As Chairman of American manufacturer Wendell August Forge, Will Knecht weaves together the fascinating story about the devastating fire that could have destroyed his business, but instead became a catalyst for new thinking and opportunities. Earnest and plainspoken, Will compels his listeners to look differently at trials, seeing them as the gateways to breakthrough success. He keynotes events across the country and encourages leaders to live lives worthy of their potential.
Entrepreneurial Role Models:
- The Founding Father of America
- John Adams
- Thomas Jefferson
- George Washington
- Benjamin Franklin
- Alexander Hamilton
- John Jay
- James Madison
Also mentioned:
When business started difficulties overcame:
“when business was purchased it was just a small company on the verge of bankruptcy on a corner in a small town in Pennsylvania. So obviously early on when our family purchased it there were many roadblocks. Nobody knew about the company outside of our little region of the country, financially we were a mess and again didn’t know if two years down the road we would be in business. We really had to look at it as a blank canvas, reinvent the company when we purchased it and have faith that through hard work and perseverance, we would be able to make something very unique of the company”…[Listen for More]
Favourite Books:
Onward: How Starbucks Fought For Its Life Without Losing Its Soul Book by Howard Schultz and Joanne GordonFavourite Quote:
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.” Theodore Roosevelt
Recommended Online Resources:
- The Entrepreneur Way – Learn from successful Entrepreneurs with Free Daily podcast interviews that reveal their business success secrets
- Morning Brew – The daily email newsletter covering the latest news from Wall St to Silicon Valley Informative, witty, and everything you need to start your day
Best Advice to Other Entrepreneurs:
“believe in what your passion is and what you feel that you are called to do. Believe in it, don’t let the naysayers shoot you down. Believe in what you believe you have been called to do, trust it, go after it. Don’t risk the world on it may be but test it and roll with it. But believe in yourself, believe that you have been uniquely created potentially for such a time as this to start your business, to buy a business and go after it with all you have got. Persevere through the tough times, keep learning and keep growing… Believe in your calling”…[Listen for More]
More About Will Knecht:
Neil’s Quote at the Beginning:
“You might well remember that nothing can bring you success but yourself.” Napoleon Hill
Other Quotes From the Chat with Will Knecht:
- “the one thing I would do differently today and we do differently today is we test before we roll out. We test in our digital to, we test in our corporate product offering, we test before we make investments. Testing before we roll out. Letting the market validates that our idea or our product or our marketing effort or design work makes sense to the market before we invest heavily behind it. With that customer tell us. We like this or no we don’t before we really go all in. And I think that’s the thing we have learned and that’s the thing that continues Lord willing to shorten our learning curve moving forward and will help us be much more effective as an organisation moving forward. But it’s taken time to get there.”
- “Some of the secrets to success that I would say is believing in a bigger purpose, believing that there is something more that you are contributing than just making money. And again, for a business to be ongoing you have got to make money… But when hard times come and maybe the business isn’t as profitable or maybe losing money or events are a challenge outside of you that are impacting you. You have to believe in something bigger than just the bottom line. And I that is a key to success that will keep you going in the tough times, it will keep you going when things are status quo but it will keep you humble when things are going really well. And realise it’s not about you, it’s not about you being the wealthiest and having six houses around the world, that there is something bigger that you are working for. And we really believe that”“nothing great has been done by people who are afraid. Because when you are afraid to fail you are afraid to take risks, when you are afraid to take risks there is no great reward. And so, I am not afraid to take risks. I am taking more calculated risks at this point in my business career but I am not afraid to take and I am not afraid to fail. And also, I’m not afraid my colleagues to fail. We want to have a spirit of learning and growth internally when. But the mistakes we want to make our smaller ones that we build on and build on and build on”
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