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I am an active member of The Can Do Society (www.candosociety.org). Just one activity of the Can Do Society is a book club and this month we are reading Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell. In Outliers Maxwell tries to explain why some people succeed far more than others. Gladwell argues that the true story of success is very different, and that if we want to understand how people succeed, we should spend more time looking around them. Success is not only the intelligence and ambition of a man or woman, but such things as their family, birth date and sequence of activities.
RULE: YOU CAN NOT ENCOURAGE A INDEPENDENT BUSINESS OWNER TO SWITCH BUSINESSES
0 comments Posted by Scott RobinsonCheck out this very motivational video. What are your opinions? What is this video trying to convey?
My name is Scott Robinson and I am the President and Co-founder of DiscountGuru.com with my partner, Dave. Our mission is to provide consumers with the one of the largest varieties in office equipment at the best price on the market. We buy office equipment at a 70 to 80 percent discount and with services like EBay and our private website, we sell back that equipment at just below market value. We are consistently making margins of 50 to 60 percent. The advantage of our company is our expense ratio. Unlike our competitors, we do not spend money on flashy storefronts or on expensive marketing and advertising campaigns. In a matter of minutes, we are able to post products to 40 million potential customers and understand that our “virtual store” is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. We are active in all the largest markets around the world and we have a 6th sense for opportunity and risk. We are looking to raise $1 million in order to take advantage of a buying opportunity that we have pinned as the world rebounds out of a recession. We predict that we will be able to return 20 - 25 percent on your investment within just two years. Now, you money is in good hands. I work closely with a professional mentor who has built his business in a similar fashion to $65 million in annual revenue. So please, if you’re interested, my name is Scott Robinson, contact me with my business card and I’ll be happy to setup a time to meet with you.
The experience of competing in an elevator pitch competition and receiving feedback from a panel of multimillion dollar entrepreneurs was very valuable. Sometimes we can learn the most by just participating in activities or events the might be outside our comfort zone. If you want to learn more about something your not familiar with, just take the plunge.
Investor: Hi Scott, what line of business are you in?
Entrepreneur: I am the Vice President of Research and Development at Chemical Solutions Inc. and I am introducing a new service to the fabric industry. It is a common misconception that waterproof fabrics will remain waterproof for a very long time. I understand, that the coating that allows water to bead up and run off fabrics, fails quickly. I am providing a service that will clean, retreat and bring the material back to its original capabilities. There is no other company that provides this service. The market is large and includes the clothing, rental and furniture industries. We will be selling this service by offering contracts to large parties like the military, summer camps and cleaning services. We are looking to raise $500,000 in revenue loans and we project that if you invest $25,000 into Chemical Solutions your return will be $100,000 within the first five years. If you are interested, please leave your contact information and I will be happy to set up a time to meet with you.
Successful entrepreneurs have a unique mindset that enables him or her to recognize new business opportunities. One of the first times that I can remember having entrepreneurial thoughts was when I was in middle school. I was on summer break and I really wanted to create a way to earn money. I was playing outside with a few friends when I noticed many of my neighbors struggling to carry their trash and recyclables to the curb. I knew I was too young to obtain an hourly job, so I had to create the opportunity for myself. I saw a service that could be provided to the struggling homeowners and decided to create a trash removal service. I did not realize until many years later that the trash removal service exposed the start of my passion for business.
Entrepreneurship is about creating new opportunities. When I was a freshman in high school I played on the baseball team. As many of you probably know, the politics in high school sports does not necessarily create a healthy learning environment. I wanted to find an activity that had a positive community and culture. After the first season came to a close, a friend of the family took me to the Adirondacks for a weekend rock-climbing trip. I fell in love with a community that was centered on positive support and reliable teamwork. I wanted to share the community with others, so the following year I did not sign up for the baseball team, instead I went to the school principal and with her blessing, I started an outdoors club. I was successfully able to embed the values of the outdoor community into a club that still runs today.
I believe that the single most important attribute of an entrepreneur is leadership. In 2005, I moved to Wyoming to study Outdoor Education and Leadership. I had the opportunity to take classes with the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS). NOLS is a unique school that teaches the valuable skills of a leader by leading small groups in the wilderness. NOLS taught me how to plan, prepare and perform. I learned skills such as competence, communication, decision-making, tolerance for adversity and uncertainty, self-awareness and vision and action. I spent two months backpacking threw the Himalayas, three weeks sailing in Baja, Mexico and three weeks winter camping in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. These experiences helped me become a leader for myself as well as my peers.
The activity in my life that has shaped my passion for business is my real-time work experience was in New York City. For the past three years I have been working for an international outdoor clothing and equipment company called Patagonia, which takes pride in its core values of quality, integrity, environmentalism and non-conventional business practices. Patagonia allowed me to use the skills I learned in the past to shape my thoughts and knowledge on business. Patagonia gave me the opportunity to coordinate the Environmental Grants Program in New York City and soon after promoted me into a leadership role as an assistant manager.
As an assistant manager, I provided leadership for the staff in maintaining the highest level of performance standards. In addition to responsibilities as a sales associate, this leadership position took an active role in training staff, overseeing store openings and closings and protecting the store assets by maintaining operational policies and store procedures.
As an Environmental Grants Coordinator, I took an active role in Patagonia’s commitment to protecting undomesticated lands and waters. I oversaw an annual grants budget of $15,000 that was used to fund activists who take radical and strategic steps to protect habitat, wilderness and biodiversity. I made sure that the employees, along with the community, were educated on our current, local and global environmental initiatives. I worked with small, grass-root organizations that were seeking help with their capital, fundraising events, or needed manpower. Recently, I have created a successful program called the Employee Watch Program. This program was installed to help establish healthy, long-term relationships with environmental organizations in New York City. Each benefited employee created a binder that represented an organization, its goals, mission statement and any other information that was useful to Patagonia employees and the local community. The Employee Watch Program now serves as a vital tool for many stores around the country.
Another attribute that an entrepreneur must take on is initiative. Beyond taking the initiative at work to take on more responsibilities, I have shown the initiative to go back to school to further my education and knowledge on business. It is with that initiative that I can express my weaknesses and goals for school.
One of my most lingering weaknesses is not having ability to completely implement my visions into actions. Many times I will make a goal for myself and before I even realize it, I have moved on to another goal or interest. I need to recognize that I need to become patient and allow myself to follow through on my goals. Another quality that an entrepreneur cannot do without is education. I have had good work experience, but I am lacking the knowledge needed to start and run a business. I do not understand the process of starting and most importantly protecting a business.
My most recent goal is to graduate from Canisius College with a solid foundation of business knowledge. I know that this opportunity will only come once and I need to operate with efficiency and effectiveness while concentrating on the quality of my work. I feel comfortable saying that I have the skills of a leader, but with the guidance of my professors and the teamwork of my fellow students, I will leave Canisius College knowing that I have implemented my visions into actions.
The citizens of Romania have a lot to look forward to as the government is on a steady path of regional and international integration. Romania became a NATO member in 2004 and more recently a member of the EU in 2007. The banking sector has changed from a monolithic sector to a competitive system boasting over 40 regional and foreign banks. Because of this change the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has provided Romanian banks with a 20 Billion Euro loan to help provide small businesses credit. In order to stabilize the economy, the government has put public infrastructure on the top of its lis With access to the Black Sea, Romania will focus on modernizing the rail systems, roads systems, ports and airports to encourage foreign investment in a state that has good opportunity for trade and tourism. Many aspects will need to fall into place for Romania to become a world influence, but the most important aspect to take care of is the infrastructure needed to take Romanian business to the next level. As with all developing countries, Romania must be able to spread growth to all its regions and not focus on a few regions that already have a head start. Romania will need to get all of their citizens onboard to work for a more developed, stronger country.
By reading the title of this post, you most likely have an image of the "typical" entrepreneur. More often than not, the typical image is of a college drop-out, that started a highly technical business, that grew fast and became a massive public corporation. The truth is that most entrepreneurs in this country are white men in their forties, married with a working spouse, generally just trying to make a living and they do not want to work for anyone else. Starting a business in the service industry is much more common than the technology or manufacturing industries. Scott Shane explains that going to college, getting a professional degree, and having some experience managing others in a business setting are the experiences that actually increase a person's odds of starting a company. I have the experience managing others, now I'm off to school to get my degrees!
