Experience Is A Great Teacher...

...But Let It Be Someone Else's!

80% of small business fail within the first year, and 95% fail within 5 years. Horrifying statistics.

How do you increase your chances of success?

Well apart from doing all the things suggested on this blog...

Get some High Level Mentoring, and create a Mastermind Group.

Find an expert who has been there and done that, someone who's done it all before, and been successful at it. 

Don't reinvent the wheel.

What will it cost you, in time and money, if you have to make all the mistakes yourself, before you learn how to do it profitably?

You might have to pay handsomely for your mentor, but it will be surely worth it.

That brings us to the Mastermind group. 

Surround yourself with people who are experts in all the areas you are weak in.
Take property investment for example, something I am passionate about.

In my first attempt at property investment, I had the idea that I could do it all myself. I'd read the books, been to the seminars, it seemed easy. Well I bought at least one dud property that cost me years of heartache, and probably hundreds of thousands of dollars. I also left a lot of money on the table by not structuring loans properly, not getting depreciation reports, etc. etc.

Luckily I had the opportunity to start all over again. I know a few people who either went bankrupt, or died way too early, from (I hallucinate) the stress caused by bad investments.

Second time around I got a mentor, someone who had done it all before, and was continuing to do it. And I surrounded myself with experts, a mastermind group. I got someone to find the locations, someone to manage the building contractors, a lawyer to handle the legals, a mortgage broker to handle the loans, people to manage the properties, and an accountant to make sure I'm reducing my tax and have the proper financial structures in place. These weren't the cheapest people I could find, they were the best. What do I do, you might be asking? I check my bank accounts once a month, and answer the occasional email from the real estate agent.

I've never been inside my properties, and I don't intend to, that's what I pay the real estate agent to do. If I have any questions or challenges, I pick up the phone and call one of my mastermind group. They deal with investment properties every day. They have the answers. They've done it all before.

Similarly in my business, I surround myself with experts. If I have questions on how to put a package together, or promote a seminar, etc. I call or email a few people, discuss what I want to do, and listen to their advice. I don't try to re-invent the wheel. Yes I'm smart and I could probably figure it out myself eventually. But the really smart way is to find out what has already worked and do that. Once I know how to do that, maybe I can make it better.

Be smart. Get a Mentor. Get a Mastermind Group.

To your success,
Trevor Long