Top tips from a top entrepreneur

First published in Aspire Magazine

When seeking top tips, it makes sense to go to the top. That's why we asked Dawn Gibbins MBE to share her secrets with us. She certainly has the credentials, having set up a manufacturing company from home that today has grown to become a world leader, with offices in 26 countries and 8 manufacturing plants around the globe.

Along the way she has won the Veuve Clicquot Business Woman of the Year Award and been voted Most Influential Person in British Manufacturing. As a member of the Government's Manufacturing Forum, she works to bring an agenda for positive change and promotion in industry. Dawn is now an Ambassador for the Government's Manufacturing Advisory Service.

Dawn's tips:

1 Dream the dream .....

Every would-be entrepreneur needs vision. Visualise exactly where you want to be and have a mission to share that vision with everyone you meet.

2 ... but challenge your motives

The world is full of people with dreams of becoming writers or painters. But almost all successful authors started by dreaming not of being a writer but of writing - the subtle difference is, they get their buzz from the act of doing, rather than the image of being. Caravaggio didn't dream of being a painter; he had a burning desire to paint. Better than anyone else in the world.

3 Behave like a leader

To become a leader you have to think like a leader and act like a leader. I remember a small software company based in Birmingham that used to work from incredibly run down offices above a downtown car showroom. Turnover was less than one million and they were in their second year of loss. In a Damascus moment they had the vision to take on the international pharmaceutical sector, offering clinical trials software solutions costing a million pounds plus. By thinking, sounding, acting like a world leader, they became one; a multi million turnover company operating around the globe that has even shaken off the marketing muscle of IBM and Oracle.

4 Dare

Dare to be different - stand out from the crowd - and dare to grasp opportunities.

5 Sit the same side of the table

I sometimes refer to this as TLC - Think Like a Customer, Talk Like a Customer. It is remarkable how many companies talk at their customers, rather than sharing a dialogue with them as equals. Winning companies speak the language of their prospective customers and quickly slip into a conversational style that is 'the same side of the table'.

6 Don't believe the Mousetrap Theory

Ralph Waldo Emerson once said "Build a better mousetrap and the world will beat a path to your door." Waldo might have been good at writing epithets, but he was no businessman. The graveyard of businesses is littered with fantastic ideas that were never promoted with vigour. Remember Betamax? An infinitely superior video recording format to VHS but the inventers, Sony, rested on the laurels of product superiority.

7 Employ mavericks

Entrepreneurs are Prima Donnas and that carries its own hidden dangers; the "I know it all and I always know best" syndrome. Successful entrepreneurs surround themselves with partners who are better than themselves - and then let them get on with it.

David Ogilvy once said "If each of us hires people who are smaller than we are, we shall become a company of dwarfs. But if each of us hires people who are bigger than we are, we shall become a company of giants." Was he right? Well he did grow from door-to-door salesman to owning one of the most successful ad agencies in the world.

And while you are employing big hitters, make sure they have a maverick streak. They need to have the balls to challenge you when you are wrong. I have mavericks in place in every one of my companies around the world.

8 Invest in your staff and your partners

It is a truism that your staff are your greatest asset. The problem with truisms is that they become taglines rather than a philosophy, so break the mould. Invest in psychometrics to ensure that your people are in exactly the right slot; they need to feel good about themselves and the contribution they are making. Then help them to stretch themselves. There are few things more rewarding than helping people realise they are capable of achieving things they previously didn't believe possible.

9 Value before cost

Young businesses fall into the bear trap of buying sales - selling on cost. Recognise the worth of your products or services and sell on value. That was one of my own early learning experiences.

10 Don't just dream it, do it!

The hardest one of them all - but the most rewarding.