The Trump Blog

Lessons from Anson Hall, entrepreneur

When Anson Hall sold his successful GM dealership in Massachusetts and tried to retire, it didn’t work. After building his business from the ground up and adding Pontiac and Cadillac to his original Buick line in the process, relaxation just didn’t agree with him. Anson had already stretched the limits with GM by starting a company-within-a-company that offered one of the first extended-care warranty programs anywhere. With that kind of experience under his belt, he decided that it was time to start the kind of business where he could call the shots.

“Rest is rust,” he says. And who would want to rust?

So Anson became an entrepreneur. He invented, and is selling, a new product that he calls a Manners-Mender®. It’s a small vacuum-molded plastic utensil rest that he sells to casual restaurants. When diners unwrap their knife, fork and spoon, they can tee them up neatly in the slots of a Manners-Mender® device instead of placing them on the unhygienic tabletop or attempting to balance them on the edge of their plate.

Anson’s product is derived from the elegant knife rests that were popular in the dining rooms of wealthy people more than a century ago. It is also related to the chopstick rests that are used in Asia. However, his patented design incorporates some pretty modern marketing features. A business card snaps into the underside, allowing a restaurant to display and distribute its own marketing message, or a promotional card from another business. The devices are manufactured in black, silver or clear. The clear model packs a particularly effective marketing punch, since the message on the inserted card can be seen at all times by the diner.

Anson made prototypes, hired an attorney and obtained a series of patents on his device. He built a Website, designed ads, selected a manufacturing company for his product and is recruiting a sales staff. Last year, he bolstered some areas of his knowledge using two Trump University courses: The Entrepreneur’s Success Codes and Branding for Profit.

Anson’s product has attracted positive attention at trade shows. He has also met with venture capitalists in some pretty interesting settings. Last winter, when New Hampshire hosted a one-day skiing event to introduce entrepreneurs to venture capitalists, Anson took part.

Entrepreneurs were paired with investors at the bottom of the hill. They rode to the top of the slope together while the entrepreneur made a pitch to the potential investor. Then they skied to the bottom of the hill and were paired with new lift partners. Since Anson didn’t want to miss out on that opportunity, he had his skis tuned up and hit the slopes.

Now, you might be wondering why the Trump Blog is devoting this much space to the story of just one entrepreneur this morning. After all, Anson Hall has done what many other entrepreneurs have done. He conceived and patented a product, designed ads, built a Website. He met with investors. He rolled up his sleeves and made sales calls to get orders started. And this month, Anson’s device is making its debut in one New England eatery, with others to follow.

What makes Anson Hall a little different from some other entrepreneurs is the fact that in April, he will be 87 years old. He’s hustling. He refuses to stop. And if Anson is doing all that without making any excuses, that leads to the question I really wanted to ask you today.

What the heck is stopping you?

To get started on your own path to entrepreneurial success, enroll in The Entrepreneurship Mastery Program at Trump University. Classes are now forming.

What belongs in an electronic classroom? After all, we're talking about a virtual learning space, not a room with blackboards and desks.

Not every e-learning class will offer all of the features I'm about to describe. But the more of them you get for your educational dollar, the better.

1. Does the class include a variety of media? A mixed-format course lets you learn in different ways through the day. While you are at your computer, you can learn online. In your car, you can listen to a CD. Over lunch, you can read a workbook. (Printed materials still have a place in electronic learning.) Variety helps.
2. Is there an upbeat feel to the course? Most of us are apt to squeeze in our e-learning at the end of our busy days. A course should have a vigorous feel that energizes you.
3. Can you repeat class sections and lessons? If your course is on a CD or DVD, that is a given. But in an electronic classroom where a teacher teaches while students submit questions via the phone or e-mail, that repeatability can be harder to achieve. We have addressed this problem at Trump University. If you are enrolled in our premier class The Entrepreneurship Mastery Program,for example, you can listen online to audio recordings of all earlier class sessions whenever you want. Pay attention to this. If the content of your class disappears when you shut off your computer, you are not getting a premium learning experience.
4. Is there a sense of community? I strongly believe in message boards and electronic forums where students exchange ideas. That is built into many of our courses. But even if you are takingone of Trump University's self-directed courses without classroom activity, you can still take part in The Trump Blog and our online discussion groups.
5. Is the instructor hands-on? The more expensive and full-featured the course, the easier it should be to interact with your instructor. But even a basic course should offer an email address that lets you ask questions.
6. What about support? If you don't have access to quick and efficient help, your whole learning experience can come to a standstill.

Please ask those questions, whether you are investigating courses at Trump University or elsewhere. If you haven't looked at our course catalog recently, I'd urge you to take a look today. We are adding great new courses weekly. They meet the criteria I outline above, and more.

David Highbloom is Chief Operating Officer of Trump University.

Negotiating wisdom from Negotiate to Win, Trump University's new bootcamp course on negotiating

While you were growing up, you probably negotiated with your parents about your chores, your allowance and your curfew. If you were like me in school, you negotiated for homework extensions with your teachers. In your family today, you negotiate about vacations, budget and other issues. And I'd be willing to bet that that you negotiate pretty hard when you're buying a car or a house.

You and I are already seasoned negotiators. In one way or another, we have been negotiating every day of our lives and we have gotten pretty good at it. Or so we believe.

The problem is, the tactics that have worked so well for us in our personal negotiations can turn out to be disastrous in business. And few people realize that. Consider scenes like these:

• To get a car salesman to accept your offer, you stood up and headed for the exit door. It worked beautifully. But if you try the same tactic when you are buying a business, you will probably kill the deal. It is wiser to wait out the other side by keeping the conversation going, even when it seems to be headed nowhere.
• When you were selling your house, you sealed the deal by offering to pay for a new roof or a new furnace. But if you are selling a business, making concessions like those too early can undercut the value of what you have to sell. You are literally giving away your money. If you bite you lip and wait for the other side to offer the first bargaining chip, you will do better.

Becoming a great negotiator means understanding your personal strengths and weaknesses as a negotiator. That is the reason we have a lot of self-analysis into our newest bootcamp course, Negotiate to Win.

Yes, there is an experienced negotiator inside you. The question is, is he or she the right one for the negotiations you will enter into tomorrow or next week? Ultimately, your success depends on having a large repertoire of tactics you can call upon as the situation requires.

David Highbloom is Chief Operating Officer of Trump University.