"“We needed three dollars and I didn’t know where to get it. While we were in a quandary I espied a valuable dog on the street. I picked up the canine and sold him to a man for three dollars. Afterward the dog owner of the dog came along and I got three dollars from him for telling where the dog was. So I went back and gave the three dollars to the man whom I sold it to, and I have lived honestly ever since.”
- Mark Twain
Hat Tip: David Askaripour. David has a great series of blog posts on how his first business, which he invested $12,000 into, was unsuccessful. I've definitely made the same mistakes and seen others do it too. Hopefully, by reading his posts you can avoid the same mistakes.
NYU is having its annual entrepreneurship conference this upcoming Saturday and its only $10 for students to attend. If you're in the New York City area, I would highly recommend going. The keynote speakers are the founders of Kinko's and Marquis Jets.
The most important tools you need to be aware of are:
Getting Started
Keeping On
If you do not get started and follow through on what's important to you, then all the other tools of life are useful. While there are techniques one can use to get started better, in the end, we all come across challenges and you'll never be able to just turn a switch. There's no secret to action or persistence other than just doing it.
This is my first audio post ever. I created it using my normal telephone and a free service called Odeo. The post is a reflection on my recent experiences. Rather than sounding like a radio program, it sounds more like an end-of-day conversation that I would have with a friend.
One of the hardest parts of starting a business is getting those first customers. Without a long track-record, potential customers may not want to take the risk of you going out of business or of you not providing top-quality service. Some practices that I've seen over the years are:
Use 'We' instead of 'I'
Have a live person answering your phone calls
Have a professional-sounding address
Have a 1-800 Number
Have an older person recording for your voice mail greeting
Spend extra $ on touch points (business cards, brochure, letterhead, etc.)
Wear corporate-style clothes
Apply for awards
Ask for testimonials
Personal Gripe: When talking with another entrepreneur, hold back on the puffery!! They can see right through it!
