Zen Garden > SEMINAR 6 - "THE AWESOME POWER OF THE ENTREPRENEUR" featuring Bradley Sugars

This is our sixth International Live Chat Seminar. If you have been following this series right from the start you will remember that I was one of the panelists on the very first International Live Chat Seminar.

I am very keen on presenting this series because so much vital knowledge is shared in them. Again I watched the live chat in real time and again I was impressed by the guest.

This month's guest was Bradley Sugars.

Again I am privileged to be the Editor of the seminar. All this means is that I turn spoken words into written words - with, of course, a bit of creative license. I might add here that this does not change the meaning of anything. It just makes it more "readable."

As usual, I want to congratulate Peter and Ben Sinclair for hosting the seminar and praise Brad Sugars for sharing his wonderful information with us.

The seminar is copyright material so it may not be used without permission. However, you may print it out for personal reference or study.

I commend the following seminar to anybody aspiring to improve their life by understanding entrepreneurial issues better.

Peter Sinclair ( http://www.motivationalmemo.com ) on 10 September 2003 with:

Brad Sugars ( http://www.bradsugars.com/ )

The chat was scheduled for one hour and the subject was:

"THE AWESOME POWER OF THE ENTREPRENEUR"

[The chat commenced at 11.00am, Wednesday, 10 September 2003 - Brisbane, Australia Time]

Peter Sinclair: Hi Brad. Welcome to our live chat.

Brad Sugars: Hi Peter. Thank you. It's great to be here.

Peter Sinclair: Brad, just to inform our guests I think we should give them a little bit of background on you.

Brad Sugars: Sure.

Peter Sinclair: At just 30 years of age, Brad Sugars is the International Chairman of one of the fastest growing businesses on the globe. He started out with absolutely no capital and had his first business at age 15. Brad retired financially as a millionaire when he was just 26. Today he calls himself a "Billionaire in Training." He is well on his way to that first billion. Welcome Brad, it's a pleasure to be able to share this next hour with you at this month's MotivationalMemo Live Chat.

Brad Sugars: Thanks Peter and thanks for the introduction.

Peter Sinclair: My pleasure. Brad, to commence today's Live Chat can I ask you for your definition of an entrepreneur?

Brad Sugars: Perhaps I could answer your question in three parts. First, an entrepreneur is a visionary. Second, an entrepreneur remembers that profit is the goal. Third, an entrepreneur is what I call a "can do" type person. What I mean by that is a person who makes the vision become real whilst at the same time returning a profit on that vision.

Peter Sinclair: In your view, what would be the major reason for anyone to want to become an entrepreneur?

Brad Sugars: I think we are all born with a little bit of the entrepreneurial spirit in us. The major driving force behind most entrepreneurs that I have met is a desire to do something that no one else has done before. That may be a desire to achieve more than others thought possible and a desire to play the game they love - the game of business.

Peter Sinclair: Would you say it's the pioneer spirit that makes up the entrepreneur?

Brad Sugars: Indeed, but it doesn't always have to be in a new field. It could be a way of doing something new in an old field. Most entrepreneurs are the ones who see an opportunity and have the gumption to step up and do something about it.

Peter Sinclair: Like spotting the gold in a previously mined gold mine? Doing things better, using better technology, better ideas?

Brad Sugars: Or even simply better service, better sales or better marketing.

Peter Sinclair: Brad, what strategies can the entrepreneur use to come up with these things that are better?

Brad Sugars: One of the best ways is just to look around and find the frustrations. Everyday when we go shopping we get frustrated by something. It's just a matter of finding something that many people are frustrated with and finding a solution to it. Obviously serious entrepreneurs find a global problem and aim to provide a global solution. What I am saying is the bigger the problem the more you'll make when you provide a solution.

Peter Sinclair: You would advocate then that becoming a problem solver is the major key to building a successful business?

Brad Sugars: Yes and no. Problem solving is one thing, having the ability to come up with a new and innovative idea to solve that problem that can be delivered at a profit is also vital. But you also have to remember that true entrepreneurs build teams and thus leadership is another key skill.

Peter Sinclair: In addition to questioning skills, observational skills and leadership skills, what would an entrepreneur also require to become successful?

Brad Sugars: Many things Peter. Determination, commitment, integrity and the ability to learn are just some. Essentially, an entrepreneur needs to be a generalist. An entrepreneur needs to be good enough at every area of business to be able to ask the right questions from the right specialists.

Peter Sinclair: I love the word "generalist" in this day and age when everybody is using the word "specialist." Your use the word generalist is intriguing. Can you explain what you mean by this?

Brad Sugars: Certainly Peter. We go to school and we get taught to specialize. This qualifies us for a great job. The more specialized we get, the more we're trapped by a job. The idea of a generalist is to train ourselves in all areas of business, success and money.

Peter Sinclair: Now Brad, in your brilliant book "Billionaire In Training" you take us through from Level 0 right up to Level 5 as you unveil the key characteristics of a true entrepreneur. Can you briefly outline those 6 categories?

Brad Sugars: OK. The "Billionaire in Training" Level 0 is the employee. It's where you should start. This is where you should gain both capital and knowledge. Having many different jobs is a great start for an entrepreneur.

Peter Sinclair: We all need to start somewhere.

Brad Sugars: Yes. Level 1 is where you move up to becoming self-employed. This is the most important step. It is also the toughest. Here you have to learn so much. I hope people are prepared to take my advice and have a lot of jobs in a lot of fields when they first start. That way they will generally have less to learn.

Peter Sinclair: What you are promoting at this level is a good general spread of knowledge and experience.

Brad Sugars: Precisely. Level 2 is the "Manager Level." This is where you start employing people. It is still tough because you need to learn about people and not just the basics of running a business. I think at this point, I should give my definition of a business. It's a commercial, profitable enterprise that works without you being there.

Peter Sinclair: That in itself is a very important characteristic. The most successful businesses should be able to operate without the owner having to be there one hundred percent of the time.

Brad Sugars: Correct. Level 3 occurs when you reach the situation that you just mentioned Peter. You become a "Business Owner." You have systems, a team and a General Manager to run it all for you. Essentially you have reached passive income by this stage.

Peter Sinclair: And there are still two more levels to go!

Brad Sugars: There are indeed. Level 4 is "The Investor." At this level you now start to use these skills to buy wholesale deals. You're still learning by the way. But now you're learning how to buy, build and sell companies. This is also the level where you learn how to buy, renovate and refinance properties. And once you learn to become a sophisticated investor then you start buying and trading stocks and options.

Peter Sinclair: And the final level?

Brad Sugars: Level 5 is where we stop buying deals and, as an entrepreneur, we start selling deals. Here we go from dealing in and buying physical assets to creating and selling paper assets.

Peter Sinclair: Brad, that was fantastic. Now I just want to take a quick look at self-employment. Can I just take you back to Level 1 for a moment?

Brad Sugars: Go right ahead.

Peter Sinclair: For someone to break out of the boundaries of self-employment into a higher level, in what you call "the entrepreneurial game," what would be some keys that you could suggest that could help somebody to progress?

Brad Sugars: Level 1 is like a see-saw. You have to chase the work in sales and then do the work, the operations. To progress to Level 2, first start with the fundamentals of growing a business. You need to create a vision, a mission statement, a company culture, goals and then an organization chart. Employ someone to take over the most basic functions first, but not before:

Peter Sinclair: Brad, if our readers wanted to fast track through those levels, from your experience, how would you suggest they could do so?

Brad Sugars: Progressing through the levels quickly is all about gaining knowledge. Someone who doesn't learn from their mistakes will either stay where they are or go backwards. The second law of thermonuclear dynamics, to use a lot of big words, basically says that you are either growing or you are dying. You cannot stand still.

Peter Sinclair: I gather from you Brad that the whole idea of entrepreneurship and business in general is a game. Can you explain how this has come about in your life?

Brad Sugars: I believe that when you use the analogy of a game most things are easily explained. Like keeping score, training, an umpire and sets of rules - just to name a few. Also, if you are going to be doing something for most of your life then you might as well enjoy it.

Peter Sinclair: Plus it sounds like fun and not drudgery...

Brad Sugars: And you know the aim of the game is to win!

Peter Sinclair: What makes it fun for you Brad? Is it the money, the lifestyle or more?

Brad Sugars: All of the above but most of all the people and the challenges and opportunities.

Peter Sinclair: Brad, taking a closer look at the entrepreneur, can you explain what the entrepreneurial mindset is? I'm talking here of the true entrepreneur.

Brad Sugars: A true entrepreneur is a creator of wealth. We create opportunities for people to buy or invest in.

Peter Sinclair: Can you elaborate on that a little?

Brad Sugars: Sure Peter. People buy from us or invest with us because of our track record and reputation. That is why it is always good to remember that we live in an invisible age where an entrepreneur's word is really all they have.

Peter Sinclair: And their word is their honour? Integrity?

Brad Sugars: As Bucky Fuller said: "Integrity is the essence."

Peter Sinclair: Now Brad, you say that: "the entrepreneur's dream is to own nothing but control everything." Can you explain this further?

Brad Sugars: Let's take a franchise for example. All of my franchisees own their own business and yet ultimately I control the system and the way we work. One other thing to remember is that corporate structuring means that you, as a human being, own very little and that companies and trusts own a lot.

Peter Sinclair: And that provides security?

Brad Sugars: Possibly. Security is simply a feeling. Thus, security can't really be delivered by anything external.

Peter Sinclair: Brad I want to look quickly at this next subject: I love your four entrepreneurial secrets: leverage, sell pans, knowledge and profit is king. Let's take a look at leverage. How does that impact the lifestyle of the entrepreneur?

Brad Sugars: Leverage - apart from being a great board game I invented - is the essence of all wealth in business. If you truly understand the formula of divide to multiply - or by its simpler definition - ever more with ever less, then entrepreneurial success will always be yours.

Peter Sinclair: And what do you mean by sell pans?

Brad Sugars: That reference goes back to the "Gold Rush" days when everyone just ran in and started digging for gold. And yet the people that made the most money were the ones who sold a tool or service to the gold miners. It's the same today. The ISP's (Internet Service Providers), Microsoft and courier delivery companies make most of the money out of the internet.

Peter Sinclair: Then, to add to what you have just said, how important is the knowledge factor and what priority should that play in the life of a growing entrepreneur?

Brad Sugars: I'll put it simply. If you think knowledge is expensive, try ignorance.

Peter Sinclair: Touché! You say that profit is KING. That's pretty self explanatory, but can you add to that?

Brad Sugars: Peter, it's not your mistakes that cost you a fortune, it's actually the unwillingness to make mistakes, then learn from them. Too many business-owners focus on their total revenue or how many employees they have or how many offices they have opened. Really there is only one thing that counts in business...

Peter Sinclair: And that thing is...

Brad Sugars: PROFIT!

Peter Sinclair: Brad, before we start to wind up this Live Chat, I want to thank you for sharing your time and wisdom with us today. I also want to ask this question. For budding millionaires, what advice would you give them in their pursuit of their first million?

Brad Sugars: Business is not a game of egos, moreover it's a game of dollars in the bank. Your first million is the toughest because you have to learn how to make it along the way. The second, third and fourth million is just repeating what you did the first time. One last piece of advice - massive results require massive action. So jump in the deep end.

Peter Sinclair: Well Brad, unfortunately it is now time to wind up this Live Chat. You are AWESOME and the information you have shared with us has been equally awesome. Remember everyone that if you want to learn more about Brad then go to http://www.bradsugars.com. Brad, is there anywhere else that you can point them to on the Internet?

Brad Sugars: They can also check out www.action-international.com if they want more info about getting one of my business coaches to help them in their businesses.

Peter Sinclair: Thanks again Brad. This is Peter Sinclair from MotivationalMemo.com signing off. Thank you to all those who joined us here today for this very enlightening interview with the inimitable Brad Sugars.

Brad Sugars: Thanks for the opportunity Peter. I really enjoyed it.

Peter Sinclair: I did too. We will talk again.

Brad Sugars: Indeed we will. Until then, goodbye Peter and Ben and all the visitors.

Peter Sinclair: I'm now declaring this live chat officially closed.

[The chat concluded at 12.05pm, Wednesday 10 September 2003 - Brisbane, Australia time]

Biographies of the LIVE CHAT Participants:

Brad Sugars: http://www.bradsugars.com At just 30 years of age, Brad Sugars is the International Chairman of one of the fastest growing businesses on the globe. He started out with absolutely no capital, had his first business at age 15, and financially retired as a millionaire when he was 26. Today he calls himself a Billionaire in Training, and is well on his way to his first Billion.

Peter Sinclair: http://www.motivationalmemo.com

Peter Sinclair is a student of success and an entrepreneur. His vision is to help others reach their full potential, and the driving force of his life and his work is to lift people. Peter is renowned and respected as a dynamic writer & speaker, having his articles already featured in hundreds of ezines and magazines internationally. Thousands of people every week receive his Motivational Memos as Peter loves to impart wisdom into the lives of people all around the world. He is constantly creating and researching new methods to achieve that goal.

Ben Sinclair: http://www.webmaster-resources101.com

Ben Sinclair is the webmaster for Peter Sinclair's Website http://www.motivationalmemo.com and the technician behind the chat session and the mastermind behind the forum and the chat forum.

This LIVE CHAT was edited by:

Gary Simpson: http://www.motivationselfesteem.com

Gary Simpson is the author of eight books. He is a prolific writer who has for many years been published in many magazines and newspapers across Australia and now rapidly around the world. Gary became involved in several network marketing companies in the late 80's which led him into a deep research of personal development. He is an avid reader with hundreds of self help books in an ever growing library. Gary lives in Perth, Western Australia and is a Company Director. He has professional experience in many diverse areas such as the public service, retail, private investigation, insurance and franchising. He is also a senior karate instructor with more than 35 years of continuous training. Gary's "Motivation & Self Esteem for Success" Website is located at www.motivationselfesteem.com

Gary Simpson is a 7th Dan karate master who teaches self defense, motivation, self help and wealth building to students around the world through home study courses. You may reprint this article as you include this author credit and an active link to his web site. Finance - Self Help - Motivation - Self Defense - Personal Growth MotivationSelfEsteem.com