Even after he had received the Nobel Prize, was considered the second most popular and trustworthy man on the planet in the ‘30’s, a key creator of the State of Israel, facilitated the end of World War II, an inventor with many patents, and of course, was declared a genius, the father of modern physics, and labeled the most important scientist in history.

All this meant little to Albert Einstein.

In fact, he felt he was a failure because he was not able to develop a certain theory!  It didn’t help that his colleagues thought he was wasting his time on it.  Yet he ignored them and continued with his research.

For more that 20 years.

And towards the end of his life, he gave up.  The Unified Field Theory (also known as the Theory of Everything) would have to be someone else’s discovery.

But Einstein didn’t hold back from trying.

He advanced the theory in an UnReasonable way so that today it is a hot topic in theoretical physics.  Scientists are working to innovate and create an answer to what Einstein felt would advance our planet by understanding how the various forms of energy and physical elements all work together in one “field” (space between particles).

Innovators at any level, especially when they are entrepreneurs, are truly a special breed.

Highly innovative entrepreneurs (usually) are:

• allergic to dealing with details
• challenged with staying focused
• careless with managing time
• even worse with managing people
• love chasing the next “shiny object”

Does any of these characteristics describe someone you know?

That’s the bad news.

Yet the good news for highly creative entrepreneurs is they are:

1. stubborn and don’t give up easily… important in business.
2. game changers when their innovations work.
3. usually the most successful in business.
4. crucial for solving today’s environmental, social and economic challenges.

How to Excel as an Innovative Entrepreneur

The most important asset highly creative people have is their ability to see what others cannot.  But to be successful in business, this creativity must be managed in a special way:

• Have a vision—the “why you are doing what you do.  This becomes crucial in bringing others to the game plus keeping you focused, yet creative in what you are building
• Build a team—for example, a business development person who can take your widget or service to market.  He/she is great at managing details and people, can keep you focused and the project moving forward.
• Stay in the air—to continue creating.  Give yourself the time and space to build, write, design, and create whenever possible.
• Keep current—stay on top of what is going on in the business and world.  Creates more useful and effective innovations
• Balance tasks—know when you must come down to earth from the air to deal with things like staff challenges, marketing issues, pricing strategies, competition changes and so on.  Create a system in your schedule to manage these items.

Working with creative entrepreneurs is by far the most fun and rewarding for me.

It is amazing what some of these guys are building.  For example here in NYC they’re creating UnReasonable solutions to rooftop farming, energy management of buildings and eliminating the use toxic chemicals in the large companies.

Yet like so many others, their key to success is in harvesting and channeling that creative energy in a focused and strategic way.

Just like Einstein had to do, and eventually became a master at.

Action Steps for the Week:

Concerned you have some or all the above-mentioned characteristics of a highly creative entrepreneur?

Don’t be.

Start by using your creativity to get crystal clear on your company’s purpose: the why.  Build your company vision from this.

Next, leverage this vision to find someone to keep you focused, organized and managing the tasks at hand.  This person should have strong skills in business development and if possible, people management skills.

Keep in mind, when you have a powerful vision it makes it much easier to find help on a limited budget.

Then find a routine to organize your time to be creative and “in the air” vs. “on the ground” dealing with daily important tasks at hand.

Last, remember to stay focused, stay engaged, and stay UnReasonable!

And Gary meant it.

Gary Whitehill, a good friend, is one of the top entrepreneur advocates in New York.  His rapid growth has now gotten his Entrepreneur Week events to a global scale, where he just completed his first event in Santiago and next week in Athens.  In the near future they will be in a different city every two weeks.

I asked Gary to join us to share his experiences on what it is like out there today and how he’s managed to build his company and brand so quickly and successfully, regardless of the economy and what the naysayers are selling the public.

And while Gary started off by warning the class he would tell them the real skinny and curse his way through it, by the end of the hour, the students were bouncing off the walls with knowing they needed to make a serious shift in their business practices.

As we start 2012, many entrepreneurs look to do the same thing.  Here are some to consider taking with your business:

Top 10 UnReasonable Business Strategies for 2012

Increase Sales

1)   Return to the well—Reach out to former clients… daily.  Check in on 5 a week.  Meet with them.  Give them a free strategy session or sample of your newest product.  It’s a gazillion times easier bringing a past client back on board than going out and getting a new one.  If done correctly, within two weeks you should have several them back on your roster.

2)   Ramp up your SP/JV’s— Develop solid strategic partnerships and/or joint ventures with other firms.  Pick at least 3 synergistic businesses that bring something powerful to the table.  Collaborating and leveraging others’ skill sets and assets is one of the most powerful sales tools today.

3)   Increase your prices—Do not compete on pricing.  You will most assuredly lose that battle.  Instead bundle your project(s)/service(s) with features and benefits in a way your target customer gets the incredible value you offer.  If they balk at your price, never reduce it without taking something off the table.

4)   Swim upstream—whatever your competitors are doing, take a look at doing it the opposite way.  More than likely you will find a serious opportunity.  For example, if all your competitors are offering multiple selections for their products/services, offer only one or two.  And explain why in a way that is interesting and makes sense.

Decrease Expenses

5)   Scale back the gadgets—Too many people live on their electronic gizmos and miss the business opportunity right in front of them.  Instead of trying to get another 10,247 “friends” on Facebook, Twitter or whatever, build real, lasting connections with several people who will go to the wall for you.  Stop hiding behind your electronics and make a rule to not spend more than 45 mins. daily on social media!

Build Exposure

6)   Create an UnReasonable event—One of the fastest splashes you can make to your target audience is creating an event that rocks their world.  Tailor it to allow you to brand and position your business in a powerful way.  Doing highly creative events, summits or workshops can be a lot of work, but your audience will remember you big time.

7)   Promote the heck out of others—Be a powerful advocate for your colleagues… on a regular basis.  They will really appreciate and remember you and most likely will reciprocate in ways you cannot imagine.

8)   Be opinionated—Be an expert with an attitude.  Don’t hold back and be “nicey-nicey”.  Just remember this is a difference between being a jerk and being an opinionated expert.  Media hates the former and loves the latter.

9)   Take a position—Use a social and/or environmental cause that really means something to you personally.  Build that into the core of your business infrastructure.  Involve your stakeholders (employees, venders, customers, etc.) to work together in a way that builds loyalty to your business and brand while making a real difference for the planet.

10)                  Make many mistakes—when you are playing an UnReasonable game, you will make mistakes when getting outside your comfort zone.  Don’t beat yourself up for not getting it right the first time, or worse, don’t get into analysis paralysis and not do anything.  Instead, know how to accelerate through your mistakes to success.

Bonus:  Be consistent—this, for most entrepreneurs, is the most UnReasonable of all.  I cannot tell you how many entrepreneurs I’ve worked with that just do not schedule and factor into their calendars to do these activities.

Don’t be one of them.  Schedule your UnReasonable activities for all of 2012.

And while Gary had a lot of strong reasons why being an entrepreneur really sucks, he would not have it any other way.  Nor would anyone else in the class.

Nor me.

For it allows us the freedom to create powerful solutions to what we need on this planet:  more freedom, happiness, and co-existence, along with a safer and healthier planet to live on.

Happy New Year!

Action Steps for the Week:

Review what you would like to create for 2012.  Is what you are doing now going to get you there in a way you want to?

If yes, great and keep going.  If no, review the strategies above and choose at least 3 you will start to implement now.

Take these and schedule the tasks into your calendar now.

My wife came home last night all misty-eyed.  She had quite an amazing thing happen at the office, where she works for one of the top acupuncturists-chiropractors in New York City.

A very humble woman had come in to pay cash for a previous visit she had with the doctor.  Evidently there was a problem with her insurance not covering her visit and she scraped up the money to pay the doctor herself.

The woman explained to my wife that she has had back pain for five years and her regular doctor was recommending surgery.

My wife knew the woman was a recent immigrant from Africa and gently explained to her that not all doctors are honest or have her best interest at heart.  She recommended the woman get at least two more professional opinions before making a decision.

The woman said, “OK” and thanked her for the doctor’s time as she felt much better for the first time in a long time.  And unfortunately she would not be coming back since her insurance didn’t cover it.

My wife said she understood and told the woman if anything changed to please call back and make an appointment.

After the woman left, a man who was waiting in the sitting area, walked up to my wife and as he pulled out his wallet said, “I heard that discussion and I would like to pay for that woman’s next five visits.”

Amazed, my wife thanked him and called the woman.  The woman soon returned to learn what had just happened.  As she was thanking the man, he humbly waived her off by saying it was nothing for him to do it.

The woman’s beautiful smile showed her immense gratitude as she sat down to wait for the doctor to see her, while trying to hide her tears.

What was so great about this gift?

Was it that the man had paid for her next five visits?  Was it that he was looking for gratitude?  Was it that the woman was now going to be taken care of a little better?

Perhaps.  But more than that was someone showed they really cared.  This man took the time to listen, step up and do the UnReasonable in a city full of people in need.  And in his small, but significant way, he helped her.

What makes this story so wonderful, though, is how he put his heart and compassion into his gift.

And didn’t expect nor want anything from her in return.

Some of the best gifts are not the ones that cost a lot of money, the funniest nor the biggest.  The best gifts are those that have a piece of the gift-giver in them.

This past weekend my wife gave me a beautiful rose with the most amazing card a woman could write a man she loves.  I will remember that far longer than all the sweaters and shoes I have gotten in the past.

So, this holiday season, consider giving your most precious asset.  Your heart, your soul, your dreams, your beautiful creativity.

Give an authentic piece of you.

Action Steps for the Week

Look at the gifts you intend on giving your customers, friends and family.  Look to see how “you” they are.

How “expensive” are they?  Spend everything you have… with your time, love, soul and creativity.

And with each gift, give a real piece of you.

If you’re not into doing this, that is ok.  In that case, is the person you are thinking to give the gift to that important to you do begin with?

Regardless, Be UnReasonable with your generosity this holiday season.

In these last weeks of life they would go through any combination of these emotional experiences: denial, fear, anger, remorse, more denial and eventually acceptance.

She found people mature very quickly when confronted with death!

The author identified the top regrets these seniors came to terms with in their last days on earth. Regrets like:

• not having the courage to say what they really felt
• losing touch with their close friends and family members
• not staying true to themselves, instead living a life others expected of them
• not allowing themselves to be happier

But the most significant for me that she identified was their regret for working too hard.

Their working life was mostly about making money to pay bills for things they thought they needed and sometimes struggled to afford. So they would buckle down and worked harder.

Usually though, the more one earns, the more one spends. Hence the rat race.

The average entrepreneur is no different. Especially when it comes to finances.

They get sucked into needing more money to grow, to expand, to build. And to become profitable.

Really?

Many times entrepreneurs of this type measure their success on how they think others view them:

• How profitable are they
• How quickly are their sales growing
• How much money have they raised in investment capital
• How many new locations can they open in a year
• How many “friends” do they have on Facebook
• How current are their electronic gadgets

The list goes on.

And what these entrepreneurs don’t do is take the time to contemplate what success really means to them. What does “growth” mean to them.

I know, because I used to be one of them. When I was younger I took my company into bankruptcy and lost millions of my investors and other stakeholders money in the process.

The key to being a truly successful entrepreneur is about stopping long enough to check in.

Check in about what you are doing. Why you are doing it. What your definition of success is. What has to happen to know you’ve achieved it. How large you want your company to get. How much time and energy you want to invest.

Smart Capital is all about this. It isn’t about how quickly or how much capital you can raise to finance your business. It isn’t about how quickly you can grow the company.

It IS about creating a kick ass strategy. It is about thinking through these questions for yourself and defining what they truly mean for you and your business.

After all, most of us became entrepreneurs to get away from working for the man. On his ideas. And under his terms, conditions and timelines.

We became entrepreneurs because we believe in our own ideas and ways of doing things.

Remember this. Always.

Remember that to get smart about capital takes thinking, doing and certainly Being UnReasonable.

UnReasonable about how you will create your success. The positive impact your business and life will have on the planet and community.

And the positive impact it will have on you.

This is what Smart Capital really means.

So when the time comes for you to look back on the life you’ve lived, you will be at peace with the road you chose.

Action Steps for the Week:

When was the last time you took a hard look at why you are doing what you are doing?

If more than 12 months, answer the following:

• What is my definition of success in my company?
• How big do I want to grow this baby?
• How will I know when I’ve gotten there?
• What does Smart Capital mean to me?

Understand your answers will most likely change as you move ahead. That’s part of the game of life.

Just remember to have a blast growing your business. After all, that is point of being an entrepreneur, isn’t it?

In case you were not able to make our call earlier this month, we’re doing it again.  We had almost 300 signups, so we figured it was important for some entrepreneurs.

Next Friday, December 2^nd, at 12noon PST, 3PM EST, we’re holding a teleseminar Smart Funding– Entrepreneurs Don’t Need Wall Street!

Marissa Feinberg* from Green Spaces will interview me on:

• Why Wall Street and banks are not equipped to fund small businesses
• What are the five crucial components that do into a smart capital raise
• How entrepreneurs can take matters into their own hands for getting funded
• What are the key stumbling blocks to raising capital and how to avoid them
• What goes into an action plan for raising smart capital
• Tips to keep focused and held accountable to raising capital while running your business

Interested in learning more and signing onto the call: Smart Funding Teleclass:  Why Entrepreneurs Don’t Need Wall Street!

Hope you can make it.  And until then, always be UnReasonable!

Stefan

PS:  Know others who may want to join us to learn about smart capital, feel free to:

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*– Marissa Feinberg– if you are not familiar with her, is a major player here in NYC for green small business owners.

The message was always the same, “Stefan, never give up!”

She should know.

Oma (German for grandma) was born and raised in Munich just before WWI.  And by her early 30’s she watched her life tear apart, piece-by-piece.

During the early part of WWII, Oma and Opa (my grandfather) helped hide and get their Jewish friends out of Nazi Germany.   In 1942, during the second bombing they had endured since the beginning of the war, Opa was killed.  It was also the second time she had lost virtually everything they owned.  Oma told me she is glad Opa died that way because she was sure he would have ended up in a concentration camp for refusing the Nazis’ request for using his thriving business to supply German troops on the eastern front.

But now a widow and homeless with three young children, Oma moved out of Munich and into the country.

As if that was not enough, soon after relocating, Oma almost died from an infection.  But what pulled her out of her coma, she told me, was thinking as she lay unconscious, “I cannot leave my three children as orphans!”

Soon after the war, having lost almost everything she had and being ashamed of her countrymen, Oma and her children left Germany forever to start a new life in America.

"Oma" Doering -- Photo by Andreanna Doering

To this day, whenever confronted with a seemingly insurmountable challenge, I think of Oma, who died in 2002 after having had a very fulfilling life in America.  I remember her crystal clear eyes, full of loving passion and conviction, saying, “Stefan, never give up!”

Lately I have been working with a lot of small business owners trying to raise capital for their businesses.  And with the economy the way it is, more than a few of them are seriously thinking of giving up.

Entrepreneurs can learn something from Oma.

The Five Parts to Never Giving Up as an UnReasonable Entrepreneur:

1. Crystal Clear Vision—a vision that inspires the bejesus out of you.  Something you are truly passionate about.  Keep in mind all successful visions I’ve ever seen serve a higher good.  They have nothing to do with the entrepreneur’s or company’s success.
2. Intense Determination—with your powerful vision, create a clear goal you want to achieve.  Make sure it is UnReasonable—beyond what you think you can do and integrates your passion and vision.   Then adopt a whatever it takes mindset.
3. Smart Strategy—develop specific and measurable goals.  Create your game plan to achieve them.  Make sure you break them down into manageable chunks.
4. System to deal with Obstacles—have contingency plans lined up.  If things don’t go according to plan, what’s Plan B?
5. Powerful Support Team—people that “listen” to you as if company vision is a “done deal.”  The best way is to get into a mastermind group, with like-minded entrepreneurs.  Each supports the others in your successes.  BEST Coaches is starting the Smart Capital Mastermind Group program in early January.

Here’s the key to being an entrepreneur that lives by this mantra:  giving up on your concept is different than giving up on your vision.

For example, just because your organic clothing manufacturing business doesn’t turn out the way you hoped does not mean you give up on the vision of sustainable clothing for the world to wear.

And closing your concept down, which I’ve had to do twice, does not mean you’ve failed.

That only happens when you give up on your vision.

So, stay focused on the vision and when you’re stuck, use Oma’s mantra.

Action Steps for the Week:

Feeling weary about moving your business model forward?  Not sure you’ll make it through?

First:  you’re not alone–

This is the single and most difficult part of being an entrepreneur.  Start by listening to a powerful song by Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush, Don’t Give Up.

Second:  revisit your vision–

Why are you doing this to begin with?  Make sure it is beyond “you”.  Visions are things designed to never be achieved, but for you to focus on.  IE:  Microsoft’s (used to be): “A computer on every desk”.  Or an acupuncturists, “Healing Humanity”.

Third:  create your what, by when goal–

If you tell yourself that you must do whatever it takes to accomplish this, what would you need to do?  Write this out in a timeline.

Fourth:  Build your support team–

I strongly urge you to create a mastermind group of like-minded entrepreneurs.  Or join one of ours.

Fifth:  create your exit–

NOT from your vision, but from your concept.  What needs to happen by when before you must stop trying?  There is a difference between being UnReasonable and being irresponsible to you and your family.

Then after doing these steps, and the next time that voice in your head starts to question where you are heading with your business, you can tell that voice, “Thank you for sharing.  Now move over because I have work to do!”

As we mentioned last week on the teleclass, we can only take 24 kick-butt entrepreneurs that are really ready to build their capital infrastructure… smartly.

Remember, smart capital is way beyond just raising money.  As we discussed on the packed call last week, it is about thinking way outside the box!

The Smart Capital program might be a good fit for you if:

You don’t just want capital.

You want the right amount.

From the right sources.

Under the right terms.

… and you want it ASAP!

To see if the program is a fit, just check out the Smart Capital Mastermind Group program page.

Then to see if you’re eligible after reviewing the details, just fill out the application by clicking the “apply now” button at the bottom of the page.

We’ll get back to you within 24 hours with next steps as soon as we get your application.

That’s it!

For now, just click here to check out the program details and determine if you’d like to apply.

And remember, always Be UnReasonable!

Stefan Doering
Founder/CEO
BEST coaches, Inc.

PS:  Remember, we’re only taking 24 like-minded entrepreneurs in the program. Just click here to see if it is a fit.

Smart Funding-Entrepreneurs Don’t Need Wall Street

During the interview, we covered:

• Why Wall Street and banks are not equipped to fund small businesses
• What are the five crucial components that go into a smart capital raise
• How entrepreneurs can take matters into their own hands for getting funded
• What are the key stumbling blocks to raising capital and how to avoid them
• What goes into an action plan for raising smart capital
• Tips to keep focused and held accountable to raising capital while running your business

Click Here to listen to the 75 minute recording

Learn exactly what to do to take matters into your own hands to capitalize your company… smartly!

Stefan Doering
Founder
BEST coaches, Inc.

But not just any delivery van.

It needed to fit our green retail store theme, so I wanted it to run on alternative energy.  But in 1994 that was an expensive concept.

The specialized van needed to run on natural gas, the only technology (barely) available for transportation at that time.

$30K to get it.

Yet I could not raise the money.  Totally exhausted from reaching out to everyone I could think of, no one seemed to “get it” or have the capital for me.

Finally, in frustration and desperation, I picked up the phone and called the only guys in town that sold CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) that I knew I would ultimately need to use for fueling my vehicle.

And I asked them if they could help.

Brooklyn Union Gas, now part of National Grid, jumped at the opportunity.

They said, “Heck we’ll even loan you the van… for free!  Just allow us to have a decal on it to say we’re part of your cool experiment.”

Problem solved!  Cost to us = $500 (for our company’s promotional stickers.)

We then had one of the newest and state-of-the-art vehicles in NYC for 1994.  Brooklyn Union had a way to promote their new natural gas vehicles and pumping station and a way to help a small business in their community.

Lesson learned = anything can ultimately be financeable.

I had it stuck in my head that I needed cash to make it happen.  And without it, I was stuck.

I cannot tell you how important this concept is today.

Or how many entrepreneurs tell me they need X dollars or they are sunk.

“Really, for what?” I ask.  The answers range from, “I need my website up-and-running” to “buy more inventory for my business.”

My response is almost always the same, “how else can you get that done without cash?”

Especially today with our economy in the tank and cash so incredibly tight, it takes something else to move your business forward:

• Creativity—how much outside the box thinking can you do to find ways to get what you need.  Let go of the idea (for a moment, anyways) that it must take cash.
• Resilience—don’t shut down if someone says “no” or even worse, thinks you’re unrealistic (or naïve!)  Take that as a sign of you’re onto something.
• Flexibility—be open to it not looking the way you initially envisioned.   Reach out to others, whom you respect, for creative ideas to get it done.
• Confidence—that you will ultimately find the solution.  Depending on how much you want it and are willing to do to get it, stay focused on the outcome you desire.
• Collaboration—one of the hottest tools for entrepreneurs of all sizes today.  Partnerships, joint ventures, and collaborations are moving business forward when cash is tight.

So our van ended up being not only a help in delivering our products between our locations and to our customers, it became a powerful marketing tool.

Whenever it was on the road, people would stop, stare and laugh.  And often would later comment they would come into our stores because they saw the “cool van”.

They laughed when they saw it because our $500 investment for the decals read, “Excuse us for passing gas, but hey, it’s only natural!”  And then it explained the fuel it used and our mission of our green retail company.

Action Steps for the Week:

Obsessed with trying to raise cash to get something done?  Frustrated with how it is going?

You’re not alone!

First, make sure you are clear on exactly what you need the dollars for.  Then look to see who you would hire to get that done, once you get the money.

Then find out what you have that they would want in return for their product/service.

Be super creative.

If they are not negotiable who else might be that can get it handled for you?  Or offer them to pay them more on the “backend” than you would have given them on the frontend.

Most importantly, be willing to walk away from the deal and ready to try again in another way with someone else.

Smart Funding– Entrepreneurs Don’t Need Wall Street!

I know a bit about this topic, having owned 7 companies over the past 30 years, raised millions and over the past few years been helping others do the same.

On this call, Robert Middleton* will interview me on:

• Why Wall Street and banks are not equipped to fund small businesses
• What are the five crucial components that go into a smart capital raise
• How entrepreneurs can take matters into their own hands for getting funded
• What are the key stumbling blocks to raising capital and how to avoid them
• What goes into an action plan for raising smart capital
• Tips to keep focused and held accountable to raising capital while running your business

Smart Funding– Entrepreneurs Don’t Need Wall Street! Teleseminar:  Thursday, November 3rd, at 12noon PST, 3PM EST.

Interested in learning more and signing onto the call, click here

Looking forward to being on the call next week with you.

Until then always Be UnReasonable!

Stefan
Founder, CEO
BEST Coaches, Inc.

*– Robert Middleton from Action Plan is one of the top small business trainers in the US.