WISE keynote speaker shares 10 tips for success

At the recent Women Igniting the Spirit of Entrepreneurship (WISE) Symposium, attended by 1,400, I had the minor role of introducing the breakout-session speakers and every session I attended was packed with attentive listeners. 

All day, I was impressed with the ambition and drive of the women entrepreneurs and businesspeople in attendance. 

The WISE committee put on an excellent day of breakout sessions, exhibits, and speakers to offer helpful information to women business entrepreneurs.

The keynote speaker, Barbara Corcoran, is on the panel of the popular TV business program “Shark Tank,” that funds inspiring startup businesses. Corcoran gained fame from starting a real-estate company in New York City with a $1,000 loan. A short 12 years later, she grew the business into one of the largest real-estate companies in New York City — she sold the business for 

$77 million.

Corcoran told a story filled with humor, hardships, setbacks, growing up with eight siblings in New Jersey, and building a great business from nothing. Her mother always told her she had a right to compete with  men and other women and be successful, and that’s what she did. Here are the 10 tips Corcoran shared with the WISE audience on how to be a success in business and in life.

1) Become great at failure. Learn how to take a hit and bounce back, get up, and get back into the game. Corcoran found through the hiring and firing of 1,100 real-estate agents that the determining factor of their success was how soon and how well they bounced back from failure.

2) Publish a report on your area of expertise. When Corcoran’s real-estate business was very slow, she sent a letter to all of the reporters at a New York City paper on the average selling price of an apartment in New York City. Only days later, her information was on the front page of the newspaper making her an expert on New York City real estate. Soon she had Richard Gere and other Hollywood celebrities calling her for listings.

3) Your brand needs to be bigger than the reality. Corcoran always had bigger offices than she needed and acted like one of the larger real-estate firms. Fake it until you make it. In only a few years, her business was one of the largest real-estate firms.

4) People want what everybody else wants. Try to build scarcity in what you sell. Build the perception that what you sell is in limited quantity or available for only a short period of time. Build demand for what you have.

5) Expand before you are ready. Corcoran would always stretch herself buying a new home or office so that she had to increase her sales to make the payments. She stated this was like putting a gun to her head, forcing her to push herself and her team to success.

6) “Shoot the dogs early.” If you have complainers and people who are not doing their jobs, fire them — and fire them sooner rather than later. Corcoran shared with us that these complainers and underperformers are probably unhappy with their jobs and would be better off and happier somewhere else.

7) There are only two types of people who work with you. Expanders who want to succeed and grow, and complainers who will bring you down. Which group are your employees are in? You need to know.

8) Recognition works better than money. Give your people public recognition, ribbons, certificates, and trophies. Your employees will display these to show off how well they are doing, building competition within the group to be their best and to succeed.

9) Fun is good for business. Fun is the key to boosting productivity for your business. Corcoran says her salespeople offered better ideas to grow her business after they participated in some type of organized fun activity. 

10) Bad times are the best times to move ahead of the competition. Corcoran’s business always expanded and gained ground on her competitors when times were bad. A tough time is when you think of new ways to grow your business. You take a chance when your competitors are laying low trying to stay afloat.          

James McEntire is principal of James McEntire Consulting, providing sales and customer-service training in addition to growth strategies for small businesses. Contact him at james.r.mcentire@gmail.com or visit his website: jamesmcentire.com.

At the recent Women Igniting the Spirit of Entrepreneurship (WISE) Symposium, attended by 1,400, I had the minor role of introducing the breakout-session speakers and every session I attended was packed with attentive listeners. 

All day, I was impressed with the ambition and drive of the women entrepreneurs and businesspeople in attendance. 

The WISE committee put on an excellent day of breakout sessions, exhibits, and speakers to offer helpful information to women business entrepreneurs.

The keynote speaker, Barbara Corcoran, is on the panel of the popular TV business program “Shark Tank,” that funds inspiring startup businesses. Corcoran gained fame from starting a real-estate company in New York City with a $1,000 loan. A short 12 years later, she grew the business into one of the largest real-estate companies in New York City — she sold the business for 

$77 million.

Corcoran told a story filled with humor, hardships, setbacks, growing up with eight siblings in New Jersey, and building a great business from nothing. Her mother always told her she had a right to compete with  men and other women and be successful, and that’s what she did. Here are the 10 tips Corcoran shared with the WISE audience on how to be a success in business and in life.

1) Become great at failure. Learn how to take a hit and bounce back, get up, and get back into the game. Corcoran found through the hiring and firing of 1,100 real-estate agents that the determining factor of their success was how soon and how well they bounced back from failure.

2) Publish a report on your area of expertise. When Corcoran’s real-estate business was very slow, she sent a letter to all of the reporters at a New York City paper on the average selling price of an apartment in New York City. Only days later, her information was on the front page of the newspaper making her an expert on New York City real estate. Soon she had Richard Gere and other Hollywood celebrities calling her for listings.

3) Your brand needs to be bigger than the reality. Corcoran always had bigger offices than she needed and acted like one of the larger real-estate firms. Fake it until you make it. In only a few years, her business was one of the largest real-estate firms.

4) People want what everybody else wants. Try to build scarcity in what you sell. Build the perception that what you sell is in limited quantity or available for only a short period of time. Build demand for what you have.

5) Expand before you are ready. Corcoran would always stretch herself buying a new home or office so that she had to increase her sales to make the payments. She stated this was like putting a gun to her head, forcing her to push herself and her team to success.

6) “Shoot the dogs early.” If you have complainers and people who are not doing their jobs, fire them — and fire them sooner rather than later. Corcoran shared with us that these complainers and underperformers are probably unhappy with their jobs and would be better off and happier somewhere else.

7) There are only two types of people who work with you. Expanders who want to succeed and grow, and complainers who will bring you down. Which group are your employees are in? You need to know.

8) Recognition works better than money. Give your people public recognition, ribbons, certificates, and trophies. Your employees will display these to show off how well they are doing, building competition within the group to be their best and to succeed.

9) Fun is good for business. Fun is the key to boosting productivity for your business. Corcoran says her salespeople offered better ideas to grow her business after they participated in some type of organized fun activity. 

10) Bad times are the best times to move ahead of the competition. Corcoran’s business always expanded and gained ground on her competitors when times were bad. A tough time is when you think of new ways to grow your business. You take a chance when your competitors are laying low trying to stay afloat.          

James McEntire is principal of James McEntire Consulting, providing sales and customer-service training in addition to growth strategies for small businesses. Contact him at james.r.mcentire@gmail.com or visit his website: jamesmcentire.com.