Page 96 - Midas Touch

I still did not get why rich dad was making such a big deal out of a watch.
I knew it was a fake. I knew it was a copy made by pirates. So what?
What’s the problem? Who am I hurting?

Continuing on, rich dad said, “If you are going to be a successful
entrepreneur, you’d better know and respect a brand. If you are lucky,

maybe someday you’ll have a brand yourself. Maybe someday your
business will become a General Electric, or Coca-Cola, or McDonald’s.
But if you are a fraud, your business will be a fraud. It certainly won’t be a
brand.”

I did not agree with rich dad and I didn’t like what he was saying, but I
was old enough and wise enough to know to keep my mouth shut and let

the message sink in. I didn’t need any more of his wrath. But he wasn’t
done with my lesson.

“If you are not a brand, you’re just a commodity. You’re just a faceless
product floating in a world of no-name brands.”

‘What is wrong with being a commodity?” I asked.

“Nothing, if you’re happy being a commodity,” rich dad replied. “It’s the
difference between Bobby’s Burgers or McDonald’s. The McDonald’s
brand is worth billions. Bobby’s Burgers as a brand is worth nothing. Why

spend your life building a business and fail to build a brand?”

Catching his breath, or maybe reloading, rich dad let his lesson on brand
versus commodity rest for a moment. I understood he wanted me to
respect brands and what they stood for. I understood he wanted me to one
day be an entrepreneur who turned his business into a brand. He did not
want me to become just an ordinary entrepreneur.

“Do you know that just the name ‘Coca-Cola’ is worth more than the
company’s entire business? The name is worth more than all the

equipment, real estate, and business systems combined,” said rich dad,
doing his best to have his lesson on brands sink in. “No matter where you
go in the world, Coca-Cola is a brand.”

“So if I wear a fake Rolex I am stealing from Rolex. Is that what you’re
trying to say?”