In three days, 200 HVAC, plumbing, and electrical contractor-members of the Nexstar Network obtained more of what they can use to become better businessmen and businesswomen. This was after they attended the Nexstar Network®'s Owners' Spotlight Series, held in Jersy City, NJ, Feb. 24-26.

Wall Street business reporter Betsy Stark delivered the keynote address, in which she reminded attendees that small business owners have the, "power to prevail."

"It's in your DNA as entrepreneurs — and Americans — to find a way. Our government is setting economic policy by triage, so it’s the entrepreneurial warriors who will get people back to work, and figure out how to find money, even when it's tight — how to find opportunity among the ashes," Stark said.

Dr. Dileep Rao —author of, "Bootstraps to Billions: Proven Rules From Entrepreneurs Who Built Great Companies From Scratch" — said opportunity for improved business growth lies in identifying what people need, finding a way to deliver it conveniently, and doing it with your cash flow in control.

Rao revealed that Best Buy founder Dick Schulze started Best Buy with only $9,000, and built the electronics retail giant by managing cash flow.

"Twenty-two out of twenty-eight of the billion dollar businesses that I researched never secured venture capital to succeed," Rao said, and he explained that those companies went on to dominate their industries by excelling in three "dimensions," including:

• market dimension: they made customers happier with fewer resources
• finance dimension: they financed to create wealth and keep it
• leadership dimension: they became better leaders.

Joe Huck, owner, Williams Comfort Air and Metzler's Mr. Plumber, Carmel, IN, was impressed by Rao's strategies.

"I'm walking away from this event with tangibles to help reach my goal of doubling revenues over the next five years," Huck said.

Questions of Engagement
Motivational speaker, trainer, and author, Boaz Rauchwerger told Nexstar attendees that the root of success is a positive attitude and a focus on the basics. He kept asking the audience, "How’s business?" and encouraged them to reply, "Unbelievable!" — whether they believed it at that moment or not. He focused his presentation on a series of questions and answers, that he says, when used with customers and employees, will positively build business by getting to the heart of the matter inside and outside the shop:

"Boaz reinforced our company's focus on customer and employee appreciation in 2011 and 2012," says Sam Nantz, CFO and call center manager, F.H. Furr Plumbing, Heating and Air Conditioning, Manassas, VA. "We've focused on growth for several years, and we now need to focus on individuals." nexstarnetwork.com