Rich Dad's Before You Quit Your Job: 10 Real-Life Lessons Every Entrepreneur Should Know About Building a Multimillion-Dollar Business

person this organization attracts.

10. Be faithful to the process. One reason why many people do not quit their jobs and become

entrepreneurs is that entrepreneurship can be

extremely challenging, especially when first starting out. I suggest you follow the basics of the B-I

Triangle and diligently do your best to master all

eight categories of the triangle. It takes time, but if you are successful the rewards can be immense. As

rich dad said, “Entrepreneurship is a process, not a job or profession.” So be faithful to the process and remember that even when times are bad, the process

will give you a glimpse of the future that lies ahead.

Over the years I have heard many people use the term BHAG, which stands for Big Hairy Audacious Goal. While having a big hairy goal is commendable, I believe the process and the size of the mission are more important than the goal.

Rich dad drew for his son and me a diagram that looked like this: He said, “If you are going to have a big goal you need a strong mission to

push you through the process. With a strong mission, anything is attainable.”

Thank you for reading this book and we wish you the best of success if you should decide to become an entrepreneur or are already an entrepreneur.

job and start a part-time business.”

7. Be willing to ask for help. Rich dad often said,

“Arrogance is the cause of ignorance.” If you don’t

know something, ask someone who does know. On

the flip side, don’t be a pest and ask for too much

help. There is a fine line between help and a crutch.

8. Find a mentor. Rich dad was my mentor. I have had many other mentors. Read books about great

entrepreneurs such as Edison, Ford, and Gates.

Books can be your best mentors. The Rich Dad

Company has a mentoring program known as Rich

Dad Coaching. The coaches on the other side of the

phone are entrepreneurs, investors, and great

coaches. Hire them to keep you on track to getting

what you want from your life. One of my favorite

entrepreneurs is Steven Jobs, founder of Apple

Computer and Pixar. Not only do I like his style, I

love the culture of his business. One of the most

important things an entrepreneur can build is a

business with a strong culture. As stated earlier, at The Rich Dad Company we work hard to foster and

protect a culture of learning and free expression.

9. Join an entrepreneur’s network. Birds of a feather do flock together. Every city I have ever

lived in has groups or associations of entrepreneurs.

Attend their meetings and find one that fits your

needs. Surround yourself with fellow entrepreneurs.

They are there for support as well as to be

supported. Contact your SBA, the Small Business

Administration, or your local chamber of commerce

for a schedule of meetings and seminars. They are

great sources of information as well as resources for entrepreneurs. One group I have been impressed

with is the YEO, the Young Entrepreneurs

Organization. Although I am too old to belong to

this group of young men and women, I have been

asked to speak at several of their chapters. I have

always been impressed with the quality of young

business or a direct sales business.

4. Be optimistic as well as brutally honest with

yourself. In his book Good to Great, Jim Collins does an excellent piece on this need to be brutally

honest. He writes about his interviews with Admiral

Stockwell, one of the longest-held POWs from the

Vietnam War. When Jim Collins asked the admiral

which type of person died in their cells, the admiral answered without hesitation, “The optimists.” The

POWs who did survive were those who could

handle the brutal facts about their situation. On the

flip side, know the difference between being brutally honest and being pessimistic. I know

people who will tell you why something will not

work even if it’s working. I know people who store

in their mind every piece of negative news possible.

Negative people, or pessimistic people, are not the

same as brutally honest people.

5. How are you at spending money ? Too many people struggle financially because they do not

know how to spend their money. Too many people spend their money and it never comes back. An

entrepreneur needs to know how to spend money

and have more money come back. It is not about

being cheap, tight, or frugal. It’s about knowing

when to spend, what to spend on, and how much to

spend. I have seen too many entrepreneurs go broke

saving money. For example, when business drops

off, instead of spending money on more promotions

the entrepreneur cuts back hoping to save money.

When this happens business continues to drop off.

This is an example of the wrong action, at the

wrong time.

6. Start a business to practice on. No one can learn to ride a bicycle without a bicycle and no one can

learn to start, build, and run a business without a

business. Once you are familiar with the different

parts of the B-I Triangle, stop planning and start

doing. As I have always said, “Keep your full-time

Before You Quit Your Job We Offer These Tips

1. Check your attitude. Attitude is almost everything.

We don’t recommend becoming an entrepreneur

just to make money. There are far easier ways to

make money. If you do not love business and the

challenges a business offers, then entrepreneurship

may not be for you.

2. Get as much experience as possible on five levels of the B-I Triangle. In earlier books we advised people to work to learn, not work to earn. Instead of taking jobs for the money, take jobs for the

experience. For example, if you want to gain experience in how business systems work, get a

part-time job at McDonald’s. You would be

surprised at what happens the moment a customer

says, “I want a Big Mac and fries.” The moment

that happens, one of the world’s best-designed

business systems takes over. It is a brilliantly

designed system run primarily by people with only

a high school education.

3. Always remember that Sales = Income. All

entrepreneurs need to be good in sales. If you are

not good in sales, get as much experience as

possible before you quit your job. I heard Donald

Trump once say, “Some people are born

salespeople. The rest of us can learn to sell.” I am not a natural salesperson. I did train hard to become one. If you want really great sales training, you may want to consider joining a network marketing

ANALYZE YOUR P s AND Q s

So remember the five Ps of marketing:

1. Product

2. Person

3. Price

4. Place

5. Position

Now that you have your B-I Triangle in place, it is time to review your five Ps. You may come up with more questions (Qs) than answers. Bring your team together and create your business tactic and strategies while keeping your five Ps in mind. With your product, person (target customer), price, place, and position planned well and supported by a strong B-I Triangle, you will more easily find the sixth P. PROFIT

Some of these steps are easier than others and some are more challenging based on the type of business you have. For instance, The Rich Dad Company attracts customers by selling books to them in retail bookstores. We knew it would be difficult to get their contact information. So within our books, we offer free additional information at our website, www.richdad.com. To receive the additional information, we simply ask the customer to give us his or her name and e-mail address. This allows us to provide the new customer with information about new Rich Dad products, special promotions, and upcoming events. We call these special offer placements “calls to action.” Is this just a ploy to get contact information? We make sure that it’s not just a ploy and that real value is received by the customer for joining.

Other companies that sell products through retail outlets offer customer rebates, in order to capture their customers’ contact information. Or they build brand loyalty with their customers through promotion and advertising. For instance, a potato chip company may not have its customer contact information, but it does depend on its customers’ making repeat purchases.

For instance, it may choose to build its brand through “point of purchase”

7. Create a community or club for customers to join (give them value for free just for joining).

8. Ask your happy customer to “tell a friend” about your business or product.

9. Make a repeat sale to your customer.

10. Repeat the cycle.

LIFETIME VALUE OF CUSTOMER

Many business owners also miss the boat when it comes to understanding the value of each and every customer. They celebrate when they sell one product to one customer. True success comes when you have a community of customers who buy repeatedly from you. This loyalty and shared community creates a sustainable and successful business model. For instance, Carol, a local jeweler, sells a piece of jewelry to Joe. If Joe’s wife enjoys the jewelry he will probably return to Carol to buy jewelry for other special occasions and turn into a repeat customer for Carol. Rather than a single purchaser, the jeweler now has a customer who has a much larger sales and profit potential.

Carol understands the lifetime value of a customer. This is the goodwill that we referred to in the last chapter. Isn’t someone much more likely to do business with someone they have a good history with than a stranger? If you have that good history—goodwill—with people, the word will get around, and soon you will have a solid reputation that will attract new business through referrals.

In fact, it is much harder to find a new customer than to keep a satisfied customer coming back. One of the greatest assets of a business is its customer list.

The customer cycle has the following stages:

1. Attract the customer (hardest part).

2. Make a sale.

3. Capture your customers’ contact information.

4. Make your customer feel special (thank the

customer for his or her purchase).

5. Keep in contact with your customer (send the

customer advance announcements of new products,

special promotions, or events).

6. Answer customer inquiries in a timely and friendly

manner (turn complaining customers into happy customers).

As mentioned earlier in this chapter, it is difficult to be all things to all people. Instead of concentrating on the people who do not like you or your product, consider spending your energy on supporting the one-third of your customers who love you. Turn these customers, who are already fans, into testimonials for you and your products. The result is called viral marketing.

Lesson #9: Don’t Fight for the Bargain Basement.

FOCUS ON THE RIGHT TARGET

It is very important for you as a business owner to pick the right target customer. Are you going after a high-end customer or a low-end customer? A young customer or an old customer? Will you be competing for that customer based on price or quality? As rich dad said, when you compete based on price there is always someone else willing to offer a lower price. Creating a competitive advantage based on quality provides for better profit margins, and typically a higher-level customer.