For success, simply tune into and activate your factory installed intuition to grow your business.

If you have been an entrepreneur for a while, chances are you have experienced some ideal and a few not ideal business relationships.  At first glance the not ideal relationships can appear to be an unfortunate circumstance, some are just disappointing and some can come with a minor to major financial impact.  Yet it’s all a part of our growing and learning and I’ve learned to appreciate all experiences.

Having started five companies and been a part of several dozen others, I’ve experienced and witnessed my share of both.  I was inspired to write this on the heels of two, back-to-back, unrelated testimonies that “I was right” not to proceed or pursue working with two separate opportunities sensing they may not be ideal.  In Case #1, I was introduced to someone by a trusted source, who could apparently move mountains in growing companies.  Although I liked the person, by the end of a fairly exhaustive initial meeting, there were a lot more NO’s than YES’s in my mind.  I requested some time to reflect and had a few briefer follow up calls to reaffirm that it was a NO.  Subsequently, another colleague who knew how I felt about Party #1, proceeded in a side project and basically said “WOW, you were so right about that one!”  In other words, it was an “all hat and no cattle” situation.

In Case #2, I had an initial meeting with someone I respected and he introduced me to a new partner he was teaming up with for a new venture they were collaborating on.  They were very interested in utilizing our service platform as a turn-key partner that could handle all of the lead generation, administration, systems and customer service.  Party #2 alerted my Spidey Senses immediately and I knew I could not work with them, so I listened politely, asking a few essential questions and took a pass on this seemingly awesome opportunity.  10 months later I find out Party #2 embezzled and bankrupted the new venture within the first few months of start up.  Even though the venture was cash flow positive very quickly, it collapsed and hurt quite a few people.

The really interesting thing is that I found out about both of these unrelated scenarios on the same day even though they occurred over a year apart.

So how can you tell if someone can and will do what they claim? It’s unfortunate that these circumstances exist, but they do.

Whether it’s a new staff member, potential customer, service provider or potential strategic partner, I’ve learned that I always want to take time to percolate on the opportunity and in some cases get second opinions when appropriate.  I also know the value of having a map that outlines the key characteristics of what I am seeking in any of these types of relationships which includes sharing similar values.

To me it’s all about continuous learning, knowing who I am and what my company stands for.  From time to time, we encounter potential clients who become a little paralyzed because of previous experiences and unfortunately they come into the relationship with some distrust.  They have a need that we can fulfill, yet use excuses to put off doing business or decide to go with a seemingly less expensive route to better hedge their bets in case they get burnt again.

These are good people reacting (operating out of fear) in a way that I believe will ultimately not serve them well.  Instead of  taking the lesson to be clear (operating from confidence and knowing) on their natural instincts, they blanket most new relationships with distrust.  By no means am I judging this, as I admit I have done the same many times.  I have fluctuated between clear and concise to a lower energy or weaker state.  Obviously the recent examples I cited above re-fuel me to trust myself.

I encourage you to do the same: fall still and know that you know.  You know which guru/knowledge expert you seek support from has the right tools, information and delivery method that will suit you.  You know which team member or partner is best aligned with your vision/values and shares an entrepreneurial passion.  And you know which potential customers will be around for the long haul, who trusts you and appreciates what you do for them, tells others and openly shares their successes.  My belief is this is innate knowledge, accessible by all, factory installed and just needs to be activated.  Do I get it right all the time?  No, yet my batting average is 700++ and ever-increasing!

Trust your intuition to grow your business.

To your knowing and growing,

Gary

© DemGen Inc 2013