After all – who am I to be giving you advice about your business?
And more important, how can you trust what I suggest?
I agree they are important questions. Others have asked the same.
So let me share a bit of history. First up, you should know that when I
started my first small business, I sure was on some shaky ground.
- I had ZERO experience in small business – skilled in corporate stuff.
- I had certainly next to no skills in selling the services of my little
Engineering Company to the local farming community.
- I had no spare money; for I had spent all that we had buying the
assets of the business, which had gone bankrupt. Not a smart start!
Sure, I admit to having an entrepreneurial rush of blood to buy the
business and turn it around so I could use up its tax losses. It seemed to
be the right thing to do at the time. But after three weeks of no income
I sat out the back of the shed, head in my hands and said,” Noel, Noel,
what have you done?” I had a young family. They needed food on the table.
I was getting desperate.
But that is when something quite serendipitous happened…
I don’t know where the idea came from, but I walked around to one of
my competitors, Doug Inman and asked him to be my Mentor.
I knew a lot about engineering and contracting, but very little about
small business. Good old Doug gave me some clues. Not too many.
But on a chance remark, my entrepreneurial mind got me thinking.
I had to become a specialist in something. And I did. Within the week the
cash began to flow. I then realised that I had my hands on a Money Making
Formula for small business… Be an expert and then ‘educate and demonstrate’
to people how will they will benefit from dealing with your speciality and gain
what they want.
I became a welding expert and taught farmers how to weld. I sold them
welders and welding consumables. They got to know me.
From that humble beginning I grew my Small Business to become the
Largest ‘Mum and Dad’ Engineering, Manufacturing, Construction and
Contracting Company in the early 80’s. We employed 100 staff and up to
350 sub contractors producing sheds, ploughs, cranes, conveyors, churches,
transport systems, industrialised housing etc.
I won many meritorious awards for my specialities and creativity. Since then,
my research into what I call Entrepreneurial Challenge confirmed to me that
small business can be the fastest way to make money with only a small
investment - if you do it the smart way.
And the smartest way I found to be successful in small business, among
others… was to be an expert in a field; sell so you get repeat customers;
learn to apply business strategies; surround your-self with mentors and tap
into their experience and wisdom.
The rest is history. There are so many stories to tell of me pushing beyond
conventional boundaries. Year after year my businesses and many ventures
became a living laboratory in identifying what works best for an owner -
manager to make his or her business boom.