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



'via Blog this'

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.

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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