This past fall my team asked entrepreneurs around the world some revealing questions about being an entrepreneur today.  Something unexpected appeared.

A clear majority of the respondents indicated they wanted to partner with Kim Castle and me.  They did just want information, they wanted to be partners!

At first we thought what a nice reflection of the hard work we share with business owners.  And then we thought, of course, who wouldn’t want to partner with folks that had decades of hands-on experience on products grossing hundreds of millions.

However, it left a very interesting question in its wake, “As much as we would want to work with everyone individually, how could we possibly partner with 1,000,000 businesses? How could we even partner with 10,000 or even 1,000 of them?  Hmmm…this got my wheels churning.

To be honest, Kim and I realized a few years ago we were not really a part of the info marketing world. We just didn’t seem to fit.  Our programs were to deep and practical, they had to actually work.  By being a driving focus of doing “the work” of business creation, instead of selling information about it, we are clearly more aligned with the educational field…higher education with a twist.

If you’ve worked with us through any of our programs, Power Path, Brand Power, or Market Power, you know that we focus on what you actually need to get the job of starting  or growing a business done, while you are actively doing it.  Most folks say it’s the most involved but rewarding work they’ve ever done…because it’s real business.  So many come to us after trying ever tactic, technique and mastermind out there…to do business right.

But “partners” is a whole new question to us…partners?!  Does other business education today like, One Coach, or E-Myth, Prosper Learning, think this way?

There are so many forms partnership can take.

The Sharks on the ABC TV show Shark Tank described themselves as “partners” for giving their money and advice to folks who meet their standards.  I guess they’re right.

Some “partners” bring no money or experience but do half the work…or sometimes even more of it themselves.  That’s a partner too.  Some share the cost.  That works too.

I was granted the rare opportunity in high school to develop my own educational curriculum, in tandem with a local architecture firm, when the school was not able to meet my advanced needs.  I have always thought the education system on a whole could do much better.  I mean apprenticeship offers so much more.

I proved this theory when I dropped out of architectural college to become a VP of a company at 19.  Study about it or get paid to learn on the job…wasn’t a hard decision for me at all.

I’ve learned that on the job, in the trenches, doing “the work”  is clearly the best possible way to learn business – hands-on and in real-time.  However, apprenticeship just doesn’t scale…

I have to say…the BrandU community’s desire to partner with us has certainly got me thinking.

I’m convinced university curriculum, getting it done hands-on and in real-time, and personal hands-on touch of guidance (like my first entrepreneurial boss) can combined to “partner” with entrepreneurs around the world in the “creation of” or “growth of” conscious businesses that can change the world.  I think it can even reward them.

I’m on it!  Stay tuned…

Written by W. Vito Montone