A British Entrepreneur in America

Nobody likes going to the dentist, least of all me - it is serious entrepreneur down time and for me, leaves me unable to talk for far too long.  Like everyone, I put off these visits, but I should have smelled a rat when I walked into my new dentist over here in Plano.  The treatment was taking far too long and she talked about how helpful and friendly my staff at the office were - I asked her what she meant and she said they asked her to numb my mouth for as long as possible and to give me treatment every day!

Opportunity does strike at the dentist however!  When I first visited the place I couldn't believe (compared to the UK), how big the place was and the fact that they had refreshments ready to drink and how friendly everyone was.  After meeting the lady who is about to perform miracles on my molars, I went through the usual medical and dental history questions, finishing with the "do you smoke"? "No, I replied". "Drink"? "Thats very kind of you, I'll have a vodka martini, came my swift response", which I must admit did raise a smile! She then proceeded to sit me down in this amazing chair, which I offered to buy from her for my house and then asked what movie I would like to watch.  I nearly fell out of the chair, as the most you would get in the UK is a vile pink drink to rinse your mouth and Mozart to take your mind off the drilling!  After viewing the selection, I settled for a Will Smith one and sat back and enjoyed the whole process!

Now, I told her that she needed to do a joint venture with Sony Pictures - think about it - two root canals and the latest blockbuster!  Add a couple of post molar martinis and you're seriously in business!   I think she is considering it!

~Neil

Technorati Tags: dentist, pictures, entrepreneur, vodka, martinis

I've got to share two business tips with you - this time coming from a restaurant owner friend of mine, Melvin Sidki.  Now Melvin is originally from Cyprus and opened an American sports bar in Bromley, London many years ago, which became a French restaurant for a week, then a Mexican Cantina and then another Mexican Cantina!  True entrepreneurship!. Now Melvin is a very funny guy and never ceases to make me laugh, but I nicknamed him 'Mournful' a few years ago, because when he gets depressed, his face takes on this deep mournful look - in fact, if I talk to him in one of his mournful states, I feel like going to the nearest bar and ordering a large cyanide and a rope!  I asked him why he has this mournful look and he said "Neil, If I walk around looking happy, the staff may ask me for a pay rise"!  Classic.  

Anyway, us entrepreneurs  cant always be happy and during my early days, I had no one to bounce ideas off and I was so frustrated on one day that I took myself off to see Mournful at his restaurant - now you know the saying, 'a problem shared is a problem halved', or as another would say 'doubled' and in the case of Mournful, trebled is the minimum!  During lunch I was discussing my problems at the time and he looked at me straight in the eyes and said "Neil, my Father gave me two pieces of advice when I went into business all these years ago and they echo in my mind every day". Eager to listen and capture some new found words of wisdom I ask him to tell me - after what seems to be an hour of silence - he goes on…"First, if you spend every waking hour on your own business and I mean literally every waking hour and you put your business before anything else and I mean anything else, you'll end up with 50%! Second, don't even trust your own shadow"!  "Thanks Mournful", I replied and headed off to the nearest bar!

I was talking to Dataworkforce VP and General Manager, Nadene Chaplin yesterday.  Nadene has been with me for many years and I was sharing some old memories with her about how I got started in Dataworkforce.  In the early days, I needed legal advice, but could not afford the fees of the partners of the law firms, so I hatched an entrepreneurial plan!  Instead of paying the 300 pounds per hour the partners would charge, I would take them out to lunch, spend 250 pounds, get them drunk, or 'Franklined" as was known, have all afternoon with them and get all the advice I could.  Brilliant, I convinced myself - only the lunches were great, but I was too drunk to remember the advice I was given! In fact, Dataworkforce is often abbreviated to DWF and one definition is 'Drinking With Franklin' and as some people will testify to, an event worth avoiding at all costs!

I remembered the above having had a couple of recent conversations with Mournful and Lawyers Edward Judge and Steve Taylor.  Both excellent guys and lawyers, who were partners together at the time at Judge and Priestley, a law firm in Bromley, Kent, Steve is now managing partner and Edward has since moved on and is the Insolvency partner at a London firm called Sprecher Grier Halberstam.

Great Memories!

~Neil

Technorati Tags: Restaurants, Business Advice, Lawyers, Lunches, Staffing, Technology

I was talking with Cerion CEO Nancy White, about goal setting for 2008 and to quote her, "a goal without a plan is just a dream"!  How true this is - it is the time of year when everyone sets goals, from losing those extra Christmas pounds, to the most aggressive sales targets.

Goal setting is easy, planning is another skill however - it is vital to break your goals down into small, achievable steps and construct a plan to ensure that you achieve them and this will involve accounting for every aspect of your working day and remember, daily monitoring and measuring of your performance will yield daily results!

It has been an excellent start to the year for all of our businesses, Cerion, signed a three year multi-million dollar deal with one of North Americas largest Carriers and on the back of that, has one another one in Europe!  C-People and Dataworkforce have had record weeks with deals flying in most notably, from Carla Petrasek, James Grimes, Cynthia 'CJ' Summers, Van Phan and David Solkhon. Well done to all.  Last but not least, Crazy and the team have won more business and hired another member of staff - Eric 'The Viking' Lignell.

On a final note, I have to hand it to my partner and Cerion co-founder Peter Griffith, after trying to call him, leaving him voice mails, PIN and SMS messages all weekend, he finally calls me and straightaway says "I didn't  get any of your messages, voice mails, texts and my phone never rang"!  "Why then, have you called me at 6:30 on Monday morning", I replied!  Absolute classic!

~Neil

Technorati Tags: goals, telecom, performance, metrics, deals, selling

Our servers crashed recently and some of the posts have been deleted and of course, I cant remember the content!  Have also been on a series of 'belief transfer' missions - explaining the value of our various businesses.  Talking about belief transfer, the book that Crazy and I wrote is actually nearing print!

On the video front, we are just about to release another from Val Riazanov and this is the first in a series of three about Russian Health, fitness and conditioning and how to exercise without damaging the body.  As a former competitive Martial Artis and Olympic Weightlifter, I wish I had met Val a long time ago, I would definitely have saved my joints.

Anyway, got to get back to business!

~Neil

Technorati Tags: Russia, Health, Video, Selling, Martial Arts