Evaluate rejection and understand why you may have lost the deal. See what lessons you can learn from it. If you don’t fail from time to time, you won’t be in business.
This reluctant Owner and CEO of PinkCilantro, Basya Benshuhan, exploded on to the social media market with her own unique style and avant-garde. At the time that this entrepreneur blazed the market, there was no such thing as SEO marketing, blogs or chatbots. Grabbing the bull by the horns, she launched PinkCilantro to an immediate success. Seven years after the initial concept, it is a thriving business with an impressive client base.
Basya began her business from home. She never intended for PinkCilantro to be more than a self-empowering career path of her choice. However, having an enormous drive and passion for her journey, life was not meant to be half-baked or mediocre. She was an unwitting over-achiever who was able to engage huge accounts. The amount of work demanding to be accomplished required the skills of a much larger team of creative hands to be incorporated
Basya is a highly intelligent, creative, self-educated entrepreneur who has mastered the art of the digital market industry. She takes a no-nonsense approach when it comes to the basic foundation for her PinkCilantro, digital branding, social media, ad management, and reporting. She and her team work tirelessly to create a unique campaign to match the goals of each client and provide numerical proof.
Basya Benshusha has been a trailblazer who took the market by storm. She leads by example and with intention. She has assembled a powerful team for like-minded creative individuals. They are risk takers who will use tools and tactics to maximize performance. They follow trends in the market to keep up with new innovations. They follow their leader, the one who has mastered her own success.
Where did the idea for your company come from?
PinkCilantro was my AOL email when I was 12 years old. Now there is a whole folklore around it. Our mascot is a pink bunny.
What does your typical day look like and how do you make it productive?
I am up at 5. I don’t look at my phone until after I pray and have my coffee. I have my schedule already set for the day. I check my emails and address any issues. I go to any meetings that may be scheduled. When I am at the office, sometimes I am looking at the numbers, sometimes I am working with team members. My workday varies. I get home anywhere between five to eight at night. I spend time with my three daughters until they go to bed. Sometimes, I get back to work, or I get to spend time with my husband. I work from Monday thru Friday and sometimes on Sunday. Saturday is my day to rejuvenate.
How do you bring ideas to life?
I come up with a lot of ideas. I have to restrain myself because it can’t all happen at once. I have a really great team.
What’s one trend that excites you?
I love that people can make money online. There are more and more people empowering themselves online. It is such a game changer. The death of designer shops is due to all of these mom and pop stores online. It is really amazing.
What is one habit of yours that makes you more productive as an entrepreneur?
I have a good work ethic, and I love what I do. My motive is not money. I am extremely driven.
What advice would you give your younger self?
I would tell my younger self it all works out the way it should. All my life lessons worked out well. I would say to myself don’t beat yourself up. That will just take your energy away. I have three daughters, and I just let them know every day that they are so fricken awesome! But, the pressure that I put on myself has made me into the person that I am today.
Tell us something that’s true that almost nobody agrees with you on.
People should be taking more accountability for themselves. People love to complain. If you’re going to be doing anything, it shouldn’t be easy. You should love what you’re doing. But you should work hard. If everyone was accountable for themselves and stop complaining. They would have more time to enjoy themselves and enjoy the people around them.
As an entrepreneur, what is the one thing you do over and over and recommend everyone else do?
I would recommend that you do not internalize rejection. Evaluate it and understand why you may have lost the deal. See what lessons you can learn from it. If you don’t fail from time to time, you won’t be in business.
What is one strategy that has helped you grow your business?
You have to do good work for your customers. We keep their goals in mind at all times. We don’t work with all customers. We have our own target of customers. But hard work and attention to detail are how we keep our customers.
What is one failure you had as an entrepreneur, and how did you overcome it?
It has been very difficult to time with hiring the right team. I care about my teams. I have great teams. Hiring the like-minded people is critical.
What is one business idea that you’re willing to give away to our readers?
Anyone opening a business online is everyone’s best bet. Not everyone has the mind to be an entrepreneur, but everyone can do an online business.
What is the best $100 you recently spent? What and why?
I have a subscription box that I get from Israel every month. It makes me feel excellent. There are all sorts of surprises in it.
What is one piece of software or a web service that helps you be productive? How do you use it?
Asana and Slack. They are a project management software and a communications software.
What is the one book that you recommend our community should read and why?
Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink. He is a navy seal who has a no non-sense perspective that I appreciate very much. Way too many people complain rather than taking ownership of their lives.
What is your favorite quote?
Just Show UP!
Key learnings:
• Passionate about what they do
• Being lean, mean, and strategic
• The proof is in the pudding
Connect:
Mario Schulzke is the Founder of ideamensch, which he started a decade ago to learn from entrepreneurs and give them a platform for their ideas.