The Freestyle Entrepreneur

by John Ingrisano The Freestyle Entrepreneur Hernando Cortez knew the value of total commitment.  In 1519 – just 27 years after Christopher Columbus discovered the New World – Cortez landed on the coast of Mexico, thousands of miles from home.  He arrived with 11 ships and about 600 men.  Their goal was to conquer the vast [...]

by John Ingrisano The Freestyle Entrepreneur “Make every product better than it’s ever been done before.  Make the parts you cannot see as well as the parts you can see.  Use only the best materials, even for the most everyday items.  Give the same attention to the smallest detail as you do to the largest.  Design [...]

by John Ingrisano The Freestyle Entrepreneur My daughter recently opened her own hair salon.  She will be a total success.  I know this for sure – no, not because she is my daughter, but because she has the three skills that can virtually guarantee the success of any business owner. Success Skill # 1:  Relationship skills.  [...]

by John Ingrisano The Freestyle Entrepreneur “Few things are impossible to diligence.  Great works are performed not by strength, but perseverance.”  — Samuel Johnson   My father was “not all that smart.”  Those were his words, not mine.  The rest of the phrase went like this:  “I just never gave up … ever.” It worked out [...]

by John Ingrisano The Freestyle Entrepreneur “Seek advice, but use your own common sense.” – Yiddish Proverb   As a business owner, I love good advice.  However, there is darn little of it out there, at least in terms of my specific situation.  I have also grown to detest unsolicited advice, if only because it always [...]

SUCCESS:  IT’S ABOUT PEOPLE SKILLS … DUMMY! by John Ingrisano The Freestyle Entrepreneur “The greatest ability in business is to get along with others and to influence their actions.” – John Hancock   Genius is no guarantor of success.  Neither is hard work by itself.  I teach a one-day seminar for Fred Pryor/CareerTrack called “Dealing with [...]

by John Ingrisano The Freestyle Entrepreneur “In accomplishing anything definite, a man renounces everything else.”  — George Santayana   Back in my lean, mean, meat-eating younger days, I would have agreed with the above quote from Harvard Philosopher (no, not the musician) George Santayana.  I was maniacally dedicated.  Business was my king … almost my god. [...]

by John Ingrisano The Freestyle Entrepreneur Looking for a way to accelerate your business success?   Find someone who is already in the winner’s circle and hire that person to be your coach. I’ve been in training, marketing and sales for four decades.  However, I still bump into things I do not know.  Rather than try to bull [...]

by John Ingrisano The Freestyle Entrepreneur John Newton became captain of his own ship at age 25.  He was offered the job a year earlier, but begged off, asking instead to be made first mate, so he could gain more experience.  In the end, it made him a better leader.  (For those of you who do [...]