We want to interview successful small business owners.

To complement and validate our research, we are compiling stories of successful business owners that will some day become a book of its own. In the meantime, we will be adding them to our blog and various articles.

Who do you know that would like to share some of their secrets to success?

Click here to recommend someone.

We will only use their contact information to see if they are interested in being interviewed about their success. We will not use the information for any marketing purpose, not even our own. 

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Do you need an overnight success?

If you have been in business for a while, are you happy with the results? Or could you be expecting too much, too soon?

Small business owners would do well to understand that most business success takes years to reach, not months. Yes, we've all read about "overnight successes," those people who start a business and almost immediately become profitable beyond all expectation. Tom and I even know a few of them.

What the headlines don't explain is that in almost all cases, the successful business was not the founder's first business. Or even the second. Maybe not even the third. They started several businesses before the "overnight success." Each startup became a learning experience--sometimes painful--that taught them how to become more successful next time. Then, when the right opportunity came along, they were in a position to take advantage of all the factors necessary to make a huge success. Until then, even with the same opportunity, these entrepreneurs would not have understood the fine points to become highly successful.

Like fine wines, most businesses take years to reach maturity. That is a combination of owner knowledge, product development, market acceptance, and many more factors. The overnight success is extremely rare.

Measuring the success of a startup is better compared to finishing a marathon than to running a 100-yard dash. It takes a huge investment of time and effort just to be able to last the whole race.

In fact, three out of four startups won't even make it to the five year mark.  

For more on this, read our blog by clicking here.

Feel free to add to our blog. You will need to log in, which helps us eliminate spammers We would love to hear from you!

Need Entertainment?

Is your business group looking for speakers? Contact us about our lively, interactive discussions about the "Changing Face of Doing Business in America."

For more information, Click Here

Diablo Valley College in Pleasant Hill, California, is holding small business classes on Saturdays in May for students. The instructor is our own Tom Leal.

May 3 - Vision for Small Businesses
May 10 - Small Business Marketing Dynamics
May 17 - Small Business Synergies: Connections

For more information, contact with Diablo Valley College at www.dvc.edu