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the profit potential. Looking at a deal this way has saved me from many bad opportunities. Fail to plan, and you plan to fail. This rule has many applications in both life and business, but in this case, I want to focus on one easy change that can impact your business next week, next month, and next year. We all have predictable issues in our businesses. For example, in the summer, many businesses slow down. This predictable trend happens time and time again. So, why are so many people surprised year after year? Instead of letting another summer slowdown get to you, why not start right now and make a plan to limit or eliminate what you know is coming? Why not look for other patterns you can plan for to either amplify the positive patterns or minimize the negative issues? Another example: You know customers are going to cancel. You know they are buying products and services you sell from other companies, so wouldn’t it make sense to put some effort into minimizing that to maximize customer lifetime value? These are all predictable issues, but few people pay attention to them. Everything we want and need to be successful is within our reach — if we’re willing to think long term, do the right things, make a plan, and take action. –Shaun
“I quickly found that when I follow these rules, my life gets better, I become more successful, and I win in all areas of life. Even times when, in the short term, it appeared I was losing, if I stayed focused on these rules, my success rate was virtually guaranteed.”
want to be most people? We have all heard the stories of those who appear to have gotten everything they ever wanted virtually overnight. While you can luck into success, it is incredibly rare. Unfortunately, we mostly hear these sensationalized stories of fast money and overnight millionaires or even billionaires. This simply isn’t reality. Looking back to when I moved out and had a kid at 16, the long game was all I had. I remember many of my friends going out partying every weekend, but I had responsibilities. I couldn’t party much at all. I had to get to work, so, unlike many of my friends, I sacrificed all the shenanigans of my 20s for a better tomorrow, and now, I get to live a life beyond what I dreamed it would be when I was grinding in my 20s. Ultimately, you have to sacrifice something. Will it be the hours on social media each night? How about hours of binge-watching Netflix? Will you sacrifice some money today and invest it in an asset or marketing campaign that will pay dividends tomorrow? If you choose not to sacrifice today, your better tomorrow won’t come.
I couldn’t disagree more. Greed, or the love of money, will cloud your judgment and impair your decision-making skills. The worst business I’ve ever owned was a franchise I bought when I was living in California. While I thought the service was a good product, I wasn’t interested in anything regarding the service or the type of business this company serviced. I recall sitting in a two-week training for this company in Canada, and on day two, I realized I had screwed up. It took me a week to admit it to anyone else and nine months to sell the company. When I made this business mistake, I was in my mid-20s; I couldn’t afford to lose money on a bad business decision. To buy this company, I had taken a cash advance on one credit card, then transferred the balance to a low introductory-rate credit card. Ultimately, I hustled and grew the company just enough to get out and break even on the deal. While I did lose nine months of time, the lesson I learned has been invaluable to me over the years. To this day, when I look at an opportunity, business, or investment, I first look at all the details of the opportunity. Assuming the details look good and I don’t pass on the deal, the second-to-last piece of the puzzle I look at is the profit potential. If that looks good, I finally look at the risk and the work required from me versus
Pigs get fat, and hogs get slaughtered.
Before the life events of Jordan Belfort, the Wolf of Wall Street in the 1990s, there was a 1987 movie called “Wall Street,” and the main character, Gordon Gekko, famously said, “Greed is good.”
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