A PLETHORA OF MENTORSHIP & ADVICE
WiseTalk.ca is a retirement hobby. If you ask me for mentorship I am happy to give you my time and share my knowledge (ie. no consulting fees) BUT you have to be genuinely interested in my advice. Please don’t ask unless you are serious. Have a read through what is written below. If this interests you we’ll talk and expand on many of the points.
The Introduction
WiseTalk.ca is for people predominantly interested in business – whether you are in your study stage in life, are already working, or perhaps are keen to build or improve your own enterprise - the benefit from knowledge and motivation never ends.
I had and still do have a very impressive list of mentors – some of which have been, whether they even know it or not, counselling me for over 45 years. I was confident enough, I guess, to just go straight to people that I wanted to learn from and without exception they obliged.
I also know very well, that few of us have had this access and luck, and that finding successful people to give you their time can be a task in itself, and often not attainable. It is my pleasure to mentor you, working with you on your quest.
I am not crazy rich or famous, but I have had a rather special life and do have good tips and relatable stories about my career. I have succeeded in a path that has worked for me and my personality. There will be concepts I adapted that are not for you - use the parts that fit and find missing pieces from others. I will be brutally honest and hopefully very helpful.
I can tell you of the many times I asked for advice, and received it – but at times ignored it because I was so determined that I was going to prove them all wrong. My stubbornness worked 10 to maybe 15% of the time. So my few bragging rights were vastly outdone by those who told me so. Fortunately, overall in my ventures there was more success than failure and I did follow good direction the majority of the time. I’m going to share with you the words of wisdom taught to me and those I learned on my own.
WiseTalk.ca is about the things I did well to stumbles along the way to outright failures. What drives an entrepreneur? What are our ethics, rules and advice?
Success and what defines success comes very differently to everyone. I am just one point of view. Please be sure and find other mentors and listen to their stories. Pull some ideas from all of us and this will help guide and motivate you to maximize your goals – which may be for financial success or fame, or perhaps, like me, it’s always been more about controlling and managing my own time, fun, lifestyle and sustainable income. This will greatly help you draft perhaps your initial or an adjusted version of your vision. I and others may help you find a more productive path and perhaps adjust what you think your dream should actually look like.
I also want to make clear that these lessons are not only for entrepreneurial minded people, but really for anyone working or planning a career in business.
Why? – if you can understand what it takes to own and/or manage an enterprise, you will become more effective at your job which hopefully will help you with advancement in your career or perhaps give you the courage and confidence to get out on your own one day. If you want better than average success, do yourself a favour and listen to people like me that have years of experience.
My Story
The Short Version
I’m 66 (as of June 2024) and born and lived my first 41 years in the Vancouver area and for the past 25 years loving the less hectic Vancouver Island. With some minor short term exceptions I have been self-employed for 47 years and have had a turbulent at times, but fabulous career selling fun and happy experiences – from promoting concerts, casinos, special events and trade shows to creating a very entrepreneurial travel business (CruisePlus Travel & Tours Ltd.). I tried to retire 6 years ago, but COVID smacked us hard, so delayed that until recently as I was trying to help build our business back.
In the late 1980’s I did some part time instructing at BCIT in Vancouver. I was and still am not much on reading or using books from educators. It’s not that they don’t have some important info to share, it’s just that I believe that many of us that have devoted our lives to running small businesses have a more “street smart” approach to learning and have honed our skills from our own trial and error.
Quite frankly throughout my life I just never liked anyone telling me what to do - so I designed my own path so I didn’t have to take direction. I preferred to give it!
I will discuss many important factors and behaviour traits that sometimes may sound pretty obvious. I wouldn’t mention them if it were not true that way too many people ignore them – which damages careers.
WiseTalk.ca is right up my alley. I love sharing my experiences and the response so far from the people I have talked with has been terrific. I think you’ll enjoy our time together!
The Rules
You must 100% abide by
Here are some things we will talk about
- Always tell the truth
- Be persistent
- Always be reliable
- Show your passion
- Manage your time well; find the right balance
- Control your ego and arrogance
- No racism or sexism
- Act professionally; know who you’re talking to
- Build confidence
- Pay your bills
- Honor your quote (have a good until date)
- Have good manners
- Create win/win propositions
- Be kind; avoid your temper
- Never be afraid to ask
- Don’t pretend to be someone you’re not
- Show humility
- Don’t ever be two-faced
- Do timely, effective follow-ups
- Live within your means; avoid over spending
- Dress appropriately
- Write well and accurately
- Communicate clearly
- Don’t take on too much
- Feed your brain (food & information)
- Don’t ever be drunk or high on the job
- Don’t get too greedy
- Don’t take sick days unless you really are
- Don’t be poison in your office – stay away from those who are
- Treat people the way you want to be treated (which should be very well)
Your ducks
Be sure they are in order
- Are you being honest with yourself?
- Are you able to deal with your imperfections?
- Do you have a glass half full attitude?
- Can you truly evaluate your own true skill sets?
- Are you really in the right headspace?
- Can you be 100% all in?
- What really is it that you want to achieve?
- Can you manage finances?
- Who is a hero in your mind? What are the reasonable chances that you can become one yourself?
- Can you handle the ups and downs? Are you a patient person?
- Do you have finances to help you build your business?
- Are you an extravert or introvert? Both?
- Can you set realistic goals?
- What is your true risk tolerance?
- Can you overcome any health issues (including mental) to be truly effective with business tasks at hand?
- Can you do your best to build your dream but be prepared to manage a nightmare?
- Will you network, participate in local activities, charities and organizations to build your business and reputation?
- Can you stay focused and keep up your energy until each task is complete?
- Can you handle some no’s – then refine and retry?
- Can you be tough when appropriate? You may have to fire clients.
- Can you appreciate small successes or do you need to hit it out of the park?
My Path
- I often thought outside the box
- I always tried to use charm and humour
- I was always good and justifying what I did in life, but adjusted when I was wrong
- I learned over time to not work too hard for things I really didn’t need – and be happy without
- Do as much of your favourite hobbies as you can
- Why being #1 is often not the best place to be
- There are plenty of sharks out there where ethics to them mean nothing – be careful who you trust
- 1991 was a very tough year – but it taught me so much about myself and how I could be resilient.
- Good people attract good people
- Build long, trusting relationships
- My partnership disaster
- I wasn’t that afraid to fail
- I learned overtime how to find real friends not fake ones (and years ago I probably was one of those fake people too)
- Everyone you meet may become a great contact one day so keep in touch - a quick “nice meeting you” text or email pays off
- I always believed we’re all equal in this world – if you look up, they’ll look down
- Good business contacts can become great friends
- Thinking litigiously
- How I adjusted my sales techniques
- How I built huge trust
- While I did have two massive failures I was given more chances by most
- Get back int he ring even after being knocked down
- Create business plans that are fair
- Know when to pull the plug if your idea is not working
- “It’s nice to be nice to people that are nice”
- Market your business effectively
- Hiring staff can often be less efficient than doing the job yourself
- Where I had “tunnelvision” and wouldn’t listen and how that improved over the years
- Staying positive and learning from your mistakes
- HR is a big deal
- I bet on the weather and lost with “Burgers, Beer & Paul Revere”
- I owned a retail store, but hated being there – wasn’t such a good idea
- I should have listened when warned about booking “Sly and the Family Stone”
- The monster fish that got away – I should have listened. I would be filthy rich but not sure I’d still be alive
- I got into the travel business because I love to travel – the perks can truly make a difference. I found a very happy industry
- With years of fabulous Oktoberfest events, how going off season with an “Oompapa Party” was a dumb idea – how I made a flop look like a success
- How we created one of Canada’s most successful and respected independent travel agencies
- How we created one of Canada’s most successful and respected independent travel agencies
- Why was I so keen at meeting famous people? It’s amazing how that can change as you grow up a bit! But I do have some great stories
- I had people do the things I didn’t want to do
Book Me
dave@cruiseplus.ca
I am happy to give you my time for one on one or small group zoom or team type presentations (ie. free!). As I said at the beginning, the promise you have to make to me is that you are genuinely keen and will be punctual and reliable. Don’t ask me to help you and then don’t show up. Come with interest, spirit and lots of questions.
My presentation along with time to talk about your ideas and needs generally runs 2 to 3 hours – which we can accomplish in one big session or two or three shorter ones. You tell me what’s best for you. Our team or zoom calls can accommodate quite a few people, so feel free to organize an online group presentation.
I am happy to do follow up calls. Hopefully you’ll have more questions to ask!
I am also often willing to come in person to your class, business or organization for larger presentations.
Email me at: dave@cruiseplus.ca and we’ll make something work. I do have a modest fee for these seminars along with my expenses covered if you are a “for profit” entity.
I do travel quite a lot, but am around 6 months or more per year. If I don’t respond to you within a couple of days, it means I am likely somewhere more remote.
I look forward to getting to know you! Email me to get things started.
I sincerely hope our time together is motivational and educational. Business success for the most part (as there are a few lucky ducks) is a slow and steady build. Please don’t forget how important ethics, honesty and fairness is. Building trust and win/win deals with patience and integrity is the key for 99% of us.
Cheers for now!
Dave