What is an artisanal pencil sharpener? Well, most of us remember when we had to sharpen our No. 2s in school. I still remember how in between classes I had to sharpen my pencil and the pride and peace it brought having an excellently sharpened pencil, specially if they didn’t break. There were cheap pencil sharpeners that almost invariably resulted in a broken tip. And then, there were others that sharpened the pencil like a really pointy dagger. So, there are sharpened pencils and Sharpened pencils.
The whole point of this pencil sharpening talk, is not to promote the guy, but to make you think. How much time we devote ourselves to creating an amazing and unbelievable idea to make a business and in the end, it just turns out to be one more in the bucket? We fool ourselves by thinking that the idea has to be extremely well thought and complex and yet, a guy who sharpens pencils for a living is more successful than most.
He’s not alone. The internet has sparkled crazy business ideas all over. More amazing still is the fact that so many are willing to buy!
1. It is not what you sell, but how you sell it.
You can sell anything and be successful. Who would have thought selling water in a bottle was a business idea worth millions? Or creating a little page for people to connect would make of a kid a millionaire? Can you believe a blanket with sleeves is an amazing business? It is not what you sell, but how you sell it. Water in a bottle sounds simple, but what if you say its crystal clear and purified water of the cleanest river in your area and add nice packaging to boot? Or, a site for people to connect sounds cheesy, but what about a site to stay in touch even with friends and family long lost?
2. Are you serious?
You have to believe in yourself before others can believe in you. Be serious about what you do, do it the best way possible and let people know it. Its ok to joke and make fun of yourself, but don’t let anyone see that you don’t believe in what you do, better still, TRULY believe in what you do!
3. It is all about you.
People buy from people. Let people see you believe and people will buy. Enjoy what you do, take pride in it, be the best at it and the confidence you gain will make people believe your product is worth it. Remember, the product is the business, but you are the seller!
4. If at first you don’t succeed…
Most entrepreneurs fail miserably many times over. Some are successful on the first or second try. No matter what you try, if you fail, get up and try again. The real road to success is never giving up hope.