Today we are talking about the fantastic book 'Vivir sin Jefe' by the no less fantastic Sergio Fernández. The book analyzes the mistakes that entrepreneurs often make, which are the basis of learning, in order to help them generate successful businesses with good results. It is divided into five Chapters that talk about common mistakes in work planning, in day-to-day work, in relationships with other people, in relationships with oneself, and when we leave work as an employee.
The book 'Living without a Boss' is the first of those written by this young Entrepreneur. Sergio has a degree in Advertising and Public Relations, and a prestigious Consultant, Coach, Trainer and Writer. He was Director of the radio program 'Pensamiento Positivo', of which you can see dozens of videos on YouTube on Personal Development issues.
1. Common mistakes in job planning
- Dedicate yourself to something you are not passionate about - Ask yourself what would I do if I had money to spare? Answer honestly, and you will have found your passion. Do not dedicate yourself to your own business - Focus on your business and do not dedicate yourself to a lot of other things, so as not to be distracted and neglect the strategic activities of your business. Delegate everything else. Do not offer any added value - It is one of the most strategic tasks for an entrepreneur. You need to have something different and communicate it clearly so as not to be one of the bunch. Always give a little more than they bargained for. Don't reset counters every now and then - Clean things up, to-dos, and beliefs every now and then. It is an energizing and necessary activity: it helps us feel good and be more effective in our work.
2. Frequent mistakes in day-to-day work
- Not realizing that what they value most about us when they hire us is trust - Behave with integrity, and your clients will recommend you by becoming your sales representatives. Keep in mind that there is nothing more difficult than regaining lost confidence Not knowing how to sell - The business skills we need to develop are:
- The ability to know how to explain what we do and what we can do The ability to know how to explain well the work that we are going to develop The ability to give a price without shaking our voice, doubting, or giving explanations The ability to bear fear to rejection The ability to understand what it means to sell: making 'personalized' projects The ability to understand that the sale made by entrepreneurs is normally a process. Each contact has to lead to the next in a natural way, so that we both have time to assess whether we want to work together.
3. Frequent mistakes in relationships with other people
- Not having a personal brand - The key is to determine a series of attributes for which we want to be recognized, work for them and communicate them in the best and most memorable way possible. It must be a recognizable and simple brand, that knows how to evolve if it has to and that is very present.Do not use our network of contacts (networking) - Networking is the art by which different people get in contact and stimulate their relationships to generate opportunities. We must take care of the network of contacts. Think that the client is always right or does not get rid of some clients - Our goal as entrepreneurs must be to strengthen the relationship with the 20% of clients that generate 80% of sales; and yield to the competition those customers who provide us with less satisfaction.
4. Frequent mistakes in the relationship with oneself
- Not eliminating energy sinks - Some of the people we interact with, the foods we eat, or the activities we engage in, are true energy sinks. One of the biggest energy sinks in the workplace is to postpone making decisions, it is good to take them in the moment. Do not give the appearance of being always busy - Behaving as if we have already achieved what we want activates our ability to attract what we want. It helps us to visualize how we want to see ourselves and allows us to learn to behave properly when we are doing well.Not spending time recycling - Today it is not the one who works the longest or the one who knows the most that wins, but the one with the appropriate information and also uses it. This means that we have to update ourselves all the time. There are two basic ways to get information:through other people (networking) and taking time to update ourselves. Not cultivating the key values to be an entrepreneur - as entrepreneurs, we are forced to make decisions every day. The best way to do this is by guiding ourselves by our objectives and, above all, by our values. The top 5 are honesty, integrity, consistent work, generosity, and attention to detail.
5. Frequent mistakes when we leave the job for others
- Not mentally creating what we want - The areas of the brain that are stimulated are exactly the same when we do something as when we think about it. It is important that we identify the phrases we say, the things we think and how we see ourselves in time, to visualize ourselves in the situation we want to be in. Do it every day for a while with the maximum degree of detail possible, and wait for the results. Do not give back part of what we receive - Being selfish is not smart. If others do not do well, we will not do well either. We can select an idea or a project to collaborate with our small contribution, to build a better society Forget that it is a game and that we do this for fun - We often forget that most of the time there is not so much,that this is nothing more than a game and that sometimes you win and sometimes you lose. It's about doing everything in our power to achieve our goal, and then forgetting about the results. Although sometimes we do not achieve the desired results, there is nothing more powerful than a person who knows that he has done the right thing and knows where he is going.
Being an entrepreneur is a wonderful adventure in which you put your work at the service of your own business. There are many books written for big business people, but few for small business people and entrepreneurs. 'Living without a Boss' helps you to obtain good results, through the most common mistakes of these in planning work, the relationship with others and with oneself, and what we usually do when leaving work.
Millions of people develop jobs that they have no passion for, and that they would leave overnight if they could financially afford it. Sergio Fernandez.
