The Entrepreneur Circle is dedicated to the growth and development of the entrepreneur by helping them reach their maximum potential in a safe, confidential environment through roundtable groups, education, collaboration, and access to expert resources.
The Sisterhood of
Woman Entrepreneurs, central Connecticut's only private forum of women business owners where you can share intimate experiences and always be yourself.
“I’ve really got to get to that soon.” “I’ve got to work on that”. “Boy, I really need to change that”. What is it with us entrepreneurs? Why do we act so contrary to our long term well being and so often? Why, when there are so many good reasons to change, do we sit idly by? Our problem certainly isn’t lack of information. There is plenty of solid information around finances, time management, getting rid of clutter, choosing the right lovers, taking care of ourselves, and fulfilling our goals. You name it and there’s plenty of information to be found. We often know what to do but we still don’t do it. Actually, we sometimes knowingly do the opposite of what we know is best for ourselves. We’ll choose to ignore or act in contradiction to our instincts and to reality. It almost seems as if it is part of the human condition. Our problem is not ignorance. It’s action. What keeps us from taking the right actions?
Sometimes to get things done we need to bend the rules and make a little bit of noise.
Entrepreneurs take on a big risk to go it alone. Look at your creative self, dig down and see what you find. Some methods may seem unorthodox, or strange. Remember it is only strange the first time it is done. After that it becomes Americas favorite cookie. Toll House Cookie Story
I’m recharging my devices on day 7 without power at a local coffee shop. I started thinking about all the new experiences of this past week.
I could go on about the inconvenience this has caused, but I started to think about all the benefits of this past week. Benefits I wouldn’t have appreciated or maybe even noticed if I had all the “Conveniences” that I have come so accustomed to.
Dark nights enabled our family to sit together, talk, laugh and relax
Candlelight is wonderfully soothing
Honed my organization skills (can’t get much done after the sun goes down)
Sitting in a coffee shop for a couple hours while I wait for everything to recharge
Sunlight is amazing
Exercised all week (makes the cold water more bearable)
Found that people were very willing to help where they could A very special thank you to:
Creativity and resourcefulness became a way of life.
Came to appreciate what free Wi-Fi really meant.
A cooler can hold up to 2 days’ worth of food
A grill is used for more than cook outs
9. My refrigerator is spotless. There are some things that cannot be put off, I’d been meaning to get this done for weeks. OK this isn’t exactly what I had in mind, but it hasn’t been this clean since it was new.
Sometimes gifts come to you in the strangest form. I will go back to enjoying the conveniences of life shortly, but glad this week showed me another view.
Planning a business is very much like planning a road trip without a map resources and working tools it makes it difficult to reach your destination.
Example:
Trip to Boston (Hartford CT – Boston MA)
Person 1 we will call her Doris: Doris Decides she is going to Boston, immediately jumps in the car and starts to drive. Twenty minutes into the drive she runs out of fuel and has to wait for AAA to help her. After that ordeal she realizes she is hungry and has to stop for food. Two hours into the trip Doris realizes that she doesn’t know where Boston is but knows that she will get there eventually. Four hours later realizes she is in New Jersey, asks for directions, stops for fuel, gets another bite to eat and arrives in Boston many hours later.
Person 2 we will call him Alfred: Alfred decides he wants to go to Boston. He sits down calls his sister to let her know he is coming. Before his journey he prepares a list of things to do.
Purchase a GPS
Visit Jane the mechanic to check his car
Get Gas
Go to ATM
Get food for trip
Buy sister a gift
Clean out refrigerator
Unplug appliances
Wash clothes
Shut off Water
Notify the Mailman
By the time he has finished his to do list, Alfred realizes he is too tired calls his sister to let her know he will be there tomorrow. He is so exausted from the day before he oversleeps, and by the time he is ready it is once again too late to travel. Three days later he arrives at his sisters place only to turn around and go home, he used up his vacation days and must return to work in the morning.
Person 3 we will call her Mildred: Mildred wakes up decides she wants to go to Boston. She makes hotel arrangements with Expedia, packs a bag, and gets directions. She hops in the car, makes 2 stops the gas station, and the grocery store to get some food for her trip. Two hours later she is at her hotel talking with the consierge about things to do and where to get dinner.
Mildred will have the most productive trip of the three. She made a decision, put a plan together, took action, and then modified the plan when she arrived. Planning too much or lacking a plan in any situation can be detrimental to the success of your journey.
Today’s Keiserism is…….. Take the things you learn and blend them into your style. When we copy another’s philosophy, it is the equivalent of wearing someone else’s shoes. They may fit, but you know they aren’t yours and people will start to wonder why you are walking funny.
Networking isn’t an event, it is a way of doing business.
I have met some wonderful people at networking events, but the relationship developed after the fact while we met over coffee or lunch. The event was the introduction. Anytime you are talking with or meeting people you are networking.
Being in business for your self doesn’t mean you have to do it by yourself. This article is a great illustration on how a Peer Advisory Board can give you the edge to grow your business.
Where do the top leaders in business & politics get their ideas? Why does it seem so effortless and easy for them to get to the top and stay there? The answer is simple, they surround themselves with other leaders that are just as or smarter than they are. The President has his cabinet, he also meets with other leaders of nations. Leaders of big business have their board of directors, and meet with other leaders of business at regularly scheduled retreats. These meetings are private closed door affairs. These meetings and retreats are what perpetuates the success and survivability of nations and big business. The leaders know they are smart, they know they can lead, but they also know they can’t and shouldn’t do it alone. They know that in order to stay competitive and keep their edge they have to bring their challenges, opportunities and ideas to the table and discuss them with people they trust.
Small business owners can attain the same edge, they don’t have to do it alone. Be in business for yourself, not by yourself! Business owners have transformed the way they do business due to the collaboration with others. Closed door meetings are exactly that, a private meeting to discuss in detail the challenges, opportunities, and ideas of your business. Coming out of the forest and looking at all of the trees allows you to focus on the big picture, not just the one tree. A true leader makes decision and engages in activity that promotes the big picture.
Peer Advisory Boards are for the winners in business that know they can always be a little bit better.
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” Margaret Mead
Voted in by their peers, these 3 Business Owners will be honored at our annual Holiday party December 14.
The Entrepreneur Circle Champion of the year:
This award goes to The Entrepreneur Circle Member that went above and beyond the call of duty to help out others.
1. Accessibility to members in need of advice
2. Mentoring
3. Support
David began his career in Financial Services as a Financial Advisor in 1989. After several years it became apparent that his natural leadership skills were emerging as he began to work with more advisor’s. In 1998 David moved his firm to Glastonbury where he provided office and staff for seven advisor’s, and supervised 10+/- additional representatives. His commitment to his branch office & drive to succeed gained attention of his then Broker Dealer, Washington Square Securities, Inc, (WSSI) later acquired by ING, and was very well recognized & respected. In 2003 the decision was made to our current broker dealer, National Planning Corporation.
Memberships:
Member of the Financial Services Institute (FSI)
Member of National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors (NAIFA)
Member of the Financial Planning Association (FPA)
Member of the National Planning Corp President’s Advisory Council
Member of The Entrepreneur Circle
Glastonbury Chamber of Commerce Executive Board Member – Major sponsor and loyal supporter
of business members in the community
Member of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA)
Recognitions:
Recognized by The Glastonbury Chamber of Commerce as Chairman of the year – 2010
National Planning Corp “President’s Award” – 2005
President of non profit Clothes Make The Man, a program of Positive Momentum
Recognized by Hartford Business Journal as 1 of 40 under forty – 2000
American Cancer Society recognition and appreciation award for Involvement
by being the Corporate Sponsorship Chairperson 2000
The Entrepreneur Circle Member of the Year:
This award goes to The Entrepreneur Circle Member that achieved/exceeded their business goals for 2010.
1. Demonstrated business growth
2. Accomplished set goals
3. Innovative thinker
4. Persistence/Drive
Founder of Stateline Senior Services has a wealth of experience having served over 5,000 senior citizens in Connecticut and Western Massachusetts over the past 25 years.
Bills dedication to the senior community is evident in his 25 years of experience. He has undergone the completion of a 22 part program of study in financial, physical, emotional, and personal issues of aging. This continuing education helps Bill provide relevant and current advice to clients.
Background: Bill graduated from Eastern CT University with a bachelor degree of science in economics. He lives with his wife Wendy and their four children Kate, Elizabeth, Billy and Garrett. Bill enjoys golf, Tea Kwon Do and coaching youth sports.
The Entrepreneur Circle Entrepreneurial Success Story:
This award goes to The Entrepreneur Circle Member that has demonstrated the most entrepreneurial spirit.
1. Most creative idea
2. Followed their business/plan
3. Turned a concept into reality
Having been a practicing attorney for the past 22 years, John O’Brien is a principal in the firm of CT Trust Counsel, engaged in all aspects of estate planning for both simple and complex estate. John is a member and contributing author to Wealth Counsel, a group of approximately 1,000 attorneys nationwide concentrating on estate planning; a member of the National Association of Elder Law Attorneys; the American Bar Association Section of Estate and Probate Law; the Connecticut Bar Association Section of Estate and Probate Law; and the Connecticut Bar Association Section of Elder Law. As an estate planning attorney, John was also directly involved in getting the Pet Trust Legislation through the General Assembly in October 2009.
John is also presently the Secretary of the Board of Trustees for the Montessori School of Greater Hartford as well as the current President of the Wethersfield Chamber of Commerce. To balance his busy and civic life, John likes to spend his time with his family visiting all of the wonderful museums in Connecticut. Additionally, he enjoys sailing and tennis.
If your interested in learning more about Business Mentors: Set Up Your Own Advisory Board.
Your support team. You cannot do it ALL on your own! Whether you are the boss, the owner, a trusted employee or an interim supplier, we all need support from somewhere. The question is how to get the relevant support that you need; where does it come from and how do you find it?
Leadership expert Ken Blanchard once said, “Feedback is the breakfast of champions.” But if you’re working solo (or in a small company), where will that feedback come from?
Small and solo businesses can get feedback in several ways:
A Board of Directors. If there is more than one owner in your company, you have automatic access to a “board of directors.” Directors are usually people within your company who have executive authority to make major decisions. As noted in the E-Myth post, “Do You Need a Board of Directors?” a board of directors can help develop business plans, handle policy issues, focus overall business strategy and monitor a company’s financial strength. However, when you bring in a board of directors, this will be the team that decides and implements change for your company. Decisions will be mandated by a majority.
A Board of Advisors. Advisory board members don’t have a legal responsibility to your company. And you don’t have a legal responsibility to take the advice they give. However, as Bert Martinez points out in “The Value of the Board of Advisors,” they still have at least a “moral” … Read More
Yesterday we held our second “Start With Why” session. Attendance was great, and the discussion was even better. It’s great when you have a group of people that are truly interested in helping one another solve a problem. Thank you to everyone that attended! Stay tuned we will have more of these in the future.
We’ve all seen people who light up a room when they enter it. They draw others to them and at the same time make them feel more alive and energized.
These people have charisma.
“Charisma is a magic quality nobody understands completely. It magnetizes people and makes everybody feel stronger, more powerful, more beautiful and more successful. It’s a kind of magic that pulls people in,” says psychologist Dr. Doe Lang, author of “The New Secrets of Charisma: How to Discover and Unleash Your Hidden Powers.”
One of the most intriguing aspects of charisma is that we all have it. “It’s part of our birthright,” Lang says. “Many people don’t know they have it and can barely imagine having it.”
The good news is you can develop your own charisma. “All of us have a secret garden of the heart, which is charisma. “We have it when we resonate with love as an energy and a talent. This is our own best self,” Lang says.
We can generate charisma when we make a difference in… Read More
Real Results: Maximize Your Relationships with Strategic Partners
Solutions can be as simple as one minor tweak; an outside perspective can help us make those subtle changes.
Below is a real solution implemented by a business owner.
Challenge: How to maximize relationships and results with Strategic partners.
Solution: Create an exclusive leads group
Here’s the twist
You are the center of this group. You promise to exclusively refer all clients in need of their service to them. They make the same promise to you. In time when relationships and rapport have been built other members of the group can promise to do the same for one another. In the meantime, all participants are promised to you, and you to them.
To help keep one another top of mind in between meetings create a questionnaire that assesses the needs of your clients. Each member reports back each month on the results.
Results: Increased productivity, on going referral sources, better relationships.
Application: Identify 4 – 6 strategic alliances that you know like and trust to serve your clients. Create a schedule (monthly is best), keep the group committed by providing a steady stream of referrals.
Such a group does exist, and has been thriving for nearly a year.
Leadership has its pressures and privileges, The E Circle may have the answers you’ve been looking for.
James Gomes of Tag Team Business Partners, delivered a talk to our group last week. I found the tips he spoke about to be very worthwhile and thought I’d pass them along. Thank you James.
Grass Roots Marketing
10 things you can do, within a week, to better market your business and help build your brand.
1.Claim your Social Space - Sign your business up for a FaceBook, Linked-In and an industry specific social platform. Get the basics in for now and implement a simple plan to update it weekly.
2.Perpetuate Word of Mouth - Getting people to talk about you is one step. Controlling HOW they talk about you important. Humans are nosy and parrots by nature. Work on your :30 second explanation of what you do and how you help people. It’s concise, unique, clear and ends with a customer benefit.
3.Synergize what you have - Does your website look like your business card, which looks like your presentation, which looks like your office? Color, Phrase, Style?
4.Become an Authority at Something – Everyone has a specialty. Something that they know more about or do better than most. Perfect that and publish that.
5.Don’t take the Bait –Don’t just buy an ad because you think is the right thing to do. Marketing is not an ad. Marketing is a theme and a consistent blend of all the ways people learn about you. A plan is needed. It can be simple but what you do needs to fit into a plan.
6.Consider Video – Recent consumer habit research shows that most people are over 200% more likely to be engaged by a video rather than the written word. 200%!
7.Be seen in your customer circles, not only yours – Do you know where your customers are? Do your best to be there. Industry associations are great. Customer associations are better.
8.Put your Best Customers to work for you – Customer testimonials are a great way to build credibility among potential customers. Testimonials in writing is good, in video is better, in person is the best.
9.Remember the Do, Tell, Tell Principle –You have to DO it, you have TELL them that you did it, and you have to TELL them again. Talking about yourself can be hard and unnatural, but you have to look for ways to “publish” what you do.
10.Take a Risk – Start with one. It could be a creative promotion to create chatter about you and your company. Something you wouldn’t ordinarily do. These types of risks rarely hurt you and most of the time, help you.
Today Roberta (Bobbi) Kline MD, delivered a great presentation on Stress Reduction. For those who were too stressed to find the time to come here are some simple tips to reduce your stress.
1. Visual: surround yourself with soothing color, or images that are calming (ocean, forest, etc…)
2. Sound: Listen to calming music
3. Smell: Burn a candle that has a pleasant fragrance, bake some cookies
4. Meditation: Take 1 minute to do a breathing meditation
These simple things really do make a difference, let me know how they worked out for you.
Last night The E Circle and Gateway Finacial Group hosted a live broadcast of “Business Mind”, Featured guests were Parker Elmore, Troy Jordan, Bruce Sayward and John O’Brien. Guests shared their best practices on reaching their target audience.
While watching the show, we enjoyed a fantastic food from Black Eyed Sally’s, and as usual… engaged in some fun conversations.
Once you have stepped into the realm of hiring people to work in your company, it becomes a bit trickier to get folks on the same page. Below is a link to a list of books that can help with that issue.
The excitement is rising as the date draws near. TEDx Glastonbury has come together so wonderfully. It all started with our committee how readily they stepped up to the plate to help, and the help and generosity of our venue The Gallery . Second, we had a blast choosing and corresponding with our Presenters, it was tough to narrow it down, but we were able to choose some pretty amazing folks. In addition to all of this we were touched and inspired by the generosity of local businesses who have offered their services to help with TEDx Glastonbury’s success. HB Group is helping us with our AV needs by providing their expertise and donating the equipment to use for the day. Jegas, LLC donated their expertise to create a website (turnaround time 1 day). And Seshu Photography has offered to photograph the event. They all took action because they believe in and are inspired by TED. Because of all this we were able to keep to our modest budget of $5000.00.
Last week we gathered together at TEDx Glastonbury and heard some great new idea.s We wanted to keep the spirit of the event alive and continue to share new ideas with you and send our top TED pick of the week. Enjoy!
Please feel free to share your favorite TED video with us.
As the co-owner of The Entrepreneur Circle, I have always thought it important to be a user of my own product. How could I possibly ask others to join a peer advisory board if I was not part of one myself? More importantly, I wanted the value and benefit that I saw so many others getting from their Roundtables. So I assembled a small group of highly skilled, experienced business owners and formed a Roundtable that I not only facilitate, but I participate in.
It would be easy to throw words out there like “amazing” or “helpful” or “valuable”. While I do feel all of those things about my Roundtable, in trying to describe my experience, those words are not very useful. So I asked myself the question, “what, specifically, does being in a Roundtable do for me”? Upon reflecting back over the past couple years of Roundtable participation, a few things became quite apparent.
First, my Roundtable provides me with a reality check. They can look at a situation without bias or emotion and help me separate fact from fiction. It’s easy to become entangled in the day to day affairs of running a business and even become frazzled by it from time to time. My Roundtable provides me an oasis to step away, work on the business, and see things as they really are. It certainly helps take the worry out of running the business and allows a trusting environment to look at the good, the bad, and the ugly while still feeling positive and inspired. It’s a sounding board consisting of people who share a common goal; help each other grow their businesses and be higher performing business owners.
Second, they are able to help me clearly see what the issues are in our business. Often, an outside set of eyes can help put things into perspective and allow solutions to appear more readily. After thoroughly discussing an issue, we always each leave with practical, actionable items that we can immediately implement in our business lives. It’s not just about theory. Roundtable is to help each person create their business exactly as they want it to be. Since we can’t possibly think of every idea ourselves, having an entire Roundtable looking at a situation allows ideas to emerge that otherwise never would have.
The results of working with my group have led to higher revenues, stronger business skills, and a more satisfying business life.
Finally, everyone in my Roundtable is a high performer. You don’t want to be the “slacker” in a group like that. I have found that we are able to push each other in a way that no others could. I trust their judgment, their friendship, and the spirit in which our conversations are held. I am truly a believer in what a well run peer advisory board can do for any business.
Recently, I came across a query from Help A Reporter out that asked folks to comment on their experience of participating in a Mastermind Group (Peer Advisory Group). I sent this request out to a few of my members to ask them to respond to the query. To my surprise 8 of the 12 people granted my request to comment, and two were featured in the article. I feel very blessed and grateful to those who responded, Thank you.
Below is a snapshot of the responses and a link to the article that was published.
“We have a phenomenal group that meets up once a month. I have been able to gain some amazing knowledge from my group. Having other business owners from completely unrelated businesses, dealing with similar issues and hearing how they have overcome issues has been invaluable. Seeing an issue from different viewpoints can be eye opening and as long as you are open to listening can help in many ways. I network a lot outside of my group with other business owners. Having coffee or lunch is certainly a great way to get to know people and even help hash out ideas or current issues. Being in a group with multiple business owners who have no vested interest in your business is just a different level of power and opportunity.” Avi Smith-Rapaport President We Care Computers
I can’t speak for everyone in our group, but I’ve benefited from the group’s experience in multiple ways – one of the highlights was when I was presenting about a client report that I wanted to produce and forward to my clients. I was stuck on a section having to do with visually explaining to my clients how their data backups were running. I was very tied up in trying to get an exact answer to my question, while the group was almost unanimous in simply saying, keep it simple. Now, rather than trying to figure out complicated math formulas to come up with a number that no one cares about has been replaced by a green checkmark or a red x. Very simple – would have taken me months to figure this out without them.”Chris Meacham President Now It Works
“My Badger’s MasterMind Group has helped Jegas, LLC succeed by being our Pillar of Logical Scrutiny! We Risk together, Learn Together, and We Succeed Together…. that’s how our group operates.” Jason P. Sage President Jegas, LLC
“ I have been a member of our Roundtable for approximately three (3) years.
During that time, our revenues have tripled during a difficult economy. While our growth is certainly not entirely due to our Mastermind Group, it has certainly provided us the guidance, reassurance, and expertise to facilitate such growth.” Parker Elmore President Primoris Benefit Advisors, Inc.
The Entrepreneur Circle roundtable meetings have been a tremendous asset to my business. Simply knowing I have a group of professionals that I can turn to for their business experiences, support and guidance is extremely valuable. The monthly meetings help keep me focused and on track to achieve my goals. Whether you are involved in a new venture or have been in business for many years, I believe The E Circle will help you improve. Steve Bugg President Insurance Marketing Group
If it weren’t for my E Circle Roundtable I wouldn’t have focused on developing the cross-training and procedures my company needed to provide continuity in the event of sudden staff changes, unexpected death or failing health of the principle, or a disaster. My company is better prepared to handle the unexpected now as a result of E-Circle’s Business Analysis. Lorna Bolduc Principal, Accrete Group, LLC
“My Roundtable has provided an environment that allows me to continually think outside the box and then pursue those thoughts and goals with mutual support and accountability. We drastically improved our marketing programs and substantially grew our firm in our first year as E-Circle members. I strongly encourage any business person to make this commitment a priority item in their business plan.” Bill McCloskey Stateline Senior Services
