Insights of Entrepreneurs Vol. IV

What would you set out to do, if you knew that you could not fail? Success is guaranteed! An interesting question to think about…

We had the opportunity to talk with an incredible person recently. He didn’t have guaranteed success but he worked and created a dream lifestyle for himself and his family. We enjoyed talking with Mr. Attitude himself, Keith Doyle! We think that you will really enjoy reading his interview. J

 JS: What was your greatest challenge and how did you overcome it?

KD: My biggest challenge was my time challenge. I was already working 70 to 80 hours a week running several businesses. My biggest challenge was finding the time. I overcame that by becoming a time manager. I made my business a part of my every day routine and I made it a priority. Every night before I went to bed I worked out the things that I needed to do the next day. I prioritized them. My goal was to get at least 5 or 6 of those things done. I made every Market America appointment as important as every other appointment that I had. I knew that down the road I would have more time. Sometimes you have to sacrifice the thing that you want the most of now, in order to have the most of it later. For me it was time. I just had to make that decision.

JS: What is your greatest achievement?

KD: The greatest achievement in my life is two fold. The first is overcoming the obstacles I grew up with. Being born and growing up in a disadvantaged area of ......to read more click here!

Insights of Entrepreneurs Vol. III

Think about the relationships in your life…

Are they the way you’d like them to be?

We had the opportunity to talk with an incredible woman recently. Although she has reached success in the financial arena, she clearly has success in the relationships in her life! We enjoyed talking with Mary Ann Suppon and think that you will really enjoy reading her interview. Enjoy! J

 Mary Ann Suppon

E: What is the most heart-felt or touching thing you were able to experience through being a Market America/Shop.com owner?

MAS: I was just thinking about this. We were talking about retirement and the money that you’d need. Someone made the comment, “If I just had another $500 every month” and I was thinking… My first home cost me $8, 000. I earned a little over $8,000 a year when I worked as a single parent in a nursing home. Now, I am earning more then that in a month. The money has never been it for me. It’s never been about the money. However, what we can do with the money…traveling, spending time with family, and enjoying life one day at time.

During the month of July I rented a huge camp out in Fair Haven and the... Click here to read more. 

Insights of Entrepreneurs Vol. II

Are you in life where you want to be?

Sometimes that is a difficult question to answer.

Our next interview is with an individual who found himself in a place where he didn’t want to be. After working hard at developing a successful business in the appliance repair industry, he suddenly saw it crumble before him. At the same time his family experienced a severe medical challenge with his infant son.

Joe Romano’s back was against the wall. But he worked hard to successfully develop an internet franchise that turned everything around.  We had the pleasure of talking with Joe and we think you will enjoy reading the interview. He is quite an inspiration! Thank you, Joe!

JS: What was your greatest challenge and how did you overcome it?

 

JR: I’d say my greatest challenge is when we are having people evaluate this business, we need to get them out of the mind set of what they are currently doing, prior to Market America/Shop.com. It’s getting people into the mind set of what we’re doing. The challenge in my mind set is I was so down and out. My business of 15 years just crumbled and I had to close the doors. That was a blow to my ego as an entrepreneur. My son, Charlie was really sick and going through so many health issues. Personally, it was so difficult to cope when we didn’t know if he was going to live or die. I was dealing with those obstacles at the same time I was presented with this opportunity. As an entrepreneur, I was always looking to diversify my income. So I had to deal with my company crumbling, going through that devastation, and the emotional part of Charlie’s health challenges. For me, my back was against the wall. I didn’t have any alternative.  I had to make something else work. I got the power of leverage. Being a business owner, I had employees; I had the trucks on the road so I knew the power of leverage in my business. Of course, I had to repeat those actions every day. For me and what I teach in this business ~ it’s all about mind set. This business isn’t a skill set.      Click Here to Read More…

Insights of Entrepreneurs Vol. I

Insights of Entrepreneurs

In life, we figure you are either growing or (to put it bluntly) rotting. There really is no such thing as standing still. You are going forward or backward.
We strive to go in the positive direction and spend time reading books that will help us to grow and improve our lives. We thought that networking with successful people would also be a great way to learn. So we had the opportunity to interview a very successful individual.

Andy Docos is an entrepreneur and always was. He owned a successful auto body shop and repair facility before venturing into an internet franchise. This business has enabled him to become a multi-millionaire. Now he has the freedom to work from home and live his life as he wants. We wanted to find out what advice he could pass on to us so he very graciously took the time to talk with  us.

J & E: What was your greatest challenge and how did you overcome it?

AD: I’d say the greatest challenge I had from the beginning is getting people to understand the value of what we have in our hands and to treat it like a traditional business rather than a side line or a hobby.

J & E: What do you consider your greatest business achievement?

AD: My greatest business achievement is developing systems that people can follow to provide duplication for them and their organization. Examples would be...  

Would you like to read more? Click here

Maine Moose Hunt

Last week, I was invited to speak at a Father & Son Dinner at the Sterling Valley Church. The topic was a Moose Hunt Adventure I went on in 2004 in Northern Maine.

This adventure really started back in 1994, when a friend of mine, Gary Cole, asked me to go on a White Tail Deer Hunt in Northern Maine. A person backed out of this hunt 1 day before a group of people from my area were leaving for Maine. I was given 18 hours to get ready. Best decision I have ever made. I went up with this same group of hunters for 5 years in a row. Every year, I have seen a least 2 trophy Bull Moose, while hunting for White Tail Deer.

I started back then to send in an application to the Maine Moose Lottery. I also talked many people from my area into sending in an application as well.

In 1998, a neighbor pulled a permit for Northern Maine Bull Moose. Everett & I drove up to Portage, Maine. By the second day of the season, Everett shot a beautiful Bull Moose, 48” spread, weighed over 800 lbs. field dressed.

We had an excellent trip!!!!

In 2000, I was pulled a permit for a Southern Maine Moose Bull Moose. My father, Gary Cole & I drove up and by the 3^rd day of the season I had my Bull Moose. Awesome!!!

In 2004, Norm Wightman, a good friend, pulled a permit for Northern Maine Bull Moose. This is the same year that he started working for Gander Mountain. Norm’s boss at Gander Mountain mentioned he should apply for a film crew from Gander Mountain to go on this hunting trip with him. Norm applied and was accepted.

In October, 6 of us drove out to Portage, Maine. “We LiveOutdoors,” by Gander Mountain hired a film company to film Norm’s Moose Hunt. The title of the Moose Hunt is “It’s a Keeper.”

Three guys from the Mid-West drove out to Upstate NY, to drive another 24 hours to Portage, Maine. Norm, Neal & I drove in a separate truck with radio communications between both trucks. I was telling these 3 guys from the Mid-West that they will film 15 to 20 Moose in the first day. They were in disbelief having just coming back from an Alaskan Moose hunt for 12 days where they had filmed 1 Cow Moose.

They filmed all of that and more for the next 5 days of hunting. Try 60 moose all together, 20 were Bulls!

The church group watched this 20 minute video. We all had many laughs. “We Live Outdoors” did an awesome job condensing 5 days of footage into 20 minutes.

There are a few days left to send in your Moose Permit Application. I highly recommend it. The best Moose Hunting in the world is in Northern Maine.

A Valedictorian Speech… 26 years later

 

I was the Valedictorian of my high school graduating class. I was never really given that “title.” I was ranked #1 in my class but my school didn’t really recognize that with being “valedictorian.” I once told a friend, who seemed impressed that I had achieved that, that being valedictorian and having a buck will get you a dollars worth of change! Well, I have since learned that being valedictorian did give me some advantages.

Usually, the valedictorian addresses the class on graduation day with a speech but the teachers at my school didn’t feel that just because you happened to rank in the first three spots on the list that you necessarily had the gift of writing a speech worthy of presenting. Instead, the people interested in making a speech wrote one and then they were voted on by the teachers and 3 were chosen.

                I am glad that I was not forced into giving a speech. (I didn’t even write one.) I didn’t feel that I had anything of value to say at that point in my life! But 26 years later, I do! I have learned a few things over the years and do feel that I could say something of value to those starting out (or along in their journey).

                One of the biggest lessons I have learned is the key is to strive for excellence, not perfection. Perfection is not attainable and you’ll drive yourself crazy trying to get somewhere that you can’t. Instead, strive for excellence in everything that you do.  

                Another lesson is that you can’t be afraid to fail. It’s only by failing, and then getting back up again, that we truly learn.   

A last lesson I have realized is that persistence and hard work get you where you want to go!

You can do it! Strive for excellence, make mistakes and learn from them and keep at it! You’ll get where you want to go! 

By Eileen Sawyer

Awesome Field Trip

My name is Jacob, and on Thursday I went to RIT and the Strong Museum. At RIT, I saw the First Lego League. Teams built robots that could pick up and throw a basketball in a hoop! Of course, it didn't work that way every time! We put on glasses and toured the pits with all the teams. We saw the teams practicing that day.They handed out team buttons, pencils and even comic books! I Would really recommend that you go on competition days for Lego League.
At the Strong, we saw the butterfly garden and the arcade exhibit. The butterfly garden was cool! The butterflies flew by your head and if you were lucky, they would even land on you! In the arcade, they had old games like PAC- MAN and Tempist and new games like Fruit Ninja FX and a new four player PAC-MAN!

All in all, that was a fun field trip! I will be posting in the future.
Good bye readers.
Jacob Sawyer