John Kettley uses his experiences as an entrepreneur to mentor others.
What’s your story?
I gained my credentials as a serial entrepreneur from having built 7 x companies from idea to 6-8 figure exits.
My companies sold products and services to some of the biggest brands in the world across all 3 core mediums:
1. Business to consumer–Automotive, Hospitality, Home security
2. Business to business–clients included Access self-storage, Kinkos, Mercedes
Benz, Oakley, Sears Roebuck, Warren James, Yamaha,
3. Business to government–British Ports & the MOD, USMilitary
I have trained & mentored thousands of business owners across the world to sell more of the products & services they sell.
What excites you most about your industry?
I love the pace of change across the business landscape, to me this constant movement and opening of new ideas and markets is the reason I will be involved in building businesses to a sale for as long as I breathe.. it’s simply a part of my DNA and ongoing thirst to see where the business world is moving to next, working with business owners to see the landscape from a helicopter view and teaching them the real world power of ‘reverse engineering’, a result most see as too big an ambition.
What drives you in your career to push beyond what other people consider normal?
For me seeing opportunities where others do not, pulling the right people together to approach a market place in a way ‘no one else’ is doing it is the driver for me every day of my life. The cherry on the cake is negotiating a deal that is so effortless for the buyer that they often say it was the easiest deal they ever made, without knowing that the entire conversation was on purpose and to a destination that most people never ever detect or see because most people never go all in 100% .
What have been the most useful skills you have learnt and applied in your journey?
Without a doubt the skill that has made all the difference in my business life was in learning the psychology of how people think and react to situations both in their personal and business life i.e. salesmanship and the art of negotiation.
While I consider myself a life long learner of the art of negotiation, I still go to sales trainings all over the world even though I have delivered advanced negotiation skills training to thousands of business owners across both Europe and the USA.
What’s the best piece of advice you ever received?
It came from the very first sales training I went too out in what was West Germany by a guy call Tom Kavanagh an ex fighter pilot who spent 2 years in a Vietnamese POW camp in the 70’s.
“Stop & listen carefully when the unexpected arrives in any situation, ask a question to confirm what you see & hear; take as much time as you want to process the situation and only when you 100% know what to do next, react. If you don’t have a plan ask another question…
It serves me to this day.
Who inspires you?
People who walk to their own tune and will not be pushed off course into doing or saying anything that is not 100% in line with what they want to do or the direction in which they want to go..
People who are 100% comfortable in their own skin and who have a karma that everyone around them see and feel as solid authentic, moral and simply good.
Some are from history, some are from the acting world, many are philosophers but all walk to their own tune.
What have you learnt recently that blew you away?
I’m constantly blown away by how little most seasoned business owners know about why their business is in the position that it is…
I’m also astonished by how few business owners have a visceral vision of what they really want from their business, most have either no long term vision or a nebulas description that when pressed they cannot actually tell you why they want what they say they want to achieve.
If you had your time again, what would you do differently?
I would get a personal business mentor on day one, someone who has been where I wanted to go at each stage of my business life.
I would have spent an even greater amount of time fine tuning my communication skills because I will never ever stop learning how to become a better communicator and negotiator of deals.
Lastly I would have developed the ability to make faster decisions in terms of hiring, firing and going all in on absolutely every subject.
How do you unwind?
I was exceptionally lucky to have a father who bought me my first dirt bike when I was 10 years old, now some 50 years later I still ride competitively on a monthly basis and ride a few 2-day endurance events out in the mountains every year.
Working on a motorcycle in the garage with some old school 90’s trance music in the background is as close to absolute peace as a man can ever get…
What is a major mindset change, belief shift or ‘ah ha’ moment that you’ve experienced in relation to your career?
I genuinely did not realise until I was in my 50’s that most people in business are making it up as they are going along which is why most never achieve their ultimate goals or something I call the first step of the ladder i.e. a business that works without their direct input.
It was at this moment that i realised that I could share the knowledge of what I learned to help them actually achieve their goals in life while also receiving huge satisfaction from seeing them achieve their goals.
Everyone in business should read this book:
My book: How to build a business that creates wealth.
It teaches the basics of personal awareness from which clarity of purpose is derived and then explains that we are the master of our destiny, it’s our fault if we become wealthy and achieve more than others think is possible.
It also teaches real world practical and pragmatic strategies for reverse engineering a business that works on every level.
Shameless plug for your business or career:
If you want to learn how to become truly exceptional in the world of business I highly recommend that you take a look at one of the personal business development trainings that I run each year as I genuinely believe they are life changing to your perspective and the income you will generate from here on in.
How can people connect with you?
Social Media Links?
https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnkettley/
This interview is part of the CallumConnects series.