Tuesday’s ISSA Show North American 2022 kicked off with a highly motivational speech by Bill Rancic, an award-winning author and successful entrepreneur and restaurateur, but probably best known for his winning appearance on NBC TV’s The Apprentice.
Rancic was introduced by ISSA Executive Director John Barrett, who took the time to also speak briefly about the new partnership. Rethinking what clean means campaign and ISSA’s upcoming 100th anniversary in 2023.
Rancic began his talk with his first entrepreneurial opportunity, which occurred when he was only 8 years old. Thanks to his grandmother, he was introduced to the art of making pancakes. He proceeded to serve them to the old ladies of his grandmother’s neighborhood. To their surprise, each had left a five dollar bill under their plates. As young as he was, Rancic realized, “I’m on to something here.”
While in college at Loyola University Chicago, Rancic’s first venture was a cleaning business. At 18, he washed and waxed boats on Lake Michigan for three summers. Working for clients who had a lot of money, he recognized that they weren’t really that different from him.
Later, when he was working as an employee of a metallurgical company, he witnessed the dismissal of a co-worker who had been fired for decades and it was at that moment that he firmly decided: “I will not let this never happens to me Either I will work in a place where people are valued, or I will create my own company”.
Not long after, he did the latter, starting a cigar-of-the-month subscription club in the 1990s with just US$24,000 in funds to invest between himself, a partner and a silent investor. What made the difference in the success of this business, he said, was his creative marketing efforts. With boxes full of cigars and funny glasses, he contacted radio personalities in the Chicago area, asking them to take a closer look. The tactic gave him the opportunity to be on the highest-rated radio morning show in the city at the time. His initial five-minute opportunity turned into 30 minutes, and as soon as he returned to his office, he learned that the phones were ringing off the hook as requests for cigar subscriptions were already pouring in.
One of the biggest things Rancic said separates people who succeed in business from those who don’t is the ability to recognize an opportunity and take advantage of it when it comes. That opportunity for him came in the form of The Apprentice, which came after a business disaster he suffered when the building he bought to start a real estate career burned down in a fire.
Out of about 215,000 applicants, he was chosen to appear on the show. He admitted that his time as a contestant was brutal, with two hours of sleep each night being the norm. After winning, he later took time to reflect and ask himself, “Why me?” He concluded that the following actions separate all successful business owners from the rest of the pack:
Embrace hands-on execution Recognize the importance of agility Respect, manage and convert risk.
In the same way, Rancic reflected on the traits that made great entrepreneurs so special. In their opinion, the following traits make the difference:
They are good decision makers. They are creative. They never quit and never make excuses.
Similarly, he determined that the following personality traits can spell doom for a business:
Being reactive rather than proactive Being surrounded by negative people Not understanding the power of potential, particularly your own potential.
Along with his wife—E! Television news and entertainment celebrity Giuliana—Rancic now owns nine restaurants in the United States, under the RPM brand. It was a venture that naysayers claimed would never get there. The restaurants currently generate $100 million in annual revenue.
Along with a solid Q&A session, Rancic ended his talk with this reminder for business success: “Tough times don’t last, but tough people do.”
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