John Bliss audio story - for entrepreneurs, the cost of losing focus

John Bliss is the founding principal of BlissPR. This story is part of a longer interview from 2010. John discusses getting more and more involved with a nonprofit side project, and the challenges that created in his main business.

You can listen to the story here (2:37).

John Bliss audio story - a couple of hiring mistakes

John Bliss is the founding principal of BlissPR. This story is part of a longer interview from 2010. John states that hiring experienced people was much more risky than "growing your own," and provides two examples.

You can listen to the story here (3:30).

John Bliss audio story - the downside of going downmarket in tough times

John Bliss is the founding principal of BlissPR. This story is part of a longer interview from 2010. John talks about the risks of going downmarket to get clients when the economy turns bad.

UPDATE: Fixed broken link
You can listen to the story here (1:48).

Monica Gould audio story - the importance of focus

Monica Gould is the president of Strategic Consulting Partners. In this story, she talks about her early days in consulting, when she fell prey to a common mistake of consultants (I can tell you from experience): the temptation to say you can solve any problem.

Download the story here (1min 57sec).

Monica Gould audio story - can chasing a large customer simply be a time drain?

I love this story, recorded during our longer interview with Monica from 2010. It felt to me, as she was relating it, that she was discovering and analyze this situation in the moment; as if, in fact, she was coming to terms with her feelings about it just as we were talking. She argues with herself a bit: "I'm not sure it was a mistake... [but] it's just not a fruitful use of time..." just like we do when we are evaluating something that isn't working out as we'd planned. Magic!

Download "Monica Gould - realizing a strategic opportunity is actually a waste of time" (2:21)

Mistake Bank Video Podcast #7 - Sue Pera on growing her business

Sue Pera and her husband Al own the Cornerstone Coffeehouse in Camp Hill, PA (where I live). Sue was very gracious to sit down and talk about an important mistake they made while considering expansion and what they learned from it.

Download: Sue Pera Mistake Bank Podcast (4:36)

To find other podcasts in this series, please visit http://mistakebank.com.

If you are an entrepreneur or know an entrepreneur who should be interviewed for this podcast series, please email me at john (at) caddellinsightgroup (dot) com. Thank you!

Mistake Bank Podcast #5 - Monica Gould of Strategic Consulting Partners

#5 in our series of interviews with successful entrepreneurs in which they talk about the mistakes that helped shape their careers. Our guest is Monica Gould, who founded her business, Strategic Consulting Partners, after a successful career at MCI, and has sustained it for more than 10 years.

Monica, like so many of the entrepreneurs I've talked to, is very candid and self-reflective, and willing to talk about mistakes, to teach others and to ensure they themselves learn from them. I was struck by Monica's sense of humor when she discussed the cobbler's kids dilemma - while she helped companies improve their planning she tended to neglect planning for her own business (something I've experienced myself). I'm sure you'll enjoy the interview.

Monica Gould podcast (31:24)

Content:

0:30 How she got started
11:10 An early mistake...the "we can help you with anything" brand
13:30 Consequences of a consultant losing focus
15:15 A more recent mistake: how long to try to break into a new market?
17:10 "Time is your biggest commodity"
18:50 A difficult situation with a subcontractor
23:45 A final thought on planning...

(audio content copyright 2010 John Caddell)

If you are interested in contacting Monica , please visit her website.


Previous podcasts can be found here.