My goal is to help entrepreneurs step into and through their biggest challenges. One way that I am getting entrepreneurs to do that is by sharing my 35+ years of entrepreneurial experience in my new book Wind In Your Sails.
I was riding around Stanley Park in Vancouver with my wife Karalee this weekend. We both stopped to take pictures of the Lions Gate Bridge spanning the entrance to Burrard Inlet. It reminded me of how fortunate we are to be able to live in and experience such a beautiful city.
I haven’t always had such deep appreciation for what I have. Seven years ago, I was unhappy in business and as it turns out in life. I hired extraordinary coach Kevin Lawrence who has helped me experience and live life and business in new ways. Looking back on our journey together, I see seven reasons why entrepreneurs need a coach.
Twenty years ago, Starbucks started expanding north into Canada and Vancouver was one of the first cities to see a proliferation of Starbucks stores. At the time, I was looking for a coffee store where there was skim milk (non fat milk for my non-Canadian friends) on the counter. I was tired of coffee shops where I had to constantly ask for cold skim milk for my coffee. Fortunately, Starbucks included skim milk on the counter in every single one of their stores. For me, this was the key differentiator that made me a Starbucks customer for the last 20 years.
The last two weeks, skim milk has been disappearing from Vancouver Starbucks stores. Every time I get a Starbucks coffee, which is usually more than once every day, I have to ask for skim milk so that I can add it to my coffee. When I do, a four litre jug is retrieved from the back and put on top of the counter for me to open and pour into my coffee. Not only has Starbucks taken away the key differentiator that made me become a customer in the first place, they make the experience of getting what I want unpleasant.
This past Saturday I attended Product Camp Vancouver 2014. This “unconference” brings together some of the top product management talent in Vancouver, along with some fabulous speakers. Participants suggest topics and ideas. Then people volunteer to lead those sessions.
When I arrived Saturday morning, the topic “Go To Market Strategy and Meanings” had many votes, but no facilitator. In the spirit of an unconference, I volunteered to lead the session. Before I knew it, I was in front of a room of fifty product managers leading the discussion.
The last ten years has seen a seismic change in the way that prospects find and purchase products and services. Social media, Google, SEM, blogs, white papers, peer reviews, and more have forever changed the way sales people are viewed. For example, in my work with Webtech Wireless, prospects “Googled the snot out of telematics solutions”, believing that they know more than the sales people who are selling to them. Nothing could be further from the truth.