I2V: Marketing for New Businesses

Marketing and Sales for Early Stage Companies
Mark Nelsen, Founder

Maximum Promotions, Inc.

Sioux Falls, SD

[Commentary from Madville Times in italics.]

Nelsen calls himself a "structural entrepreneur": started his own company, no SBA loans or assistance. He started as a sole proprietorship in 1982. His odds of making it to this day in business: 1% to 5%. "Dr. Kurtenbach is a superstar" in business development in South Dakota: he not only made it himself, but he's willing to come out and share, to work to fight the brain drain, to help others get down the trail to success.

Kurtenbach is a four-star general. The Creighton experts are "Air Force" -- high above, high expertise. Nelson calls himself a "Marine," a grunt in the trenches making business happen.

Maximum Promotions: 18 employees; just cracked seven figures; aiming for $5M in next five years.

"Dare to Fail!" Don't just sit there (remember what Kurtenbach said about the risk of inaction?); step forward with your ideas, go for it.

"Entrepreneurism is nothing but a game." It's played with real money, it affects every component of your life, even your spiritual life and your sex life (Nelsen makes no apologies: there's not time for gentle talk in his world).

You can make more money working for someone else, but Nelson says his risk-taking gets him freedom that a regular employee never gets. Nelson recognized the higher profits he could get elsewhere but chose to fight the odds and make his own business.

Nelsen says this generation of his kids is spoiled rotten: comfort, tech, everything! But when they hit adulthood, society fights to stick them in these traps:

1. Society (and realtors) say "Get a house! Get a big house!" That's terrible advice for kids.
2. Society makes it far too easy to get credit and encourages kids to buy now, pay later. That's terrible advice for anyone!
3. Society says you have to get a new car. Again, that's a debt trap!
4. Society demands that more and more people get college degrees (bachelors and higher) , then jacks up the cost of higher education to make it harder for individuals to get through college without incurring big debt.
   

All those debt traps take away the room young people have to take risks. Our capitalist society drives kids into traps that hinder the risk-taking that makes capitalism healthy! Nelsen says he loves capitalism, loves making money, but as a "capitalist with a conscience," he says we need to pull people back from all the debt our economy pressures people to incur just to maintain a certain level of consumption.

When you're 18 to 30, you shouldn't take on all that debt, not for simple material things. Go easy on the iPods. Don't blow your money on fancy cars or big houses. Save up your debt potential for the risks you will take later to really make it big.

Maximum Promotions got started with something that has nothing to do with what they do now. They started off with a new shirt, the "Hi-Tie," a football jersey that ties at the midriff. Nelsen sold those shirts door-to-door to the homes of athletes.

Nelsen is a Republican, but he credits two Dems with helping him make it. Nelsen hit Ted Muenster's house during his door-to-door. Connections got him to Mid-States Uniforms. Originally, that outfit hoped to absorb Nelsen's organization, but Nelsen kept up the hustle to keep his company growing.

Don't expect bankers to be your savior early: bankers aren't fond of risk-taking.

Even when you get to Nelsen's point where you have some success, you can't sit back and rest on your laurels. If you want your business to grow, you have to continue to accept risk and uncertainty. You have to stay hungry, keep pushing. The game never ends! It's not about the money; it's about the satisfaction of playing hard and playing to win.