Business Success Center

First Looks Forum eye-opener for a first-time entrepreneur!

October 29, 2012 By Marcos Gomez 1 Comment

It was a great experience meeting and talking with SXSW Interactive Festival director Hugh Forrest

I’m taking a different approach towards starting up my own self-sustaining business. What long-time and successful business owners were able to offer me, a musician by trade, at the Business Success Center (BSC) and Texas Entrepreneurs Networks (TEN) First Looks Forum in October was an eye opener.

I compose, perform, teach and am currently a student at the University of Texas, and am also about to graduate soon. I have a tough time balancing the aforementioned and trying to get higher paying gigs. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Business Building, Business Development, Business Management, Events, General Testimonial, Marketing, Networking, Planning & Vision, Social Media Tagged With: Business Mentor, Business Success Center, DanielMGomez.com, First Looks Forum, full-time student, Hugh Forrest, Internship, Mentee, music, music student, musician, recent graduate, Self-sustaining musician, social media, SXSW Interactive Festival, Texas Entrepreneurs Network

3 Ways Business Grants Have Changed for Good & 3 Ways to Prepare

June 19, 2012 By Jan Triplett Leave a Comment

Look out world, here it comes. You read it here first. After a “gazillion” years of how business grants work, the world has changed. Maybe for good!

Who did it? Chase Bank and LivingSocial. (In full disclosure we are going after this grant. We want to use the money to take our Owners MBA™ for existing business online, add ebooks, apps, and include special segments for veterans, rural business owners, and owners who are disabled. We also want to create an owners community as we did for our Entrepreneurs’ Association in the 1990′s.)

Why did they do it? It depends on whom you ask.

What’s different? [Read more...]

Filed Under: BSC Customer, Business Ideas, Business Trends, Funding, Marketing Strategy, Networking, Owners MBA Tagged With: Austin Business Journal, Business Grants, Business Success Center, Capital Factory, Chase Bank, eligibility, Entrepreneurs' Association, Grants for for profit companies, Jason Meeker, Jaxzen Marketing, LivingSocial, Mission Small Business, Networking, Online Coupons, Online Marketing, SBIR, social media, The Stage Alliances

What’s wrong with networking meetings?

June 9, 2012 By Jan Triplett Leave a Comment

Get your meeting in better order for everyone. Photo by mrbill from flickr.com

What’s wrong with networking meetings? It’s the same thing that’s wrong with most business meetings. Organizers and hosts take things for granted.

These meetings leave the impression that…

Everyone who should know everyone already does.
It’s obvious how our meeting works and if you don’t get it, too bad.
People with different tastes just shouldn’t eat with us.
If you can’t find us, not our problem.
We’re glad you came, but we don’t really care if you had a good time or come back.

The prevalence of these really makes me hate to go to meetings. The worst offenders are the ones that call themselves “networking” meetings. I wrote A Networker’s Guide to Success. I know what networking can and should be. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Business Ideas, Business Management, Business Process, Customer Relations, Customer Service, Events, Infrastructure, Leadership, Networking, Owners MBA, Planning & Vision Tagged With: Business Success Center, Chase Bank and Living Social grant program, Greeters, Improving Meetings, Infrastructure, Marsha Vanhorn Client Services Manager, Meeting Checklist, Meeting Host, Meeting Organizers, Meeting Pet Peeves, Networker's Guide to Success, Networking, Owners MBA, Problems with Meetings, Speakers

Business Pride is Good to Celebrate

March 23, 2012 By Jan Triplett Leave a Comment

Teach a young man to fish to empower him. Photo from:.flickr.com/photos/linsight/

Business pride is not a bad thing. I hope that you have pride in your business.

In April, I will receive the 2012 Career Achievement award from my undergraduate college, Mary Baldwin College, in Staunton, Virginia. One of the questions they asked me was what was I proudest of in my career.

It’s a great question and complex for me to answer. The short answer is the business I built with my husband. This year our business and our marriage celebrate 30 years. That’s a big payoff. I have a lot of business pride in what we’ve lived through and built together. As you begin another year in business, celebrate it with pride. You deserve it. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Business Management, Leadership Tagged With: Austin Business Journal, Austin Community College, BSC RISE Week, business ethics, business pride, Business Success Center, CultureMap Austin, Daniel Diener, Ed Lette, Employee Motivation, funding panel, Jaxzen Marketing, Mary Baldwin College, Meet the Media, Owners MBA, RISE Austin Week, The Business Bank of Texas, The GoLocal Card, YNN

Want a Mentor? Look around you.

March 2, 2011 By Jan Triplett 3 Comments

Business Success Center prospects tell us in their initial meeting they want a “Mentor” to advise and guide them to solve a specific problem or achieve a specific goal.

I completely understand. I’ve had several wonderful mentors. My godmother, Northwestern University professor Alvina Krause, had “teas”. At these salons, I learned the fine art of conversation. My grandmother taught me the importance of family. My mother helped me find my voice and be comfortable being myself. She always said, “We grew up together”. Maybe so, but she was my guide.

There were important male mentors, too. My brother Bill (aka WC Triplett, II) has worked for Presidents and Senators, Tibet and Tienanmen, written best sellers and significant treaties. He showed me how important it is to get involved. Ed Van De Vort gave me confidence because he believed everyone was capable. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Business Management, Planning & Vision, Resources Tagged With: Alvina Krause, Austin, Austin Business Journal Profile, Business Mentor, business owner, Business Success Center, Creativity, Daniel Diener, Ed Van De Vort, entrepreneur, Fighting Fair, Guide, Husband, Jane Dinsmoor, Marsha Vanhorn, Mentor, O'Henry Pun Off, Partner Relationship, PETEX, Reporter Patricia Rogers, Rules of Engagement, sense of humor, Strategist, Systems, Texas, Tiananmen Square, Tibet, W.C. Triplett II, What is a Good Mentor

Why Go for Platinum Profile Customers™

March 2, 2010 By Jan Triplett Leave a Comment

Proud to be green. Here’s my paperless slide presentation, “Does Your Business Need Glasses”, from RISE Austin 2010. It presents what we believe is a better way to get better sales by using niche marketing that focuses on Platinum Profile Customers™. The goal of this system is to make positioning, pricing, and sales procedures more approachable for independent businesses.

The slide presentation also includes details on the Business Success Center’s sales process that all customers go through, the “Buyer’s Purchasing Continuum™”. The Continuum starts with their decision to look for something to meet their needs and desires. After a few steps, they buy. But, it doesn’t end there. The last step occurs after they buy when they either rejoice about their decision or experience buyer’s remorse. Knowing exactly how your Platinum Profile Customers™ do this allows you to focus your sales and marketing efforts.

Small business owners and entrepreneurs will want to follow the prioritized action items suggested. These will help avoid mistakes and expand sales opportunities. This is primarily of value to those already in business although it has ideas that startups can incorporate.

Using these ideas results in:

Better sales and lower costs
Collateral is more effective
Shorter sales cycle [Read more...]

Filed Under: Financials, Marketing Strategy, Pricing, Sales Tagged With: Business Success Center, buyer's remorse, close, customer profile, customer purchasing process, entrepreneur, Focus, independent business, initial contact, Low Hanging Fruit Customers, LTV Lifetime Value, merchandising, Most Lucrative Clients, most responsive, niche markets, Platinum Profile™ Customer, pre-qualifiying, Pricing, retention, sales process, small business, vision

Business Pride is Good to Celebrate

Want a Mentor? Look around you.

Why Go for Platinum Profile Customers™

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