You, Inc.
by Joe Bonura

Two For The Money

Entrepreneur—Someone who makes an investment of time and capital in a business, and takes the risk along with the responsibility for the success of that company.

Intrapreneur—Someone who works as an employee of an entrepreneurial business and takes responsibility for the success of that business as if it were his or her own company.

The Choice Is Up To You

As a sales person, every day you are in business for yourself. You are ultimately responsible for your own success or failure as a company within a company – You, Inc.

Family Matters

Every morning, you are out of work (especially if you work on commission) until you sell something. Do not believe that the company is responsible for making the money that supports you and your family. You are!

Goodbye Company

I often ask sales people to imagine what would happen to their company if all of their positions were permanently eliminated. In a very short time, their company would cease to exist.

Would You Leave A Hole?

Ask yourself the same question: As a sales person, if you left tomorrow, would you be missed? If the answer is no, you have some catching up to do.

It Is Not About You

I was working for a large printing firm in which the sales people were having trouble making new business calls. I explained to the sales force of 13 people that their success also insured the jobs, salaries, and raises of their support team back in the plant.

What Are Your Numbers?

We posted a large 4-foot by 8-foot scheduling board in the facility’s dining area where it could be seen by all the company’s associates. The title on the scheduling board read: Look At How Many New Business Calls I Made For You. On the left side of the board, the names of all of the sales people were listed, and they listed the number of new business calls each day.

Can't Stand The Heat - Get Out Of The Kitchen

Within four weeks, three of the sales people left the company to make room for three new sales people who were willing to become intrapreneurs to make the company grow.

Where Does Your Buck Start?

Former president Harry Truman had a sign on his desk that read, “The Buck Stops Here.” You should place a similar sign on your desk that reads, “The Buck Starts Here.” When you adopt the attitude that your fortune is commensurate with your efforts, the dollars will start to flow.

Name Your Company

When Anthem manager Jaime Lebron hires a new sales person, he asks them to name their new corporation. He informs them that they will each be in business for themselves.

They have names like: Buckeye Benefits, Inc, Bonafide Benefits, Menillo Enterprises, Inc., PDiddy, Inc., D&G, Inc. and Galeti and Associates, Inc.

Each sales person works to build his or her corporation within the corporation. Low sales producers in many companies can be hidden behind the success of the rest of the sales figures. Not so in Jaime’s case; each sales person knows how his corporation is doing every thirty days.

To Eat Or Not To Eat

When I opened my advertising agency in 1972, I had $5000.00 in savings and six months to succeed or fail. With a wife, three children, a home mortgage, and two car payments, I faced the reality of success or failure every day.

No Excuses Here

My boss was my P&L statement. I could not make any excuses that the P&L would accept. I either made the numbers or I did not, at which point, I would have been looking for another job.

The Big Payoff

We made the numbers and became one of the largest ad agencies in Kentucky and Louisiana billing over 14 million dollars a year.

Success Is A Habit

The success habit was always a part of my mindset. Prior to owning my own advertising agency, I was an intrapreneur as the top billing sales account executive for my employer.

I used the same skills in my own business that I used for my former employer.

It Is All In The Name

Name your corporation, have a sign made, and put it on your desk. Have your employer give you a separate P&L statement every thirty days so that you can track the success of your business within your employer’s business. Go to work every day with the attitude that you are in business for yourself. You will immediately begin to see the rewards of intrapreneurship.

© 1997-2008 Joe Bonura & Associates, Inc.

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Joe Bonura
Joe Bonura & Associates, Inc.
Website: www.bonura.com
407 Landis Lakes Court
Louisville, KY  40245
(800) 444-3340 toll free
(502) 244-0087 phone
E-mail: sales@bonura.com

About Joe Bonura

His background is unique. Joe owned and operated a highly successful advertising agency for 18 years. During that time, he found his advertising campaigns were more effective when he educated his clients in the areas of sales and service. He conducted training seminars for his clients as added value. Word spread that Joe was a quality speaker and more and more people asked him to speak. The demand became so high that he sold the agency to three of his associates to start his own speaking and consulting company, Joe Bonura & Associates, Inc.

Joe is past President of the Kentucky Speakers Association and a Certified Speaking Professional (CSP), a prestigious designation earned by only 8% of the 3,600 member National Speakers Association. Joe presently serves on the board of directors of NSA.

He is author of the audio learning systems "Three-Dimensional Selling®" and "Turning Customer Satisfaction Into Customer Excitement®." He is author of the book Throw the Rabbit—The Ultimate Approach to Three-Dimensional Selling.

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