Words of wisdom from master entrepreneurs

This week I had the privilege to attend a Master Entrepreneur workshop being run by MAW Action. The format was five round tables of us participants and twenty minutes spent with an entrepreneur who had built a successful global business and then sold it. After twenty minutes the entrepreneur would then move to the next table. Speed dating an entrepreneur was the style of it. They had all read questionnaires submitted by us so moulded their wisdom in the light of the information we had provided about our businesses. We then had opportunity to ask questions. Here are four things Brand Hoff (Tower Software) he has written across the top of his computer screen:-

• People – right people = committed and believe in what you are wanting to achieve.
• Model – win/win business model, better than your competitors
• Value – build in the company ie. brand, credibility
• Execute – build on the foundation of the other three. Do it!

Other gems from him were:

• Have monthly board meetings to look at the big picture
• Be a leading organisation in thought leadership ie. make sure people follow
• Branch into associated products
• Business plans are mostly for the owner to decide if it is realistic
• Only borrow up to the amount of receivables
• If you get a large injection of funds eg.from investor or grant, budget the amount over 24 months
• An investor brings outside eyes to the business.

After the speed dating, there was opportunity for networking and Mary Anne provided each participant with a “Next Actions” sheet based on our questionnaire answers. In some cases that involved meeting up with someone in the room. Each master entrepreneur will now commit to mentoring a participant (or two).

The information shared on the day was very helpful. Mary Anne is partnering with a large accounting firm to roll the program out across Australia. If you hear of this program in your area, take the opportunity to participate and learn from the masters who have been there and done that. I certainly have taken away a lot of practical tips to help me build Admin Bandit to be the industry standard treasurer software for volunteers in the community sector.

Here’s to volunteer treasurer software…