7 Things Great Entrepreneurs Don't Do

Author: Steve Tobak

These days, everyone with a MacBook and a blog thinks he’s an entrepreneur. Well, here’s a little tough love for the entrepreneurial generation: Calling yourself a CEO doesn’t make you one and a small army of Twitter followers doesn’t make you a leader, either.

As a wise VC who’s name escapes me once said, “There are entrepreneurs and there are Entrepreneurs.”

Not to dash your hopes and dreams, but the truth is the vast majority of you simply aren’t cut out to be entrepreneurs or leaders. I know you don’t want to hear that, but it’s true. And the sooner you realize you’re not going to be the second coming of Mark Zuckerberg, the better.

Don’t get me wrong. It’s great to reach for the stars. As Robert Browning said, “A man’s reach should exceed his grasp.” But having grown up in the high-tech industry and worked with hundreds of real CEOs, VCs, and Entrepreneurs for decades, one thing I can tell you is the word has become so overused, it’s almost meaningless.

So while there is no one-size-fits-all model for true entrepreneurs, in my experience, there are some things they seem to have in common. This might surprise you, but what sets them apart isn’t some laundry list of attributes. It’s their actions. What makes them unique is what they do and, perhaps more importantly, what they don’t do.

1. They don’t think about work-life balance.They’re mostly workaholics. What that means is their work comes first. It’s what they live for. They’re not freewheeling, fun-loving people who live for the weekend. They live to do what they love, and that’s work.

2. They don’t try to be what they’re not.Probably the most damaging business myth to come along in decades is personal branding. You are not a product, and you can’t change who you are. Besides, real entrepreneurs don’t think about themselves. They think about their ideas and how to turn them into great products and services. And they deliver.

3. They don’t do it for the money.They don’t whine about how hard they work for peanuts. They just do it. And because they’re passionate about what they do and focused like a laser beam, the money eventually comes, big-time.

4. They don’t have day jobs.Great entrepreneurs don’t just dip their toes in the water. They jump in headfirst without a thought about the rocks below. They don’t do a little of this and a little of that. When they hit on something they think is really cool and exciting, they go all in.

5. They don’t give in to fear.They don’t pay attention to those voices in their heads – you know, the ones that haunt you with everything that can go wrong. They’re not fearless, mind you. Nobody is. They just don’t let their fear stop them from taking risks. They do listen to some voices, though: the voice of reason and their instincts.

6. They don’t have grand visions.While some do have grand delusions that they’re destined for greatness – a prophecy that’s often self-fulfilling, interestingly enough – for the most part, they generally don’t have grand visions for their companies. Zuckerberg, for example, wasn’t trying to create a company. He just wanted to rate the looks of fellow classmates.

7. They don’t have virtual mentors.Most people follow all sorts of writers, bloggers and tweeters these days. That’s fine, but to get somewhere in life, to do great things, you have to have real mentors in the real world. Former Intel chairman Andy Grove mentored Steve Jobs. Jobs, in turn, advised Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin. Behind every great entrepreneur is at least one great mentor. A real one.

Most importantly, real entrepreneurs don’t call themselves entrepreneurs. They don’t do what everyone else is doing. They don’t follow the status quo, conventional wisdom or popular fads. They carve their own unique path. They’re leaders of their own destiny. That’s what drives them. And that’s why they succeed.

Read more about Steve Tobak's articles

Your Brand Is A Valuable Asset. Manage It Well. (Part 2)

Your brand is an important asset. When you buy a new dental chair, the day after this hard asset is installed into your office it begins to depreciate. When you invest in a professional approach to branding and nurture the brand with good marketing, you have an asset that will appreciate and play a very significant part in the overall success of your practice during its lifetime. Getting your practice started. With many doctors that I meet, there are infinite ideas for how they want to launch their new practice. While it’s great to have ideas, investing time and money on ideas that establish your brand to make a good first impression and immediate emotional response to connect with potential new customers is the first order of business. After all, when starting a new practice your business goals are very simple: Attract the right kind of new patients. To do this you need to understand what type of practice you want to be and the type of clients that you want to have in your practice. Think of your brand, and the marketing that follows, as a bridge that connects your practice to this clientele. The clearer your vision, the stronger your brand will be.

Your brand needs to flow throughout the practice. The colours on the walls and style of uniforms must reflect that personality. The look needs to be consistent from the sign out front to the furniture in the waiting room and treatment rooms. Growing your practice. With a strong brand in place, you have a head start with your marketing. Your marketing will be more effective if people can immediately associate your brand with something. If we placed the Apple logo on a coffee cup, people would automatically expect great quality and be prepared to pay a little bit more for it. Leverage the equity that you have established with your brand to move your practice forward. Be bold. Along with direct marketing, look for opportunities to team your brand with other like-minded brands in the community.

Branding is also a great motivator for your staff. When a team is on board with a common goal, they will represent and reinforce the values of your brand from the greeting on the phone to their interaction with patients in the office.

Office staff may change, hygienists may come and go, and you may want to bring on associates, but the look and feel of the practice will stay the same and that goes a long way to ensuring the loyalty of your clientele.

Also, customer loyalty comes from consistently delivering on the promise of your brand as well as keeping current. Styles change, but with an established brand you don’t have to reinvent yourself all the time. Starbucks recently freshened up their logo, but it was just a tweak. The logo is still instantly recognizable. Over time you can choose to update your logo or refresh the office interior while still keeping your brand association intact. Realizing your optimal practice sale price. When the time comes to sell Cobblestone Family Dentistry, having that brand is like staging a home for sale. It makes it easier for a potential buyers to see themselves owning the practice because they see the practice’s personality, not yours. It’s not only an easier transition for the new dentist, but for the patients and staff as well. It will still be the familiar Cobblestone Family Dentistry.

Brand recognition doesn’t happen overnight though. It’s best to be planning the sale of your practice in advance. An investment of $10,000.00 for a complete professional branding package, as well as some good marketing to build this brand in your office and out in the community, at least three years before listing the practice will deliver a strong return. I’ve discussed this thinking with some of Canada’s leading practice brokers and they agree that well branded practices are better positioned to sell more easily and for more money than a poorly branded or unbranded practice. Your brand is your lifeblood. Your practice is a business with a life and your brand is the blood that pumps through it, keeping it strong. In order to keep that business healthy, you have to manage your marketing well -- and that starts with your brand.

Bottom Line: The article outlines the importance of marketing and your brand name to the health of your practice.

Your Brand Is A Valuable Asset. Manage It Well. (Part 1)

by: Dan Pisek, Practice Marketing Coach

It’s 10 a.m. and you are craving a cup of coffee. Right across the street all lined up in a row are Tim Horton’s, Starbucks and McDonald’s. Which do you choose and for what reason?

I have presented many seminars and workshops where I start with this coffee choice scenario. The Tim Horton’s devotees choose to go there because they associate the brand with convenience and serving a good cup of coffee at a fair price. For the Starbucks crowd, they are fine with paying a little more for a premium cup of coffee and an experience which helps them boost their own image just by carrying the white and green cup around town. McDonald’s is usually the loser in my audience opinion poll. People comment on how it is a very good cup of coffee, convenient to get, and how you can’t beat the price… especially when it’s free. But even with the McCafe experience, people still associate McDonald’s with “would you like fries with that?” It’s a prime example of the power of branding and how it can really support or work against your business goals.

While the coffee business these days is very competitive, so is the world of dentistry. Let’s face it, in most places you don’t have to look too hard to find a dental office. Dr. John Doe DDS, Main Street Family Dental, and Dentistry on Main are there in a row competing for your attention. Now, more and more dentists are realizing that an effectively branded practice is a key component to their success when getting started with a new office, growing their existing practices or getting their practices ready to deliver a larger sale price when it comes time to retire. What is a brand? It’s the personality your practice would have if it were a human being. It’s what people think of when they hear your practice name or see your logo. In the consumer’s eye, the expectation is for you to provide great care on the clinical side of things. Much of it is about the personality of your practice. Do you project the image of a progressive-minded practice and what will you provide by way of patient experience? Effective branding of your practice is about effectively communicating who you are as a practice to set yourself apart from the competition. Ignite your practice brand. Just like you want a strong foundation to build your home on, you want a strong foundation to build your marketing on. After all, everything that you do to market your practice is an extension of your brand. There are three key areas to consider to effectively brand your practice:

1. Your name. Just using your name to identify your practice does very little to tell people anything about what you are as a practice, where you are located, the type of dentistry you provide or anything about the patient experience that they can expect. Cobblestone Family Dentistry immediately speaks to the young families living in the Cobblestone Plaza neighborhood  Also, today communities comprise a mixed cultural diversity and keeping last names out of the practice name also keep the practice culturally neutral. A depersonalized practice is also better positioned for growth, especially when hiring associates. Patients make an appointment to see one of the great dentists at Cobblestone Family Dentistry and don’t feel short-changed that they aren’t seeing the dentist whose name is on the door.

2. Your logo. It’s important to have the right look for how your practice name is presented. Just like the Apple or the Nike swoosh, you want a logo that your customers will associate immediately with your practice and be part of the emotional reaction to the brand.

3. Your website. Nowadays, so many buying decisions are made on the Internet, including healthcare choices. Your brand must translate well to your website. Image is everything here. Even if you start off with a very simple splash-page, be sure that it is in tune with your brand. You can always add to the website as the practice grows.

Continue Reading: Your Brand Is A Valuable Asset. Manage It Well. (Part 2)

3 Questions You Should Be Asking Your Clients

Image Credit: milos milosevic via Compfight

Andrew Sobel, a New York City-based consultant and author who specializes in building client relationships, believes that asking a series of "power questions" will enhance your existing relationship and strengthen it for the future. "Power questions shift the conversation to the other person, as opposed to you just talking about your products and services," says Sobel, co-author with Jerold Panas of Power Questions: Build Relationships, Win New Business and Influence Others.

Here are three such queries to get your next client conversation started.

• What have we done recently that you found particularly valuable?
• Can you give me suggestions for improving communication with you and your organization?
• What are your three most important priorities for next year?

"All good relationships are based on the other person's priorities," Sobel says. "If I don't know those, I don't know how to help."

Read more articles from the author

How to Attract the Clients You Want

In this interview with Diana Ransom, she explains that leading companies become known as the best at what they do. Here are three ways they do it:

• They make sure their website is first-class. Make sure yours is clean and professional-looking.
• They clearly show customers how they can save money or time. Translate how your offerings can benefit them.
• They offer testimonials from existing clients. Use social media to promote recommendations.

Read more: http://www.entrepreneur.com/video/224601#ixzz2iNE1snnh

Marketing As A Team Sport - Is Your Team Ready To Compete? (Part 2)

The Dreaded “S” Word

The first thing to understand is that at some level, we are all already sales people, actively selling something every day. For example, I am a sales and marketing professional who deals with many existing clients and new business opportunities every day. Still, on many days, my best selling happens at home, at about 8:15am, when I am trying to convince my two-and-a-half-year-old daughter to wear sneakers to school instead of princess party shoes.

Proactive Selling = “communicating softly”

The second thing to understand is that the selling that we are doing here is not to be confused with the selling that happens at your local A-1 Fine Motor Sales. The selling here is about a soft approach that is all about leveraging the great relationships and trust that are already in place with our clients.

Once things really get rolling and your team has embraced this new idea of proactive selling, it is really interesting to watch how every team member develops their own unique style. One of the easiest ways to observe your team in action is with a referral program. Set a target for everyone to ask one patient for a referral per day and see how they go about making this happen.

Spark selling opportunities

Selling is about everyone finding their best opportunities to spark a discussion - and then making the most of that opportunity. Here are a few big ideas to help spark selling opportunities and then make the most of them:

1. BE CONFIDENT IN WHO YOU ARE AS A PRACTICE: See yourself as the best practice around. Be confident when trying to grow the practice – you are not desperate.

2. HAVE A REFERRAL PROGRAM: This is the easiest way for your team to get involved.

3. EMBRACE THE POWER OF GOOD QUESTIONS: Use open-ended questions to get a conversation going. Make the effort to really listen for opportunities to sell dentistry.

4. KNOW YOUR ELEVATOR PITCH: Know why someone should choose you. Have a list of the three biggest reasons why someone should join your practice.

5. REMEMBER TO A.B.C.: “Always Be Closing” is a great philosophy to keep top of mind. With every new opportunity discussion, always be thinking about the next step in the sales process - and how to get them there.

Preparing your team to achieve extraordinary wins!

As dentistry businesses become more competitive, the value and potential of team performance to drive organizational and sales and marketing success grow significantly. Equally important, disciplined team choices and behaviours improve the quality of a sales and marketing culture as well as encouraging, collaborative thinking, leadership skills, engaged and motivated workers.

As you’ve learned, the three prerequisites for a winning team include clear objectives, communication, and a team sales and marketing approach. Working groups that rigorously apply these fundamentals will tilt the odds of success greatly in their favour.

I recommend unleashing the power of your team to come together with these principles. It’s sure to be a WIN-WIN for everyone.

Bottom Line: This article outlines a team marketing approach to ensure success in a dental practice.

Marketing As A Team Sport - Is Your Team Ready To Compete? (Part 1)

By: Dan Pisek, Practice Marketing Coach

With dentistry becoming more competitive every day, you need to be running your practice more and more like a business. After all, along with being a health care provider, you are also an entrepreneur who has a vision for achieving success.

Get a winning game plan

I can tell you from my own experience that success in business starts when you have the right game plan and the right people around you. As an avid sports fan, I’m amazed by how many times the team with the most individual talent does not win the championship. The Boston Bruins, New York Giants, Dallas Mavericks, St. Louis Cardinals are the defending champions in their respective sports. But in each of their league finals, these teams all beat opponents that had superior line-ups on paper. How did they do it? They had a winning game plan and a great team to make the game plan happen.

I enjoy taking the role of a practice marketing coach with my clients. First, we create a winning game plan together, and then bring the team together to really “work” the plan. This “bringing together” usually begins with a marketing team rally, where my goal is to begin instilling more of a sales and marketing-minded culture in the practice.

Play with a team system

While this team sport analogy may seem like a basic enough concept, I am amazed at how few practices actually work their practice marketing with any kind of team system.

I have a client where the doctor made a significant marketing investment in transitioning his newly purchased practice. The project involved brand and logo design, a new website design and a patient-directed newsletter to inform customers about the exciting changes happening at the practice. Then it was time to begin marketing externally to attract new patients with a professional mailer program. The piece looked great and went out as planned to the targeted local community. Everything was in place - except the team piece. No one had informed the front desk that these pieces were about to land and to be ready for the incoming calls. The phone rang, but the front desk was not ready. With the first mailing of that campaign, our response rate was good, but our conversion rate was only 14 percent. For each of the next three mailings, we were ready, and the conversion on average rose to a very healthy 72%.

Putting marketing meetings into play

Good teamwork starts with good communication. Many practices I meet already have regular team meetings to discuss everything going on with the practice. However, it’s time to make the marketing of your practice part of these meetings as well. You would be amazed at the benefit realized by simply committing a 15 minute block every month to this discussion.

Regular team marketing meetings are a must. Here are five big ideas to help you make the most of these sessions together:

1. LEAD BY EXAMPLE: Walk your talk. Practice what you preach. Set the tone. Communicate well.

2. PUT THE RIGHT PEOPLE ON YOUR TEAM: All it takes is one bad player to upset the chemistry of what we are trying to do. Sometimes changes to the team line-up are required.

3. APPOINT A TEAM MARKETING LEAD: They are playing in the game themselves, and have the initiative and trust from the team to lead the charge.

4. SHARE RESULTS WITH YOUR TEAM: Track the metrics. Get testimonials. Get feedback and share with your group.

5. STUDY THE COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE: Have everyone engaged on your team keep an eye on what your competitors are doing - so to best differentiate and position the brand of your practice.

Continue Reading: Marketing As A Team Sport - Is Your Team Ready To Compete? (Part 2)