Great Partnerships

 Friday, October 23, 2009 from 11am EDT to 6:45p EDT
Saturday, October 24, 2009 from 11am to 4:45p EDT

For $29, this 2-day conference aims to educate and inform copreneurs on timely topics for couples in business. We welcome married couples, those who are dating, or are in same-sex relationships. Every registrant receives a FREE 1-year membership to National Copreneur Society. Here is just some of what you’ll find at Copreneur Camp:

·                             A keynote address from Paul and Sarah Edwards, copreneurs and award-winning authors

 ·                             7 sessions led by professional consultants, coaches, authors, or copreneurs

·                            2 opening sessions by the National Copreneur Society co-founders

·                             2 Copreneur Roundtables where attendees can learn and share with each other

·                             Twitter Chat Room for live interaction during the Camp

·                             A virtual swag bag of educational and informative goodies provided to all attendees

Plus, the best part, is that it’s virtual! Attend from your home or business. All you need is access to a computer and telephone (or computer speakers and a microphone).View the schedule, session outlines, speaker list, and register for Copreneur Camp http://www.copreneursociety.org/membership/2009-virtual-copreneur-camp

 If you have questions on anything, please e-mail NCS.

The Wall Street recently reported that the results of the most comprehensive survey of how occupation affects happiness showed that business owners outrank 10 other occupational groups in overall well-being. “Defined as self-employed store or factory owners, plumbers and so on, business owners surpassed other occupational groups on measures of contentment, emotional and physical health, job satisfaction, healthy behavior, access to basic needs and self-reports of overall life quality.” Read the rest of the article here

The Law of Attraction, “the right mindset”, and “just believing” are all great, but what most people seem to miss is that they have to think and put in the work to be successful in business. My husband’s favorite saying is “People don’t want to think.” I am beginning to believe him as I hear about so many “takers” for get rich ‘effortlessly’  programs that I see offered on the web.

The ads read “Join my (insert name of a precious metal here) Club, Mastermind, Group” “Go from 0 to 1 million in a year” “I will teach you how I did ‘it’.” “Read these testimonials from all of the others who have also done ‘it’!” “Get in before it’s too late.” “Just pay me $100,000 and you are in”.

These ‘takers’ should wake up! They can start by reading the names on the testimonials. Most of these offers seem to be circle games of ‘insiders’– A joins B’s group, B joins C’s group, and then C joins A’s group. So the insiders’ $100,000s just get passed around the circle.

The only money “made” is from outsiders X, Y, and Z who join one of the groups and pay the fee without getting it back from an ‘insider’. The outsiders you will supposedly get their pay off when they follow the teachings of the guru and do ‘it’. The only catch is that by the time the guru tells them how to do ‘it’, ‘it’ doesn’t work any more because other outside suckers have caught on. They found out that this is no magic ‘it’- and they have moved on to the next . Hopefully, many of them will finally realize that they do have to think for themselves, put in the work and invest a lot more than money to become successful.

“Nothing is as simple as we hope it will be.” Jim Horning

Entrepreneurship was the topic of discussion at a meeting I just attended. One question was – “Do you want your child to follow in your entrepreneurial footsteps?” All 8 people at my table said yes (7 women and one man). I was surprised that so many others feel the same way as I do, given our current economy. Not only do I think that entrepreneurship is a great path to follow but I also think that instilling entrepreneurial values in children is a worthy goal, regardless of what they decide to do with their lives.

You can partner with your children to lay a foundation for your them to have prosperous lives, even if they ultimately decide that entrepreneurship isn’t for them.  A few of the valuable entrepreneurial principles that they can learn from you are:

Goal setting – In many ways, children are hard-wired as natural goal-setters.  The problem is, they usually fail to follow through with concrete action.  You can teach them how to reach a goal by breaking it down into a series of easily reachable mini-goals.  For example, if they want to buy a new video game that costs $20 and they can save $5 per week, help them make a chart that will track their progress.  Every week when they save $5, let them color in the next portion of the chart that shows their progress.  You’ll be teaching them the importance of following through on goals with clearly defined steps. Celebrate with them when they buy the video game. 

Motivation – Keeping children motivated requires plenty of encouragement and positive reinforcement.  For example, if you’re teaching your child the importance of saving money for a rainy day and they want to tap into the piggy bank, praise them for how much they have saved already. Also remind them that being patient now will pay huge dividends later. Consider paying a small amount of interest on their savings, so they can experience how the real world of investing works.

Responsibility – You may not be able to teach responsibility but seeing how you are responsible for the success of your business and do not blame others for your mistakes will encourage your children to act responsibly. They will see you considering options and making choices that may be difficult at times. As an entrepreneur you take action and if something doesn’t work you do something else. You do not depend on others to bail you out. Seeing this in you will encourage your children to be self-reliant and responsible for their own actions and choices.

Teaching your kids these principles of entrepreneurship will, of course, come in handy if they ultimately decide to follow in your footsteps.  However, self-reliant, motivated people who reach their goals are in relatively short supply.  By instilling these values in your children you can help to ensure a lifetime of prosperity for them.  And you’ll be doing your part to help create another generation of success-minded entrepreneurs who can ultimately change the world for the better!

When you learn to trust one another and to resolve conflicts to your mutual benefit, you will enter the Cooperation stage of partnership. You learn to share power and appreciate each other’s unique abilities and gifts. Getting past the power struggle stage and building a workable relationship that fosters true collaboration will pay off well. Your teamwork will move you into the cooperation stage if you commit to:

·         Treat each other like real partners and divide tasks equitably

·         Stick to your clearly defined roles and responsibilities

·         Make sure the authority goes with the responsibility

·         Be direct about how you will make decisions together

·         Continue building trust and respect for each other

·         Develop strategies for avoiding pitfalls

·         Create guidelines for handling future problems

Now that you are working well together your partnership can progress to the next level where true connection occurs and your combined efforts equal much more than their sum. Stay tuned to learn about this most productive and profitable stage of partnership!

In the NY Times article with this title on June 29, 2008, the writer profiled several Couplepreneurs who worked together in businesses built by the wife who later hired the husband. Although the article stated that “the odds are loaded against couples working well together”, only one of the eight couples failed and divorced. The successful couples generally agreed that their partnerships work because they carefully delineated their respective roles and play to each other’s strengths. Good for them. They know the secrets of successful Couplepreneurs.

I am interviewing a successful couple that fits the above profile on my radio show today at 6pm EDT. My interview with Rachelle Disbennett-Lee PhD and Adrian Lee can be heard live and will be archived for later download at www.blogtalkradio.com/jean-charles.