10 fun exercises to help you become a more successful entrepreneur

Having decided to become an entrepreneur, I, first of all, faced a lack of skills and knowledge. I was not able to quickly think and speak without preparation, did not know how to sell and did not interact well with other people. This list goes on and on ... In this article, Neil Patel will tell you how to develop all the necessary skills for running a business .

And what do you think I undertook? Gave up
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Of course not! Instead, I have developed all the skills I need to run a business. How? I developed 10 unique exercises that helped me with this.

Below are 10 exercises that will help you succeed as an entrepreneur:

Exercise number 1. Use arbitrary words during commercial negotiations.

In order to achieve sales, you definitely need to learn how to quickly and accurately find words. You cannot know in advance exactly which question the interviewee will ask, so you just need to be able to think quickly.

To learn to think quickly, you should start practicing “selling” calls with a friend or colleague. All you need is to set the phone on the speakerphone and ask a friend or colleague to "throw" random words so that you can use them in the next cue.

Here is an example: I negotiated the sale, and my friend asked me to use the word “tan” and “sandwich” in the next sentence. And I told a potential customer ...

With your experience and my marketing knowledge, we will do so much so that we can relax on the beach for the next 6 months, sunbathing, enjoying beer and hamburgers.

At first, such a game may seem rather complicated, but over time it will become much easier for you. With this exercise, you can also develop creativity and increase self-confidence, so necessary for sales.

Exercise number 2. Find 5 facts

Get ready for every business meeting and phone call. Pay attention not only to information about the company, but also about the person with whom you have to communicate. Perhaps it is the organization that pays you, but the people who work there pay for it.

You can collect quite a lot of information about a person by simply typing his name into Google and using tools like Rapportive . In addition, there are social networks - today, people's lives are largely public.

Knowing something about people working or representing digging is undoubtedly important, since we all prefer to do business with those who are like us. By collecting some information, you increase your chances of making a deal.

It also never hurts to learn how to become a good researcher. If you become an entrepreneur, you will have to accept that you will not always have answers to your questions, so you should learn to look for them yourself.

Exercise number 3. Do something ambiguous or even delicate in public

Fear is exactly what holds back most of us. In business, as well as in life, you probably care about what others think of you. Therefore, most likely, you are afraid to do what may be regarded as indecent or shameful, and allow others to judge you.

One way to deal with this problem is to do something delicate in public. For example, lie down on the ground, on the pavement barely clothed and lie down for about 10 minutes.

Of course, at first you will feel very awkward, but then you must get used to it.

By doing something like this every week, you will start thinking less about what others think of you. Ultimately, such an approach will necessarily affect entrepreneurial life, and you will begin to do everything necessary in order to succeed (of course, you should not stoop to acts contrary to ethical norms).

The last thing you need is to give your fear or emotions a hindrance to your progress.

Exercise number 4. Every day, read the news

Pick a few news sites to your taste and browse them every day. This may be the BBC or CNN - there will definitely not be a shortage of sources of information. Daily reading the news, you will have a detailed idea of ​​current events.

Why is this so important?

Here are two good reasons to read news every day:

1. Current events have an impact on business - if something serious happens in the world, you can well expect that this event will have a negative or positive impact on your business. Therefore, you should be aware of all that is happening. For example, one of my friends has a gun business. He noticed that every time after the shooting at school, his sales soar up to heaven. Any use of weapons is terrible, but he needs to know when this happens, so as not to write off the resulting surge in sales to the success of the marketing company.

2. People talk about what is happening in the world - at the business meetings you attend or during any other communications your business requires, you will surely encounter the fact that people will raise topics of current events. If you are well aware of what is relevant in the world, you will surely give the impression of a competent and intelligent person. In addition, it will help you maintain conversations.

If you're wondering which sites I browse, then this is the BBC and the Economist.

Exercise number 5. Remember your numbers

Talking with entrepreneurs, I draw attention to the fact that they do not remember much, do you know what they forget? Figures relating to their business, starting from what, how much it costs to their margin.

Becoming an entrepreneur, you will acquire customers and consumers who are sure to put you in a difficult situation if they ask you the following questions:

• What are your costs?
• How long will it take before the results appear?
• How many customers do you have?

It seems that these questions are elementary - the way it is, but many entrepreneurs fall into a stupor, because they forget or simply do not know the answers.

But if you are not able to answer such simple questions, how professional are you at work?

That is what your interlocutors think. The lack of an exhaustive answer demonstrates your inexperience and questions the feasibility of working with you.

Learn all the numbers related to your business, learn them by heart. This will help you to better understand your business and show what needs to be done to stimulate its growth.

Exercise number 6. Have fun

You need to know how to have fun, whether at a party, entertainment or during an ordinary meeting with friends.
Return mentally to childhood ... You enjoyed life, right? You lounged, laughed and worried great moments with your friends.

Adults often forget what it means to have fun. All we think about is work, but in fact, forgetting about fun is bad for business. You quickly burn out, and this will lead to lower profits.

But how to get distracted? (you ask)

Over the years of work, I realized that simply producing a quality product or service is not enough. Some people need to get along with everyone who is related to it in order to do business. You need to understand how to entertain others.

Entertainment does not have to fly a penny. You can organize something simple, for example, mud runs in a small company of people. Be that as it may, the main thing is fun. Thus, you can influence the size of your customer base by increasing it.

Exercise number 7. Stop judging people

Who likes being convicted? For example, I don’t like it at all ...

But we are all human, and by nature itself we have a tendency to judge others for the way they dress, look, speak and live in general.
But you should not blame others. Let everyone live as they want, if their actions do not go against ethics. If a person is happy, you should be happy for him.

Taking on the role of judge, you begin to close many doors for yourself, that is, you voluntarily give up a potential business partnership and make enemies from scratch.

But how to stop condemning people?

Every time someone does something that causes a condemnation to you, say to yourself: "I am not going to judge him." I know it sounds silly, but it works. After a while, you give up the idea of ​​judging others.

Exercise number 8. Stop chatting for nothing

I don't care if you are the most successful babbler in the world ... People hate it. Stop talking in hints and get down to business.

Next time, relaxing with friends or colleagues, try to speak shorter. Of course, you do not need to cause people discomfort by excessive straightness, but when it comes to business, there is nothing better than to talk on business.

If others, for example, employees or potential customers, start to beat around the bush, try to leave them and make the conversation more substantive. You certainly do not want to put someone in an awkward position, but in the end, everyone with the right approach will understand that you need to go to the point.

Not everyone will like it when it is stopped, but most will respect you more. This approach will highlight your confidence that, as a result, may lead to new deals.

Exercise number 9. Conduct conversations "about anything" for 30 minutes

Have you ever tried to talk about any nonsense for half an hour? Sometimes it can be difficult to conduct a half-hour dialogue, even on the most pressing topics!

I suggest you start with a visit to a restaurant, bar, cafe or any other public place where you could meet a random person with whom you are unlikely to cross in business.

Go to the stranger, start a conversation on the most empty, stupid topic. Try to keep the conversation going for 30 minutes. If you notice that the interlocutor's interest in the conversation is melting, finish it and find yourself another object.

The first 5 minutes will be difficult for you, but then you can easily reach the 30 minute mark.
What is it for?

Thus, the skill of dialogue is trained. You will be interesting and able to attract the attention of the audience - all these skills are simply necessary in business. Without the ability to talk, you will not achieve anything outstanding.

Exercise number 10. What was she wearing and what did she do?

Memory is what matters. If you don't remember the little things, how will you keep something serious in your mind?
As a child, I could not boast of a good memory, but now I remember almost everything. How? I played with friends in one useful game.

Every time we went somewhere, we looked at random women, and after the party, we asked each other what they were wearing and what they did. The reason why we looked at women is simple - the details of a woman’s face are harder to remember. As for men, their appearance, as a rule, is typical - these are jeans and a T-shirt, so, even without focusing and remembering, you can always guess.

Start exploring the people around you, paying attention to any details, from clothes to actions and facial expressions. So you learn to memorize a large amount of information.

This exercise helped me learn to memorize all the important details about my company. I no longer need to keep records or keep track of important tasks ... everything is stored in my head .

Conclusion

Becoming an entrepreneur, you will encounter a lack of a number of skills, so necessary for success. So what to do? Instead of giving up, try to develop everything you need.

Developing abilities does not mean doing something boring (like reading textbooks). You can use pretty funny exercises, for example, those described above. These methods helped me and some of my friends, so why not try them for you?

How else can you acquire useful skills for an entrepreneur?

PS We recommend another article on the topic - Physics of Productivity: the application of Newton's laws in work.

Translated by Vyacheslav Davidenko, founder of MBA Consult