InterviewGetting started as an entrepreneur| 00:04 |
Jeff: Hi I am Jeff Layton, training
producer at lynda.com, and I am sitting
| | 00:07 |
here with Dave Crenshaw.
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As an author, speaker, and CEO coach,
Dave has helped thousands of clients worldwide
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to build successful businesses.
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Today I am going to be getting his
insights on what it takes to be a
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successful entrepreneur.
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So let's say I am just getting started.
I have a great idea for a business.
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How do I actually get started?
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What are the first steps?
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Dave: Well, the first thing and this is a
common issue that people have when they
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want to start a business is you
need to understand the difference between an
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idea and an opportunity.
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A lot of people have an idea.
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They say, oh I want to start my own
business either because people have told
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them they should be in business for
themselves, or maybe they just have an
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idea for an invention.
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But there is a difference
between an idea and an opportunity.
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Just getting the idea in your head
doesn't necessarily mean that it's a great
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time for you to get into business, that
you have the expertise that you need, that
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you have the capital that you need to succeed.
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So what I tell people when they say I
am thinking of going into business is I
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ask them to really analyze--is there
a market for what they want to sell?
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Do they have the capital
that they need to succeed?
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Do they have the expertise in the area?
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All of those things sort of play
into deciding whether or not it's an
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opportunity, instead of just a great
idea and just strike out on your own.
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| Finding focus| 00:00 |
Jeff: Do you have any advice
you consider most important, Dave?
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Dave: Yeah, if there is one most
important piece of advice that I would give to
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entrepreneurs, it is they should focus.
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Focus as much as possible on one business.
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It's so common when I meet entrepreneurs
that I ask them how many businesses
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do they have, and they sort of get this
grin on their face, and they talk about
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two or three or maybe
four different businesses.
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When you do that you are creating a
situation where you are going to switch
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tasks, not so much in the little tasks of
the day, but you are going to switch back
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and forth between all these
different business ideas that you have.
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The most successful entrepreneurs that
I've met have one business, and they stick
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to it, and they master that business all
the way until harvest, until they have
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the payoff. Then they move on to the
next business, or they at least have handed
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it off to someone else, and then
they move on to the next business.
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So that's the first and most important
role of entrepreneurship is to focus.
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| Increasing product awareness| 00:00 |
Jeff: Let's say I have what I think is
a great product or service but not many
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people know about it.
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How do I go about making
people aware of my product?
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Dave: Well the first thing you need
to start with is the target market.
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The target market are those group of
people that would be most interested
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in your product.
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So let's say that I'm creating--
I'm just making something up here--
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I'm creating a new kind of doll, right.
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I want to choose the target market
that's most likely to buy that doll.
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So it might be moms, but I might want
to get more specific. What kind of mom?
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How many children does she have?
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And the more targeted I can be in
the market that I am addressing and the
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product that I am creating, the easier
it's going to be for me to market to them.
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One of the common errors that I see
from new entrepreneurs is--I will ask them
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what's your market, and they will say,
oh well everyone or something like that.
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And if everyone is your
market then no one is your market.
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So first of all you identify the
market. Then the next question is where
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does that market gather?
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Where do they come together?
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So again using the example of the doll
with the moms I would say where does this
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group of moms come together, and where
they come together is an opportunity for
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marketing, is an opportunity to get in
front of them, to share the message, to
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market to them directly.
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It's much more complex than that but
it can be boiled down into two things:
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target market and exposure to the
target market, and usually if you can identify
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the first one the second
one becomes much easier.
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| Bringing in investors| 00:00 |
Jeff: Do you have any opinion
about bringing in angel investors or
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venture capitalists?
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Dave: That's a great question and really
you're better off bootstrapping as long as
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you can, and for those that are
unfamiliar, bootstrapping is that you are going
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to do it with your own money,
with you own blood, sweat, and tears.
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I actually was mentored by many angel
investors, and angel investors again for
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those who are unfamiliar are those who
will make smaller investments of capital
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to help your business get off the ground.
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I know how those guys and women
think, and one of the things that they are
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looking for is do you
have investment in the game?
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Do you have skin in the game?
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Have you extended yourself?
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Now that sounds really strange, but
what they want to see is that you were
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willing to put out all of your
credit cards and that you were willing to put
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yourself in debt to make this business
succeed. Because if you are willing to
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put yourself in debt to make the
business succeed, then they know that you are
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going to continue to extend yourself.
You're going to do whatever it takes to make it work.
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So that's the first thing that I would say is
bootstrap as long as you can
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and then if you still feel that you need the help,
then you're going to be more successful when you go
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to the angel investors. The worst thing that you could
possibly do is start a business and go out
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looking for financing from someone like that
right in the beginning, because either
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A) you're not going to get it because you haven't
shown the initiative or B) you're going to get it
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and you're going to give up way too much of the
business as a result of getting financing too early.
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| Pitching to investors| 00:00 |
Jeff: Do you have any thoughts on pitching?
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Dave: The first thing to keep in mind
if you are pitching someone is that you
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are the one pitching.
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Occasionally, entrepreneurs will say,
well I am not very articulate, I can't
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really talk about my business.
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So I'm going to get someone else to do
it for me. That's a mistake because what
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the angel investor or even the venture
capitalist is truly investing in when all is
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said and done is you.
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And they want to see that you have a
vision, that you have a plan, and that you
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are passionate about it,
and you are committed to it.
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Even if you are not the most eloquent
person in the world if you can come from
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a place of commitment and passion,
they are going to be much more likely to
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listen to you.
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So that's the first thing
is that you make the pitch.
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The second thing is to be prepared.
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You must have a business plan.
You must have financials.
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Now again from my experience working
with those angel investors, they are going
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to look at your financials, your
projections about how the business is going to
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do, and they are going to throw them out.
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They are not going to believe
anything you say because honestly they are
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probably not going to happen that way.
But they want to see that you did it, that
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you know how to do the process, and that
you've gone through the decision making
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and the analysis necessary to see
whether or not the business can succeed.
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So you need to have a plan, you need to
have the financials, and I would just say,
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you know, speak from your heart.
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Sometimes people feel that they need
to practice and prepare when pitching
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to angel investors.
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I can guarantee you that you
are not going to be prepared.
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They are going to ask you questions
you did not want to hear; that you were
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not prepared to hear.
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So just come and be yourself, and
just speak as articulately as you can from
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your own space.
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I actually know a business owner, a
client of mine that I work with, and she was
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told about a pitching event for angel investors.
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She showed up at the last minute, she
didn't know what was going on, and she just
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started talking about her business that
she had been running for many years, and
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she was passionate about it.
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She got I think was four or five
offers out of that, which to me again
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illustrates the importance of
representing yourself and just being yourself, and
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angel investors can see that.
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| Planning ahead| 00:00 |
Jeff: As a business owner, how far ahead
should I be planning out, should I have a
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1-year plan, a 5-year plan, a 30-year?
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Dave: You should have all of those.
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I usually look at things
quarterly when I work with my clients.
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Every quarter I sit down with them. We
review what we accomplished in the last
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quarter, and then we say, what are we
going to accomplish in the next quarter?
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In fact, one of things that I do to
help businesses make progress is I talk
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about the difference
between a vision and a target.
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Vision is a clear description of
where you want your business to be, and I
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usually aim for five years from now.
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It's kind of hard to project your
business beyond five years, so we have a clear
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written document about one page.
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This says this is what the business
is going to be five years from now.
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Then we break that down backwards.
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We work backwards from that and create
small, byte-sized targets that were going
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to hit quarter by
quarter to get ourselves there.
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It's really easy to get discouraged as
a business owner if you don't feel like
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you are making progress.
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So if you set small, manageable targets,
things that you know you can hit but you
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are going to stretch just a little
bit, and then you hit them; that's actually
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very motivational and keeps you moving.
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So the answer is yes you want to have
all of those plans, but the big chunks
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that I would look at are five
years, one year, and quarterly.
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| The biggest mistake entrepreneurs make| 00:00 |
Jeff: What are some of the biggest
mistakes that you have seen entrepreneurs make?
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Dave: One of the first biggest mistakes I
have seen comes down to partnerships, and I
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would include in this family partnerships.
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It is very common for people to feel
like because they are not going to have
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enough time to get everything done; I
need a partner; I need to bring someone in.
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Unfortunately, most of the time
partnerships are ill conceived and not
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documented very well. It's sort of let's
just go in to business together and see
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if we succeed, but they don't
clearly define what the rules are.
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They don't have a contract.
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They don't have buyout clauses.
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What happens when someone
gets hurt or incapacitated?
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What are we going to do?
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All of these things come into a partnership.
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You know what's the decision-making
process the partners are going to follow?
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So honestly I advise people to try to
avoid having a partnership if possible, but
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if they are going to have a partnership,
to clearly document it, to clearly have a
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division of labor, to have a contract
spelled out, and get everything in writing.
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It's easy to be really friendly and
feel like oh you know we are just friends,
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we are just in this together,
when there is no money being made.
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The moment money starts to get made in
the business that's when things start to
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get a little strange.
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So if you can get it in writing in
advance, you are going to find that the
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partnership goes much more smoothly.
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| Understanding the importance of company culture| 00:00 |
Jeff: How important is company culture?
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Dave: Oh, that's a great question.
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Company culture is something really
near and dear to my heart. In fact, one
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person who endorsed my book Invaluable
is Tony Hsieh of Zappos, and Tony, in my
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opinion, right now is the
master of corporate culture.
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It is huge. Corporate culture is
honestly more important than most anything
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you can do.
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It is even really more important than
just systems by themselves because it
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dictates how the employees are going to perform.
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In fact, I think lynda.com is a
great example of good corporate culture.
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There is a very strong vibe in this
business and that was created by a very
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strong leader, and the businesses that
I have seen are most successful are made
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by leaders who put culture as one of
the things that they want to create, and
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they craft it or they work with
their employees to craft that culture.
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I once asked Tony, Tony Hsieh of Zappos,
what would you say to businesses who
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believe that they need to spend all
of this money on brand to develop their
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brand and brand loyalty?
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And he said something that was really
interesting; he said I would tell them
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that brand is a lagging
indicator of company culture.
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| Thinking about competition| 00:00 |
Jeff: How much should I be spending my
time looking at what the competition is doing?
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Dave: It's a great question and I can only
answer that by saying, what's your philosophy?
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I have met many entrepreneurs
who are highly successful in being
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extremely competitive.
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They are constantly researching their
competitors and looking at what they are
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doing, and then coming up with
ways to change their offerings.
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So that it one-ups their competitors,
and they are successful that way. But
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personally I don't focus on my
competition, and I know other entrepreneurs who
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don't, and they're also successful.
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I find that it's better for me to focus
on my customers, rather than my competition.
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If I focus on how to make my
customers as loyal and as happy and just crazy
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raving loyal fans, it doesn't
matter what my competitors are doing.
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My customers are going to stay loyal, and
they are going to refer business to me,
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and personally I just find it to be a
happier place to run a business than to
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not focus on the competitors.
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But again it can work both ways.
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What really matters is that you have a
strategy and that you work that strategy.
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| Exploring entrepreneurship fundamentals| 00:00 |
Jeff: Dave, what would you say are the
basic fundamentals of being an entrepreneur?
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Dave: Well certainly, it's the areas
where a lot of times business owners neglect,
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things like finance, money.
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You know, what are your numbers?
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I ask business owners a lot of
times, you know are you winning or are
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you losing?
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And that's sort of how I view the
financials in a business. It's not that money is
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the most important thing;
it's that money is the score.
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It lets us know how well we are doing.
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How can you know whether or not you
are winning or losing a basketball game
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without a scoreboard?
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Well, we want to know what our wins were,
our scores in terms of income, and we
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want to know what our losses are.
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But if an entrepreneur isn't generating
financial reports on at least a monthly
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basis and reviewing those reports,
they're really sort of flying blind.
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So that's one of the basics
that they need to have in place.
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Another fundamental of being an
entrepreneur is management--is learning what it
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means to manage other people, learning
what it means to truly delegate, and how
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to inspire the people around you.
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I think a lot of entrepreneurs assume
that their employees need to be like them,
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that they need to have the same personality.
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They don't, and thank goodness they
don't, or otherwise we would have lots of
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crazy entrepreneurs running around.
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Employees come from a different
perspective, and entrepreneurs should recognize
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that it's their opportunity to teach employees.
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A lot of times entrepreneurs are
very self-motivated people that are into
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self-help literature and reading
materials, and I am not saying that other
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individuals professionally don't do that.
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But entrepreneurs are sort
of ravenous beasts for that.
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They love to get all of
that material that they can.
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But are they sharing that with their employees?
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Are they teaching other people?
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And are they leading by
example with what they do?
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So management is another one of those
fundamentals that's so important, and
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then sales.
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And I think deep down everyone
recognizes that sales are so important for
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business, but a lot of times
entrepreneurs sail by the seat of their pants.
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It's sort of just whatever I need to
say, whatever I need to do to make a
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sale, I'm going to do it.
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That works to a point, but once the
business starts to mature, once you have
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multiple employees, you can make a
really big mess if you don't teach
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consistent solid system.
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And on the other side, if you have a
consistent system; if you take what you
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do as an entrepreneur that makes you
successful in sales, and you document it,
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and you train other people how to do
that, then you can replicate that same
| | 02:45 |
success with other people.
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So it's sort of that combination of
systems but also really putting emphasis on
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the sales side of things and
getting your sales systems consistent.
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| Fostering customer relationships| 00:00 |
Jeff: Let's say I have some customers
that did business with me three or four years
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ago, but they have not come back.
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How do I reestablish a
relationship with those customers?
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Dave: I like that question because a lot
of times business owners are only focused;
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entrepreneurs are only
focused on getting new business.
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And actually that's very costly and
very time consuming to sort of drag new
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people through your door the first time.
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So if you have old customers that you have
lost contact with that is a great opportunity.
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It is an easier way to bring in new
business so to speak, and what you can do is
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you can reach out to them and talk to
them about changes that have happened.
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What you have done differently in the past.
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Give them a special offer, something
that says hey you know you were a great
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customer in the past, we'd love to
have you back, and so we are going to offer
| | 00:50 |
you something that we
don't offer to anyone else.
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But you do it from a standpoint of
hey we miss you, we want you back.
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I don't think that even in the era of
social media that brand loyalty is gone.
| | 01:02 |
I think brand loyalty is still there.
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I think that it's just trust
that's the harder thing to develop now.
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And so when you already have a
relationship with someone, you want to rebuild
| | 01:15 |
that trust with them and say hey come back
to us and become part of our family again.
| | 01:20 |
Jeff: What if you have broken that
trust at one point? Is there a way to repair
| | 01:24 |
that? Can you get that back?
| | 01:26 |
Dave: The first thing to do is to not hide
if you have broken the trust in the past.
| | 01:30 |
For instance, let's say that someone put
something on social media about my restaurant.
| | 01:36 |
They say I had a horrible experience;
my server was rude that kind of thing.
| | 01:41 |
That's an opportunity; that's an
opportunity to not hide; to not say, oh
| | 01:47 |
make this go away.
| | 01:48 |
How can I delete it?
| | 01:49 |
How can I get it removed? But instead
to go on that side and say: Oh we are so
| | 01:54 |
sorry that that happened. That is not
acceptable. Please contact us at this
| | 01:58 |
number, or send us an email, and
we will make it right for you.
| | 02:02 |
People see that. They see that kind of
exchange when something negative happens,
| | 02:07 |
and they say you know what everyone
makes mistakes. And businesses especially
| | 02:11 |
make mistakes because they are even
more human than humans to some degree, but
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it's how you respond to
the mistakes that you make.
| | 02:20 |
That really creates the culture of your
business and creates how people view it
| | 02:25 |
and perceive it in the marketplace.
| | 02:27 |
So when mistakes happen, when you do
things wrong, admit it, own up to it, and
| | 02:33 |
then do something to make it right.
| | 02:36 |
And, and I like the idea of then go the
extra mile. You make it right, and then
| | 02:39 |
you do something beyond what was
expected, and then you take those negative
| | 02:44 |
experiences and actually turn
them into very, very positive ones.
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| Marketing with social media| 00:00 |
Jeff: So with social media is that
something that I as a entrepreneur should be
| | 00:05 |
trying to direct the message
that's out there about my product?
| | 00:09 |
Should I be trying to steer the conversation?
| | 00:11 |
Dave: That's a great question, and
social media to me is really exciting.
| | 00:16 |
And I think it's exciting because in
the past, the conversation has been
| | 00:21 |
controlled by businesses just like you
said. You know can I shape the message,
| | 00:25 |
make everything look positive.
| | 00:27 |
Social media has turned everything
on its head, and it's not a fad, it's
| | 00:31 |
something that's here to stay, and it's
only going to get bigger and more important.
| | 00:36 |
So what that means is that as a
business owner my attention needs to be less on
| | 00:42 |
marketing and more on customer loyalty.
| | 00:45 |
It needs to be less on getting the word
out, and more on creating an experience
| | 00:49 |
for people that they are really
excited to tell other people about.
| | 00:54 |
So the first thing that I would
say before you even start looking at
| | 00:58 |
Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, all these
other things, the question is, do you
| | 01:02 |
have a good product?
| | 01:04 |
Do you have something that people are
going to talk about in a positive way and
| | 01:07 |
are going to be excited to talk about?
| | 01:09 |
Because social media is natural. It's organic.
| | 01:13 |
It's just the voice of the people, and
the voice of the people is going to be
| | 01:18 |
very truthful; sometimes harsh about
how well your product is performing.
| | 01:26 |
But if you can put your attention
there and on keeping them happy, and going
| | 01:30 |
the extra mile for your customers--that
will just naturally reflect itself in
| | 01:35 |
the social media.
| | 01:37 |
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| Dealing with discouragement| 00:00 |
Jeff: What do I do if things are rough in the
business, and then I am feeling a bit discouraged?
| | 00:06 |
Dave: Yeah discouragement is
very common for entrepreneurs.
| | 00:09 |
It's hard. You have to be honestly a little
bit insane to want to own your own business.
| | 00:16 |
You have to be a little bit foolish
and not have someone say, you know what,
| | 00:20 |
this is probably not a good idea. And
that's the great thing about entrepreneurs
| | 00:23 |
is that they are willing to proceed
right ahead with it, in spite of how foolish
| | 00:28 |
it may seem from the outside.
| | 00:30 |
But part of that is that you are
naturally going to have discouragement. It's a
| | 00:34 |
roller-coaster ride, go up and down
constantly of, you know, oh we got these
| | 00:38 |
great sales, oh no we didn't get
these sales, oh you know if things are
| | 00:42 |
fantastic in the business, we just
got great PR, oh I can't make payroll.
| | 00:47 |
This is the roller-
coaster ride of an entrepreneur.
| | 00:48 |
A couple of things can help with that.
The first thing is to make sure that you
| | 00:55 |
have regular vacations set up for yourself.
| | 00:58 |
It's so easy to neglect your own
mental health and physical strength when you
| | 01:05 |
own your own business.
| | 01:06 |
So by establishing vacations and
little breaks, even within the day, that gives
| | 01:12 |
you sort of an oasis from
everything that's going on.
| | 01:15 |
Another thing that really helps
is to have a coach or a mentor.
| | 01:19 |
I tell my clients that I work with that
part of my job is to be the sounding
| | 01:25 |
board for them; the vent for them.
| | 01:27 |
There are two truths that are
universal: it's lonely at the top and it's
| | 01:32 |
difficult to self-correct.
| | 01:33 |
So you can get rid of that loneliness
at the top by finding someone else that
| | 01:38 |
you can converse with.
| | 01:39 |
Some entrepreneurs have mastermind
groups that they go to regularly.
| | 01:43 |
All of these things are really helpful,
so that you are not bottling it up inside
| | 01:47 |
and just thinking about that you are all alone.
| | 01:52 |
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| Finding a balance| 00:00 |
Jeff: What do I do if I feel like the
business is running my life rather than the reverse.
| | 00:05 |
What if I have no personal time?
| | 00:07 |
Dave: That's a really common problem.
| | 00:09 |
It's amazing to me how
often I talk to business owners.
| | 00:13 |
And I say what do you do for fun?
| | 00:16 |
And they sort of get this blank look on
their face where they don't know what it
| | 00:20 |
is; they have lost that completely,
and that's a sign that the business is
| | 00:25 |
controlling your life.
| | 00:26 |
So the first place that I would start
with a business owner that feels the
| | 00:30 |
business is controlling their life is
I'd say create a boundary line, create a
| | 00:35 |
time of the day when you are going to
stop and start, and don't cross that line.
| | 00:40 |
Don't allow yourself to cross that line.
| | 00:42 |
When you do that, it actually forces
you to be more creative about how you use
| | 00:48 |
your time and part of that creativity
goes back to something I talk about a lot,
| | 00:53 |
which is the systems
accountability and motivation.
| | 00:55 |
If you have a limit to how much time
you are going to allow yourself to work in
| | 00:59 |
the business, it forces you
to create business systems.
| | 01:03 |
It forces you to create processes and
procedures that you can delegate to other people.
| | 01:08 |
Sometimes people wear a badge of honor,
and say I am going to work as long as it
| | 01:14 |
takes to get the job done.
| | 01:15 |
When in fact it's just lazy
productivity, and in fact gets in a way of the
| | 01:20 |
business developing and growing.
| | 01:23 |
So first create the boundary. Then start
to work on creating systems, and work on
| | 01:28 |
finding ways to offload
responsibilities to other people.
| | 01:33 |
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| Deciding when to move on| 00:00 |
Jeff: Here is a question that may not be
so pleasant: How do I know when it's time
| | 00:04 |
to walk away from this endeavor and move on?
| | 00:09 |
Dave: You know, I have had clients that
have gotten to that point, and the question
| | 00:14 |
that I ask them is, what makes today the day?
| | 00:19 |
You started your business with a vision in mind.
| | 00:22 |
You started with something that you
were determined to achieve. What makes today
| | 00:28 |
the day that you want to give up on your dream?
| | 00:32 |
And sometimes my clients have
had very good answers for that.
| | 00:37 |
But sometimes it's just something that's
been going on that's frustrating to them.
| | 00:42 |
You know, maybe they are moving into a
new location, and it's been a nightmare to
| | 00:47 |
deal with contractors, or whatever it
is. They might be going through just a
| | 00:51 |
moment of struggle and weakness.
| | 00:55 |
So that's the first thing, as I would
sort of gut check. If you as the business
| | 01:00 |
owner are not passionate about your
business, if you don't still believe in it,
| | 01:04 |
no one else is going to believe in it.
| | 01:07 |
But if you are passionate about it and
you believe in it, you are going to keep
| | 01:10 |
driving that thing forward.
| | 01:12 |
So if the passion is gone,
then business is dead.
| | 01:16 |
But if the passion is still there,
then ask yourself, what can I do to move
| | 01:20 |
beyond the inconvenience of the moment?
| | 01:23 |
In my experience
entrepreneurs are very resilient.
| | 01:28 |
They are willing to put up with the
tough times because they believe that there
| | 01:33 |
is a greater good and a greater purpose.
| | 01:35 |
So just ask yourself, do you believe
that it's time to quit? If you believe it's
| | 01:40 |
time to quit, then it's time.
| | 01:42 |
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| Investing in yourself| 00:00 |
Jeff: Any last advice about
investing in yourself then?
| | 00:05 |
Dave: Yeah, and I think the best
investment you can make is in yourself, and already
| | 00:09 |
the fact that someone is listening to
this says a lot about that because that
| | 00:13 |
means they are subscribed to lynda.com.
They recognize that they are the most
| | 00:17 |
valuable asset in their
business, and they are taking the time.
| | 00:21 |
They need to continue to take the time.
The trouble that a lot of people get
| | 00:25 |
into is that they get caught up in the
day-to-day of the business, and then they
| | 00:29 |
stop investing in themselves.
| | 00:31 |
They just start running the business
and handling all the operational things.
| | 00:36 |
You want to set aside time in your
schedule, one to two hours a week, to come to
| | 00:40 |
a place like this and listen to it and
study because you are someone that you
| | 00:46 |
need to invest in. And even if
everything in your business failed and was taken
| | 00:51 |
away from you, you will
not be taken away from you.
| | 00:55 |
And all of the knowledge and
experience that you've had, and there is always
| | 00:59 |
a market for that.
| | 01:00 |
Jeff: Dave, I want to thank you
again for sharing your insights.
| | 01:03 |
Dave: Thanks, Jeff.
Jeff: Thank you.
| | 01:05 |
Thank you for watching us here on
lynda.com, and be sure to check out some of
| | 01:09 |
Dave Crenshaw's other courses
on the Online Training Library.
| | 01:14 |
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