Entrepreneurial Spirit Shining Through!

I did a speaking event at the University of Hertfordshire last year and a young Nigerian business student called Kelvin came up to me and told me how much he would like to work with me. I told him I'd just taken on an 'Apprentice' so unfortunately that vacancy was filled, but nonetheless he insisted I put his number in my phone so that any time I needed any help I should call on him and he would be there.

So there Kelvin's number sat, until Friday when I was in London, due to do the Franchise Show at Excel and my own Apprentice Richard was unable to make it due to the snow. So I looked through my phone for people who I might be able to call upon in my hour of need - and of course came across Kelvin. He responded immediately and jumped on a train with his fellow business student John and we had a great time at the Show - meeting entrepreneurs, selling copies of my book Business Nightmares and helping promote my new online business coaching service.

I should also thank entrepreneur Chris Yates who also responded - he appeared at the Growing Business Show a couple of years earlier and helped me out for which I helped him by mentoring him plus a free place on my Entrepreneurial Masterclass - his company Dream Marine is now slowly but surely gaining a foothold in the yacht charter sector, despite turbulent economic times.

It's this kind of 'can do' attitude that makes entrepreneurs so different to the rest of the population - and it's why I love spending all my time now in the company of people who run their own businesses.

The Heckler

Here she is, our American Mrs Angry, mouthing off at last week's British Library Business Nightmares event...

Gosh, I never realised I was so much like Ann Robinson.

Classic!

Wow What a Week!

I feel incredibly privileged to have a life where I get to be involved in so much great stuff...

Tuesday I was at Cass Business School, working with a group of 25 MBA students in a three hour session to demonstrate how a business can be created on a shoestring marketing budget through a 'pull' marketing strategy.

Wednesday I was at the British Library Business Centre state-of-the-art training facility with three entrepreneurs who I will be working with as their mentor in 2009 in a great session looking at each of their businesses in detail.

Wednesday night the now infamous 'Business Nightmares' evening (see previous Blog post comment string) at the British Library conference centre, on a panel of 4 entrepreneurs who've each lived through a business meltdown scenario, sharing our experiences to a packed house. If you want to watch the event it will soon be on YouTube - the attack on me from our American 'Mrs Angry' comes almost at the end and it was great that the audience were so supportive of me and my response.

Then Thursday back at the BL Training Centre with a fabulous group of entrepreneurs for my quarterly Entrepreneurial Masterclass. Far from ending the week tired and drained I felt inspired and energised to have worked with so many great people.

Entrepreneurial energy is the best on the Planet, everyone so upbeat, supportive and it also feels that the tough times we are facing is bringing out a wonderful camaraderie in everyone helping and supporting one another.

And it's great to be living my dream of inspiring, motivating and helping others to achieve personal fulfillment and success.

Business Nightmares at the British Library

Next week I'm involved in a Business Nightmares event at the British Library Conference Centre...

It's happening on Wednesday 21 January from 6.15pm to 9pm and on the panel with me are Gavin Griffiths (former owner of the Erotic Review and author of the Accidental Pornographer), regular commentator on this blog Bradley Chapman who runs Million Impossible, and Aamir Ahmad founder of dwell.

I've also got 8 FREE TICKETS available for this event (normally £10 - and I think they may already have sold out), if you'd like one the first 8 people to email me at rachel@rachelelnaugh.com with FREE TICKET in the subject title win.

Don't say I never give you anything on this Blog!

Million Possible!

I love helping others on their entrepreneurial journey and last week was at the Business Show in Bolton speaking about my entrepreneurial experiences, signing copies of my book Business Nightmares and taking part in the panel for a Dragons' Den style entrepreneur pitch.

In return for me speaking the organisers gave me a stand at the show, which I gave to the Million Impossible team - here I am with Bradley Chapman (a regular commentator on my Blog) and his team. Next stop we will be at the Business Start Up Show in Olympia on 28/29 November.

I'm so privileged and honoured to be able to be part of such great events.

A Wonderful Evening at Cass

There's always a lot of pressure to deliver when you do a paid speaking event - my normal fee equates to around £1 a second - so it's quite nice to do one for free from time to time, and this week I was talking to the MBA students and alumni of Cass Business School in the City of London.

It was a wonderful evening during which we heard all about the new Peter Cullum Centre for Entrepreneurship including a new £10million seed fund available for Cass students, and then I spoke about my own entrepreneurial journey plus my book Business Nightmares.

A great audience, lots of questions, all my books sold out in seconds, plus a great networking session afterwards during which I was plied with copious amounts of wine.

Then yesterday I received the following email:

Hi Rachel,

I am Philip Mathew from Cass Business School. I was fortunate to attend your session yesterday. It was simply amazing. Thanks a lot for your great advice and help. The humbleness you have in spite of your achievements is what really touched me. Thank you once again.

Warm Regards,
Philip

It's great events and emails like that which keep me in this game!

Quality of Vibration

Further to my last post about Gratitude I thought I'd write a bit further about the Law of Attraction, and my own experience of how the quality of your vibration is really key in getting good results...

As SKY commented on my last post, whatever you are putting out there in terms of your vibration pretty quickly starts to show up in every area of your life.

For example, last week I was on holiday in the Algarve, reading Esther Hick's book Ask and It Is Given, enjoying every moment of the beautiful sunshine, the kids having fun playing on the beach, eating delicious food and generally vibrating in a place of joy, positivity and empowerment.

I then came back home to 400 emails full of great wonderful stuff - new opportunities, fan mail from America (Dragons' Den has just started airing there), lovely thank you emails from people who'd read my book Business Nightmares, various invites to speak at business events plus some nice cheques in the bundle of post.

Then this week we took the kids to London and had a very stressy, angst filled couple of days... Returned home and next day had a visit from a business acquantaince (who I thought was popping by for a coffee and a catch-up) who was incredibly negative and nasty to me (her own energy soured by various events in her life) - to the extent that I ended up asking her to leave my home. (By the way, this is someone who constantly puts out requests for more money but is constantly penniless and scrimping, because the money never seems to manifest.)

Plus various irritating emails and negative blog comments also showed up on the same day.

Luckily I was conscious of what was going on - I had allowed my personal energy to slip and so had attracted the negativity, which was sucking me further down the spiral - and immediately started to restore my equilibrium by focussing on positive things. And today has already been 1000% times better than yesterday!

The point I am making is that whatever frequency you vibrate at will attract things with a similar frequency into your life. Therefore the simple act of trying to stay positive (even in the face of hatchet faced bitches arriving on your doorstep!!!) works wonders to attract wonderful things into your life.

The more consistent and stronger your vibration, the faster the energy will flow - and the better the results will be, especially as they build over time.

I'm still working on it (you may have noticed I do still get a little angry when people piss me off) - but I will know I have been totally successful at this when I no longer attract any negative comments on my Blog !!!

Have yourself a great weekend!

Yeah Baby!

The fabulous thing about my life is that I never know what is going to happen next!

I recently went to a book signing for Business Nightmares in Derby only to have Austin Powers lookalike Emilio Federico turn up with champagne and a lovely cake to thank me for helping inspire him to start up in business. He is an avid follower of Dragons' Den and decided to create his company Groovy Entertainment after watching the show.

He doesn't have a website yet, but if you would like Austin Powers to add a bit of mojo to your next party/product launch/whatever then you can contact him on 07971 556935.

Wow, how wonderful it is to have such great 'fans' !!!

Amazing Piece of Synchronicity!

If you follow my Blog you'll know I am fascinated by the 'Law of Attraction'.

Yesterday I experienced an amazing example of it...

About a month ago I received an email from a guy called Paul Avins who'd read my book Business Nightmares, thought it was great and wanted to send me a book on the Law of Attraction as a thank you for writing it.

The book duly arrived, I read it, thought it was fabulous and sent Paul an email to the address on his compliment slip to thank him. The email bounced back, so I left the compliment slip on my desk with the thought 'I must find a way to thank him'.

(Of course, logically, that meant when I got a moment to look up the original email or visit his website for a different contact address. However, when you send a message of pure intent to the Universe it will always find the most elegant way of bringing you your request.)

Anyway, there the compliment slip sat, not really at the top of my priority list, but still to be dealt with at some point.

Yesterday I had a free invitation to go along to a Christopher Howard event; I almost decided not to go, but then decided I really should make the effort... I arrived about 20 minutes late, went to the VIP check in desk, and who should arrive immediately next to me, also apologising for being late, was a guy saying his name was Paul Avins!

I didn't immediately make the connection, but said to him I'm sure I've heard your name from somewhere? To which he replied 'I'm the one who sent you the book'!

Wow, I said, that's amazing! I have your compliment slip on my desk, your email address wasn't working and I've been wanting to find a way to thank you!

There were about 2,000 people at this event, the place was 99% full when I arrived, so the chances of meeting this guy at that exact moment were slim to say the least.

One other spooky aspect was that for the second exercise of the day where you had to pick a partner, I chose Paul. The purpose was to share our life goals - and strangely enough on a professional level our goals turned out to be almost identically the same.

This thing is incredibly powerful!

To me the Law of Attraction is an incredibly interesting area - and I'd really like to hear about your experiences of how synchronicity has also manifested in your life.

Enjoy your weekend!

A Big Thank You...

...to all who came along to the official 'Business Nightmares' book launch party and signing at Borders Oxford Street on Thursday evening.

It was a wonderful, memorable night for me with lots of friends and contacts making a big effort to attend from afar - including some of you who regularly leave comments on my Blog!

I am pictured here with various guests including my brothers Mark and Joel, two of my sons MJ and Paul, and my mother-in-law Pam.

For those of you who couldn't make it but who live in the Essex area I am doing a signing at Waterstone's in Chelmsford High Street at 12.30pm this Tuesday 13 May.

Hope to see you there!

Rachel

'List of Culprits Worthy of an Aria from The Mikado': An Explanation

I am indebted to Joan Yeadon who has emailed me with an explanation of Jonathan Guthrie's comment in his recent (rather nasty) review of my new book Business Nightmares (see my recent post 'And so it begins...(again)'

"Dear Rachel

I would not lose any sleep over what Jonathan Guthrie wrote about your book if I were you. What he says in his second paragraph will strike a chord with a lot of potential readers.

Now for the quick tell on what Mr Guthrie might mean by: “a list of culprits worthy of an aria from The Mikado” in his first paragraph.

The Mikado, is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert, their ninth of fourteen operatic collaborations. It is the most frequently performed G & S opera and it is especially popular with amateur and school productions. It was first performed on 14 March 1885 in London at the Savoy Theatre.

The Mikado is a comedy that deals with themes of death and cruelty. This works because Gilbert treats these themes as trivial, even lighthearted issues. Setting the opera in Japan, an exotic locale far away from Britain, allowed Gilbert to satirize British politics and institutions more freely by disguising them as Japanese.

The aria referred to by Mr Guthrie could be one of two:

- 'As some day it may happen' in Act I where Ko-Ko, the Lord High Executioner, goes through a "little list" of "society offenders" who, if executed, "would not be missed"

- A more humane Mikado in Act II where the Mikado lists “society sinners” and punishments that fit the crime

I consider the first song, As some day it may happen, to be the most likely reference and the lyrics for this song only are set out below. If you would like me to send you the lyrics to A more humane Mikado, let me know and I will ping it across to you.

The original song, As some day it may happen, manages to be racist (”the banjo-serenader and the others of his race”), sexist (”the lady novelist”), and classist (”the lady from the provinces”) all at once

As some day it may happen

As some day it may happen that a victim must be found,
I've got a little list--I've got a little list
Of society offenders who might well be underground,
And who never would be missed--who never would be missed!
There's the pestilential nuisances who write for autographs--
All people who have flabby hands and irritating laughs--
All children who are up in dates, and floor you with 'em flat--
All persons who in shaking hands, shake hands with you like that--
And all third persons who on spoiling tete-a-tetes insist--
They'd none of 'em be missed--they'd none of 'em be missed!

CHORUS

He's got 'em on the list--he's got 'em on the list;
And they'll none of 'em be missed--they'll none of 'em be missed.

There's the banjo serenader, and the others of his race,
And the piano-organist--I've got him on the list!
And the people who eat peppermint and puff it in your face,
They never would be missed--they never would be missed!
Then the idiot who praises, with enthusiastic tone,
All centuries but this, and every country but his own;
And the lady from the provinces, who dresses like a guy,
And who "doesn't think she waltzes, but would rather like to try";
And that singular anomaly, the lady novelist--
I don't think she'd be missed--I'm sure she'd not be missed!

CHORUS

He's got her on the list--he's got her on the list;
And I don't think she'll be missed--I'm sure she'll not be missed!

And that Nisi Prius nuisance, who just now is rather rife,
The Judicial humorist--I've got him on the list!
All funny fellows, comic men, and clowns of private life--
They'd none of 'em be missed--they'd none of 'em be missed.
And apologetic statesmen of a compromising kind,
Such as--What d'ye call him--Thing'em-bob, and likewise--Never-mind,
And 'St--'st--'st--and What's-his-name, and also You-know-who--
The task of filling up the blanks I'd rather leave to you.
But it really doesn't matter whom you put upon the list,
For they'd none of 'em be missed--they'd none of 'em be missed!

CHORUS

You may put 'em on the list--you may put 'em on the list;
And they'll none of 'em be missed--they'll none of 'em be missed!

W. S. Gilbert

People often adapt this song and come up with contemporary lyrics.

For example:

Peter Lilley's version at the 1992 Tory Conference which has bite and is tightly constructed:

As some day it may happen that a victim must be found
I've got a little list - I've got a little list
Of benefit offenders who I’ll soon be rooting out
And who never would be missed, they never would be missed –
There are those who make up bogus claims in half a dozen names
And councillors who draw the dole to run Left wing campaigns
Young ladies who get pregnant just to jump the housing list,
And dads who won't support the kids of ladies they have ... kissed

Tim Rice’s list constructed on behalf of the late Colin Cowdrey which he read at Cowdrey’s memorial service:

As some day it may happen that a victim must be found
I've got a little list - I've got a little list
Of some cricketing offenders I would banish from the ground
And who never would be missed, they never would be missed.
Such as coaches who would rather run ten miles than hold a net,
And chaps whose innings end because some blighter placed a bet.
I used to think that sledging was a sport that needed snow,
But now I know it’s something else it really has to go ...

Kindest regards


Joan Yeadon"

So now you know!

And so it begins... (again)

Just when I thought it might be safe to go back in the water, I read Jonathan Guthrie's rather nasty review of my new book Business Nightmares in the Financial Times.

Basically he has used the book as an excuse to slag me off (yet again) for being that business failure who is now simply a whining bitch. And it's clear from the review that he's only bothered to read the first chapter!!!

Interestingly, reading Jonathan's article (and the ferocity of his venom against me) you really have to wonder what kind of person HE actually is.

After all, as the old saying goes, people criticise in others what they secretly despise most about themselves.

The Adventure Continues...

Since my last post it is incredible how much is now unfolding, and how fast.

New people, new ideas, new opportunities.

And, after a weekend of great newspaper coverage of my new book 'Business Nightmares', today the book is #3 in Business titles on Amazon and I've just completed four TV and radio interviews to a total audience of c40million people.

Tonight, I find myself at a charming hotel near Newbury called 'The Crab at Chieveley' in preparation for tomorrow's Ideal Business Show at Newbury Racecourse. If you are in the area please drop by and come and hear me speak - 10.30am.

Business Nightmares

I am excited to let you know that my new book Business Nightmares is finally at press and will be published in May. There is a limited number of public tickets available at the VIP launch party where I will be reading an extract from the book and signing copies. The event is happening on 8 May at 6.30pm at Borders Oxford Street and you can get your hands on a free ticket at www.businessnightmares.co.uk

Look forward to seeing you there!

The Best Business Show on Telly...

...has to be the latest series of Ramsay's Kitchen nightmares (Channel 4 Tuesdays 9pm)

The last two episodes I watched have both been brilliant - restaurants run by entrepreneurs in complete denial about the state of their businesses, with Gordon arriving to give them a much needed (and often abusive) wake-up call.

It all echoes a theme which I talk about in my business talks which is about the true meaning of 'persistence' in business. It is not about relentlessly trying to flog products or services which no one wants, it is about being super self-critical and constantly assessing everything through the eyes of the customer - and then honing and refining the business offering until everything starts to work.

Brilliant entertainment Gordon - as well as a serious education for entrepreneurs everywhere who are currently struggling to make things work.

And now the penny has finally dropped why my publisher is so insistent on calling my forthcoming book (all about lessons entrepreneurs learned the hard way) 'Business Nightmares'...!!!