Friday 27 July 2012

Entrepreneurs Only...


I am an Entrepreneur...

Not a serial entrepreneur – they simply jump from one bright shiny thing to another, using failure as an excuse for “learning opportunities”…

Serial Entrepreneurs think that failure is part of the journey – no its not – get it right first time, use knowledge skills and talent to make it right. When you have been on the receiving end of some of the “learning opportunities” that others have made you will know how it feels.

Can things be improved..? – of course...

Are mistakes inevitable..? – yes, but your clients should never know…

Is failure an option..? – Never…

My learning opportunities were when I worked in someone else’s business and worked my way up, my learning opportunities were 14 years at night school, my learning opportunities were all the books I read, seminars I went to and experiences I had.

As serial entrepreneur is like serial husband or wife – no commitment to make something of true value actually deliver its full potential; when it gets too hard they simply move on.

No one wants one of those…

I am an Entrepreneur…

This is not what I do – it is who I am…

I do not have a career – I have a life…

I do not have a Job – I make a contribution…

There is no wage – just reciprocated value…

Hours – as many as I choose and 1 more than necessary…

Holidays – life is a holiday, think of the alternative…

Striking for better conditions – I choose my own conditions…

So when you meet a real entrepreneur who has put their heart and soul into what they do, when they have used their savings and begged and borrowed the rest and backed themselves 100% what should you say to them…?

Simple – “Well done…”

These people are the unsung heroes, they may not be all over Facebook, networking at champagne lunches, posting pictures from the Seychelles’ – they will be building a business, figuring out how to pay the VAT, paying their staff before they pay themselves, riding around in a 15 year old car because all their cash is in their business and thinking how next quarter will be better than the last…

Be gentle with their dreams – what they build is all that they are, if you criticise their business you criticise them.

And when they make it, don’t be jealous – don’t think that success is easy and that they don’t deserve it – they do…

If you want success in business – get to work, get to college, get to the library, get on with it, but most of all stick at it…

Serial Entrepreneurs are the pretenders to the Crown…

Are you an Entrepreneur…?

Thursday 12 July 2012

Cannes or Cannes Not...

Following on from the Blog post below - we are taking just 12 people with us to Cannes in October to attend our famous Entrpreneurs Retreat..

Click on the LINK to find out more - but hurry because places are being snapped up quickly...

See you there...

Friday 6 July 2012

Goals Suck...


First, in order to understand achievement, we have to understand motivation…
There are four key drivers that motivate us;

·        Achievement of a future Goal – seeking pleasure – towards motivation
·        Relief from Pressure – removing pain – away from motivation
·        Internal factors – making us feel good to ourselves – internal reference
·        External factors – making us look good to others – external reference

This is why simply having a Goal doesn’t work – it only satisfies one of the criteria – for a Goal to be engaging and motivational for us it needs to engage all of our drivers in the appropriate way.

First – let’s clear up why Goals Suck…

Having a Goal would appear to be the panacea of achievement – there are books, videos, gurus and seminars that will tell you that Goals are the key to success and that without them you are useless. The Goals that they are talking about tend to be those that are future based – how many adverts have you seen that predict more money, better lifestyle and happier families. Network Marketers and Franchisors take note…

A Goal by itself is an excuse – it makes us feel good because we can carry with us the feint image of better times to come, but we don’t ever have to achieve it because the “feel good” comes from imagining the possibility rather than actually achieving it. 

If we feel good, or perceive the benefit of a Goal without actually having to achieve it, then we find excuses to do so...

In the 2006 movie Tristan and Isolde which is based on the 12th Century English legend known as Tristan and Iseult, the major issue regarding Goals is explained. In a scene where Tristan has conquered all before him and won the battle, he is sat on his throne looking forlorn.

Asked by one of his lieutenants why, after achieving everything that he set out to do, he is not full of joy, Isolde replies – “because he has lost the most precious thing he had – he has lost his dream…” or words to that effect…

Achieving a Goal means that we come to an end – the dream that we have becomes reality and as such the dream evaporates. Reality rarely lives up to the dream we have when creating it, so by definition the achievement of a Goal is a let-down. Paradoxically we cannot live without a dream or vision of our future and this is the very reason we are compelled not to actually achieve them – we simply want to keep the dream alive.