I was sitting with a client over lunch today pondering the different roles I face on a daily basis with my different clients. The Friend works quite well for some. I give advice and they take as they would a friend. Oddly, I have friends who won’t take my advice.

I play the bully at times playing my client like a viola hoping to instill some common sense in their brain all the while thinking how various people need diverse methods.

I become the confidante to the client who is facing doubt and fear hoping like heck I am giving solace to them and a solution to their personal issues.

I share their triumphs and their failures, pat them on the back and slap them on the side of the head when needed. Read the rest of this entry

Lawrence Peter “Yogi” Berra is a 15 time All Star. He won the American League Most Valuable Player award three times, played in 14 World Series, and set a number of baseball records, any one of which would assure a lifetime of fame and fortune for most people. But what is Yogi best known for? His slips of the tongue. Which is understandable, if you go around saying things like “It’s deja  vu all over again!” and “I’m as red as a sheet.”

On the surface, his off-kilter pronouncements are just amusing mistakes. But look a little deeper, and you will find Read the rest of this entry

Location Intelligence is one of the most powerful tools to help the entrepreneur in setting up a retail operation. You’ve no doubt heard of demographics and maybe even psychographics but there is an art to finding a location and the combination of all 3 is ‘location intelligence’.

Demographics refer to the selected population characteristics as used in marketing or opinion research. Commonly-used demographics include race, age, income, disabilities, mobility, educational, home ownership, employment status, and even location. Read the rest of this entry

You can ask any entrepreneur reasons why they are successful. The common reason may be that they had an innovative product or service, or maybe it was terrific insight. Being in the right place at the right time may be another reason for a humble entrepreneur.

When you ask them what they had to overcome to become successful, it’s a little harder to identify because some reasons are very tangible and others not so. Financing (or lack of) tops the list of tangibles, time management, systems in place for growth, finding the right people, finding the right suppliers are also tops. Read the rest of this entry

Gary C. Bizzo is congratulating Dietrich Pajong, a member of my SUCCESS Self Employment Program who won a slot to present his business on the Dragon’s Den TV Show on CBC in May. In Dietrich’s own words ” YAAAAAAAAAAAY”