Who is your Business Hero? Mine may surprise you!

Those of us who run small businesses, often take inspiration from other, usually successful, business owners. So who is your business hero?  Is it someone like Sir Alan Sugar who started with nothing and worked his way up to being in the House of Lords advising on business matters? Of how about someone like Karren Brady who got to the top in the male dominated world of football.

Well, my business inspiration may surprise you - it is none other than the very cuddly Pooh Bear! I can almost hear you gasp from here - but just stop for a moment and think about it. A lot of what Pooh said makes sense and can be translated into a business scenario. Let me give you a few examples:

This to me is about customer research. Do you know who your typical customer is, age range, male or female, etc etc?. Your marketing efforts need to be based around just who your customer is, otherwise they will be wasted.

This is all about Marketing. It is no good just waiting around for customers to come to you, sometimes you need to go out and get them. Give them a little push, a bit of encouragement to purchase from you.

This one speaks for itself I think. No matter how small your business is, you need to be organised from the start. That way when you grow everything will fall into place easily.

A typical Pooh Bear comment, but one we can learn from. When describing a product, talk in a language your customers understand. Of course, they need all the technical detail, but they also want to know how it will make their life, better, brighter or easier!

We all get days when nothing seems to be going right and we wonder if it is all worth while. This quote from Pooh always makes me smile, and helps me to believe in myself.

I could carry on, but I think you get the idea now, and maybe understand why Pooh Bear is my hero - he always makes me smile and that can't be a bad thing.

I will leave you this time with one of my favourite Pooh Bear quotes.