Entrepreneurs Will Find The Necessary Resources

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Read Other Articles By Art Consoli & Check Out His Author Bio

The Entrepreneurs Guide Series
How To Evaluate And Profit From A
Business Opportunity
By: Art Consoli

Entrepreneurs Will Find The Necessary Resources
The Entrepreneurs Guide Part 3

Guess what every not-yet-an-entrepreneur says when they are asked what's keeping them from owning their own business?

By: Art Consoli

"No money. I don't have enough money."

Certainly many may not have enough money, but most people don't understand how much money they have -- or may have access to. They also don't realize that money is just one resource they will need to get their business up and running, or bought and open for business.

Many people pass up opportunities because they don't think about the resources they have. Instead, they focus on what they don't have. A successful business owner is resourceful. Think about that word for a moment. What comes to mind? Someone who can make a fire with a piece of rock and some dry twigs? Maybe somebody who can open a locked car with a coat hanger or who can figure out how to get the computer program to run. That's what successful business people can do because they can reach back into their experiences and draw out what they need to solve problems.

Most people probably don't think of themselves as resourceful and many of you reading this probably would say that you aren't as well. But as with most things in life, we weren’t born being resourceful, we came to it by dealing with problems. The more practice you've had the better at it you become. And small business owners are confronted with many problems so they quickly become very resourceful.

The first time I was identified as resourceful came when I was put in charge of the complaint and claims department for Johnson & Johnson. The previous manager sort of let things go and the folks doing the work were way behind. I was told to shape up the department and get every complaint and claim handled within a few days of receipt. We were so far behind that we were getting the second and third inquiry about the same problem. We had no hope of catching up without a serious infusion of additional people.

Rather than ask my boss to approve such a request, I found another way. I went into work one weekend and pulled every file (a complaint or a claim) off every person's desk and from their work-in- progress temporary files and stacked 'em in storage boxes in a vacant room -- and after making a list of all the customers' names and order numbers -- I locked the room.

On Monday when the adjusters came in they looked around in disbelief. Then I made an announcement. "Every call or letter that comes in today will be answered tomorrow. No exceptions. Find out what happened and resolve the matter. If it's an old problem, one where the papers are out of the files because you were working on it, bring it to me."

When somebody brought me a second or third inquiry on an old problem I told them to make the adjustment in the customer's favor - and I made a note which I then attached to the documents in the locked room and put them back in the files.

After a week or so of grumbling about how difficult it was to get the answers and resolve the problem in a day, things began working smoothly. In a month all but a handful of the problems in the locked room were back in the files.

Part 2

Art Consoli's unique background and skills allow him to speak and write about how someone with limited experience can do a self-evaluation which will let him decide which business opportunity is best, how to evaluate opportunities and gain control over the one which offers the greatest potential and then manage that business to success. Readers of his book call and write to tell him how much his book has helped their lives and improved their business. The author can be reached at www.businessstrategyartconsoli.com.