People call me “Mr. Yonder”. This is down to my enthusiasm for my product, my team, and my work, and it’s one of the most powerful sales tools.

Recently, I gave a presentation at an officers’ association gathering on the battalion I command as an active reserve officer in the Swiss Armed Forces. After a lively Q&A session, an elderly gentleman (I later learned he was a retired general of the German Armed Forces) approached me, saying he was convinced I would rise through the ranks over time. I told him that I had no fixed plans to do so, but asked him why he was so sure. Without hesitation, he said that it was my enthusiasm for the subject that would make all the difference.

This feedback holds important lessons for entrepreneurs. Yes, entrepreneurship is frustrating sometimes, but keep your frustration private if you want to be successful as an entrepreneur. In contrast, share your enthusiasm for your business with the wider public at every opportunity.

Let’s look at a few specific examples from my experience as the Founder & CEO of Yonder, a B2B SaaS company.

Love Your Product

At Yonder, we are in the business of electronic documentation.

Awwww, electronic documentation. How exciting.

Well, ever thought of digitizing the cockpit of an aircraft? Or about making ISO 9001/27001 certification easy and affordable for startups and SMEs? Or about bringing relevant information to firefighters on the front lines to help them get their mission done?

Think again. Electronic documentation is exciting because it solves a relevant problem many businesses have.

If you want to sell your product, you need to pitch it enthusiastically whenever you have the opportunity. This means you’re not just pitching in sales calls, but always. When somebody asks you about your job at a networking reception. At a family gathering, when somebody mentions their employer has a mess with their internal documents. When you meet somebody who says he knows one of your key prospects.

Whenever you pitch, do so with authentic enthusiasm. Sometimes, people call me “Mr. Yonder”, and that’s how enthusiastic pitching should sound.

Love Your Team

An entrepreneur is hardly successful without a great team. Don’t believe all the solopreneur stories; even solopreneurs need help from contractors and suppliers. Solopreneurs should consider their contractors and suppliers as their team.

If you roll your eyes whenever someone from your team calls you, you probably have the wrong people on the team. You should be excited when they call you (of course, you will have the odd argument with your team, but that’s ok).

Now, when you are excited about your product and your team, pass on your enthusiasm for the product to your team. If they are enthusiastic about your product too, you can declare that business development and pitching are everybody’s jobs.

Love Your Work

Don’t become a software engineer if you don’t like coding. Don’t become a writer if you don’t like writing. And don’t become an entrepreneur if you don’t like pitching.

It’s that simple. If you don’t love your work, you won’t be good at it. You will spend your time procrastinating, trying to evade your work. That’s hardly a good point of departure to build a successful business.

Conclusion

Success has nothing to do with social media noise talking about success. Success is a result of enthusiasm — about your product, your team, and your work.

What are you waiting for? Get up and start spreading enthusiasm for whatever you are building.