The Top Five Minority Business Mistakes And How To Avoid Them (Part I - Continued)

Mistake Number One: Failure to Focus (Continued)

The Robert Frost poem, The Road Less Traveled says “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I – I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.” Everything changed when I stopped and assessed the roads before me. On the one hand, I could continue on the path of “networking” at multiple events and driving myself batty with little result or I could take the road less traveled – the road of reflection.

On the road of reflection, a business owner must cease from his efforts, reflect on his purpose, direction, strategies and results to see if it is working. If it is, then wonderful! That business owner should just continue to build on that solid foundation. But if not, as it was in my case, the business owner has to have the courage to make needed changes.

When I realized the dead end of involving myself in multiple organizations with little result – that is, spreading myself too thin – I made two key decisions that you should also consider. I immediately cut the ten or so organizations that I was involved in to two organizations that I would focus upon for business-building. Second, I decided that I would put in meaningful time, financial resources and service with those organizations in order to build relationships and to serve others.

Thus, I went cold-turkey on all of the evening business mixers, luncheons, match-making events and others and began to focus on the two organizations that I felt I could best build upon, substituting quantity for quality. As the quote from the Frost poem above states, this made all of the difference. In a short period of time, I had built significant relationships within each organization and I leveraged those relationships into a business that went up like a rocket.

Sometimes our business relationships are a mile wide but an inch deep. I would suggest narrowing your focus to your best prospects and deepening those relationships. A few quality relationships will yield a much greater harvest than several superficial ones. Ultimately, you are the benefactor of this strategy on many levels.

You will develop business relationships that last a lifetime – the kind that keeps on giving – year in and year out. You will cut down on your “busy time” and increase your quality time; and you will develop actual business much faster because you will build rapport and trust with your targets. People like to do business with people they know and trust.

Perhaps you are making Mistake Number one right now. You are spread too thin, looking for leads and business in too many places. This may be your time to stop and assess your business and your strategy. If you have fallen victim to this deadly mistake, then you can reverse your direction right now. Take a few hours aside and think this through. It will make all the difference!

An Excerpt From The Coach's New Book

Get In The Game!

The excerpt below is taken from Part II, Chapter 3 of the Coach's New Book - Tales My Grandma Told Me, A Business Diversity Fable

Assuming that the minority entrepreneur understands that he will succeed based on business acumen and tenacity as opposed to relying on ethnic status and further assuming that he has a written plan; he is now ready to get in the game. Many MBEs wrongly assume that simply being a minority entitles them to participate in corporate supplier diversity programs. That is not entirely accurate. Virtually, all supplier diversity programs require minority participants to be certified by certain national, certifying entities.

For minority-owned businesses, the best known and most widely accepted certification comes from the National Minority Supplier Development Council Incorporated ("NMSDC").The NMSDC and its thirty-nine national affiliates, among other things, certify applicants as being legitimately minority-owned and meeting other set standards of business viability. Through its certification and various other programs, the NMSDC has created a database of certified minority businesses across numerous disciplines. Without this certification, minority-owned businesses are not prepared to compete within traditional supplier diversity channels.

The certification process is uncomplicated and is a must for all MBEs seeking to seriously exploit supplier diversity opportunities. Yet I am always amazed at the large number of MBEs that fail to become certified or substantially delay in doing so. MBEs must understand that NMSDC certification may very well be only a beginning, but it is the beginning within the realm of supplier diversity marketing. Minority entrepreneurs without NMSDC certification are uniformly denied entry to corporate supplier diversity programs.

So what will you do? Will you continue to sit on the sidelines or will you get in the
game and run to win? Log onto http://www.nmsdcus.org/ and learn how to obtain minority
certification in your region of the world.

The Power of Partnership

Today the Board of Directors of the Florida Regional Minority Business Council held its annual Board Retreat for strategic planning. The session was moderated by Dick Huebner, President of the Houston Minority Business Council, one of the most successful and well run minority business councils in the country. Dick did an outstanding job of helping the Board to crystallize a plan of action to fulfill its mission of fostering minority business development in South Florida through the work of the Council.

As I listened to the input and the respectful give and take among my fellow Board members, I realized that this is what partnership is all about. The room was filled with representatives from some of America's top corporations, minority-owned businesses, quasi-governmental entities and our awesome CEO, Beatrice Louissaint. Each participant had a point of view, each participant held strong beliefs about the proper course of action on a multiplicity of topics, but each participant checked his/her ego at the door, rolled up their sleeves and got down to work.

The day was stimulating, challenging and invigorating. As a Board, we are united in our mission and empowered to accomplish (and to exceed) our goals. This is the power of partnership at work. I am proud of and motivated by the spirit of rugged individualism that permeates America and the high-powered A-Type personalities that I serve with. However, there is definitely truth in the proposition that Together We Achieve More! That is what a TEAM is all about.

The great basketball player Bill Russell once said, "The most important measure of how good a game I played was how much better I'd make my teammates play." That is the essence of teamwork and I experienced it today and I'm thankful for the opportunity to make a difference with folks who I genuinely respect and admire. If you don't have a strong and supportive team, my friend, trust me, you need one!

Go FRMBC for 2008!