The start: How to put together entrepreneurs in a Nucleus when they are not only competitors but often also personal enemies ?

Presentation of the Nucleus Approach to a new group of entrepreneurs and discussion of the exchange of know-how and experiences among Nucleus members. The crucial question is:

"Entrepreneur, the Nucleus work requires that you put your business secrets on the table open for all other participants !
Are you ready to do this ?"

The answer is very simple:

	One third of the entrepreneurs looks to the ceilings counting the flies ...
	Another third stares straight ahead, analysing the cracks in the opposite wall  ...
	And the last third looks for lost shoes below the table ...

... and nobody says one word, nobody looks into the eyes of the others ...

The whole body is expressing clearly : “No!”

Only sometimes a courageous entrepreneur says loudly:

"No, how could I? Of course not!"

Ok. But there could be some counterarguments:

The majority of entrepreneurs are not competitors!  Because they have different clients. The baker in one suburb does not compete with the one in an other suburb. It's the same with carpenters, printers and all the others ...

Or:

Almost everything of what is called business secret, is somewhere published or can be bought from consultants, trainers and suppliers. But what one can buy on the market is consequently not a “business secret.”

"Are you now ready to put your business secrets on the table?"

Sometimes, there is an entrepreneur saying "Yes!"

But the majority still counts the flies, analyses the cracks or still looks for its shoes ... 

No, these arguments do not convince.

But there is still another argument:

“Let us imagine, every one of us 10 entrepreneurs puts one business secret on the table. What happens? One invests one secret and gets in return 9 from the others. Entrepreneurs know to calculate – 1 for 9, is that a good business?”

And then normally happens the following: Slowly the participants look for eye contact with each other. One after the other starts to nod: 

“Yes, under this aspect, it is a very good business!”

... and then the Nucleus starts ... 

This story comes originally from Vinícius Lummertz, ex-SEBRAE Santa Catarina and Brasília. It works everywhere: in Brazil, Sri Lanka, Algeria ..