Unusual Entrepreneur Interview With Sandra Berbee Of EventPlannerSpain.com
In a world where women entrepreneurs are rare, most especially in Europe where only 10% of women are entrepreneurs compared to their 90% male counterparts; some unusual women still manage to keep their heads high passionately in pursuit of their entrepreneurial dream. One of such women is 50 years old Sandra Berbee, the founder of EventPlannerSpain; an online directory of Spanish event industry suppliers which she started 6 years ago.
Join me in this exciting edition of the unusual entrepreneur interviews as I invite Sandra to share her unusual entrepreneurial story and business insights with you. Enjoy!
If you are just joining us for the first time, this is the unusual entrepreneur interview series. It is a parade of unusual entrepreneurs who are changing the world and profiting from purpose. Profiting from purpose by changing the world isn’t an impossible dream as many tend to think of it, but a realistic one as many unusual entrepreneurs have extraordinarily proven. Click here to read more unusual entrepreneur interviews.
Take it away Sandra!
Interview Questions Part One
ENTREPRENEURSHIP: Awakening the Spirit of business
1. Can you please tell us a little about yourself and your business? What do you do?, how do you do it?, why do you do it and who do you do it for?
My name is Sandra Berbee. I am Dutch and was born in Amsterdam 50 years ago. After studying and working in Germany, France and Switzerland, in 1986 I decided to go south, to Spain, the year it entered the European Union. I then spent 20 years working for others before setting up my own business in 2006, www.eventplannerspain.com, which is an online directory of Spanish event industry suppliers and an interesting information and news resource. Available in 8 languages, international event organizers can find all they need to organize meetings and events in Spain and Morocco. Event Planner Spain currently has 750 event supplier members. Per month, the site receives 250,000 visits from 160 countries, 1,000,000 page views and generates around a 1,000 business leads for its members.
2. How would you describe your entrepreneurial journey into the world of business? Were there any key incidents or life changing events that inspired your decision to become an entrepreneur?
The most important reason for setting up my own business was to be able to do the job in my own way. Before setting up my own company in Spain, I worked in different marketing positions both in private and public companies in Malaga, Andalusia, the most southern part of Spain. But the 12 years I spent working for the public sector were a bit deceiving because, strangely enough, in the public sector politics are more important than customer satisfaction. Working for private Spanish private sector was not too motivating either because of a general lack of entrepreneurial culture and superior management. That’s why, sadly, most Spanish people want to get a job in the public sector because they think it’s safer and better paid (not anymore, though). I suppose that I could have taken the plunge earlier but, as they say, better late than never!
3. When you started out in business, what specific idea, purpose or vision was your key driving force?
Key driving ideas have always been to be independent economically, while selling a useful product/service that helps other people do business. And maybe also bringing a bit of order to the Spanish and Moroccan MICE industries by centralizing information on a logical and attractive international b2b platform, useful both for sellers and buyers.
4. What is your take on the general notion that entrepreneurs should build a business around what they naturally love to do?
I think people should always try to work in what they naturally love to do and it is essential to start thinking about it when you are young. And if no one stimulates you, try to stimulate yourself. I say this because I feel I should have started sooner with my own business. As soon as you feel you should quit your daily job and start your own business, go for it!
5. What is your personal life mission as an entrepreneur? That is; what contributions do you want to make with your life or what would you like to be remembered for as an entrepreneur through the businesses you create when you die?
I have to admit I have always been terribly idealistic about how to make the world a better place. Also, I have always thought that successful businesses should actively participate in achieving a better world by being exemplary and acting responsibly. But, lately, I have become more pessimistic and I don’t like the way politicians and the others that rule the world behave at home and abroad. Successful businesses are too often just shamelessly greedy and there is an enormous lack of “real” democracy, and not only in Spain.
The crisis has shown us the division between classes has not been solved. On the contrary, social divides widen every day and the poor and defenseless, or just “normal” people, are definitely loosing quality of life. Through my business, my aim is to contribute to improving this world, by being useful, helpful, humble, honest, responsible, stimulating and respectful towards people and the environment. For instance our website is the first event portal in Spain that is already offsetting its CO2 emissions. Furthermore, we also publish a lot of articles encouraging the event industry to shift to a more sustainable path in which corporate social responsibility should play a more important role.
6. What would you describe as the purpose of entrepreneurship? That is; what role do entrepreneurs play in the world?
Entrepreneurs, especially when they are successful, can stimulate others to create new businesses and help people to be more independent economically and emotionally and to live life in a more creative and satisfactory way. Entrepreneurs should act in a responsible way and be exemplary both socially and professionally.
Interview Questions Part Two
STRATEGY: The unusual execution of business best practices
7. How do you identify business opportunities and what metrics do you use to measure their viability?
To identify business opportunities, I read as much as possible and to measure viability I do market research online in different countries. Long live the internet, search engines and knowing 5 languages! Then I discuss my ideas with my business partners, friends and family, but in the end it is basically down to your own intuition.
8. Do you have mentors, business coach or external consultants that you work closely with to grow yourself and your business? If yes, to what extent would you describe their impact on your business? If no, are there any particular reasons?
My best mentor was my mother’s second husband. When I met him he was 50 and had just sold his former business, which had been a great success to start another one from scratch, just because he wanted to work with his hobby. It turned out to be a very successful business.
9. How do you strategically use your time as an entrepreneur? What key activities would you recommend entrepreneurs use their time for?
I think the best strategy to use time is to find a balance between learning from books and learning from people, between being alone and being social, sitting behind the computer and doing sport or be in contact with nature, between under-eating and taking time to make a delicious dinner, between variety and boredom…
10. How do you generate profitable customers for your business? What unusual approaches do you adopt for marketing your products/services?
In order to generate profitable customers, our company has to be able to generate new business leads for them. Instead of limiting these to Spain, where due to the crisis, corporate and private event budgets have been drastically slashed, or Morocco, Event Planner Spain is available in 8 languages, enabling member sites to reach top positions in several search engines, such as Google, in 8 languages, helping sellers and buyers to communicate and overcome cultural and linguistic barriers.
11. Many entrepreneurs complain about not succeeding in business due to lack of adequate funding, what is your take on this matter and how do you cope with funding issues in your business?
Today, in Spain it is very complex to get funding from banks. Anyway, the last 25 years it has been more interesting for banks all over the world to invest in other types of more lucrative opaque bubble money-businesses that have nothing to do with stimulating the birth and growth of new SMEs. I think banks should be obliged to go back to that core business. It’s interesting to see how new fundraising initiatives arise online, although for now they seem to be limited to the new technological startups of younger people. Micro credit schemes (most of them geared to women, curiously enough) are another great initiative. It could be a good idea for Spain as well right now where, as in most countries, entrepreneurship is a word that is mostly associated with men.
12. When starting out a new business, who are the likely possible partners or professional service providers you would recommend every entrepreneur work with?
Try to find the best professional suppliers, but never depend totally on them. I think it is really important to be as self-supporting and expert as you can be in all the aspects of your business, in order to not lose control and get the most out of your suppliers. The more you know about your business, the better the service they will deliver.
13. The pricing of products/services is always an issue for entrepreneurs, what unusual approach do you take when it comes to pricing?
The most important factor in terms of pricing is not just to know the value of your service, but also to understand at every moment the changing environment and market. For instance, as we are facing times of crisis we innovate offering special offers, discounts and combined packages, while at the same time improving our website and services. It is always important to be flexible.
Interview Questions Part Three
MISCELLANEOUS: Resourceful Recommendations, tools, books, and ideas for entrepreneurs
14. Since you became an entrepreneur – someone who solves problems for people profitably; what has been your most outstanding accomplishments in the context of business?
Our most outstanding accomplishment maybe has been giving more value to the event industry in Spain and Morocco, promoting these countries and their companies and professionals all over the world, while striving to offer quality content and service. Despite having a very small team, our website is already the most visited event web portal in Spain and our traffic continues to increase every year. We strive to provide a top-quality service and pay great attention to detail as regards both our website and our external and internal communications. I am very proud to say that most our clients are very happy with our service.
15. What would you describe as your major setbacks and what lessons did you pick from them?
My major setback has been the crisis that started in 2007/2008, when marketing budgets started to decrease and we had to adjust our expectations accordingly. The lesson I learned is that prosperity is very fragile and that we always have to be flexible and capable of reacting immediately. In our particular case, we have managed to overcome the financial crisis thanks to a detailed control of overhead costs, which we always try to keep as low as possible.
16. Were there any particular questions you expected me to ask that is beneficial to entrepreneurs and I didn’t? Kindly share with us such questions and their relevant answers here.
I think your interview was well structured and covers the most important aspects of my business and entrepreneurship. Overall, I would like to encourage everyone to attempt to start their own business. In the worst case, it is a great learning experience both professionally and personally. Besides, despite the crisis, there are a number of advantages: everything is cheaper and everyone is willing to work for you.
Your Turn
What more would you like to know about the Unusual Sandra Berbee? You can ask her further questions below in the comment section and I will be sure that you will get an answer directly from her.
Also, what did you learn from this unusual entrepreneur? What lessons, what philosophy of her strike you the most?
Sandra has shared her unusual story with you, now is time to hear from you. Can’t wait to hear what you have to say!
- Published in Interviews, Thought Bank
Unusual Entrepreneur Interview With Adedeji Opoola Of LazyAppetite.com
Welcome to another edition of the Unusual Entrepreneur Interviews and today we have here with us unusual entrepreneur Adedeji Opoola. He is the Co-founder of lazyappetite.com, an online takeaway website that makes it easier than ever before to find a restaurant near you and order a meal directly online. It’s a place to order, recommend, and experience meals from various restaurants in Nigeria.
In case you are not familiar with this business idea of food delivery, here are some encouraging facts according to Silicon Africa;
“Started 4 years ago, Eat24.com, a food-delivery startup in San Francisco has now more than 150 employees, covers more than 850 U.S. cities, gets more than a million unique visitors a month, and will generate more than $150 million in sales by the end of the year 2012.
The food delivery market is growing, and fast. In Europe, Berlin food delivery startup “Delivery Hero” Just merged with Foodik, seeking more access to new international growth opportunities.
In India, BigBite, is growing fast. In Indonesia Klik-Eat can’t handle the demand from restaurants. Innovation is spurring as well. Tacocopter, a new food delivery startup in Silicon Valley, is going one giant step further, using Unmanned Drone Helicopters to deliver the food even faster to its customers.”
Take it away Adedeji!
Interview Questions Part One
ENTREPRENEURSHIP: Awakening the Spirit of business
- Can you please tell us a little about yourself and your business?
I am Adedeji Opoola, Co-founder of lazyappetite.com, an online takeaway website that makes it easier than ever before to find a restaurant near you and order a meal directly from the website. I have an Electrical and Electronics Engineering degree from the University of Lagos.
What do you do?
I am the CEO/Project Manager for Lazyappetite.com and a computer network/infrastructure specialist.
How do you do it?
This is interesting because our role change from day to day but essentially, I work day and night to ensure the Lazy Appetite platform runs efficiently and that our clients, both the restaurants and the customers get value every time.
Why do you do it and who do you do it for?
The desire to see Lazy Appetite cement its place as the leading food delivery portal in the country and provide meals without stress to everyone on demand is the raison d’être for all the sacrifice. I am a strong believer in self-actualization so I guess that’s a great part of what drives me to keep working every day.
2. How would you describe your entrepreneurial journey into the world of business?
I’ll say it’s been equal parts exciting, frustrating and rewarding. There are times you want to pull out your hair and then there are those times when things go through that bring you so much joy but I learn new perspectives every day and that keeps me going.
Were there any key incidents or life changing events that inspired your decision to become an entrepreneur?
No, not really, I just really believe that I can make a difference. I believe everybody has an entrepreneurial spirit in them and it’s just a matter of whether one is bold enough to act on it.
3. When you started out in business, what specific idea, purpose or vision was your key driving force?
I would say my key driving force is the aspiration to reach my full potential and like I said before, I am a huge fan of self-actualization. I also do not really fancy having a boss. Let’s not get that wrong; I respect and learn from all my previous bosses but I generally didn’t feel I could reach my full potential under them.
4. What is your take on the general notion that entrepreneurs should build a business around what they naturally love to do?
From my perspective, building a business around what you love to do is great only if there is a market for it where you intend to launch the business. I don’t see a point in building a business around say television production just because you love it, if nobody in the area has a television. So I’ll say in business, think of the market before passion or anything else.
5. What is your personal life mission as an entrepreneur? That is; what contributions do you want to make with your life or what would you like to be remembered for as an entrepreneur through the businesses you create when you die?
I want to be that entrepreneur that every student, graduate, workers and aspiring entrepreneur looks up to and says “He believed he could make a difference and he did, so why can’t I”. Beyond being simply an inspiration for others to achieve all that they can, I want to affect real life people with the businesses I create. Lazyappetite.com is a firm movement in that direction. By making quality and a great variety of meals available to everyone without stress, we free up time for you to enjoy life’s moments and worry less about where to get your meals.
6. What would you describe as the purpose of entrepreneurship? That is; what role do entrepreneurs play in the world?
Entrepreneurs shape the world we live in; they change the world every day. In fact, I believe entrepreneurship will solve a large part of the economic problems we are currently facing in this part of the world. Entrepreneurs shape economies and this is why many countries strive to create the best working environment for them.
Interview Questions Part Two
STRATEGY: The unusual execution of business best practices
7. How do you identify business opportunities and what metrics do you use to measure their viability?
I am a fan of low capital start-ups, this doesn’t mean I don’t think big, but I focus on these because they are easier for me to setup. I basically sit down and think about what I know people want and write them out.
Then I ask the major question? How many People “NEED” this? (Note that the word is need, not want as there is a huge difference. Those who need your product/service define your loyal market, not those who want it). I carry out real market surveys (Just means getting out and asking people).
The next thing is to create a business plan so you have a very good idea, if you will actually make any profit from the business.
8. Do you have mentors, business coach or external consultants that you work closely with to grow yourself and your business? If yes, to what extent would you describe their impact on your business? If no, are there any particular reasons?
I do not have business mentors but I do have some people I admire. Some of the people in the cast of Dragons’ Den UK version are very instructive- Peter Jones, Theo Paphitis, James Khan and Deborah Meaden. Peter Jones is my favourite because he explains businesses in the best way he thinks they should be run. My advice to aspiring entrepreneurs is to watch Dragons’ Den UK version, I have learnt a lot from it.
9. How do you strategically use your time as an entrepreneur? What key activities would you recommend entrepreneurs use their time for?
I have a tablet that I use to plan my day; it is a life-saving scheduling device for me. I read anytime I get some free time and I play when I need to relax. As for key activities, I recommend that entrepreneurs try to read whenever they can or like me, watch tutorials that will help you grow yourself and the business. Always leave time for playing, for friends and family as they are very important in your life.
10. How do you generate profitable customers for your business? What unusual approaches do you adopt for marketing your products/services?
I am a huge fan of social media marketing and search engine optimization, especially because of the business Lazyappetite.com does. Business partnerships are a good way to market your product. I also employ traditional methods like radio and flyers but all these depend on the product you are dealing with. As I said earlier, in identifying business viability you need to answer the question “Do people need this?” I believe if this was answered correctly and these people know about your product then you will make profit from their purchases.
11. Many entrepreneurs complain about not succeeding in business due to lack of adequate funding, what is your take on this matter and how do you cope with funding issues in your business?
It is true, a dearth of funding is a major setback in many start-ups; in fact this is my reason for concentrating on low capital start-ups. If you had done your business plan correctly though, you would have foreseen the need for more capital at certain stages of the business and made the moves to get it. If you cannot foresee getting any investment at those stages the best thing to do is to not start-up at all than to hope for miraculous money to save you at that stage of the business.
12. When starting out a new business, who are the likely possible partners or professional service providers you would recommend every entrepreneur work with?
Starting a business usually requires a lot of surveys, planning and management. Professional help may be required depending on the business, but generally I’ll suggest getting a business entry consultant and market analyst. These people will give you valuable advice as to whether to approach the market at all and if so how to approach it.
13. The pricing of products/services is always an issue for entrepreneurs, what unusual approach do you take when it comes to pricing?
Pricing is very important in any business as it sometimes determines if consumers will favour your product or competitor’s product. Price can only be arrived at after you have drawn up a business model; the key thing to note is that your price should not break your business model. Don’t sell lower than you can afford because your competition is cheaper as this is usually the case. If you know your market will buy into quality and this is the reason for your higher prices then stick to it. This is the model Peak milk has used over the years and this is the reason for its success.
Interview Questions Part Three
MISCELLANEOUS – Resourceful Recommendations, tools, books, and ideas for unusual entrepreneurs
14. Since you became an entrepreneur – someone who solves problems for people profitably; what has been your most outstanding accomplishments in the context of business?
Well, Lazyappetite.com is growing rapidly and currently concluding partnering with some major restaurant brands in the country. We are currently the leading online food delivery website in Nigeria. We are a dedicated team of five, two hardworking programmers; Kunle Adedayo and Shope Johnson, Social media guru and sales partner; Nubi Kayode and Ahmed Adeyanju. We all work very hard to be the best.
15. What would you describe as your major setbacks and what lessons did you pick from them?
I’ll say that the restaurant recruitment phase for Lazyappetite.com was quite major. It was very difficult to explain the concept to restaurant owners because the platform wasn’t fully ready yet. We have moved passed that phase now though and I now clearly understand the need for a working prototype while marketing new products.
16. Were there any particular questions you expected me to ask that is beneficial to entrepreneurs and I didn’t? Kindly share with us such questions and their relevant answers here.
What is the plan for the future?
Let’s just say I will be taking it one day at a time to build a brand experience for all stakeholders in LazyAppetite – co-founders, team members, restaurant, and of course our users; also looking forward to scaling up to serve other cities in Nigeria, and Sub-Saharan Africa. Until then, if you are reading this, go visit LazyAppetite.com and tell us what you think via twitter – @LazyAppetite, or our Facebook page. You can also contact me at contact@lazyappetite.com.
Your Turn
What more would you like to know about the unusual Adedeji Opoola? You can ask him further questions below in the comment section and I will be sure that you will get an answer directly from him.
Also, what did you learn from this unusual entrepreneur? What lessons, what philosophy of his strike you the most?
Adedeji has shared his unusual story with you, now is time to hear from you. Can’t wait to hear what you have to say!
- Published in Interviews, Thought Bank
Unusual Entrepreneur Interview With AJ Leon Of PursuitOfEverything.com
Welcome to another edition of the Unusual Entrepreneur Interviews and today we have here with us unusual entrepreneur Aj Leon. He is the Chief Trouble Maker of Misfit Inc., a company that is dedicated to traveling the world causing positive trouble wherever necessary.
AJ nomads around the world and makes things happen. He is currently traveling around the world in 1,080 days primarily by land and sea. He is a writer, designer, entrepreneur and humanitarian that has initiated social projects in South Sudan, Kenya, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Malawi, The Philippines and England. He is the author of The Life and Times of a Remarkable Misfit and publishes weekly articles at Pursuit of Everything about living with intention, doing work that matters and changing the world.
I’m so excited to have him on the unusual entrepreneur interview series because Aj is one of the few unusual entrepreneurs who walks the talk about changing the world and profiting from purpose. As a couple, he and his high school sweetheart, Melissa gave up a very comfortable life [ AJ left banking and Melissa left teaching] in pursuit of everything. And today, they are one of the most fulfilled couples I know. Seriously, this is one interview you don’t want to miss. Aj is simply an inspiration!
If you are just joining us for the first time, this is the unusual entrepreneur interview series. It is a parade of unusual entrepreneurs who are changing the world and profiting from purpose. Profiting from purpose by changing the world isn’t an impossible dream as many tend to think of it, but a realistic one as many unusual entrepreneurs have extraordinarily proven. Click here to read more unusual entrepreneur interviews.
Take it away Aj!
Interview Questions Part One
ENTREPRENEURSHIP: Awakening the Spirit of business
1. Can you please tell us a little about yourself and your business? What do you do?, how do you do it?, why do you do it and who do you do it for?
Primarily, I would say I am a writer. I publish articles, essays and books over at Pursuit of Everything about living with intention, doing work that matters and changing the world. I am also the founder and Creative Director of Misfit, a creative agency that specializes in brand repositioning on the client side. We also have a great deal of federated internal projects that we launch into the world, like the Misfit Quarterly, a creative arts journal.
2. How would you describe your entrepreneurial journey into the world of business? Were there any key incidents or life changing events that inspired your decision to become an entrepreneur?
Almost five years ago now, on December 31, 2007, I found myself in my large corner office in Manhattan with tears streaming down my face, wondering where it all went wrong. I was a successful finance executive in New York, but I despised my work and hated the fact that I had traded my life in for a larger paycheck at every turn since leaving university.
It was four days before I was going to be married, I was up for a big promotion and I realized that if I didn’t leave at that precise moment, I was going to be that dude for the rest of my life. A person trapped in a “successfully” average existence mourning the glory of a life that could have been. That was the turning point. I walked out. Left my career. And decided to stop living the life that I was supposed to live, and start living the life I was destined to live.
3. When you started out in business, what specific idea, purpose or vision was your key driving force?
For me, business or entrepreneurship, particularly for small businesses, is only a microcosm of the larger question: What do you actually want from life? I started out not with a great vision of what I wanted to accomplish, but with a clear understanding of the life I didn’t want. From there, I started to work on small web-based projects that interested me, and slowly I began to excavate what my path would be. Today, Misfit in general is a federated amalgamation of the things I love to do.
4. What is your take on the general notion that entrepreneurs should build a business around what they naturally love to do?
Well, I believe at the very best you need to love what you do, and at the very best do what you love. If you are not in either of those camps, then I’d suggest seriously reevaluating just exactly why you are doing whatever it is you are doing.
5. What is your personal life mission as an entrepreneur? That is; what contributions do you want to make with your life or what would you like to be remembered for as an entrepreneur through the businesses you create when you die?
To answer your question, I want to make a dent in the universe. I want to know for certain at the end of my life, that this world was different because I was in it and that I didn’t squander my opportunity to live a life of purpose.
6. What would you describe as the purpose of entrepreneurship? That is; what role do entrepreneurs play in the world?
I think entrepreneurship is just a canvas. It is simply a medium by which to express your creativity, domain knowledge and art. It is more art than science, certainly. Entrepreneurs are the great explorers of our age. They are the Drake’s, the Magellan’s, the individuals with the courage to press into the thick darkness of uncertainty and into the horizon and show us a better or newer way.
Interview Questions Part Two
STRATEGY: The unusual execution of business best practices
7. How do you identify business opportunities and what metrics do you use to measure their viability?
I usually start with the question, “would I give a shit about this if I saw somebody share it on twitter?” If the idea passes that threshold, then I would start to analyze whether this is an “unmet” or “met” need in the market. In other words, am I swimming into a sea of potential competitors from the onset or is this something, more or less, brand new. The most interesting ideas or projects to launch, of course, are when you create something that is both an “unknown” and an “unmet” need. In those circumstances, it’s not about “their product or mine”, it’s around educating potential customers about a solution to a problem they might not have even recognized they have.
8. Do you have mentors, business coach or external consultants that you work closely with to grow yourself and your business? If yes, to what extent would you describe their impact on your business? If no, are there any particular reasons?
I get asked this question a great deal. I do not have mentors. I never have. Not sure why, it just didn’t work out for me, I guess. But I do have my team at Misfit and a very special group of friends I call my Jedi’s who I come to from time to time to bounce ideas.
9. How do you strategically use your time as an entrepreneur? What key activities would you recommend entrepreneurs use their time for?
Most of what I do that helps me as an entrepreneur has nothing to do with business. As a business person, you are only as good as the ideas and solutions you can come up with. As a human, you are quite literally a portfolio of your experiences. Those experiences color and inform every other aspect of your life. I travel, I eat new foods, I attend art shows, I go on photo walks, I write poetry, I read novels and classics and memoirs (basically everything but business books) – I see the world and I ingest every last drop of light I can from it.
These activities naturally permeate into my work. It makes the work I produce more colorful and multi-faceted.
One activity I recommend for every business person, is this: I write one email a day to a member of my community or a customer or a client, thanking them for supporting my work. Because without their attention, I simply could not produce the work that I do.
10. How do you generate profitable customers for your business? What unusual approaches do you adopt for marketing your products/services?
I don’t really spend too much time marketing. I write voraciously about the ideology behind the projects I choose to work on and I realize this very important fact: whenever you launch something of any kind – that something is both your product and your best effort at marketing your next product. If it’s fabulous, people will await your next one, if it’s average, you’ll have to churn out a new campaign or gimmick for every launch.
11. Many entrepreneurs complain about not succeeding in business due to lack of adequate funding, what is your take on this matter and how do you cope with funding issues in your business?
I’ve never taken funding. My focus early on was to build a team of specialists. I taught myself graphic design, my partner taught himself how to code in PHP and Rails, my wife (and also business partner) taught herself about the world of content marketing and video editing. Those three components alone have made it much more affordable and viable to launch any new idea I may come up with.
12. When starting out a new business, who are the likely possible partners or professional service providers you would recommend every entrepreneur work with?
People that you trust and people that you love to work with. If you are planning on doing anything web-based, make friends with an amazing designer, they make all the difference in the world.
13. The pricing of products/services is always an issue for entrepreneurs, what unusual approach do you take when it comes to pricing?
It’s difficult to answer that question because I am involved in quite a few diametrically different projects. It’s a mixture of definitive market research and what you believe it to be worth for your time and energy and effort to produce it.
Interview Questions Part Three
MISCELLANEOUS – Resourceful Recommendations, tools, books, and ideas for unusual entrepreneurs
14. Since you became an entrepreneur – someone who solves problems for people profitably; what has been your most outstanding accomplishments in the context of business?
I run the coolest company on the planet, and I travel around the world as I do it.
15. What would you describe as your major setbacks and what lessons did you pick from them?
Again, a difficult question. One thing I did learn early was to diversify revenue streams. Don’t generate all your revenue from one or two customers without having other revenue generating projects. That is a recipe for disaster.
16. Were there any particular questions you expected me to ask that is beneficial to entrepreneurs and I didn’t? Kindly share with us such questions and their relevant answers here.
Nope, I think you covered it!
Your Turn
What more would you like to know about the unusual Aj Leon? You can ask him further questions below in the comment section and I will be sure that you will get an answer directly from him.
Also, what did you learn from this unusual entrepreneur? What lessons, what philosophy of his strike you the most?
Aj has shared his unusual story with you, now is time to hear from you. Can’t wait to hear what you have to say!
- Published in Interviews, Thought Bank
Unusual Entrepreneur Interview With Dov Gordon Of DovGordon.net
Welcome to another edition of the Unusual Entrepreneur Interviews and today we have here with us unusual entrepreneur Dov Gordon. He is the alchemist entrepreneur of The Gordon Group, a company that is passionate about helping entrepreneurs attract a steady, consistent, predictable flow of new customers and clients.
I’m so excited to have him on the unusual entrepreneur interview series because Dov is one of the few people who have a knack for getting to the root of very complex business ideas. You will be amazed at is simplistic approach to entrepreneurship.
If you are just joining us for the first time, this is the unusual entrepreneur interview series. It is a parade of unusual entrepreneurs who are changing the world and profiting from purpose. Profiting from purpose by changing the world isn’t an impossible dream as many tend to think of it, but a realistic one as many unusual entrepreneurs have extraordinarily proven. Click here to read more unusual entrepreneur interviews.
Take it away Dov!
Interview Questions Part One
ENTREPRENEURSHIP: Awakening the Spirit of business
1. Can you please tell us a little about yourself and your business? What do you do?, how do you do it?, why do you do it and who do you do it for?
I help entrepreneurs and professionals build a steady, consistent, predictable flow of ideal customers and clients. How? By showing them how to focus on the few marketing inputs that produce significant output and ignore all the hype and nonsense.
2. How would you describe your entrepreneurial journey into the world of business? Where there any key incidents or life changing events that inspired your decision to become an entrepreneur?
Well, I’ve never had a real job. My first venture into entrepreneurship was by joining a networking marketing company in my late teens. While that didn’t produce notable income, it did help me learn the value of repeatable systems.
I’ve been a student of personal development, marketing, management, advertising and so on from about age 13. After getting married at 21 I realized I’d need to start earning a living somehow. I had read about coaching somewhere and it seemed to fit my strengths. So I enrolled in a coach training program which gave me some tools to get started as a coach.
3. When you started out in business, what specific idea, purpose or vision was your key driving force?
I just wanted to be doing something I was good at. I’m really good at helping people see their situation, and their most promising next step, more clearly. And I genuinely care about people. But other than that, I had no grand vision other than to find a way to do what I enjoy and support my wife and baby.
4. What is your take on the general notion that entrepreneurs should build a business around what they naturally love to do?
You have a big advantage if you’re building a business around what you love to do. But “business” presupposes that you’ll have customers. And to have a customer you need to be solving a problem someone has and doesn’t want – or enabling a result they want and don’t have. These latter ingredients are even more important than doing something you love.
5. What is your personal life mission as an entrepreneur? That is; what contributions do you want to make with your life or what would you like to be remembered for as an entrepreneur through the businesses you create when you die?
I get excited about simplicity. About helping people cut through the fog that keeps us going in circles; that have us overcomplicating life. If people point to me and say “He’s the guy who helped me realize that growing my business really could be simple,” I’ll be happy.
6. What would you describe as the purpose of entrepreneurship? That is; what role do entrepreneurs play in the world?
Entrepreneurs are people who direct resources from where they are creating low value to where they create higher value. I forget where I learned that. Maybe Peter Drucker. But that’s essentially it. It’s about taking a resource of one kind or another and enabling it to produce more for someone who cares enough to pay for that increase.
Interview Questions Part Two
STRATEGY: The unusual execution of business best practices
7. How do you identify business opportunities and what metrics do you use to measure their viability?
You need to be very clear about the following:
- What products will I offer? Not offer? Set clear criteria for what you will and won’t sell and why.
- What markets will I serve and not serve? Again, set clear criteria for the kinds of customers you will and will not be serving.
- What’s your competitive advantage? The best way to think about this is “How do those customers I want to attract need to perceive me / my products / my services in order to want to do business with me?”
- What capabilities do I need to create that competitive advantage?
- What are the minimal financial results I need to support these operations / capabilities?
Now, look how simple this is. When you build the capabilities, or the operations, you’re now doing what you need to do to create the right perception in the minds of the people you most want as customers. Since they perceive you as the one who can give them what they want, they buy. This gives you the finances you need to keep up the cycle.
This is a really rough sketch of this process, if you would like a more detailed explanation, you can email me dovgordon@dovgordon.net and I will send you my “strategy framework.”
8. Do you have mentors, business coach or external consultants that you work closely with to grow yourself and your business? If yes, to what extent would you describe their impact on your business? If no, are there any particular reasons?
Mentors are critical. I was going in circles for years. It was only after I finally came across a coach who I felt would really help me – and borrowed the money to pay for a year of his help – that my business really turned around. There are just some things that you will not figure out on your own. If you don’t have a coach or a mentor to guide you, to help you master the few skills that will really matter to you; you’re just not serious about your business.
I’m also a big believer in masterminds. Since 2006 I’ve been leading one mastermind group or another, always organized around the direction I needed to be going in. I’d go out and find people who were a little ahead of me, but who could benefit from what I had to offer, and get us organized. This, too, is an essential ingredient.
9. How do you strategically use your time as an entrepreneur? What key activities would you recommend entrepreneurs use their time for?
It’s not one activity or another. It’s more about knowing your priorities and getting them done, one at a time. Most people don’t know their priorities. They think they’re too busy, so they don’t slow down enough to think. Fact is, clear thinking is your highest paid work. If you don’t regularly make time to step back, reflect and think, again, you’re just pretending.
10. How do you generate profitable customers for your business? What unusual approaches do you adopt for marketing your products/services?
I don’t have any unusual approaches. Personally, most of my customers and clients come via joint venture teleseminars. A JV partner will promote me to his or her list. Some of their subscribers will register on my site for a free teleseminar — where nothing is sold, believe it or not. And then over time, I will make offers to my list after they get to know me. That’s my ‘secret sauce.’ Simple, really.
11. Many entrepreneurs complain about not succeeding in business due to lack of adequate funding, what is your take on this matter and how do you cope with funding issues in your business?
I don’t believe it. Funding is a symptom, not a cause.
12. When starting out a new business, who are the likely possible partners or professional service providers you would recommend every entrepreneur work with?
Get the details handled by someone who is good at it. If you’re not good at bookkeeping, don’t do it yourself. Hire someone. It will save countless hours of wasted time, mistakes and more.
13. The pricing of products/services is always an issue for entrepreneurs, what unusual approach do you take when it comes to pricing?
What I’ve learned over the years is that it really is true that you will be paid what you believe you are worth.
Your Turn
What more would you like to know about the Unusual Dov Gordon? You can ask him further questions below in the comment section and I will be sure that you will get an answer directly from him.
Also, what did you learn from this unusual entrepreneur? What lessons, what philosophy of his strike you the most?
Dov has shared his unusual story with you, now is time to hear from you. Can’t wait to hear what you have to say.
- Published in Interviews, Thought Bank
Unusual Entrepreneur Interview With Jeet Banerjee Of StatFuse.com
Welcome to another edition of the Unusual Entrepreneur Interviews and today I’ve got another unusual entrepreneur on the hot seat. His name is Jeet Banerjee, a young and motivated entrepreneur, technology expert, and consultant looking to create innovations that have a lasting effect on the world.
He is the 19 years old founder of StatFuse, a revolutionary tool allowing students to calculate their chances of admission and making the transition from high school to college easy.
If you are just joining us for the first time, this is the unusual entrepreneur interview series. It is a parade of unusual entrepreneurs who are changing the world and profiting from purpose. Profiting from purpose by changing the world isn’t an impossible dream as many tend to think of it, but a realistic one as many unusual entrepreneurs have extraordinarily proven. Click here to read more unusual entrepreneur interviews.
Take it away Jeet!
Interview Questions Part One
ENTREPRENEURSHIP – Awakening the Spirit of business
1. Can you please tell us a little about yourself and your business? What do you do? how do you do it?, why do you do it and who do you do it for?
Yeah sure! I’m basically a 19 year old serial entrepreneur, technology expert, consultant, author, blogger, and college student. I essentially come across problems in the world every day. I write every problem I face down and try to create a unique solution out of it. Once I have created that unique solution, I begin to think of ways to turn the idea and solution into a successful business.
I created my first startup company at the age of 17 JB Media Force which was a basic service orientated company offering web design, web development, and internet marketing solutions to small businesses. I recently sold that business to focus more attention on my startup companies.
Currently, I have one startup company launched StatFuse and I recently just launched my second startup company called Vintelli. I am also in the development stage of two other startup companies that are set to come out later this year.
The businesses I create are simply to help others solve a problem. I do it for people that I know that face problems or think of common troubles many people face. I do it for the passion and enjoyment I get when I am able to help others while making it a profitable business!
2. How would you describe your entrepreneurial journey into the world of business? Where there any key incidents or life changing events that inspired your decision to become an entrepreneur?
When I was 15, my Dad sent me off to work. If I wanted to have the pleasures of going to the movies or buying video games, he thought I should earn it. Thankfully, he gave me a job working as his assistant at his software development company.
While working there for about two years, I quickly realized that I hated what I was doing. I was only there for money and I was absolutely miserable (not because of my Dad, but just because of the work I was doing). I quickly realized that I really wanted to be my own boss, work on my own terms, and be in control of what I do.
That’s when I decided to find a way where I can make the money I was making working at my Dad’s office while being able to work on my own terms. That’s exactly what I did in a few short months and was able to develop JB Media Force into a successful business.
3. When you started out in business, what specific idea, purpose or vision was your key driving force?
When I first started out with JB Media Force, my sole purpose of creating the business was to escape working under someone else. I did it so that I could be my own boss while making just enough to have the luxuries and fun I wanted. However, when I began working on my first startup company….I quickly realized that I wanted to create businesses to help others more than gaining for profit. Thus, I sold JB Media Force and began working on startups that fit my vision better.
4. What is your take on the general notion that entrepreneurs should build a business around what they naturally love to do?
I definitely agree! If you aren’t happy with something, it is really hard to give a 100% effort. When I wasn’t passionate about the work I was doing, I could tell because the results were severely slacking. When you work on something you love, nobody has to tell you to get up and do something. You are your own motivator and you achieve much more because you want to.
5. What is your personal life mission as an entrepreneur? That is; what contributions do you want to make with your life or what would you like to be remembered for as an entrepreneur through the businesses you create when you die?
My personal life mission as an entrepreneur is to create businesses and solutions that can outlive me. I want to help others with my innovative skills while doing enough as an entrepreneur to say that I really made a positive difference in the world. I just want to be remembered for who I was and what I tried to accomplish. I hope that my businesses and achievements through my life are enough for people to know who I was and what I wanted to do.
6. What would you describe as the purpose of entrepreneurship? That is; what role do entrepreneurs play in the world?
Personally, I think every entrepreneur has their own purpose. Some entrepreneurs are in it for profit, others are in it to change the world, and some are even in it to escape a 9 to 5 job. I think the purpose of an entrepreneur is to be who they want and to express themselves through their ventures. I think entrepreneurs help the world grow because everything around us was built by an entrepreneur at some point of time.
Interview Questions Part Two
STRATEGY – The unusual execution of business best practices
7. How do you identify business opportunities and what metrics do you use to measure their viability?
Everything starts with a problem. Even though we live in such an advanced society, we still have lots of problems. When you identify the problem, you have to find a solution that greatly improves or fixes the way things are. If I am able to get past the last step, then you have to find a way to implement the solution into a business. I have had a lot of great ideas, but more often than not, those ideas would make horrible businesses. Your idea has to be something others would be willing to pay for. You can find out whether people would pay for a product or service by researching the market, surveying individuals, or looking at industry trends.
8. Do you have mentors, business coach or external consultants that you work closely with to grow yourself and your business? If yes, to what extent would you describe their impact on your business? If no, are there any particular reasons?
No, until this point of time I have not had a mentor or business coach that I have worked closely with. I have learned everything I know today through experiences, the internet, resourceful blogs, and books. I never really put too much thought into obtaining a mentor or coach and until know I have really felt that I can grow and achieve what I want to without their help.
9. How do you strategically use your time as an entrepreneur? What key activities would you recommend entrepreneurs use their time for?
I strategically use my time as an entrepreneur for what really needs my attention. I try to work smarter instead of working harder. There are thousands of tasks that come up, but you do not need to do everything yourself. Whether you have partners, employees, or assistants, you should value your time. If someone else can do a task, let them do it.
I would recommend entrepreneurs use their time for things that really need their attention. With the thousands of tasks that come up, maybe hundreds of those require the attention of the entrepreneur. If something cannot be done without the entrepreneur himself, then he needs to go do it.
10. How do you generate profitable customers for your business? What unusual approaches do you adopt for marketing your products/services?
It really depends on a business to business basis. I always research my demographics and look at other businesses in my industry that have been successful. In order to obtain clients or sell a product, you need to really pinpoint who your buyer is. When you find your ideal buyer, you need to figure out the best and most successful methods of getting your product/service in front of them.
11. Many entrepreneurs complain about not succeeding in business due to lack of adequate funding, what is your take on this matter and how do you cope with funding issues in your business?
Having funding is always great. However, a business does NOT need to have funding to be successful. Funding is just a bonus to have because you have more marketing choices to choose from. When I created my first startup company StatFuse, I never had any money to use on marketing. Instead of praying for a miracle, I decided to find free marketing strategies that will get my website in front of my demographics. I was able to do just that and obtained over 12,000 users in a few short weeks. The following were the marketing strategies I used;
- Social Media – It is free for the most part to promote anything you like on places like Twitter or Facebook. Given that our demographics spend hours a day on these social networking sites, we decided to find creative ways to get our website/product in front of students. Whether it was by having friends of friends of friends share/tweet our product or us directly notifying students of our product on high school group, it really helped us acquire users.
- Press – You do not need a publicist or PR agency to get your business in the press. You have to simply find a personal way to appeal to an editor or press segment with your business. You looking for media outlets that fit your industry or niche and contact them. Be prompt and let them know the basic details about what your business does and why it’s a great article for their readers. If they like it, they will contact you. Through the press, we were able to gain rapid numbers of users.
- Partnerships – Find people that work to serve the same demographics you do. Chances are that they are also looking to acquire more customers. Forming a partnership (not with your competitors), but rather with people who are catering to a similar audience is a great way to acquire customers. You scratch their back by promoting their product and they do the same. You guys are now able to do cross-promotion to increase growth.
If I really need funding and have no other options, I then begin to approach investors. Investors are great because they are willing to give you funding in exchange for equity in your business. If you can find an investor who wants to invest, you should take it if you really need the money.
12. When starting out a new business, who are the likely possible partners or professional service providers you would recommend every entrepreneur work with?
I think every new business needs to work with a great team of web designers & web developers. Every new business in today’s era needs a website somehow. Online has officially taken over and no matter what your company does, you need to get online to be successful.
The second set of professionals that everyone should work with are lawyers. When you create a new business, there are a lot of legal issues and obligations that you must fulfill. Lawyers not only protect your business, but can protect you in the long run.
13. The pricing of products/services is always an issue for entrepreneurs, what unusual approach do you take when it comes to pricing?
Pricing is definitely tough. I struggled with figuring out prices for quite a long period of time. I found that surveying your audience is not an accurate approach to plan pricing for your products/services. People will say anything on a survey, but will rarely follow through with their actions.
Creating a successful business is all about trial and error. You find a price point that you think may work best and you try it out for a set period of time. You look at the results and see if you could have done better (most of the time you can). If you can do better, then tweak your pricing and even approach to see if you can improve.
Interview Questions Part Three
MISCELLANEOUS – Resourceful Recommendations, tools, books, and ideas for unusual entrepreneurs
14. Since you became an entrepreneur – someone who solves problems for people profitably; what has been your most outstanding accomplishments in the context of business?
To be completely honest, till this date I do not consider anything I have done as an accomplishment. Everything I have done thus far has been steps toward my accomplishments. My goal is to create million dollar businesses that have helped millions of people. Once I reach that point, I would consider that as my most outstanding accomplishment in the business world.
15. What would you describe as your major setbacks and what lessons did you pick from them?
My biggest setback was when I created a business without a clear vision of how I was going to generate revenue. At the end of the day, every business is about the money. For my startup company StatFuse, we wanted to help everyone and so we decided to go free and thought we could make a lot of money from advertising.
Unfortunately, we were unable to make the type of money we thought we would from advertising. Thus, we had to change things up and create a paid business model system. This whole experience taught me to always have a clear plan to monetize your business from the start. You do not want to waste months of your time only to find out that this idea isn’t a good business.
16. Where there any particular questions you expected me to ask that is beneficial to entrepreneurs and I didn’t? Kindly share with us such questions and their relevant answers here.
Nothing really, I think you did a great JOB asking a lot of detailed questions.
Your Turn
What more would you like to know about the Unusual Jeet Banerjee? You can ask him further questions below in the comment section and I will be sure that you will get an answer directly from him.
Also, what did you learn from this unusual entrepreneur? What lessons, what philosophy of his strike you the most? What ideas, insights or tips are you going to immediately apply to your business as a result of reading this interview?
Jeet has shared his unusual story with you, now is time to hear from you. Can’t wait to hear what you have to say!
- Published in Interviews, Thought Bank
Unusual Entrepreneur Interview With Laura Roeder Of LKRsocialmedia.com
Welcome to another edition of the Unusual Entrepreneur Interviews and today I’ve got another female unusual entrepreneur on the hot seat. Her name is Laura Roeder. She is the 28 years old founder of LKR Social Media, a training company which teaches small businesses how to create fame using social media and online marketing.
If you are just joining us for the first time, this is the unusual entrepreneur interview series. It is a parade of unusual entrepreneurs who are changing the world and profiting from purpose. Profiting from purpose by changing the world isn’t an impossible dream as many tend to think of it, but a realistic one as many unusual entrepreneurs have extraordinarily proven. Click here to read more unusual entrepreneur interviews.
Take it away Laura!
Interview Questions Part One
ENTREPRENEURSHIP – Awakening the Spirit of business
- Can you please tell us a little about yourself and your business? What do you do?, how do you do it?, why do you do it and who do you do it for?
My business, LKR Social Media provides training and support for small businesses who want to learn how to market online using social media sites like Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook. We’re all online, so entrepreneurs can access our courses anywhere around the world, at any time.
2. What is your take on the general notion that entrepreneurs should build a business around what they naturally love to do?
I think what you love to do is a great place to start, but I also think that what you love changes and you don’t want that to be the only driving force in your business. I see this a lot – someone starts their business around Google analytics, but then after living and breathing it for a few years what was once fascinating is now boring, and then a thriving business gets abandoned for the next “passion”. There are some major figures that I see doing this constantly. So you have to get to that next stage of business where you can move beyond just being excited about your topic.
3. What is your personal life mission as an entrepreneur? That is; what contributions do you want to make with your life or what would you like to be remembered for as an entrepreneur through the businesses you create when you die?
One of the big focuses in my business is to be encouraging. I think there’s enough negative stuff out there that makes people feel like success is an impossible task. I just want to give people a little support, and let them know that their dreams are achievable and possible.
Interview Questions Part Two
STRATEGY – The unusual execution of business best practices
4. How do you identify business opportunities and what metrics do you use to measure their viability?
It’s hard to answer this question because it’s not how I think at all! I just look at what my audiences needs are, and fill them the best way that I can. It’s not based on metrics or data analysis.
5. Do you have mentors, business coach or external consultants that you work closely with to grow yourself and your business? If yes, to what extent would you describe their impact on your business? If no, are there any particular reasons?
I’ve had business coaches in the past, now I mostly rely on friends. At this point in my life most of my friends are entrepreneurs, and they’ve been invaluable with advice and feedback. Honestly 99% of the time I’m just following my own way, I think for me friends are more valuable for mindset stuff than anything. Having successful people cheer me on is awesome, and seeing what they’ve achieved inspires me.
6. How do you strategically use your time as an entrepreneur? What key activities would you recommend entrepreneurs use their time for?
Well there are so many activities that an entrepreneur needs to fill their time with! For me, my main role in the business is marketing. That’s really where my focus lies in my business. Without marketing, there are no customers and no business!
7. How do you generate profitable customers for your business? What unusual approaches do you adopt for marketing your products/services?
My marketing has all been done through word-of-mouth, content marketing, and social media marketing. (Really, you could say all 3 of those things are the same thing.)
8. Many entrepreneurs complain about not succeeding in business due to lack of adequate funding, what is your take on this matter and how do you cope with funding issues in your business?
I’ve bootstrapped my business, so it’s something that I’m intimately familiar with! Every dollar that I spend has to be generated by the business. My advice to those starting out is this; don’t buy anything until the moment you need it.
When I began my business I actually found I didn’t need a physical checkbook until about 6 months in, so that’s when I ordered one! You’d be surprised how lean a business can run, and you certainly don’t need to spend money setting up a traditional office.
As for things you need to spend on to grow like hiring, bootstrappers have to get creative. I didn’t start out hiring full-time employees; I started with part-time contractors or people doing one-off projects. Leverage contract work to grow your business until you can afford to get full-timers – and sometimes contractors will turn into your employees down the road.
9. When starting out a new business, who are the likely possible partners or professional service providers you would recommend every entrepreneur work with?
First you need a great website – but this is possible to do on your own these days with a professional WordPress theme. If you don’t know how to set it up you can use resources like my WordPress course in SocialMediaMarketer. You should also get the proper financial structure set up from day one – work with an accountant to set up your business entity and make sure you’re paying taxes properly. Taxes are one thing you cannot afford to mess around with as an entrepreneur!
10. The pricing of products/services is always an issue for entrepreneurs, what unusual approach do you take when it comes to pricing?
I never compete on price; I think that’s always a losing game. When your main selling point is that you are the cheapest, someone can always come along at a lower price and then you’ve lost. I try to remind myself that people who can’t afford our programs aren’t the right fit. SocialMediaMarketer was created for small businesses, not people still figuring out what to start, there are lots of other great resources for those people. Once your business is actually up and running our program is very affordable, so when people complain about price I know they aren’t the right customer.
Your Turn
What more would you like to know about the Unusual Laura Roeder? You can ask her further questions below in the comment section and I will be sure that you will get an answer directly from her.
Also, what did you learn from this unusual entrepreneur? What lessons, what philosophy of her strike you the most? What ideas, insights or tips are you going to immediately apply to your business as a result of reading this interview?
Laura has shared her unusual story with you, now is time to hear from you. Can’t wait to hear what you have to say!
- Published in Interviews, Thought Bank