Project: Hello My Name Is…

Networking with fellow entrepreneurs is the only way you can get out of the garage. Last week we learned how people like Walt Disney and the creator of Yankee Candle made it big. Little Mike made a candle, and you know how his little light shined? His neighbor saw him and thus his business boomed.

Stage fright lasts only for a few seconds and once you find a way to swallow the frog in your throat you find a way to talk about your passion, about your product or services you will be able to allow your shoulders to loosen.

Here are a few ways how you can begin to network and next week we’ll discuss where you can begin to network.

#1 Stand Up

Begin by introducing yourself and remembering names. When someone introduces himself or herself to you, make sure you catch their name and reiterate it – shake their hand and say their name back to them. Give them a nod and use their name several times during the conversation.  

#2 Follow Up

Exchange business cards and date your new business clients. You do not have to wait three days. You do not have to wait for them to email you first. When you get back to the office, get settled in and  send them a quick but quality filled email. You know, something that sparks conversation and picks up where you might have left off; this shows you listened, heard and processed their information.

#3 Keep Up

Business days are Monday through Friday; there are five of them. Try to not let five of them go between non-essential conversations or meetings. Whether clients or confidants it is important to value the time of others and to earn the respect of your colleagues.

#4 Show Up

Let’s admit it, attending events – informal, creative cocktail, backyard BBQ or black tie formal – at times can be self-serving. Who doesn’t like a good dining in or out experience? More importantly this is great face time - to circulate with established friends, business acquaintances and make new friends (but keep the old!).

#5 Grow Up

Embrace new ideas. Some of those new friends you meet may spark a conversation and bring you back to #1 Stand Up. When you combine all these 5 steps you can magnify the outreach and create a bigger boom for your business. Through networking you get in the know. Moreover, you grow upwards, generate interest, produce fiscal numbers, impact your community and help residents.

How to go about it? We’ve covered that.

What next? Take one step a time to go from local to regional. Check back next week to see how to get there.

-The Green Couch

Project: An Experienced Entrepreneur

Many insurance companies say it takes two years to become an experienced driver.

It has also said that it takes at least two years to determine whether your start-up will maintain stable, encounter traction and have measurable growth. So what is your projection for becoming an experienced entrepreneur? How are you going to go from I want, to I will, to I did?

If you have a dream and you are a risk taker, welcome to the club of entrepreneurs. Here’s a club secret –the first 12 months are most crucial. We do not want to be back seat drivers, but we’d love to share some pointers to get you from point A to point Z.

#1 Believe In Yourself

We are going to be blunt. It is all in or it is nothing. Jump into the frying pan. That does not mean that you gamble all your finances into this new venture. It means that you have to believe that your dream is worth pursuing, that it will have a positive impact and that people can benefit from it. If you do not believe it, then who will?

#2 Moonlight Your Dream

Do not quit your day job, and do not turn your day job into a resource to pursue your dream. When it comes time to pull back from your current occupation, you will know. You will have this burning sensation in your stomach to the heart region. Do not pop any Tums: it is not indigestion. It is just a solid dose of gutsy, only satisfied by risk.

#3 Name That Baby

Name that brainchild of yours and begin nurturing it. At some point you are going to have to quit calling it “my idea,” “my dream” or “my baby.” Now you can confidently start referring to it by its rightful, legal name. Start by registering the company name.

#4 Research And Read About It

You have heart, now let us put some head in it. No matter how original your dream is, the market is saturated with companies that offer products and services that will always compete with your ideology. Focus on how your services and products will stand out, build on that platform and keep crunching numbers and jotting notes!

#5 Keep Your Ears Open

Jump. Fly. Figure it out on the way down. Yes, to all three. But you also have to let others help you out and hold you up for maximum wingspan. You see, there is always, always someone who knows something that you do not. We want to help you; we want to offer you advice, but can only do so because we are in constant contact with people who give us the same amount of insights. Established entrepreneurs will be happy to guide you towards your maximum potential, but sometimes we just have to reach out, invite them to lunch and embrace their leadership skills. Who does not like good food while absorbing food for thought?

But at the end of the day when it gets dark, you plan on pulling an all-nighter, you have to believe in yourself. You can read books or blogs, like ours, about being an entrepreneur, but the truth is you will only learn when you get out there and do it. The earlier you make your mistakes, the quicker you can get on to building a great company.

During those two years of driving, you will face adverse weather conditions. You will learn how to make left turns confidently. You will learn that you do need to respect the oil light, the gaslight and the engine light. You will learn how to read the signs of other drivers; whether they are experienced or not. And it often comes at the risk of your own inexperience and mistakes.

So it is with a new company as well: with a person who has a dream and builds a company on that idea. Passion will fuel your way on the road to success, but experience will steer you along the way. If you are told, “Good judgment comes from experience, but experience comes from bad judgment,” you have been told the truth.

-The Green Couch