He challenged the conventional teachings at business schools. He’s a 25 Top Visionary, one of the Top 24 Most Powerful Men In Business, and advises people to hang out with people who are better than you.

I wanted to add to the Warren Buffett story by sharing another valuable lesson from one of the world’s richest men: Never Back Down!

“You’re neither right nor wrong because other people agree with you,” says Buffett. “You’re right because your facts are right and your reasoning is right – and that’s the only thing that makes you right. And if your facts and reasoning are right, you don’t have to worry about anybody else.”

Buffett made a career out of taking the road less traveled. He is a value investor; he spends his time looking for securities whose selling prices are lower than their intrinsic value. He ignores the stock market, instead choosing to look at the overall potential of a company in the long term. Claiming that his favourite holding period is “forever”, Buffett’s conservative nature has distinguished himself from other investors.

Despite having many followers, value investing still has its critics. Taking this road less traveled was not always easy for Buffett, who has endured years of ridicule for his investment decisions, particularly during the dot-come frenzy. In 1999, Berkshire Hathaway stock grossly under-performed and analysts claimed that Buffett’s career was over because he had missed the technology boom. Wall Street thought he had committed the biggest mistake of his career and wrote him off. That is, until the dot-com bust in the early 2000s when his strategy proved infallible. “It was a mass hallucination, by far the biggest in my lifetime,” recalls Buffett.

Time after time, Buffett has listened to his gut instinct – and his vast research – to inform his business decisions. When others were acting and reacting to the stock market, Buffett was standing strong in his decisions. “You do things when the opportunities come along,” he says. “If I get an idea next week, I’ll do something. If not, I won’t do a damn thing…Much success can be attributed to inactivity.” His strategy is admittedly simpler than most investors feel comfortable with, claiming, “I don’t look to jump over 7-foot bars: I look around for 1-foot bars that I can step over.” But, there is genius in its simplicity.

Having the confidence to follow his instincts, however, never meant that Buffett was willing to make an irrational decision. Buffett knew when he was in trouble and he knew when to walk away from something. “One’s objective should be to get it right, get it quick, get it out, and get it over…your problem won’t improve with age,” he says. “Should you find yourself in a chronically leaking boat, energy devoted to changing vessels is likely to be more productive than energy devoted to patching leaks.”

Buffett knew that no matter what move he made he would always have his critics. He decided early on, however, that regardless of what anyone else said or did, he was not going to break his stride. “The important thing is to keep playing, to play against weak opponents and to play for big stakes,” he says.

By marching to his own beat, Buffett was able to surpass his competition. He wasn’t afraid to try something new. After all, “if past history was all there was to the game, the richest people would be librarians.”

Have you benefitted in your entrepreneurial career by never backing down? I’d love to hear your story!

[via YoungEntrepreneur] by Evan Carmichael

When you read about the stories of successful entrepreneurs you always come across similar advice: “Surround yourself with successful people”

How do you actually go about doing that? Here are 7 strategies to help you get started.

1) Join A Peer / Mastermind Group

Join a group of people who are committed to running their businesses and taking it to the next level. It can be lonely being an entrepreneur and most business owners don’t have a support network to turn to for help for their companies. Sure your friends and family listen but can they really help? Amazing things happen when you can connect with other people who are really doing things with their businesses. You will get inspired and you will also inspire them to work harder as well.

I run a series of Mastermind Groups in Toronto and we always look for people who are beyond the startup stage. Make sure that whatever group you join that you a) can go for a trial first, b) are with other members who have different skill sets, and c) are in a structured atmosphere where people take the group seriously. Also make sure that you are not the most knowledgeable person in the room. You learn more when you are with people who have accomplished more than you.

Most of the large cities have various Mastermind groups that you can join. If you don’t have one locally, you can also seek out ones that meet online instead of in person.

2) Go To Related Business Events

Depending on how big a city you live in, you’ll have a bigger selection of different business events to check out. Look for ones that inspire you and you will learn from. Quite often they are free. For example, one of my favorite events was when Ted Rogers, founder of Rogers Communications, one of the largest companies in Canada, came to speak at a local bookstore as a part of an entrepreneur promotional series the store was doing. The popular business author Tom Peters also did a great event there that was very inspiring.  Total cost to me: $0.

By going to these events you’ll not only get motivated from the speaker but you’ll also meet other people who are interested in the speaker. Chances are those people are also going to be motivated to succeed as well and you can make some great connections to help your business if you keep an open mind. Usually authors with business books do a series of appearances at stores to promote their new books and it can be a great (and free) opportunity to get a few new ideas.

3) Surround Yourself With Famous Entrepreneurs

I love reading the stories of famous entrepreneurs and how they got started. That’s why I write a regular series in this blog. Every time I read a success story it motivates me to do better and reach farther. Even though you may not know Richard Branson personally, you can get a lot of benefits from his teachings by reading his books (”Losing My Virginity” is fantastic!) and listening to his interviews. You can even look up your favorite entrepreneurs on YouTube to get an added boost of motivation.

When you’re faced with an important business decision, or if you’re just procrastinating and putting off doing work, ask yourself “What would Richard Branson (or your favorite entrepreneur) do?” Would Richard Branson be down on himself and browing the web wasting time or would he be out selling and making things happen??

4) Check Out Industry Conferences, Connect With The Experts

Whatever industry you’re in there will always be industry related conferences. Go check them out, do your research as to who the keynote speakers will be and have a few questions in mind for them. Make sure to connect with them before they come on and begin their presentation because they will be bombarded with questions afterward.

When I went to my last Search Engine Strategies conference in Toronto, I connected with the two presenters at the Site Clinic before they started talking. They were just sitting up on the stage alone and nobody was talking with them (they actually looked pretty bored waiting to get started!). After they finished, however, they were suddenly bombarded with people trying to get their questions in before they closed the room to set up for the next event. I was able to make a personal connection with them and get 20 minutes of one on one time all on my own because I went in before the rush. Do your research beforehand, have your questions ready, and connect with the experts before their presentations!

5) Get Online!

Forums like Young Entrepreneur are great places to meet people and have people hold you accountable for doing what you say you are going to do. The downside is that anybody can respond and you don’t really know how successful people are so you have to do some weeding through to figure out who you want to listen to.

Join Young Entrepreneur and post your business idea. You’ll definitely get some comments and advice from the members. Then you can go on to discuss some of your goals and what your timeline for succsess is. Come back regularly and update the community as to how you’re doing. Did you accomplish your goals? Did you fall short? Why? What happened? Doing this on an ongoing basis will keep you accountanble for doing what you say you’re going to do as well as introduce you to a wide network of entrepreneurs who will support you and your ideas.

6) Find Ways To Help People You Admire

Want to make a connection with someone you look up to and potentially get their advice? Find a way to help them first! Do your research on them and subscribe to Google News Alerts about them as well as the industries they are in. Think about a service you might be able to provide to help them out or introduce them to a new opportunity. If you can find a way to genuinely help them, they will remember you and will usually be more than happy to return the favor – if not out of gratitude, out of curiosity (who is this person who came out of nowhere to help me out??).

As an example, there was a successful businessman that I looked up to in Toronto who was not very technology savvy. I met himm briefly at an event and later went home and subscribed to Google News Alerts to stay on top of news in his industry and would fax him (he didn’t use email) regularly on new trends that were occuring. I did this for a couple weeks then called in to ask him if he found them useful. He didn’t remember meeting me at the event but he sure did appreciate the faxes! He was curious as to who was sending him this information and invited me over for dinner. I got a lot of free advice from him (and a free meal!) as well as made a new contact that I can use in the future for my different business ventures. Find a way to help them first and they will help you later.

7) Look Around You, Keep An Open Mind!

Chances are there are already people in your life who can be a great help to you if you just open your mind and ask for help. Do you ever notice that when you buy a new car or a new pair of shoes you suddenly see everyone else with the same car of same shoes? Did everyone else go out and buy what you just bought? No. Because you’re focusing on it, you start to see it in your environment more often.

Your brain can only process a certain number of inputs at once – most of the information it receives gets tossed out but if you set your mind to thinking about something, you’ll begin to find ways to get your goal accomplished. This is why The Secret and The Law of Attraction have been so popular in recent years. Look for successful people and keep an open mind – you will find them. As the famous saying goes, “The teacher will appear when the student is ready.”

[via YoungEntrepreneur.com] by Evan Carmichael

I had an interesting conversation this afternoon with a friend of mine who is currently working for me and we’re considering expanding his position and making it more of a full time role.

I have always loved working with family and friends and they have been my best source of help. I’ve had my sister working for me for over 3 years and have a joint venture with my father. I bought my office space with my mother and she uses one half of it. Also, most of my hires – for long term or short term projects – have all been friends that I’ve known for a while.

Here is why I love working with friends or family:

1) They Care

Friends and family don’t just think about themselves. They spend more time thinking about what you’re going through and how they can help the business. My team has had to stay late, take weekend time and work hard to finish projects on tight deadlines and they did so willingly because they wanted to see me succeed.

2) You Can Trust Them

Ever wonder if your staff is working hard when you’re not there? Are you able to give over responsibility of major projects to your team and trust that they will be able to perform? I’ve never had to worry about somebody not completing their tasks or following through on something they said they were going to do. As long as you treat them with respect and communicate they will grind tooth and nail to finish the project properly.

3) You Know What They Are Really Like

I’m not suggesting hiring all your friends. You know there are some people who work diligently and others who are slackers. You know who you could spend all night hanging out with and who you wouldn’t be able to stand for more than a couple of hours before they get on your nerves. In a job interview people are always on their best behavior so you can’t realy get to know them. You already know the true personalities of your friends and will be able to tell in advance if there is a potential to work together or not.

4) You Know What They Want

You never want to hire someone just because they need a job – regardless of if they are you friend or not. You always want people who are genuinely interested in the position you have available and want to learn from you. Think about your friends and family – do they ask about your business? Are they excited by it? If they’re not passionate about working in your business then don’t even think about hiring them.

5) They Will Tell You The Truth

Another great thing about friends and family is that they tell you the truth. Many employees are afraid of their boss and say things that they think he / she wants to hear. Nobody wants to hire “yes men” – people who only give you the good news and cover up the bad. Your friends and family know you and will be far more honest with important information which might be painful to hear but will only help grow your business.

6) They Are More Loyal

If you have a position where your friend or family member is genuinely involved in because you’ve followed the above steps then you’ll also have a much more loyal worker. You won’t have people taking other projects while at your office. They won’t leave the company at the first chance when someone comes and offers them higher pay. They’ll have your back and will be more committed to making your business a success than someone who you don’t have that kind of relationship with.

Considering all the above points, I’m also assuming that you are a fair boss and treat everyone with respect. If you’re a control freak who makes life hell for employees then you deserve to have them run out on you.

What do you think? Have you worked with friends or family? What was your experience?

[via YoungEntrepreneur] by Evan Carmichael