How many of you have ever heard someone say this, “If only I would win the lottery, THEN I would be happy?”  Or maybe something like, “If only that rich relative of mine would just pass….I know they are going to leave me something.  Once I get that, all my problems will be gone.”  Really?  Where do we get these ideas?  Is that what the media is teaching us these days?  Whew, better keep a close eye on what you and your kids are watching. 

If happiness equals a big bank account then why do 80% of the people who win the lottery end up in worse financial shape five years after their ‘big break?’  Not enough happiness for them?  What about our country’s current financial situation?  Watching the news they reported how many big time CEO’s committed suicide in the last quarter due to the falling economy.  I don’t remember the exact number but it was enough that they referred to these people as ‘econo-cides.’  Chasing the almighty dollar obviously didn’t bring them happiness. 

You know the founding fathers of this country wanted to give everyone the right to pursue happiness.  But they didn’t GUARANTEE happiness to the citizens like some people in the government want to do these days (better not even touch that soapbox).

I challenge you to make sure these words and phrases are NOT in your vocabulary.  If they are, focus on taking them OUT!  ‘That’s not fair! It’s not my fault! It’s not my responsibility (or that’s not in my job description)! I’m just not a lucky person!  I can’t believe they did that to me!  I can’t believe they said that to me!  They shouldn’t treat you that way!  They can’t treat ME that way!’

Those things appear when someone gets infected with what I like to call SFN disease.  Yup, ‘something for nothing’ disease is sweeping across the nation.  I guarantee when you succumb to a ‘victim mentality’ and start pushing away responsibly all you do is hurt yourself and the people around you.  Happiness and contentment will fall further and further away.  Happiness comes in the pursuit of your dreams and goals.  It’s the Dream-Struggle-THEN Victory that makes you happy!  Nothing worth pursuing in life is FREE or EASY.  It’s the things I fought for that matter to me the most today.

*Words can’t describe this man’s story.  You gotta watch the video!

Take care,

Tim Schmidt

February 17, 2009 - 3:21:48 PM

Jesse

I want to start a security guard business. What is the most affordable way of doing that? I see a lot of ways that small businesses get help financially like grants, how can I get some of those?

Hi Jesse,

I applaud your decision to start a security guard business. Now brace yourself because you might not like what I’m about to say. Here it comes… FORGET about government grants. I say this for two reasons. 1) On principle alone I would never take money from the government. The fact that they give money to anyone to start a business is just plain ridiculous. 2) You will invariably have to jump through tons of hoops to go after any sort of government grant. This is WASTED energy. You should be using this energy to actually start your business.

I personally think you should “boot-strap” your business. Do it all yourself. Start from absolutely nothing. It CAN be done because MANY people have done it before (including me! Twice). So even if you’ve got only $20 in your wallet and $5,000 of credit card debt, if you REALLY want to do this, you’ll figure out a way to get it done. Now once you get things off the ground and you decide you want to expand faster than your cash flow allows, now is the PERFECT time to find angel investors. There are a LOT of people who have very few solid investment options. All you have to do is find some “rich guy” who you can develop a trusting relationship with. Once this “rich guy” sees how hard you’re working and how well you’re running your business, you’d be amazed at how easy it will be to get “expansion” capital.

Jesse, there is nothing more exhilarating and rewarding than starting your own business from scratch. Very few people manage to do it for one simple reason. It’s not easy. Simple as that. But I’ve got a hunch that since you’ve taken the time to actually write me a question, you just may have what it takes.

*So stop thinking about getting money from anyone until you have your business up and running. Don’t think of excuses why you can’t do it this way, instead come up with a list of 10 things that you could do with no money that JUST might work!  The most important thing is getting into action.

Good luck!

UNCLE SAM, get off my back!!!

P.S. - Need some EXTRA motivation? Put together a business plan for your new business and go talk to a banker. When he’s looking across the desk from you and laughing in your face… well trust me that will give you a TON of motivation! (This happened to me 12 years ago and it sure motivated the heck out of me!)

Take care,

Tim Schmidt

February 24, 2009 - 6:49:28 PM
John – Long Island, NY

Tim

What options would you suggest when it comes to a partner who is not pulling his weight. We sell and install commercial bathroom stalls. We are the biggest company in the New York metropolitan area and regularly do high profile projects. We are currently doing the new Citi Filed project for the Mets and will soon start the new Giants Stadium. We do about seven hundred projects a year; everything from a small Mom & Pop restaurant to the big jobs. We have been in business for 8-1/2 years and our business is doing well even considering the slowing economy. Anyone who knows our company knows that it has been built on my back. The business is synonymous with my name, not his. Most of our fourteen employees as well as most customers that know us well enough regularly ask what my partner actually does in the business. He even admits that if I were no longer able to fulfill my duties, he would put the key in the door and walk away. He doesn’t want to leave because I am his golden goose. I’m fifty years old and would gladly walk away from the business if a buyer came along. The biggest challenge with that is that without me, the business loses the hub of the wheel. No one would buy the business without me coming with it. I’d love to move to a second amendment friendly state on fifty acres and enjoy the rest of my life with my family. I don’t expect any viable suggestions. Maybe I’m just looking to vent. Wishfully thinking, John- Long Island, NY

John,

Thanks for taking the time to explain your situation.  I’m sure that MANY people will learn and benefit simply from reading what has happened to you.  Let’s start with the good news.  It sounds to me like you own a fantastic business and you’re very passionate about what you do.  Many people go through their entire lives and never do what you’ve done.  Based on the tone of your email, you sound like a grateful person who is probably an excellent employer and I’m sure you already know all this stuff.  So…I’ll stop blowing sunshine up you…well you know where!  Your partnership situation is unfortunate.  Scenarios like this occur all too often.  If I were you, this is what I would do (keep in mind that I am advising you based on the information you provided me!).

FIRST:  Remember that you CAN walk away from this business.  Now, it may not be the easy thing to do if you’re thinking short term, but you do NOT need this business.  How do I know this?  John, you’ve built a successful business and thus you have a lot of knowledge and experience which is extremely valuable.  So not only could you can use those valuable assets to start another business, you could also leverage your knowledge and experience to help the TENS of THOUSANDS of people who need your help.  HOLD ON…you can relax.  I’m not going to recommend you just walk away from your business.  You need to be in the right frame of mind to make the next couple of steps work.

SECOND:  Okay, now that you’re in the right frame of mind, you need to buy your partner out.  Be sure to remember that you have TWO giant points of leverage during your negotiations.  1) YOU are the reason the business works and is very profitable. 2) You DON’T need this business.  The easiest way to do this is to hire a third party to come up with an impartial valuation (most accountants will do this for you) and use that as a starting point for negotiations.  It may take you 5 years or more to pay off your partner’s position…but TRUST ME, it will be WORTH IT!!  Heck, you’re only 50 years old.  You’ve got a lot of time left.  *The last piece of advice I’ll give you in this second step is to offer your partner a little MORE than he is asking.  I know, I know…this sounds crazy but doing this will make a LOT of good things happen.  Your partner will feel grateful and every aspect of the transaction will go smoother.  This may sound counter-intuitive, but the extra money you end up paying your partner will be re-paid to you tenfold in goodwill and peace of mind.

THREE:  John, you need to develop an exit plan.  Again, you’re only 50 so you’ve got plenty of time to do this.  The easiest way to sell a business like yours is to teach a KEY employee and sell it to them.  This may take up to 5 years to accomplish, but it will be well worth it.  This is actually a very complex process and this blog post is already getting kinda long, so I’ll have to truncate how this works (BTW, I did this myself and it worked like magic).  Find a “go-getter” A-Player type person who respects and admires you.  It helps if this person is a current employee who (ideally) has started at the bottom of your company.  Set up a series of performance-based “trials” whereby they prove to you that they are honest, trustworthy, and hungry to learn everything they can from you in order to keep the business where it’s at.  Once you’ve selected your potential “Key Employee,” you need to “reverse-engineer” a rags to riches type career story for them.  Here’s why this will work.  YOU will be giving someone the opportunity of a lifetime!  And in doing this, you will earn unmatched loyalty from them.  This loyalty will be the “magic grease” that will allow you to safely transfer all your business knowledge to this person.  They will in-turn be grateful to buy the business from you.

This is the ultimate Win-Win scenario.  John, this ONLY works with complete trust, honesty and loyalty.  So you really need to take your time during the selection process.  When I was doing this for my engineering business, I went HALF-WAY down this road with the wrong person.  He ended up leaving me high and dry and then tried to take a few of my best customers.  But I didn’t give up.  I just found another person and this time it worked.  I sold my engineering business in 2007 to a young man who I have a tremendous amount of respect for.  The loyalty and trust was there so it worked out perfectly for BOTH of us.

Good luck my friend.

Take care,

Tim Schmidt