Accidental Entrepreneur

I'm an accidental entrepreneur. I didn't mean to do it. It just happened. Really.

I'm not saying I'm any good at being an entrepreneur, but if I am at all, it's because it wasn't in my plans. I had no dream of being my own boss or having a company or my name on the sign out front. None of that mattered. So I kind of stumbled into it and looked at it with a fresh, almost child-like manner.

My story is not unique. Many people have started out in one direction and ended up very happy doing something they never contemplated for a living.

So maybe that means when we're asked to do something different or try our hand at a job or task we've never considered doing before, it just may end up being what we do best and what we love doing most.

Barry LaBov
LaBov & Beyond
www.labov.com

Why isn't there more entrepreneurial thinking at dealerships?

You'd think that dealerships would be a hotbed for entrepreneurial behavior. That's what manufacturers that use dealers expect: the manufacturer builds something and the dealer sells it. By why is there so much friction between those two entities?

One answer is that dealerships quite often are not entrepreneurial. Sure, they started out that way when Dad or Grandpa or Grandma founded them. But today, most dealerships are family businesses and it's the second or even third generation that is in charge. Those second and third generation folks are smart, but quite often they're a different breed. They're more conservative, less risk-taking. They are focused are maintaining the business, less on growing it.

Sometimes dealerships are started by enthusiasts or technical people, such as engineers or mechanics. Again, they may be brilliant, but thinking like an entrepreneur is a stretch for them.

It's time we realized that training is an answer--but not the traditional product, technical or soft-skills training. We need a new kind of training and development: to awaken the entrepreneur at our dealerships or at least open their eyes to entrepreneurial thinking.

Barry LaBov
LaBov & Beyond
www.labov.com

Dealership salespeople or entrepreneurs?

Fewer people are walking into dealerships to shop today. That's the bad news. The good news is when a person goes to a dealership today, he or she is more likely to be serious about buying something.

Still that's not enough to keep most dealership salespeople afloat. There is one other thing they can do:

Think like like an entrepreneur. Join business clubs, conduct customer events, create your own specials or promotions, etc. The best dealership salesperson I met told me he spent very little time waiting for prospects to walk through the door. The bulk of his time was focused on his existing clientele, making sure they were happy, and of course, finding out if they had referrals or other needs.

Why not think like an entrepreneur? I think most salespeople assume it will require more time. But it doesn't have to. It is scary because it involves reaching out to people and being vulnerable to them saying "no thanks." It does require dealing with different types of people at business clubs, but so what?

The options are to wait for the next person walking through the door or to go out and build your business (and while you're building your business, a few people may also walk through the door).

Barry LaBov
LaBov & Beyond
www.labov.com

What if your client doesn't like or can't afford your idea?

When the economy was stronger, it was simple if you had a service business: a client asked for a price for you to do something. You gave them a price and if they approved, you got the business. If not, you waited for the next call.

Now, there are less calls from clients. Now, you have to actually consider bringing ideas to them to see if they have an interest. And they may like your idea but not have the money for it. So...

Now is the time to take entrepreneurialism to a higher level. If the client doesn't have the money but you're sure that your idea would be a real money maker--could you do it and make all the profit on a project? Or could you partner with the client and share costs and profits?

If we're entrepreneurs, shouldn't we be doing this?


Barry LaBov, CEO
LaBov and Beyond
www.labov.com

Richard Branson on Entreprenuerialism

Richard Branson was just interviewed on the web and told us what we small business owners love to hear: that the recession is not our fault and that we will be the guys that get the nation/world out of the recession. He went on to say that entrepreneurs have the right mindset needed to deal with times like these.

You gotta love Branson, he went from Virgin Records to Virgin Airlines and now onto Virgin Bride (yes, a bridal shop). With his British accent and rock and roll looks, he's the closet thing to a Business "Beatle." He has the "nod factor"--everything he says sounds so good, you want to nod in agreement.

I think there's an opportunity for entrepreneurs that he neglected to mention. Yes, we have to think "small and entrepreneurial" to compete against the big companies, stay alive and hopefully thrive.

But our biggest opportunity may be in helping those large companies think entrepreneurially--those large corporations need someone to awaken them to the beauty of thinking "small."


\http://www.openforum.com/dtw/video_multi_richardbranson.html?campaignid=OF2_ola_sb