I used to listen to a lot of Dr Laura Schlessinger on the radio when I was in college.

A lot.

Do you remember the show?

She basically preached personal responsibility, ethics, and accountability, and delivered it all in a no-frills, no-nonsense, righteously-in-your-face style.

I liked it.

Many of those things she preached were already on the slide in the early 1990s. And these days, looking out on a sea of spoiled overgrown children who are avoiding being adults, I think that slide accelerated into an avalanche. (But I digress…)

Anyways…

After a while of listening to the show I knew how she’d answer the questions.

Because over time, the same types of people started popping up with the same types of questions.

I guess people aren’t really as unique as they think they are.

I learned how to read people’s behaviors.

I learned how to see through people’s excuses.

What I learned from her about human psychology has served me well.

Very well.

Especially when I entered the workforce and had to deal with idiot bosses, know-it-all co-workers, and the vicious human resources departments who once reprimanded me for simply saying a woman was on “maternity leave” instead of “short term disability” — (I think being pregnant is a beautiful gift, not a disability).

Which leads me to business.

Specifically “The 10 stupid things investors do to mess up their businesses”.

(Dr Laura wrote a couple books with similar titles: “10 stupid things men do to mess up their lives” and “10 stupid things women do to mess up their lives”, so I’m playing off that.)

Here they are…

#1:
Lack of marketing.

Skip learning how to market properly and you’ll be dead in the water from the very start.

Marketing isn’t as easy as it seems. You don’t just put a bunch of posts on Fakebook and then have it start raining deals. You need to learn how to identify WHO you are after, HOW to reach them, and then craft WHAT to say to them to get them to respond.

Then you’ll start to get some inbound leadflow.

#2:
Lack of follow-up & follow-thru

Don’t drop the ball. Sellers need to be contacted multiple times to finally get them off the fence.

#3:
Following the wrong advice.

Some advice will fit you like a glove and will click for you, other advice will not make any sense. Different people are different, and process information differently, so be sure you go with a system that makes sense for you, motivates you, and that you can envision working for you.

#4:
Giving up & quitting at the first sign of trouble.

The old cliché about quitters never winning, and winners never quitting is cliché for a reason.

The road will be rocky.
You will face adversity.
You will want to quit.

But you can’t.

You have to preserver and push through until you win.

#5:
Worrying what others think of you.

This is a tough one for human beings, but you simply have to stop worrying what other people think of you or what you’re doing.

Most people aren’t independent entrepreneurs and have never built a business or flipped a house, so they actually aren’t qualified to tell you that you can’t do it.

Only let people talk you out of something if they have actually done it themselves in the past. If they haven’t and they are trying to tell you not to do it either, then politely thank them, then move on and ignore them.

#6:
Not learning to negotiate properly.

I get it that many people simply don’t like to negotiate. Usually because they see it as high-pressure sales, and nobody likes to be sold to (though everyone likes to buy).

But negotiation is different.

Done right, it is leading someone to a mutually beneficial arrangement. The essence of capitalism.

When you learn negotiation properly, your business and your life will change for the better.

#7:
Chasing Bright Shiny Objects (BSOs)

Learn to focus. Yes, there are a million things going on at once. Nonstop phone calls, TV shows, text messages, social media, friends, family, and so on & so forth, but you simply have to learn how to put some blinders on and FOCUS. Then you’ll move ahead.

Squirrel!

#8:
Not understanding legal contracts

There’s a legal side to real estate investing, and it can be intimidating.

You aren’t expected to go to law school, but you do need to understand how legal contracts function, how to use them correctly, and how to legally protect yourself from the potential pitfalls.

#9:
Not ditching bad team members or partners quickly

If someone isn’t working out, get rid of them. Quickly.

A bad team member will derail you or stop you from moving ahead. This goes double for a business partner. Do you really need a partner anyway? Most of the time you are much better off on your own. People tend to want a partner so they have someone to lean on, but it usually doesn’t end well. And that goes 54x for groups.

#10:
Expecting to be rich by next Wednesday

Get real. It could happen fast, but it ain’t gonna happen overnight.

Be patient and stay focused.

You’ll get there, but you’re building something to last, not just a quick flash in the pan, so be realistic in your expectations.

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There you have it, my 10 stupid things investors do to mess up their businesses.

I can get you on the right path from the get-go — or fix the path you’ve already started on — if you attend my 1-day Rapid Cash Generator Workshop on Saturday September 12th ONLINE using Zoom.

Don’t mess up. Go here instead:
1-day Rapid Cash Generator Workshop

Tom Zeeb
Traction Real Estate Mentors