if I hear one more person say that again I will scream!

While luck may play a role, and serendipity certainly cannot be ignored, very few business people have succeeded without having a good product or service, knowing how to market it and working incredibly hard with the right team in place.

Listening to veteran public speaker Shep Hyken at the recent EO Miami University, reminded me that more than ever, hard work, understanding the customer and their needs is part of the parcel of building and sustaining a company that is profitable, industry leading and competitive.

"Be better than average," Shep spruiks.

"What I gleaned from viewing “The Social Network” was bigger and more important than whether the scenes and details included in the script were accurate. After all, the movie was clearly intended to be entertainment and not a fact-based documentary. What struck me most was not what happened – and what did not – and who said what to whom and why. The true takeaway for me was that entrepreneurship and creativity, however complicated, difficult or tortured to execute, are perhaps the most important drivers of business today and the growth of our economy." Eduardo Saverin.

You can come up with a reason for doing almost everything... including murder, so coming up with reasons to not succeed is a piece of cake.

Everyday, I talk to small businesses who say they want to grow, but always have a reason why they haven't. "Useless salesman, economy is bad, product is going through changes, website isn't generating leads, too busy running the business"... and the list goes on.