Talk It Up
I talk about my business to everyone I meet. I tell them all about my model, my customers, my vision. Like a mother talking about her new baby, like a bridegroom talking about his intended, like a politician talking about himself, so am I, talking about my business. I imagine I must bore my friends and family to tears, but perhaps that is a small price to pay.
To every young entrepreneur out there, I encourage you to do the same. Talk about your business to people you meet at the store. Talk about it to people who tip their hat to you in the street. Talk about it to your doctor, to your spiritual guide, to the fellow in the line ahead of you.
I met a man in a sandy open-air bar in Belize. I talked for an hour about my business over a couple of beers. By the end of the discussion, he offered me his card. It turned out he was setting up an educational/commercial mentorship program in Guatemala, but was looking to expand. I will be collaborating with him to extend his program into Honduras and onto the Bay Islands.
I met a fellow on a sailing trip, and talked to him about my school—especially about our plans to acquire recording equipment and cut a Christmas CD in the coming months. It turned out he worked for a non-profit in the Silicon Valley that specializes in donating used electronic equipment to educational non-profits all over the world. I expect to receive a firewire sound mixer and several microphones within the next 30 days.
In the earliest days, while we were scouting locations for our school, my partner struck up a conversation with a random lady in the local airport about our school and its purpose. That lady turned out to be in charge of customs for the island. We received a promise for over $1000 dollars off the customs charges for importing our instruments to the island. This promise was delivered upon, and then she provided free trucking from the dockyard to our school site—an unexpected and welcome extra.
Whether it comes from natural gregariousness, unnatural obsession, or an intellectual short circuit, the desire to talk to total strangers about your business must be indulged. You will profit.
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