I am really excited about this weeks interview with Brad Sugars.
He is an amazing entrepreneur, and the founder of ActionCoach.com – read on to find out more.
Adam: Having had 27 jobs by the time you finished your degree must have given you a huge amount of experience in the real world at a very young age, which job did you take the most lessons away from?
Brad: Working for others is great because it gives you an opportunity to learn what not to do in certain situations, which is many times more important than learning what to do.
But one of the best lessons I had working was probably at K-Mart when I was a kid, and one of my managers told me to sell out a rack of men’s shirts for that day’s “red light” special. Being young, I took him literally, so when the real announcer was busy and couldn’t be bothered with my special, I was able to take over the PA system and broadcast my deal. I sold the heck out of it over the loudspeakers, and got a rush of buyers over to my area. At first, the managers were upset with my style, until they started ringing up the purchases for that special.
I sold out the rack – and it taught me the importance of sales in a business, and how nothing can happen until that sale is made.
Adam: Even though you showed entrepreneurial skills from the age of 7, you concentrated on a formal education first. Do you think that University plays an important role in moulding an individual?
Brad: University plays a vital role because it is a place where you learn how to learn on your own and where you can grow up and become a young adult and learn how to take responsibility. The trouble with most students is that when they leave university, they tend to leave their learning behind them, or think that they know everything and don’t need to continually pursue knowledge. They forget that “commencement” actually means “beginning.”
Adam: A process of continuous improvement is important from a business standpoint as well as for personal development. What are the key personal development course topics that people should concentrate on?
Brad: I say everything first begins with a dream, which then becomes a goal, which then becomes a plan, which then turns into a series of actions, so any course that helps get you more effectively in line with that process is sound.
Also, it’s important to realize most people look at life in a way where they think they need to have certain things to be a certain type of person, where the opposite is true. First, you need to “Be” the type of person you want to be first, then “Do” what you need to do to “Have” the things you want. This idea of “Be/Do/Have” forces you to work on yourself first to be the best you can be.
It goes back to two Jim Rohn quotes that helped me transform my life when I was 16 and attended one of his seminars. He said, “Work harder on yourself than you do on your job,” and “Never wish life were easier, wish that you were better.”
When you improve, you’ll find that your world, surroundings and circumstances will improve. But you have do to the work first before you start to see the result.
Adam: You mention that your father was the first to notice your entrepreneurial spirit Is this something that your family nurtured and encouraged in you?
Brad: My dad was always a bit more aggressive on the entrepreneurial side, while my mom always wanted me to play it a bit more safe and get a good steady job, but they both always encouraged me to learn more and get more knowledge. My dad would probably be termed “street smart” and my mom is more “book smart,” but having those two influences has helped me develop both types of “smarts” – at least I like to think so anyway.
Adam: The Internet has it’s positives and it’s negatives. The positives outweigh the negative but defamation can be fairly rife, so how do you cope with the more personal attacks?
Brad: In any service-based business, you’re going to get backlash and complaints, but you need to offer a positive voice to the testimonials from people who are raving fans and who love your products and services. It helps negate the negative voices, which always tend to be the loudest and most bothersome.
For me personally, I know early on I took a lot of the negative stuff very personally. Now, I’ve learned it is just part of doing businesses, and what other people think of me is really none of my business. I’ve also learned that for every negative thing people say, there are 100 positives that you can find to meet the negative head-on and knock the bad stuff down.
Adam: Have you found business culture differs around the world, and do you have to tailor your approach much to take this into account?
Brad: It’s true that cultures are different, but I truly believe business is business. That said, there are certain economies within certain cultures that are in different stages of development – and in turn require different types of products and services, and different types of approaches to sell those items.
Some owners go in to certain economies thinking they can drive the market their way, when maybe those certain economies simply aren’t ready for a particular product or service.
Just look around at the global economy, and you can see the differences. The U.S. is a maturing, service-oriented economy, while economies in Brazil or China or India are still dependent on manufacturing – which is a category in the U.S. that has been in decline for 40 years.
There are differences even within countries. In Las Vegas, for example, where my company headquarters are located, the last twenty years or so has seen a local economy driven by the building and construction industries, because the city is relatively new, without a lot of infrastructure.
Compare this to a New York or Los Angeles, older cities were you find more service-oriented industries and companies build around finance and media, or in the latter case, entertainment.
If you are a media company in Las Vegas, you might find it harder to survive than if you had a construction company. The opposite holds true in those other markets, all because each city exists in a different stage of development.
In short, you always have to cater to the needs of your particular marketplace, and not necessarily what you think those needs should be.
Adam: Where do you see the Brad Sugars/Action Coach brand going over the next 2 years?
Brad: Short-term, our objective is to open in 120 countries by 2012, with a longer term goal of having “a coach in every business.”
If having “a coach in every business” sounds like a stretch, it certainly is – as far as goals are concerned. But I believe one day every business owner will see the value in having an advisor and a business mentor helping him or her profit in business.
Plus, it really gives us something to shoot for and strive and stretch for – otherwise, what’s the point, or where’s the fun?
Adam: You come from an accounting background and you have also been through times of economic turmoil before. What are the key things that small businesses need to do to keep afloat over the next year or so?
Brad: Retain your best customers, systemize as much as possible and get your marketing in place. The good news is if your company has survived to this point, your chances of longer-term success are pretty good, because the truly marginal players have all been chased out of the market.
However, you must realize that our “economic winter” may be colder than usual and longer than normal, and you need to prepare for that. Your aim should be to build and grow your business, because you can’t ever “cut your way to success.” At least for the long-term.
However, you can grow and build your way out of most any situation, and once you get your growth programs in place, you’ll be far ahead of the competition when the next “economic spring” arrives. And it will. As sure as the seasons change, the economic cycle will recover.
Adam: It is important to have a sounding board outside of your immediate business circle. Do you have a coach or mentor, and if so, how do you utilise them?
Brad: I have several coaches and mentors that I meet with on an informal basis at different times throughout the year. I also have at least 250 coaches who have been with me for at least 5 years, and they are always very willing to tell me how to run the company.
Adam: You are a obviously a very successful serial entrepreneur. Do you think that Malcolm Gladwell’s theory holds true about the 10,000 hour rule? You would seem to be a prime example of this.
Brad: I don’t know if I agree with that premise. I mean, if it only took 10,000 hours of work or practice, a lot more people would be good at a lot more things – and I know a lot of business owners and other professionals who are so stuck in the knowledge and the practice of a thing over time that they
fail to have the flexibility to leverage their cumulative knowledge or talent in any meaningful way.
Time is important, but true wisdom and results come from applying the knowledge you have. That could take 10,000 hours, or it could take 10 minutes, but I believe you can really short-cut that 10,000 hour mark with activity and by gaining ever more knowledge and wisdom simply by doing.
By going out and actually doing something, you’ll discover new opportunities, new insights and new realizations that will appear in ways you never could have initially expected. Ultimately, those are the “innovations” that, much like technology, can leverage your efforts and considerably shorten that window of time for your breakthrough success.
Twitter: http://twitter.com/bradsugars
Home page: http://www.aboutbradsugars.com/
Adam Toren
