Show Me Approach to Business

After 30+ years of being self-employed including building businesses with 150-300 employees to a consulting practice that has helped many hundreds of clients build their businesses, I continue to have to remind many entrepreneurs and seasoned business owners that transparencies and due diligence are the keys to success. A simple saying should suffice to approach raising capital or establishing strategic partnerships, namely “show me versus tell me.”

Phone calls, particularly when scheduled, are extremely valuable as is time itself. When there is a variety of opportunities to help clients in business plan development or capital access, in our senior living practice and roles in renewable energy ventures, the value of time is magnified. Scheduled calls are part of that and written transparency in emails and documents is both logical and best business practice.

When someone is lacking in transparency in seeking our help, we just cannot help. When someone seeks capital or partners without transparency in their business plan, they will not be successful.

It is critical to surround yourself with staff and strategic partners, such as those that might be working with you even on a contingency basis, that truly understand a "show me, not tell me" approach to business development. This means transparency equals black and white verification in documents such as resumes, references on closed transactions and confirmed access to sales contracts as just a couple examples. Again, a show me approach is a black and white written approach with verifiable statements or attachments, typically emailed in today’s world. The tell me or verbal approach has little value other than to get initial interest, not close a transaction such as a capital raise.

When faced with a choice of business opportunities or considering a plan to raise capital, always rely on and remember that a show me approach gets results dramatically more often than a tell me approach. Given the opportunity to surround yourself with only those that understand the value and appropriate definition of transparency, why would you try to grow a business with key partners that keep telling you versus showing you?