When Ryan Smith and Mike Fridgen founded Seattle-based
International Student Tours last January, they had no idea their
ages would be a major hurdle. In those early days, credibility was
a big problem for Smith, 24, and Fridgen, 22. The partners, along
with their staff of 35 (all aged 25 or younger), provide escorted
spring break and graduation trips to Mexico and Hawaii for high
school and college students in the Northwest.
"In Mexico, we would meet with hotel managers to set up
contracts and weren't taken seriously," says Fridgen, the
company's president. "We ended up bringing in an older
advisor to participate in the negotiations with us."
While youthful business owners are par for the course in the
high-tech industry, young entrepreneurs in other industries often
face age-related problems ranging from credibility to getting
carded in front of customers.
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Avoiding these problems requires projecting the proper image,
says Dianna Pfaff-Martin, founder and president of California Image
Advisors, a Newport Beach, California, image, training and
development company. "Now that you're the president of a
company, you are perceived as successful," she says.
That means acting like a successful person.
"Successful people know they bring value to a company and
have a strong sense of self," says Pfaff-Martin. They are
deliberate, logical and direct when discussing how their product or
service can make a difference.
Successful people prepare ahead of time, continues
Pfaff-Martin. "If they are going to entertain at a
restaurant, for example, they'll visit in advance, introduce
themselves and say upfront, `I'm a young
entrepreneur entertaining business clients and I'm
frequently carded. I'd like to show you my driver's license
now to avoid potential embarrassment
[later].' "
Your body language can also lead to problems, says Pfaff-Martin.
Here's how:
- Clenching your hands advertises your nervousness.
- Sitting arrow-straight with both feet on the floor makes you
appear nervous and makes others uncomfortable.
- Using flailing hand gestures or talking in a
high-pitched, rapid-fire voice displays a lack of
confidence.
Fine-tuning your image and appearing successful to prospects
will help you win new clients, says Pfaff-Martin--and can help
demolish age-related roadblocks.
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