Successful Entrepreneurs - how they differ in their attitude to failure

Have you ever wished you could sit in front of the CEO of a global company and ask them how they did it?

Successful entrepreneurs have something special and it has to do a lot with their attitude to failure.

Many business owners in the UK become paralysed when they hit snags. What marks out those who keep going is their motivation and will power to win.

In the US failure is something that is seen as a natural progression towards success. The occasional bankruptcy not a stigma but learning process.

On my trip to Los Angeles the entrepreneurial attitude came across strong and clear and that's something we at Vision are working on now. To give fellow entrepreneurs to get that shot in the arm that comes from being with people in business who have overcome the odds... time and again.

If you want that for yourself and your company our International Entrepreneur Programme may suit you. It's intense, it's focused and it's limited in the number of people who can take part.

I believe there's too much gloom out there. We need to get out and make those opportunities for ourselves. What do you think?

Oh and if you're interested in the programme, contact us sooner rather than later. Your company needs it.

Open access seminars and some free goodies

We understand that sometimes all of us need to find a place to stretch our thoughts especially since we use 2 to 3, 000 thoughts per day thats 3 per minute if you believe the scientists!!!

Remember, the Right Thought plus the Right People in the Right Environment at the Right Time for the Right Reason = the Right Result. This is a quote from one of Visions free resources, 50 Things to make you Happy. If you would like a copy of 50 Things to make you Happy please let us know through our contact us page.

Doing something different please find below a list of our current seminars:-

Formula for Success Workshop.
The formula for Success workshop is about understanding and developing your own personal formula for continued success in both your private and business life. This will enable you to understand the individual elements which when combined will determine your personalised formula to success and unlock more of your potential which will result in you taking your business further.
Details of the workshop
Date: Wednesday 15th October 2008
Time: 10.00am-4.00pm
Cost: £245.00 (Fully Inclusive)
Facilitator: (Our own!!) Sharon Roberts


Engage your workforce Workshop.
As you know the most important element in your business are the people you work with in order to drive your business forward. This one-day interactive programme addresses this key business issue and provides practical tools and techniques to assist you to enhance the level of engagement, motivation, communication and commitment within your team.
Details of the workshop
Date: Wednesday 24 September 2008
Time: 9.30am - 4pm
Cost: £265.00 (Fully Inclusive)
Facilitator: Lisa Spencer Arnell


Performance Coaching for Leaders Workshop
As a leader you are automatically charged with the responsibility of developing your workforce, how you communicate and empathise can make all the difference between a motivated team member and a disenfranchised one. By Exploring what coaching is and isn't and the business case for it in your organization, you can Develop the essential skills and mindset of an innovative Coaching Leader in order to maximize the development potential of your people. We will demonstrate the coaching process and appropriate tools/techniques for your individual situation.
Details of the workshop
Date: Tuesday 7th October 2008
Time: 9.30am - 4pm Cost: £265.00 per person (Fully Inclusive)
Facilitator: Lisa Spencer Arnell

Mastering Mentoring

On Friday 25th July Vision were the proud hosts of a Business Champions event, welcoming business leaders from across the East Midlands region.

In line with the Business Champions ongoing commitment to train its members, Vision was chosen to deliver a Mastering Mentoring workshop. Some of those issues explored in this workshop are listed below:

What is/isnt mentoring?
Benefits for the mentee/mentor.
Roles and boundaries of the mentor/mentee
Tools and techniques acquisition
Qualities of a great mentor
Get the most out the mentor-mentee relationship

The event proved a huge success, with 80% of attendees claiming that the session had surpassed their expectations, and variously describing the workshop as thought provoking, Enlightening, Challenging very useful, fun, rewarding, Excellent, and well worth the time commitment.

Vision welcomes these endorsements as confirmation that we are attaining our goal of delivering the very best in skills training.

We now look forward to the next Business Champions workshop we will be delivering - Understanding Leadership on the 6th August ? with great anticipation.

Beyond that, Vision has two private workshops coming up in the autumn:

· Engage Your Workforce Programme on 24th September - 60% of this workshops places have already been taken.

· Performance Coaching for Leaders Programme 9th October - 70% of this workshops places have already been taken.

These two daylong workshops (priced at £265 p/p) have limited places available and are already booking up fast?

For more information, feel free to contact us on 0115 941 82 42 or email us on info@visionconsulttraining.co.uk

Vision judges Postgraduate Research

On Thursday 26th June, I was asked to be a judge at the Postgraduate Research exhibition at Leicester University; as part of the East Midlands Business Champions. The event was absolutely wonderful and i enjoyed it so much that i indicated that Vision would be willing to sponsor the event next year.
I was asked to judge 4 of the PHD students exhibitions and these included research into 'Is India banking for a greener future', 'Foreign currency derivatives: the role of accounting standards', 'EMDA and the East Midlands' and finaly 'When is a bin bag not a bin bag'.
I would like to thank the students and staff at Leicester University and commend them on an excellent job well done. I have also noted below the winners of the various categories.

The Tangible Results Master Prize for Best Presentation was won by:
Sam Illingworth for "The Importance of Carbon Monoxide in the Atmosphere"

The Student Employment Services Prize for Best Presentation in Arts, Law and Social Sciences was won by:
Sophie Hadfield-Hill for "Is India Banking for a Greener Future?"

The Adamson Jones Prize for Best Presentation in Medical and Biological Sciences was won by:
Carla Lopes for "Connecting the Cell's Antenna to Human Disease: Oral-facial-digital Syndrome Type 1"

The Tessella Support Services Ltd Prize for Best Presentation in Science and Engineering was won by:
Sara Rafice for "What Turns Food into Fuel?"

The Press Office Media Prize was won by:
Andrew Shore for "Oxygen: the Miracle Molecule" (which was released to the media as: "Toxic to Aliens - but key to health of planet"

Students? Union Peer Recommendation Prize was also won by:
Sara Rafice for "What Turns Food into Fuel?"

The BioKneX Highly Commended Prize was won by:
Edward Green for "Flies 'Party On'!"

The Graduate School Highly Commended Prize was won by:
James Borderick for "The Importance of Ground Based Solar-Terrestrial Physics"

Researchers in Residence Highly Commended Prize was also won by:
Andrew Shore for "Oxygen: the Miracle Molecule"

Enterprise and Business Development Highly Commended Prize was won by:
Jenny Watts for "Work and Wellbeing: Burnout in Academic Staff"

Latest magazine article about Sharon at Vision

As a child education played a limited role in Sharon Roberts life, today it is a vital part of her global development consultancy. This month Inspired talks to Sharon about her career journey, and learns about facing fear and challenging ideas.

How did your career start?
I grew up in a family where education was not important and left school with no qualifications. I started work in a factory, which proved a real wake up call. I met a lady named Pearl who had worked there for fifty years and was given a gold clock for long service. She really made me think, and I decided I wanted more from my career than waiting for the clock.

I summoned the courage to go back to school. At the time, adult education did not exist, so I completed my qualifications in class with the children. I went on to do an access course into High Education, and on finishing my studies gained a full time position with the Princes Trust.

When did you begin running your own business?
Probably at eleven! I was always an enterprising child, collecting bric-a-brac to sell outside the local factory and making pedal go-karts for children in our street.

As an adult, my business idea came while at the Princes Trust. There, I met people who liked my down to earth approach to training and development. I was often asked to help further but couldn?t under the remit of the project. I was encouraged by many to leave the Princes Trust and start my own business, but I opted to stay on and spent the next year and a half researching my idea for a training company and building contacts.

Who or what is an inspiration to you?
My son and my husband. I was a single mother by the age of twenty and I knew I wanted a better life for us. Having this motivation has kept me going and determined to succeed. Today, I also have my husband who is a constant source of encouragement and support.

What has been one of your biggest challenges and how have you overcome it?
Going global was a big step. I?d made the commitment in my business plan to go global by year ten, but the timing was right by year eight. I approached it head on, faced my fears, owned them, challenged them and got on with it, an approach I still use when something challenges me today.

What has given you the greatest reward in business?
My first overseas project was with the West Indies tourist board, helping develop local businesses. One man I met ran a small bar. He believed importing expensive drinks would entice tourists. I went to his house and his garden was full of mangos and bananas. He took some convincing, but I persuaded him to replace the imports with local smoothies. The tourists loved them and he was left with a more sustainable and profitable business.

What advice would you offer women just starting out in business?
Be clear why you?re going into business, think what you?re prepared to sacrifice, do your research and take advice from mentors with different skills. You can also list the six ways your business could fail. If you can identify them you can take action against them.

How do you encourage women in your business to develop?
We do all the standard levels of HR training you would expect but also lots of motivational and confidence building. Confidence plays a big role in success.

How are you contributing to Womens Ambassadors?
I am really passionate about Womens Ambassadors and supporting women into business. I promote Ambassadors everywhere I go; I am even talking about it in Beverley Hills this month. I give motivational speeches, host networking events and have an education unit working with schools to encourage everyone to be enterprising and imagine what they can do if they are not afraid to do it.