Critical Ingredients to Success

The Business Basecamp Tele-seminar Series continues and last night's call was inspiring. I don't normally use the word "inspiring", but what Ken Foster had to say really set the wheels of my mind in motion during his seminar on The Critical Ingredient to Your Success. In all, it validated what I'm doing both in my own business and what I'm doing with Treasure Valley Consultants' Network.

Ken talk about two things - the universal principles he discovered that all successful people have and the common problems that plague many businesses.

Universal Principles
Ken talked about many different principles, but here are three that stood out:

1. We're all connected
2. There's really no such thing as competition, only new ideas to discover
3. Everything counts - make it your best

Do those sound familiar? It's what I founded TVCNet on back in late September / early October.

Common Problems in Business
There were also many problems discussed. Among the long list, here are a few that I thought were very relevant to consultants and the members of TVCNet:

1. Many go it alone without forming a team built on individual strengths and overcoming weaknesses
   
2. Great ideas, but limited capital (capital is not necessarily money - it can also be time and energy)
   
3. Failure to form lasting relationships

Wow! Three things (among many) that I hope to change with TVCNet. Consulting can be a lonely career. Many don't have staff or partners. Some do it by choice, others out of necessity because they can't afford it. By having a forum where "virtual teams", partnerships and strategic alliances can be formed we can overcome many of the problems we face as business owners.

Final thought - Ken also talked about goal setting. He said that "goal" is not the best word to use in business. According to Ken, those who set goals only have a 65% success rate. Those who set promises have better than a 90% success rate. Now, I don't know where he gets his data, but think about the difference between a goal and a promise. If you don't reach a goal you may feel it's OK - at least you tried. If you fail to meet a promise, how does that make you feel, especially if it is a promise you made to yourself?