According to a Met Life study, 12 million Americans between the ages of 44 and 70 want to start either small businesses or non-profits, create jobs, and meet community needs. Are you one of these folks?
Michael Gerber talked years ago about the myths surrounding entrepreneurs in his book “E-Myth”. Though Michael and the E-Myth folks are now headed in separate directions, both work to address how difficult it is to be an entrepreneur and consequently, why you really need their services to start and sustain a viable business. Their processes include following structured procedures and utilizing low cost coaches and consultants to “help” you be successful. The rationale is that most entrepreneurs are not able to maintain focus on what is important to their business and need to learn how to be more disciplined. We fully agree that these points are important.
At OnCore Ventures we are laser focused on the needs of the entrepreneur who is either building an ‘encore venture” or wants to mold an existing effort into being aligned and on-core to who they are. To this end, we have created programs secure in our belief that everything you need to know about how to create your venture already exists deep inside you. We believe the progress and procedure are very important. However, we also know that how you “show up” is a key indicator and of paramount importance to your success.
If you currently are, or want to someday become, an Encore Entrepreneur, we suggest you look at the two key factors of energy resonance and engagement level. Both are measured in the Energy Leadership Index (ELI) assessment. Designed by Bruce Schneider, author of “Energy Leadership”, the ELI identifies your E-Factor. Schneider teaches that there are seven distinct levels of energy resonance, which can also be understood as awareness or consciousness. For potential entrepreneurs, this individually unique E-Factor, is a key-determining indicator of your potential for success. Understanding your unique “normal operating” energy level, what triggers a decrease in this level, and how to raise it up again, is critical to your ability to successfully manifest a venture that is OnCore for you.
Bruce started a small business coaching practice, then built a coach training program, finally crafting an assessment based primarily on increasing the engagement and leadership of people in business. His book deals specifically with the challenges of running a small business. The new class of encore entrepreneurs are all looking to create small businesses that “meet community needs” which Bruce believes indicates a relatively high level of resonating energy. This is an example of just one of the many components that the E-factor can confirm the presence of in your own make-up. As an Encore Entrepreneur, you are most likely interested in leveraging your new venture to give back to the community. If you are already engaged in a business, you probably designed it with that same pay-it-forward mentality.
Michael Gerber’s newest book on “Awakening the Entrepreneur Within” indicates that the single most important factor contributing to success in the design of an entrepreneurial venture is the focus on the good to others as opposed to self-fulfillment. This would seem to be a qualification for Encore Entrepreneurs in providing services to the community. Likewise Phil Libin, CEO of Evernote shares that “The chances are you are going to fail, at least financially. But if you say ‘yes, even if my product just changes the world a little bit, it is still the best way I can spend the next 10 years’, then go and be an entrepreneur.” At OnCore Ventures we are in the business of making sure you do not fail so that you can continue to make a difference in the world.
I have seen this in my own life. Five years ago, I decided to build my encore business around my photographic art creation. Now – I am a very good photographer however, there are many very good photographers. In retrospect that venture was predicated on two failed ideas. The first is that my focus was selfish. I was operating under a “what’s in it for me” type attitude. To me it seemed it was finally my turn to do what I wanted to do – without consideration of other factors. The other problem is more core to my being. I was raised with two limiting beliefs that stem unintentionally from my parents laudable desire to install their own values and assumptions within me. They, and so I, believed that “only girls could be artists” and that “there is no money in art”. As a boy and wanting money, these limiting beliefs seriously impacted my ability to create and sell art as a profession. It was not that I was unable to succeed, it was that my often unconscious beliefs prohibited me from allowing my own success.
If I had taken the ELI back in 2007 before starting that venture, I would have uncovered, and thereby removed the power from, those beliefs and attitudes. Going through the ELI process, allowed me to become aware of those energy blocks and consequently they no longer control me. So today I can be an artist if I choose. But, as is often the way of life, now that I know more about myself, I understand that I would rather help 12 million encore entrepreneurs avoid the mistakes I made, understand their true potential, and successfully create their own “OnCore Venture.”
I want to help these folks for a very specific reason. I believe that the world needs these community-focused businesses. Statistics say that 80% of small businesses fail in the first five years. This roughly translates to the idea that 10 of the 12 million potential entrepreneurs will fail unless they uncover the genesis of their limiting beliefs, the gremlins that say they are not good enough, the source of their energy blocks that prohibit their success when they launch their encore venture.
So – if you are already, or think you want to be, an “Encore Entrepreneur” contact me to take the ELI today and find out your E-factor. As a certified professional coach who is also certified to perform the ELI assessment, I am solely focused on helping people launch successful OnCore Ventures. I will assist you in understanding if your current make-up is conducive to being a successful Encore Entrepreneur, and if you’re not quite there yet, we can work together to make the necessary changes.
The MetLife study indicates that of the 12 million potential entrepenuers, most were afraid to begin because they knew that they might fail. The ELI costs less than $500 and will not only help identify potential failure points, but also guide you in the right direction to avoid these traps from the start. You will learn more about yourself in the one hour debrief than you have ever learned in an hour of your time before. The ELI tells you what blocks you have to overcome and gives you the tools to get over those blocks and back to building your business.
The ELI helps you decide if you are in the 20% that will succeed – and if you are – you will go and do just that. But if you are in the 80% that would fail without some additional work, the ELI process will show you exactly what you need to do in order to succeed. The world needs the 12 million encore entrepreneurs that are ready to give back to society. The world needs you. As baby and near baby boomers, we have been blessed beyond belief with gifts that the world has given to us. Why not find out how you can give back to the world while meeting your encore entrepreneurial desire and creating your own OnCore Venture?