Would The Real Business Owners Please Stand Up?
September 27, 2007
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What exactly is a “real business”? The response you’ll usually get to this question will depend upon who you ask.
A director of a big national company might tell you that to build a great business, you need to create an easily duplicated system and roll it out, possibly by franchising the business.
Another person, with equally huge ambitions may tell you to do something similar but float the company on the stock market. This way, you get some cash back for your efforts, and the finances to grow the business further.
Other equally successful business owners would tell you that you’d be completely mad to give up the tiniest fraction of control over your business at all, and that you should build a brand and use it to add more streams of income to your business.
You’ll also meet the people who tell you not to bother employing anyone at all. Because you can automate many of your business processes, and those that can’t be automated can be outsourced. And all this allows you to free up your time without having to officially employ anyone.
And there’s the smaller, family run businesses. They pride themselves on quality and the key staff will tend to be their family as they have a vested interest. They’ll tell you that you can make bigger profit margins, this way, because staffing costs are lower, and you can charge premium prices for quality and reputation.
Then there’s the craftsmen, writers, actors and artists who make money solely from the work they do themselves. If they’re successful, they’ll make a fortune and if they’re not, they’ll make a pittance. But they’ll tell you that you’d be far happier producing meaningful work that you believe in.
And also there’s the tradespeople who work alone. They’ll tell you that it’s much easier to do all the technical work yourself, and employing others is just not worth the hassle. Plus, you’ll earn more money than you would working for an employer in the same industry and you’ll have the freedom to pick and choose your jobs and your working hours.
Of course there are scores of businesses that don’t fit into any of these categories either - including the franchisees, the network marketers, the inventors and the affiliate marketers.
So which one of these is right? Well they’re all right. But the type of business you choose will depend what’s right for you.
For some of you - the idea of being responsible for hundreds of employees may be stomach churning. Whilst others could not bear the thought of a business which relies completely on their own efforts.
Do you know what type of business owner you would like to be? If not, take some time out to think about what you would enjoy doing most, and where you would like your business to be in a few years time. It may sound like a trivial task now, especially if you’re a relatively new business owner. But without knowing where you want to go, you can’t possibly plan how to get there.
How Not to Behave in a Networking Group
September 26, 2007
Have you ever been a member of a networking group? If you were a new business owner, visiting your first group, the one I attended today might have put you off for life.
It was a women in small business networking group, and there were only about 9 people in attendance. And I’ve been to plenty of networking events before, so I felt perfectly comfortable. But anyone turning up for the first time, might not have felt that way.
Anyway, when there are any new members, everyone has to take turns to describe briefly who they are, and what there business is.
Well - it came to my turn and I like to be brief, so I said, “I’m Catherine Lawson and I run a fast response plumbing business.” So then, this sour faced woman began asking me about my business - “Do you do gas?” I explained that we don’t yet, but one of our plumbers is taking a gas training course.
Now plumbing is a pretty wide market, so you’ve got to specialise, and gas isn’t something we want to specialise in. But this woman didn’t let it rest there. She started going on about how she didn’t see the point in having a plumbing company that didn’t do gas work etc etc. In short, she completely tore my business apart, in front of everyone in the room.
Luckily for me, I’m not new to business. And although I was new to the group, I had met 4 of the members before. But, the sour faced woman didn’t know that. In fact for all she knew, this may have been my first new business and my first networking experience ever. And her mean comments and complete rubbishing of my business might have put me off ever attending one again.
But, I bit my tongue, and I almost bit it off later, when she gave her opinions on a course we were discussing. The course was about self protection awareness for women in business - eg. precautions you should take when staying alone in hotels etc.
Well, sour face told the group she didn’t see the point in that kind of thing and that women who worried about being attacked, abducted etc, probably attracted it anyway. She personally had stayed in hotels with many men before, and they hadn’t so much as tried it on with her.
At this point, I practically had to stuff the nearest cushion in my mouth to stop myself from telling her that with a face and attitude like that - she could probably strip naked and cartwheel across the room, and nobody would “try it on with her”.
I really don’t understand what planet these people are on when they attend this type of meeting. The point is to meet people, build trusting relationships and refer one another to those who might benefit from our services. What is the point of going along and being a complete mean bitch. Nobody is going to refer your business. Plus you run the risk of crushing the confidence of anyone new to business.
If she does the same next month I will find it difficult not to tell her where to stick her opinions. Have you ever been in this type of situation before and how did you deal with it?
Building A Brand: All You Need Is A Kamikaze Attitude And Bad Hair
September 25, 2007
One thing really stands out in the branding of the World’s most successful companies. It’s not the company logo, the USP, or the fantastic product. It’s the person behind that business.
One of the main reasons for this is that people identify with people , not faceless corporations. And this type of branding is important if you want to build multiple streams of income.
Look at Virgin, for example. Richard Branson is the face of the company. Customers love him because he is fun, a risk taker and sticks two fingers up at convention. And that is how they see his company and his products too. And he is a branding pro.
According to this article by Glenn Rifkin, Branson devotes a whopping 25% of his time to PR activities.And many of his kamkikaze like stunts seem to involve heights. Do you remember the time when he was hoisted in Times square almost nude, to promote Virgin mobile?
I personally wonder if I’m too much of a wimp to build a brand the Branson way. After all, I’m a bit scared of heights, and I’ve postphoned submitting a press release this week, because my roots need tinting, and I’m tired of all my photos looking awful in the press.
It’s silly really, bad hair days don’t stop Donald Trump from getting heaps of publicity. In fact, he is such an expert at personal branding that the media have dubbed him “the logo”. It works and he isn’t shy about admitting it by claiming that any real estate development with his name on it will sell for heaps more, because of his name. And any golf course he opens can charge multiple times more than other courses charge for membership.
So, do we mere mortals have to be outrageous daredevils, or don a bad toupee to create a successful personal brand? Well, it would help, but there are other things you can do to.
For example, you can be like Walt Disney and have the imagination and courage to create new and different things. Nobody can think of the Walt Disney Company without thinking about the man behind the magic. When people visit Walt Disney World most don’t see a faceless profit oriented fun fair. They see the work of a man who had a vision to create a wonderful place where children and adults could have fun together. The company was originally called the Disney Company, but it was Roy Disney’s idea to change the name, and it paid off.
Or if you’re smart, you could be like Warren Buffett. When people invest in Berkshire Hathaway stocks, they don’t invest in a faceless company, they invest in Warren Buffett, “The Sage of Omaha” and the financial genius behind the company.
Of course, in addition to having the above attributes, you have to work on building your own confidence too. If you want to be like Branson, you really haven’t got to give a toss what people think of you. And you can’t afford to worry about making a total idiot of yourself, or getting it wrong sometimes.
And if you want to be like Trump, you’ve got to think big, and have an ego even bigger than your buildings. When Forbes Magazine asked him what his favourite book was, he chose The Art of the Deal, written by himself.
If you want to be like Walt Disney, you’ve got to have the courage to forge ahead with an idea when everyone around you is saying it sucks. For more Walt Disney attributes you may also want to check out Six Things you Can Learn From The Man Who Had No Shoes.
To be like Warren Buffett you’ve got to become an expert on the market, or whatever market you go into. Being frugal would also help, as would buying an insurance company, or any other type of company that would allow you to use other people’s cash.
Would you build a personal brand? If so, who’s style would you prefer to adopt? Please share your views by adding a comment below.
Personally, I would go for a mixture of Richard Branson and Walt Disney - without the heights.
Its Official - The Average Millionaire is an Aggressive Tightwad
September 24, 2007
If you had fun doing the millionaire quiz and want to improve your chances of making your first million, this may be of some help.
I’ve done a bit of research on the profile of the average millionaire, and I found an interesting survey carried out by the good old BBC.
So, what’s the average millionaire really like?
They’re Tightwads: The average millionaire spends less than £60 a week on food shopping and less than £500 a year on clothes.
They Didn’t Take The Teacher An Apple: Only 1% had ambitions to do as little as possible, yet 60% said they were average or lazy at school.
They’re Not Idle: When asked what it takes to make a million - most of those surveyed said - “hard work”. On average, those surveyed work 60 hours a week and half stay in contact with the office when on holiday.
They’re Not Shy: Those profiled in the survey were agressive, self-confident, competitive and enjoy taking risks.
They’re Explorers Millionaires love vacations, taking three a year on average. And the average multi-millionaire takes 5 vacations a year.
Click here to read the rest of the survey.
And if you have your sights set on becoming a billionaire, check out this post too.
