The Secret of Successful Entrepreneurship – LUCK!

Look around you and you will find motivated, hardworking and dedicated people in the pursuit of success. However, more than 90% of all startups fail in the first 5 years. Talk to any successful entrepreneur and you will discover that they just happened to be at the right place at the right time. What a stroke of luck! Is this what differentiates the successful entrepreneurs?

Jean-Baptiste Say, a French economist, is believed to have coined the word “entrepreneur” from the French word, entreprendre, which means “to undertake.” in the 19th century – a person who is willing to launch a new venture or enterprise and accept full responsibility for the outcome. When a person becomes an entrepreneur by deciding to start a business they are acting on an opportunity that they believe will satisfy a need both for consumers (a product or service) and themselves (independence, wealth, fame).

Successful entrepreneurs are successful because they made a lot of careful and calculated decisions, and had enough motivation to take action at a point in time. They saw opportunity, the chance to be “lucky” and decided to go for it given they had the skills to make it happen. There is a growing brand of entrepreneurs, academics and thinkers dedicated to the idea that business owners can actually create and manage luck.

Wiseman, a psychologist studied what makes some people lucky and others not and claims that he’s cracked the code. Luck isn’t due to kismet, karma, or coincidence, he says. Instead, lucky folks — without even knowing it — think and behave in ways that create good fortune in their lives. In his new book, The Luck Factor: Changing
Your Luck, Changing Your Life: The Four Essential Principles , Wiseman reveals four approaches to life that turn certain people into luck magnets.

The best explanation on luck and the mechanics of being lucky was at an entrepreneurship seminar a couple of years ago. The speaker defined luck as:

L – location: Who chooses where you place yourself every day? Are you so busy doing work that there is no time to see the opportunity? It is similar to being at a football field where good players always seem to be at the right spots to pass or score goals. Rather than waiting for the ball without even noticing that the game has moved to another location.

U- understanding: At the critical moment when we are at the right place and right time it is the understanding that differentiates success from failure. When the ball is in front of the goal, we might find ourselves at the right place, right time, but must also have the understanding of the reason we are there: to kick the ball into the goal.

C – connections: It is the network of the people we know and work with that is our greatest strength. Invest in your network and team– the players who should be kicking us the ball. A network is not a pile of cards but a growing relationship with business players to receive and give opportunities.

K – knowledge: There’s no point having opportunities come our way if we do not know what to do with them. Knowing how to kick the ball, and the rules of the game come with playing the game. On the football field, it seems that the successful players seem to know where the ball will go.

Creating luck is about noticing and taking opportunities. As an entrepreneur, your mind is trained to look for things and observing opportunities. With the right connections and being visible, you get approached by people who have ideas who want to work with you. That often means taking risks, and some opportunities don’t work out. As Louis Pasteur said “Chance favors the prepared mind.”


Article Contributed by Ms Poonam Sagar is an International Consultant with Training Edge International
Email : poonam.sagar@trainingedgeasia.com,
Website : www.trainingedgeasia.com

Distinctive Or Different – Which Is Best?

If you’ve ever wanted to stand out from the crowd and create a competitive edge no doubt a well-meaning friend or advisor may have said ‘be different!’ Whilst being different may be useful advice for some, in terms of reputation branding, it’s not necessarily a smart strategy to follow.

Novelty and innovation can set you apart, attract attention and make you memorable – for a time. The downside of this is that being different, and straying too far from accepted norms, can raise doubts in the minds of those you most want to influence.

Being different can be risky. Questions will be raised about your ability to deliver, whether you might be a good ‘fit’ and even the fleeting thought that by taking a punt on you, the person recommending you will be putting their reputation on the line and they’ll probably want to be sure their own reputation isn’t put at risk.

Being distinctive, on the other hand, can make you memorable for all the right reasons. Being distinctive can help differentiate yourself from your competitors and others around you, and give you a compelling ‘edge’ if whatever it is that makes you distinctive is viewed positively. If the distinction is not viewed positively, it can leave you being perceived as odd, strange or risky. Inappropriate differentiation can raise doubts in the minds of others that can be hard to counter or overcome.

So how can you create a positively distinctive edge without being riskily different?

Highlight subtle, but significant, differences. Draw attention to a subtle point of difference that others in a similar situation to you don’t necessarily highlight or focus on. For example, when applying for a job or promotion, or pitching for a new account or business, providing written testimonials from happy clients and colleagues could add huge value to the information you provide directly. What other people say about us is eight times more powerful than what we say about ourselves, and yet few of us offer references or testimonials up-front – most of us wait to be asked to provide them.

DO sweat the small stuff! Author Richard Carlson’s book urged readers to ‘Don’t Sweat The Small Stuff’. However, sweating the small stuff is hugely important from a reputation branding perspective. Do take time to think about details that could either help or harm your reputation from someone else’s perspective. Aim to ensure you leave people feeling valued and respected when they deal with you by caring about the details. Ensure, too, that whatever promises you make explicitly, or imply, live up to expectations and are consistent with what people expect when dealing with you.

Create meaning from the difference. It’s all very well being distinctive or different, but what does it mean to the person you’re dealing with? Being able to spell-out the benefits to them is essential in terms of them viewing you favourably. You’re probably not the only person who may have spent a year in Outer Mongolia doing your ‘OE’, but you may be one of relatively few able to articulate that doing so has given you a greater awareness and understanding of working with people with a different view of life in practical ways and how this has made you a better ‘people-person’ as a result. The very fact that you can demonstrate how and why whatever makes you distinctive is a plus will be viewed positively.

Adopt a philosophy of ‘Best-Plus’. Be committed, not only to being the best at what you do, but also to identifying and delivering extras, or ‘pluses’ over and above what’s expected of you that will help you be perceived as innovative, and people and client-focused. These are often right under our noses if we open ourselves up to noticing them. Sending a handwritten ‘thank you’ card to a prospective employer or client following a meeting, for example, or sending them a website link simply because you noticed something they may be interested in. Small, but subtle, actions and words can really set you apart and create a memorable impression that will stand you in good stead years down the line.

Of course, being distinctive attracts attention so be prepared for others to copy you. Imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery, but ongoing effort is required to remain positively distinctive, as is a willingness to push the boundaries within acceptable levels.

Sun Tzu’s famous treatise ‘The Art of War’ notes how opportunities come from the openings caused by the relative weaknesses of others in any given area. “If you know both yourself and your enemy, you can win a hundred battles without a single loss.” Articulate what makes you distinctive and you’ll have more ammunition in your reputational armoury.

AArticle Contributed by Hannah Samuel, International Speaker with Training Edge International Training Edge International
Email : hannah@trainingedgeasia.com
Website : www.trainingedgeasia.com

It’s All Your Fault

Not getting all the business referrals you want? Then it’s all your fault!

I joined a close contact networking group many years ago, a group where we met regularly to pass business referrals to each other. I was the President of the group at the time and remember inducting a new member, we’ll call him Phillip. He attended the meetings regularly and when it came to the part of the meetings where we passed referrals to each other he would stand each week and say “Nought to report”.

After six months Phillip came to me and said “I’m not going to renew my membership as I’m not getting anything out of these meetings. I’ve got hardly any business from belonging to this group. This just doesn’t work!” In fact I’ve heard similar stories or variations on the same theme over and over. Phillip went on to say:

• This group is fickle, they used me once and never again
• I’ve bought something from every single person in this room, but they’ve never bought anything from me
• The members just don’t understand my business

What Phillip had missed in his membership of our group was that in order to get a referral sometimes you have to give a referral. It’s called the law of reciprocity, In order to receive, you must first give, or you get back what you give out.

Phillip was quick to blame anyone and everyone else in the room, except himself. If you belong to a networking group and aren’t getting referrals or if you pass referrals to other business people and aren’t getting any in return…whose fault is it?

I would suggest all you need to do is look in a mirror and you’ll see the culprit staring straight back at you.

If you are thinking along the same lines as Phillip, then you may want to consider the following:

This group is fickle, they used me once and never again
If you did business with a member of perhaps a new client, did you follow up to make sure they were happy with the goods or services you supplied? Did you go the extra mile to turn a customer into a regular client? Did you give them a reason to come back again and again to buy from you? Did you make sure the customer saw your best work first time?

I’ve bought something from every single person in this room, but they’ve never bought anything from me
Often people join networking groups thinking that it’s only the people in the immediate group that they are going to do business with. Raise your aim! Research by social scientists confirms that every business person knows at least 250 other business people. Why limit yourself to just doing business with the person in the room?

An astute networker will give outstanding service on the first engagement with a view to cementing a longer term relationship. Once trust is established, then you can begin to tap into those other 250 people that each person in your network knows. If you know ten other business people and they trust you, suddenly you can access 2,500 people. All that needs to happen next is for you to ask for a targeted referral to that network.

The members just don’t understand my business
Finally if the members don’t understand your business you will never get access to those potential 2,500 contacts. You must make the effort to educate your network. Take time to meet with people in your network. Organise to meet one on one with the people in your network and take the time to learn about their business. Then and only then, you can teach them about your business.

Here’s the Top Ten things to teach them:
1. Your products and services
2. The hours you are open for business
3. Where you are located and whether you are mobile or not
4. How can you be contacted, phone, email, website
5. Your target market
6. Your ideal referral
7. The kind of business you are looking for
8. What kind of business you aren’t looking for
9. How will other people know when to speak up and recommend you, give them words or phrases to listen for in everyday conversation
10. How to set up an appointment with their client to introduce you as a recommended and preferred supplier

The list goes on and on. The key here is to take time to educate the other people you want to bring you business referrals. If you aren’t getting all the referrals you need it’s probably your fault.

Article Contributed by Lindsay Adams, International Speaker with Training Edge International and President of Global Speakers Federation
Website : www.trainingedgeasia.com
Email : Lindsay.adams@trainingedgeasia.com

How Buying Behaviours Work

Buying Behaviours are a completely different way of thinking about customers. Unfortunately, they appear superficially similar to personality types and behavioural styles – which have been inappropriately used in sales processes for over eighty years.

Why Personality Typing is a Lousy Client Analysis Tool
Now, don’t get me wrong. I am a huge fan of personality typing in recruitment and placement and of behavioural styles in teamwork, personal and professional development and leadership. It’s just that often these tools are asked to perform tasks they were never meant for. For example, what’s the use of analysing a client’s personality type when that same personality type has been known to exhibit entirely different buying behaviour in different sales environments? I’ve even known companies that still use the model of the four temperaments (choleric, sanguine, etc) – first documented by Hippocrates 2,500 years ago!

How is Buying Behaviour Different?

Buying behaviour is more closely related to behavioural styles (like DiSC®) because it involves two of the same parameters: (1) How ‘friendly” they perceive the environment to be. (2) How much personal power they believe they have in this interaction. Buying behaviour and behavioural styles are different because buying behaviour involves two further parameters, past experience and buying beliefs.

Past Experience
Past experience is a huge determinant in buying behaviour. We retain long memories of sales interactions – particularly unhappy ones - and these significantly influence our approach next time we have to purchase what we see as a similar product. You need to be aware that products that the client sees as similar can appear totally unrelated to you. For example, you might see absolutely no connection between purchasing new software for their business and buying a replacement kitchen appliance – but, to them, they are virtually identical. They are both situations where they have little knowledge or interest in the product, no confidence in being able to make the right choice and they resent having to spend the money in the first place.

Buying Beliefs
Regardless of our personality type, we all have set beliefs about how we need to act in a buying role. Often these beliefs vary depending on the product. I have known people who are generous as saints when dealing with their local shopkeeper but like Genghis Kahn when buying a new car. This all comes back to their beliefs about the trustworthiness of a particular industry. Sometimes, these are based on past experience, but, more often they are driven by stereotypes. They expect real estate agents to embellish the property and motor vehicle salespeople to be loose with the truth – so they are cynical and untrusting. They expect wait staff to be knowledgeable and honest with their food and drink advice so they follow their suggestions on the chef’s special and a wine to match. I’m not saying these stereotypes are justified (sorry to my friends in real estate and the motor trade); but that is the reality.

So, What Can You Do?
Recognise there are five buyer behaviours (as identified in the TILT! Sales & Sales Management Training Programs):

Emotive: Driven by impulse and emotion. Their past buying experiences have been mostly positive and pleasant. They probably have more ‘bad’ buys than the average because of their impulsive nature, but don’t tend to dwell on the negatives. Their belief is: “I’m only here once, so I might as well enjoy it. If I don’t it won’t be there next time.”

Offensive: Always trying to keep you on the back foot. Their past buying experiences: have been generally positive, in their eyes. They remember every negative one as a defeat. Their belief is: “This is win-lose…and I’m not going to lose. Nothing personal, it’s just business.”

Cautious: Needs proof of claims and past evidence of success. Their past buying experiences have been disappointing because the salespeople were, in general, unprofessional. Their belief is: “If they expect me to spend my money with them, they better get it right.”

Appeaser: Says whatever you want to hear and hides negative thoughts and emotions from you. Their past buying experiences have been generally positive, with one or two stand-out negative experiences. They don’t believe they have the confidence to confront a pushy salesperson.

Altruistic: Driven by their desire for fairness and concern for others. Their past buying experiences are less relevant with this type, as they tend to see each buying challenge separately. Their belief is: “If I’m fair and reasonable with people, in general, they will be the same with me.”

There is one question you should ask as early as the relationship will allow: “How did it go when you bought your current…? Or “What was it like for you last time you got something like this?” Any question that uncovers a customer’s past experience and their level of trust gives you valuable information about how you should build the sales relationship with them. And if it’s negative, that’s okay, because you have a fantastic opportunity to create a unique impression and quickly build trust by treating them the exact opposite to what they expect.

Understanding how customers like to buy provides the most useful information in helping them to buy – not be sold to – in the way that they prefer.


Article Contributed by Kevin Ryan, an international speaker , workshop leader and author with Training Edge International. He is a business communication expert specialising in the areas of employee and client engagement, sales, humour intelligence and presentation skills.
Email : kevin.ryan@trainingedgeasia.com
Website : www.trainingedgeasia.com

One + One Doesn’t Always = Two

In referral marketing you’re rarely alone - there’s you, your referral partner and the person they’re referring you to. This makes sense so far. I also know that it takes all three components working in harmony to make it happen.

You know that there are people out there who need and or want your services and there are also people who don’t know about you specifically and would still benefit from your services. Your network must be an active group of committed connectors, people genuinely willing to listen to others they are in relationship with and willing to take action on your behalf

It’s time to build a referral network! It’s time to get out, meet new people (obviously the right new people), strategically building credible relationships over time and then educate and develop them as motivated referral sources. Sadly, It’s not as easy as it sounds!

Building business by referral can’t be done by waving a magic wand, however like the theatre of magic, there is a process underpinning the “magic”. There is a process or methodology to create the referral outcome you seek. So just as the magician waves the magic wand, the referral marketing specialist uses their tried and true techniques and processes to create a referral marketing network.

I’ve met many people who tell me they are just natural networkers, they bond easily with others and find it easy to build natural business relationships. While you can be a “born networker” you are still going to have to get out of your cave to apply the process of building a referral network. The funny thing is, so many of us are “cave dwellers” and don’t even know it!

For some cave dwellers a day unfolds like this. They wake up in their cave apartment. They hop into their mobile cave on four wheels and drive to their cave office. During the day they may leave that cave to visit other caves nearby, the post office cave, the coffee shop cave or perhaps the restaurant cave. The thing is it may seem like they are getting out an about…in reality however they are simply hanging out with a tribe of cave dwellers.

Living life as a cave dweller doesn’t mean One + One = Two, actually it still equals ONE!

You can break out of this lonely existence with a better purpose and a clear direction. At your next networking function follow these five steps and you can escape your cave:

1. Set goals before you attend a networking function, aim to meet at least one or perhaps more people depending on the size of the function.
2. Spend quality time with each person you meet to learn a little about them and their business. Be sure to share something about yourself as well.
3. Listen carefully, focus only on the person you are speaking to and participate in the conversation.
4. If you have made a strong connection:
a. Schedule a meeting with the people that could be prospective referral partners or clients.
b. Schedule a face to face introduction when you’ve identified needs that one of your referral partners can potentially help them with.
5. Send a thank you card to everyone that you connect strongly with. You never know who they know and it increases the likelihood that you will be remembered long after the event.

Remember that building a referral network will require a serious investment of your most precious commodity, time. However investing time will be worth the effort and providing you use it wisely it will return rewards for your efforts.

A lot of business owners spend more than just time on getting more business, they invest large sums of money in marketing and advertising campaigns. Others rely on old fashioned cold calling with dubious results. Research by sales professionals show that using the cold calling technique returns about a 3% success rate. If you don’t have the money to spend on expensive marketing campaigns or don’t like cold calling, then referrals are definitely the way to go!

So put your magic wand away and take a page out the magician’s handbook and learn the secrets of your trade. All good magicians know that a good magic “trick” is simply a process which is well practiced and systematically delivered with a flourish and takes advantage of the relationship the magician has with their audience.

Doing business by referral is about a systematic approach, it’s about implementing a process and most of all it’s about relationships. So if you practice and implement the process of referral marketing One + One will actually = Two.

Hopefully that formula will lead to many more referrals in your business.

Article Contributed by Lindsay Adams, International Speaker with Training Edge International and President of Global Speakers Federation
Website : www.trainingedgeasia.com
Email : Lindsay.adams@trainingedgeasia.com