Four lessons from the generational business class of people. I recently listened to a three-hour podcast with Kunal Shah, so you don’t have to.
Here are the four lessons from people that are better at business than you.
I didn’t start my first business until 31 years old. I wish somebody would have taught me these lessons ten years ago.
Imagine your father and father’s father and father’s father’s father all conducted business and taught you business from birth. You would be much better off than you are today.
Anything that requires knowledge, skill, and continual action benefits those that start earlier and do it the longest. Business favors those that can do it the longest. That’s why get rich quick methods to have a pathetic percentage of success.
“Nobody wants to get rich slowly.” Warren Buffett
Here are the lessons I learned on my 61.2-mile bike ride on Sunday…
1. Business classes with a higher degree of success have much lower shame than other communities. They are okay when it comes to being shameless. If you give them money, they will put up with you.
The customer isn’t always right. They are mostly wrong when they complain. The adage teaches us to listen and stay connected with the customer to retain the business.
As a business owner, you realize it takes seven times more money to acquire a new customer than to keep one. When a customer complains about something, you are incentivized to reach a common ground and retain the relationship.
2. A natural understanding of where the value is in everything.
Why somebody would pay for it is almost intuitively taught from birth. Next time you purchase a product or service, ask, where is the actual value? Why do people truly buy items and services?
It rarely comes down to the features and benefits of the product. Most Apple iPhone users don’t utilize 80% of the product’s features. When buying a new car, did you buy it for the fuel-injected 4.2-liter V6 engine? NO, you bought the phone and car because you believe it will raise your status.
Whether raising your status is from the internal motivation to feel good about yourself, therefore, projected confidence out into the world or to flex social status to the external society.
Very few people bought NFTs and Crypto without announcing it to the world. When was the last time someone contributed to their 401k and posted it on social media?
During COVID-19, home searches doubled and tripled. Zillow reported that people conducted 86% of all home searches without any life-changing motivations to buy. People were searching for an opportunity to upgrade their social status. Have a nicer home, make more money, get their kids in a nicer school, own a vacation home, and the list goes on.
Rarely did someone buy a home during COVID-19 because it had a 30-year architectural roof and an eight-ton American Standard HVAC unit.
3. Spotting trends
Shu Nava Juni, which means, “Hey, what’s trending,” they ask how are you doing and hey, what’s trending. They believe that value will be where they are less likely to have competition.
In 2016, I met a client that ran a personal $50 million real estate fund. This fund was a liquid cash fund, not a line of credit. This is crazy to think about because this wasn’t a net worth calculation; this was a separate account he was willing to risk to make more wealth for his family.
He told me this at lunch five years ago, as I ate my chile relleno at a local Mexican restaurant.
“Nick, Idle money is the devil’s money, and I never want to invest in the box, always outside the box.”
This millionaire, who is probably now worth over 100 million dollars, went on to explain is find the areas in business, life, and investing with the least amount of competition.
Like a glass half full or a glass half empty, you are both wrong. The glass is always full of water and air. Trends are like the air in the glass. You can’t see the opportunity; you can only see the vacuum formed because of the trend.
4. Community benefits. They are giving them a soft landing if they fail.
I hear, “I wouldn’t do that.” or “You have to protect your reputation.” all the time from people who have never run a business.
People who can feel okay with risking up to 30%, 40% of their reputation, wealth, and health
are the ones who propel further. Others who say I can’t even risk 1% of my reputation will rarely succeed in business and life.
FOMO is the fear of missing out. More powerful than that is FOPO, fear of other people’s opinions.
What is so debilitating about FOPO is it causes people to stay put, silent, and not take action. At least FOMO causes action. FOPO cripples the human mind and makes any man or woman feel less capable and worthy.
The greatest business people know to risk their reputation every time they open their business. They are exposed to other people’s criticism and the competition’s tactics to put them out of business.
Surround yourself with people that will pick you up when you fail.
Nick McLean
Nick McLean Real Estate
Real Estate Greatness
Cheplak Live Coach