Baby Boomer Entrepreneur - Who Do You Trust For Business Advice?

Who would you trust to give you good advice on how to best function as a Baby Boomer Entrepreneur?

The Washington Post was interested in finding the best business wisdom hidden in classic movie quotes.

We asked entrepreneurs which famous lines from the silver screen offer the greatest insight and advice for running a business. The top 15 are below, but we want to hear from you, too. Which other movie quotes do you think offer valuable business lessons?

Of the choices presented, my favorite was from Cynthia Kay:

"Toto, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore." -- The Wizard of Oz (1939)

"Small business owners today know that doing business can be fraught with a whirlwind of uncertainty. We can end up in places we never intended. This famous line provides small business owners with the inspiration to think beyond their own little worlds, to step out of traditional ways of doing business and explore what is possible. Yes, we are small businesses, but we have big ideas that can take us on an amazing journey." -- Cynthia Kay, president and owner of Cynthia Kay and Company in Grand Rapids, Mich.

WARNER HOME VIDEO

I have actually used this quote many times over my career to point out that times have changed. I think it is particularly relevant to baby boomers establishing themselves as entrepreneurs. Regardless of your prior life situation, you are trailblazing a new frontier as you move toward being a baby boomer business owner.

Most of us have had experience with the technical aspects of our work. Michael E. Gerber, author of The E-Myth Revisited, gives us the classic examples of cooks opening restaurants, mechanics opening auto repair shops, and carpenters becoming home builders. The problem for us is that we may not have the managerial skills to hire and train people to do that work. Even more rarely do we have the entrepreneurial skills to organize and market such a business.

Whoever you select to provide you with advice must understand what you will need to perform the full range of duties you will have in organizing your business. Plus they must have the understanding of how to teach you the business development skills required to grasp how all the pieces fit and interact with one another in the various stages of getting your business up and running.

To help you with a vision of what you face as you move out into a new frontier, I have prepared a video: Baby Boomer Entrepreneur - You Need A Guide.

To see more of the cute suggestions offered by the Washington Post, please check out this link:
The best business wisdom hidden in classic movie quotes - The Washington Post:
The article has quotes that you can build upon...if you can use them in the right context. You have to know if you are still in Kansas.


Shallie



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Baby Boomer Entrepreneurs, 70% of Great Businesses Do NOT Start With A Plan.

 Do great businesses start with a plan? The answer is "no" according to Anthony Tjan.

Tjan says that 70% of businesses with a successful exit (that is, an IPO or sale to another firm) did NOT start with a business plan. Tjan, CEO and Managing Partner of the venture capital firm Cue Ball, discovered this information while researching the forthcoming book that he is co-authoring --Heart, Smarts, Guts, and Luck. He and his colleagues interviewed and surveyed hundreds of successful entrepreneurs around the world to see what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur and build a really successful business.

...their business journeys originated in a different place, a place we call the Heart. They were conceived not with a document but with a feeling and doing for an authentic vision. Clarity of purpose and passion ruled the day with less time spent writing an idea and more time just doing it."  

 This conclusion has sparked quite a controversy. You can see 158 comments at the time I am writing this post.
http://blogs.hbr.org/tjan/2012/05/great-businesses-dont-start-wi.html?awid=6705632995402906805-3271

Though I believe in business plans, I believe that the dream must come first. It is the vision that leads to the development of the business plan. The well written plan, with well defined systems, leads to successful implementation...which results in a successful business. This pathway avoids the 80%+ failure rate of the typical entrepreneurs.

Though this sounds radical, you will hear much the same thoughts from Michael Gerber, author of The E-Myth Revisited. In the above video, Gerber describes how the entrepreneur goes through a four step process that starts with a dream and ends with implementation.

What do you think? Please share your comments below.

Making Friends in Business

I have recently returned from a week skiing in the Swiss Alps on what is now the annual Netski trip organised by Warren Cass. The party was made up of 18 business people who have become friends through organised networking. This year they included leaders from Angels Den, Business-Scene, Directors Centre, Ecademy , Tax Advice Network  and NRG-networks 

In the organised networks we run we help business owners, professionals and entrepreneurs to develop business through networking. This works if you focus on building relationships first with the right people. Do the right things and business follows. Nobody on the skiing trip was selling to each other yet business was done and referred. Relationships first, business second.

I overheard a conversation between one of our party and someone else on a lift. The other person had asked what organised business networking was all about. After the reply he said, "I see, you're in the friends making business."

Friends are people you know well and like. They show loyalty, affection and offer help and support. All things that you need in running your business!

Friends first, business second.

Good Networking!
Dave Clarke

 ps Visit the new home of the business networking blog for the latest posts

What Will You Do With YOUR Next Five Years?

The Five Book Video - YouTube: ""



'via Blog this' You are an aspiring Baby Boomer Entrepreneur. What will you do with the next 5 years?

This video takes you on an inspirational tour of your mind as you explore what you will do differently over the next 5 years. It is based upon the book, 5, by Dan Zadra.

Shallie

What The Mint Taught Me About Marketing

The Buck Stops Here: $1 Coins to Be Curtailed - WSJ.com:



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Early this morning, I awoke to an e-mail from a friend, Ed. Ed wanted to know what I thought about the Mint stopping production of coin dollars. Of course, my friend was aware that as Superintendent of the United States Mint (Philadelphia), I was involved in the first production of the Susan B. Anthony coin dollar in 1979.

As I watched the coverage, I was transported back to the early discussion of smaller coin dollars in the late 70s.

I recalled going into my office many mornings and finding mail bags with drawings from elementary school children from across the country. Many teachers inspired their students to participate in government by sending their suggestions for who should appear on the front of the new coin. As always, the students were quite creative. Their suggestions ranged from historic individuals to pop culture icons, perhaps even their mother, father, teacher, themselves, or their new puppy. I recall that Elvis Presley was particularly popular. As there is essentially only one law limiting who can be on a coin...the person cannot be currently living...many of their suggestions were possible.

Of course the real decision required hearings in Washington where people appeared to present their opinions. There was a big battle about whether it should be the Statue of Liberty or Susan B Anthony. Then the battle shifted to what image of Susan B Anthony. Should it be her in her early life as in the case of most coins? Or should it be in her later life after the victories for which she is noted?

When the decision was made, we sighed as we came to the end of the debate. Then, the next morning, we awakened to remember that a coin has two sides...the debate was just half done.

Of course there were many decisions to be made before the official First Strike Ceremony in 1979. The next day after the first striking , the process of getting them to the Federal Reserve Banks began. Then  there was another "next day" involving getting the coins into local banks.That was followed by getting them into stores, followed by getting them into the hands of people. This was followed by the first person spending one thinking it was a quarter...followed by the first reporter warning people not to spend the coin dollar thinking it is a quarter.

That battle has raged for 32 years and the discussion is still the same. This leads to what the Mint taught me about marketing:

1. People make decisions on how they feel. The decision are about emotions. Then we select the facts that support our emotions.
2. Everyone has an opinion. For the most part, individual opinions don't matter. It is the collection of opinions that determines if there is a problem that needs to be solved.
3. The fact that there is a problem to be solved does not mean that everyone wants the same solution. Many people awaken in the morning wanting corn flakes. Some of them want Post Toasties and some of them want Kelloggs Corn Flakes.That is not duplication of effort or wasting resources. We call that free market.
4. Marketing is about finding a solution to a problem that enough people want and are willing to pay for, to make it profitable for the person providing the solution. We call that a niche.
5. Business is about serving the niche over and over. Success is in finding your niche.
6. Government has niches too. We call them special interest groups. Government has no way of making every niche or interest group happy by giving them what they want. Government tends to hold it's nose and select one solution that "fits all".
7. Aren't you glad that as an entrepreneur, all you have to do is find the right niche and serve the people in it well?
8. There is always a "next day" unless you fail.

Baby Boomer - You Don't Have to Learn Entrepreneurship Blindly Or Alone

A personal and educational introduction to Michael E. Gerber : ""

As an aspiring baby boomer entrepreneur, you want to convert your business idea into a reality. There is approximately an 80% failure rate of people trying to accomplish your same goal. Yet, renowned business adviser Michael E. Gerber says that no small business owner has to fail.

In this video, Gerber talks with small business coaches. He shares what coaches must understand to help small business owners bring the dream back to America...in fact to small business owners around the world. Here, you can get that advice straight from his mouth.

Gerber explains that small business owners fail for reasons other than what they think is the cause of that failure. As a baby boomer making a transition to an encore career, this is valuable information for you.

He begins with what it means to have a dream. He explains the process for converting your dream to reality and how to get clarity from the onset. If you want to understand what needs to be done...and then what needs to be done next, you want to watch this 29 minute video.

You will learn there is a road map to your journey. You will learn that there are people prepared to help you with the task of designing your baby boomer retirement business. You can increase your chances of success by looking for the people who can help you. You do not have to do it blindly or alone.

Shallie

Networking is about people not numbers

Recently I wrote a guest blog for Warren Cass, 'Networking is not a numbers game'. In a reply on Twitter, Roberta Ward summed it up quite neatly, "No, its a people game!".

In the article I wrote about how some people approach networking as a numbers game. Meeting as many different people as possible at different events. Or collecting the maximum number of connections or friends on social networking websites.

The people who really make networking work for them and their business build strong relationships with a smaller number of people. They don't need to go out and meet new people all the time. Their introductions to new people and opportunities come via this group.

Constantly meeting new people all the time leaves no time for relationship building. It's like starting from scratch every time or the Networking equivalent of Groundhog Day!

Good Networking!
Dave Clarke

 ps Visit the new home of the business networking blog for the latest posts

Aspiring Baby Boomer Entrepreneur - Are You Smarter Than An Old Walrus?

A number of my closest friends have received this video recently with the caption "My New Exercise Routine". And though my stomach could benefit from some sit ups, that is not what I am really talking about.

Much of what it takes to become a successful baby boomer entrepreneur involves behavior modification. You have to learn how to go from being an employee to being an owner. We often call that obtaining the entrepreneurial mindset. This is a new mental exercise routine.

Learning to make that change is a radical shift in your thinking and behavior. But if an old walrus can have his behavior shaped to accomplish new things, so can you.

Your task is to learn what behavior is required for success in the business of your choice. Then you must begin shaping that behavior a step at a time. That is the exact process the trainer used to teach an old Walrus to do sit ups. You can do it. You are smarter than an old walrus, aren't you?


Be sure to sign up for our mailing list in the upper right hand corner. I will share with you what you need to help you become a successful baby boomer entrepreneur.


Shallie

You Are Not Alone - Most U.S. workers want to be entrepreneurs - UPI.com

Most U.S. workers want to be entrepreneurs - UPI.com:

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If you have a secret dream of quitting your job and becoming an entrepreneur, you are not alone. UPI reports that "Three-quarters of U.S. full-time and part-time employed adults say they want to leave their job and become an independent entrepreneur..."

Aspiring Baby Boomer Entrepreneurs seem to have an edge in the effort to have a balance in life. This balance is often described as having the ability to set one's hours, spend more time with friends and family, not have to deal with office politics and/or not have to endure a daily commute. You can take this advantage by retiring from your current job and starting a semi-retired life as a business owner. This is sometimes referred to as an "encore career".

For other aspiring baby boomer entrepreneurs, the solution may be in developing a part time business. In this case, you begin developing the business on the side until it can sustain your needs.

In either case, you must take action. You must take steps to make your version of the "American Dream" your American Reality. Smarter Small Business Blog is here to help you.

Are you networking with the right people?

I met someone recently at one of my regular networking groups. When he explained what he did I advised him that the group may not be great for him and his business. He sold cosmetics direct to consumers and was there to generate leads for his business. The group was made up of professionals and providers of business services.

He said, rightly, that everyone there either used or knew people that used the types of products he sold. I said that was true, but they were all there because they shared the same target market. They were not selling directly to consumers of domestic products so the best network for him would be with others selling directly to the same domestic consumers.

Successful networking for business development is all about building relationships with the right people. A good place to start when selecting a networking group for business is to find one where the other members sell to the same target market as you.

Good Networking!
Dave Clarke

 ps Visit the new home of the business networking blog for the latest posts