Avanti Entrepreneur Avanti Entrepreneur Magazine Fall 2017 | Page 15

I
recently rode my bicycle from the west
coast of Oregon to the east coast of
Virginia to interview 100 remarkable
entrepreneurs who have successfully
merged livelihood and lifestyle on
Main Street America. I took this crazy,
4,000-mile ride to find role models who can
teach us the keys to building a successful
company. Here are nine key practices I
observed which I present in my book Main
Street Entrepreneur:
1. START WITH A CLEAR PURPOSE
Successful entrepreneurs are driven by a
purpose bigger than themselves. While
they realize they need to make money to be
sustainable, none of the 100 entrepreneurs I
interviewed mentioned money as a primary
driver. It is not what motivates them.
Instead, they want to do something they
are passionate about, solve a problem that
intrigues them, create jobs in their town,
provide phenomenal customer service, and
change the world in their own way.
2. BUILD ON WHAT YOU KNOW
Successful entrepreneurs build companies in
industries they understand. About one-third
of the entrepreneurs I interviewed worked
in the industry in which they started their
business. Another third had worked in a
related industry. The remaining third were
serious and frequent users of the products,
so they understood the industry from the
customer’s perspective. The better you know
your industry, the greater your chances for
success.
3. LAUNCH OPPORTUNITIES, NOT
IDEAS
Ideas and business opportunities are not the
same thing. Our business failure rate is high
because people launch ideas. A true business
opportunity meets the conditions of the
NERCM test:
(1) Need
(2) Experience
(3) Resources
(4) Customers
(5) Model
Your chances for success go up significantly
when you prove there is a need for your
product, you have adequate experience, you
bring together sufficient resources, you
have customers committed to buy, and your
business model is sound.
4. DEVELOP YOUR SUPPORTING
CAST
Successful entrepreneurs thrive on the
experience of others. They recruit talented
individuals to fill in the gaps in their skill set.
They build teamwork at the following three
levels:
(1) They create a “Brain Trust” of mentors
with the expertise they need.
(2) They build a core team of partners who
join them in the venture.
(3) They develop strategic partnerships with
individuals and companies who can help
them grow their business.
Talented teams can go further and faster than
any individual working alone.
5. MAXIMIZE ALL AVAILABLE
RESOURCES
Effectiveness is achieving important
company objectives. Efficiency is doing it
with as few resources as possible. Successful
entrepreneurs are masters of efficiency—they
have a real knack for finding and utilizing
a host of resources other than money. They
borrow rather than buy, defer compensation,
partner with their first customers, negotiate
excellent terms with suppliers, and use
someone else’s plant rather than build one—
they think resources first, cash second.
6. WORK WITH A ZEALOUS
TENACITY
Successful entrepreneurs are high-energy
people. They have two related and vital
qualities: a tremendous zeal for their business
and a dogged tenacity to win. Zeal is the fire
that fuels the venture, and tenacity is the trait
that produces the results. These two qualities
combined get you through the challenges of
building a business and dramatically increase