Say Anything Blog

This last weekend I heard famous and wealthy people talk about what they believe and what they know. Much was redundant. But I needed to hear others say what I already knew and may have forgotten. Sometimes being reminded is as potent as being told the first time.

Here are 17 things one of the richest men in America said about being in business for yourself:

1. You must be in a business you know. Most people fail because they really don’t know what they are doing. That’s why franchises exist. That’s why so many people fail doing something they know nothing about. They are only in it for the money, the worst possible motivation.

2. You must LOVE what you do. If you don’t love it you will quit doing it.

3. Never Never give up. Keep on, don’t quit. If life knocks you down, get up.

4. Stay focused, diversions are very costly

5. Be a little paranoid – some people are just plain bad and are out to hurt you.

6. Being NICE isn’t always a virtue.

7. Be a contrarian or go against the tide only if you KNOW you have the ability to follow thru.

8. Go with your gut instincts (If you have the ability to follow thru)

9. Not everyone is cut out for or can do what others do. Don’t imitate. You may not be emotionally equipped to do this. It takes a cast iron stomach and a steel spine to be ready for the emotional pain . If that’s not you maybe shouldn’t be in business for yourself.

10. People who are not wired for risk shouldn’t be taking risks. If you can’t sleep at night because of the risks you must take to be in business for yourself you shouldn’t put yourself at risk. Business can be too much fun to make people miserable.

11. Sometimes very smart people have the most difficult time with being at risk. Being smart or well educated does not automatically make you able to be in business for yourself. Success in business for yourself has more to do with your emotional makeup than your intelligence.

12. Get the best people you can find to help you, but don’t trust them. People do what you inspect not what you expect. They must respect you. Tell the truth to yourself and others and move on. Sometimes goodbye is a good strategy.

13. Never ever let people step on you, if they know you are tough and smart they won’t be so likely to try to take advantage of you. Don’t ever let anyone take advantage of you.

14. There is such a thing as Luck, Fortune, Favor, Grace. Some people are just fortunate and some things you do will help swing things in your favor. Nothing happens if you try nothing. The harder you work the luckier you get. You can’t win without being in the game. When the Bears win a game, you are excited but you did NOTHING. The only ones who have the right to be excited are the players, owners and managers. The rest are spectators. Only those who participate celebrate legitimately.

15. Some people fight to win but they secretly want to lose. It’s easier to say “I Tried” and fail then to succeed. Success is frightening to many people. Get over your fear of success.

16. When you get into an arrangement, partnership, corporation, business deal nothing you thought you understood or agreed to matters except what is on paper if you come to conflict. The verbal agreement between good people is worth only the paper it’s written on.

17. Think bigger. If you play with pennies you win pennies, if you play with dollars you win dollars, if you play with hundreds you win hundreds. J D Rockefeller said that. I was in Atlantic City recently. I walked thru the casino. I watched people playing with $20 chips, $50 chips and $100 chips. The amount of the reward or loss was directly proportional to the amount at risk. But, it took the same amount of time and brainpower to win a hundred in one hand than to win $20.

That’s why the 10-10 rule exists in my own business. I try to only do business with people who could make a $10,000 purchase in 10 minutes. They may not always make that purchase but they could. The same amount of work goes into the little deals as the big ones. It has served me well.