may 09 tips

Business Tips and Opportunities – May 2009

How many no’s before you get a yes?

It is a well known truth in selling that you have to be prepared for the many no’s you meet before you get a yes. I was reminded of this when I attended a talk given by Sahar Hashemi, the founder of Coffee Republic. In her inspiring talk she made some great suggestions about starting up a business but one point stuck out. She mentioned that she approached some 19 banks for a loan before the 20th said yes. She now took that as a rule; you need to look for 19 no’s before you will get a yes.

I suspect that is too negative but I do agree there is a rule. It is my belief, that for every no given, 50% who ask give up. Therefore if a 100 people ask a question then only 50 will ask a second time. So for the fifth time of asking there will be only 6 or 7 left. In competitive terms this suggests that the more persistent you are the more likely your competitors will be to give up and so the more likely you will be to be the last man standing (or asking!). So keep on asking; they will say yes eventually.

Newera Controls Update

Our installation at Henley Business School goes live this week and I will be giving a presentation on the reasons why the Intelligent Building Solution is required to help the School in its Green Objectives. This will be at the Environmental Population networking meeting on the 19th May at the Sue Ryder Care Home, Stagenhoe, Nr Hitchin – for more details go to here: www.environmental-population.com