Felix Dennis: How to Get Rich

Felix Dennis: How to get Rich

Ignore 'great ideas'. Concentrate on great execution.
Focus. Keep your eye on the ball marked 'The Money Is Here'.
Hire talent smarter than you. Delegate. Share the annual pie
Sell before you need to, or when bored. Empty your mind when negotiating.
Fear nothing and no one.

I never could believe that Providence had sent a few men into the world, ready booted and spurred to ride, and millions ready saddled and bridles to be ridden. And neither, gentle reader, could I. I never could believe that.

Confidence and an unshakeable belief it can be done and that you are the one to do it. Tunnel vision helps. Being a bit of a shit helps. A thick skin helps. Stamina is crucial, as is a capacity to work so hard that your best friends mock you. Luck helps

In the end, it’s those who want to and are utterly determined to, whatever the cost

Armies and governments fear men or women who know they are going to die soon; and they have good reason to. Such people have nothing to lose. They will commit any atrocity and take as many others with them as they can, if they are driven to it. You must now become that doomed man or woman. You are going to die. It sets you free, don't you see? It sets you free.

Nothing matters. Nothing at all. Get that through your terrified mind and you will wake up in the morning ready to rip the throat out of the first gazelle unfortunate enough to cross your path. Why would you rip its throat out? Because you can. Not for breakfast. Not for the 'thrill of the chase'. But because you can

If you want to be rich you must make a pact with yourself to fear nothing

what is the most precious thing in life that riches can supply? Easy For me, it's Time. Time. Time to read and write poetry if I want to. Or to write a book if it takes my fancy. Time to travel on the slightest whim, to walk in the woods, to think, to commission art, to read, to drink, to hang out with friends and loved ones ... to do just about anything really, as long as it does not involve day after grinding day making money in an office or a factory for somebody else. That's what money can do. That's why you picked this book up. To make the money to do what the hell you want

the reduction of any asset to cash very often leads to the imposition of capital gains tax - the equivalent of the Black Death to the truly rich. If I had to find that kind of money, I would have to borrow it, and then sell assets to repay the debt.

few rich people can know their true net worth until all major assets are sold off. It sounds crazy, but the richer you are and the more financial advisors you employ, the less likelihood there is that you can ever discover what you are really worth. In the words of the art collector and oil billionaire John Paul Getty: 'If you can actually count your money, you are not really a rich man.'

No task is long except the one you never start

Excuses against getting started:

If young and relatively penniless, many will argue their lack of experience and capital (especially capital!) dooms them to decades of wage slavery.
If slightly better off and on the way up with a halfway decent job and perhaps the probability of further advancement, the problem is often considered to be the loss of what they have already achieved. Plus the lack of capital.
By the time one is a senior manager or professional, probably with a decent house, a mortgage and children, it is the risk to the security and happiness of the latter (and maybe to a spouse), plus the usual lack of capital, which are most often cited as insuperable difficulties to taking the plunge.

You have stamina far, far beyond those who are twenty or thirty years older. The stamina necessary for long, grinding hours of labour in the cause of getting rich. Stamina enough to party all night and go straight back to work for a twelve or sixteen-hour day. I remember such stamina fondly. You have no idea how much the stamina of the young is envied by the rest of us. Along with a degree of callousness and enviable powers of speedy recuperation from reverses, stamina is your secret weapon. Its attributes will see you through a raft of catastrophes that would virtually annihilate older men and women.

Anyone not busy learning is busy dying.

They fear losing what they have already achieved more than they desire to enrich themselves.

I employ a great many people smarter than I am. That's not false modesty. That's a stone-cold fact. The only two reasons they continue to work for me and put money into my pocket are that, on the positive side, they enjoy their work, and on the negative side, they fear losing what they have already gained - challenging work, congenial colleagues, a certain status and the promise of promotion and pay rises. They know this as well as I do. (They are far from fools, otherwise I would hardly employ them.) But fear holds them back, with the exception of those rare individuals who are content with their lot.

It is the fear of failure which looms largest here. And fear of failure is definitely something that can be dealt with, and will be dealt with at length in this book.

Boldness attracts applause

Lastly, it's because I fear them. I fear they may have spotted something we have missed, some gap in the market. I fear we may have failed to listen to them. I fear that their new venture will grow at our expense while it poaches our personnel and our market share. And the only way to deal with fear is to cosy up to it. To took it in the eye and pump its hand. To translate its negative energy into adrenaline. To harness it. To laugh with it, rather than at it.

As one who has been 'the boss' for longer than many of you have been alive, I can assure you that you enjoy much greater leverage than you might believe. But you will never find that out until you go for it.

To sum up then, if you wish to be rich, you must grow a carapace. A mental armor. Not so thick as to blind you to well-constructed criticism and advice, especially from those you trust. But thick enough to shrug off the inevitable sniggering and malicious mockery that will follow your inevitable failures. Not to mention the poorly hidden envy that will accompany your eventual success

A job for the rich-in-training is just a launch pad or a chance to infiltrate and understand a particular industry. It is a means and not an end in itself. It is an apprenticeship and not a goal.

Plus the ability to sell, which is usually nothing more than a talent for hype and keeping a straight face as you demand a fifty times mark-up from potential buyers who wouldn't know a Damien Hirst from a pickled sardine.

The problem is that we create an image of ourselves in our childhood and youth (often at the urging of parents, siblings or friends), and subsequently attempt to graft reality onto this image. More often than not, the graft doesn't take and the result is bewilderment and disappointment. Far better to ruthlessly learn what your particular aptitudes are and act upon them rather than attempt to graft an oak tree onto a dandelion

Luck is a dividend of sweat

To hell with them!

You cannot patent an idea. You can only patent your own method for implementing an idea. It is for this reason that so many people have become rich despite never having had a single great idea in their lives. As it happens, I count myself among them

Find out what the good ideas are doing wrong. A new magazine defined the genre for young men. FHM correctly identified that the top brass at IPC were somewhat embarrassed by Loaded's brash tone, and had consequently skimped on the title's advertising sales and marketing resources. Right from the start, FHM courted advertisers as hard as they courted readers.

If, on the other hand, you spend your days thinking up and developing in your mind this great idea or that, you are unlikely to get rich. Although you are likely to make many others rich. That is usually the way of it. Ideas don't make you rich. The correct execution of ideas does

Above all, I retained control of the company. A company I still own 1OO per cent of thirty years later, I had created capital by swimming with the fishes.

Fishes come in all shapes and sizes. Friends, acquaintances, relatives, business colleagues, small investors, friendly bank managers of the old school, professional advisors, ex-employers, suppliers and vendors are among them

Persuade your friends to come work for you.

I asked Brian Moore and Charlie Harness, the owners of my potential distributors for the comic, to write to a particular printer, promising that he would be the first to receive money from MooreHarness when the comic came out, Brian and Charlie did not guarantee the money; they were not exactly idiots. But they made it sound, as a matter of common sense, that at least enough money was likely to be generated by sales of the comic to pay the print and paper bill. And they stressed that their client, my little company, would only receive any residue when and if the printer had been paid in full. This was the key. Brian and Charlie turned out to be the most effective fishes in the pond of my ambition.

human nature does not change and, at bottom, we are cooperative animals. Many people are indulgent towards the young

they might be surprised at the number of fishes in their particular pond willing to help them to some degree or another.

But if it is at all possible, give me the fish over the sharks and dolphins every time. It may take a mite longer to get there, but you'll be far richer, or at the very least, happier, in the long run.

Dolphins are the VCs who need a flip in 4 years.

One last word on obtaining capital. It's the worst part of the whole business of getting rich. Nothing is more humiliating or debilitating than trudging the rounds with your hand out, no matter how good your project or fierce your determination. Everyone has to do it and everyone hates it. For a self-made man or woman there is no avoiding it. Beware of anyone who tells you that there are short cuts to obtaining even a small amount of capital. Outside of family and friends, there are none that I ever heard of.

Look on the bright side. Those lazy bastards who turn away from this odious task are going to be your employees. They are going to make you rich.

I am told that during the Vietnam War, a sign was kept nailed on a wall above a particular marine commander's desk which said: 'Assumption is the mother of all f***-ups'. Those seven words should be carved into the heart of every entrepreneur, the wealthy or the annabe, the gonnabe or the beenthere-done-that

Somewhere in the invisible heart of all self-made wealthy men and women is a sliver of razored ice. The love of another, or of family (or of their God, if they have one), can help to contain it. Seeking great wealth will release that sliver to grow. It is in the nature of the beast. If you do not wish it to grow, then quit any dreams of becoming wealthy now. This all sounds rather melodramatic. But then I have an advantage. Not only have I grown that sliver myself, to kill my enemies with, to slay demons in the night and to harden myself against the losses to others my victories have engendered - not only that - but I have watched it grow in others who became wealthy. It is always there and will swell into a protective carapace as you search to grow rich

You can delegate many tasks when creating a new business, but monitoring and forecasting cash flow is not one of them. It's your responsibility and your task

Keep payroll to an absolute minimum. Overhead walks on two legs
Never sign long term rental agreements
Never buy a fancy meal if the other side offers. You can show off later
Check all staff travel with an eagle eye
If you're going to be late paying, call the vendor's boss. Give a date. Stick to it.
A vase of beautiful flowers in reception every week creates a better impression than £100,000 worth of fancy Italian furniture.
Get used to grovelling. Grovelling is an effective tool in a start-up's cash flow. O They want your business. Play one supplier off against another. Ruthlessly.

You need the talent to identify, hire and nurture others with talent

Talent is usually conscious of its own value. But the currency of that value is not necessarily a million-dollar salary. The opportunity to prove themselves, and sometimes the chance to run the show on a day-to-day basis, will often do the trick just as well. This holds true even if talent is placed in the driver's seat of a small division within an existing operation. What talent seeks, as often as not, is the chance to prove itself and the opportunity to excel.

My advice on this subject was contained in the second paragraph of this section. You must identify talent. Then you must move heaven and earth to hire it. You must nurture it, reward it property and protect it from being poached. If necessary, dream up a new project. Better still, get the talent to dream it up.

If you can do all these things with talent in the context of building your own company, I would be truly astonished if you did not become rich. Because the truth is, talent does most of the work for you. Just as it has done since the beginning of recorded history

Self-belief - No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.

What I hadn't the courage to tell my fellow directors at that meeting, or, for a day or two, even my financial guru, Ian Leggett, was that I had already invested. I loved the concept. I was going to own a piece of The Week. And to hell with naysayers. That's easy to say. But it's not good business. It's rude and arrogant to invest in a company you intend to bring into your stable without a thorough and honest discussion of the pros and cons with senior colleagues. Like I said, it's not good business. But it is the only business an entrepreneur has any right to be doing

I had the money and I had the 'feeling'. The 'feeling' is when the hair rises slightly on the back of your arms and neck and you know you are on the scent of something you shouldn't be doing - but you're going to do anyway, it's called commercial instinct. You develop it over the years. You certainly aren't born with it. I had it with The Week.

You can't get rich painting by numbers. You can only do it by becoming a predator, by waiting patiently, by remaining alert and constantly sniffing the air and by bringing massive, murderous force to bear upon your prey when you pounce. You can share the kill later, by all means. But if you want to get rich, trust your own judgement when it calls - and leave those whose job it is to manage your business to pick up the pieces

Strangling your own baby, in order to grow, is far more common than you might think. If you have a successful monthly magazine, for instance, and then launch a weekly in the same category, you will inevitably weaken sales of your original tide. This will follow as surely as night follows day. So should you launch the weekly magazine? Yes! A thousand times yes! Why? Because if you do not launch the weekly edition, even though you know it is a good idea, then your rivals will do it for you. You will then be left with a damaged monthly and no weekly. This is called the 'Barbarians at the Gate' principle.

Talking to your own executives and senior managers is necessary, of course. But talking to people you do not know, or who work in some obscure corner of your industry (or even in your own company), is just as necessary. More so, perhaps. If you have experience, a little investment cash and will make the time, then the world will bring to your door an amazing collection of visionaries, con artists, madmen and budding entrepreneurs. They all have something to say. Most of your time will be wasted. But what is not wasted will make you richer. Much richer.

My advice, based on thousands of such meetings over the years, is to keep them short - unless your gut tells you that you have stumbled upon a winner. Set the meeting for twenty minutes. Have somebody interrupt you after twenty-five minutes and usher the caller swiftly from your room.

“I’m doing 10 minute meetings this year. Will you accept?”

It's usually better to leave no doubt in your visitor's mind if you're not interested in their project or idea. In a way, it's kinder, as well. While the temptation is to say, 'I'll confer with my colleagues and get back to you,' this will eventually come back to haunt you and waste more of your most valuable resource. Time.

Ideas, by the way, cannot be 'owned' by anyone. You cannot trademark or patent or copyright any idea. You can only protect the execution of the idea and trademark the name.

3M's Post-it Note could be described as follows: 'paper with a reposition-able adhesive'.

If you had tried taking that description to the patent office it would have availed you nothing. Why?

Because 3M owned the formula for the gum. The formula was a way of executing the idea.

If you had come up with an even better gum and had created your own name for such notes and marketed them, then 3M would have had a devil of a job to stop you, because no one can copyright or patent an idea. You can only protect the execution of the idea, which must be unique. If your gum really was unique, you would be in business. And what a business!

Similarly, the Walt Disney Corporation does not own the rights to all imaginary talking mice. Talking animals existed in the minds of writers and artists long before Walt Disney himself was born. The Disney Corporation only owns the 'look and feel' (and a host of other attributes) of two particular talking mice, Mickey and Minnie Mouse. If you are in the business of executing ideas to make money, then this is something you are going to have to come to grips with and become a minor expert on.

Fortune

Albert is so close to the cross currents of the market that his antennae lead him astray. When he hits yet another bump on the road, or has a head-on collision, he attempts to change his luck by changing direction. It's not that he lacks stamina. Albert has tons of energy and stamina. But he doesn't, as Churchill put it, 'keep going'. Instead, he keeps looking for pastures new - the golden sunlit uplands, the philosopher Leibniz's 'best of all possible worlds'. Perhaps there, in a new place, he will find his fortune and change his luck? Instead, he immediately encounters the evils of an unfamiliar and perilous country, without the benefit of the road maps he so painstakingly put together in his last adventure. He does not 'keep on truckin" as the cartoonist, Robert Crumb, would have it. This 'flight not fight' behavioural trait is the sign of a prey animal, not a predator

He can't empty his mind during negotiations, stare straight through an adversary and walk away from a table with millions of dollars piled on it.

Lady Luck doesn't love star-struck suitors like Albert. She wants crazy bastards who will tell her to take a hike or get lost if they feel like it. She won't come calling to anyone who needs her or needs to worship her.

'Treat her mean to keep her keen’

Fortune seems to especially scorn anyone who wants money too badly. And it positively appears to despise men or women who fear to lose what fortune they already have.

All negotiations arise from weakness. In the end, 'the balance of weakness' almost always decides the issue.

On negotiating - The fortress that parleys is already half taken. RUSSIAN PROVERB

you are not involved in 'negotiating' - you are problem solving. The same applies to mid-level salary negotiations

Negotiating should be reserved for serious occasions.

Serious negotiations are like falling in love. You may have fooled around a few times and been strongly attracted to one or two lovers. But when you fall in love, brothers and sisters, you will know all about it. Right off the bat. Boom! That's what serious negotiations are like.

You just will not have the time to choose who gets to work in which office, where the Christmas party should be held or what company policy should be regarding the provision of in-house tea and coffee facilities. If, as the owner, you do find you have the time to involve yourself in such decisions, then I have news for you. Your organization is in deep trouble.

the world is full of aspiring lieutenants. Most people seek job security, job satisfaction and power over others far more than they seek wealth. And thank goodness for that. If all the great managers in the world were dead set on becoming rich, and willing to take the necessary risks to do so, there would be little hope for the likes of you and me.

Management bargaining really does count, of course: loyalty counts, fairness counts, a steady disposition counts, a sense of appropriate compromise counts. An organisation will fail without managers who apply such virtues consistently. But they are not necessarily attributes you should invite into the room during a series of tough negotiations when the big money is on the table and your future is on the line. They are the attributes of first-class managers. Not negotiators. Serious negotiations are very different from day-to-day bargaining

Serious negotiations imply a weakness in the position of at least one of the parties involved in the negotiations, unlike day-to-day bargaining, where no such weakness need exist. The first thing to be done, perhaps the most vital thing, is to establish exactly where those weaknesses lie.

An immediate balance of weaknesses may well prove more decisive than any long-term balance of strengths. It is for this reason that small companies and individuals have sometimes managed to out-negotiate larger rivals, especially in emerging markets and technologies. If a big, powerful organisation convinces itself it absolutely has to have some whizzo new technology, or whatever, it will sometimes permit itself to pay way over the odds for it

take the attitude of banks towards start-up or small companies. If you need a loan because you cannot meet payroll, you almost certainly won't get one. (Er, make that 'you absolutely, definitely won't get one'.) The balance of weakness is so obvious and utterly immediate, nobody will want to waste time listening to your entreaties. But if you need a loan, say, because you wish to take a private company public with a reasonable chance of success in the not-too-distant future (in other words, you don't really need a loan, it would merely be convenient to be offered one), then loans will shower upon you like confetti.

Your little outfit may be nothing but a flea in a corporate elephant's patch of jungle, indeed one he has barely noticed until recently, but just how much might the elephant be willing to pay to be rid of you, or to buy you out? Especially if your business, however small, is growing and the elephant's business is not? Because the elephant has a master, a mahout. And his master is an unforgiving son-of-a-bitch with a nasty barbed iron stick and an elephant gun. He is otherwise known as an institutional investor. All start-up entrepreneurs should say their prayers for institutional investors, those fabulous beasts, every night. 'Dear Lord, thank you, thank yon for institutional investors in big companies.' For the elephant must show his master that he is an up-to-date elephant. A savvy elephant. An elephant that knows what's just round the corner and what the next big thing is going to be in his patch of jungle. Otherwise he risks his share price dropping and being hurt by the nasty iron stick, or even shot by the fierce institutional investor, who will then acquire a new elephant, leaving the bones of the old one to rot on the jungle floor. You have nurtured it with your little company and it is now a reality, however tiny. Better still, it looks like it's already working, or might work soon. The elephant is concerned that his master may hear of this little flea's idea and that he might well be punished for not having thought of it himself. (Most elephants are a trifle lazy, you know.) The elephant knows what he must do then. He lumbers over to meet you. He has done it many times before, with many other fleas. (in his monstrous, corporate heart he would really like everything to stay the same), but usually because he fears his mahout more than he despises the flea. But never forget why he came calling in the first place. He does not love you. He is not your friend, although he may pretend to be. He might not hate you, he may even admire you a little. He will certainly flatter you. But remember he had to come. His fear drove him. His fear of his master, the institutional investor.

David and the flea arm-wrestie over the possible sale of PCW to EMAP. The flea speaks to tax advisors, to Angelo and to lawyers. He speaks to his white-knight partners in America. The negotiations intensify and the flea realises that David, while as calm as ever on the outside, is becoming anxious to close the deal swiftly. There is a particular meeting in the flea's flat in central London. Very, very nearly David persuades the flea that he must sell PCW now; that he must shake hands on a price of £700,000 or thereabouts. This is an astonishing price for a new magazine. And remember, the flea is very, very greedy. But just as dumb luck saved the flea before, instinct saves him now. Instinct and the advice of the white knights and others. Besides, there is a slightly glittery cast to the elephant manager's eyes the flea doesn't much care for at this meeting.

There is more than one elephant in any jungle.

the flea has also learned to shrug off flattery and keep his eye on the balance of weakness. This particular elephant has a huge need, almost a unique need, and the flea is determined to exploit it.

Naturally the flea also has a weakness, one we already know about. He is very short on cash and is greedy. Can the flea survive his cash shortfall and curb his youthful greediness for long enough? Long enough to make the Dutch elephant become truly, truly desperate. Can he do it?

This is a handsome offer. Almost twice the EMAP elephant's offer. But the flea judges that the Dutch elephant is not desperate enough. Very politely he declines and pours himself another glass of delicious wine. Francis, wisely, let's the matter drop. He is an older man, and a skilled, courteous negotiator.

Some weeks later, the Dutch elephant brings along another of his managers. This one is British and his name is Graeme. The flea likes him immediately. But he is careful to mask his likes and dislikes. These managers are not here to be liked or not to be liked. They are here to negotiate and to rob the flea if they can. That is what they are paid for, after all. That is what their mahouts expect.

Prior to this meeting, the Dutch elephant has tried to send an emissary to talk to Angelo Zgorelec, the minority shareholder in PCW. The flea is angry about that. There can only be one negotiator. Any house divided is a house that will fall.

The flea has warned his lawyer, Michael, to keep all their business papers close to hand. To be ready for an abrupt and immediate departure.

Around the table there are several managers from the Dutch elephant. And maybe a lawyer or an accountant or two, it's difficult to tell. The meeting begins and a new offer is made. The offer is almost exactly what the flea has guessed it would be: nearly two million pounds, with a big chunk held 'in reserve'. It is a magnificent offer. Absolutely magnificent. Three times what was offered by the EMAP elephant.

For a while the flea does not respond. Instead, he talks about how well the magazine is doing, about the Australian edition, about the growth of the exhibitions. He also mentions that he will be launching at least one more personal computer magazine quite soon - one aimed at the personal computer trade itself this time. At companies who sell personal computers and personal computer software. It will be a business-to-business magazine, precisely the type of magazine the Dutch elephant specializes in. Eventually, the discussion comes back to the offer. The flea looks Graeme and Francis in the eye. He totally ignores everyone else present. He empties himself mentally and stares straight through them. He convinces himself that he does not care what the outcome of these negotiations will be. He clings to this illusion of emptiness while he negotiates. He doesn't care if he becomes a millionaire or not. 'The price is three million pounds,' he says, 'and only one twelfth can be held in reserve. That is the price and it will not be changed.'

There is consternation around the table, whether real or feigned it is difficult to say. The flea nods to his lawyer, who collects his papers and puts them in his briefcase. They both rise to leave. Just as they are leaving the flea stares once again at the two Dutch elephant managers, his mind and eyes as blank as a zombie. 'Thank you for your offer, gentlemen,' he says. 'As I said, the price is three million pounds with only a quarter of a million pounds held in escrow. In addition, the buyer of Personal Computer World must permit me to launch my new computer magazine to the trade. If I do not hear from you shortly, then my next price will be four million pounds. Good afternoon.'

Two million pounds is an unbelievable sum of money. Listen to me and let me go back. You don't have to go yourself.' And I very nearly allowed Michael to do just that. But something held me back. Something I had sensed but could not explain or articulate. Finally, I smiled a little ruefully and patted Michael's arm: 'Michael, their need will outweigh my greed. I am sure of it. Let's wait and see.' So we waited.

The flea has learned to 'empty' himself and make himself believe he does not care.
The flea has overcome his lack of skill by setting a price he will not deviate from. - If you are a poor negotiator, like me, then set a limit on what you will pay or accept and on any conditions attached. Do not deviate. Your first thought is your best thought.
The flea has hardened his heart and has walked away when the price was not met.
The flea has introduced a rogue element (the trade magazine) into the negotiations - Choose a rogue element to your advantage and bring it into the negotiation at a late stage. You'll be amazed at how often this tactic produces results.
The flea has weighed Greed vs. Need. He believes Need will outweigh Greed.

(Noncompete clauses can be a bugger for those selling an asset. Keep the period of non-compete as short as you can.)

Most negotiations are unnecessary. Don't enter into them. Remember that 'the fortress that parleys is already half taken'. Save serious negotiations for serious occasions.
Despite my jungle book examples above, the devil really is in the detail in serious negotiations. Get all the professional help you can trust. But do not surrender control of the negotiations or the agenda to such professionals. They are not the ones who will have to live with the consequences - you are. If your advisors are leading you down a path you don't approve of during your negotiations, call a 'time out' and tell them privately that if they continue down that path you will get yourself some new advisors. The world is full of them.
The negotiator opposite you is not your new best friend. He is not your partner. He is not your confidant. You have no obligation, outside of ordinary courtesy, to please him or satisfy his demands. He is the enemy. If you do not understand that real winners and real losers emerge from serious negotiations then you will be robbed, whatever the circumstances.
Listen when engaged in serious negotiations. Then listen some more. You are in no hurry. Nobody ever got poor listening. Also, use silence as a weapon. Silences are disconcerting. People tend to fill silences with jabber, often weakening their bargaining position as they do so.
The British created the largest geophysical empire in the world with one tactic: divide and rule. It always works. It never fails if you can get to exploit it. Get to know the other side. There may be slight differences in the individual approaches of their senior managers and, possibly, in their goals. Drive a wedge and keep hammering.
Permit no such weaknesses in your own camp, I have often banned senior executives from taking part in negotiations simply to avoid this trap. Better you are in there on your own, outgunned, outflanked and outmaneuvered, than to have two or three of you silently squabbling.
Everyone thinks they are a great negotiator, but most of us simply are not. If you suspect you perform badly on such occasions, do not attend, even if you are the 100 per cent owner. Get someone else to do it after setting out your response to every conceivable option that might arise. This tactic can be devastating to the other side, and Peter, Bob and I have used it on many occasions in the past. You have to completely trust your nominee, though.
Above all, establish where the balance of weakness lies in any serious negotiation. Most strengths are self-evident, especially strengths like cash and infrastructure. Weaknesses are usually hidden. Ferret them out, hold them up to the fight and make a battle plan.

If you would work (negotiate with) any man, you must either know his nature and fashions, and so lead him; or his ends, and so persuade him; or his weakness or disadvantages, and so awe him; or those that have an interest in him, and so govern him. In dealing with cunning persons, we must ever consider their ends to interpret their speeches; and it is good to say little to them, and that which they least look for.

I used to fancy myself as a great negotiator in big deals, but I have learned that I am not. The reason is that I never do negotiate, I only dictate. That's fine if the other side's need is greater than yours in the balance of weakness. But what if there is a potential win-win situation to be reached through patient and reasoned negotiating? That's when I delegate. Automatically and without thinking. I have people who work for me who are patient, who listen better than I do, and who are quiedy determined to get the best deal they can with a potential partner while not scaring them off. They are willing to compromise, but not to surrender

Ownership is the only thing - To become rich you must be an owner. And you must try to own it all.

You must strive with every fibre of your being, while recognizing the idiocy of your behavior, to own and retain control of as near to 100 per cent of any company as you can. If that is not possible, in a public company, for example, then you must be prepared to make yourself hated by those around you who are also trying to be rich. Just like Gollum, it is your Precious and they are all 'filthy little thieves'.

To become rich, every single percentage point of anything you own is crucial. It is worth fighting for, tooth and claw. It is worth suing for. It is worth shouting and banging on the table for. It is worth begging for and groveling for. It is worth lying and cheating for. In extremis, it is even worth negotiating for. Never, never, never, never hand over a single share of anything you have acquired or created if you can help it. Nothing. Not one share. To no one. No matter what the reason - unless you genuinely have to.

preposterous is the universally accepted proposition that an individual or entity can 'own' land, rivers, hills and deserts where dinosaurs freely roamed for uncounted millennia. Roamed, mark you, long before Homo sapiens sapiens was a twinkle in a small, shrew-like mammal's eye. Not to mention that those lands, hills, rivers and deserts will be there when not even a whisper of evidence survives to show that humans existed on the blue planet.

I'll guess, using current market norms. £3 million? £5 million? £10 million? (I doubt the last, but it could have been.) You mean that's it? That's all there is after busting your balls for the best part of your working life and making hundreds of shareholders and lawyers and banks immensely rich? A few measly million pounds less tax? That's shocking. I've made more than that in deals I can barely remember now. I once made half a million by selling a magazine I had not even published yet to a rival. Half a million pounds for a day's work. And why? Why? Why? Because I owned it. I owned it all. And my dear friends David and Robin never owned anything during their time there except for a pile of EMAP share options, a good salary and a lovely pension. Please think about this if you want to be rich. Ownership is not the most important thing. IT IS THE ONLY THING THAT COUNTS.

Shareholder thanks do not count. A good salary and a company car and health plan and pension don't count. Most-share options (usually nothing more than the promise of chickenfeed to salaried employees, and a promise broken half the time, too), don't count. The gratitude of colleagues doesn't count. Nothing counts but what you own in the race to get rich. If you haven't much skill, or much wit, or much talent, or much luck, and yet you insist on owning more than your fair share of any start-up or acquisition, then you can become rich. If you take what you're given, you will probably not get rich.

Years ago, in the early days of my company, four of my colleagues got together and demanded a share. They were polite and civilized about it. They pointed out that I owned 100 per cent of the company and could easily afford to share out, say, 20 per cent between them. It wouldn't cost me anything and it was only fair. Those were the words they used. They were working just as many hours (10-12 hours on a good day) as I was and they were committed to making the company a huge success. They were even willing to discuss a slight reduction in their salaries in return. In addition, they went on, I should remember that such a 'dispersal' (I remember they actually used that word, too) would incentivize them mightily. Such a gesture would never be forgotten. And my remaining 80 per cent of the company would ensure that I was still the boss. However, should I not 'disperse' these shares among them, they intended to leave. And leave immediately, virtually without notice. They would have no option but to do so, although they didn't want to. The company would suffer dreadfully - and might even fail altogether. They would set up as rivals. They were serious and they meant business. All of this unpleasantness could be avoided if I would just hand over a pitiful 20 per cent to them, perhaps based on future performance? Both as friends and colleagues, they earnestly advised me to consider their demands dispassionately and honestly. In my heart, they argued, I knew they were right. It was only fair.

I fired them on the spot. Or they walked away. I can't remember which - it didn't matter then and it doesn't matter now. What mattered is that I held on to every single share in my company. I would run the entire bloody company myself, write the articles, design the pages, answer the phone and sell the ads if I had to. But I would not part with a single, solitary share. Not for love. Nor for fairness. Not for loyalty. Not for anything. And certainly not for moral blackmail. They set up their new company. They launched their magazine. Either it folded or they gave it away, I don't remember now. Two of them came back to work for me. There were no recriminations. I am on friendly terms with all four of them to this day. Not one of them ever got rich. Nor ever will, I guess.

Over the next thirty years, I estimate that their suggested 20 per cent, had I handed it over, would have earned those four gentlemen around $80,000,000 - say it again - eighty million dollars, in current asset value and past dividends. This is the problem with sharing ownership. The laws of simple mathematics are relentless and obdurate. And if I had given 20 per cent to those four employees, should I not have had to do so with many others as they joined the company and worked hard to make it a success? Where would it all end?

The best kind of fairness is the kind that makes money. Lots of money. Then you can decide to do with it whatever you wish. -> You make that giant piece of money and you can have a handsome share of that (the new revenue, not the ownership of future and past revenue indiscriminately)

Say you have a brother and you want to start a business together. You should begin with the proposition that you will own the business and he will work for it. Fight for this tenaciously. Begin by assuming it. If that won't fly, then absolutely insist that you own 75 per cent of the shares. The reasons are immaterial. Make a spurious list of them and wave it about. Say you won't go into business unless you own the majority share. Have a temper tantrum. Shout. Scream. Wave the bloody bit of paper about again. Say you'll work longer hours. Say you will find more capital than he will. Say anything. But GET A BIGGER SHARE OF THE COMPANY FOR YOURSELF.

Then, and only then, should you return to being a reasonable human being. You can now afford to be reasonable. You are going to be richer than your brother. Perhaps a lot richer. It is as simple and as vile and as nasty as that. Would I do it to my brother, Julian, whom I love very much? Yes. In a heartbeat, if I had to. Would I give my brother all the money I ever made if he needed it? Yes, I would. But I WILL NOT GIVE HIM A SHARE IN MY COMPANY!

Because ownership isn't the important thing. If you want to be rich, it's the only thing

For partnerships that split shares: the partnership held, and has always reflected just two principles as far as sharing the pie was concerned. These are: 1.Who is putting what capital into a venture? 2.Who is doing what work on that venture?

why am I so insistent upon outright ownership, or, at the very least, as much as you can wangle? It's simple. I could always walk away from the partnership with Peter and Bob if we fell out. I had my own company doing my own thing under my own control three thousand miles away. And I believe the same has been true for them. Despite our close friendship and real affection for each other, this knowledge, that any one of us could walk away from the others if he wished, that illusion of freedom - if illusion it was - made it possible to compromise with each other when things got tough in our partnership business.

I hope that you too, dear reader, will one day be lucky enough to find such partners and enjoy similar success. But my earnest advice is that you establish yourself first, retaining as much control of any start-up or acquisition as you can, and then, and only then, seek pastures new with partners in the picture. That's a great way to spread risk.

Why else is ownership so vital to anyone who wants to get rich? Ownership buys you the luxury of time.

Ownership means never having to waste time saying sorry that a business didn't work out. It means not having to spend weeks and weeks trying to persuade your partners that a certain course of action is necessary. It means that, for better or worse, you can concentrate on building the business and making money. Or losing it without the added burden of guilt.

I have owned companies with minority shareholders. I cannot pretend that they were not a burden. Let me explain by way of example. Should I wish the company we co-own to invest all its profits for three years to build itself, a minority shareholder might (understandably) complain: 'It's all right for you. But I depend on the dividends the company would pay me if we did not invest so much. I want to protest at your investment strategy.' Then begins a long, tortuous affair of meetings and spreadsheets and jockeying for position. Not because I could not force the issue. But because to force the issue will waste a lot of precious time and energy. Even more time and energy than those endless meetings will take. Time is the only thing we cannot replace, apart from our health and our lives. I resent wasting a moment of it

In most of mankind, gratitude is merely it secret hope for greater favours.

Share the annual pie. Not the LLC.

Use the annual profits of a company to grow the business by all means. One of the ways of making it grow is to carefully craft bonuses for those who work for you to achieve margin, cost and revenue targets. This is a great idea even if you are going short at the time yourself and your sales manager is earning more than you are that year. Sounds crazy? Well, it worked for me!

when it comes to a sale, when you cash in your asset for big bucks, then I dispute the necessity (or even the fairness, not that life is fair) of handing over substantial chunks of the big bucks to people who did not risk their cash or livelihoods to create the business.

I have had many, many employees whom my company encouraged and groomed over several years suddenly leave my company for a wonderful position elsewhere. Often without a second thought. Nor did I blame them one iota. To the contrary, I am proud, as proud as Lucifer, that we have been able to offer them the opportunity to grow and excel and build their skills to the point that they have been poached by a rival. I love them all. I'm proud of them. But neither they, nor their ex-colleagues still at my company, deserve a piece of the asset pie. Employees work for a salary. That salary is guaranteed. They are also awarded pension contributions from their company and, in some instances, health care and other perks. They risked nothing but a small potential embarrassment when they applied for the job in the first place. They are not owners. The financier John Paul Getty put it best half a century ago: The meek shall inherit the earth, but not the mineral rights

There are exceptions, of course. Important exceptions. Very senior managers who turned down attractive offers from elsewhere to stay with the company and grow it, perhaps. Very long-term employees. Key employees who made a crucial difference to the viability and growth of the particular asset about to be sold. They should certainly be considered for a piece of the asset-sale pie, but generosity should be tempered with the facts set out above concerning risks and rewards.

For whatever reason, a surprising number of first-class employees (managers or otherwise) are not overly motivated by money. They want security, or respect, or the chance to learn or the opportunity to shine. Often they require little more than a decent salary in a company where they feel motivated and valued.

Make annual bonuses generous. If you want your managers to concentrate on improving margin and profitability while growing the business, then they have to feel the light is worth the candle. Pay them well for performing well.
'Ring fence' investment costs from 'ongoing' business. You want the business to grow but you also want to make profits. Balance is the key. By 'ring fencing' all investment money for new projects and growth in your annual accounts, you can encourage managers to work on margin and profit from their 'ongoing' parts of the business while offering them the chance to grow and take some risk. This equation requires patience and goodwill on all sides. But it can be done, and it works
At senior level, insist on collective responsibility for bonuses. Part of the annual incentive bonus for senior managers should result from their combined efforts to bring home the bacon. One cannot make a senior manager's whole bonus rest on this edifice. But peer pressure is a powerful force. If senior managers sense one of their number is slacking and fear they may all suffer for his or her transgressions, they are likely to let their feelings be known. Forcefully.
Keep costs down. Always. 'Overhead walks on two legs' and will eat you out of house and home. No company, new or old, can avoid 'Stealth' growth in overhead. It occurs, as it were, by osmosis. Prune overhead regularly. Stop only when the pips squeak.
Avoid all 'jollies', the generic British term for flying the sales team to Florida in winter to 'boost morale' and issue tub-thumping speeches, all of which are forgotten the second the crew hit the beach. You can't afford 'jollies'. Ignore protestations from sales managers to the contrary. A day set aside in a quiet environment, prepared for carefully, to assist sales teams improve their presentations to clients, is sensible. As is sales training from reputable training agencies.
Offer legal perks that you have paid for yourself to employees. This sounds crazy, but it works. I allow my employees, for example, the use of my Rolls-Royces or Bentleys for their weddings. I permit them to stay at my homes around the world if they have performed well. I send every child born to an employee (well, I used to in the early days - there are too many of them now) a massive soft toy. Such perks are legal because I paid for them myself from after-tax dollars or pounds.
Set an example. If, as an owner, yon want fancy furniture in your office or works of art or Persian rugs, then bloody well pay for them yourself. How can you expect frugality when a junior manager, who works in a cubicle, comes to visit you, knowing that the company paid for those accessories? There is nothing wrong with them being there. It's who paid for them that counts.
Encourage senior managers to go over annual results with you oneon-one. You will learn more from off-the-cuff remarks and opinions expressed at one-on-one meetings while looking over financial results than you will in a dozen board meetings. This tactic never fails to produce food for thought, often on both sides.
Back up your managers. With delegation comes responsibility. Back up your managers, in public, whenever and wherever you have to. If they do not perform, speak seriously in private to them. If they still do not perform, fire them. But do not undercut them or engage in meetings that appear to undercut them. Reprimand other managers who bad-mouth their peers. Nearly everyone's ego and self-confidence is more fragile than the outside world believes.
Search out and promote talent. Talent comes in all shapes and sizes and is often inarticulate and shy. Talent isn't necessarily the woman in the Calvin Klein suit who talks-the-talk and bamboozles meetings with stunning graphics on her PowerPoint presentation. Talent is often to be found dressed in T-shirts down in the lower reaches of your organisation. Set a bounty on talent among managers. When you find it, test it. Groom it. Work it until it's ready to drop. Load it with more work and responsibilities. Praise it. Reward it. It will make you loads-a-money
Interview your rivals' talent. I have never known a single person in a rival organization, however well paid or cosseted, who has refused to meet me for a quiet drink after work. I have discovered more about what my rivals are up to in this manner than any other. In addition, I have often been so impressed with the people I met in this way that I poached them later. No intelligence-gathering exercise is ever entirely wasted in business. There is only so much pie. Talent bakes that pie.
Save a little bit of pie for suppliers. Save a little of the annual pie to wine and dine key suppliers. Or let them wine and dine you. If you like them enough, invite them to your home. We all remember to call often upon our major customers. But it is worth remembering suppliers. And they often have important market information.
Never bad-mouth rivals. It's a sign of stupidity and weakness. I try to go out of my way to praise my rivals when I can. Often enough they deserve praise and they're sure to learn about my comments sooner or Later
Sell early. Real money rarely come from horsing around running an asset-laden business if you are an entrepreneur. You are not a manager, remember? You are trying to get rich. Whenever the chance comes to sell an asset at the top of its value, do so. Things do not keep increasing in value for ever. Get out while the going is good and move on to the next venture. More money is usually lost holding onto an asset than is made waiting for the zenith of its value. I should know - it's my own biggest defect.
Never miss an opportunity to promote your asset.

THE JOYS OF DELEGATION - Work is of two kinds: first, altering the. position of matter at or near the earth's surface relatively to other such matter; second, telling other people to do so. The first is unpleasant and ill paid; the second is pleasant and highly paid.

The exercise of delegation, used responsibly, allows you to bring out the best in others and to make yourself rich in the process. It is the nearest thing to a 'virtuous circle' imaginable

Just imagine getting rich while you're helping others to help you get richer and prove their worth in the process. Magic!

If you do not own the company, or a part of it, then it is possible you are only a senior manager because you like power. It is not true of everyone, of course. But often enough. You like bossing people about. You enjoy telling them what to do. If that is the case, then you might be understandably reluctant to delegate real power or opportunity

Office politics can take up astonishing amounts of time. They increase the number of sick days' in a department - which is often a good indication that a toad is in charge and needs to be winkled out of its hole.

Especially in the early days of your company, delegation and promotion are among your most powerful weapons to get rich. Men and women with spirit will be prepared to leave safe, comfortable jobs and work for you, providing the atmosphere of the new operation is loaded with optimism, adventure, the sweet scent of delegation and the promise of promotion.

If you are bad at keeping records and filing and tend sometimes to shoot from the hip, for example (that sounds a familiar description!) then bring in people who have the organizational skills that you lack and who tend to be of a more even disposition. It's so easy to delegate important work to people who arc similar in temperament and skill-sets to you, or to promote them. So easy and so wrong.

Any leader will tell you of the importance of morale. And it is important. It cannot compensate for sloppy work, or for lack of persistence or belief in yourself. It cannot compensate for a lack of determination to succeed or for ill fortune. Nonetheless, good morale, a pervasive feeling of 'us against the world', combined with the promise of responsible delegation and promotion based on achievement, can move mountains. And under those mountains is gold. Your gold.

I see a young man trying too hard, but not delegating enough.

I wasn't being paid for the hours I kept. Miners rarely get rich.

By making myself the chairman of all my companies, I can choose to attend or not attend senior management or board meetings as it suits me. On average, I will attend four to six such meetings a year for each company. The chair is usually taken in my absence by the MD, the president or the CEO, Verbatim minutes are taken. (I do read all the minutes of these meetings very carefully, and I can get a mite cross if diey are not produced promptly and accurately. For me, they are not a memorandum of past events. They are a tool to understanding current positions.) I also have Ian Leggett, my personal financial manager as well as my group CFO, placed on all these boards. If I am not present, you can be sure he is.

My vetoes are carefully explained and very well known to all of my executives, who agree to abide by them before they join the board. It's a short list, but has worked well for many years. Without my express permission:

1.They may not vote anyone on or off the board.

2.They may not physically move the headquarters of the company.

3.They may not dispose of, or shut down, any substantial asset.

4.They may not purchase, or launch, any substantial new product or business.

5.They may not award themselves bonuses or salary increases.

That's it. No more vetoes. Within those guidelines, the managers of my companies are free to get on with their jobs, grow the business and reach the margin return agreed upon at the beginning of the year.

If things go wrong in a particular part of the business, then I will get involved. When we are about to launch, sell or close something, I am always involved.

It is important to distinguish between delegation and abandonment. Absentee landlords never prosper. I am not absent. But I am not exactly toiling with the troops side by side, every minute of every day.

To be honest, I suspect my managers prefer it that way. They certainly get to take more scary decisions more often. And that's half the thrill of their job, I hope. As our senior management turnover rate is one of the lowest in the industry, and has been for years, my system must have something going for it.

One thing I do to compensate for this style of ownership is to look hard for signs of excellent work. When I spot it on one of our websites, or in a magazine, or from management minutes or financial results, I drop a handwritten note to whoever is responsible. And I do it often.

Why do I do things this way? Because I have a life and intend to lead it. Because I have discovered that many, many people are better managers than I am. Because I have learned that obsessive micromanagement scares away talent. And most of all, because I learned to delegate a long time ago and to accept that you must allow young managers the opportunity to make mistakes without crushing them or blaming them when things go wrong. (You can always fire them if they make the same error over and over.)

But have you ever considered how the growth of such devices has conspired to damage and corrupt delegation in the workplace? If you go on holiday or a business trip and keep obsessively in touch via a mobile phone or Blackberry with the office, what does that say about your management style? About the trust you have in your colleagues 'minding the ranch'? It says you don't trust them. It says you cannot delegate meaning

You just can't do it on your own. You need to create an environment. Stupid people are easy to hire. The world is full of stupid people. Many of them are extremely pleasant and will give you a lovely smile every morning. But such people will not add to your wealth. In the early days, you should avoid them like the bubonic plague. What you need are clever, cunning and adept people. But why would clever, cunning and adept people work for a mug like you? Simple. There are many clever, cunning and adept people who are risk averse. Believe it or not, much, much cleverer people than you will come and work for you if you ask them.

Providing you can pay much cleverer but risk-averse people properly, and promote them and lead them in such a way that they are all rowing in the same direction, they will sign on to your little ship.

Never choose an important employee or a key supplier alone. - Get others to interview them
Call non-provided references. Meet their previous employer
Your company's salaries must be competitive. Bonuses should be more than competitive, they should be tempting, generous and based ruthlessly on meritocracy and delivery. That's the way to get employees to really focus. You don't want people to apply to work for you because of the salaries on offer - they should be driven by other desires. But if a salary isn't commensurate with the market, potential winners will not be able to afford to work for you.
Be alert for 'cross overs'. Many times I have been interviewing someone for a job and realized that they are not suitable for the job in question. However, the candidate would be perfect in another position in my company. Never mind that that position is currently filled. (All positions in your company, except your own, are temporary.) These 'cross overs' occur often. Be alert for them. Nothing pleases a candidate who has failed to get a particular job more than being contacted some time later and offered a job out of the blue. It is like a vindication and they will almost certainly say 'yes' if the job title and money matches or exceeds their current position.
Don't leave senior employees in any job too long. If this happens, as it has in my companies occasionally, it means you are not focusing on that business. You will get the most out of any senior employee in their first year or two in a new position. After that, they enter a 'comfort zone'. Do you really want them to be comfortable? If a man or woman heads up one of your companies and has been there too long, consider asking them to create a new division or company for you. But do not leave them to quietly go to seed - they will get bored and resign anyway, if they're any good.
Only hire an external person who is 30% better than an internal. People don’t write flaws on their resume, you know your internal person’s flaws but not the external person’s.

Competition - Here comes another wannabe or a great big corporation. They like the look of what you've been baking in the kitchen, and decide to bake something very similar. They want to put you out of business.

'Competition is all that makes capitalism bearable.' Without rigorous competition, all forms of Western-based societies would soon be ruled, not by parliaments or their equivalent, but by fat, bloated and impregnable monopolies.

Obviously you're not old enough to remember the days before rationing ended. Or the days before Freddie Laker introduced the concept of cheap air travel. British Airways and their American cousins ruled the roost at the time, and charged whatever the hell they wanted to charge for you to fly. They had virtually no competition. You paid up, or you stayed grounded

Or perhaps you cannot recall when the GPO (the General Post Office), was in charge of telephone communications - which were then hived off to British Telecom in a bogus 'public-flotation'. They, too, had no competitors. 'You'd like a new phone in your flat? Certainly, madam. That will be loadsa-money up front and we'll come to install it at our convenience - shall we say in four months?' Four months if you were lucky, that was. And if you didn't complain.

Britain in the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s and much of the 1980s was ruled by a combination of monopolistic, undemocratic unions who spent all day armwrestling with a bunch of monopolistic, undemocratic nationalised industries. British citizens never got a look in. The word 'customer' was alien to almost everyone involved,

Competition is the heart, soul, liver, lungs and kidney of the beast we call Western capitalism. How you react to it, how you face up to it, defines whether you can stay rich, and probably whether you can get rich at all.

Challenge your suppliers with competition. Good suppliers respect attention to detail. At the beginning of a relationship, everything will usually be hunky-dory. Later, hidden or unacceptable costs may creep in. Challenge them. Constantly request quotes from your supplier's rivals. Demand refunds if a supplier screws up, based not on the cost of the goods or services, but the financial consequences of the screw-up.

It has always amazed me how kind many suppliers are if you speak to them on the level. It's the King and ducking and diving, the wasting of their time calling you and never having their calls returned that really gets their goat. (They probably knew you were going to go belly up before you did.) Don't play it like that. Play it straight. Be honest with them and show them you're doing your best.

Misc

A limited liability company is a legal entity. In theory, it is immortal. It has rights and duties just as you do. It cannot be used as a personal milk cow for you to plunder at will. You can certainly milk it, but only within reason, only when there is enough milk to do so, and only in certain ways. If you deviate from permitted methods, you can get yourself in a whole heap of trouble very quickly.

Wealth makes many demands and, by the time you have acquired it, you will be prey to certain habits. You will fear to lose it and must spend a great deal more time to defend it. No one is 'independent' of the human race. 'No man is an island entire of itself, every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main.'' No luxury of freedom for rich little you. You will be too busy keeping the sea from washing away the sand you have spent so long collecting at such terrible cost to your health and your sanity and your relationships with others. It is always thus. There is no escape. You believe (I know you do) that it will be different for you. But it won't be. It never is. And I have yet to meet a single really rich happy man or woman - I have met many rich people. The demands from others to share their wealth become so tiresome, and so insistent, they nearly always decide they must insulate themselves. Insulation breeds paranoia and arrogance. And loneliness. And rage that you have only so many years left to enjoy rolling in the sand you have piled up.

It is my belief that children do not care if parents are rich or poor, providing there is enough money for basic essentials like food, clothing and shelter. What they care about is unconditional love. That is the only key

Never stop looking for talent and promoting talent. This single suggestion will keep anyone rich. Talent is all most companies consist of. Talented people are crucial to keeping your company humming right along and growing. As the owner, you have the right to seek out talent, both inside and outside of your company. You have the right to insist it is promoted or hired. Make use of that last right. If you get known for making use of it, the talent will start coming to you.

You must lead. You have employed a bunch of talented boys and girls who are smarter than you. Great. But you are their leader. If you sniff an opportunity, then get them to consider it. If they prevaricate, call a meeting and brainstorm. If they still won't get excited, then take the project into your private office or somewhere else and begin it there.

Try to sell before you have to. You're an entrepreneur. Your companies are not your 'babies', they are tools for acquiring wealth. Try to sell them before they peak. Buyers require what is called 'blue sky' (further growth) to get excited and offer a great price.