Hold or Fold - How to Run a Successful Enterprise.
Poker has become a national mania in the USA. Prize money is fast heading towards tens of millions of dollars in major world tournaments. Every young and old gambler wants to become the next poker superstar. With major TV coverage it is no surprise that it is so popular, but it is not only the prize money that is the lure. There is also instant stardom with corporate sponsorship.
It seems it is the easy route to fame and fortune. However, far more people will go broke than the few who will become millionaires. Even so, I do recommend people should watch a few poker games on TV, to examine the emotions of fear and greed close up and personal. It can be super training for pinpointing some of the basic requirements for managing a successful business.
Every successful businessperson acknowledges running a business requires the skills of knowing when to hold 'em and when to fold 'em. In other words, when to stand your ground to fight and when to surrender to greater forces, when the odds of winning are slim to none. From my experience of running a successful business for twenty-six years, ( I retired aged forty-six) it is best to walk away from deals where the risk outweighs the rewards.
One of the top cooperate businessmen in Japan once remarked that he would chew the deal and try to swallow it. If it did not digest easily, he would spit it out and start over again in a different direction. There are plenty of opportunities for the observant eye to spot. However, if a person gets stubborn, then becomes stuck on one idea, they may go broke before the business has a chance to blossom and bare fruit.
It is never a good idea to put all the eggs into one basket because if you drop the basket, you will only be left with scrabbled eggs and who wants to dine out on that every night?
Conducting a business should be a fun game. If there is too much debt, the fun will come to an abrupt halt and it becomes a serious game of keeping up the interest payments. That is a great way of making the finance companies rich and an even better way of scratching out a living before going broke. It is far better to start small, work harder and longer than the competition and keep debt to an absolute minimum. In fact if you set high standards for yourself there will be no need to compare yourself with the competition, for you will become a leader that the herd needs to follow.
Keeping your powder dry until it's time to explode it, will reap great rewards. Some people will tell you that lady luck has a hand in every deal. To some extent that may be true. I believe we all make our own luck by the way we think. Therefore, if you wait your moments of when to press your luck, you will clean up big pots of golden deals at the appropriate moments.
Time is on your side, for in every business there are various cycles of highs and lows. With experience you will be able to sense each cycle momentum. That's what sorts the winners from the losers.
When things turn sour in a recession, you will know to pull in the horns and keep the expenses as low as possible. That is when liquid companies who are debt free will pick up the best deals because cash becomes king.
As with poker, the one who holds the most money calls the tune and plays from a position of power. Now you may think the power of money and being the king at the top table is enough. If you do think that way, it will not be long before you are broke again, wondering where you went wrong.
They say pride comes before a fall. Getting to the top is only the beginning of being successful because you need to learn how to stay there. There will always be plenty of hungry hounds snapping at your heels, trying to take the bread out of your mouth.
One of the best lessons anyone can learn is to be unpretentious and caring when you are a success. Try to help other people to be a success in their businesses. That is the way to make real friends in the commercial world. Be charitable, be kind, be the type of person kids will use as a role model.
Your own credibility is your biggest asset. There can be no substitute for performing your activities in an honest and honorable manner, in every deal you execute. When people learn you can be trusted, it will become virtually inconceivable to fail, if you do not overstretch your resources.
Money can be won or lost in many deals. Nonetheless, if you come out on top, more times, than you lose, you will continue to grow your assets, whilst the herd stands in the wings applauding your great performance of knowing when to hold and when to fold.