Principle 16

Hunting for Big Deals

Diamonds are nothing more than chunks of coal that stuck to their jobs.

—Malcolm Forbes

In this chapter, you will learn that it takes the same amount of preparation, time, skill, and persistence to sell one widget as it does to sell 10,000 widgets. You will learn why it doesn't make sense to do business one at a time when, for the same effort, you can market your business in volume and continuously push the envelope as you explore what's possible. You'll gain the confidence needed to start at the top when calling on buyers and work your way down the ladder, instead of starting at the bottom and fighting your way to the top. You will learn how to hunt for “big elephant” prospects and get into the mind of perhaps the biggest elephant investor of our time, Mr. Warren Buffett.

Several years ago, I learned that working for just an hourly wage is to accomplish nothing other than to trade your most prized possession, your time, for money. Talk about a waste of time. As a young boy, I quickly learned that I could go off and get a job and be paid $3.35 per hour (minimum wage at the time), or I could sell my products or services and work a whole lot less and make a whole lot more.

When I was a sophomore in high school, I took a job flipping burgers at a local hangout called Country Ranch. This burger place served the best burgers and frozen cokes around. However, after I figured out the amount of time I was putting in to make only $3.35 per hour, I soon ...

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