139. Not Now

Dear Erik,

I recently listened to a podcast entitled ‘I love marketing’ in which a successful American entrepreneur interviews other entrepreneurs. About a quarter of the time, they are saying how good they are, but the remaining three-quarters of the time is always (for me) very inspiring.

This time David Bach was interviewed, who built a flourishing company over 25 years mainly focused on financial advice for women. He is also the author of ‘The Automatic Millionaire’ and several other best sellers.

His story is very inspiring and tells exactly the same story as in column 137, but also the opposite. What you need to do to make your business successful. According to David his success, among other things, is due to the following:

1. A strong passion. He wants to help as many women as possible to become financially independent,
2. He worked day and night. Organized presentations at numerous venues for very small audiences,
3. He applied for 10 years to be on the Oprah Winfrey show and only succeeded after 10 years,
4. He travelled the entire country giving lectures and promoting his services,
5. He constantly adapted and improved until he was eventually discovered and appreciated by a large audience,
6. He overcame an enormous amount of resistance, because nobody believed in the potential for success.

One particular aspect was examined in greater detail and that was agreeing to third-party requests. Acquaintances, business associates, other entrepreneurs, people in your network are always asking for favors that are hard to refuse, but can take a lot of time to complete. Possible opportunities and other activities which you spend your time on as an entrepreneur may turn out to be important, but yield nothing in relation to the goals you’ve set. It was made clear how important it is to politely refuse many of these requests, because in the first place you are responsible for the welfare of your own business and do not have the time to provide a service to everyone without limits. With regard to all such activities and opportunities that present themselves endlessly and which are perhaps fun or interesting, they also suggested that you have to let them be.

As an example, they mentioned the CEO of Uber. He declines all requests for interviews, lectures, and seminars. All possible ideas and opportunities that are not directly applicable to his company are written down and taped to a bulletin board titled ‘Not Now’. The enormous focus that he exhibited has undoubtedly led to the current success of Uber, along with his tremendous perseverance. Before Uber was a success, they had a long period when no money was made and the outcome was very uncertain. How many people can and are willing to be so one hundred percent focused?

Sincerely,

Gerard