The 9 Strange Rules of ULTRA-Successful Entrepreneurs - Part 1 | Robin Sharma

Hi, it's Robin Sharma. Welcome to this video called the Nine Strange Rules of Ultra Successful Entrepreneurs. Well, I hope you enjoyed the video I sent you the other day about the five strategies for bulletproofing and recession proofing your business in these very challenging economic times. As I mentioned in the video, many pundits are certainly saying, many of the most revered and respected economists are saying we're not only in a double dip recession right now, but if things, things continue the way they are in 2012, we could enter the beginning of a depression. And so what I tried to do in that video is really give you those five tactics and a lot of content that not only would inspire you, but give you some specific tools to not only get through the economic storm, but to actually grow your profits, grow your business, inspire your team, serve your customers and live a better life. In this video, what I want to do is basically take you through nine rules. And they're very strange. Like these are counterintuitive rules. They make no sense. But these are the nine rules that ultra successful entrepreneurs are using to win in difficult times. As mentioned, this past June, I delivered a lot of these ideas at the Remarkable Entrepreneur Super Conference. And I just want to offer them to you to help you win in your business as an entrepreneur and create the life that I know you're looking for. There's a lot of entrepreneurs right now, ordinary entrepreneurs. They're very frustrated because they're working harder than ever before and they're achieving less. They are giving more than they've ever given and they're not seeing the results given globalization, given the economy, given competitive pressures, given the busyness that so many of us are facing right now. So I'm going to get right into the nine rules for you. Number one, remarkable entrepreneurs, the super successful entrepreneurs. I've learned this 15 years plus working with some of the best entrepreneurs in the world as a private advisor to them. Here's what I've noticed they do. Rule number one, they work less to achieve more. You see the idea, and I call it the factory idea, which is most entrepreneurs, the ordinary ones, here's what they do. They think if I work longer, I will achieve more. But that actually depletes your energy, it actually depletes your resources, it depletes your capability and it depletes your creativity. Here's what remarkable entrepreneurs do. They understand it's not about how long you work, it's about how smart and efficiently and effective you work. So literally, they work in bursts of performance. It's like a cycle. So they will output at world class and then they will recover. So they essentially work for 90 minutes and then they take 10 minutes to recover, then they work for 90 minutes, full of energy, full of focus, expressing their creativity, doing their best work, and then they pull back and they take 10 minutes to recover. Then every week, here's what they do. They might work five days, they might work six days, four full out, giving their best. And then one day at least every week, they will take the day, no BlackBerry, no technology, no work. And they recover. And they do the things that enrich them, that refuel them, that regenerate them, that give them the spark and the creativity and the happiness and the energy once again. So they go back the next week and they work it world class. So not only do they work in 90 minute cycles, then take 10 minutes to recover, not only do they work 5 days or 6 days, then take a full day off with no technology to renew fully. Because most people, what they do is they never really renew and so they just work harder and harder and they grind themselves into the ground and they wonder why they don't have energy, which is your number one entrepreneurial asset. They wonder why they're not coming up with great ideas. They're wondering why they're feeling discouraged and they're not inspired. How valuable is it to you to get up every morning and feel full of energy like you can take on the world, like everyone else is worried about the economic crisis and you're saying, where's the opportunity? How can we serve, create more value for our customers? How can I build a better team? How can I live a better life? That's where you want to be. So on this first rule, and it is strange, it's about working less to achieve more. Here's another tactic that the ultra successful entrepreneurs are doing. They take a ton of time to vacation. I call it the distributed vacation mentality. So it's a series of work cycles and then vacation cycles. A lot of them, here's what they do. They actually work for six weeks and then they take a week off every six weeks. And when I work with my one on one private coaching clients, initially they resist me. The ones who are already doing it, they get it. They see that it actually makes them more money, it keeps them happier. It's the key secret to sustainability. But the ones who resist it say, what? How can I take a week off after six weeks of work? Every six weeks? But then they try it. I just say, you know what, try it. If you want to have the results that only 1% of entrepreneurs have, then you must be willing to do the strange things that only 1% of the entrepreneurs do. As Steve Jobs says, here's to the crazy ones. If you tell people, you know what, I'm going to work for 6 weeks and then take one week off, and then work for 6 weeks and then take 1 week off because Robin shared this innovative strange rule with me about the distributed vacation mentality, they'll think you're crazy. Try it. Try it. You will come back from that vacation with million dollar ideas, more energy than you've had in years, ready to take on the world, ready to develop your team, ready to build a world class company, ready to own your market, ready to make a dent in the universe. As Steve Jobs said, strange rule number two of ultra successful, no remarkable entrepreneurs is this one. They don't focus on profit to make more profit. Another way to put it, they focus less on profits and more on relationships to grow their profits. Here's the primary principle. You might want to write this down. Focus on the relationships and the money takes care of itself. Focus on the relationships and the money takes care of itself. This takes a leap of faith and it's a strange rule because 99% of the marketplace and entrepreneurs, they, they don't do this. I call this the great bell curve. I don't want to throw too much at you at one time, but business is like a bell curve. Business is like a bell curve. You've got the 1% at the bottom or at one end. Those are the terrible businesses, the truly beyond mediocre basement level entrepreneurs who are just not doing anything right. Those are the businesses that people can't stand. There's only really 1% of businesses and entrepreneurs that are at that piece of the bell curve. And then there's what I call the mediocre middle. 98% of the businesses are in the middle, right? They're pretty boring. They're not world class in terms of customer service, they're not Apple level in terms of innovation. They're not populated by band of superstars who care about customers, who want to change the world, who do Picasso level work. They're just trying to get through the day. And then there's the 1%, the ultra successful, remarkable entrepreneurs. Well, here's one of the things that they do. They understand that business is really all about people. And if you don't understand human mentality, if you don't understand relationships, if you don't really want to wow your customers, then you really don't understand Business. And so here's what that 1% does. And this is the second strange rule. They focus less on profits and more on people and relationships. Because they understand that when people fall in love with you and when they trust you, they're going to want to buy your services.

They'Re going to want to do business with you. They feel that relation. I mean, I work in an area where there's a lot of different restaurants and most of these restaurants, it's sort of like a sophisticated area, high end area where our office is. And so most of these restaurants, you know, the people really don't care so much about their customers. It's almost like they have this a little bit of an attitude because they say, well, you know, these are fantastic restaurants and whether you're here or not, there will always be lines out the door. But there's one restaurant in particular and it's different. It's one of those 1 percenters. Every time I go to this restaurant, the person at the front door looks me in the eye. She has a massive smile, she treats me, she doesn't know who I am. I'm just, you know, she did. I'm just an ordinary customer, of course I am. So she doesn't know me, but she treats me like I'm important because she cares. And what I'm trying to suggest to you is if you really focus on relationships with your customers, you know, maybe less customers, this is a counterintuitive idea as well. Less customers, deeper relationship. And you treat those customers like members of your extended family and you show them that you really care about them. You deliver more value to them than they have any right to expect. Remember in the previous video, the 10x value obsession? You literally give them 10x value, 10 times the value that they have any right to expect from you. You use good manners, you treat them with respect, you're on time, you're punctual, you keep your promises, you build a relationship. Of course you know this, but most entrepreneurs in the middle, they don't do this. Those customers will be loyal to you and they will accelerate your profits to a point where you cannot imagine. Don't be so busy that you're busy around the wrong things. Focus on the relationships with your customers right now. You will not only weather the storm, you will leverage the economic crisis and the turmoil that's coming. It's about to get a lot messier to actually grow your business. Okay, point number three, the strange rule number three. I know it doesn't make any sense, but here's what the ultra successful entrepreneurs are doing, they focus a lot more on value versus cost. What do most entrepreneurs the ordinary ones are doing right now? They're worried about cost, of course, worry about your cost but don't miss the forest from the trees. This is a great time to invest in your team. It's a great time to invest in doing even better products and services. It's a great time to invest in your culture which is your business's secret weapon. It's a great time to invest in tools. Get the better iPad, get the better smartphone, get the tools you need to wow your customers and be the Picasso of what you do. What do ordinary entrepreneurs are doing right now? They're focusing on cost versus value. I learned this from Warren Buffett. He said forget about worrying about cost, focusing on the return on investment. Focus on the value that buying something brings. That's how billionaires think.