Successful Entrepreneurs Are Great Problem-Solvers: Laura Bennett

(Photo by leefotos)

Problems? Great! Let me help you.

If you are looking for “business ideas,” don’t look for some secret idea book. Instead, look around yourself for problems. Your problems, your friends’ problems, the world’s problems. Problems are business opportunities. Essentially, people pay to solve their problems, and that’s what business is all about.

Today’s guest for the Interview With Successful Entrepreneurs series is Laura Bennett, CEO of Embrace Pet Insurance. She had a friend with a problem – huge veterinary bill for her sick cat — and turned her life to solve the problem.

1. Tell us a bit about your business and why you started it.

Embrace Pet Insurance sells pet health insurance for the unexpected veterinary bills for cats and dogs. Our mission is to change the flighty image of pet insurance in the US. We have been selling policies since 2006 but my co-founder and I have been working on the concept since 2002 when we were at the Wharton Business School together working on our MBAs.

At the time, some friends of ours had a sick cat and after spending $5,000 on her, they’d looked into pet insurance and realized the offerings at the time were rather poor. As they were from the UK where pet insurance is a common insurance product, with many insured cats and dogs, they thought there might be a business opportunity there and four of us ended up putting a pet insurance entry in for the Wharton Business Plan Competition.

After a lot of hard work, we actually won it, and I realized I had a gem of an idea on my hands to pursue it after we graduated. My background is in insurance (I’m now the only full-time pet insurance actuary in the US) and I had wanted to get into an early stage company – I just hadn’t realized I was going to co-found one!

2. What were the three biggest challenges when you were starting off as a new entrepreneur?

There are so many challenges, it’s hard to know where to start. If I were to pick three though, here they are.

a. Not starting a business in my home town.

Before I went to Wharton, I lived in Toronto and had a lot of connections and a solid reputation in the life and health insurance business (I had 12 years of work experience.) Post-MBA (which was in Philadelphia), I ended up in Cleveland because of my husband’s job and pet insurance is property & casualty insurance, a whole other world from where I had come from. So I had to start from scratch and build up my reputation with potential partners, which takes a lot of effort and is very time consuming.

b. Finding a partner was incredibly challenging.

We had a product our potential partners knew nothing about, my co-founder and I were unknown to them (see point a), and we had never run an insurance brokerage before. Three strikes again us and we could not find an American insurance company to have the courage to take a leap of faith in us. In the end, we partnered with 2 Lloyd’s of London syndicates, who had dealt with pet insurance before in the UK, and were much more willing to take a risk on us.

c. Which brings me to my final challenge – living with other people’s timelines.

Even with Lloyd’s, it took us 2 years 3 months from our first introduction to Lloyd’s to selling our first policy, which was incredibly frustrating. It’s understandable from a Lloyd’s perspective as that’s how they work (they have given us trust but it had to be built) but from an entrepreneur’s perspective, it was agony.

3. And how did you work through these challenges?

Basically, it was good old fashioned networking, dogged persistence, and total belief in our idea. And of course, the ever necessary patience I never imagined I had.

I just got used to “warm calling” people with references from others who I knew and that’s how we eventually found our Lloyd’s partners (it started with a business acquaintance of mine from Toronto who moved to Philly who introduced me to a friend from his “buddy family” at his girls’ school and went from there – so random.) I also found great support from my Toronto connections and my long-time mentor stepped up as our first angel investor, giving us instant credibility with others we talked to. This really helped us raise our first funds and all of a sudden, we became a company with an interesting idea, rather than 2 people running around with a business plan.

4. What is the best part of being an entrepreneur for you?

It’s such a cliché but it comes down to being able to build something from nothing that solves people’s problems. There’s no feeling like it.

I also like that if I am going to work hard, I might as well do it for my own benefit since I put my all into whatever I do. And finally, I’m not sure I could work for anyone else now – I would be such a horrible employee. I have too many opinions about how things should be run, particularly around company culture, and I’d drive everyone crazy.

5. Any advice for people who dream to have their own business and yet find it hard to make the leap?

a. Get started.

If you are working on an idea for your own business, don’t wait for it to be perfect before you totally commit yourself to it. It never will be perfect; I can guarantee it. Even if you think it’s perfect (your salary replacement lined up, your prototype built, your business partners in pocket, etc.) it won’t turn out the way you think it will so just get going, learn from real experience, and adjust accordingly.

b. Surround yourself with supporters.

There will always be people who will tell you you aren’t going to succeed (maybe not directly, but it’s implied.) The founders of Google, Amazon, and Starbucks all heard it – being an entrepreneur is quite lonely so keep people around you who are going to provide you with the motivation to get up every day with the energy and drive to keep pushing forward when times are tough. There are more tough times as an entrepreneur than you can possibly imagine.

c. Learn to listen well.

So many people will tell you why your idea won’t work and it’s easy to dismiss them because from your perspective, they don’t really understand what you are trying to do. Underneath it all though, there could be some nuggets of truth to what they say, so you need to think about the criticisms carefully and make necessary adjustments or have an answer to why these things aren’t going to happen with your business. But do not ignore them – there is always something to be learnt.

My Takeaway
I really like her point of building “something from nothing that solves people’s problems”. This is just the essence of entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurs are the problems-solvers who care about people’s problems. We put our life and money into helping others in need.

Her saying “if I am going to work hard, I might as well do it for my own benefit” echoes with Tony Laurence’ words “If I have to work for an idiot, I may as well work for myself.” It’s about taking control of our own life.

I also like her advice of listening to criticisms. With open and wise mind, we can learn so much from everyone. We find business opportunities and even potential solutions by listening well.

If you like this article, you might enjoy my eBook on spiritual entrepreneurship. Click here for free, immediate download

Gratitude And The Law Of Attraction – My Online Gratitude Journal #1

(Photo by Mr. Greenjeans)

Gratitude is contagious.

Just watch people saying “Thank you.” “Thank YOU.” to each other. We like hearing thanks, and when we hear it, we naturally reciprocate. We also like the opportunities to say thanks.

I am starting the Gratitude Friday series, inspired by Stephen at Adversity University. This will add a new perspective to this Yes to Me blog. So far, I’ve been taming the “Akemi” in this blog because I want to build the online community of people who aspire to live their purpose and / or build businesses that resonate with who they are. This blog is not about personal rants. Features like Interview With Successful Entrepreneurs and guest blogs are key components here, and when I share my real life stories, I intend to present them with universal wisdom that can help the readers.

Offering informative and inspiring articles and building the community remain to be the main objectives of Yes to Me. In this Gratitude Friday series, however, I will take a different approach and let “Akemi” come forward. I will share my ups and downs of the week as a new entrepreneur with real life. I hope this helps you get to know me better

Gratitude and the Law of Attraction

I do fair amount of reading and commenting other people’s blogs. This week, I found an interesting article at Tom Stine that defends the Law of Attraction. There have been some articles recently that put down the Law of Attraction and I was feeling sorry for those who may be discouraged to try it because of those articles. I thought of writing something in LOA’s defence myself, but wasn’t quite ready to raise the discussion. Tom did a nice job pointing out the different planes of energy (logical observable world and invisible spiritual world), and I’m grateful for his courage to write that post.

Yep, I know the Law of Attraction works. (No, I can’t prove it, and I have no idea about quantum physics. For me, if it works, it’s useful. If the word “law” bothers you, call it the way you like it – the term has nothing to do with its effects.) Law of Attraction is the backbone of this Gratitude Friday. What I am genuinely grateful for, I get more of them, and more of the people / things / events that bring me gratitude.

Gratitude to my business outsource

I’m grateful for my graphic / web designer Elaine for doing such a wonderful job here at Yes to Me and at my new website Akashic Record Reading. Here, she adjusted some of the formatting so that the long blog titles are easy to read and links are clearly visible. She also helped me to fine tune akashicrecordreading.com I initially started working with her because she was in Oregon, but all the work communication is done by email, so really, anyone in the US can work with her. I recommend her to anyone who needs some design work, such as business cards and web design / modification. She is in her first year of her business, so she is offering very good rate for her professional work.

Gratitude for learning opportunities

I joined Toastmasters a few weeks ago because I want to organize seminars as life coach. My group meets every Wednesday lunchtime. I was the joke master this week – my second time delivering jokes. I enjoy attending the meeting a lot. The meeting is very well organized, and the people are so nice!

In addition to learning public speaking skills, this meeting helps me to have friends locally. I just moved to this area last October, and I was feeling a bit lonely without a corporate job that gets me meet lots of people. Really, when I was working the 8 – 5, the best part was that it let me work with so many people in and outside of the company. Working from home, on the other hand, is nice as it lets me define my time and tasks.

Gratitude for good health

I am grateful for my good health. I’ve been working on eating even healthier, reducing my sugar intake, and I naturally lost a few pounds in two weeks.

Finally, I have a bit convoluted gratitude for the Oregon weather . . . Can you believe it’s mid June and not even 60 degrees!? At night, it drops to 40s and I actually had to use heater this week. I learned a new word “June-uary” Now I don’t do well in the heat, and that was one of the reasons I moved from Tennessee to Oregon, so I am grateful – but maybe this is too much . . . Wait, the weather report says it will be in the 70s this weekend! Let’s go out and play!!

What are you grateful for? (Read: What would you want more?)

Embrace The Big Questions Worth Spending Your Life For

(Photo by Michael Dawes)

Are you addicted to the quick and easy answers?

We live in the world of instant gratification. Huge questions of love and life are solved usually within 90 minutes in the movie. There are numerous websites that offer answers of all kinds. Or you can just type a question like “What is the meaning of life?” in Google search box. (Seriously – if you haven’t done this yet, try it and see what you get.)

I’m afraid so many people are getting conditioned to this quick and easy answer system that they have largely given up their right and responsibility to seek answers themselves. I was alarmed when I did the key word research for my article The One Word That’s Sucking Up Your Energy Right Now. Here are some of the questions people often ask to Google using this dis-empowering word SHOULD:

• Who should I vote for?
• Where should I live?
• What career should I choose?
• Who should a Gemini date? *
• Should I stay with my boyfriend?
• What should I do with my life?
• What should I make for dinner?
• What should I write on a headstone?

(* Apparently, Geminis ask this “Who should a (zodiac) date?” question most often, followed by Sagittarius. I’m a Gemini myself, but I have no idea why this is so. Do other Geminis really think the internet can answer this question?)

How the quick and easy answers steal your joy and peace.

Let’s say you ask “What career should I choose?” and Google or your career counselor tells you, probably based on some personality or talent tests, that you should become a teacher. So you become one. Do you think you will be happy and confident with your career? Teaching, like any other professions, comes with lots of challenges – your teenage students are distracted and rebellious, administrators are demanding, and there are so many things to do – and the pay isn’t very good. So?

I’m not saying the teaching is not a good profession. The problem in this example is that the foundation of your choice to become a teacher is so weak. On the other hand, I know several people who left high income jobs to go back to school and became teachers. They chose the teaching career because, through their own experiences and search for the meaningful life, they came to realize they wanted to teach. They are happy with their choice because it is a choice they made consciously. And they have peace in them.

My friend Ken beautifully wrote about the joy we find in our life journey in How I Traded My Life For Future Security And How I’m Getting It Back. Again, the search for answer is as valuable as arriving at the answer.

The more challenging the game, the more fun.

There are cases for quick and easy answers. When I buy an electronic gadget, I want to start using it right away. Reading the long manual is no fun, and I really like it when it comes with “Quick Start” instructions. I can learn about additional features later. For now, I want to get things done with this new gadget and then go out for a walk.

But our life is not like stuffs we buy for consumption. We are in life – where do you want to go after you save time and energy by getting the quick and easy answers on critical questions of your life?

Further, just like certain games, life is more fun with challenges. Ask yourself – do you enjoy a game that you know so well and are 100% sure to win, to the point that you know exactly how you win and finish the game? Would you even bother playing it?

Enjoy bearing the big questions.

Recently, I was exchanging emails with Steve at Brip Blap about I Have A Dream . . .. This article did fine as a blog post, but as a meme, it was a total failure. No one sent me articles. Steve asked me if it’s too late to submit his article, so I replied, “You are welcome to participate any time, but let me ask you – do you think the project was too grandiose? Or did I not market it enough?” He says that the project is great but it does take some time to write because it requires good thinking. And in this busy world, few people takes time to think even when they know it is something worth thinking.

Hmm. . . How can I make sense of this? I conclude it was great if the post inspired some people to think about the big dreams of life. It’s okay they didn’t get the answers quickly. Keep asking yourself the big questions.

It’s not just the question of your dream. Find and embrace big questions that are worth spending your life for. Carry the questions, check back often, while you live and enjoy your journey.

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