Cameron Johnson's Blog

In the midst of difficulty

"In the midst of difficulty lies opportunity" -Albert Einstein.

There is a lot of doom & gloom talk about our economy these days. I think it’s a bunch of garbage and we’re seeing a correction not a recession. Nevertheless if you spend all your time listening to these dire predictions, you'll soon convince yourself that it's the wrong time to finally act on that entrepreneurial urge that's been steadily growing inside you. Don't fall for it!

Sure, the economy may not be heading in the direction we'd all like it to, but as Albert pointed out- this may just be a better time than ever to start your venture.

Back in 1929, right after the stock market crash, a lady named Margaret Rudkin was not only in the midst of challenging financial times, but she was caring for a son who suffered from severe allergies and asthma.  To treat him, she needed a healthy, non-processed, organic bread that would not trigger his respiratory problems. So, she started baking her own bread and started a little company called Pepperidge Farm.  Her story is a great example of someone who overcame not one, but two obstacles and in doing so, wound up building an institution that is still going strong 80 years later.

Starting a company is more and more the way young people are beginning their careers, and that trend is nowhere near stopping. Today's business climate and the incredible tools provided by the internet give you infinitely better odds of succeeding than someone striking out on their own in Margaret's time, so don't let the scary predictions hold you back. Your time is now.

$23 billion, what a nice round number.

So, the Mars company and Warren Buffett are buying Wrigley for $23 Billion bucks.  That's a lot of gum!

I love this deal for what it is NOT:  No ultra-complex sub-prime mortgages that will explode in 5 years, no gambling on brand-new untested technology that may or may not be next big thing, no "flavor of the day" celebrity must-have.  It's a solid deal because it's about proven, time-tested products and companies.

Warren Buffet is famous for this; he just simply buys stock in companies that he A) understands, and B) believes in.  He's become the world's richest man by following that philosophy, so I'm betting this will prove to be another of his smart moves. He likes good companies at a discount, who doesn’t?

Keep that in mind when you're thinking about your own great ideas:  Is this something that a potential customer (or investor) can understand, or are there too many complexities to explain it to someone in an elevator?

That's the tricky paradox involved in many entrepreneur success stories; taking a new approach to a proven product or service to give people a familiar & established "widget", but doing it in a way no else had considered before. Many of my ideas have been very simple ones, yet they’ve also turned out to be very lucrative.

Success Encourages Success

I love seeing more stories like my own…

Encouraging young entrepreneurship is my passion in life, so watching it happen out there for more and more people is fantastic.

Anthony Morrison's story sounds very familiar to my own, so I'm looking forward to seeing what he has to say when his book, "I Net Millions" comes out.

And how about Ashley Qualls?  She started putting some designs up on her website to share with a few friends, it then exploded into a $70,000-a-month business. She's still just 17...

There are more every day.  Their stories should encourage all of us to believe in ourselves and reach for our dreams.  Success encourages success, and the more you immerse yourself in the world of those who have achieved it, the more you'll be motivated to create your own.  At times it can seem like a lonely, impossible dream when you're not getting "there" as fast as you'd like to.  Those are the times when you need to take a break and browse through some of these success-stories to keep your motivation up.

So, keep reading their stories and start writing your own!

Wrigley: 100 Years later, the same things build success.

With the Wrigley sale in the news, I've done some reading on the company's beginnings. What impressed me the most was how the practices that made William Wrigley Jr. his fortune over a 100 years ago are the very same ones that are front and center in the successful marketing efforts of today.

Have a look at the story behind the gum.  Here are a few things that jumped out at me:

Quote:  "Several times the young company was on the verge of going under, but hard work overcame the difficulties, and the business forged ahead."

All of us go through tough challenges as we try to find the right road to our goals, Wrigley was no different.  And, as anyone who has made it will tell you, those two words "hard work" are more often than not the key to beating the obstacles. 

Quote:  "He had a gift for seeing his customers' point of view and accommodating himself to their needs."

Brilliant. I’ve always said business is more common sense and less rocket science. He didn't try to force an unwanted product on his customers, he listened to them, and gave them what they were asking for.  Something I didn't know: The gum started out as just a give-away while he was selling baking powder.  He latched on to the demand for the gum outweighing the demand for the baking powder and...you know the rest.

Quote:  "He saw that consumer acceptance of Wrigley's gum could be built faster by telling people about the benefits of the product through newspaper and magazine ads, outdoor posters and other forms of advertising. Then, as more and more consumers began to ask for and buy Wrigley's chewing gum in the stores, the storekeeper would naturally want to keep a sufficient stock of Wrigley brands on hand."

An excellent example of "pull" marketing, about 80 years before the term was invented! Young entrepreneurs are exciting even 106 years later!

Only feed the Good Dog

A sales trainer I met had one of the most unique motto's I've ever heard:

"Inside every person are two dogs: a good dog, and a bad dog.  Only feed the good dog." 

This was his ice-breaker to start off presentations on how to improve your performance as a sales rep.  I'm not sure it's the best analogy, and I have no idea if he's still opening with that one, but hey- I'll remember it forever so it's got to be worth something!

I was reminded of that saying when I took a look at Marcus Buckingham's book, Go Put Your Strengths to Work.  It's not so much about breaking out on your own as entrepreneur, but about focusing on your best qualities to improve the type & quality of work you do; whether it's as your own boss, or working for someone else. Even though it's not purely entrepreneurial, I love the message that it sends: everyone has different strengths, and the key to your success is finding and working with them instead of just avoiding mistakes.  A great message, regardless of your status as employee or employer.

I’ve always said, when you’re passionate about whatever it is you are doing, then you will almost always be successful. Check out Marcus’ book today and you’ll find yourself on the road to success!

Tools of the trade

Not only has the internet opened up an unlimited world of opportunities to start your own business with just about zero risk, it's also filled with services that can make the mechanics of being an entrepreneur easier than ever.

Not everyone is an expert in marketing or manufacturing.  Luckily, there are some great sites out there that can take over some of the more time-consuming, non-billable work for you.  Take for instance that most exciting of tasks- Accounting!

Knowing where you are with cash-flow and staying on top of monies owed to you is key to keeping your business moving, but too many people let this part of the business slide because they are so busy fulfilling the opportunities they're generating.  You can lose money because you're too busy making it to keep track of it.

There are a number of spots on the web that can help out in this regard, one of them is Blinksale.  With very little set-up time, you can be generating, recording, & tracking invoices securely online.  There is a great range of optional services that you can add if you see fit, so you can do anything from send out a few simple manual invoices a month, to setting up  hundreds of auto-recurring invoices.  Blinksale can link with Paypal to make the payment that much more fluid, ie. fast.  You can store, categorize, & reference all of you invoices and see at a glance what's been paid and what's still pending.  And the best part- for the simpler option, it's free.  You can try it out with 3 free invoices a month to get a feel for it, and upgrades from there are pretty reasonable when you consider how much paperwork it removes from your life.

As with everything, shop around.  Blinksale is one of a number of services, but it's a good one to look at if you're spending too much time chasing post-it notes around your office and wondering if you've actually received any of that hard-earned money.