Project: Be Unpredictable

Sometimes you have to use multiple platforms and methods. Sometimes you have to hire to fill every C-Level position. Sometimes you have to be mainstream. Sometimes you end up losing a bit of spark from your original plan.

Worse case scenario, there are moments when people know what you are going to do before you do. That’s because sometimes being an entrepreneur turns into being cost effective. It turns more profitable than you could have imagined. 

But as risk-takers there comes a time you have to be unpredictable. You have to take several steps back to the drawing board rather than turn to the Board.

Yeah, you’re thinking, everybody has already done it before; you just have to figure out a way to do it differently, even if that differently means to speak it in your voice.

No one thinks the way you do; use it to your advantage.

So how can you be unpredictable? (Isn’t reading about that and planning for that predictable?)

Be Open to Timeframes – A company that is set in stone and has a rigid five-year plan will miss too many opportunities. Time, technology and we as humans are changing so rapidly we can’t plan too far in advance. Leave room for adaptability and you’ll leave room for unpredictability.

Be Open to Advice – Whether it’s good, bad, left field, right field, from the old or really young, it doesn’t mean you have to take it, but any advice will help guide you to who you really are and who you want to be. And once you intake advice you act – unpredictably – on which you feel is wisest.

Be Open to Failure – Although it looks right in your mind and on the drawing board, success doesn’t always transfer to real life or happen overnight. Out of failure comes resilience, the need to be innovative and the room to be unpredictable.

-The Green Couch

Project: What Would Barbara Corcoran Say?

They all want her money – at least the little fish swimming in the tank with big Sharks do. Even if they would like to have their pick of Sharks, they need an any investor because their big idea turned into a budding business. However, it took off before they could keep up. So the aspiring entrepreneurs who have caught the eyes and bank accounts of the Sharks have a lot for which to be thankful. But it’s not just wealth that they need to bank. Because it’s not just what you do with money, it’s how you do it. Behind every Shark’s dollar, are days of hard work and mental acuity that built their empire.

Wouldn’t you like to bank a little of that wealth too?

Sharp, witty, wise and an established entrepreneur, Barbara isn’t just worth $80 million. She has much to say about life. As a mom, businesswoman, investor, television personality, speaker, investor, consultant, syndicated columnist and author she has learned the art of when to talk and when to listen. But most of all, she knows business and she means business.

And she wants to pass that wealth of knowledge on to us:

• In business, you're the Chief Salesman. Create a sense of demand, rather than waiting to have demand.

• Taking chances almost always makes for happy endings.

• There’s no better motivation in the world than someone that insults you.

• Don’t you dare underestimate the power of your own instinct.

• Finding opportunity is a matter of believing it’s there

• My best successes came on the heels of failures.

• The difference between successful people and others is how long they feel sorry for themselves.

• You can’t fake passion.

Have you found your passion? How are you pursuing it? When you need a little pep in your step, think: What would Barbara Corcoran Say?

-The Green Couch