Your Next Five Moves: Master the Art of Business Strategy

by Patrick Bet-David

You have to make lists. You must create manuals (video libraries may be more effective than printed ones). You must codify your knowledge. If it exists only in your head, you have a job to do. If you want to have a sustainable business, codify what you know and make sure it gets transferred to everyone else in your organization.

come up with three formulas that will allow you to track your business. Ideally, these will become the first numbers you look at before you start each business day.

It’s one thing to talk about creating systems; it’s another to execute them. When you’re sales focused, it’s hard to step away from revenue-producing activities.

shop and not grow, you don’t have to invest in systems.

heightened sense of urgency is a trait that the most successful entrepreneurs share. For them, every day is a battle, and they treat it as though it’s a matter of life and death.

Before you launch a new product, make an investment, pull the trigger on an acquisition, or make any type of major move, ask yourself this question: What are the very worst events that might happen as a result of my action? Then take steps to mitigate those potential worst events.

You need a small circle of people around you who will tell you the truth. It’s the only thing that will keep your ego in check (though having three kids helps as well). If you don’t have a small group of people such as a board of directors or mentors who aren’t afraid to tell you off, you’re going to be in trouble. I’ve seen this happen in sales many times. People start making money, and everyone tells them how amazing they are. They’re no longer coachable or willing to learn. They don’t listen to advice. That’s a sign that they have forgotten how to manage their own ego.

When you have only people around you who agree with you, you’ll naturally get complacent, which is the opposite of being paranoid.

Master Strategy to Scale SCALING FOR EXPONENTIAL GROWTH 1. Decide how you’re going to capitalize your business. Execute strategies for both exponential and linear growth. Lead people by demanding their best and holding them accountable. MAKE MOMENTUM YOUR FRIEND—AND BE PREPARED FOR CHAOS 2. Create strategies to increase the speed of growth without crashing your business. Look for ways to compress time frames. Keep your ego in check to avoid temptations and being your own worst enemy. MONEYBALL: DESIGNING SYSTEMS TO TRACK YOUR BUSINESS 3. Decide what are the most important formulas of your business, and track them religiously. Codify what’s in your head by creating manuals to transfer knowledge. Determine if new hires are needed to help implement this transfer of knowledge. STAY PARANOID; THE GRAND MASTER NEVER LETS HIS GUARD DOWN 4. As your company gets bigger, it will become more vulnerable. Know where people can attack you, and stay on guard. Constantly put yourself in your enemies’ shoes, and ask how you would put yourself out of business if you were them. Don’t take it personally when they try to do just that.

Dozen Ways to Beat Goliath 1. Know your weaknesses. Knowing your strengths is easy, but knowing your weaknesses will enable you to be nimble and pivot when taking on your Goliath. 2. Know Goliath’s weaknesses. You cannot fight Goliath where it is strong. You must find its Achilles heel and exploit it. 3. Master three things you do better. You set the terms of your battle in the marketplace. Use your strengths to master three things Goliath can’t do and do them better than it can. 4. Don’t try to be Goliath. You can learn moves and information from Goliath, but if you model yourself after it, how are you going to beat it? You have to take advantage of your own strength, not someone else’s. 5. Focus on specializing. Goliaths tend to generalize in order to spread their influence and power. You must specialize to capture market share from them. 6. When you’re small, make yourself appear bigger. Walk tall, and don’t be intimidated by Goliath’s size and strength. Embody your future truth and compete as though you’re the one with the advantage. 7. Keep a low profile initially. You are going to need a lot of help, and you will need time to get better. Don’t waste your early years rubbing people the wrong way and making noise. Work on your business first before looking for a Goliath to fight. 8. Move quickly. Use your inherent advantages of strength and speed against Goliath. It can’t move as fast as you can. 9. Partner with competitors that share an enemy. Goliaths create a lot of...

People identify with you more when you share your down moments.

Self-discipline can take many forms. You can impose limits on how much time you waste surfing the web. You can dedicate five hours daily to working on the most important task for your business. You can assess threats to your business at least once every day.

Translate this 2½-pound principle to your business and career. Stop comparing yourself to people and companies that seem light-years ahead of you. Instead, focus on regular, achievable improvement.

Seven Essential Steps to Prepare for a Meeting 1. Consider the other party’s needs, desires, and frustrations. Remember that what motivates most people is fear, greed, and saving face. 2. Anticipate what the other party will say. 3. Develop a script/outline for what you want to say. 4. Role-play the meeting several times in order to be prepared for different reactions. 5. Ask trusted advisers to point out your blind spots. 6. Put yourself into the best possible frame of mind before the meeting. 7. Build a reputation for overdelivering on your product.

I played on fear: Losing my account would have meant their company’s losing millions of dollars in revenue. I played on greed: Keeping my account would potentially bring in even more millions of dollars of revenue and seven-figure bonuses for the executives. I played on helping them save face: They would look really foolish if I left for a competitor.

A simple rule of business is that in order to get, you have to give. Most amateurs are experts at making demands. What they fail to do is offer value first. When you put yourself into the other party’s shoes and lead with how they will win and make money, it will be natural for them to give you what you want.

Effective Sales Are About Conviction and a Transference of Feeling

“Have an absolute and total belief that what you’re selling is worth more than the price you ask for it. Your belief in your product should be so great that you ought to be using it.”

Since emotion and belief are what truly sell, I hire people who believe in both themselves and the company.

If he had grown to the point where the demand for his product exceeded his capacity to produce it, he could have been the one dictating the terms. The power would have shifted, giving Bobby the ability to raise prices or insist on quicker payment terms.

The power move is to flip it and instead ask, “What can I do for you? How can I help you?” It’s a life-changing move that requires a complete shift in mindset. Not only will you build better relationships, but also, if you are truly committed to the long game, it will make you a boatload of money.

There’s a big difference between having a mentor and shadowing someone. A mentor may tell you what to do, but a performer you shadow shows you what to do. You get to observe firsthand what he does during conflict and intense negotiations. You can also learn how he handles

If you want to gain power, you must create opportunities to shadow others. If you want to be exceptional, even after winning championships, you must jump on every opportunity you can to shadow powerful leaders.

No matter whom you are managing, remember that the fastest way to lose them or frustrate them is to try to change them. I’ve made this mistake too many times in my career. Instead, find what drives them and position them in a way to win at the highest level. It may require you to change the lens through which you view them.

Last, keep that chart of what drives people close by. Remember that everyone is motivated by different things and that your job as a leader is not to drive them (or, worse, fix them), it’s to understand them and help align the chess pieces in front of them so they can maximize their potential.

PERSONAL IDENTITY AUDIT How do you think the world views you? How do you view yourself? How is the “public you” different from the “private you”? What conditions produce the BEST VERSION OF YOU? (The version of you who competes and gets the highest results.) Competition Fear of loss A setback A victory Having someone believe in you A point to prove Name a ninety-day period of your career during which you were the hungriest to succeed. What drove you? How do you handle a public loss? Do you feel you’re entitled to things without earning them? How difficult a personality do you have? Do you have a tendency of blaming others for your lack of effort or discipline? If yes, why? Very difficult Difficult Somewhat difficult Easygoing Very easygoing Do you get along with people like yourself or can there be only one of you in the room? Who do you speak to the most when you’re losing? People ahead of you People at the same level as you People not yet at your level No one Who are you secretly envious of that no one knows about?Don’t worry about writing this one down. No one will know youranswer but you. How is your relationship with the person you’remost envious of? How much of that envy is due to your not willing to do the work that the other individual is willing to do? What type of people annoy you the most and why? What type of people do you like the most and why? Who do you collaborate with the most? What qualities and traits do you admire most in others? How do you handle press...

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