4 Common Chords Of Successful Entrepreneurs
Add comment July 25th, 2007
Yes, there is a thread that runs through successful
entrepreneurs. In my interview with best-selling author of
Think and Grow Rich: A Black Choice Dennis Kimbro we discussed
this thread or chord that All Successful Black Entrepreneurs
have.
And if you want to be a successful entrepreneur it is
impossible to not embrace these chords as your own.
Here is what Dr. Kimbro shared with me.
No matter who I interviewed I found 4 common chords in all of
these men and women.
1) They dreamed Big Dreams, they had a dream, a passion,
something they desperately wanted to accomplish in life. They
didnt get in this business to make a killing, to corner the
market or make a whole bunch of money. They worked extremely
hard and over the years of working hard, they finally lifted up
their eyes and you know what they found?
They found that they were standing in a pool of liquid Gold. In
other words as the Bible says, Do these things and then
success would be added unto you. So they went the extra mile,
they kept their shoulder to the wheel, they stayed focused.
2) They were inner directed vs. outer directed. In other words
they werent so quick to believe well meaning friends or family
members who said you cant do this or you cant do that, they
walked to a beat of a different drummer. And thats why the old
poet Robert Frost was so apropos when he wrote years ago, two
roads diverged in a wood, and II took the one less traveled
by, in other words youre unique.
You cant succeed being like everybody else. You must take the
lonely road. Differentiation is the key. That speaks to
differentiation. DIFFERENTIATION IS THE KEY.
Right now there are 21 different ways to market or sell a
product or service, number one is Word of Mouth, number 21 is
Internet, 20 is TV, 19 is Radio, 18 is Magazines.
So whats so different and unique about your product or
service, whats so different and unique about you?
You can walk into any Food Line, you walk into any A&P, you
walk into any Kroger, and you walk into any Publix and go down
the breakfast cereal isle. Right now between Kelloggs and Post
they produce 20 different variations of breakfast cereal. From
Fruit Loops to Cocoa Puffs, Raisin Bran to Special K. Last
years Marketing and operating budget-$1.5 billion dollars to
differentiate all those breakfast cereals.
Right now General Motors manufactures 33 different automobiles,
from the Buick Lesabre to the Hummer. Last years marketing
budget to differentiate all 33 of those automobiles-$2.5
billion dollars.
So youre an Entrepreneur, why does the market place need
another source of supply. Youre not the only one out there
making hamburgers; youre not the only one out there making a
widget. Why does the market place need you?
So, describe your business in 10 words or less. Describe your
business in 5 words or less. Describe your business in 1 word.
What is your Unique Selling Proposition?
3) They dedicated themselves to life long learning. The
information is there. One of the qualities these Entrepreneurs
had in common, they ALWAYS seek out new INFORMATION. In other
words, they are very particular whom they allow in their
CIRCLE.
So who is in your circle? Im speaking rhetorically now. Who is
in your circle? See you cant be the sharpest one in your
group. If youre the sharpest one in your group, you cant
grow, and when you stop growing you begin to die. SO WHOS IN
YOUR CIRLE?
Whos making you feel stupid? Whos making you feel like a
jerk? Whos making you feel like an idiot? Whos compelling
you to go out and get the book, buy the book, read the book,
apply the book, highlight the book, use everything in the book
that youve read, PUT IT INTO ACTION?
You better pray that someone in your group is compelling you to
do that, If not youre DEAD.
Bill Gates, the wealthiest individual in the world right. He is
not going to bring anyone in the circle who cant add to him.
Hes worth what? $44- $50 Billion, you do the math. Thats $100
million dollars a day, $4 million dollars an hour, $67-$70,000
dollars a second.
Hes not going to waste his time with somebody. Who do you
think hes going to allow in his circle, someone that will help
him go forward. But what do we do, we do the same thing over
and over again. Not these Entrepreneursthey know. They know
the two greatest days of your life:
1) The day you were born.
2) The day you know why.
And last but not least, these men and women flat out refuse to
fail. Im not saying that they didnt fail, many of them failed
their way to success, but failure was NEVER a viable option for
them.
There you are.
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