Sell, Sell, Sell

If you want to be an effective entrepreneur, you must be an effective salesperson.

Almost everything that you do will entail a sales effort: getting people to invest in your idea or company; getting a shop to produce your prototypes; recruiting employees; recruiting mentors; getting a loan; securing strategic partnerships; working out advantageous payment terms with your vendors, and obviously-- selling your product or service.

Nobody is born with sales process knowledge and the skills to apply that knowledge. The sales process is not taught in school. Knowledge of how to sell, how to recruit and manage a sales force and how to properly incent others to sell for you is usually acquired in the workplace.

The key is to understand that if you have not done it before, you don't know how to do it and must go get that knowledge. It is unwise to assume that you automatically understand this complex and important process just because you started a business. It is also unwise to assume that the ability to create a couple of initial sales means that you know how to extend this out to many prospects and to ramp it up "big time."

You must also have or assume an outgoing personality to be an effective salesperson.

Fortunately, you can gain a lot of knowledge by reading books on the subject, attending sales training seminars, working with mentors, etc. Please, please take the time out of your busy schedule to learn about sales if you have not previously been a salesperson and sales manager in a capacity similar to what you are attempting to do and build to.