Tod Barrett, CEO of OneBlade, Inc., has created a tool to allow men to enjoy a ‘barbershop’ quality shave at home. He is an expert in Product Development, Marketing, Manufacturing and Supply Chain Management. Tod was the former CEO of CD3 Holdings and its subsidiary, Ronco.
Entrepreneurial Role Models:
none specific
When business started difficulties overcame:
“the One Blade opportunity was difficult in that the initial concept was quite vague. The opportunity came to me to start and run this business and we simply started with the idea of making the ultimate shaving product. Which was great and exciting but also very, very vague… This was a big picture opportunity and that was a huge obstacle for me because we could not get quickly out of the gate and start selling something. We had to figure out at the very outset what in the world was going to be this alternate shaving tool. What was One Blade going to manifest as when it came to a product. That was a huge challenge for us at the outset”…[Listen for More]
Favourite Books:
Favourite Quote:
“The sun don’t shine on the same dog’s ass all the time.”
Recommended Online Resources:
LinkedIn is a business and employment-oriented service that operates via websites and mobile apps. Founded on December 28, 2002, and launched on May 5, 2003, it is mainly used for professional networking, including employers posting jobs and job seekers posting their CVs.
Best Advice to Other Entrepreneurs:
“I think question I asked friends talk to me about business opportunities or becoming an entrepreneur leaving a long-time career to do something new. My question to them is: Are you willing to be unreasonable? And the reason I asked that question is because I feel like entrepreneurial undertakings really require, not in a negative sense that I think most people jump to when they hear the word unreasonable, but really if you step back and you are honest about it everything about starting something new is unreasonable. The amount of time it takes, the money takes, the risk that you are going to ultimately take in that process. So that’s really, really critical… The other one is… Get outside mentors, get outside coaches that are willing to be honest with you. Not your spouse or your best friend you need somebody who is willing to tell you the truth when you are talking about something that is going on in your business ”…[Listen for More]
More About Tod Barrett:
Neil’s Quote at the Beginning:
“Success comes from knowing that you did your best to become the best that you are capable of becoming.” John Wooden
Other Quotes From the Chat with Tod Barrett:
- “it’s painful because I really think it was a huge mistake as I could have learned so much at that time in a much more compact easier and less expensive way by recognising some people that were already successful that had already gone through and sort of made their mistakes and learn from them, use them as teachers. I didn’t really do that, I was too into I am on my adventure, I am on my quest and I just going to focus on that. There is plenty of fun and adventure in that for sure but that’s a regret really that I have that I didn’t take advantage learning from … It could have just been reading about other entrepreneurial successes more than I did, reading specifically more about the things I was involved in business wise”
- “we learned some expensive lessons about trying to brand when we should have been selling… The opportunity to brand really comes when you are doing a great job selling. If you have all the money in the world then hire a branding team and then hire a marketing and selling team. But you don’t have old money in the world just focus on selling. And the branding opportunity comes as you do your selling in a really consistent way, when you take great care of your customers. Those are the opportunities sometimes very indirect but effective to really be able to build brand…”
- “The hardest is staying focused. There is so many different, different distractions that come up in the course of building a business and for me staying focused on what it was said we were going to do in the first place is super, super important. Being willing to change but only when you’ve sat down and say okay, we need to look at… This is not working so we are recognising that and we are going to consider how we might pivot going forward”
- “in running businesses, we have good days and we have bad days. And so much of building something is about being persistent. And in order to be persistent you have got to have at least a level of optimism”
- “I’m very reliant upon relationships that I have… So, I am most inclined dramatically to call somebody I know if I need help with something and see if I can’t get an introduction to somebody who comes with a recommendation off somebody I trust”
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