Success

Essentials of Business Success

April 13, 2012 by dwellman 4 Comments

What does it take to make a business successful? How can someone who has never run a business before start, build, and run a successful business? This is a really good question, especially since most businesses still fail in the first five years.

I think that there are some essentials of business success that must be considered by every entrepreneur and new business start-up before they turn on the first light, make the first business contact, or open the door for the very first time.

1.   You must develop an entrepreneurial mindset. With this mindset, you will learn to embrace the concept of delayed gratification. You will have thought through the incredibly important question, “How long can I run this business before making a profit?” You will understand that starting a business requires a higher than normal financial risk tolerance.
2.   You must understand how money works. If you don’t really understand the difference between an asset and a liability your chances for success diminish drastically. Managing money correctly in the early stages of your business sets the standard for success in the long run.
3.   You must understand the basics of marketing your business. With all the options today both online and offline, you need to know what will bring you new customers, what will keep existing customers, and what will not! Too many new businesses collapse under the weight of a trial and error marketing plan.
4.   You must understand what it means to be a leader in your chosen field. Every industry is filled with people “just like everyone else.” What you must do to be successful is to set yourself apart as someone with a unique value as a thought leader in your industry.
5.   You must continue to grow as a person. Everyone enters the world of businesses with personal strengths and weaknesses. Working to improve your talents and skill set will allow you to continue to improve the quality of your business for your current clients as well as for new clients that will be added over time.

With an understanding of these essentials of business success, you will give yourself a more than fighting chance to be one of those companies who survive where others will fail.

What other essentials do you think are important for new business start-ups to know and understand?

Building from the Real You

February 29, 2012 by dwellman Leave a Comment

Social Media Cafe (Photo credit: Cristiano Betta/Flickr photo)

When I first started developing an “online presence” I, like most newbies, thought that everyone who ever put an eBook together must have had something unique to say. I wanted to know everything I could about the ways of social media and more than anything wanted to make a big splash for myself.

What I found over time was that most people writing eBooks are just re-purposing the same set of “must haves/must reads/must do’s” and that making a big splash online wasn’t really me in the first place. I found that what really made me happy was building my business from the real me.

Having gone through this experience, I would like to make three suggestions for anyone trying to build an online presence for either fun or profits (or both):

Start by understanding you! Social media and the internet allow for you to present yourself in anyway that you like. Lasting success online will come by building from the real you.
Build organically! Great conversations with people who know, like, and trust you are always better than “spitting in the wind.”
Learn the proper blend of life and business. I really don’t care what you had for lunch, but do want to know enough about you to suggest your favorite quiescence when we meet for a business lunch. I want to do business with the real you!

What lessons have you learned in your time online? How to you share the real you in the online world? What suggestions do you have for new people/businesses trying to make there way in social media?

Filed Under: Designing Success, Social Media Tagged With: Business, E-book, eBook, Facebook, Internet Marketing, Marketing and Advertising, Social media, Success

Learning THE Secret to Success

February 27, 2012 by dwellman 2 Comments

A few days ago I got a great email from Chris Brogan (it was not a personal email, I’m just on his list!) In that email, Chris explained that the biggest secret that he knows is, “… the “system,” such as it is, wants you to be pacified. It wants you to yearn for those things that you can grasp, but that do not upset any the system’s larger games is of the utmost importance. I mean this with all sincerity, and without any hint of the feeling that “The Matrix” is all around us or other conspiracies. But I know, with all that I know, that all systems of power seek to prevail within their goings on and that neither you nor I are invited to participate.”

With that said, he followed with, “Here’s the secret: once you work hard to understand the systems, you can choose one of three actions: grind yourself against it and lose, or ignore it and seek a smaller system of your own, or disrupt it all and aspire to a much larger success and with it, a system of its own shall take rise, and then you will seek to protect and preserve this new system.”

The problem is that most people make the wrong choice. Banging your head against a system that your not invited to participate in makes no sense. Thinking that you can create a level of success that allows you to create the next great system only happens rarely. So, as Chris went on to say, creating a smaller system of your own is THE secret to success.

I have been “haunted” by this email since I read it (thanks Chris)! But I also realize how true he is and have dedicated myself to understand THE secret for myself and teach it to my clients. What do you think? Does Chris have it right? What would you add to his “haunting” thoughts?

Filed Under: Local Business Success, Small Business Tagged With: Business, Chris Brogan, Las Vegas, Secret, Success, THE Secret

Delivering on Your Life/Business Plan

February 13, 2012 by dwellman 2 Comments

When it comes down to crunch time, the most important factor in success is delivering on your life/business plan. This is where the pieces all fit together and the dream becomes reality!

But, when working hard to deliver your life/business plan, don’t forget that balance in the areas of life and business are what will make the dream work and keep the dream from turning into a nightmare. Story after story abound where entrepreneurs did all the discovery and design work, came up with a powerful life/business plan and then failed miserably in the delivery phase because they lost their balance and fell into the “business success at all costs” mode. In this mode the rest of life falters and often gets left behind in favor of making the business work.

The idea of “these 16 hour days will end just as soon as …” never rarely seems to ever see the light of day. And in the end, the business becomes your life rather than being the method by which you are able to live your life.

I cannot begin to tell you what balance looks like to you. However, it needs to be deeply ingrained in the delivery phase of your life/business plan or it will never survive! Clients, opportunities, meetings, and the like will invade your plan at every opening. Only when you remain true to the balanced approach you planned for will your dream life be a reality.

Remember, what you do should always reflect who you are at your core. If your life/business plan is unbalanced, what does that say about you?

Filed Under: Designing Success, The Dream Tagged With: Balance, Business, Business plan, Consulting, Customer, Life, Life/Business Plan, Plan, Small Business, Success

Discovery – The Entrepreneur’s First Step to Success!

February 6, 2012 by dwellman Leave a Comment

I started my entrepreneurial adventure while I was living in Park City, Utah. As a young entrepreneur I walked into a friends business one day and saw a poster that almost drove me out of the business world forever.

Looking down main street in Park City, Utah, USA

Image via Wikipedia

What could have possibly have caused a young, passionate entrepreneur to cash it in so early in my career? Well, I turned the corner and in an out of the way spot in their store I saw a picture of a terrible storm on the ocean. You know what I mean; terrible winds and waves, etc. And there in the midst of this terrible storm was a little wooden row boat. Below this harrowing picture was a caption that said, “So you want to start your own business!” (I think that picture caused me to have nightmares!)

While I didn’t quit, the truth of that picture caused me to take the time to discover what it was that drove me to be an entrepreneur. As I boiled things down I came up with three things that drew me to the world of startups and have kept me here for over 25 years.

What three things burn in the heart of an entrepreneur that get them in the game and keep them there?

1. An entrepreneur discovers the person that they really are. This discovery usually involves an understanding that a “real job” just doesn’t work for them.

2. An entrepreneur discovers the passion that drives them to succeed no matter the challenges and struggles that being an entrepreneur brings.

3. An entrepreneur discovers that life is about more than money. Success takes on a unique and personal definition for the true entrepreneur. It is only when this personal definition of success if fulfilled that the entrepreneur is content with life and business.

I think seeing that poster early in my career was a great thing. While I never really considered quitting, that picture did burn into my mind the truth that being an entrepreneur requires more of you than most are willing to pay. But if you are willing to brave the wind and waves, the rewards are greater than any “money making” life option!

Discover who you are, what your passion is, and why business is about more than money and you too can take to the stormy seas and find yourself, your life, and your success!

What other things have you discovered that have made your entrepreneurial life a success?

Filed Under: Designing Success, The Dream Tagged With: Business, Careers, Discover, Discovery, Entrepreneur, Life Success, Park City, Passion, Small Business, Success, Utah, Your Passion

Happy New Year!

December 31, 2011 by dwellman Leave a Comment

Image via Wikipedia

2012 begins tomorrow! The successes that the new year will bring all lie ahead of us (as well as all the struggles). Here at The Doulos Group we are very excited about what is coming.

This site represents the relaunch of what for our first year of existence has been called Doulos Marketing Group. The reason for the relaunch is that our company has evolved over the course of this first year from a pure marketing company to a entrepreneurial training company. Our sole purpose is to work with entrepreneurs and guide them in the design of their success.

We will start from the very beginning stage of business development and guide our clients through the entire process of design, launch, testing, and innovation. Our goal for every client is to help them define success and then build a business that fulfills their definition.

As the new year is upon us, consider your current life situation. If the entrepreneurial bug is biting, then maybe 2012 is the year!

Have a great new years eve. Stay safe and may your 2012 be the best year of your life!

Filed Under: Designing Success Tagged With: 2012, Business, Design, Designing, Doulos Marketing Group, New Year, New Year Eve, Success, The Doulos Group

Splashing Around in the Deep End!

December 13, 2011 by Dave Wellman Leave a Comment

Are you just splashing around in the deep end?

Image via Wikipedia

One of the most interesting things that I have learned this year is that the majority of the entrepreneurs that I know who have started businesses in the past year or so did so without a real plan in place. They began with a dream (or were living in a nightmare), they jumped into the deep end of the pool and splashed around trying to both get noticed and to not drown at the same time!

While this makes for a lot of excitement, it rarely ends with a strong and successful business enterprise. For those considering a new start-up in 2012, a few thoughts about splashing around in the deep end!

Get your “dry land” work done first. When a person begins to learn to swim, an instructor will give them some instruction and safety advice before they enter the water for the first time. In learning ahead of time about things to know/do once you get in the water, you are more prepared in the event of trouble than if you simply “jump in” head first.
Start out in the shallow end of the pool. The benefit here is that in the event of a problem or that you panic for any reason all you have to do is put your feet on the bottom of the pool and stand up. There is always a greater chance of survival in the shallow end that splashing around in the deep water!
Challenge yourself to move into the deep end of the pool when your confidence and skills warrant the risk! Be careful (but not too careful) because success in the deeper water requires that you take the next step. With every step into the deeper water their comes increased risk, but with growth in confidence and skills you will soon be swimming like a fish!

Learning the dangers of splashing around in the deep end will provide you with the ability to be survive the difficulties and be successful for the long term. While others are just splashing around making noise and hoping to survive, you will be enjoying all the opportunities that confidence and skill brings.

So, as you consider your business start-up you must decide three things: where you are now; where you need to be to gain both confidence and skills; and how long will it take to gain it so that your business will be both safe and successful in 2012!

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: 2012, Business, Business and Economy, Business success, learn to swim, Lessons from the pool, Success, Swimming, Swimming lessons, Swimming pool, Water, Water Resources

Boomer Business Success – Keeping it Simple!

September 22, 2011 by Dave Wellman 6 Comments

I had the pleasure of sitting in a meeting today with one of my clients. She was doing a presentation to a group of people in the area of her specialty. What she does is unimportant, but what I saw in her inspired me to write this article and challenge we Boomers looking to grow our businesses to keep it simple.

Keeping it simple means:

Don’t over think things. I remember hearing about Occam’s razor. This is a scientific principle that indicates that, “when faced with competing hypotheses that are equal in other respects, selecting the one that makes the fewest new assumptions.” In other words the easiest answer is most often the best answer.
Find a niche and master it. Being an expert in your chosen niche makes you more valuable to your clients/customers than if you are simply good at a lot of things. Most people can be good, but only experts are sought after.
Learn the honestly care for your customers/clients. When you have an honest concern for those who buy your products and services, you will treat them with the utmost respect and they will make you their sole supplier!

There you have it! Boomer business success, by just keeping it simple!

Filed Under: Success Traits Tagged With: Baby boomer, Business, Expert, Generations and Age Groups, Occam, Over thinking, People, Retirement, Simple, Success

Make Time to Network

September 21, 2011 by Dave Wellman Leave a Comment

I live and work in a very unique place. My local market is a small one, but within three hundred miles of me there are six major US cities. So, I have the benefit of both a small market atmosphere and a large market reach.

The best way take advantage of this situation is to make time to network. Networking in simple terms is reaching out to people who could be possible clients or business associates in your niche/industry. By networking with these people and companies you will have the inside track when they are looking for someone like you to benefit their business.

There are several things that are true in understanding the whole concept of networking:

Networking takes time. You can’t just join a “networking” group or put a profile up on LinkedIn and Facebook and expect that new business will come pouring in the door. You must learn to “make a name for yourself” in these groups and online before people will see you as an asset to their business.
Networking takes effort. If you plan to network with potential clients in your industry, you have to make the effort to know what they need and how your companies products/services can meet their companies needs. If you don’t do your homework, networking becomes nothing more than coffee table chat.
Networking is not the same as sales. This to me is the biggest single truth that we have to overcome. When you are networking, you are not selling. Networking will certainly bring people into the sales cycle, but to make networking about sales will loose you more clients than it will ever gain. Networking allows you to become someone who is known, liked, and trusted. Sales results from that!

To make time to network, when done properly, will open the door for opportunities that would have never come about any other way. (Both from those we meet and from those they will introduce us to.) To not make time to network just makes growing your business that much harder.

Filed Under: Networking Tagged With: Business, Business networking, Facebook, LinkedIn, Sales, Small Business, Social network, Success, Twitter

Essentials of Business Success

Learning THE Secret to Success

Delivering on Your Life/Business Plan

Discovery – The Entrepreneur’s First Step to Success!

Happy New Year!

Splashing Around in the Deep End!

Are you just splashing around in the deep end?

Boomer Business Success – Keeping it Simple!

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