When was the last time you had an outside perspective on your ideas, plans, goals or problems?
Many prospective business owners have not even asked a business professional for an opinion on their new product or service. It is always wise to have outside counsel and advice, that’s why we offer free consultation and advice.
Our initial consultation is always free and is designed to foster enduring relationships. If you are ready to expand your current business or launch a brand new one, contact the experienced professionals at MILBO, LLC.
Call (205) 543-0645 or Email for a free consult
The Power of W.H.Y.
You just had an idea that will revolutionize your company, industry or maybe the world. I consider myself an idea(s) person, I understand the value in ideas but I also understand the value of implementing those ideas. To help implement your ideas, you need to harness the “Power of W.H.Y.”
W –What & Why – What “problem” does your idea solve and Why is your idea needed? You will discover once you begin to answer these questions, something more impactful happens, you become impassioned. Blind passion can destroy not only your idea but you as well but if harnessed right, passion could be your fuel.
H – How – When you’ve discovered What you are passionate about and Why you are passionate about it, then the inevitable How needs to be pondered. How is more technical and makes the idea more viable, you will scrap a lot of ideas in this process. You will begin to question a lot of things and pessimism will undoubtedly rear its ugly head.
Y – You – The “How” leaves you questioning many things, a lot of times, You are one of them. It becomes important to reconcile this idea within yourself, no matter your confidence level everyone has questions and concerns that they have to reconcile within themselves. Believing in yourself gives you that internal foundation, so it becomes a source of strength and validates your actions. Everyone needs that internal dialogue, this helps when things get tough as they undoubtedly will but your foundation will be strong and passion will be your fuel.
I believe the number one reason people don’t have a business plan is because people do not know they need a business plan. It has become my duty to educate people who want to go into business to have a solid business plan. Yes, you need a business plan to attain funding (loans, grants etc.) but you also need a business plan to give you a foundation and use as a strategic step-by-step plan.
Many people say they have a great idea or that they want to start a business, but those are just words, it only becomes reality when you plan and then act on that plan. It is always wise to have outside counsel and advice, that’s why I offer free consultation and advice.
It takes courage to launch a business in this troubled economic climate. Success is never guaranteed, but neither is continued employment at your current job. Perhaps, launching a new business is not such a misguided proposition.
There are some things to consider, however. Most people think that starting a business merely requires a good idea, a little money and some perseverance. Those things are necessary but they are just the beginning. A successful entrepreneur also needs common sense, a little luck and most especially, a plan.
It is simply naive to start a business with no consideration given to a business plan. The integration of branding and marketing into this plan are equally valuable. An outside perspective is also useful. Many prospective business owners have not even asked a business professional for an opinion on their new product or service.
MILBO can help in every one of these areas. Our consultations touch upon the entire gamut of business development services. We can help ascertain startup costs, develop and implement a business plan and consult on branding and marketing issues. In addition, our business consultants bring a fresh perspective to every business we see. We really do think “outside the box.”
Our initial consultation is always free and is designed to foster enduring relationships. If you are ready to expand your current business or launch a brand new one in Birmingham or anywhere else in Alabama, contact the experienced professionals at MILBO.
If you want to double your success rate, you need to double your failure rate. – Tom Watson
All throughout school you were taught to not make mistakes, to be perfect, if you got something wrong it was counted against you. You avoided taking risks at the chance that you would be wrong. A successful entrepreneur is only successful because she has failed, numerous of times. Every entrepreneur you ever admired has been in one point and time a complete failure but imagine if they would have quit or were too afraid of being wrong. You learn from your mistakes and failures, you gain different insight and perspective on how to win, failure is one of your greatest tools. If you are too afraid to fail, you are also too afraid to succeed because those lines are very thin and being an entrepreneur you become a trapeze artist. I call it the Entrepreneur Paradox, the success through failure.
“If I had an hour to solve a problem I’d spend 55 minutes thinking about the problem and 5 minutes thinking about solutions.” -Albert Einstein
All entrepreneurs, whether they know it or not, are great at Algebra. By that I mean they are great problem solvers and also solution finders. Every entrepreneur you admire has made it his/her quest to solve problems that they believed needed to be solved. What problems do you believe need to be solved? I do not know what your quest is, but I do know how you begin, solve for X.
Donald Trump tells the story of a man who had a passion for sodas so he invented a new drink and he named it 4UP but the soda did not gain traction. The guy tinkered with his formula and came up with 5UP but that failed as well. He finally perfected his formula and named the soda 6UP, but he never gained commercial success so he gave up on his dreams of becoming a soda baron. Someone later came across his formula and marketed the soda as 7UP, the rest as they say, is history. Donald Trump did not tell this story for its historical accuracy he told this story to remind everyone not to quit. It takes courage, faith and you have to be a bit delusional but you must never give up on your true passion. When you are faced with difficulty and uncertainty, think of the 7UP story and try to persevere.
