Tell me a bit about yourself, your company, and what you do.

My name is Bob Dianetti, I work with Team Dianetti, I am a sales and leadership coach. I work with businesses to help them sell. When I say to sell, this isn’t just sales people it’s also customer service people, support engineers, etc. Everyone contributes to the image of the company that people have in their minds. If the company is a multiple employee company, I work with the entire company, I write job descriptions, I look for qualified people, performance indicators. I work with the whole organization, I do specifics with sales training for individuals, sales training for managers and business owners. Along with teams of salespeople, using the 5 behaviors of a cohesive team to help them run better.

What drew you to LaunchHouse? What’s been your favorite part so far?

I was in the Akron area, but most of my clients were in the Cleveland area so I started to look for office space farther North. I actually didn’t know about LaunchHouse at first, and was going to sign to a different office space when I thought “I should do some due diligence”. So I looked up at ”office co-working” on the web, looked at a couple of other places. Then I looked at LaunchHouse and pretty much made the decision on the spot. I like the people, I like to have people around, previously I had an office where it was just me, and maybe one other person. It was boring kinda lonely, great place to work and great people, gives me something to look forward to in the morning. Just being around entrepreneurs and the momentum it helps to generate.

Running your own company, what has that been like? What advice do you have for others trying to start and run their own company?

I ran another company before Team Dianetti, RadCom in 1996, Ran if for 17 and a half years,  my wife runs it now with 37 employees. It was different from running my company now as I had employees then and now its just me. The hardest part as a business owner (with employees) is the multiple constituencies you have, people have relationships with your company, either you are their client or they are your client. And employees, former and current for better or for worse. What I found is managing all these relationships is the hardest part, not finding business, that was the easiest as a matter of fact. My new company, is just me. My relationships are simpler as its just me, my clients, my prospects and the vendors that do my marketing and my graphic design.

I would say do not create a crappy job for yourself. Most business owners start a company as they don’t want to work for someone else. They may of had a bad experience, bad boss, bad company, etc. But that might be all they know, so when they start up their new company they might start emulating what they learned from their previous jobs. Well 5-10 years down the road, they might say, I just don’t like this job then realize, wait I created my job its my fault. And if you have a company that’s successful, you can’t just quit. When you start, put down what are your life goals, and what are your business goals, make sure you’re getting your needs met on both sides of the equation, and your totally or as satisfied as possible, with your work experience as your company develops.

What has it been like to work outside of the typical corporate 9-5 job? What advice do you have for others considering coworking?

I think the biggest difference is you do things because you want to and you decide to rather than someone telling you to do something. Even if you work just as hard if not harder for someone else. It doesn’t feel like work as it’s a choice you’re making. Decide what kind of co-working experience do you want? Is it just office space, is it a sense of community with others around you? And making sure it fits the requirements of your business and your clients.

What is the best career or entrepreneur advice you ever received?

Three rules of business, President of Westfield group said this in a Talk.

1.) Relentless pursuit to drive revenue,

2.) Work hard to satisfy your clients

3.) Do everything in your power to satisfy your employees

Everything else outsource.

What has been your biggest learning experience?

I’m a lifelong learner, I learn things each and everyday. But my most impactful lesson, was years ago my youngest son was diagnosed with cancer, I had three others sons and I also had a business with all the other things I do. The realization that it became crystal clear, that there is nothing more important than family. I know people hear that all the time and people say it all the time. Everybody says that nobody on their deathbeds says that they wish they spent more time at work. But for some reason at that moment, it was crystal clear, beacon on the hill, get hit on the head, so clear that it hurt. There is nothing more important than family, and I know that sounds very cliche, and kind of sappy. But that is probably the biggest learning experience for me there is nothing more important than family. He ultimately did well, and is in college now, but it really changed my perspective of family being apart of my life to family being the center of my life.

How do you define success?

Making progress towards your goals.