7 Secret Strategies forEntrepreneurial Success

Dush RamachandranAffiliate Summit West 2012

Jan 9, 2012

Money-Meaning Matrix

Money

Mea

ning

Astray Artificial

Aspiring Actualized

Why align money and meaning?

Even the most successful entrepreneurs face difficult times

Harley-Davidson sold to AMF - 1969Repurchased by Willie G Davidson - 1981

Secret # 1True success lies at the intersection

of money and meaning

Hire and Delegate

The same skills that grew your company from $0 to $10M could stifle growth from $10M to $50M

• Hire skills you don’t have• Give them all the

information they need to be successful

• Help them when they get stuck

• But get out of their way

Expecting the same skills to scale the company from 0 to $100M is like driving on the highway in 1st gear

Worst Excuses for Not Delegating

• I don’t have time to teach someone else the job –it’ll be easier for me to just do it

• I can’t afford to hire the right level of person• My business is different – it’s hard to explain

to someone else• No one can do it as well as I can

Secret # 2You can’t grow if you won’t let go

You don’t know what you don’t know

• Even the most powerful man in the world doesn’t have all the answers

• What you don’t know can seriously hurt your business

• Even worse, you can waste valuable time trying to “figure it out”, when someone you know has the answer. You just need to ask!

You trying to run your business without asking for help is like the President fighting a war without the Joint Chiefs of Staff or the National Security Advisor

Favorite Excuses for Going it Alone

• If I ask for help, I’ll appear weak and vulnerable.• It’ll take me longer to ask for help than to figure it

out myself• I’m smart, I can figure this out by myself• I can’t afford to spend money to get help• My business is different, no one understands it like I

do• What will they think of me?

Asking for Help…

Charles Rolls Henry Royce

Created an incredible world-beating partnership

Secret # 3Ask for Help

Know where you’re going?

• When you don’t plan, you’re planning to fail

• Starting or running a business is like driving while blindfolded

Secret #4Have a Plan for Success

Ideas aren’t enough• Many

entrepreneurs live in their heads

• Don’t wait until it’s perfect

• Take massive action

• Do the hard things first

• Do at least one difficult thing each day

Secret #5Execute – Take Action

Next month’s revenue?

• The key to a sustainable business is predictable revenue

• Build recurring revenues

• Even small amounts per customer build big revenues on a recurring basis

Many marketers who wanted to sell their businesses couldn’t – revenue was unpredictable

Why predictable revenue?

• If you ever hope to sell your business or seek outside financing, predictable revenue is critical

• Valuation of your business for shareholder buyouts or other changes is very difficult without predictable revenue.

• Building an organization and committing to expenses is impossible

Secret #6Build predictable revenues

More things are wrought…

…by networking than the world dreams of

Affiliate marketing superstars Jeff Siegel and David Gonzalez made millions through networking

Networking Secrets

• People prefer to do business with people they know (or least have met)

• Put your picture on your business card, for instant recall• Attend as many networking events (Conferences, MeetUps,

parties etc.) as you can• Follow up with people immediately after a networking event• Offer to help before asking for a favor• Make a list of people you want to meet and seek them out• Don’t be afraid to go up to speakers after their session

Secret # 7Network Diligently

The Seven Secrets

1. Align money with meaning2. Let go to grow – Delegate3. Ask for help4. Have a plan5. Execute – Take massive action6. Build predictable revenues7. Network diligently

Dush Ramachandranwww.askdush.com