Page 76 - Midas Touch

Problem: Very, very few S’s ever grow their business into the B quadrant
because the B quadrant requires different skills and a significant change of
focus. The shift is not easy but, when successfully done, a world of
unlimited wealth opens up. Because of this lure of wealth, many people try

to move directly from the E quadrant into the B and I quadrants, believing
they can bypass the S quadrant. Both of us advise against such a giant leap.
Although we both had rich dads who served as excellent mentors and role
models, we still started small, gained experience, and gradually moved
into the B and I quadrants. We tell aspiring entrepreneurs, “Keep your
daytime jobs in the E quadrant, and start a part-time business in the S

quadrant.” We often are in favor of quality network-marketing
organizations because the good ones offer sound business-skills training
without much cost. These organizations also let you test and hone your
interpersonal and intrapersonal intelligence—two of the most important
keys to entrepreneurial success.

The I stands for INVESTOR. Many employees in the E quadrant have a

retirement plan included in their benefit package. In the United States, the
most popular plan is called the 401(k). Most self-employed in the S
quadrant have an individual retirement account (IRA) or other retirement
plan designed for small business owners. While participating in these
retirement plans technically means E’s and S’s have investments, it does
not make them investors, by Robert’s definition. The investor skills it
takes to develop your Midas Touch are dramatically different than the

skills it takes to select and put money into a 401(k) or IRA. With those
vehicles you are investing and presumably making money, using your own
money. Midas Touch investing is making money using other people’s
money (OPM). That’s the difference, and it is what separates the rich from
the middle class. One reason why both of us started out buying smaller
real estate properties was to practice using OPM—banker’s money—to

invest. Knowing how to borrow money to make more money and feeling
comfortable with the process is critical to developing an entrepreneur’s
Midas Touch in the B and I quadrants. Through practice, mistakes, and
lessons learned, we have gained the skills to raise money. We know how to
find deals that people want to invest in, and have even taken companies
public. We have used OPM to make money for ourselves and others. This
ability is a dream of many entrepreneurs.