Fly on the E-Commerce Cyberwall

Business Insights From a Wedding -- The Bride (Part II)
Yesterday I talked about how my daughter Rachel's determination led to success for her business. But there's more to it than determination.

Her idea of taking action was not just to dream up elaborate plans. Her idea of taking action was not just to read about business strategies and store them up in her head.

She got out there and did things. She got out there and met people.

Notice some of the things I said about her yesterday:

• She became right-hand assistant to the chairwoman of her college's theatre department
• She got involved with a children's theatre at her college
• When her suggestions about how to improve the children's theatre program were rebuffed, she recruited friends to help her start her own
• She sought out acting opportunities across the state and took her theatre program wherever she went

And there's more action that she took:

• She sought out and met with any organization that was the least bit interested in having her do her program there or rent her space
• She met with parents' organizations to promote the benefits of enrolling their children in her program
• She made connections with other children's theatre programs
• She learned (by doing it) what worked and what didn't for advertising

She made connections. She didn't wait for the world to come to her. She hunted it down and forced it to see what she had to offer.

And in the course of all that, another important thing happened. She met her husband, Joe.

Besides being a loving husband, Joe is also a successful lawyer and a brilliant money man.

It was Joe's willingness to invest in her business that made it possible for them to buy the church she uses as her theatre. It was Joe's legal experience that made it possible for her to win nonprofit status that has opened the door to grants and donations. And it was Joe who knew the best ways to structure things to make the money that came in work for them.

Joe filled out the knowledge that Rachel needed to take her theatre program from something that barely kept itself in existance into a theatre program that rivals theatre companies in the area that have been going for decades.

Finding Joe was certainly a great thing for her personally, but it was also a great break for her business as well.

And it all came from her taking action -- getting out with people, making connections, finding out what they needed, and then providing it.

You can make breaks for yourself like that, too.

What have you done lately to get to know your customers?

What have you done to get your name out?

What new things have you tried to build your business?

Taking action -- and making connections -- is an essential part of business success.
Jeff

Labels: successful business