Michael Wilson — The Business Coach
Michael Wilson, Smart Marketing Plans
Hi, Michael Wilson here.
Let me tell you my story.
I’m in Business For Myself … and Loving It!
I am a full time entrepreneur and business owner and am enjoying one of the happiest times in my working life.
I’m my own boss, I get to work with other entrepreneurs and business owners. I love talking to people about their businesses and how they can get started, how to market the business, make more money, partner with other people.
Really, anything to do with starting, building, marketing, and of course making money from a business is interesting to me. So I have finally found my place, and a business that works for me.
Starting Young
I have been an entrepreneur my entire life, though I didn’t call it that at the time. I called it my “I don’t want to flip burgers” job.
When I was 15, I tried to get a job working in a fast-food restaurant, like everyone else.
I still remember walking past the burger place and into a pizza place, filling out an application, and turning it in to the manager. Thinking to myself, “I can’t see myself doing this for very long.” One down, no job. Chicken place, filled out the application, turned it in, no job. Sandwich place, filled out part of an application, got up and walked out.
Hey, even in baseball, you only get three strikes. The fact is, I couldn’t see myself working in those jobs. But I still needed the money, so I started a business painting houses.
I loved running my house painting business! I was my own boss, I learned how to solve problems and get customers. I learned to work hard to get good results.
Oh the life of a young entrepreneur. Painting houses paid for college. I enjoyed that business for years.
A Break from Owning a Business
The painting business paid for college, and with a degree in hand, I got a ‘real’ job and started a family.
That ‘entrepreneurial break’ lasted about 22 years.
During that time, I married Melana, clearly the best decision of my life. We raised three beautiful daughters, obviously the next best decision of my life. Melana got to be the entrepreneur during those years – she started and ran a wedding cake business, which allowed her to be home with the children when they were very young.
The Michael Wilson Family: Amanda, Emily, Rose, Michael and Melana
During my entrepreneurial break, I gained a lot of business experience.
I worked for two world-class companies, actually used my degree in Chemistry for the first few years, and got a fantastic education in all aspects of business.
I had the rare opportunity to work in R&D early on, developed several products, then moved to Operations management where we manufactured some of those same products.
Next, I went on to Customer Service, supporting some of the same products I developed, and finally on to Sales, selling some of the same products I had developed years before.
I am familiar with the sales process from start to finish.
For the last years of my career, I had the pleasure of working with independent business owners. I was a business advisor, specializing in:
- business development
- mergers and acquisitions
- marketing and sales plans
Working with independent business owners, entrepreneurs themselves, had brought me essentially full circle – I had experienced every major area of business and ended my ‘real job’ career in marketing, helping business owners make more money.
Back to my Roots …
I knew in my heart that I had to get back to my roots….I had to find a way to be a business owner again.
It was tough to leave ExxonMobil because I knew I would never work for a better company. Melana had already started our real estate investing company several years before, and so I went from part-time to full time in our own family business.
In hindsight, I was very grateful for my time in the corporate world for two reasons. First, I got a fantastic education and ‘best-in-class’ experience across a wide range of critical business functions from product development to operations and business planning to sales and marketing.
And secondly, I value my own independent business experience and freedom even more!
To steal, and twist, a fishing analogy: The worst day running your own business is still better than the best day carrying someone else’s briefcase.
I’m glad I got out of corporate life when I did, while I was still young.
After a short 22 year detour … Here I am!
I’ve been in business for myself, and working with my wife, Melana, for the last 6 years.
Every time I start a new business, it reminds me of my painting business … steep learning curve, hard work, long hours … and extremely satisfying, plus the best boss in the world.
We’ve started or added several businesses and I always found myself focusing on Marketing and Business Plans.
Focus on Helping You
Drawing on my wealth of experience in business and marketing, and driven by my love for working with business owners, I finally started offering coaching and consulting services. That’s when I decided to start this website completely focused on successful marketing strategies for the business owner.
With my wealth of experience in all aspects of running a business, I offer Coaching and Consulting services to all entrepreneurs, business owners, and network marketing companies. It’s a perfect fit, and a very satisfying business.
