In order to achieve what you've never achieved before, you must be willing to do what you've never done before.
While this concept may not be a secret to you, the overwhelming percentage of people who actually apply this principle is staggeringly low. In fact, less than one percent of the population actually work according to this unspoken rule.
Is it any coincidence then, that a corresponding one percent of the American population control more than 80% of the wealth (and pay more than 60% of the taxes)?
In order to achieve the level of financial success you aspire to, whether it's to be a millionaire or a multimillionaire, you must be willing to do things you've never done before.
Start by thinking differently than you've ever thought before. This also means thinking starkly different than the majority of the people you know.
Ah, yes, this is where it becomes more challenging to implement, right?
While this article title, Who wants to be a Millionaire, may have caught the attention of a majority of people, it's the entrepreneurial mind that is most likely to implement this secret to success.
That's because the entrepreneur is willing to do things radically different than what currently exists. She's willing to go out on a limb, take a risk, and perhaps admit she doesn't know as much as she'd like to. She realizes that this is the first step to increasing her knowledge level, and in so doing, she will reach another level of success.
Do you have the truth-accepting, leadership-mindset or the ego-driven, follower mindset?
Let's look at the following case studies of two different people who bought the same type of franchise business, with all things being equal — except the business owners. See which person you identify with.
Determine whose strategy you'd be more likely to implement. Business Owner #1, or Business Owner #2. This will give you a hint as to what you need to put into place to reach the level you seek.
Case Study #1:
Business Owner #1, Vera Truthe, thoroughly researched the franchise opportunity before she invested her own money into the purchase of the business.
While Vera was already successful running a similar business of her own, she knew that this more established business, filled with systems to automate everything from managing staff to filling work orders, was going to accelerate her success in reaching her financial goals.
Vera's success strategy:
Admitting she didn't know everything she needed to know to run a million-dollar business, she hired a business coach who gave her the insight, strategies, tips and accelerated knowledge that she could immediately implement.
Devouring every book the coach recommended, attending seminars to develop her leadership skills, and participating in teleclasses to improve her communication and negotiation prowess, Vera quickly advanced her knowledge level, and therefore, was effective in doing things differently in this new million-dollar business she just took over.
She happily invested in additional equipment, and realized how important her team was in the overall success of the company. No longer did she rely on doing everything herself like she used to do in her mom-and-pop business.
Instead, she learned precisely how to motivate and connect with each and every team member to fully understand and appreciate what they brought to the table, in order to give them the tools they needed to do their jobs effectively.
She used a battery of assessments to determine each person's strengths in order to ensure their full potential was reached in their position. Realizing that although adding an additional person to the administrative team would "cost" her more, the work responsibilities required it. Another team member would ensure her customers would be served quickly and attentively with the utmost attention they were used to.
She adopted the perspective that, in the long run, this extra team member would raise the overall profitability of the company — not to mention that, this person would allow her to have a life while running the business so she could take necessary vacations to keep her energy level high.
In the end...
Vera enjoyed an extremely profitable, automated, systems-driven business, while enjoying time off to spend with family and friends. Her team was thrilled to work with her, expressing loyalty and commitment to grow with her every year.
Her team continues to learn new and better ways to do things, and their mission is to always improve and to accept change as a constant.
Case Study #2:
Business Owner #2, Egor Egoiste, saw an amazing franchise opportunity that looked as though it would solve all his current problems in the business he was not-so-successfully running at the time.
It was just the answer he needed! A turn-key million-dollar business, already established with a brand that was unsurpassed in the industry. Finally, he thought, he could relax a little and not work so hard.
Egor's "success" strategy:
Egor figured that all he needed to do was raise the capital to invest in the franchise. Since he was already in debt, he figured all he had was a "money issue" and that's why his current business wasn't running as successfully as it could be, compared to the guys who had the money to run the business.
Allowing his ego to get in the way, he discontinued his weekly coaching sessions that were included with the franchise purchase. He thought he knew all that was needed to know about running this franchise because it was similar to the business he was already running. No time for books either — after all, he needed to get jobs done and run the business.
He refused to do anything differently from the way he ran his previous company. All the systems and forms and strategies that were keeping the million-dollar franchise running effectively were tossed aside as "frivolous" and an "unnecessary" waste of time.
When cash flow started freezing up, Egor knew just what to do — the same thing that everyone does when cash is tight: cut costs; sell equipment; reduce employee hours; do more work yourself; work harder and longer; fire adminstrative staff that just moved paper around.
In the end...
Essentially, he continued to run this new, million-dollar, already-established business exactly the same as he did his mom-and-pop operation. Likewise, he ran this new business right into the ground, just as he did with his other business, in a staggering, record-breaking six months!
Egor's accounts were completely drained within a year. He owed vendors large sums of money, and he started losing customers after they began to experience the results of all the cutbacks.
Coaching Corner - Learn & Apply to Your Life:
Learning from other people's mistakes, and applying the success secrets gleaned from these two case studies to your small business decisions can dramatically cut your learning time in half, while ensuring you don't get into a business for the wrong reasons.
Have you considered buying a business, but not sure whether you've developed your own leadership and business skills far enough in order to ensure the business is successful? Do you have the truth-accepting, leadership-mindset or the ego-driven, follower mindset?
As you read the above two case studies of two different people who bought the same type of franchise business, with all things being equal — except the business owners — who did you find yourself identifying with? Business Owner #1, Vera Truthe, or Business Owner #2, Egor Egoiste?
Did anything jolt your mindset prompting you to re-evaluate the strategies for success you have in your existing business?
You could buy the most systems-driven business, and still lose your shirt in the small business world if you're not willing to accept the systems set up that made the business successful in the first place. Otherwise, you may have access to a better system - but if you don't use the tools and systems in place, you're simply asking for trouble.
Summing it up for you...
Essentially, Vera confronted her lack of knowledge in certain areas, and realized she didn't know what she didn't know — until her coach revealed secrets to running a million-dollar operation. She quickly realized how she needed to do dramatically different things in vastly different ways compared to the mom-and-pop business she successfully ran before. By learning everything she could from people who went before her successfully, she gave herself a unique advantage to ensure her success.
Whereas, Egor insists that he knows what to do, it's just a matter of bad luck and other people deceiving him, versus acknowledging that all he's doing is deceiving himself. While Egor thought he was saving money by selling equipment and laying off staff, he was actually reducing efficiency that created a hole in his profit-generating business bucket. This hole quickly grew larger and larger the more he tried to do everything himself.
If you think you're buying a franchise or an existing business to "escape" from the necessary learning that must transpire for you to reach millionaire status, think again.
If you're not willing to work diligently and persistently for the first two years in a start-up company, then you had better walk away from what seems like a fantastic, problem solving opportunity.
And, if you insist on doing the same things you've always done in your business, while wanting a different end result, you may want to check in with your local psychologist, because she'll tell you that's the definition of insanity. (I even have her number so you can confirm this fact.)
But, if you're willing to admit you don't know what you don't know, and you're willing to do what it takes to reach the next level in your business, even if it means doing things dramatically different, then you're on the path to massive success in anything you touch.
With the right tools, proven strategies, a high level of determination, and partnering with a seasoned coach who successfully gets results with the right players, you'll gain results in record time.
The Bottom Line:
In order to achieve the next level of financial success you aspire to, whether it's to be a millionaire or a multimillionaire, you must be willing to do things you've never done before.
© Copyright 1999-2004 by RPM Success Group ®, All rights reserved. Reproduction in any form without the express written consent of RPM Success Group ® is prohibited. You may use this article/post in it's entirety as an RSS feed without previous permission, so long as it is published in it's entirety with all copyright notices. Call RPM Success Group toll free at 888-334-8151 for offline reprint permissions, or by email editor@rpmsuccess.com.
About the Author
Deborah Cole Micek and her partner John-Paul Micek are Business Growth Coaches. They specialize in helping small business owners, achieve profit-doubling growth in less time than it would take to do on your own. Through their strategic coaching programs of the www.BusinessOwnersCoachingClub.com you're guaranteed to reach more goals in 12-months than most owners do in a decade. You can reach Deborah at Deb@RPMsuccess.com or (888) 334-8151.