People Start Businesses for all kinds of reasons. Do any of the following reasons sound familiar? ” I hate working for someone else”, I’m sick of working in the corporate environment with all the attendant bureaucracy, my income is limited, I want to have my own “ball of wax”. Others confess they simply want the luxury of succeeding or failing on their own. Still others are motivated by the “Midlife Crisis” looking for a lifestyle change or the “Empty Nest” syndrome. All are looking for financial independence in one form or another.
Whatever the reason or motivation; Soon after embarking upon the new business, all will face certain “start up” challenges, encounter business and financial problems, must make systems and personnel decisions and deal with the overwhelming learning curve.
On the flip side, it is fair to say that we all have the same opportunities afforded us. In the note business, most individuals obtain training either at note seminars or have purchased the training and/or tools of the trade. It is obvious also each one of us has been allotted the exact amount of time in a day, week or year.
Why then, the high percentage of failures??? What makes the difference??? Let me tell you what I have learned and believe to be true, but first let me explain.
In the past 45 years I have sold everything from Cemetery Lots and Cosmetics to Commercial and Residential Real Estate. At one time I had over 350 Consultants working for me and I have trained more than 400 real estate agents for my own company plus taught at a Real Estate Licensing School serving thousand of “wanna be” real estate agents. The drop out rate in the schools is astounding and the attrition rate of real estate agents is unbelievable (and may I add, very disheartening to the Brokers who spend countless hours and thousands of dollars training and endeavoring to motivate them).
What then, makes the difference? There’s really nothing new here, it’s as old as the hills. The difference is simply this: Those that succeed have (1) A clear vision of just what it is they want to accomplish, (2) They have a clear understanding of the path to get there by taking the time to think and work through from the training, education, and materials and, (3) have the drive to work their plan of action. This takes time and effort and therefore, one must make a conscious decision that the Cost of the Time and Effort is worth the Success and Achievement which is the equivalency of a Successful Business Venture.
In High School Economics 1A, we learned about the Economic Trilogy defined as: Utility, Choice and Cost. Further explained as follows: Everything has a Use, but you can only use it for one thing at the same time. (Example – you can use a table to eat on, play cards on, dance on, BUT you can only use it for one thing at a time
That brings you to Choice. One must choose which activity to use. And last is Cost. The TRUE COST of the CHOICE is the “GIVING UP” of the next highest alternative.
So the application here is quite simple. We all have the same amount of time, we can only use it for one thing at a time, and the true cost of taking the time to do the things you have to do in the business to be successful is: the giving up of the next highest alternative i.e.: what you could have done with the time.
Every excuse in the book has been offered why people do not succeed in business to justify lack of achievement. How about this, It takes too much time, the training and material was inadequate or too difficult, the broker, boss, manager, trainer, mentor did not give me the help I needed, the market was off, the potential business did not exist, I was sold a “bill of goods”, the weather was too hot, cold, rainy etc., I didn’t have the support of my wife, husband, family, friends, etc, This is too stressful, I lack the education, I don’t have the background, I need more experience. Here’s the big one – “I met Joe Blow the other day, and he said he tried it once and it didn’t work”.
But the REAL reason is: most people do not want to succeed badly enough to do the work, take the time, and expend the effort to do what they had to do!
Another thing, there’s no such thing as a “free lunch” … a good lunch that is. As in any other field of endeavor, you must invest in yourself to learn the business. You can only nibble around the edges of the real meat when you demand to be spoon fed at the public trough. To really learn this business, or any other business for that matter, you have to bite the bullet, dig down in your jeans and spring a few bucks for a training seminar and/or manual. It may mean a “sacrifice” but remember the Economic Trilogy? If you fail to invest in yourself, your next highest alternative surely will be mediocrity or worse yet, failure to even start!
Our company services and collects cash flows of all sorts, including notes. We work the same market as the people who look for notes to purchase. I have to tell you, it takes a lot of time and effort to build a business, but let me assure you that the notes and cash flows DO EXIST. We work direct mail and calling, referrals and through professionals who have clients with notes. We make hundreds of contacts each week (one at a time). Not everyone wants our service, just as not everyone wants to sell their note, but you just keep doing the things you have to do on a daily basis. And do it with Courage, Persistence and Enthusiasm.
When you find something you like to do … you no longer have to go to work. You will succeed in your chosen field and the “American Dream” will become Reality!
