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Your Attitude Can Predetermine Your Business Success

Michael Houlihan & Bonnie Harvey — Thu, 14 Sep 2017 17:00:53 +0000

“You’ll never make it with that attitude!” You’ve heard it in sports. You’ve heard it in school. And you may have heard it from your parents. You attitude is the filter through which all the input you receive passes, is judged, and is acted upon.

In business, having a constructive and positive attitude is crucial to success. Having a negative and fatalistic attitude can bring on a self-fulfilling prophecy totally detrimental to business success. If you expect negative outcomes, then situations that hide an ultimate advantage will be judged solely and quickly on their apparently negative surface. You may never look deeper to discover the gold.

When we were delivering the Keynote speech for the International Conference on Entrepreneurship in Dublin a few years back, we had the pleasure of meeting a professor from the St. Petersburg State Institute of Technology in Russia. We got talking about the shape of entrepreneurship in his country. He said the biggest obstacle they faced was the negative attitude of the general public toward entrepreneurship. From their perspective, risk taking is fool hearty, destined for failure, and puts a burden on families who have to support failed entrepreneurs. Ouch!

You don’t have to go to Russia to find counter-productive attitudes that doom business success. We have our own home-grown variety. They are baked into the way we were raised, the neighborhood we grew up in, and the schools we attended. They have to do with whether or not you have seen enough success in your life to believe it’s possible. They have to do with whether or not you have a history of overcoming adversity, solving problems, and seeing things through.

We found it very telling that the largest percentage of Inc. 500 entrepreneurs had parents who were also entrepreneurs. This apparently shaped their attitude. At least they knew more about what to expect and that challenges could be overcome with patience, tenacity, and open mindedness.

Can you develop a “can do” attitude without that environmental support? We think so. But it requires listening closely to your own words, expressions, and comments. Terms like, “It’s just my luck,” and “This will probably fail,” and the ever popular, “Sh*t happens!” can erode your positive attitude and incline you to give up at the first sign of adversity. This can blind you to solutions staring you right in the face.

One of the ways we describe “The Barefoot Spirit” is that it is an attitude that says, “This is possible, and I am going to find out how. Sure, it’s going to require more work, more research, and more anxiety, but I can handle it!” The Barefoot Spirit doesn’t just hype you up rah-rah style like a pep rally. It provides actual tools you can use that help make success happen.

If you believe it’s possible and you have the tools, you are more likely to find success. For instance, “Who gets rich if I get rich?” Those are your strategic allies. “Who benefits when this problem is solved?’ Those are the strong players on your team. “Who has already solved this problem in other industries?” Those are your mentors. In other words, with the right attitude, you are not alone.

It’s easier to change your lexicon to positive self-talk and remarks when you know you have access to the tools that can help you handle the unknown. It’s not about luck, it’s about preparation meeting (and recognizing) opportunity. So, prepare yourself with a positive attitude and grab some time-tested and proven tools you can use!

Who We Are

Michael Houlihan and Bonnie Harvey co-authored the New York Times bestselling business book, The Barefoot Spirit: How Hardship, Hustle, and Heart Built America’s #1 Wine Brand. The book has been selected as recommended reading in the CEO Library for CEO Forum, the C-Suite Book Club, and numerous university classes on business and entrepreneurship. It chronicles their humble beginnings from the laundry room of a rented Sonoma County farmhouse to the board room of E&J Gallo, who ultimately acquired their brand and engaged them as brand consultants. Barefoot is now the world’s largest wine brand.

Beginning with virtually no money and no wine industry experience, they employed innovative ideas to overcome obstacles, create new markets and forge strategic alliances. They pioneered Worthy Cause Marketing and performance-based compensation. They built an internationally bestselling brand and received their industry’s “Hot Brand” award for several consecutive years.

They offer their Guiding Principles for Success (GPS) to help entrepreneurs become successful. Their book, The Entrepreneurial Culture: 23 Ways To Engage and Empower Your People, helps corporations maximize the value of their human resources.

Currently they travel the world leading workshops, trainings, & keynoting at business schools, corporations, conferences. They are regular media guests and contributors to international publications and professional journals. They are C-Suite Network Advisors & Contributing Editors. Visit their popular brand building site at www.consumerbrandbuilders.com.

To make inquiries for keynote speaking, trainings or consulting, please contact sales@thebarefootspirit.com.

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Sales Should Be Taught In School

Michael Houlihan & Bonnie Harvey — Thu, 05 Jan 2017 18:00:21 +0000

In the past few years we’ve spoken at over 40 schools that teach entrepreneurship. Only one of them teaches Sales – not sales forecasting, not sales management, and not sales analysis, but real, “get out of my office,” to “I’ll take two truckloads,” Sales!

As a society, have we gotten so focused on technology, engineering, production, and the next shiny ball that we have forgotten how all the goods and services that give us such a great standard of living get to us? It’s through sales!

Without sales, nothing happens: no engineering, no tech, no production, no salaries. Nothing. Zilch. So how did we get to a place where we think we can teach, of all things, Entrepreneurship, without teaching Sales?

We think it’s because, as a society, we look down on salespeople, and anything that seems ‘salesy.’ From the classic Music Man to a myriad of films like “Used Cars,” salespeople are depicted as devious, cut throat, sleazy types who will take advantage of you, trick you, and saddle you with something you don’t need and can’t afford. They are regularly portrayed as low lifers who couldn’t get a decent job. So why teach Sales to an entrepreneur? Certainly, they can find someone else, less educated, to tend to that tawdry task.

The one school we visited that did teach Sales including prospecting, qualifying, communications, opening and closing, was the University of Wisconsin at Whitewater. When we asked why they taught Sales, they responded, “One of our benefactors, a very successful entrepreneur, asked in a curriculum meeting on entrepreneurship classes, why they didn’t teach Sales?” They couldn’t give a good reason, so they began teaching Sales.

Like that benefactor, we also believe you can’t teach Entrepreneurship without a providing a solid foundation in Sales. More than 80% of the great ideas that fail do so because their startup companies could not achieve a positive cash flow before the investors pulled the plug! In other words, they couldn’t make more in sales than it cost them to be in business.

We like to say, “The day after the launch, the business plan takes a back seat to the cash flow report.”

We also believe that all companies are made up of just two divisions: Sales and Sales Support – where everybody, and we mean everybody, who is not in Sales, is working to support Sales. Sales is your paycheck, your security, and your reputation. Who wants to hire someone from a bankrupt company? So, let’s rethink where sales should rank in the scheme of things. Any successful entrepreneur will put it near the top.

A couple years ago we spoke at the Norwegian Technological Institute in Trondheim to predominantly Engineering students with dreams of starting their own businesses. The main question we got from them was, “What other courses should I take to prepare myself to sell my products and innovations?” Our answer would have been Sales – if they taught it, but they did not. So instead, we recommended the basis for excellent Sale skills – the Liberal Arts, also known as Liberal Studies or The Humanities. You know, communications, social studies, cultural studies, critical thinking, psychology, philosophy, history and literature. Sure, you can teach the tactical skills of Sales, but first you have to master the art of relationship building.

Now does this sound like a low-lifer’s profession? On the contrary, this sounds like a profession that requires a high level of education, plus respect and understanding for fellow human beings. Let’s put Sales back on the pedestal where it rightly belongs. And let’s teach Sales in our schools. When it comes to entrepreneurial success, Sales cure all ills.

Who We Are

To make inquiries for keynote speaking, trainings or consulting, please contact sales@thebarefootspirit.com.

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Successful Entrepreneurs Must Constantly Sell to Each Business Relationship

Michael Houlihan & Bonnie Harvey — Thu, 14 Apr 2016 17:00:44 +0000

Most agree that selling products and services are at the core of any successful business. Without sales there is simply no money to pay the bills and the business fails. But there are other, less obvious types of “sales” that are just as essential to the success of your business. Without these sales, made regularly, your costs will increase dramatically. These are the “sales” you must make, not with your prospects, but with your support team.

Your support team includes your employees, your outsourced services, and your suppliers. Each one of these “sales” requires a different approach to fully engage them to do their best work for you, take on additional responsibilities, provide quality products and services, and extend your credit and terms. But they all have one thing in common. They must believe you have their best interests at heart before they will commit their time, energy, loyalty, products and services to you. But when they do, they can significantly reduce your costs, turnover, and need for capital, thereby dramatically increasing your chances of success.

Employees. Your employees are key to your success – if they really understand that you are offering them a career opportunity, security, a piece of the action, appreciation, guidance, respect, and time off. They must be clear on how their job, however removed, eventually affects sales, why it’s important, and how it fits into their careers. Show them that you have their best interests at heart so they will be more appreciative of performance based-compensation plans, bonuses, and increased decision-making power.

Outsourced Services. Show appreciation for your outsourced services by providing them with a clear message about your expectations. You can achieve this by having policies in place to constantly improve communication, being clear on requirements and deadlines, and sharing with them the reasons for your requirements. It also means that you give more praise than criticism, and your criticism is constructive. Show them that you are easy to work with. “What can we do on our end to help you be more effective” is a great “sales” pitch for these folks.

Suppliers. Show empathy for the risk they are taking with your new or growing company. Share with them your goals, challenges, and opportunities on a regular basis. This will alleviate some of their fears when they take a chance on you by extending credit and terms that enable you to grow. They worry that you may pay your bill late, or be a “beg pay.” Work out a long-term commitment so they know you won’t dump them for another supplier. They have to believe they can grow with you. It takes considerable seasoning over time to prove you have their best interests at heart.

Negotiating every business relationship is a sales process. You have to gain their trust and prove to them that you fit into their business and growth plan. You have to be aware of their fears and allay them. You do this by demonstrating over time that you will live up to their expectations, and that you are a true strategic partner, helping them achieve their goals.

The alternative to making these “sales” is to spend tons of money on turnover, lost corporate knowledge, high interest rates, short payment terms, and higher service and supply costs. This is money that startups can’t afford, and money that is better spent growing your business.

These types of sales to your support team are rarely taught in school and receive little focus in the entrepreneurial media. But when you demonstrate that you have your team’s best interests at heart, you spend less and monetize faster!

Who We Are

To make inquiries for keynote speaking, trainings or consulting, please contact sales@thebarefootspirit.com.

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3 Essentials of Effective Leadership

Michael Houlihan & Bonnie Harvey — Thu, 31 Mar 2016 17:00:31 +0000

Running a company, division or a team is a responsibility that goes way beyond being the executive. In many ways you are in a parental role. It’s not enough to lay out the path and make the big decisions. You must also nurture your people if you want them to perform at their best. After all, they are spending more time with you, in many cases, than they spend with their own families. They not only take direction from you, but they look to you as an authority figure. A word from you can make a big difference in their personal development as well as their skill set.

And isn’t that what you want – team members who are better this year than they were last year? So what exactly are those words from you that can make all the difference to them and your team’s productivity and your company culture? Just like the gas you put in your tank that gets you to your destination, here is the “G.A.S.” that keeps your team running:

Guidance. Make sure your team has clear and achievable weekly goals. Review them again on Wednesday to make mid-course corrections. Clearly describe to every member of the team what they have to do, and by when, to achieve those goals. Be sure to explain why what they are being asked to do is important to the big picture, the health of the company, the security of their jobs, and ultimately their compensation, bonuses, commissions and benefits. In other words, tie it to sales! Get the deadlines on the calendar. Get involved in helping to remove roadblocks and barriers to communication. Make suggestions and offer help when needed. And then get out of their way!

Acknowledgement. This often overlooked essential is the building block of validation. And validation is what your people want when they are creative, take responsibility, and complete a job well done. We feel that acknowledgment is right up there with compensation when it comes to why they even work for you at all. A heartfelt “Thank You” is always appreciated, but don’t stop there. Do it in writing, be specific about what they did and how it moved the project forward, saved money or made money, and copy the entire team. Public acknowledgement creates more appreciation among team members for their team mates, encourages more of the productive behavior you want, and creates loyalty and tenure.

Support. This is not hand holding. This is not micromanaging. This is being there to answer questions, and to provide the right tools, applications, and services. This is conducting yourself in a reasonable and understanding manner during frustrating times. This is taking it down a notch when things get crazy. And this is standing up for your people when they need it. It’s also interceding on their behalf when they run into the type of contracted or other ‘outside’ folks who won’t work with a delegated person and want you personally on the line. Take those types aside in advance and spend the time to convince them to work with your delegate. Then help your own people develop the confidence and people skills to get the respect they need to get things done on their own.

So when it comes to Leadership, don’t run out of G.A.S.!

Who We Are

To make inquiries for keynote speaking, trainings or consulting, please contact sales@thebarefootspirit.com.

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Scarier Than Halloween! Creepier than a Crypt! It’s a Ghost! It’s a Goblin! No, It’s Entrepreneurship!

Michael Houlihan & Bonnie Harvey — Thu, 22 Oct 2015 17:00:01 +0000

For the past few years now we have been speaking at universities that teach entrepreneurship in one form or another. The reoccurring question regularly asked by millennials aspiring to become entrepreneurs is: How do you prepare for the unknown?

This is a great question because it is the most unnerving part of entrepreneurship and distinguishes it from a 9-5 job. Sure, a job may seem stable and dependable, but if the entrepreneur who hired you suddenly goes out of business, then you are suddenly unemployed. The millennials saw what happened in the recession when their parents were laid off, so they don’t put a lot of faith into their own security with the big corporations like their parents did. They’d just as soon take their chances on their own and at least have some say over the risks involved. We salute them for this! We love working with millennials, because they’ve got guts!

Still, we can hear the anxiety in their voices. We have asked ourselves the same questions. But what do you do about the unknown? How do you prepare for it?

Yes, you are entering a dark and creepy tunnel, but with the right tools you can be ready for just about anything. Just like a sea captain doesn’t know what to expect out there on the unpredictable ocean, but he is prepared with training, relies on standards, adheres to principles, and uses tools to get safely to port.

For entrepreneurship, we like to say you need a hard hat, a compass, and a flashlight to get through that unfamiliar tunnel.

The hard had is a set of attitudes that keeps you positive when the unexpected pops up or falls out of the sky. It’s really how you think of the challenge by taking the 10,000-foot view. The fastest way out of the box is straight up! Up there you can see the other folks that are effected by the same dilemma, discover your natural allies, and look for an elegant solution that solves more than one problem. If you take this big-picture approach, the pop up ghosts aren’t so scary.

The flashlight is to see your way down that dark tunnel and to light up the challenges and opportunities in front of you. Illumination can help you better understand what’s going on. It doesn’t solve anything in itself, but it does give you a better idea of what’s ahead. Illumination reveals the various parts of the challenge, making the solution more discoverable. What is that flashlight exactly? It’s research, asking questions, learning from your mistakes, and it’s the confidence that you get when you can see what you are faced with.

The compass is the set of guiding principles that act as the standards you rely on when making decisions. These are the business philosophies that you believe in, and the principles that build the foundation of your company. You carry these standards with you into the unknown, giving you the confidence to handle just about anything. The main guiding principle is put yourself in the other person’s shoes. From that position, you can discover what others want out of the situation, and once you know that, you are more prepared to get their attention, cooperation, and ultimately their support.

Fear of the unknown can paralyze you. The more you prepare yourself for it, the less scary it becomes. So for Halloween, we offer the millennials a real “Ghost Buster,” the Entrepreneur’s GPS. Check it out! And Happy Halloween!

Who We Are

To make inquiries for keynote speaking, trainings or consulting, please contact sales@thebarefootspirit.com.

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Scheinfeld Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation

Michael Houlihan & Bonnie Harvey — Sun, 05 Aug 2012 03:09:20 +0000

Santa Barbara has always been our favorite Southern California town – great biking, hiking, surfing and culture. But today, we discovered a whole new reason to love this gem of the Pacific Coast, The Scheinfeld Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation. This unique school takes the increasing demand for entrepreneurial education head on, and at the community college level, no less.

This afternoon, we enjoyed a wonderful beachside luncheon with Melissa Moreno, the school’s Director. She has been instrumental in the creation and development of the Center. Only three years old, it’s already getting the attention and support of several successful entrepreneurs.

Check out their fireside-chat format conversations with these notables on video at their site. These chats are jam packed with excited students interacting with real entrepreneurial successes.

Today’s entrepreneurial students want case studies from real business founders. They want to hear their story and ask them practical questions about how they overcame hardship, challenges and undercapitalization.

Our economy has proven time and again that it’s the entrepreneurs that create new businesses, new jobs, and innovation. Today, we face big challenges. For many graduates, sometimes the only source of employment is self employment.

The Scheinfeld Center provides a big head start for anyone thinking about starting their own business, whether they are looking for credit, or just want to get the latest academic disciplines or practical tools necessary for successful entrepreneurship.

Like schools everywhere, they are struggling with the economy. This seems ironic since they are one of the obvious vehicles to turn the economy around. They deserve your interest and support, so please help pass the word about the Scheinfeld Center. We need more schools like this!

We were honored to be asked to present our experience to the Scheinfeld students next March. Now we have another great reason to visit Santa Barbara. We hope the lessons we learned, sometimes the hard way, will help the next generation of entrepreneurs to achieve success!

Who We Are

To make inquiries for keynote speaking, trainings or consulting, please contact sales@thebarefootspirit.com.

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World’s Best Sale Pitch: “My Product will help you Increase Sales”

Michael Houlihan & Bonnie Harvey — Sat, 28 Jul 2012 21:50:23 +0000

We’ve spent over two decades in sales, and it’s true – nothing happens until the sale is made. We have a friend who described her sales job as “conveying the value proposition of (her) product to (her) buyers.”

There are many books written on the subject of sales, sale techniques, and best closing strategies. We’ve often said the best sales person is the “Assistant Buyer”. The key to sales success is simply to sincerely have the buyer’s best interest at heart.

When you produce a product that goes through distribution channels, or when you offer a service business to business, the funds your buyer has to buy from you came from the sale of their product or service. If you are selling direct to the consumer, you still have to recognize that they have to work for the income, one way or another, that enables them to buy your product.

Everybody who sells products or services wants to sell more. The ultimate question from your prospect is: “How does your product or service help me sell my product or service?” or “How can you help me make more money?” That’s why positioning your sales pitch as enhancing theirs is so effective.

Here are some ways your product or service can help your customer’s bottom line:

1. Reduce his overhead cost per unit sold. He has to pay rent, lights, power, insurance, staff, cleaning, etc., whether he sells your product quickly or slowly. If it’s a fast seller, his cost per sale is reduced. He improves his ROI on his capital investment, maintenance, advertising, and staffing.

2. Increase his profits with lower acquisition costs and, consequently, higher profit margins on your product. Give him a volume purchase program that enables a lower retail price and increased volume resulting in higher profits per month.

3. Make his retail environment more attractive with seasonal point of sale materials and promotional programs geared to the theme of the given holiday. Make your displays festive decorations to his retail space.

4. Increase his business with local promotions and support for neighborhood causes. Use Worthy Cause Marketing to bring in customers who have a social reason to buy your product. Let the membership of the non-profit you support know where your product is for sale in his neighborhood.

5. Sell him a product or service that makes him more attractive and more competitive to his clients or retail customers. Give him the best price in your category, or an area-wide exclusive for an introductory period.

6. Add value to his total sales package. Is there something you can sell him that makes what he’s selling more valuable, adds an extra feature or delivers another benefit – like a guarantee, excellent customer service or loyalty program? Does your product give him “green” bragging rights?

7. Improve his personnel’s efficiency by providing training, benefits or tools his staff can use to increase his sales. Help him find and keep good people.

These are just a few examples of how you can help your buyer increase profits and do his job more efficiently. When you focus on what your buyer is trying to do, you can quickly get a clue as to what you can do to help him increase his sales. Adding value to his sales efforts with your product allows him to say to his customers, “But wait, there’s more!”

Who We Are

To make inquiries for keynote speaking, trainings or consulting, please contact sales@thebarefootspirit.com.

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Gaining Traction in the Marketplace takes Tenacity and Focus

Michael Houlihan & Bonnie Harvey — Sat, 07 Jul 2012 19:56:50 +0000

You may hear about a brand that “just took off.” From our perspective, very few brands just take off. What’s more likely is that they started out small and sometimes took years to gain traction.

As we’ve said many times before, it’s not the quality of the product, the price, or the demand so much as it is mastering the distribution and timing.

They say you can move the Queen Mary if you exert enough pressure over time. You can push with all your might for years and then, at last, slowly, it begins to move! You finally overcame the momentum and you are gaining traction. What if you gave up and stopped pushing after the first year?

We read in Entrepreneur, Fast Company, and Inc. magazines about seemingly overnight start-up successes. It almost looks easy. It seems like you can have instant success with just the right product at just the right time. Although there are some examples of that kind of success, it’s the less glamorous, and unheralded, “get rich slow schemes” that are more common, and more dependable.

The number-one ingredient in start-up success is not necessarily the great idea, the great price, or even the great demand. It is tenacity!

Here are 5 Tenets of Tenacity:

1) Deferred Gratification. Sometimes you work 12 hours a day and weekends just to get your idea off the ground. You may even have to forgo vacations in the early stages. Take advantage of pop-up social opportunity? Forget about it.

2) Belief in your Concept. When you are new or different, you’ll be hard pressed to find people in the distribution channels that will give you a shot. You have to hold onto a deep-seated belief in your product and its eventual success. You have to constantly imagine your customer enjoying your product even when others try to discourage you.

3) Focus. Understanding your priorities is job one. As events unfold and the hoops you have to jump through present themselves, it’s easy to get distracted. Keep your eye on your goal and focus on the big picture. The details are tedious, frustrating, and take time, but the realization of your vision is well worth the struggle.

4) Support. Gain encouragement from the ever-increasing number of supporters you attract along the way. Starting out small, the positive feedback you get from even a relatively few happy customers will give you the confidence to press on. The support you get from other businesses that have an interest in your success will validate your concept.

5) Progress. Yes, it may take a lot longer that you thought, but you are making progress albeit ever so humble. Each little victory is one step closer to your goal. There’s nothing like actual sales to demonstrate the viability of your product. And every mistake you make, if treated as a learning experience, will improve your chances of success.

Today, tenacity has many fashionable names, like drive, charge, and the right stuff, but whatever you call it, it’s just plain old stick-to-it-ness. Starting a new business is easy and fun. But once you discover the surprising amount of time, hard work, and sacrifice necessary, it’s your tenacity that will see you through. And when you do succeed, try not to laugh when they say, “Wow! That idea just took off!”

Who We Are

To make inquiries for keynote speaking, trainings or consulting, please contact sales@thebarefootspirit.com.

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