The guest speaker was Robert Herjavec, Founder & CEO of the The Herjavec Group. Robert is also a professional race car driver but is probably best known for being the Leading Shark on ABC’s hit television series, Shark Tank. Armed with a digital encoder, V2 streamed a live video feed of Robert through the multi-functional INXPO XPOCAST Prime web console. It allowed viewers to see him speak while also viewing his entertaining and insightful PowerPoint presentation with tips on what it takes to start a small business, how to make a name for yourself, and also how to stay competitive, the latter point being no small task since as Robert pointed out – technology reinvents itself every three years. He stated that anyone in the business arena better love the challenges you are faced with or the competition will pass you by. According to Robert, the world will be won by the adaptable. The path to success is not a straight line but if you are able to adapt, you will succeed.
He went on to say that in this hyper-connected world, you don’t always have time to make a perfect decision in your business but that action is better than no action at all. Stick with your vision and move forward! And if you’re not comfortable with the pace of change and speed in business today, you’re going to have a rude awakening in the next few years as it’s only going to get faster. He predicts that by 2021, everything will be connected to the internet including your car, your refrigerator and your TV, among other things. Companies are in turn mining that data and selling it back to businesses so they know your behaviors to sell to you accordingly. So be careful next time you eat that extra piece of cake from the refrigerator and you think no one is watching!
Robert also covered the day to day challenges of running a business and how it can be an extremely challenging endeavor. On any given day, one of your employees may not be fulfilling his or her duties, one of your vendors overcharged you and one of your competitors is contacting your client. Despite all that, you have to stay focused and take care of your customers. If you take care of your customers then everything else will take care of itself. That last point really resonates with us here at V2 as our purpose is to make your world a little less stressful by thinking of every online event detail so you don’t have to. When you’re successful, we’re successful!
In a final, surprising bit of advice from the lead shark, Herjavec tied his presentation back to the sponsor of the event, PNC Bank by saying it’s vital to have dependable partners and when you’re starting your business, you need a bank you can grow with. This sage advice went against the grain of his own TV show, Shark Tank. According to Robert, you don’t always need venture capital money if you have a reliable banking partner. As a small business owner, your payment is equity and it’s measured in sweat and hard work. If you own 100% of your company, you don’t need to raise money and have to give up a share of your business.
The webcast was a huge success and great experience for V2. The trip to Toronto also allowed us to visit our friends and client at the Canadian Management Centre who continue to blaze a path in the field of online corporate learning and training. Thanks Natalie and Christina for the great visit!
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