Several months ago, The Washington Post profiled a man who did what he needed to in order to accomplish his goals.  Even though Payam “Peter” Tabibian might not be a billionaire, he has found major success in his life.

Nearly three decades ago, Tabibian and his family fled from Iran and eventually found themselves in the United States.  Tabibian appeared to have learned quickly that opportunity is never far out of reach.

When he was in middle school, he started his first business – selling candy bars to classmates.  By the time he was 14, he started working at Burger King. His work wasn’t glamorous by any means, as he took out the trash, washed dishes and cleaned the parking lot. That didn’t deter Tabibian, though.  He spent years working at several Burger King restaurants and became the youngest manager at the L’Enfant Plaza location.

Tabibian had a hectic schedule, by anyone’s standards.  He went to school during the morning, worked in the afternoon at Burger King and then continued with an evening shift at the grocery store. It is easy to conclude that his strong work ethic and drive are what eventually led him to success.

There is a lot to Tabibian’s story, including that he founded Z-Burger, which has two locations.  These restaurants are now grossing millions every year. Tabibian is a true example of where hard work and determination can take you in life.

Find out where the smart Northern Virginia business owners are gathering, by visiting Glazer-Kennedy-Virginia.com.

If this description resonates with you, don’t feel bad – you’re not the only business owner who lives this way.  However, it does mean that you need to make a change.  For example, are you more effective at work when you have piles of files on your desk and the phone is ringing off the hook or when it is quiet and you have time to focus?

To start the process of achieving balance in your life, you need to remember that your customers are not the masters over you.  You can control how they communicate with you and how many people you are willing to work with at any given time.

It really comes down to making a choice – is your lifestyle going to be centered around your work, or will it be the other way around? The latter option is what will bring more fulfillment and enjoyment in your life.

Find out where the smart Northern Virginia business owners are gathering, by visiting Glazer-Kennedy-Virginia.com.

It is hard to imagine that someone would be able to sell trash cans for a hefty price tag of $100 to $200, but that is exactly what Mr. Yang’s company, simplehuman, has been able to accomplish.  The company has grown over the last ten years and now employs sixty people and utilizes two warehouses.  In addition to selling high-end trash cans, simplehuman also produces automatic soap dispensers, dish-drying racks and shower caddies.

Don’t be afraid to tryout an idea.
How exactly did Mr. Yang get the brilliant idea of creating a trash can that is more of a piece of art than an average everyday waste basket?  In college, Mr. Yang came up with the idea of creating a high-end trash can and in 2000, decided to take a go at it.  He used his father’s garage as a workshop and presented his design at a house wares trade show.  Shortly after, the orders came flooding in.

Today, simplehuman products are sold at The Container Store, Bed Bath and Beyond, Williams-Sonoma and Crate & Barrel.

Recognize an opportunity and be willing to change.
A lot can be learned from this 38-year-old entrepreneur.  He recognized an opportunity and wasn’t afraid to go after it.  Mr. Yang has also understood the importance of changing with the times.  According to a USA Today article, “Lowly trash can gets respect at Frank Yang’s simplehuman,” the company has an entire floor in one of its warehouses devoted to research.  Even though the economy might be slow, Mr. Yang and his company are still looking for new products to create and sell.

For Mr. Yang, focus is crucial.  simplehuman focuses on select products and works hard to ward off companies that offer cheap, imitation versions.

Are you a Northern Virginia business owner?

To find out where the smart Northern Virginia business owners are gathering, visit Glazer-Kennedy-Virginia.com.

Dan Kennedy put it well during a monthly coaching call when he said:

“You know, what we are talking about is that there really are two different types of people in the world:  The first, when he sees an idea will say, ‘I can’t do that,’ or ‘That won’t work in my business,’ or ‘They’ll never let me do that.’  The other type of person, when introduced to a new idea or strategy that has been successful in another business or niche, says, ‘You know, I may not understand everything that I just heard, but I do know that there may be a very valuable key there and if I can figure out how to use what I just heard in my practice/business it may be a real goldmine for me.’”

Smart entrepreneurs are able to learn by watching other successful people. They see good ideas and find ways to implement them into their businesses.  Savvy business owners also know the importance of leveraging other people’s experiences.

Always keep yourself open to learning from others.  Surround yourself by entrepreneurs and business owners who are smarter than you.

Take it one step further – look for people who are making five times more than you do now, because they obviously know something that you don’t.

To find out where the smart Northern Virginia business owners are gathering, visit Glazer-Kennedy-Virginia.com.

In Dan Kennedy’s article, How To Liberate Your Wealth Magnetism, (which is excerpted from his new book, No B.S. Wealth Attraction in the New Economy,) he talks about how “most people’s world view of wealth is a zero-sum game.” Meaning, the amount of wealth that is available is limited and that each dollar you receive is at someone else’s expense.

You need to have the mindset that wealth is unlimited.  There is an unlimited number of opportunities at your fingertips.  It doesn’t matter if you are a small business owner or if you run a large corporation, you can reach a global audience of customers who are looking for your products and services.  We can thank the Internet for that.

Throw away your old way of thinking that you can only gain a certain percentage of the market.  Mr. Kennedy said it best in his article, “if you believe wealth is limited, if you view it as a zero-sum game, you are inhibited.  This inhibition affects all sorts of things you do or don’t do, such as what you’ll charge, for example, or who you’ll ask for money.”

To find out where the smart Northern Virginia business owners are gathering, visit Glazer-Kennedy-Virginia.com.

In Dan Kennedy’s article, Think ‘Process’ and ‘Relationship’ Not ‘Sales Incident,’ (which is excerpted from his new book, No B.S. Wealth Attraction in the New Economy,) he refers to this type of scenario as “the start of work to be done, not an end result or outcome.”  Basically, his point is that if you celebrate the appointment, reservation or other event and misunderstand that this is just the beginning, you are missing the mark.  If you want to build wealth, you have to develop and cultivate relationships with your customers.

It doesn’t matter what type of business you might be in, there are always opportunities to increase your wealth.  Mr. Kennedy gives several examples in his article, including a restaurant owner who can go the extra step after someone makes a reservation, by sending that person a special voucher for a free bottle of wine if they bring a friend.  An oil change shop can even improve its process by selling a coupon book to a customer for pre-paid services or finding out about the other cars owned by family members.

When a customer steps foot in your store or office, you have to think about the long-term relationship. After all, your customers are your assets.

To find out where the smart Northern Virginia business owners are gathering, visit Glazer-Kennedy-Virginia.com.

When it comes to problems and mistakes, it isn’t so much how they occurred that is going to draw attention; it is how you handle them.  In Dan Kennedy’s article, “Pressure-Prosperity Link,” (which is excerpted from his new book, No B.S. Wealth Attraction in the New Economy,) he talks about how the “world watches and responds to the way you handle these situations.  If you blame others, blame circumstances, offer up excuses, you telegraph weakness.”

If you are going for immediate sympathy and pity, then go right ahead and give as many excuses as you want.  However, don’t anticipate that you will gain respect by doing so.  According to Mr. Kennedy, “wealth is never transferred based on pity.”

The way to garner respect is not through excuse making.  It comes from taking responsibility, even if there was nothing you could have done to prevent your problems.  Don’t be one of those business owners who blames the economy, government, competition and who knows what else, for his or her circumstances.  Take ownership.

Here’s what you need to do – “step up, accept responsibility, offer no excuses, and roll up your sleeves and work.” That is how you will draw strength and respect.

To find out where the smart Northern Virginia business owners are gathering, visit Glazer-Kennedy-Virginia.com.

In Dan Kennedy’s article (which is excerpted from his new book, No B.S. Wealth Attraction in the New Economy,) “When You Meet Money On Its Path, It Means You’re Walking in the Right Direction,” he talks about the “wealth attraction power of being somewhere.”

The article starts out talking about Donald Trump and how in his most difficult periods, he fought the urge to stay hidden at home.  He attended an important gala decked out in his tuxedo, even though he wanted to stay home.

To build your wealth, you need to be somewhere and be in motion.  That doesn’t mean that you have to be at an actual event, it could be that you decide to write a book or create an informative newsletter.  Being somewhere could be speaking at a local event or business group.

Mr. Kennedy ends the article by saying, “be everywhere that’s relevant, everywhere your ideal customer or clients are, and be omnipresent in those environments.”

To find out where the smart Northern Virginia business owners are gathering, visit Glazer-Kennedy-Virginia.com.

Between my Great Legal Marketing conference for attorneys and the two and a half (extended by another half week due to the blizzards) weeks in China to adopt David and Leah I was out of the office for 31 days. I would have thought this to be impossible in years gone past. However with a little bit of technology, including Skype, and a great staff who understands not only what we do but why we do things and what language we usually talk to people the world kept running me.

We are working on an exciting new small-business owners Magazine for Northern Virginia and of course our Glazer Kennedy group which meets monthly continues to bring together some of the smartest entrepreneurs in Northern Virginia. We hope you will join us soon.

Kennedy then proceeded to absolutely destroy that argument by giving example after example of business who seemed to be deliberately avoiding “making a sale” by their gross ineptitude in their salesmanship. I mean I was howling as I listened to the story about the Cleveland car tire dealership where Dan’s wife was trying to buy $1,200 worth of tires and the sales person “downsold” her right from the start to the point where she got confused about what do to and Dan told her to come home.

No sale.

As Dan points out the executives of this car tire company will be blaming the recession or blaming the radio ads that actually got Dan’s wife to go to the store but it was really the crappy sales person at the front desk who is either untrained or unwilling to learn how to sell tires.

In another story that Dan wrote recently he told of going to a men’s clothing store and picking out about $600 worth of slacks. When he went to check out he told them he needed them hemmed and they told him “great” you can pick them up in 30 days!!!

As Dan puts it, he just dropped the pants on the counter and walked out…what’s really instructive is that as he walked out not one of the salespeople who were standing around tried to stop him, attempted to make sure the pants could get hemmed in a day or two or did anything to save a $600 sale. They’ll blame the recession, too.

If money isn’t’ coming to your business its not because of the recession. People are definitely spending money on something and if its not you you must figure out why.

Are you like the tire dealer or the men’s clothes store?

By the way…if you are reading this and you aren’t getting Dan’s No. B.S. Marketing newsletter and you are running a business you are making a huge mistake. You have a choice. Will your 2010 be “more of the same” or will you increase revenues and profits and makes your goals?

Do yourself a favor and at least watch the video I have for you here.