Millionaire MBA Day 10: Persistence
by
Millionaire MBA
SMASHWORDS EDITION
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Copyright © Millionaire MBA 2011
First Published 2011 by ELW Publishing Bath, UK
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Contents
Introduction
A few years back, 50 leading UK entrepreneurs and business owners were interviewed in their homes, offices and hotels. The purpose of the interviews was to find out exactly what made them successful, and how other aspiring entrepreneurs could replicate their business success.
Those digitally recorded audio interviews were turned into a 'timeless' business mentoring programme called Millionaire MBA. Millionaire MBA is regarded as one of the best programmes in the world to teach entrepreneurial thinking and the 'millionaire mindset'.
Millionaire MBA is a rich, deep mentoring programme which existing and aspiring entrepreneurs listen to over 40 days. Literally tens of thousands of entrepreneurs (like you) around the world have benefited from this programme.
In this ebook, you’ll find the actual transcription from one whole day of the mentoring programme.
To find out more about the full business mentoring programme or to listen to the audio version, please visit http://www.millionairemba.com/
Day 10: Persistence
Welcome to Day 10, "Persistence and the Word 'No.'"
Persistence is perhaps the most hidden quality of all entrepreneurs and self-made millionaires. Invariably, persistence is the difference between success and failure.
I cannot stress this enough: If there's one major quality that stands out in all successful people, it's persistence.
Persistence is a formidable force. Simply put, it achieves results. Those who accomplish success are the ones who have the mental strength and stamina to keep going when others around them are giving up.
It explains why many people who are perhaps not the most academic at school can go on to create massive success.
What is persistence? It's perseverance, determination and doggedness. It's stubbornness, stickability and tenacity.
Persistence is the ability to stay focused, keep going and never give up until you've achieved your desired outcome. It's a fundamental quality of winners.
If persistence is taken with the other qualities of the millionaire mindset, such as passion and self-belief, it can be an extremely powerful tool.
Imagine an iron rod engraved with the words persistence, courage, vision, desire, passion and determination. Imagine that this iron rod forms your backbone and that these qualities permeate your body. Imagine how invincible you would be.
You actually have that iron rod within you right now. It's simply your choice if you wish to use it or not.
Our entrepreneurs recognise persistence as the excellent quality that it is. Persistence has led them to the success they've achieved. Take a listen to our entrepreneurs views on persistence.
Chris Rucker
Persistence is probably the single most important thing that you'll do. And it doesn't go away; it doesn't stop. And I think if it does stop, probably you're in danger then.
Julie Meyer
The difference between success and failure is just persisting.
One of my investors has a saying; she says, "Never give up, never accept no, and never ever, ever go away." And it's just all about that persistence.
Stuart Wheeler
I think persistence is important. Just occasionally, for no very good reason, people ask my advice who are just starting up.
Somebody asked my advice not very long ago; they'd got a good idea, they thought, and it wasn't paying off very quickly. I mean the volume was going up, but it wasn't really going up quite as fast as he'd hoped and so on and so forth.
And should he just therefore change to something else? And I think the answer is you must stick with what you're doing unless you have a really good other idea.
Just saying, "Oh well, it isn't going very well. I think I'd better start something new" - I think you shouldn't flippity-jibbet [change their mind] like that.
Mandy Haberman
Without bloody-minded determination and persistence you don't achieve success. So you have to have that, if you're going to be successful.
There are so many barriers to success - and I don't know if it's just something of this country, but there are so many.
You know, the banks don't want to lend you money; you take ideas to companies - they don't want to licence it because basically they want to see if it's got legs and then they'll pinch it anyway.
There are so many things where you just have to keep on banging your head against that brick wall until eventually the brick wall comes down.
And if you haven't got that determination, you're not going to get there because it never comes on a plate.
Mark Marsland
If you've got a big rock in your way and the rock is blocking the entrance and you don't chip away at it every day, you're not going to get out. And if you don't get out, you're not going to go on to bigger and better things.
So persistence is very important.
Keep chipping away - keep chipping away at your problems; keep chipping away at your goals, and by chipping away at your goals, you'll get to them.
Over the next 15 minutes, our entrepreneurs will share their own stories of persistence with you. It's been their pure will to achieve, coupled with the never-give-up attitude that's led to their success.
Whilst listening to this, think what you could achieve if you applied the same levels of persistence and never gave up.
Simon Woodroffe
Usually when you ask somebody something and they say no, that is just a stepping stone along the way.
I remember when we did - not a very good result, as it happens - but I remember thinking that the Millennium Dome was going to be very successful in the early days and thinking, "We definitely want to have a restaurant in there."
And I approached them, and they said, "Absolutely not." And I thought, "This would be a great showcase to have a YO! Sushi in there because they have so many visitors around the world and all that."
I thought it would make lots of money. In fact, it had gone out to one of the big catering groups, and they'd taken the whole thing.
And I learnt that simply by persisting - I just never gave up. I just continually sent e-mails and found the next person and found another contact here... And in the end they gave up because they thought that they might have missed the Beatles - you know, one of those type feelings.
Or they thought that they might get bad publicity because here is an entrepreneur who really wanted to be in it, and they were just giving it out to McDonald's or whoever it was.
...It's amazing what you can do through persistence because most people in this world, me included from time to time, don't really know.
So if somebody comes at you, it's like - if you like a girlfriend or a boyfriend, they come and they shower you with their love - there's a bit of you that goes, "Maybe they're right."
Debbie Burke
Definitely. It's what any salesperson should do. That's what makes somebody a successful salesperson. It's not actually the quality of the call; it's the persistence and the follow-up.
And yes, from the first time we got a temp out working, it was a client who was adamant that they wouldn't use us for temps. They used us for permanent staff, but they had an agency that they'd used for years that they were very happy with.
And it's just keeping - making the call in a different way.
When finally someone walks in the door who can type at about 90 words a minute, I phoned this client and I said, "You just can't say no to me. This woman's fantastic. She can be with you on Monday morning. Typing is just amazing. It's accurate; it's the fastest I've ever seen. You know, you've just got to take her."
And she said, "Oh, all right then," and that's how it started. And that started a very large side of our business, which is - this was a client in the property industry - and from that one client, we've got a lot more in the same group.
Duncan Bannatyne
Yes, you've got to be very, very persistent - particularly things like... I live in a place called Darlington. It's a beautiful place, but there was no health club there.
I applied for planning; the planning officer refused us. It took six months to refuse us. We appealed, we went to a public enquiry, and eventually we got it.
But we actually gambled more than a £100,000 in fees, but we knew we were right. We knew we should persist. And we knew that Darlington should have a health club and now it has.