Dreams do come true
During April of 1999 - at 90 Degrees North (the North Pole) a dream was born. A dream to translate what we'd learned working with the world's smartest corporate executives into a program that could help real world entrepreneurs. To "give back" what I'd learned to help others turn their entrepeneurial dreams into reality.
That North Pole dream lead to a book - Jump Start Your Business Brain, Canadian TV Specials (where they dubbed me the Business Robin Hood) and a national radio program - Brain Brew.
It also lead to the development of a Eureka! Inventing program specially customized to help small and mid sized businesses. The first prototype was conducted in May of 2002 at The Marine Hotel - beside the famous Royal Troon Golf Course in Scotland. The program was lead by Maggie Nichols and myself of the Ranch with the help of Graeme Crombie and David McKeran of Matrix Business Growth Consultants.
The first prototype was a little rough - although Graeme reminds me that it wasn't as rough as my golf game at Royal Troon. Since then the program has undergone thousands of improvements. Each time getting smarter and smarter - more and more effective.
A little over a year ago I had the honor of speaking at the NIST/MEP National Conference. This is a unique Federal/State partnership focused on helping increase the competitiveness of small and mid sized manufacturing companies. (NIST stands for National Institute of Standards and Technology. MEP stands for Manufacturing Extension Partnership)
As it turned out - MEP was looking for a program that could help US Manufacturing companies grow top line sales. They asked us to bid on the opportunity. To make a long story short - after their committee experienced Eureka! and a range of other options we were selected.
Today we are in the process of training MEP Growth Coaches across the country. As of today we are in some 26 states and it's growing every week. I have to pinch myself. A dream that began at the top of the earth has come true.
Yes it's taken 8 years. I'm not proud of how long it took us. However I am very proud of what the Ranch team has created. As it turns out - small and medium sized companies are far harder to work with than mega-corporations. Smaller companies - where folks actually "own" the business - are much more practical. They want to know specifically, directly, honestly how is this idea going to grow their business.
Maggie is now Vice President of R&D at the Ranch - and is leading the quest to make the program even more effective. Graeme and David are leading our European efforts with the program. And with the help of the NIST/MEP Network it will soon be available coast to coast.
