Instead of opening a small business, you can buy an already existing one. In this Expert Insight Interview, Carl Allen discusses this type of self-employment. Carl Allen is an experienced entrepreneur, investor, and corporate dealmaker with an impressive $48 billion in transactions. He is also the editor of the Dealmaker Wealth Society.

This interview discusses:

• Finding the right business
• Belief System
• Expectations

Find the Right Business

The research showed that in 2019 more than 6 million Americans started their own business. Around 50 percent of them will fail within the year. So, you can use the Leverage Buyout strategy to buy an already existing small business. People differ, so the first thing you need to do is to determine what kind of business you want to buy and why. Logically, if you worked for IBM, buy the IT company instead of a laundromat. That way you will bring the value of experience and human network in the business. Search for business is the same as a search for a house, you do not pick the first one. The perfect business to buy is the combination of the right business, right seller, and business that has some financial assets or cash flows to use for the purchase as well. The business should be profitable with around 10 percent a steady profit margin. For instance, baby boomers usually have businesses with steady profit margins and great word of mouth reputation. That type of business would be a great option to buy and to use modern marketing and technology tools to scale it.

Belief System

It is important to believe in yourself to be able to go through two stages of buying a business. The first one is acquiring a business which means building a trustworthy relationship with the seller. Sellers want someone who will respect their legacy and cherish their business. And secondly, after you buy the business, you need to decide whether you want to build your portfolio as an owner/investor, or you want to be present owner/manager. People who choose to be owners/managers usually are resistant to hire somebody who will be their number two in business until they feel overwhelmed. But you should hire an assistant who will take care of the daily operations so that you can take a more visionary CEO role.

Expectations

Like everything in life that is meaningful, buying a business takes time as well. On average it takes around 90 days. This is not something that you can watch a YouTube tutorial on it and do it. It takes commitment, dedication, effort, and mastery of skills. This can be very rewarding if you invest yourself in it. And the reward that will come is not just financial, but it is intangible as well. The reward can be the freedom of being your own boss and having more free time for other things that make you happy in life as well. In conclusion, to be successful in buying a business and in life in general, find a clear purpose and never stop learning.

Our Host

John is the Amazon bestselling author of Winning the Battle for Sales: Lessons on Closing Every Deal from the World’s Greatest Military Victories and Social Upheaval: How to Win at Social Selling. A globally acknowledged Sales & Marketing thought leader, speaker, and strategist, he has conducted over 1500 video interviews of thought leaders for Sales POP! online sales magazine & YouTube Channel and for audio podcast channels where Sales POP! is rated in the top 2% of most popular shows out of 3,320,580 podcasts globally, ranked by Listen Score. He is CSMO at Pipeliner CRM. In his spare time, John is an avid Martial Artist.

Six Education & Business Experts came together to provide insight into the future of education and how it will deliver the workforce of tomorrow.

00:00 Intro

01:49 Nikolaus Kimla prologue – education as a business strategy

04:52 Why DePaul University started a technology in sales program (Daniel Strunk)

09:05 Learning design insights from CLO of Lynda.com & LinkedIn Learning (Britt Andreatta)

14:45 Recruiting for virtual working opportunities (Ann Zaslow-Rethaber)

18:30 How do Universities need to evolve to meet the needs of the workforce of the future (Daniel Strunk)

22:09 Science-based learning is not used enough in schools & colleges (Britt Andreatta)

27:01 How can employers attract the best talent in the future (Ann Zaslow-Rethaber)

32:05 BREAK – Pipeliner CRM promo

33:34 Are educational systems today meeting the needs of Millenials & Gen Z? (Raven Solomon)

39:26 Social-Emotional skills need to be taught in college (Ruth Reithmeier)

43:58 Are Executive MBAs relevant any more? (Keld Jennsen)

47:56 The changes Millenials & Gen Z are going to bring to leadership (Raven Solomon)

52:41 AI is taking over more tasks so how important is it to develop Emotional Intelligence? (Ruth Reitmeier)

57:30 The differences between education in Europe & the US (Keld Jennsen)

01:02:17 Nikolaus Kimla final thoughts

01:05:18 John Golden final thoughts

-How must education evolve to meet the needs of future employers

-What are some of the current innovations taking place in education

-How is recruitment changing and what new skills or traits are employers looking for

-How can education and business collaborate to ensure the workforce of the future is properly prepared for the challenges ahead

Featuring:

Raven Solomon (Multigenerational Leadership Expert) https://www.ravensolomon.com/

Keld Jennsen (International Management Consultant & Executive MBA Lecturer) http://keldjensen.com/

Ann Zaslow-Rethaber (President of International Search Consultants & Recruitment Expert) https://iscjobs.com/person/ann-zaslow…

Daniel Strunk (Executive In Residence and Managing Director, Center for Sales Leadership, DePaul University) https://business.depaul.edu/faculty/f…

Ruth Reitmeier (Director for Coaching at the Doerr Institute for New Leaders, Rice University) https://business.rice.edu/person/ruth…

Dr. Britt Andreatta (CEO 7th Mind, former Chief Learning Officer, Lynda.com/LinkedIn Learning) https://www.brittandreatta.com/

This is the second in the Thrive & #ProsperSeries. #evolutionofeducation #futureworkforce

Healthcare people already have a passion for taking care of and serving people, so why not use that passion for business purposes as well? In this Expert Insight Interview, Christine Blackledge discusses how healthcare workers can become successful business owners. Christine Blackledge is a “mumpreneur” specialized in the care recruitment field. She is the founder of NVQ training school, as well as experienced in running different procurement, law, and marketing agencies.

This Expert Insight Interview explores:

• Setting up the business
• Preparation before starting the business

Set it Up Right

A healthcare person interested to enter the business world could open a medical staffing agency providing nurses and other needed healthcare staff to hospitals and other health institutions. Or, one could open small boutique care home where senior residents would be taken care of. The things needed to be known are the action plan and goals one wants to achieve with that business, but the actual pace of opening the business varies between people. Opening any kind of business is stressful and it should not be rushed. The first thing to do is to find the ideal sector of the industry for which he or she has a passion to provide quality services. Considering that new business owners can sometimes feel alone and helpless, it is helpful to have a mentor who will be there to give support and advice for taking the business to another level or for solving current business issues. The main issues new owners usually experience are how to manage their staff and how to generate new clients while giving quality services to the current clients. New owners are usually stressed whether they will be able to handle the financial aspect of owning a business, and that is why it is of crucial importance to start with the available capital and then to level up with time. Business owners who are ready to expand their business should look for additional services that they will be able to provide to their clients.

Preparation

Nowadays everything can be found on the Internet. So, prospective business owners have all the information available online to do thorough research about the competition, target market, and its demographics, legislations, etc. In addition, the need for the healthcare industry never stops, and now it is an especially high demand for it due to the coronavirus pandemic. Large businesses also look for smaller organizations to outsource their work. Thus, in conclusion, all you need to do is to find an area within the healthcare industry in which you want your business to be, to set up your goals and business plan, and to establish a realistic time frame for starting it.

Our Host

John is the Amazon bestselling author of Winning the Battle for Sales: Lessons on Closing Every Deal from the World’s Greatest Military Victories and Social Upheaval: How to Win at Social Selling. A globally acknowledged Sales & Marketing thought leader, speaker, and strategist, he has conducted over 1500 video interviews of thought leaders for Sales POP! online sales magazine & YouTube Channel and for audio podcast channels where Sales POP! is rated in the top 2% of most popular shows out of 3,320,580 podcasts globally, ranked by Listen Score. He is CSMO at Pipeliner CRM. In his spare time, John is an avid Martial Artist.

Prospecting is still important in the 21st century. Thus, in this Expert Insight Interview, Tony Morris discusses how to do proper prospecting. Tony Morris is an experienced international sales speaker and trainer, the Founder of TMI Training Academy, and published author of five books.

This interview explores:

• Positive Mindset
• Setting Goals
• Acting during Crisis

Positive Mindset

People usually have a negative feeling about prospecting simply because they fear rejection and they have a lack of knowledge of how to articulate their value and differentiate themselves. The important thing to do is to invest time to learn the skill of prospecting. Firstly, the rejection might mean that you have a wrong target audience. After you found your niche, find a way to explain to them how you can help them to solve a problem or to achieve a goal, and then back it up with a success story. Show them that you are enthusiastic, passionate, and confident in what you do. The worst that can happen is for the customer to say no, but even from rejection, we can get a valuable lesson. The research shows that in over-the-phone communication 83 percent is how you sound, and only 17 percent are the words you are saying. Furthermore, no matter who you speak with, it is important to be on top of your game all the time because sometimes work with smaller clients can introduce your path to the bigger fish. Every client brings value, and it is important to set our mindset on that.

Set the Goals

For the successful phone call, it is important to do the due diligence before the call and to have set goals for the call itself. It is our responsibility to do the research such as reading the articles and to get to know the client we are calling such as adding the LinkedIn account, so that call does not feel like a cold call for a client. And the call set different goals. The primary goal could be setting up a Zoom meeting with decision-makers, and the secondary goal could be getting at least their contact information. That way we do not limit ourselves to only one possible outcome, but we are open for different outcomes and opportunities.

Take the Action

People use the Covid19 crisis as an excuse to avoid many things, but this is a great time to invest in yourself to learn something that will benefit you in the future. If you use the time now wisely, you will excel in prospecting when the opportunity arrives. And, the opportunity will arrive. This time can also be used to create the list of your prospects, to find out their main decision-makers and their contact information, and to simply stay in touch. Try to connect with the prospects as much as possible by keeping the camera on and having an adequate background.

Our Host

John is the Amazon bestselling author of Winning the Battle for Sales: Lessons on Closing Every Deal from the World’s Greatest Military Victories and Social Upheaval: How to Win at Social Selling. A globally acknowledged Sales & Marketing thought leader, speaker, and strategist, he has conducted over 1500 video interviews of thought leaders for Sales POP! online sales magazine & YouTube Channel and for audio podcast channels where Sales POP! is rated in the top 2% of most popular shows out of 3,320,580 podcasts globally, ranked by Listen Score. He is CSMO at Pipeliner CRM. In his spare time, John is an avid Martial Artist.

Have you ever thought about collaborating during a negotiation instead of taking sides? In this Expert Insight Interview, Keld Jensen discusses collaboration and negotiation. Keld Jensen has more than 30 years of experience in negotiation, communication, and international business. He is an award-winning managing director of a Scandinavian company, professor at prestigious Universities, and contributor at Forbes.

This Expert Insight Interview discusses:

• How to collaborate during a negotiation
• Common missteps

Embrace collaboration

Nowadays people still have not revolutionized the concept of negotiation. Negotiation is still seen as a fight between two sides, but it does not have to be. Negotiation can be a collaboration between two sides as well. There is a way to make it to be a win-win situation for both sides. The key to good negotiation is to set a variety of rules on how to negotiate. These rules should include transparency, trust issue, and how to split value-creating. Both sides need to be as verbal as possible when creating the rules. These rules are essential to make the negotiation easier because this is the same situation as if two athletic teams would play a game without knowing the rules. Another thing that makes the negotiation successful is the confidence two sides have in each other. However, trust is not built by words but rather by actions. So, honesty and openness are the best ways to create trust between the parties. And the reason why trust is so important is that trust has monetary value in this case. The higher level of trust the lower transactional costs such as lawyers, contracts, etc. – thus, higher profits.

Missteps

The main mistake that people make in negotiation is that they do not listen to their counterparts. They usually know what they want to say upfront so that is why they do not really listen to the other side. The good negotiator will come out of the negotiation with enormous knowledge of the other side’s view. Thus, when your counterpart is talking, it is important to try to understand the counterpart’s purpose, cost, liability. For example, if somebody asks you if you can deliver something in two weeks, instead of saying simply yes or no, try to learn why is it important to be delivered in two weeks. Simply, instead of selfishly focusing on our gain we should think of our counterpart’s gain as well. Especially in B2B, negotiating a deal can be career-enhancing or career-limiting, thus it is important to think how this negotiation creates value for both sides. Besides, too many negotiators focus solely on price while there are so many other variables that can create value for the customers as well.

Our Host

John is the Amazon bestselling author of Winning the Battle for Sales: Lessons on Closing Every Deal from the World’s Greatest Military Victories and Social Upheaval: How to Win at Social Selling. A globally acknowledged Sales & Marketing thought leader, speaker, and strategist, he has conducted over 1500 video interviews of thought leaders for Sales POP! online sales magazine & YouTube Channel and for audio podcast channels where Sales POP! is rated in the top 2% of most popular shows out of 3,320,580 podcasts globally, ranked by Listen Score. He is CSMO at Pipeliner CRM. In his spare time, John is an avid Martial Artist.

What do you think about cold calling? In this Expert Insight Interview, the Queen of cold calling Wendy Weiss discusses how to build pipeline opportunities faster, easier, and with more profitability. Wendy Weiss, a former ballet dancer is now a sales and marketing expert, author, and speaker.

This Expert Insight Interview discusses:

• Three-Phase Process
• Positive Mindset

Three-Phase Process

The key to improving your pipeline management is to talk to the people. Spoken communication is way more effective in this case than written communication. If people hear your voice instead of reading an email or text, there is more chance that they will act on what you just communicated to them. Nowadays people have become more comfortable texting and hiding behind technology rather than having oral communication with each other. However, with the quarantine situation that we face, people crave human contact and are more willing to pick up the phone even from unknown numbers. And when people do pick up the phone, there is a three-phase process to help you be more productive. The first thing to do is to simply warm up by doing the research. Find out who is your target audience and then through discussion find out how your target audience expresses its challenges. The second thing is to practice your telephone prospecting. And lastly, perform sales skills. The problem that many people face is that they want to perform right away without doing the research and rehearsals before. The point is to learn to explain to your customers how they will be better off from what you are doing instead of explaining to them what you are doing.

No Space for Negativity

Target market is great, but what is even better is microtargeting. And it is possible to have many different micro targets. With microtargeting, focus on a specific target market is so narrow that messaging becomes more productive. With messaging to the right target audience, the chances for the positive feedback are greater. Furthermore, prospective calling is seen negatively as a job in which you must deal with a lot of rejections. But this is part of the business process. Prospective calling is a skill that can be learned and improved. The important thing is to invest time in it and to have the right mindset. This is an introductory calling. You call to introduce yourself and to ask for the agreement to have a deeper conversation about the service or product you promote. And down the road, hopefully, this becomes your client. Think of it this way. You are not going to get married until you go for a couple of dates first. Thus, you have to introduce yourself first and ask for a date. In conclusion, having a positive mindset and being fearless regarding the answer will help to excel in prospective calling.

Our Host

John is the Amazon bestselling author of Winning the Battle for Sales: Lessons on Closing Every Deal from the World’s Greatest Military Victories and Social Upheaval: How to Win at Social Selling. A globally acknowledged Sales & Marketing thought leader, speaker, and strategist, he has conducted over 1500 video interviews of thought leaders for Sales POP! online sales magazine & YouTube Channel and for audio podcast channels where Sales POP! is rated in the top 2% of most popular shows out of 3,320,580 podcasts globally, ranked by Listen Score. He is CSMO at Pipeliner CRM. In his spare time, John is an avid Martial Artist.

One characteristic of the world’s top leaders is that they are not afraid. And that is characteristic that many other leaders need to work on. In this Expert Insight Interview, Alan Weiss discusses his book Fearless leadership. Alan Weiss is a well-recognized entrepreneur, consultant, speaker, and author.

This Expert Insight Interview discusses:

• Real vs Fraudulent Fear
• Manifestation of Fear
• Changing your Metrics

Real Fear vs. Fraudulent Fear

There are two types of fear, real and false one. The real fear would be if you see a bear, or if somebody points a gun at you. The false fear would be if a seller goes into a prospective buyer’s office and gets scared, or if a speaker gets afraid when steps up in front of the audience. Since nobody will hurt us while doing our job, we create a false fear. The best way to overcome that false fear is to ask ourselves what is the worst thing that can happen to us. For example, the worst thing that can happen to a seller is that a buyer says no, or that somebody from the audience corrects a speaker. Those scenarios seem way more catastrophic in our heads than how they really are.

Manifestation of Fear

Our fears manifest in our everyday lives. People who procrastinate are afraid. They are less afraid of being late because their actual fear is of people criticizing them for not doing the job right. On the other hand, perfectionists are afraid as well. They are afraid of not doing the job perfectly. And that fear stops both from moving forward and finishing the job. What we can see now during the coronavirus pandemic is that people who excel are the ones who are not afraid to leave their safe options and go for it. That is a simple risk-reward ratio. When you weigh your best- and worst-case scenarios, people who are not afraid tend to choose a best-case scenario.

We all have fears from the past that are still with us. But at some point, we must find the origin of that fear and ask ourselves whether that fear is still legitimate today. Because if not, we might experience the situation of losing great opportunity because of some old superstition or some exaggerated story from the past.

Change Your Metrics

Finding your own metrics in life means creating your own meaning in life. Nowadays, people are obsessed with measuring their lives in comparison to other people’s lives. But what is good for others might not be good for you. So, the important thing is to start participating in your own race instead of racing with other people. In the business world as well, especially in sales, a good sales coach would advise you to find a way that works for you instead of copying his old method. By taking control of our lives, we will become less fearful because we will refrain from reckless things that can destroy us and we will be able to find and create our own meaning in life.

Our Host

John is the Amazon bestselling author of Winning the Battle for Sales: Lessons on Closing Every Deal from the World’s Greatest Military Victories and Social Upheaval: How to Win at Social Selling. A globally acknowledged Sales & Marketing thought leader, speaker, and strategist, he has conducted over 1500 video interviews of thought leaders for Sales POP! online sales magazine & YouTube Channel and for audio podcast channels where Sales POP! is rated in the top 2% of most popular shows out of 3,320,580 podcasts globally, ranked by Listen Score. He is CSMO at Pipeliner CRM. In his spare time, John is an avid Martial Artist.

Executive leadership today faces challenges it has never faced before. Thus, in this Expert Insight Interview, Shona Elliott discusses how senior leaders can create a value for the organization. Shona Elliott has more than 15 years of experience in senior leadership, and she also wrote a book on the same topic.

The interview discusses:

• New moments for leadership
• Empathy towards employees
• How to stay resilient

New Reality

Even though they are probably tired from managing crises since around March, senior leaders will still have to keep up with stepping up with their leadership for quite some time. This is a new reality for everyone, and it is normal that nobody has the right answers yet. This is the time for senior leaders to engage with their employees in sharing experiences, thoughts, fears, etc. Leaders are used to having strategic plans for the next three to five years, but in this case, they can only plan for the next three to six months. Thus, telling your employees things you know and things you do not know yet will create a sense of honesty and authenticity within the organization. In addition, leaders who are not CEOs of their own organizations have something else to think about and that is the board of directors and their views about past and future revenues.

Empathy Towards Employees

We live in different circumstances caused by a pandemic; thus, leaders must be way more flexible and empathetic towards their employees. Many employees might have worries about whether the schools will reopen, or the classes will be held online for their kids. That might affect their ability to go to work to their office, and they might have to stay to work from home. Leaders in human resource departments need to engage in discussions with their employees more, and the newly created policies must be less black and white and more flexible. Having genuine conversations with employees about their current living circumstances will bring more loyalty, hard work, and efficiency from those employees.

Stay Resilient

Nothing lasts forever. This crisis will pass and only short-term planning in the increments of three to six months will help to go through it easier. And then, when it passes, there will be lessons to learn from it. We will be able to see what we did right and what not. For senior leaders, it is important to stay resilient and to find some routine that will help them to cope with this situation. The fatigue that many leaders feel right now comes either from fear or just generally from this situation. If they feel fearful, they should work to unpack that feeling. For the general feeling of fatigue, it helps to remember the things we are grateful for. Starting the business day at the office with gratitude and positivity will help the leaders to shift the negative energy and get back to the right mindset.

Our Host

John is the Amazon bestselling author of Winning the Battle for Sales: Lessons on Closing Every Deal from the World’s Greatest Military Victories and Social Upheaval: How to Win at Social Selling. A globally acknowledged Sales & Marketing thought leader, speaker, and strategist, he has conducted over 1500 video interviews of thought leaders for Sales POP! online sales magazine & YouTube Channel and for audio podcast channels where Sales POP! is rated in the top 2% of most popular shows out of 3,320,580 podcasts globally, ranked by Listen Score. He is CSMO at Pipeliner CRM. In his spare time, John is an avid Martial Artist.