Background to Think and grow rich

Think and Grow Rich is based on Napoleon Hill’s earlier work The Law of Success, the result of more than twenty years of research based on Hill’s close association of more than 500 men of great wealth during their lifetimes. This book was endorsed by many leading businessmen of the era and became a best seller.

“By applying many of the 17 fundamentals of the Law of Success philosophy we have built a great chain of successful stores. I presume it would be no exaggeration of fact if I said that the Woolworth Building might properly be called a monument to the soundness of these principles.” FW Woolworth

Andrew Carnegie believed that becoming successful in business was a skill that could be learned by anyone who applied the principles of success correctly. Hill was summoned to study these great achievers and developed 17 “laws” of success. Think and Grow Rich condenses these laws further and provides the reader with 13 principles in the form of a philosophy of personal achievement.

Here’s a summary of the 13 principles

1. Desire – The first step towards riches
2. Faith – Visualisation and belief in attainment of desire
3. Auto-suggestion – the medium for influencing the subconscious mind
4. Specialised knowledge – personal experiences or observations
5. Imagination – The workshop of the mind
6. Organised planning – The crystallisation of desire into action
7. Decision – The seventh step toward riches
8. Persistence – The sustained effort necessary to induce faith
9. The power of the master mind – The driving force
10. The mystery of sex transmutation
11. The subconscious mind – The connecting link
12. The brain – a broadcast and receiving station for thought
13. The sixth sense – the door to the temple of wisdom

The book has lots of stories about individuals who refused to compromise with life by accepting and keeping a job they did not want. Instead, they looked for opportunities to climb the ladder and did not allow temporary defeats to stop them in their ultimate goal. Henry Ford and Thomas A Edison are frequently used in examples by the author as both men had to over come insurmountable odds and set backs before achieving success.

Is this book useful and relevant today?

As Hill points out this book is not for reading once, but must be digested several times and reflected upon. Senior figures in business believed it should be adopted by all high schools and no boy or girl should be permitted to graduate without having satisfactorily passed an examination on it.

The word ‘think’ in the book’s title is key here as one of the most important principles in the book is the notion of directing your mind to whatever end you may choose. As Hill points out: “thoughts are things, and powerful things at that, when they are mixed with definiteness of purpose, persistence, and burning desire for their translation into riches, or other material objects.”

As an example, he tells the story of Edwin C Barnes who ‘thought’ his way into partnership with Thomas A Edison. One day Mr Barnes decided he wanted to become a business associate of Mr Edison. Without knowing Mr Edison or anyone connected to the inventor, he travelled by freight train to seek employment at Edison’s offices. After working in Edison’s office in low paid job for several months, Barnes patiently waited for an opportunity to advance his prospects of becoming a business partner with Edison.

When the opportunity arrived, it came disguised as misfortune or temporary defeat. Misfortune is one of the reasons why many give up at this point, as they fail to recognise an opportunity within it.

Mr Edison had just perfected the Ediphone (dictating machine). His salesmen were not convinced it would sell. Barnes saw this as an opportunity and demanded that he get the chance to sell it. This alliance proved so successful that, Edison gave him a contract to distribute and market it all over the nation, giving birth to the slogan, ‘Made by Edison and installed by Barnes.’ Needless to say this partnership made Barnes very rich.

The book is filled with similar stories to illustrate the application of the 13 principles. Some readers might find it hard to believe that ‘broadcasting’ one’s thoughts and desires (principle 12) to create conditions and opportunities for success would work for them. Furthermore, the notion of diverting one’s sexual energy (chapter 10) into their business ambitions too much to ask. Nonetheless, there is plenty evidence in the book to suggest these principles do work. The author also believes that most men reach the height of their intellectual and business powers between the ages of 40 and 60.

On a more pragmatic level, the author explains how successful men leave other skill sets and knowledge bases to others. For example, Andrew Carnegie knew little about the technical side to steel, instead he surrounded himself with a Master Mind group of fifty men who were experts in the manufacture and marketing of steel. Henry Ford had a similar Master Mind group to assist him with the specialised knowledge needed to pioneer in the motor industry. It is by organising and directing specialised knowledge through a plan of action that success can be achieved. Knowledge alone is not enough, it’s how you organise and apply it that counts.

This does not mean that one should become lazy and stop learning as Hill points out: “The person who stops studying because he has finished school is forever hopelessly doomed to mediocrity, no matter what may his calling. The way of success is the way of continuous pursuit of knowledge.” While personal development is noble it can only take you so far and there is no substitute for the wise counsel of associates – very few make it on their own.

Overall book is a worthwhile read, although Hill is sometimes guilty of making ridiculous statements, such as: “Bald-headed men are bald for no other reason than their fear of criticism”. Nonetheless, there are some valuable information and insights conveyed and the stories used to back up key points are interesting and inspiring, especially since many are accounts of men and women becoming successful after losing everything in The Great Depression or adverse circumstances.

In the present day motivational speakers like Douglas Vermeeren have continued Hill’s research and have expanded upon his efforts by including professions and circumstances that were not available in Hill’s day. For example, Vermeeren’s research includes celebrities, athletes, internet entrepreneurs and network marketing giants for example. The Napoleon Hill Foundation continues to promote Hill’s work and other motivational tools.

If you plan to read this book I would suggest you read the definitive version published by Ross Cornwell in 2004: Think and Grow Rich! The Original Version, Restored and Revised (ISBN 1-59330-200-2), which restored the book to its original content, with slight revisions, and added the first comprehensive endnotes, index, and appendix the book has ever contained. This version went into a third printing in 2008.

Below is short clip of Napoleon Hill taking about the book in his later years.

Tags: Andrew Carnegie, napoleon hill, think and grow rich

Attendees at The Business Grapevine event on the 30 July 09 were given a short talk on how to get their message across when speaking in public by Andrew Forbes from the The Rhetorical Company.

You can view Andrew’s talk in three parts below.

Tags: behaviour, memory, public, speaking

At our networking event on the 23 July at La Cantina, Edinburgh,  guest speaker Gerry Fitzgerald explained his plans to launch a new service to help those facing redundancy or business failure.

You can watch Gerry’s talk in two parts below.

If you would like more information about this service you can contact Gerry Fitzgerald on 07717 741288 or via our contact page and we will forward his email address to you.

Inspired leaders can fight crunch

Exceptional times demand exceptional leadership. And make no mistake about it, these are unprecedented times.

Our world is more joined up and interdependent than it has ever been before. Information spreads at digital speed and no economy is immune or unaffected by the force, velocity or impact that decisions can have.

Read the rest of this article here. René Carayol’s business view appeared in Business 7 newspaper on the 3 July 09.

The E-myth Revisited by Michael Geber

Why most small businesses don’t work and what to do about it. By Michael E Geber

Many people become self-employed for a variety of reasons or circumstances. However, if you focus on the wrong things in the business, it will eventually end in disaster. It might take five or ten years for this to happen but the day will come.

In becoming a one-man business they haven’t really created a business, they have merely created a job. The E-Myth means the entrepreneurial myth. The myth being that most people who start small businesses are entrepreneurs. The fatal assumption that an individual who understands the technical work of a business can successfully run a business that does that technical work.

The problem with many small business owners is that they end up doing the wrong kind of work. As a result, most of their businesses end up in chaos – unmanageable, unpredictable and unrewarding.

This book helps the self-employed or small businesses with how to plan and build a better business. A business that earns more money, and more importantly, a business that does not need the owner to be there all the time. Anyone would agree that your business should be just a part of your life and not consume all of it. Although, it is very easy for it to become the latter. This book shows how to avoid the pitfalls and what to focus on.

The author uses the dramatic device of using an interview with Sarah who is struggling to run her business, All about pies. Sarah has taken on all of the responsibilities in the business including the technical work – making the pies. Sarah soon realises from talking to the author that she must look at her business differently in order for her to achieve everything we wants for the business and her life. Once the author has explained that she must focus on systems and the components of the business rather than the technical work of the service. Sarah therefore, must stop making the pies and hire someone to bake them to her exact specifications, freeing her to manage the business.

However, it is not as simple as that. Sarah needs to make sure everything about the business works well and meets the customers’ expectations time after time. She needs to introduce a culture and systems that keep her staff motivated and all the components of the business working together for a common goal. She needs to plan for growth and manage any expansion effectively. The E-Myth gives an insight in what Sarah must consider if she wishes to do all this, and there is plenty to think about. It is an on going process that requires a lot of innovation and trial and error.

A business must start somewhere and in order to get established the owner will probably work long hours doing everything to get the business off the ground. However, you can’t live like that forever. This book provides advice and insights into how to leverage that kind of fledgling business into a mature one.

The thing is, managing a growing business is not easy and can be traumatic. This is because the owner is often not equipped with the knowledge on how to manage their business through the various challenges. Fear, ignorance and a lack of certain skills can stop the owner from talking the business to next level.

A growing business will usually take the owner out their comfort zone, and if they don’t like this, they will simply revert back to the stage in business they felt more comfortable. For example, downsize from 20 to 5 staff, or a size where the owner feels they have control over everything.

If really want to expand a business you need take on an entrepreneurial perspective and focus on the right areas. This book points out the subjects to address with a significant portion of the book devoted to franchising and creating a turn-key operation.

A turn-key operation is a business where anyone with the right training can take the keys to a business and run it successfully from day one. Operations like this have training manuals that have considered every detail of the business and perfected systems in place. These are then shared with a buyer or franchisee.

The favourite case study of business books, McDonalds, is used to demonstrate how to create a successful turn-key operation. While you may not respect the food they serve, you should respect it as a business, as everything is done to exacting standards and repeated the world over in 30,000 restaurants.

Even if you don’t wish to franchise your business you should manage and structure it as though it were the prototype for 5,000 more like it and make it a business that someone might want to buy. To achieve this the owner must introduce a interdependent program which consists of:

1. Your Primary Aim (overall life goals – what do you want out of life)
2. You Strategic Objective (define the goals for the business)
3. Your Organisational Strategy (create an organisational chart and define the roles for each person in the business, even if its just a few people)
4. Your Management Strategy (manage your business to achieve the best experience for your customers)
5. Your People Strategy (create the right culture for your staff)
6. Your Marketing Strategy (delivering a promise your customer wants to hear and doing it better than your competitors)
7. Your Systems Strategy (how to integrate the things, actions, ideas and information to produce a desirable result).

Many of the systems and ideas that you need to introduce into your business needn’t cost a fortune.

You can introduce staff handbooks to explain exactly how their jobs should be carried out and offer incentive schemes to motivate your employees. McDonalds for example, cook all their products to the exact same standards in all it restaurants to ensure the customer’s experience is always the same.

If you own a shop you could change how your staff greet your customers. For example we all usually hear “Good morning sir/madam, how can I help you?” The reply will often be, “I am just looking thanks!” Alternatively, the assistant could ask if they have ever shopped at the store before. If the customer says “yes” the assistant could reply, “May I show you this weeks special offers?” or if the customer says “no” a response could be, “May I show you around our store and help you find what you are looking for?” This approach would create more interaction between the customer and the business and consequently opportunities for sales.

Details like this, no matter how small can make a big difference in a business, and these are the responsibility of the owner. In the early days of McDonalds Ray Kroc would fuss over how long the fries stayed in the fryer, or how the pickles were placed on the burger – McDonalds still do this and nothing is left to chance. Everything is tried and test before becoming the standard at every restaurant on the planet.

How customers feel about your business is also crucial. Sometimes the experience of buying the product is more important than the product or service itself. We all know that the experience of staying in modest B&B is vastly different from a 5 star hotel – both are just beds for the night. Nonetheless, many people prefer the 5 start treatment because they want the experience. Again, the experience of the business is the responsibility of the owner and he or she will need to spend a lot time perfecting their customers’ experience.

I would recommend that novice business owners read this book. We I first read it, especially chapters such as ‘The Technician’s Phase’ it related exactly to my experience of being self-employed. On reading the book several times it has given me the basic tools for taking my business to the next level. I owe debt of gratitude to the business coach for recommending I read this book in the first place.

Tags: e-myth, mcdonalds, ray kroc

Richard Thomson of TW Associates delivers an interactive workshop on making the most of business networking at Chez Pierre, Edinburgh on the 19 May 2009. Parts two and three of this video can only be viewed by members of 6 Degrees Networking.

Tags: Business, development, hand, rapport, Richard Thomson, shakes

Edinburgh entrepreneur Shaf Rasul gave an informal talk at an event organised by the networking group www.business9am.co.uk on Wednesday 3 June 2009.

Mr Rasul explained to the guests that upon quitting his new job in a law firm in Glasgow (after graduating for Strathclyde University in corporate law) he chatted to an acquaintance on the train home about the IT industry.

This growing and dynamic sector appealed to Mr Rasul and he immediately set up Silicon Concepts in 1994 and subsequently won a six figure contract. Most people would never contemplate such an audacious venture since he knew little about IT and running a business. Mr Rasul didn’t have the financial resources to fulfil the contract either, but by hiring the right talent and managing the business effectively he succeeded. He pointed out that self-belief and a can do attitude was a massive factor in his early days of business.

The maxim of hiring people who are talented in a particular field is a favourite among many entrepreneurs (Felix Dennis for one) and Mr Rasul is no exception.

He also believes the business should have a good cashflow and avoid unnecessary processes. Mr Rasul often buys businesses that are struggling; cuts out the systems and processes he deems unessential; makes them successful then sells them for amazing profits. In one instance he sold a company he bought for £20K for £2million.

Mr Rasul is constantly investing in businesses and is now one the richest men in the country. He recently appeared on the online version of the BBC’s Dragons’ Den with Julie Meyer of First Tuesday and Skype fame.

While the budding entrepreneurs on the Dragons’ Den are happy to part with shares in their businesses for cash, Mr Rasul would never do the same. He would rather give the talented people he employs a profit share or pay a large salary. Again this is another belief held by other successful business people. Felix Dennis explains the importance of this in his book ‘How to get rich’.

Over the last decade Mr Rasul has invested in many businesses. Most have been successful while a few have failed. His recent online ventures include:

www.svp.co.uk (e-commerce site for electronic goods)

www.boffer.co.uk (one day only deals on consumer goods)

www.vuru.co.uk (social networking site)

www.geeks.co.uk (news and reviews about cool gadgets for men and women)

After a brief question and answer session the audience left the Assembly Rooms inspired by Mr Rasul’s achievements. Some were keen to talk to him about their business ideas or have a brief chat. Who knows, he may have found another business worth investing in that night.

Tags: Dragons' Den, Julie Meyer, Shaf Rasul

Chris Chirnside co-founder of 6 Degrees Networking answers questions from the guests at the group’s first official networking event on the 19 May 09 at Chez Pierre, Edinburgh.

Tags: 6 degrees, Chez Pierre, membership, questions

Chris Chirnside, co-founder of 6 Degrees Networking, explains more about membership at the group’s first official networking event on the 19 May 09 at Chez Pierre, Edinburgh.

Tags: 6 degrees, benefits, membership

On Wednesday 22 April 2009 I attended a selling and marketing seminar “Creating buyers in difficult markets’ organised by Scottish Enterprise. The venue was the Norton House Hotel, Edinburgh, UK.

It would be unfair to reveal all the compelling points made in the seminar, so I will highlight a few of key points that resonated the most with me.

After an introduction from Mark Hastings from Scottish Enterprise, 3 guest speakers took to the stage. First up was René Carayol (MBE). René is a broadcaster, columnist, business and leadership speaker. René’s compelling business philosophy is founded on his own board-level experience with brands such as M&S and Pepsi. Watch his show reel below. Read his biog here.

Many of René’s points in the seminar were drawn from his decade at Marks & Spencer (major British retailer). He recalls how staff and management ‘worshipped at the altar of St. Michael’. M&S and its sub-brand St Michael enjoyed huge success for 30 years without much marketing activity as customers were very loyal to the brand. UK citizens will be aware of problems at M&S and how it’s stores have struggled in recent years. M&S boss, Stuart Rose has made dramatic wholesale changes, which have improved performance but M&S has many challenges ahead from the major supermarkets and current economic climate. Utimately, M&S must continue to innovate and introduce new business models in order to survive.

With the current economic downturn, many businesses are in crisis and must re-invent themselves or improve their marketing and service to the customer. Such improvements needn’t cost a fortune. Free advertising and brand awareness can achieved using technology such as YouTube. David Holmes, a member of South West Airline’s cabin crew rapped the safety announcement which was posted on YouTube and watched by half a million viewers.

This flight attendant is definitely a brand ambassador. He would be a brand assassin if he did the announcement in slovenly way with no one really paying attention. By rapping the everyday task of the safety announcement he was able to add value to the flying experience with SWA and generate publicity around the world on YouTube, newspapers and blogs like this one.

Some passengers have said that his rap version made them listen to the safety announcement for the first time.

René asks if you and your staff are brand ambassadors or brand assassins, as having the wrong attitude can have negative impact on the business. As he adds:

“how can you reach altitude with the wrong attitude?”

Overall René is a world class speaker and offers stimulating insights into business and how to be successful. More footage of him can be viewed on YouTube.

The second speaker, John Leech, CEO of Winning Pitch. WP deliver practical high impact solutions that are proven to create sustainable growth in sales and business development performance.

He emphasised the importance of living in your customers world and connecting with them. Selling skills can be improved by practice and a good salesman keeps going when times are tough.

John lamented the lack of good selling courses in the UK. However, Jan Thomson from Carnegie College, Dunfermline pointed out that they offer sales and marketing courses with Professional Institute qualifications. Course one, course two.

He also regretted how ‘selling’ still has a bit of a stigma and is a role not everyone likes to do. He believes that through good training staff can become more confident and generate more sales for their company.

How your business is positioned in the market is also crucial. The re-invention of Lucozade is a favourite case study of marketers, but it’s transformation from a popular drink for hospital patients into leading sports energy drink in the eighties is an re-positioning example UK citizens can easily relate to.

The final speaker, Russell Ferguson, from RFM also offered low budget marketing ideas. Key among them were using PR. He gave an example about how a Scottish manufacturing business got coverage in a Moscow newspaper. The business told it’s customers and suppliers about this unusual piece of PR. News about news is an effective tool for raising a company profile.

On a final note, all 3 speakers agreed that discounting on price was not always an effective way to differentiate in a recession. A business should find other ways to add value and persuade customers to buy from them. For example, M&S and Subway are now available at petrol stations around the the UK.

Overall it was an inspirational seminar that provided plenty of food for thought. It’s up to the members of the audience now to take action.

Tags: John Leech, Lucozade, Marks and Spencer, René Carayol, Russell Ferguson, Scottish Enterprise, Subway