Better Fast than Perfect
In business, it’s better to be fast than to be perfect. Trying to be perfect keeps you from taking action. Don’t wait for the right conditions to come before you take action.
There is never a right moment to start a business or have a child. But if you don’t do it, nothing will happen. So don’t wait for the right moment. The sooner you do it, the better.
Ron Sim has a similar perspective:
When I first started the business, friends were always saying, “Business? Good times are over. This is not the time for business,” 35 years ago. Today, people still say the same thing. 1997 crisis comes, there you are. 2008 crisis comes, people say the same thing. To me, “No. Good or bad is a function of how you see things perspectively.”
Today, Ron is a billionaire, and his friends still complain about bad times.
Be first if you can. This will give you a competitive advantage.
Dilip Shanghvi told me, “One of the reasons why we are successful is that we entered all the businesses before our competitors did. They were all more difficult businesses. When we went into psychiatry, it was a very small market. Same with cardiology. So we never had big competition. It’s only when we became successful and started growing very fast, people started getting into these areas. So getting into business before it becomes fashionable is useful.” With this strategy, Dilip Shanghvi built the greatest pharmaceutical company in India and became the wealthiest person in pharmaceuticals worldwide.
For Kim Beom-Su, there are two decisive factors for success in the early business stage. “One is, can you be the best in the field you have started in, and the second is, are you the first in this field? You need to carefully consider these two things. If you are the first in the field, because it’s something no one has tried before you need to get in there fast and keep it up until the business grows.”
Speed is important. Speed of action is a quality of most billionaires. They follow the motto “act now and think later.”
Develop the attitude of urgency.
Chip Wilson doesn’t want to put away anything in his life.
It doesn’t matter whether you’re going to die in an airplane crash tomorrow or you’re going to die 80 years from now; you’ve got to treat every day and every second as though you’re going to only have a day to live. And there’s no time to waste. Especially talking to boring people, or to people that are complainers, or people that aren’t going to be great in life. There’s only one life to live.
I asked Chip about one message he would like to give to the world audience. His answer: “40,000 days and then you’re dead.” It should give you the right perspective on your life and provide the feeling of urgency. His life philosophy has two cornerstones: “There’s no time to waste. It’s got to be great or nothing.”
Treat every day and every second as though you’re going to only have a day to live. There’s no time to waste.
— Chip Wilson #BillionDollarGoldNuggets
Make fast decisions. It’s better to be wrong fast than to be right too late. But there is a flip side: pay attention to carefully weighing the irretrievable decisions. What do I mean? Dilip Shanghvi explains it as follows:
There are retrievable decisions and irretrievable decisions. I don’t take irretrievable decisions fast, because once you take that decision, you have no ability to correct it. For example, investing $4 billion is a decision I can take. That is easy to take because I can live with it. But some decisions like firing a person or breaking a relationship—I reflect a lot before I take that decision.
40,000 days and then you’re dead.
— Chip Wilson #BillionDollarGoldNuggets
Sell the Strawberries You Have
One of the most valuable lessons in this book is the Strawberry Philosophy I have learned from Petter Stordalen, the Hotel King of Scandinavia. When he was 12, Petter liked hanging out in his father’s grocery store. But one thing he loved even more was selling strawberries at the local marketplace.
The competition was very hard at that time because there were four or five other strawberry sellers. They had huge stands with roof, and I had this small round table which I had from my mother. I didn’t even have a shade. I was standing under a small personal umbrella, but I was selling strawberries with a lot of energy and a lot of enthusiasm.
I knew that I had to sell every strawberry, because the day after they were nothing. You couldn’t sell it. You need fresh strawberries.
But sometimes I would envy the other competitors because they had bigger sales stands; some had a camping wagon behind. Some had flowers on the side; they had apples and everything. I only had strawberries. That was my segment, strawberries.
I had long hours, the sun was burning, and sometimes I would complain to my father, “I envy them for all this, and my berries are smaller, my sales stand is smaller, and I don’t have this, I don’t have that.” One night, he told me, “Petter, I’ll teach you one thing: sell the strawberries you have, because they’re the only ones you can sell.”
That night, before I let my head on the pillow and fell into sleep, the last thing I was thinking about was, “My father is a genius, and one day I will take over his store.”
This advice was a game changer in Petter’s life.
At the age of 12, I was named by the local newspaper “the best strawberry seller in Norway.” It was not official, but they wrote it. And I felt I was the best strawberry seller in Norway. And probably at that time I was, because I was selling three, four, five times the volume of my competitors at that time.
On a good day, Petter was able to sell 2,400 strawberry boxes and make more revenue selling strawberries than his father did in his two grocery stores.
And I would be saying to you, “If you want to make jam, if you buy two cases, I’ll give you some extra.” My customers were coming back to me, and I was always treating them like: “I have some really nice here, super fresh, this is the biggest and best berries.”
The strawberry philosophy is the biggest reason for my success. Because you can always say, “If I had that hotel, if I had that shopping center, if I had that car, if I had that much money, if I had.…” I mean, it’s endless. You can always envy your competitors. Sell your hotel; everyone can sell the Ritz.
My success thinking is to always start with what you have. Never focus on what you don’t have. Focus on what you have and make the most out of it. Do the best out of what you have.
This mindset became Petter’s Strawberry Philosophy, and it led to his extraordinary business success. His companies carry the name Strawberry, and his life motto is “Sell the berries you have, because these are the only ones you can sell.” Petter likes to refer to himself as “The Strawberry Seller.” The Strawberry Philosophy is also one of the Stone Rules of Gothenburg.
Be like Petter; sell the strawberries you have instead of waiting and saying “If I only had.…”
Sell the strawberries you have, because they’re the only ones you can sell.
— Petter Stordalen #BillionDollarGoldNuggets
Other billionaires call It resourcefulness. Ron Sim considers it one of his strengths to be able to do something with nothing, or as he puts it, “resourcefulness without resources.”
Focus on what you have and make the most out of it.
— Petter Stordalen #BillionDollarGoldNuggets
Don’t Be the Flag, Be the Wind
Most people think life happens to them, that they are the product of circumstances. A billionaire sees himself as the driving force, the creator of circumstances, and not their victim.
Frank Hasenfratz is quite cocky. His favorite saying is: “I don’t get headaches, I give headaches.” It describes his life attitude well.
I don’t get headaches, I give headaches.
— Frank Hasenfratz #BillionDollarGoldNuggets
Billionaires are proactive, not reactive.
Jack Cowin’s motto is, “Don’t wait for your ship to come i
n; row out to meet it.” It manifested itself in numerous situations in his career, and it applies also to negative events. In his life lessons, Jack says: “Don’t wait until the dogs are barking at the door to do things.”
Don’t wait for your ship to come in; row out to meet it.
— Jack Cowin #BillionDollarGoldNuggets
Being proactive takes less time. It will become clear to you if you calculate the time cost of being reactive. You will realize that being proactive is actually easier than to react.
Don’t wait until the dogs are barking at the door to do things.
— Jack Cowin #BillionDollarGoldNuggets
Proactivity is also how billionaires approach the future of the world.
Tim Draper wants to see Bitcoin succeed, so he invested in over 50 Bitcoin companies to help this future to come. “You can actually drive something to happen if you have a strong enough force behind you.” At the entrance to his Draper University, he features Elon Musk’s quote: “Instead of witnessing the future, you can create it.”
Be “Lucky”
I often get the question how much luck is involved in a billionaire’s success. How important for the billionaires was it to be in the right place at the right time? This element certainly plays a relatively big role in the fast-living tech industry, but keep in mind that the vast majority of my interviewees became winners in traditional industries against strong incumbent competitors.
Nevertheless, if you ask me, “Do you need to be lucky?,” I will have to give you an unsatisfactory answer: “Yes.”
Yes, you need some luck in order to succeed in this extraordinary way in business as billionaires do. Success can’t be guaranteed; only failure can. Even billionaires themselves admit they were lucky, although in a different way than you may assume.
When asked about his success secret, Hüsnü Özyegin said, “I believe that success is not down to one single secret or factor but a combination of several things. In my case, hard work and luck would be up there at the top of the list.”
Frank Stronach sees luck and knowledge as the main differences between a millionaire and a billionaire.
Also, Manny Stul considers luck as the main difference between them, but he stresses you can make your own luck. “Difference between a millionaire and a billionaire? Luck. Being in the right place at the right time. But you make your own luck through hard work, through perseverance, passion.”
Instead of witnessing the future, you can create it.
— Elon Musk #BillionDollarGoldNuggets
You can make luck happen if you take a chance. And the more chances you take, the higher the probability of a lucky strike. So, taking action drives your luck.
This is how Hüsnü Özyegin got involved in banking:
I very much believe in the film Sliding Doors. You can open one door versus another one in a building, and they’re different. Your life can change completely. I also very much believe in luck. Being lucky is important. Whoever tells you about sell when the market is high or buy when the market is low, that is all baloney, as Americans say. It’s luck that drives you through success.
It was luck that I became a board member of a bank at 29.
When I came back from the States, I had written job application letters to three prominent businessmen. One of them offered me a job, and I was on my way to sign the employment contract when I looked up and saw a building that said Cukurova Holding.
I remembered this as the company of my classmate Mehmet Emin Karamehmet, whom I hadn’t seen since high school. I still had time until my appointment and decided to see if Mehmet was around to say hello to him. By chance he was in and welcomed me enthusiastically.
When I told him that I was about to sign a contract, he said, “Why don’t you come and work with me, I need smart people like you, you can be a board member of Pamukbank, we can learn together.” I was struck by his enthusiasm and made the decision then and there to accept his offer.
Imagine, I knew nothing about banking, I hadn’t seen Mehmet in 12 years, but I accepted. That is why I say luck. Some people may say fate or kismet. If I hadn’t walked down that street that day and dropped in on Mehmet, my life may have been very different. Who knows?
But Hüsnü did take action, did act upon this opportunity and did visit Mehmet. What was the outcome of taking this chance? After three years on the board of the bank, he became the managing director at the age of only 32 and was earning millions. And after four more years, he took a chance to become a shareholder. As his request was rejected, he then again took action, sold his houses, borrowed money, and founded his own bank.
In 2006, 19 years after founding Finansbank, he again “got lucky,” selling it for $5.5 billion.
The timing was meticulous. Banking, especially in an emerging market, is sometimes like a roller-coaster business. The market value of Finansbank was $711 million in September of 2000. Only nine months later, we had a financial crisis in Turkey, and in June 2001, the market value was $84 million. At the end of 2004, it was $3.5 billion. It went from $84 million to $3.5 billion. I decided to sell. By the time we closed the deal, it was $5.5 billion, after another eight months.
This was the highest company sale in the history of Turkey, and it made Hüsnü a billionaire
Taking action drives your luck.
— Rafael Badziag @BillionairePal #BillionDollarGoldNuggets
Even if the probability of success is low, you should take the chance. It may work out. But only if you try it.
Billionaires believe they are lucky and assume everything will work out well. Tony Tan Caktiong, the World Entrepreneur of the Year 2004, told me, “I think I am born with luck, so everything I do it will be okay. It will turn out okay. And then we do things, and if it’s not okay we just keep on tweaking along the way.”
And yes, sometimes you will have bad luck, like Manny Stul during his first stock market experiences. Manny was into gambling in his youth, and that’s why the stock market had this magical attraction for him.
I was playing the share market. At that time, nickel stock went from 20 cents to $280 in a matter of months. Everyone else was doing it. It’s pretty hard to go wrong in a market where the shares go through the roof like that. I was actually making quite a lot of money.
And then I decided I wanted to get involved in the stock market directly.
First step would be the chalkie. In those days, it wasn’t electronic. There was a chalkie that would write on the board. I was living in Perth; I got a job in Melbourne as a chalkie. So I sold out all my shares, and I shifted to Melbourne.
It wasn’t big bucks. Maybe five, six thousand dollars. But I’m going back 45 years ago, so for me, then, that was a fortune.
While I was traveling from Perth to Melbourne to settle into Melbourne, the stock market collapsed. I thought, “Wow, how clever am I? I sold out at the top of the market and I got out before it crashed. What a brilliant investor I am.” It’s utter nonsense. I just happened to be in transit. I just happened to be out of the market. I would’ve been in the market. If I’d have been a couple of weeks later, I would’ve been in the market. But in my mind I thought how clever I was.
I arrived to Melbourne and the job was gone. There was no job because the market collapsed. So I didn’t want to go back to Perth, because that means that I’ve failed. “The boy comes to Melbourne and then goes back to Perth.”
The stock market collapse shattered all career dreams of Manny, and the money he made ran out after eight months. But it didn’t stop him on his way. He got up, got a day job auditing, and a night job pulling beer at a pub. He started earning and trying to save up enough money to start a business. Forty-five years later, he became a billionaire and the World Entrepreneur of the Year, the best entrepreneur in the world if you will.
And you, dear reader? Will you let bad luck stop you on your way?
Are you taking action or waiting for life to happen to you? Are you the flag or the wind? Can you see the opportunities
around you? Are you taking advantage of them or waiting for the right conditions? Are you selling the strawberries you have? How are you helping your luck?
- Drifters see themselves as products of circumstances, don’t take action, and let life happen to them.
- Millionaires wait for right conditions to take action.
- Billionaires never wait; they sell the strawberries they have.
For more stories on this topic, go to:
http://TheBillionDollarSecret.com/resources
CHAPTER 10
Be Bold or Be Broke
What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything?
—Vincent van Gogh
There is no way around taking risk if you want to be successful in business.
When we were in his house, Jack Cowin told me, “You have to take risk to achieve something that is worthwhile. If you don’t take some risk, then you’ll have moderate success, if any.” Of course, you shouldn’t exaggerate, “everything in moderation. But you’ve got to take risk. You’ve got to be prepared to accept risk. If it doesn’t require risk, it’s not an opportunity.”
For Mohed Altrad, the World Entrepreneur of the Year 2015, risk is a necessary component. “I took risk every year and up to now, because there is no success without risk.”
Ron Sim, the Singaporean creator of the OSIM empire, is a true fighter. During the interview in his office, he told me, “Prepare to lose if you want to win.” For him, progress in life is a learning process. “If you don’t take risk, you will never learn.”
You have to take risk to achieve something that is worthwhile.
— Jack Cowin #BillionDollarGoldNuggets
For Hüsnü Özyegin, entrepreneurship really means taking risks.
And indeed, every company starts with a big risk. According to Naveen Jain, “Every company you start is a risk to your reputation, is a risk to your wealth, and is a risk to the number of people who believe in you and they quit their job and come and join you. Their life depends on my not screwing up. So to me, it is a massive burden on me to make sure I don’t fail because their lives will change. And I have looked at their wives' eyes and they’re looking at me saying, please don’t f*ck it up.”
The Billion Dollar Secret Page 14