Ideas About Entrepreneurship

Mark's Story
My name is Mark Ford. I turned 60 years old a few months ago. For most of my life—since I was in my mid-20s—I dedicated myself almost entirely to making money. I started with service businesses—roofing, carpentry, pool building, and house painting.
I graduated to retail operations—restaurants, bars, a health club, a martial arts dojo, two travel agencies, and two art galleries. I started two P.R. firms and a rare coin business.
Next, I got into direct marketing. I owned and ran businesses in just about every field you can imagine. We sold watches, jewelry, televisions, grandfather clocks, tomatoes, sunglasses, magazines, perfumes, and cosmetics—just to name a few.
My name is Mark Ford. I turned 60 years old a few months ago. For most of my life—since I was in my mid-20s—I dedicated myself almost entirely to making money. I started with service businesses—roofing, carpentry, pool building, and house painting.
I graduated to retail operations—restaurants, bars, a health club, a martial arts dojo, two travel agencies, and two art galleries. I started two P.R. firms and a rare coin business.
Next, I got into direct marketing. I owned and ran businesses in just about every field you can imagine. We sold watches, jewelry, televisions, grandfather clocks, tomatoes, sunglasses, magazines, perfumes, and cosmetics—just to name a few.
Then I got into something I really cared about—the publishing business. I owned or ran dozens of publishing companies. We sold books, magazines, and newsletters about travel, health, business, real estate, and investing. I developed a large vacation resort on the Pacific Ocean in Central America. And I started several adult education programs.
One thing I’m proud of: With a few exceptions, I never relied on contracts to keep me safe. I always based my deals on the trust I had in my partners and the knowledge I had in business and investing. Many of these businesses were profitable. Some of them soared. One of the businesses I took an interest in, for example, is worth around a billion dollars today. But it wasn’t all strawberries and cream. Some of the businesses I got involved in were big flops. (Like the record-of-the-month club I started in the mid-1980s. It lost me about $750,000, as I recall.)
Two of my partners screwed me. And I’ve had to fire some of my best friends. About 20 years ago the U.S. government sued me. That resulted in some terrible press in local newspapers. When success is your only driver, you can make bad decisions. I made mine and I’ve learned from them. They made me a wiser and more confident businessperson today. I invested my profits very conservatively. I was a big buyer of real estate, both commercial and residential. I got in at the right time and exited in 2005. I’ve made a ton of money investing in “earth.”
I was also a big buyer of quality municipal bonds. I restructured my portfolio years before the mainstream press realized the dangers there. And I bought gold—lots and lots of gold—when it was trading at $400 per ounce. I wasn’t lucky. I just used common sense.
There were times when I speculated in stocks as an individual investor. But I’ve also been an insider, starting and promoting several public companies. I learned about stocks from the inside out. This made me even more conservative. And it kept me out of the stock market during the three major fallouts that have occurred during my investing career.
And when I was growing rich, I bought loads of life insurance and annuity policies. I soon figured out what a scam most of these policies are. This is knowledge I cherish today.
Then I Had an Epiphany
I remember the day it struck me. My wife and I were walking over a bridge in Rome. She was enjoying the scenery. I was thinking about all the businesses and investments that needed my attention. Standing on that bridge, looking at the Tiber River, I realized there was no need for me to keep working. I had more money than I could use in three lifetimes. It was time for a change.
I turned to my wife and I apologized for being a money-driven maniac for 30 years. I promised that I would never again devote my life to making money. And I kept that promise. I thank my lucky stars every day she put up with me for all that time. And I’m immensely grateful for our three boys. They are now trying to make their own ways in the world.
These days, I consider myself “semi-retired.” We live in a $5 million home overlooking the ocean in Palm Beach County. And we have more real estate, gold, art, and cash than I can keep track of. I take six to eight weeks off each year to live with my wife in some wonder destination. We like cities. We pick a different one each summer. We’ve become “citizens” of Paris, London, Madrid, Aix en Provence, Chicago, and our favorite, New York City. (Two of our sons live there.)
Sometimes we rent apartments or villas. Other times we stay in beautiful little boutique hotels she discovers from her reading. Every six to eight weeks, I travel to our second home overlooking the Pacific Ocean in Nicaragua. There I spend time writing fiction and poetry, reading books, and enjoying fine wine and cigars.
I've made my health a top priority. I work out twice every day and compete at an expert level in Jiu Jitsu tournaments with men half my age. But the biggest change I’ve made is how I think about money. It is no longer a top priority for me. In fact, it isn't a consideration at all. I continue to consult with a few businesses—but only businesses I like and respect. And I limit my consulting to what I enjoy—teaching and writing. Teaching is in my blood. (My father and mother were both teachers, as was my grandmother and her mother before her.) Teaching other people what I’ve learned about business and wealth building is now my top professional goal.
Over the last decade, I've written more than a dozen books on entrepreneurship, building wealth, and personal productivity—some of which were Wall Street Journal and New York Times bestsellers. I've also spent time mentoring young entrepreneurs. Many of them have become millionaires. I did occasionally think about writing my own investment newsletter over the years. But I never thought there would be a market for simple, common sense investment advice that really works. But then, last year, a former protégé and colleague of mine suggested that I write my own newsletter. He said he believe there was a need for the kind of investment advice I’d been giving to my friends in these letters.
He told me that the beating investors have been taking in the markets these past years has changed many minds. He was confident I could write a newsletter that people would buy. Since he was (and is) one of the most successful investment publishers in the world, I thought, “Well, maybe I can.” Maybe I can help teach regular investors what I've learned about investing. Maybe I can help them avoid the B.S. that passes for good ideas in the financial press every day. (Even in The Wall Street Journal and Barron’s—half of the stuff you read is laughable.)
Maybe I can pass along the simple, common sense publishing ideas that have worked so well for me. Why not? After all, when you've had all the good fortune I've had in business… when you've met (and even mentored) dozens of investment gurus… when you've made all the money you will ever need… it’s time to do something else.
Teaching and writing gives me pleasure I can’t get from making money any more. So that's where I am right now in my life. And that’s why I’m writing this investment letter. My greatest hope is that my experience will pay off. If it does, and if along the way you find that you enjoy the way I see the world, then maybe one day you will consider me a valuable friend.
***Mark Ford is an interesting guy. I like his common-sense approach to money and investing. He comes off as a "polished" type but like most self-made rich people... he is a hustler at heart. This guy had his first business at age 11. He has built successful businesses with discipline and determination. He is the poster child for the "American Dream". Below are two "essays" as Mark calls them that offer great advice for those staring out to build their fortunes. I don't necessarily agree with everything each author states but overall I thought that these different perspectives would offer value to anyone reading this. ***
One thing I’m proud of: With a few exceptions, I never relied on contracts to keep me safe. I always based my deals on the trust I had in my partners and the knowledge I had in business and investing. Many of these businesses were profitable. Some of them soared. One of the businesses I took an interest in, for example, is worth around a billion dollars today. But it wasn’t all strawberries and cream. Some of the businesses I got involved in were big flops. (Like the record-of-the-month club I started in the mid-1980s. It lost me about $750,000, as I recall.)
Two of my partners screwed me. And I’ve had to fire some of my best friends. About 20 years ago the U.S. government sued me. That resulted in some terrible press in local newspapers. When success is your only driver, you can make bad decisions. I made mine and I’ve learned from them. They made me a wiser and more confident businessperson today. I invested my profits very conservatively. I was a big buyer of real estate, both commercial and residential. I got in at the right time and exited in 2005. I’ve made a ton of money investing in “earth.”
I was also a big buyer of quality municipal bonds. I restructured my portfolio years before the mainstream press realized the dangers there. And I bought gold—lots and lots of gold—when it was trading at $400 per ounce. I wasn’t lucky. I just used common sense.
There were times when I speculated in stocks as an individual investor. But I’ve also been an insider, starting and promoting several public companies. I learned about stocks from the inside out. This made me even more conservative. And it kept me out of the stock market during the three major fallouts that have occurred during my investing career.
And when I was growing rich, I bought loads of life insurance and annuity policies. I soon figured out what a scam most of these policies are. This is knowledge I cherish today.
Then I Had an Epiphany
I remember the day it struck me. My wife and I were walking over a bridge in Rome. She was enjoying the scenery. I was thinking about all the businesses and investments that needed my attention. Standing on that bridge, looking at the Tiber River, I realized there was no need for me to keep working. I had more money than I could use in three lifetimes. It was time for a change.
I turned to my wife and I apologized for being a money-driven maniac for 30 years. I promised that I would never again devote my life to making money. And I kept that promise. I thank my lucky stars every day she put up with me for all that time. And I’m immensely grateful for our three boys. They are now trying to make their own ways in the world.
These days, I consider myself “semi-retired.” We live in a $5 million home overlooking the ocean in Palm Beach County. And we have more real estate, gold, art, and cash than I can keep track of. I take six to eight weeks off each year to live with my wife in some wonder destination. We like cities. We pick a different one each summer. We’ve become “citizens” of Paris, London, Madrid, Aix en Provence, Chicago, and our favorite, New York City. (Two of our sons live there.)
Sometimes we rent apartments or villas. Other times we stay in beautiful little boutique hotels she discovers from her reading. Every six to eight weeks, I travel to our second home overlooking the Pacific Ocean in Nicaragua. There I spend time writing fiction and poetry, reading books, and enjoying fine wine and cigars.
I've made my health a top priority. I work out twice every day and compete at an expert level in Jiu Jitsu tournaments with men half my age. But the biggest change I’ve made is how I think about money. It is no longer a top priority for me. In fact, it isn't a consideration at all. I continue to consult with a few businesses—but only businesses I like and respect. And I limit my consulting to what I enjoy—teaching and writing. Teaching is in my blood. (My father and mother were both teachers, as was my grandmother and her mother before her.) Teaching other people what I’ve learned about business and wealth building is now my top professional goal.
Over the last decade, I've written more than a dozen books on entrepreneurship, building wealth, and personal productivity—some of which were Wall Street Journal and New York Times bestsellers. I've also spent time mentoring young entrepreneurs. Many of them have become millionaires. I did occasionally think about writing my own investment newsletter over the years. But I never thought there would be a market for simple, common sense investment advice that really works. But then, last year, a former protégé and colleague of mine suggested that I write my own newsletter. He said he believe there was a need for the kind of investment advice I’d been giving to my friends in these letters.
He told me that the beating investors have been taking in the markets these past years has changed many minds. He was confident I could write a newsletter that people would buy. Since he was (and is) one of the most successful investment publishers in the world, I thought, “Well, maybe I can.” Maybe I can help teach regular investors what I've learned about investing. Maybe I can help them avoid the B.S. that passes for good ideas in the financial press every day. (Even in The Wall Street Journal and Barron’s—half of the stuff you read is laughable.)
Maybe I can pass along the simple, common sense publishing ideas that have worked so well for me. Why not? After all, when you've had all the good fortune I've had in business… when you've met (and even mentored) dozens of investment gurus… when you've made all the money you will ever need… it’s time to do something else.
Teaching and writing gives me pleasure I can’t get from making money any more. So that's where I am right now in my life. And that’s why I’m writing this investment letter. My greatest hope is that my experience will pay off. If it does, and if along the way you find that you enjoy the way I see the world, then maybe one day you will consider me a valuable friend.
***Mark Ford is an interesting guy. I like his common-sense approach to money and investing. He comes off as a "polished" type but like most self-made rich people... he is a hustler at heart. This guy had his first business at age 11. He has built successful businesses with discipline and determination. He is the poster child for the "American Dream". Below are two "essays" as Mark calls them that offer great advice for those staring out to build their fortunes. I don't necessarily agree with everything each author states but overall I thought that these different perspectives would offer value to anyone reading this. ***
By Mark Morgan Ford
During the last decade, I wrote hundreds of essays and a half-dozen books on entrepreneurship… I have a reason for that: Back in 2000, just about everything available to read on the subject—and there wasn't much of it—seemed wrong to me. Everyone was writing about having vision and taking risk. It was about defying odds and spending the last dollar of the family savings account to launch an improbable business. My own experience—and I had a good deal of it—was nearly the opposite. These days, at least half of what I read seems more or less right. I like to think that's because my writing inspired true entrepreneurs to take to the Internet and publish their truths. This past month, I came across the following two essays that provided a total of 19 ideas about entrepreneurship—some of which I agree with. At the end of each essay, I give you my views. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Ten Lessons for Aspiring Entrepreneurs By Jeffrey Tucker, CEO, liberty.me on December 20, 2013 | Full Essay One of my favorite web spaces is meetinnovators.com. It interviews startup entrepreneurs, people who created something new and made it successful. Through casual conversation, it investigates their thinking, mode of working, trials and tribulations, breakthroughs, and visions of the future. Just hearing these people talk gives you a real lift. Major media don't usually cover this world, which is strange because the technologies we use and the businesses we trade with define a major part of our lives. The trouble is that most people just take it all for granted. "Of course there's an upgrade." "Of course there's an app." "Of course I can make a video call from a wireless device to a person on the other side of the world for free!" I recently caught up with an old history professor, and it would have made sense to talk about big ideas (about which we both really care). But actually, and very quickly, we gravitated to more interesting stuff. (Read more here…) About half the entrepreneurs I know went into business for themselves. They had reasons other than the desire to become wealthy. The other half were people that wanted—simply and purely—to get rich quickly by whatever means necessary. Needless to say, the second group was less apt to maintain their wealth over the long haul. If you're a new entrepreneur—or soon-to-be one—here's some advice: People from both of these groups will try telling you why you will fail. When people tell you such reasons, pay attention to those who have actually succeeded in business. They might be trying to dissuade you from competing with them. But they might be trying to save you time and money. Smart entrepreneurs—the chickenhearted ones like me—work hard to reduce uncertainty. They want uncertainty to be as little as possible before risking serious time and money. Start-up businesses need neither dreamers nor accountants. They need idea-generators, marketers, and profit producers. Most of the time—during the first year or so of operation—one person will play all three roles. I'm not saying you shouldn't dream big or hope it will be quick and easy—at least in the beginning. Every business I started ended up being more work than I wanted it to be. But if I didn't have the ability to pretend it would be quick and easy, I wouldn't have started a single one. Competent people now run most of the business I've started. They seldom—if ever—ask for my help. I imagine this is a truth for Mr. Tucker now, as well… But if he rereads Ready, Fire, Aim, he will figure out how to get off the treadmill. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Nine Lessons From the “Shark Tank” By Brett & Kate McKay, www.artofmanliness.com on February 4, 2014 |Full Essay I don't watch much television—with two small children and a business, I just don't have time. But there's one show that I DVR and watch without fail every week: "Shark Tank." For those of you who aren't familiar with the show, here's the premise: Aspiring entrepreneurs get a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to pitch their business to a panel of "sharks"—five self-made millionaires and billionaires including the likes of Mark Cuban and Daymond John—and ask for funding in exchange for equity in their business. Basically, it's the dramatization of one of the most stressful, sweat-inducing, make-or-break moments in capitalism: the business pitch. On any given episode you'll see amazing and innovative businesses secure hundreds of thousands (and sometimes millions) of dollars' worth of capital, or you'll get to watch what's obviously a weird, laughably-bad business be eviscerated by the sharks. (Read more here…) Here's my take on Mr. McKay's nine lessons: 1. Learn How to Pitch: McKay is stressing here the importance of doing your due diligence in preparing your pitch. I disagree. "Shark Tank" is about how to sell your startup to venture capitalists. This is a very small part of entrepreneurship. And it's one that shouldn't interest you if you want to build a serious, lasting business. 2. Hustle is Necessary But Not Sufficient: I agree. Hustle in business is a given, but it's not the end all. 3. Don't Be Blinded by Passion: Yes. Passion is not a virtue. It's an emotion that will usually do you more harm than good. 4. Just Because Your Friends and Family Love Your Idea, Doesn't Mean It's a Good Idea: That's correct. Ignore the advice—good or bad—that comes from anyone who doesn't know the industry you are entering. 5. Know Your Business: Yes. With a capital Y. I've written about knowing your business—and industry—a lot. 6. Concentrate on Your Core Competency: This is true. The temptation to veer away from one's core competency is ubiquitous in growing businesses. Things are looking up with your primary product and with the primary method of selling it. So you figure that almost anything you do will be just as grand. In moving away from core competency, move one step at a time. (See Automatic Wealth for a full explanation of this.) 7. The Best Businesses Solve Real Problems: I don't agree. We sometimes like to think business is about solving problems. Some businesses are. But most are not. Most products that comprise any country's marketplace are not necessary. What drives economies is demand, not the need to solve problems. 8. If You're Not Making Money, It's Just a Hobby: Yes and no. As a rule, you want to develop positive cash flow by the end of your second year. And be profitable by Year Three. But some businesses take longer than that. My art business is an example. When I started it, I estimated it would take 10 years to achieve profitability. But I was willing to do it because—by then—it would be a cash machine. One of my nieces or nephews could tap into it for life. That said, don't go into such a business unless you have plenty of money to spare. 9. Not Every Business Needs Investors: I agree. I have started dozens of successful businesses and never once needed an investor. |