WALKING ON WATER — AN ENTREPRENEURS GUIDE- Part 4 (Act As If)
This Article is part of a series of eleven articles from my book. You will find the links to the next feature article at the bottom of this page.
SKIP TO A PARTICULAR ARTICLE IN THIS SERIES
Part 1- Introduction
Part 2- The Beginning of a Business
Part 3- Planning and Goal Setting
Part 4- Act As If
Part 5- Financing your Business
Part 6- Investment Bankers
Part 7- Your Management Team
Part 8- Lawyers, Accountants, and Auditors
Part 9- Doing Your Homework
Part 10- Strategy & Growing Your Business
Part 11- Exit Strategies & Keeping Your Sanity
Chapter 3 — ACT AS IF
The Look of Success
Unlike most stories of starting your business in your shabbiest pair of underwear, let’s get real. The hippie look of startups and their dot.com ultra casual founders only works for people with at least seven zeros on their bank balance. If you already have a business that is producing mega cash flows, then by all means, wear flip-flops. But chances are that if you are reading this book, you don’t. Most of the people who will give you money are still from the old suit-and-tie guard. And you will never see them being ultra-casual unless they are in bed or golfing. So that means you need to be their equal, at least in terms of clothing. I might have been working out of my bachelor pad in my undies, but I made a point to buy myself one really good suit. It cost a fortune, somewhere around three thousand dollars. I ate Macaroni and Cheese out of a box for a month, but when I walked into that meeting room, I got instant respect, even if I was only twenty-two at the time. In later years, I started buying Brioni suits, and they still killed my wallet. If you live in the southern parts of the country like Florida, then I suggest going for semi-casual looks of Loro Piana. Whether its nine thousand dollars for one suit, or $900 for a pair or summer walk loafers, it’s still insane, even if I can afford it. But when I walk into a room these days, I garner instant attention as someone to be reckoned with. And you can always spot the guy in the cheap suit.
A good example: one of my fashion obsessed friends decided to drag me to a Louis Vuitton store to buy something they didn’t really need. The sales guy selling a thousand-dollar wallet was dressed in a two-for-one suit that probably cost him about $150. I thought to myself, talk about having no leverage as a sales person. If his employer really wanted to sell a high end product, he needs to look the part. How can you recommend or sell a product that is supposed to elevate your importance when the person selling it doesn’t look like he is buying into the idea? If I’m a shopkeeper selling a high end product, I would ensure my employees are dressed the part. Upon mentioning that fact to my friend Scott, he elaborated on this point. Why do realtors drive expensive cars? It’s because they want to look successful in the eyes of a potential client, and as their mobile office, it represents them. Follow this simple rule, then: If you are meeting lawyers, investors, and accountants, dress to impress. Look like you don’t need money. If you are meeting with suppliers, dress down and look like you can’t afford it — and you’ll secure that discount.
A good suit should always be tailored, never just off the rack. Also, it’s all about the fabric. If you buy a $100 buy two get one free suit, people can tell a mile away. Trust me. Buy one good classic suit, three nice shirts, and a couple of ties. That way you can change your look if you are meeting the same people over the course of several meetings. The best brands for suits are Canali, Brioni, Boss, and Tom Ford (if you can fit in them “sigh”). The best brands for ties are Hermes and Louis Vuitton, and make sure they are 100 percent silk. Ladies, you generally dress better than your male counterparts, so this chapter is the best excuse you will ever have to go buy that perfect new power suit.
Now let’s talk about the one thing that most people forget: the shoes. I have seen people in expensive suits only to look down at their feet and see them wearing a rag of a shoe, banged up and unpolished. I have reprimanded employees for wearing crappy shoes at key meetings. Unless you are an executive at Nike, show up at meetings wearing black leather dress shoes. Always make sure they are polished and shining. Yes, that means you should spend at least fifteen to twenty minutes in the morning polishing your shoes. That’s how the army does it, and that’s what a civilized successful gentleman/woman does. Polish your shoes, people.
If you are absolutely lost in the fashion department, hire a Certified Image Consultant who will show you which colors work for you. He or she will help you clean out your closet and will take you shopping for key items missing in your wardrobe. Lynda Jean, my personal image consultant, certainly changed my life. I was stuck in a fashion rut, and she managed to make me look like the successful person I am, and the compliments keep coming. You can check out her services at www.lyndajean.com
Your Office
As an entrepreneur, you are generally on your own in the beginning. When I started my first business, I was living in a tiny bachelor apartment that had a bed, a desk, a PC, and a telephone, but that didn’t stop me from looking like a successful businessman to the outside world. I had arranged for a virtual office in one of the Class A skyscrapers downtown. A virtual office is a shared space that allows you to have a true office environment in which to conduct business. It provides you with a prestigious address and a phone number, a secretary who answers your calls, and the ability to have meetings with potential clients in full-scale conference rooms. You can have the look that you need to attract investors, but at a pay-per-use cost. Nothing says success more than inviting a potential supplier or investor to the fiftieth floor of your local landmark high-rise building. Even if you don’t work in a large city, you can research the availability of shared office environments and virtual offices online for your city or town.
TIP: I have found Regus to be one of the best companies out there. I currently have five or six offices with them — I have lost track. Check them out at www.regus.com.
Talking vs. Doing
One thing that sets apart successful entrepreneurs from the ones that fail is an innate ability to follow through on their goals. Many people dream about goals, but few turn them into reality. When they see others succeeding, they excuse it by saying that person is lucky. Being successful has nothing to do with luck, but rather the willpower, the tenacity, and the right tools to create your own luck. But you need to take it one step further, because the road you take to attaining your goals is in the changing landscape of business. That means you need to be flexible enough to amend or change your approach on the fly. To-do lists are good, but they do not give you a road map that shows a detour you can take if you are facing a roadblock — or worse, gridlock. To-do lists are also somewhat negative, because they entail things you must do, and there is a difference between having to do something and wanting to do something.
Having to and wanting to ultimately mean pain or pleasure. Our brains haven’t really evolved much from our ancestors when it comes to these two little motivators. Your brain works on pain and pleasure. You will seek out everything that gives you pleasure and avoid everything that causes pain. This explains why we procrastinate about doing certain things; most likely it is because we associate something negative with them. At the same time, there are occasions when we will move mountains just to be able to find some time to do something fun. The key is to find ways to associate pleasure with the things that will run your business more effectively.
When this concept is applied to entrepreneurship, it means that you need to find something you are passionate about, have an interest in, and that it is fun to do. If you hate getting up in the morning to work on your new business, you are not going to succeed. If you like going to work in the morning and enjoy every hour of growing your business, then your chances of success quadruple. The passion you have for your business will make you look successful, even when you’re still growing and barely able to pay the bills. If there is stress, it is good stress, because you are generating it; it is not being forced on your by someone else. I could write a book about this concept and the motivational forces that go behind it, but there is a person much more qualified than I am to teach you this, and man is the über guru of motivation and self-improvement, Tony Robbins (www.tonyrobbins.com). Over the years I have successfully used some of his tools and techniques to get where I am today.
As I mentioned in the introduction, when my father cut me off financially, I was down and out and as broke as anyone could be. That year I was watching one of Tony Robbins’s infomercials late at night. After watching the darn thing for about two hours, I was finally convinced to spend my last $299 dollars to buy his Personal Power II CD set. That was over fifteen years ago. I can say with all honesty that ever since I finished that program my life has been on fast forward. To meet the ever-changing demands of the business world, I needed a system that kept me motivated, could be amended on the fly, and ensured that I break down my major goals into easy-to-do daily steps. One thing that has helped me immensely in achieving this is the Rapid Planning Method (RPM) developed by Tony. It’s an easy to use system, complete with a binder to keep track of your major goals while fitting them into your hectic daily schedule. While you’re at it, throw in one of his Unleash the Power Within seminars — there’s nothing better to get you motivated to launch your new company. In fact, I make it a habit to attend one of his seminars every couple of years to get myself back on track, or whenever I am launching a new business.
If you are the skeptical type, all I can say is to give it a try. If it works, great, if it doesn’t, send it back and get your money refunded.. RPM is a very valuable and valid tool in your arsenal to beat the competition and grow a successful business.
Shadowing and Mentoring
Two key people have influenced how I do business: Anthony Robbins, Sir Richard Branson. In fact, some people might say I had an obsession with modelling myself after these people. But it’s not some weird fan obsession. Rather, it’s so that I learn how to do things the right way the first time without making too many mistakes. These men are a source of inspiration and a measurement of my own success. These guys have a ten to twenty-year head start over me, so there is always something I can learn from them. There is more to it than that, though.
Modelling yourself after someone else can be an amazing catalyst to your own success. What does that mean? To make it real, here are the results it got for me. I successfully started a company that was listed first on the Toronto Venture Exchange and then merged to be on the NASDAQ. After I sold it, I split my time between the US, Bahamas, France and the United Kingdom. I even bought a picturesque island off the shores of Nova Scotia. These days I commute between all of these places because I have built a new business that allows me the freedom to run the day-to-day from anywhere in the world, while providing for my family and friends as I please. It’s not because I’m a genius; it’s simply because I based my decisions and actions on other people’s successes and failures.
Every time I went against the advice of a mentor, my net worth suffered. Here is a good example. As I previously mentioned, I helped Sir Richard Branson’s management team plan a renewable power system on Necker Island. One afternoon, after a morning spent hiking the hills with engineers, I was sitting in the pool by the beach on Necker Island together with Sir Richard when, with a twinkle in my eyes, I announced that I was going to take my company public. By way of reply, I was given a thirty-minute story by Sir Richard of his own negative experiences in the process of going public. Three years later, I must confess, I should have listened to him. Could I have avoided three years of terror and $2 million in personal losses? Sure. Was I arrogant to think I could do it better than the master of all startups? Totally. Lesson learned? Yes — painfully. But do not worry. If going public is your dream, I have devoted an entire chapter to the process and the pitfalls so that you can do it and get out while you can…and fast. Or, you can sell the business — that’s what I do most of the time.
The Importance of Gray Hair
Investors invest in you and your accomplishments more than they invest in your new product or idea. That is simply because experience tells them that someone who has done it before is much more likely to succeed again. If you are a first time entrepreneur in your early twenties, this is a very difficult catch-22 to overcome — especially on the east coast and its not some world-changing software, crypto or A.I. idea. This is where a board of advisors or directors comes into play. There is however a key difference between advisors and a board. Advisors advise, while directors can meddle in the affairs of your business. If you land a large investor, he or she will most likely want a seat on your board of directors, and that is something you need to consider very carefully. I have said no to people when I didn’t think they would be in a position to make decisions in my best interests.
Consider also that some people might be hesitant to join the board of a startup company, so the concept of a board of advisors is valuable. But make sure it’s not Uncle Bob and Aunt Helga. Preferably, the people on your board should be leaders in your industry. This is easier said than done, but make some effort here. Perhaps there is a consultant you are using who might want to advise (outside of his/her role as a billing professional). Good types of people to have on your board of advisors include accountants, lawyers, marketing people, and corporate financial professionals — the kind of people who can truly help your business or answer questions that will benefit your business. I was lucky in this regard. In my renewable energy line of business, I have to use a lot of consultants, so I was able to get people from GE, Amec, and Deloitte & Touche on my board of advisors. When I started my travel business I partnered with the best conglomerates in the world, including American Express Travel, added industry insiders with skills in various areas of the business.
When you throw around brand names like that, something curious happens. You become credible in the eyes of competitors, investors, and suppliers. But please, take the time to develop a true partnership, have a contract in place, or a co-operating agreement or something that is truly legitimate. Always ask to be able to use their names, then publish those on your website to give people confidence in your business. At the same time, you will hopefully gain some excellent free advice along the way.
Once you have raised your first round of capital you will inevitably end up having strangers join your board of directors. The longer you can delay that happening, the more freedom you will have to develop your business without interruption or meddling. Going public was a daunting task, made even more stressful because some overzealous board member decided to start an investigation into a decision I had made in error the second year after I started my business. That cost my company a quarter of a million dollars in fees to accountants, and I still haven’t psychologically recovered from the stress. In the end, nothing happened. I remained president, the company was sold, and the disclosure of the event was brushed over by the purchaser as “growing pains.” But I was seriously pissed off enough that for a period of three months I wanted to quit my own business. It’s not a good thing when the founder of the business is pissed off and not wanting to do any work for the company he founded. My tip is, get your investment angels on the board, and always make sure the power of the board balances in your favor. For instance, if you run a private company and have five board members, make sure that at least three will side with you. If you go public, that will be more difficult to do because the process requires independent directors. But there will always be friends and foes. Make sure you become an expert at playing the game of political chess.
