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Are You Ready to be an Entrepreneur

Written on September 14, 2009 by admin in Entrepreneurship

business_timing Are entrepreneurs born or made? That was the question posed in a great article we saw in The Tennessean not long ago. The author concludes that entrepreneurs are born from experiences.

We agree. Entrepreneurs are not born. They are created from life experiences.

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Hear George & Mary-Lynn share when they knew they were ready to become an entrepreneur on The Bigg Success Show! Click the purple player: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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Here in the U.S., we’re fortunate that our culture fosters entrepreneurship – probably more today than in generations past. It used to be that entrepreneurs were considered renegades. They were the people nobody would hire so they didn’t have a choice.

Now entrepreneurship is a lifestyle option that even the most qualified people make. So what motivates people to strike out on their own?

Career events

Franchisors often see a spike in demand in an area where layoffs are happening. Sometimes we don’t come to entrepreneurship; it comes to us.

It may be career frustration. Many people start their own business because they’re bored with their current occupation. Perhaps they feel like they’ve topped out. They’ve gone as far as they can in their current career so they decide to start something of their own.

Personal motives

Art Williams, the football coach who became a billionaire by building his own insurance business, said he was just “sick and tired of being sick and tired.”

W. Clement Stone, who built an insurance dynasty in the depths of The Great Depression, cites inspirational dissatisfaction as the source for many great achievements.

How do you know you’re ready to start?

Entrepreneuring is a process. Like any process, there has to be a starting point.

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george The desire to be my own boss just consumed me. I had this feeling in my gut that I just couldn’t get rid of. I couldn’t stand not owning my own business. This desire just ate me up and spit me out every single day that I wasn’t in business for myself.

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marylynn For me, it didn’t seem that the opportunities I needed in my corporate career were there any longer. I just couldn’t get where I wanted to be if I didn’t strike out on my own. It was a very, very difficult decision. It was incredibly emotional. But looking at my industry now, I’m glad I jumped into entrepreneurship when I did. r?

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The battle between two fears

We think it comes down to fear. The general population has an overwhelming fear of failure.

Entrepreneurs have a fear of not trying. They just have to know what would happen if they just tested their bigg idea.

You’re ready to be an entrepreneur when your fear of not trying overcomes your fear of failure.

You reach a point where inaction or delay is just not acceptable any longer. You have to go for it. You have to take your shot at bigg success!

How did you know you were ready to strike out on your own?

Share that with us by leaving a comment below, e-mailing us at bigginfo@biggsuccess.com or calling us at 888.455.BIGG (2444).

Thank you so much for reading our post today.

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Please join us next time when we’ll discuss the trap that keeps people from striking out on their own. Until then, here’s to your bigg success!

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Direct link to The Bigg Success Show audio file:
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(Image in today's post by tanyah)

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What’s Your Pick-Up Line?

Written on January 18, 2008 by admin in Business, Communication, Networking, Presentations

Click the arrow to hear today's show: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

We know … we know … pick-up lines are for social settings. However, a great opening line helps you professionally as well.

Listen to the show to hear our opening line. It doesn’t translate well to print. Mary-Lynn also shares the “cheesiest” pick-up line she ever heard.

The paperboy who became a billionaire
W. Clement Stone sold papers as a kid. He became a billionaire by selling insurance door-to-door. He documented what he learned in his great book, The Success System That Never Fails.

Picture this – you respond to a knock at your door. You open it to see a young man pointing to a list of names. You recognize quite a few of them – they’re your friends and neighbors. All this has happened within a split second as he begins to speak:

“I believe this will interest you also.”

He didn’t tell them his name or say, “Hello.” He didn’t ask them how they were doing or talk about the weather. No! He had tested … and tested … and tested. He knew this was his best opening line. It was part of his success system.

Let’s look at three essential components to a great opening line.

#1 – Take the “you” view.
You have to think from the other person’s point of view if you want their attention. You’re probably familiar with the acronym WIIFM – what’s in it for me? Immediately address it because everybody is so busy.

#2 – Engage them.
W. Clement Stone’s opener is intriguing, isn’t it?

You ask yourself, “Why does he think that I’ll be interested? Why were my friends and neighbors interested?”

It’s a disturbing comment! That’s one way to engage people. You may also ask a disturbing question. “Ever notice” how Andy Rooney, with 60 Minutes, does this? Can you hear his voice?

One example of a disturbing question is to ask something that doesn’t ring true. We recently did a show / blog entitled Does It Pay Be Smart?

You say to yourself, “Well, of course it does! So why are they questioning it? What‘s the rest of the story?” Go ahead … check it out …. you know you want to!

You can also engage people by telling a short story that is humorous, gripping, or inspirational.

#3 – Appeal to their emotions.
Let’s go back to the W. Clement Stone story. Picture him at your door again. He delivers his opening line – “I believe this will interest you also” – as he points to his list of your friends and neighbors.

Do you start to worry that you might be left out? That fear of being excluded gets you into the conversation.

This great opening line worked wonders for retailers
Michael Gerber wrote the phenomenal book, The E-Myth Revisited. The “E” stands for entrepreneur, by the way. He talked about opening lines that sales clerks use.

When you walk into a store, if you’re greeted by a clerk, what do they say?

“May I help you?”

How do you respond? Perhaps something like …

“No, thanks … I’m just looking.”

Gerber advised his retail clients to change the question to:

“Have you visited our store before?”

That’s still a simple “yes” or “no”. However, if the customer said, “Yes”, the sales associate would respond:

“Let me show you our specials for regular customers.”

If the customer said, “No”, the clerk replied:

“Let me show you our specials for first-time customers.”

Doesn’t seem like much of a change, does it? The results were anything but small …

Sales increased 16 percent, on average!

What’s your opening line? What works for you? Leave your suggestions in our comment’s section.

Our Bigg Quote was made over 2,500 years ago by Pythagoras, the mathematician and philosopher.

“Do not say a little in many words but a great deal in a few.”

A great opening line will open doors for you. Next time, we’ll discuss how to tap into your hidden potential. Until then, here’s to your bigg success!