Page 158 - Midas Touch

time, heartache, and money. A professional investor will be looking at
your advisors and their credentials.

Think of advisors as your business school instructors and your best
teachers. Having a real business and a team of real-world advisors can be
the best way to gain a real-world business education. But you have to do

your part, and that means being a good student, listening, learning, and
making corrections. You do not have to do everything your advisors tell
you to do, but you do have to listen to everything they tell you. If you do
not listen, you do not need advisors, or you need to change advisors.

Working with Your Employees

This is often the toughest group you will work with, but hang in there
because your employees can be your best teachers. Since a business is
made up of different skills (skills such as accounting, legal, customer
service, marketing, advertising, sales, product development, and more)
represented by the 8 Integrities of Business, you are dealing with a group
of highly specialized people. Some will be motivated, some not, some

honest, some not. Getting this group to focus on the objectives of the
business is no easy task, but it is your task. Remember, one bad apple will
ruin the other apples. It is important to learn how to protect your workers
from bad apples. If an investor senses you have employee problems or you
are not a competent leader, they will not invest in you.

One of the biggest complaints you’ll either use yourself or hear from other
entrepreneurs is, “I can’t find good people.” Since most new entrepreneurs

have little real-world experience leading people, they often say, “You can’t
find good workers these days.” In most cases, the real problem is that the
entrepreneur is not yet a good leader. As entrepreneurs develop their
leadership skills, their employees will improve.

Working with Your Customers

Last but not least, a business must have customers and great customer
relationships. Your customers will be some of your best teachers.

A professional investor will always ask, “Who is the customer, and why do
they need your product or service?” In a world of ever-increasing
competition for your customer’s time and money, you must know your