I think if you were to ask most people why they go into business, it is because they want to be rich (in most cases anyway) or at least have a better lifestyle. And I have always been fascinated about how people build up businesses from scratch and end up growing them to create multi million pound fortunes and empires.
What excites me about people like that is not the money (yeah right), but more what is the motivation behind them and what do they do to make themselves achieve great things. To quote a wonderful phrase; ‘If you do what other people are doing, you’ll get what other people getting’.
One such person that I have read about over the years has been a famous old Scot called Andrew Carnegie. In 1901, Mr Carnegie sold his business in what was, at that time, the largest corporate takeover ever. He received almost £100,000,000 (roughly £40bn today) worth of bonds in the sale.
I read an article which caught my attention this week in which the author profiled the great man himself. In it is revealed the number 1 secret as to what Andrew Carnegie’s success in business could be attributed to. When I read what the secret was, I wasn’t surprised. But I did recognise that it’s what all our businesses need to be based upon. Sadly very few are actually doing it ‘The Carnegie Way’ believing that they know better.
Carnegie believed that being a member of a regular group of forward thinking business people who are driven to make their businesses successful was essential for his own success. They brainstormed, the connected, they supported; they understood each others businesses enough to help drive them forward.
A man named Charles Schwab worked for him and Carnegie claimed he was one of the smartest men he had ever known. They frequently met together to become even more successful. Each credited much of their success to the power of these sessions which they had developed in the steel industry (which of course was Mr Carnegie’s).
We can all create a business, that’s the easy part. It’s the building them up, that’s the real trick. This morning I met with a wonderful extremely rich business lady, who has built up several businesses from scratch and whose products graced the shelves of organisations like Boots and Semi-Chem in the whole of the UK. Amazingly she did this all from her spare bedroom in her house in Edinburgh. Her main business is now property and she has lots all over the central belt of Scotland.
I was inspired to hear her story, but the advice alone I got for having that time with her to talk about my business and what I wanted to with it was invaluable. You can imagine what that advice is worth to me and the POWER LUNCH CLUB, and I had it given to me over a cup of coffee…I am quite prepared to share it, if you want to know it too.
The point is this, on the 5th of November in Edinburgh and the 19th of November in Glasgow we have gathered together a room full of business people, company directors, and business owners who have both started businesses and many who have developed and grown their businesses to be highly successful. This is your opportunity to meet with them, get empowered to grow your own business and make them a business contact for you.
Tell yourself this, Andrew Carnegie and many other successful business people understood why it is important to meet together. Now ask yourself the question is it important to you to meet and have the right people giving you advice about how to grow your business? Or are you just not bothered?
If meeting together worked for one of the wealthiest people to ever live and who swore that it was crucial to his business success, then it can work for you. Winning in business is not an individual sport, it is a team sport and the sooner you get the right people on your team, the sooner you will achieve the success you want and deserve.