If starting up or growing an existing small business was easy, and then any one could do so.
If you ask anyone of our past cover honorees or (for that matter) our current cover honoree, Kathie Edwards if their road to success in their business was an easy without major challenges, I assure you that they will tell you that they had more than their share of major challenges along the way.
For many future entrepreneurs, before starting their business they (naturally) share their dream with friends and family and do not always receive the words of encouragement that they are seeking. You see, often there are people around you who do not want to see you fail and/or want you to be doomed to their level of mediocrity and have a reason for their not having achieved their own goals or dreams.
Many of the successful Realtors® (over 125 so far) and entrepreneurs that I have interviewed over the last decade believed that if you believe in something strong enough and gave it a 110% effort that success would be theirs.
So, if your plans are to start your own business and/or to “grow” your existing small business then don’t listen to the naysayers.
For me, it was about not listening to that little voice in my head that kept telling me to quit. Almost every endeavor I embarked on (apartment leasing and marketing, residential real estate, public speaking, advertising sales and publishing etc.) that little voice told me to quit after a few disappointments. Luckily, there was someone there each time to talk me out of quitting. Those are the people around you who believe in you when you do not believe in yourself and see something that we do not see in ourselves.
So, surround yourself with these kinds of people who are in your life, have patience, be persistent and don’t give up. Your success is always in proportion to your efforts.
Westpark Communications is a 24-Hour/7 Day a Week, Customer Service Call Center that offers a live telephone answering service to individuals and corporations both small or large.
For this month’s cover honoree, Kathie Edwards of Westpark Communications, it was coming in to her mom’s business (founded it 1968) and growing it by the establishment of systems, identifying new clientele and harnessing technology.
Sometimes for an entrepreneur that working in a business does not always afford you the opportunity to work “on” your business.
Kathie believes that a big mistake a lot of entrepreneurs make is that they don’t think about all the different pieces of a business and offers this piece of advice in her “Capture” page (on Page _____ in this issue)…”You can’t run a business being totally in the business. You do have to think about how you can hire someone to take over so that you can see the business and see where the holes are and work on the business instead of in it.”
Great advice from our first woman cover honoree, would you agree?
Good Reading, Good Sales and Success to you,
Steve Levine
Publisher