Do You Think Like An Entrepreneur?
August 26, 2009
There have been many studies that try to answer the question “what makes an entrepreneur?” Sometimes, a client will ask me “do you think I will be a successful entrepreneur?” Here are some of the ways we are “different.” Take a peek and see what you think!
- We have a different view about risk, luck, convention, and decision-making. We take risks quickly and easily, because we “get it” that one doesn’t move forward by always playing it safe. We tend not to believe in luck as much as we make our luck by following up consistently. We don’t think conventionally, we think “out of the box” and see new opportunities with those fresh eyes. And more than anything else, we are quick decision-makers. We realize that money likes speed and decisiveness!
- At least one researcher finds that entrepreneurs keep themselves psychologically healthy, being willing to push against limiting beliefs. Additionally, we pay attention to the physical and spiritual side of our lives. (I need to remember that next time I don’t want to go swim, ha!)
- We are the heroes of our own life. We meet challenges and overcome fear and inability, not being afraid to use our instincts and spontaneity.
- We are optimistic, willing to take risks, have great ideas (and usually need others to help us implement them), are willing to work long hours to achieve our goals, and are very resilient. When things go wrong we learn from the failure and set right back with another tack.
Wow! I like the upbeat, savvy, positive feel of all these traits. If they describe you, you’re either already an entrepreneur or have dreams of going out on your own.
(c) Sue Painter
How to Lose a Sell and Hack Me Off!
August 12, 2009
So here’s the story – I’d been looking around for someone to take an old, template-based website I’ve had for a while to an updated look with a slant toward the speaking side of my work. An acquaintance suggested a small solopreneur firm out of town, I e-mailed for some info, looked at some of their work, and decided to talk with the woman. We decided to speak on a Monday, at which time she wanted her team to be on the call to listen to what I wanted. She also mentioned that she’d be happy to chat informally over the weekend to get to know each other a bit. (Point 1 – over that weekend, I noticed, she didn’t call – no biggie, but still, lack of initiative there.)
Monday came, no call from her, so 10 minutes after the hour I called her. She answered, sounding surprised, with dog barking in background. Reporting a sore throat and a visit to the doctor earlier that day, she said she didn’t feel like talking and had e-mailed me a few hours before to reschedule the call. Hmmm….doctor in the morning, but no “let’s cancel” e-mail until 90 minutes before the call (point 2). Feeling sorry that she was ill, I agreed to a call the next day.
Next day, on Tuesday, she called. I quickly noticed that there was no team on the line, only her. We talked and I told her specfically that I wanted a site that I could go in and change easily, the type of links I wanted, and that I wanted a Wordpress blogsite. The website was to be only 4 pages, pretty small, but with a lot of links. The call was pleasant enough, she asked good questions, and mentioned that her company did develop in Wordpress often. She agreed to have a proposal to me by Thursday. I thought that was a little long, but given that her team was not on the call as planned (no explanation given for that), OK. (Point 3 – no team on the call and Point 4, solopreneurs usually can give quotes right then and there or at the latest in 24 hours).
Thursday came and went, no proposal arrived. Late Friday I got an email promising the proposal over the weekend. The weekend came and went, no proposal arrived. (Points 5 &6!) Monday came and went, Tuesday came and went, no proposal. Voila! On Wednesday a proposal came with a suggestion that to move ahead we NOW schedule the call with her team.
Let me tell you, she’d already lost me. Remember that know, like, and trust factor? I didn’t trust her word for beans by now. If it takes 10 days to get a 4 page proposal out of a solopreneur what the heck is it going to take to get a website out of her? I would not have agreed to work with her if the work had been free, truly. But, I opened the proposal and to my irritation, frustration, and total astonishment here’s what I saw:
- A $4900 price tag for a 4 page website.
- A statement that the site would be built in Joomla.
There was more, but I can stop right there. The price tag is, in my experience and opinion, ridiculously high. I have 7 sites and not a one of them cost anything NEAR that money. Secondly, the proposal was for something I didn’t ask for and didn’t want. Never did we discuss Joomla in our phone call.
This is exactly, exactly, exactly how NOT TO SELL. It is a classic case of “let me, the seller, tell you WHAT YOU NEED and HOW IT WILL BE DELIVERED no matter what you say you want or need, because I KNOW BETTER THAN YOU WHAT YOU NEED.” ARGHGHGH. Excuse me while I tear my hair out by the roots! I see people lose sales all the time using this “I know better than you know what you need” tactic. It won’t work! There are ways to educate a prospect and gently suggest considering something else, but to write it up with no prior discussion is horrible, terrible sales technique. It also tells me that SHE didn’t have the expertise to suggest this without talking to her technical help – a bad sign.
This woman could be the most capable, talented person on the planet to do this job, but as I have said a zillion times before, that does NOT matter. What matters is her marketing skills, which to be perfectly frank stink worse than a dead skunk in high heat.
I was already totally un-sold, but now I was both un-sold and hacked off. I’d just had 10 days of my time wasted on this project and been treated as if my wants mattered not one whit. So I wrote a short, polite, two-sentence email that said, “Thank you for the proposal, but it was not delivered to me in a timely manner, nor is it a proposal that matches what we discussed in our call. I don’t want to pursue this further. I appreciate your time in speaking with me.”
Will you even believe that I actually got an e-mail back (this time in less than an hour, not 10 days) that basically said “we know better than you what you need, you will never get what you want using WordPress, my develop is a genius, and I stand behind what he said.” Defensive posturing NEVER works in sales. Nor does telling the prospect that she doesn’t know what she is talking about. Even if this is true, the tactic won’t work!
Take a note – don’t attempt to sell this way. Marketing is about relationship building – and this woman missed her cues about 5 different times. Marketing is about being timely – and she was not. Marketing is about gentle leading – she did not. Marketing is about asking for a budget, she did not. Marketing is about not hacking off your prospect – she did. And when you are told there will be no deal, marketing is about taking the hit and moving on, not answering back defensively.
Ugh, what an icky feel. Makes me sad, though. I like to see solopreneurs succeed, but I doubt this one will.
(c) Sue Painter
What Will Build Your Business the Most?
August 10, 2009
I’m often asked by solopreneurs who hear me speak what “one thing” should they do that would bring them to the financial success they want. I answer this by asking them to close their eyes, take a few deep breaths, and ask themselves a single question. Try this for yourself, and you’ll usually find what you need to do the most. The question is, “What is the thing I am avoiding most in my business?”
Solopreneurs are solely responsible for the direction and success of their businesses. While we may have teams to support us and coaches to guide us, we all must keep in touch with our own inner guidance system, too. I’ve worked with dozens of capable, bright, hard-working business owners, and every single one of them had something they were avoiding “getting around to.” These stuck places literally stop the flow of energy and keep us from opening the path to easier, quicker success. My experience is that the “thing most avoided” usually is one of these four things:
1) Procrastination, which paralyzes us from taking action. We get to be procrastinators by avoiding what we are scared of, or trying to avoid risk at all costs, or insisting that everything be “perfect” before we launch it.
2) Self-doubt, which causes us to spend more time questioning what we do than actually getting out and doing it. Self-doubt is a killer of business. It keeps self-esteem in the toilet, too. Self-doubt hampers us from acting in faith, following our heart and our soul’s purpose.
3) Fuzzy focus, which is often called “bright shiny object syndrome.” This means that we flit from project to project and idea to idea, never truly turning a laser-like focus onto one single thing that we carry to completion. Solopreneurs are curious people. We are also idea people – we love a good idea! We can talk a good idea to death over coffee, lunch, and in networking meetings. Moving from bright idea to complete focus, which brings us to a product or service launch, is harder for us sometimes. If you have fuzzy focus you are not creating near the financial success you might have.
4) Thinking small. Sometimes I want to cry when I talk to people who are self-employed and ask them what their dream income is. I hear figures that are so low it’s incredible. I once asked a client to give me a dream income level. She had two teen-agers approaching college, and she herself had a Ph.D. from a very prestigious private university along with 20 years of experience. Her answer? “I’d love to make $20,000 this year.” ARGHGH! Thinking small limits us in ways that are sometimes sad and often ridiculous. We all have opportunities only limited by our imagination and creativity – and our fears about stepping up and stepping out. My suggestion is to be outrageous in stating what you want to accomplish, then double it! Setting your sights high makes you aim high, and you’ll get further faster.
What you need to learn next that will make you and your business more effective is to find out what you are avoiding most. Find it, face it, and flourish. You’ll be glad you did!
(c) Sue Painter
Sue Painter, The Confident Marketer, works with solopreneurs who are driven to create financially successful work that flows from their soul’s purpose. A Book Yourself Solid certified coach for both individuals and groups, Sue is a Mastermind Leader for Ali Brown’s Millionaire Protégé Club, a frequent speaker, and a creative marketing strategist. You can find Sue on Facebook at http://www.confidentmarketer.com/facebook, on LinkedIn at http://www.linkedin.com/in/suepainter, and on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com@suepainter1.
How to Build Confidence and Resiliency as a Solopreneur
August 9, 2009
If you have owned your own business for very long, you have discovered that being a solopreneur challenges you to develop your confidence along with your business savvy. I often work with a solopreneur who is a total expert at what she does, but still is not busy or profitable. Why? Usually, it’s one of these issues:
- She has marketed her expertise more than telling people about the problem she solves.
- She has failed to market much at all, lacking the confidence and the know-how to talk about what problem she solves.
It’s critical, imperative, and a key to survival for solopreneurs to become confident in marketing. The good news is that there is a wonderful side benefit to your confidence. The side benefit is resiliency. Let’s say that something you try doesn’t work too well, isn’t profitable at all. If you are confident, you will not use the failure as a reason to hunker down or make excuses. Instead, you will have this wonderful thing called resiliency. What will having both confidence and resiliency do for you?
- You will pat yourself on the back for trying what you tried.
- You will be able to sit down with your favorite cup of tea and ask yourself why what you tried might not have worked.
- You will be anxious to discuss your failure with a friend or teacher who can give you their perspective, and you will feel supported and helped rather than defensive and dinged.
- After a day or two, you’ll be ready to try Plan B and go at it again.
Confidence and resiliency are the two best things I can think of to have in a solopreneur’s back pocket. You build them by careful planning, stepping out, and honest feedback from yourself and a few others. Each time you try, whether a success or a failure, you gain both just from the act of trying. Building confidence and resiliency is like building your biceps. You flex them like a muscle and pretty soon, just like your bicep, confidence and its sidekick, resiliency are there at your command.
Practice building confidence consistently, and before you know it building your business will become easier and easier for you. You’ll happily be doing what you want to do, and making money while you do it. What could be a better deal?
(c) Sue Painter
Finding Soul Purpose as a Solopreneur
August 3, 2009
If you’re a solopreneur you came into that status in one of two ways.
- For whatever reason, you lost your job and are calling yourself a solopreneur while you look around for new employment.
- You have dreamed (usually for a long time) about doing a particular type of work, you may have felt called to get out on your own to do this work, and you sincerely hope and believe that whatever you are doing is truly your life’s work.
That’s usually how it goes. And whichever category you are in, finding your soul (sole) purpose is important, because you will become filled with fire and passion, find a commitment within yourself that fuels focus and action, be unstoppable. Whether you do that working for someone else or for yourself, you will be adding value to the world. You will be adding love to the world. You will be courageously modeling for others what it is like to live from deeply rooted, certain knowledge about your soul (sole) purpose.
My soul purpose is to help those who are lost to their purpose find their way. I encourage, help clear the weeds and vines that have long been overgrown, hold the light while someone searches for their path. Eventually, with courage and stamina and humor and love, the way is found.
My experience is heavily weighted to entrepreneurs and solopreneurs, and my passion is there, too. I believe that our culture and economy become stronger when we foster the growth of small businesses, when we support the folks who are willing to give up (or perhaps have never had) the option of employment. I believe that entrepreneurs need nurturing and community, and I want to be a provider. My blog is one way I provide these things to you.
(c) Sue Painter