| Do you remember the original "Star Wars" moment | | | | better. Maybe those failures are just parts one and |
| when Han Solo, played by Harrison Ford, had to | | | | two of a three part drama, yet they're reported as |
| escape capture by Imperial cruisers?Someone aboard | | | | miscues.When I started my own independent |
| asked him if he knew how unlikely escape was.He | | | | consulting business over 20 years ago I never knew |
| shot back, "Never tell me the odds!"I love that, and | | | | how unlikely my success was, and I'm happy I |
| every aspiring small businessperson should adopt this | | | | didn't!Dr. Gary S. Goodman, President of |
| outlook.We've all heard the odds that predict 90% of | | | | Customersatisfaction.com, is a popular keynote |
| all start-ups will fail within three years, or so, haven't | | | | speaker, management consultant, and seminar leader |
| we?Who cares?That new hair salon, and that | | | | and the best-selling author of 12 books, including |
| newspaper delivery service, and that independent | | | | Reach Out & Sell Someone(R), You Can Sell Anything |
| insurance agent down the street may close their | | | | By Telephone! and Monitoring, Measuring & Managing |
| doors, but what do they have to do with me?They | | | | Customer Service, and the audio program, "The Law |
| may have started out at exactly the same moment, | | | | of Large Numbers: How To Make Success Inevitable," |
| but their destinies aren't mine. Yet statistics suggest | | | | published by Nightingale-Conant. He is a frequent |
| we're all alike, and in this sense, statistics lie.There are | | | | guest on radio and television, worldwide. A Ph.D. from |
| lots of reasons people strike out on their own, and | | | | USC's Annenberg School, a Loyola lawyer, and an |
| profitability is certainly one of them. But another | | | | MBA from the Peter F. Drucker School at Claremont |
| motive is to feel independent, self-reliant.For the | | | | Graduate University, Gary offers programs through |
| corporate drone who actually made it long enough to | | | | UCLA Extension and numerous universities, trade |
| earn the gold watch from the huge corporation, | | | | associations, and other organizations in the United |
| doing everything by yourself and for yourself can be | | | | States and abroad. He holds the rank of Shodan, 1st |
| exhilarating.Plus, it may be in the cards to have one | | | | Degree Black Belt in Kenpo Karate. |
| or two losing ventures before you learn how to do it | | | | |