The title of this lecture is the same as that of the 1939 motivational and business classic before it was renamed, “Think and Grow Rich” during the production phase. I highly recommend it for reading.
In 1914, steel tycoon, Andrew Carnegie, once the richest man in the world, commissioned Napoleon Hill to interview 500 of the richest and most influential men of the time to glean from them common and practical success principles anyone could adopt and achieve a similar rate of success. These 500 included Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, W.H. Woolworth, J.P. Morgan, J.D. Rockefeller, Richard Sears, William Wrigley, Charles Schwab and presidents Theodore Roosevelt, Herbert Hoover, Woodrow Wilson and Frederick Delano Roosevelt. The project took 25 years to complete, and in that time Napoleon Hill ascended to an adviser to Presidents Herber Hoover, Woodrow Wilson and Franklin D. Roosevelt. His classic is now among the most widely read in the success literature genre and promoted as “required reading” for anyone wishing to attain riches by a number of contemporary millionaires and billionaires, including; Bill Gates, Michael Dell, Oprah Winfrey and Warren Buffett.
Seeking to reach the attention of the common man, “Science” in the title was changed to “Think”. “Success” in the title was changed to “Grow Rich” for it describes success as it really is as a process, and it was specific to the predominant concerns of men surviving The Depression Era. In it, Napoleon Hill had purported to have discovered the “Science” or formula for success in any endeavor. After talking to 500 men over 25 years, I would bet that he had gained a more defined understanding of what it takes than any of the individual 500 samples who were in the 1% and by no accident.
Why was “Science” changed to “Think” if not at its rudimentary definition, Science is nothing but methodical thinking? It begins with questions, then researching current answers to those questions, developing a then educated guess to any remaining questions, and next beginning to test those hypotheses through experimentation and interpreting the results to finally add to those findings in our database of collective knowledge about our world on just about everything therein. This is called the “Scientific Method”. Science arises from its Latin root “scientia” which means “to know” or “knowledge”. As you’ll see, knowledge is indeed power. But to gain knowledge, one must be curious and think. It brings opinions and biases to trial. It is thinking educatedly.
Between starting your business and becoming a success, not everything is going to be figured out for you, even in an established and time-tested industry. Technology is rapidly upending many traditional rules and new ones will have to take their place. Even in an established industry, it will still be incumbent upon you to set your business apart in the marketplace, which will require innovation, creativity and daring as you decide what it is that you will bringing to the market that is different, better, and new if you hope to remain competitive. To figure out these unanswered questions, one must know how to think educatedly or how to practice science, for business is indeed a science as well as it is an art form.
Guessing in ignorance and then making plans upon that can be disastrous, costly and unnecessary. When it comes to selling your business concept to investors, you will be expected to be able to back up your claims with hard facts and evidence as a lawyer would trying to win a case in the courtroom. It is difficult to argue with science except for with science itself.
Therefore, the scientific method you may have learned in high school at the latest applies to business as well. It must become an integral method by which you conduct your business. Not even after researching and constructing your Baldwin Business Institute business plan will you have all the answers. What you will have is a neat and focused framework within which to practice your science. It should have within it more intelligent questions than answers which will be solved in the implementation of each objective as you move on to working your plan after planning your work. Because of this, only after starting your business will you be able to refine your business plan as you go through the process of business. Your business plan, therefore will never be complete and it can only get better with time and experience. The focus in the beginning should then be to only create a solid logistical foundation for your science and then you’re on your way. It will point your intentions in the right direction toward success.
Think of it this way; there are two ways to learn, by instruction and then by experience and both have their place. Learning by instruction gives wisdom to learn more safely by experience. Remember Driver’s Ed, and the classroom time you had before you ever got behind the wheel? While you may have still been nervous, you knew what to look out for and conceptually what to do step-by-step. You knew the difference between the gas and the brake pedal, the gear shift and the emergency brake. This is the intention behind The Baldwin Business Institute. However, instruction does not take the place of learning by real-world experiences. Mark Twain is famous for writing, “Don’t let your boy’s schooling interfere with your education.” When you learn by instruction and study, you are a student. When you learn by experience, practice, trial and error, you are a disciple, from which the word, “discipline” arises. To learn thoroughly, you must be a student and a disciple in order to achieve mastery. In fact, the very definition of a professional is one who studies his/her craft toward mastery. Therefore, you could invest tens of thousands of dollars in debt or out of your own pocket in exchange for generic instruction at the business school at Georgia State. While great information, you would still need to figure out on your own how to apply these lessons to your business concept, and you won’t need everything you’ll be graded on to get that degree. Or you could join the workshop at The Baldwin Business Institute and get only as much instruction as you’ll basically need tailored to your business concept and then allow yourself to go learn by experience, practice, trial and error. So in essence, consider the first 10 years of your business as though you are in school. It takes about as long to earn your doctorate and become a physician or attorney. Though at the end of 10 years, you will have graduated the owner of a successful business, while the student will have graduated with an MBA you can then hire to work for your business. Compare the tuition the student has spent with your startup expenses and you may come out spending less. If the student can find the money to earn a degree, you can certainly find the money to start and own a business.
As a benchmark for graduation at the end of ten years, a basic and achievable goal would be a net worth in excess of $1 million and personal annual income in excess of $100K. A standard map of your goals should look something similar to this:
- The Freshman Quarter (Year 1-3) Set up. Get started. Begin making money. (Associates Degree)
- The Sophomore Quarter (Year 4-6) Systematize. Go full time. (Bachelors Degree)
- The Junior Quarter (Year 7-9) Become an established feature within your market. Excellence. Industry/Market Leadership. (Masters Degree)
- The Senior Quarter (Year 10-12) Have accounting in the Black and achieve a net worth in excess of $1 million and personal income in excess of $100K>>>GRADUATION!!! Expand, sell, franchise or go public. (Doctorate Degree)
To treat your first ten years like school will require you to use the scientific method to learn how to perform your business most effectively through experimentation and examination. When you do this, there is no such thing as failure. When you’re not winning, you’re learning. “I have not failed. I just found 10,000 ways that don’t work.” -Thomas Edison.
So let’s refresh the scientific method:
Step #1- Ask a question. When it comes time to execute any part of your business plan, the most common question is “How?” then “What factors are involved?”
Step #2- Research, Google, visit the library, ask-a-friend (a good source), visit Nielson.com, census.gov, The Bureau of Labor Statistics ( bls.gov ), The Small Business Administration ( SBA.gov ), The Wall Street Journal, and array of business and industry magazines and websites, conduct your own polls, surveys, questionnaires and focus groups to compile as much information as you can that might answer your questions and always scrutinize your sources. Are they any common bits of information being repeated? Does some findings explain other reports in more depth? Write a report summarizing your findings.
Step #3- Hypothesize. From your research, guess an answer to your questions. What parts of your research supports your guess? Even better, debate your guess with a friend who has not done the research who will grill you with logical questions. Have a partner do research independent of you and then come together to see if there are any differing findings or conclusions and then debate them to refine your hypothesis. Once you have a refined hypothesis, how could you test out your guess on your business and how would you be able to verify that it is true or at least valid with supporting evidence? What do you assume will happen? This must all go on a report.
Step #4-Experiment. Develop a method by which to test your hypothesis and ways to gather and measure data, first in a closed, controlled and simulated environment and then in the real world. Are the results duplicable? What’s the formula? (2 slices of white Wonder Bread, a tablespoon of jam and a tablespoon of peanut butter makes the best PB&J by popular opinion.) Consumer studies, taste tests and polls are examples of the closed, controlled and simulated phase called the laboratory phase of experimentation, and sample participants are carefully selected to represent the proportion of diversity within the target market.
If the hypothesis is verified at this stage, proceed to testing it in the real world, called the trial phase while you measure and gather data so that you can interpret the results. You see this implemented when McDonald’s releases a new menu item in select stores for a limited time to see how the republic responds to it. If the hypothesis fails at the laboratory or trial phase, the next question is “Why?” and then start back at Step #1 if you have no idea, or come up with a new hypothesis and start at Step #3.
Step #5- Conclusion and Inclusion. After several run throughs in the experimental phase, what conclusions can you arrive at and how can this knowledge be included in your business plan and execution strategy? Does it change anything? What projections can you make with this inclusion, which then becomes another long range hypothesis and experiment you will evaluate at a later time. Make it then part of your plan and then work your plan.
As you solve for “X” and find the science of success for your business, know there is indeed a science to this. There is a science to everything. You just have to methodically solve for it. If you are sitting down in a chair, there are geometric and physical laws at work that permit it to hold your body. Science knows these laws so that it can produce hundreds and thousands of them just the same. There is a discovered formula. There is a science to walking, a science to eating, even something as seemingly random as a storm has a science in its definite causes which if acknowledged, the storm could be predicted long before it ever develops. The science of success for your business is the real gold you are looking for. When you find it, then you are able to systematize your business and make it produce like clockwork. A business is not what you really want to own. What you want to own is a system, which can be duplicated, expanded and patented as trade secrets. The science you discover will be your intellectual property, which has real value to investors. Once you have turned your science into intellectual property, you can sell it, rent it out, and that is where the big wealth is. This is where we’re talking at least millions, if not billions. Your scientific questions can be exactly that, million dollar questions.
What is a problem that you can solve for others?
How?...Now go find your gold and make an adventure of it.
This has been another preparatory lesson for those who want to get ready to tackle their business vision head on with The Baldwin Business Institute thebaldwinbusinessinstitute.eventbrite.com and want to get entrepreneurially fit to maximize their results, for these lessons will not be covered in class. Summer Class starts, Saturday, June 24th. Registration deadline is June 10th. There is a 10 student limit. Don't procrastinate.
Think & Grow Rich Documentary
No comments:
Post a Comment