Lessons in Entrepreneurship
“THERE IS NO PLAN B.
Last week we secured a really cool opportunity for ESP Presents to speak at Coffee Talk, hosted by Presence Agency. For those of you who don’t know, Coffee Talk is a weekly series hosted by various entrepreneurs in Chicago. Topics vary and are selected by the individual speaking, but always discuss more in depth issues pertaining to the entrepreneurial experience overall in hopes to inspire and help others in their journey.
Matt Woodburn and Sarah Neukom, the amazing power duo behind ESP Presents, hosted a talk mid-August and, for their talk, we decided to discuss “the power of buzzmarketing.” Every time I hear the story of how they built and grew their business entirely by word of mouth it amazes me, so I knew this would be the perfect topic for them.
If you’ll humor me, I thought I’d share a few nuggets of wisdom from the talk:
There is no plan B. When Sarah spoke about how she took the leap to entrepreneurship, she told a story about how she decided to it. Essentially, she started telling people she knew about her plans before they were a reality and didn’t have a backup plan. That way, she said, it held her accountable. I totally resonated with this and, as someone who also believes in the power of positive affirmations, there’s something to be said for putting it out into the world for it to become a reality.
The power of networking. Someone in the crowd asked how you stick out in a competitive marketplace, to which Matt responded by sharing his philosophy on networking. We all hate doing it and it feels icky sometimes but, as he explained, you have to pay attention to where your competitors are and make every effort to be shoulder to shoulder with them.
Hesitation is the death of opportunity. Finally, they shared this little nugget of wisdom…as the story goes, Matt and Sarah would frequently get business cards at events or have someone share they might be interested down the line. While it was tempting to wait to reach out and catch a breath after a big event wraps, it’s always been their philosophy to jump on the next opportunity. For any potential connection, they will send an email first thing the next morning to show they’re interested and excited. As they explained, if you don’t someone else will beat you to it and the opportunity could be gone.
After the event, most of the attendees stayed an extra hour, chatting and connecting and sharing business cards. It’s this that we’ve come to call “the Matt and Sarah magic touch” …they truly embody the entrepreneurial spirit and inspire others to follow their lead. I’m so proud to represent such amazing clients that I continue to learn from every day.
xoxo, Morgan