How to Get Rich: One of the World's Greatest Entrepreneurs Shares His Secrets

by Felix Dennis

Lesson No. 1: Never make your finance director or CFO the MD or president of anything!

Lesson No. 2: Never go on vacation when a deal is going down.

Lesson No. 3: When you change accounting systems (or accountants, for that matter), have the numbers checked over and over again. I’ll eat my hat if errors are not discovered in the next iteration.

Lesson No. 4: Never personally underwrite business loans for your company unless you

absolutely, positively, are forced to.

Lesson No. 5: Listen to people who are good with money and always invest in property with a good address—providing you can pay cash for it and will not need to sell it for a few years.

“Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.”

I have never come across a better definition—that’s why I’m repeating it. Preparation multiplied by opportunity. Say it again. Learn it off by heart. Let it become a daily mantra. Luck is preparation multiplied by opportunity.

“It’s a funny thing, luck. The harder I practiced, the luckier I got.”

Preparation is the key. Be prepared.

Do the heavy lifting and the homewor...

Get on with the job, but remain alert enough to spot an opportunity when it a...

fierce but fair negotiator and has more patience

believe that bad luck might be contagious?

“keep going.” Instead, he keeps looking for pastures new—

This “flight not fight” behavioral trait is the sign of a prey animal, not a predator.

“partnering” and “symbiotic evolution” are no way to get rich. They

perhaps, in spirit. To become rich you must behave as a predator. I will go further, you must become a predator.

By moving so adroitly and so swiftly from one thing to the next, Albert does not place himself in the way of luck.

But there is a downside to all this intelligence and imagination. He thinks a little too much before he acts. He weighs the options too carefully. He is capable of imagining defeat.

Yet Albert wastes too much of his time seeking them out,

Albert believes they encourage his coworkers. But such arrangements are immensely time-consuming and a distraction from

the tunnel vision

necessary to become rich in the ...

But he is a perfectionist and his powers of delegation are stunted.

This means, for him, that he must do it himself.

reluctance to permit young managers to make their own mistakes has cost him dearly over the years.

He cares what people think about him.

if you repeat something negative often enough, then you are training yourself in the ways of negativity. The mask of misfortune Albert so ironically dons for the amusement of those around him fits rather too well these days. He is becoming the mask. It’s a dangerous, stupid game and he ought to know better.

“Fortune favors the brave,” says the old proverb. And that’s right enough.

So here are my last thoughts on this vexing and baffling phenomenon. • Prepare yourself for luck, but don’t seek her out. Let her come to you. • Make your own luck • Don’t whine or ever describe yourself as “unlucky.” (You’re alive, aren’t you?) • Be bold. Be brave. Don’t thank your lucky stars. The stars can’t hear you. • Stay the course. Stop looking for the green grass over the hill. • Don’t try to do it all yourself. Delegate and teach others to delegate. • Remember that most predators are lucky most of their lives, unlike their prey. • Whiners and cowards die a hundred times a day. Be a hero to yourself. • If being a hero isn’t your style, then fake it. Reality will catch up eventually. • Just do it. It is much easier to apologize than to obtain permission. • Never take the quest for wealth seriously. It’s just a game, chum. • Next time you bump into Lady Luck, giver her a whack on the rump from me. • Be lucky. Get rich. Then give it all away. (We’ll get to that bit later.) • Don’t call your son “Albert.” (Just joking!)

In the end, “the balance of weakness” almost always decides the issue. • In Greed vs. Need, the former usually “wins.”

All great companies, all well-run organisations, need great managers and great staff. That much, at least, is pretty obvious. You forget it at your peril.

that searching, identifying and nurturing is not about negotiating. It’s about setting an example of true meritocracy in a company where nepotism hasn’t a chance and where those who wish to succeed are given every opportunity and encouragement to do so. So far, so straightforward.

The only “style” I assume you’re interested in developing is an efficient money-making machine which is also a great place to work.

you are not reading this book to become a successful manager. Managers rarely become rich.

Most managers are lieutenants. You, on the other hand, have to keep your eye on another ball—several other balls, in fact.

the world is full of aspiring lieutenants. Most people seek job security, job satisfaction and power over others far more than they seek wealth.

Management efficiency really does count, of course: loyalty counts, fairness counts, a steady disposition counts, a sense of appropriate compromise counts. An organization will fail without managers who apply such virtues consistently.

But they are not necessarily attributes you should invite into the room during a series of tough negotiations when the big money is on the table and your future is on the line. They are the attributes of first-class managers. Not negotiators.

Serious negotiations are very different from day-to-day bargaining and should be approached differently. They imply a weakness in the position of at least one of the parties involved in the negotiations, unlike ...

The first thing to be done, perhaps the most vital thing, is to establish exactly wh...

An immediate balance of weaknesses may well prove more decisive than any long-term balance of strengths.

But never forget why he came calling in the first place. He does not love you. He is not your friend, although he may pretend to be. He might not hate you, he may even admire you a little. He will certainly flatter you. But remember he had to come. His fear drove him. His fear of his master, the institutional investor.

the day when the fun begins and when serious negotiating skills and a dispassionate understanding of the balance of weaknesses in your particular

And remember, the flea is very, very greedy.

Instinct and the advice of the white knights and others.

the EMAP elephant has misjudged the balance of weakness and has underestimated his need. It is an error for which he will pay dearly in the years to come.

But it can, you know; for a little while it can.

• The flea has established to his own satisfaction the elephant’s urgent need. • The flea has learned to ignore flattery. • The flea has learned that an elephant cannot be your friend in negotiations. • The flea has learned he is not a good negotiator. • The flea has learned to “empty” himself and make himself believe he does not care. • The flea has overcome his lack of skill by setting a price he will not deviate from. • The flea has hardened his heart and has walked away when the price was not met. • The flea has introduced a rogue element (the trade magazine) into the negotiations. • The flea has weighed Greed vs. Need. He believes Need will outweigh Greed.