Over the last 19 years, I’ve had the good fortune to meet and talk with some of the most successful millionaire entrepreneurs around the World. As a Financial Freedom Coach, I often tell my clients that they will reach their financial goals faster if they’ll take the time to find out what other successful entrepreneurs do and how they think – and duplicate their actions and beliefs. I’ve been doing this myself for almost two decades – and have generated millions of dollars in the process. My secret: I have discovered that successful entrepreneurs have some key strategies in common.
Millionaire Strategy #1:
Focus on Your Ultimate Vision at All Times
Successful entrepreneurs start with the end in mind – and work toward the vision of what they want their business to become.
Take some time to decide exactly what you want your business to become over the next 5, 10, even 20 years or longer. Then set aside time, every day, to visualize that same mental picture of your successful business. Successful entrepreneurs know exactly what they’re working towards. Whenever they make a business decision, it’s all with their ultimate vision in mind. They know exactly what they want their business to look like. And, because they have a clear vision in mind, it makes daily decision-making much easier. After all, with a clear-cut vision of what you want your business to become, you can always ask yourself, “Will this action move me closer to creating the business I’m visualizing?” If the answer is “yes”, you know you can move forward confidently.
Millionaire Strategy #2:
Plan For Success... But Be Flexible
Once you have a clear vision of your business, it’s time to create a plan to reach your ultimate goal. Your plan can be as detailed or as basic as you wish. Personally, my overall business plan is completely explained on two types pages. The actual steps to implementing this plan are much more detailed, but the overall plan is very simple. One thing I’ve discovered from talking to other entrepreneurs, as well as running my own multi-million dollar business, is that while a plan is important to the success of your business, flexibility is also important.
Successful entrepreneurs understand that a plan is merely a starting point. It’s a “best case scenario” of how you would like to progress from where you are – to where you’d like to be. However, in every business venture, challenges arise which can either momentarily bump you off track... or even make you re-think your plan entirely. The key to weathering these challenges is to remain flexible – and work around whatever new circumstances are staring you in the face. If some seeming “disaster” has occurred, look at it as an opportunity for you to stretch your creativity muscles – and find a new path to your ultimate outcome. I know in my own business, I’ve dealt with all sorts of challenges, from a flooded office (ruining thousands of dollars in products) to major moves across the country to an industry change that almost completely crushed my business overnight. By thinking on my feet, I’ve been able to change my plans (sometimes drastically) – and continue on my journey to my ultimate outcome. Every day brings new challenges and opportunities. By remaining flexible, I’m able to solve problems faster and profit from new ideas, without wavering from my overall business vision.
Millionaire Strategy #3:
Focus on Solutions, Not Problems
Challenges in a business (as well as in life) are unavoidable. What separates successful entrepreneurs from everyone else is their ability to quickly focus on finding or creating a solution to each problem that appears. Many people starting a new business find themselves overwhelmed with paperwork, red tape, and hundreds of decisions that could easily make or break their fledgling company. While some people react as victims, complaining that “It’s too hard” to start a business and “there are just too many things going wrong for this work”, the successful entrepreneur focuses his energy on finding and creating solutions.
I remember when my business changed almost overnight. I had been brokering advertising for an Internet search engine – and, without any advance warning, the search engine decided the service didn’t meet their long-term goals, so they instantly shut it off. At the time, marketing this service had become so profitable, I completely shut down the publishing portion of my business. With the announcement that the service would no longer be available, effective immediately, I jumped into action. I searched for days for a comparable service to market to the prospects who were contacting my company daily – while at the same time, creating a new business plan that would get me back into my first love, publishing. The next year was brutal. Changing directions for any company can be an expensive and time-consuming proposition. However, with a strong, new business plan, and a new vision for my business, I was able to save my business. Today, having learned many lessons from this experience, my business is stronger than before, with even bigger growth ahead. While it’s much easier to complain to friends and family and play the “Why me?” game, successful entrepreneurs jump into action whenever a problem presents itself – and focus on the solution.
Millionaire Strategy #4:
Let Your Passion Drive You to Success
While some start-up entrepreneurs may have a romantic image in their minds about creating their own company and generating millions, the truth is that there is a lot of hard work and late hours that go into creating any new business. Often, people jump into a new business because they hate their job – and they believe they’d be a better “boss” than anyone else. Others simply want to make more money – and believe they will have more time off if they were self-employed. However, the truth is that starting a new business – and working to make it successful – is a constant effort. It takes a lot of time, money, and energy to turn your business dreams into reality.
The key is to create a business that you’re passionate about. Your passion for your business can be the key to keeping you focused when things get tough. In fact, many successful entrepreneurs overcame tremendous obstacles in their journey for success, driven only by their burning desire and passion for what they wanted to accomplish. Since millionaire entrepreneurs have an exciting vision of what they want to achieve, their passion for what they’re doing carries them through the inevitable problems, hassles, and headaches that appear.
That’s why it’s important to have passion for your business. I’ve talked to too many people who have chosen to start a business because they read in a magazine that it’s going to be the “next big thing” – and they believe they can cash in fast, even though they have no passion for the products they’ll be selling. Others see millionaire entrepreneurs who have created wealth in a particular field – and decide to follow in their footsteps, not understanding that the reason the entrepreneur was successful wasn’t necessarily the industry he or she got involved with. It had a lot to do with the time, effort, and energy that went into building and creating the business.
Realize that dreams of millions may fade away when the problems mount. You may want to fire yourself when challenges arise. But if you’re doing something that you’re truly passionate about, something that you love doing every day, you’ll have the energy to work through every challenge – and ultimately achieve your goal of creating a successful business.
Millionaire Strategy #5:
Learn from the Experience of Other Successful Entrepreneurs One of my favorite quotes, by Admiral Hyman Rickover, is “It is necessary for us to learn from others' mistakes. You will not live long enough to make them all yourself.” Many new business owners bitten by the entrepreneurial “bug” have a desire to scratch their way to the top, through all sorts of chaos and mayhem. Instead of learning lessons from people who have gone before them, they make the same costly, time-consuming mistakes that keep them from reaching their goals in a timely manner. With the built-in independence entrepreneurs have, it’s easy to understand why most choose not to get advice from successful, wealthy entrepreneurs. However, if you choose to go into any venture, understand that there are people who can help you avoid many of the mistakes that can cripple or crush your business. Even successful entrepreneurs in other industries, running businesses completely different than yours, can give you invaluable advice on hiring, finances, regulations, negotiating, time management, and a wide variety of strategies that will save you time, money, and energy.
The easiest way, of course, is to read books written about (and by) wealthy entrepreneurs. Another method is to attend seminars and workshops that feature these wealthy entrepreneurs. Other methods include getting live coaching from entrepreneurs, search out entrepreneurial discussion boards and forums online, or purchase books and tapes produced by successful entrepreneurs. The few dollars you’ll spend on education can help you avoid thousands of dollars in expensive, time-consuming trial and error.
Millionaire Strategy #6:
Learning Never Stops for the Wise Entrepreneur
If you’re not growing, you’re dying. The best entrepreneurs, the best success coaches, the best people at whatever they do, are always looking for that extra edge. You’ll discover that the world’s wealthiest, most successful people are constant students. They’re always reading, looking for a new insight or idea. They’re listening to educational and motivational audios to and from work, while they’re exercising, and during their free time. They’re attending seminars and events to learn from other experts in their field, as well as in other fields. In fact, talk to wealthy entrepreneurs, and you’ll see that most of them have massive libraries of wealth-building and success books, audios, and programs. They invest their money in additional education, because they realize that to keep on top of their game and create more opportunities, they need to be constantly learning and growing.
It’s important that you understand that very little separates you from multi-millionaire entrepreneurs. You probably have the same drive. You probably have similar goals. You’re probably an intelligent, passionate person who wants to create the best business possible – and generate the wealth a strong business can produce. The only thing that separates you from wealthy, famous entrepreneurs – is what you know. Your focus should be to discover everything you can from other entrepreneurs. I recently purchased four huge bookcases to hold the hundreds of books, manuals, courses, audio tapes, CD’s, videos, and DVD’s I’ve purchased over the last 19 years. And I continue to spend tens of thousands of dollars a year on additional educational materials. What I’ve discovered is that the more I learn, the more wealth I generate for myself and those around me. Make a commitment today to become a life-long learner – and you will create the business and wealth you desire.