I love businesses and I love entrepreneurs and working very closely with the two I’ve realized there’s some distinct characteristics that separate 6 figure entrepreneurs from 7. Today I wanted to share with you 7 distinct characteristics I’ve noticed that separate the best from the rest. These 7 characteristics are developed over time, and are accessible to everyone but very few choose to implement or follow the game plan of a 7 figure earner.
7 Figure Entrepreneurs:
Delegate everything but their genius freeing up their time and giving them more effort, energy and focus to do what truly matters most to them and makes the biggest impact.
We can all agree that most of us spend a significant amount of our lives doing things that bring very little to no return. Things such as dishes, laundry, cleaning, traveling, cooking, grocery shopping, etc…. Those are the very things 7+ figure entrepreneurs don’t bother with because they know time is money and paying people to do these tasks for them gives them more time to make more money. Take a minute and think about your regular routine, I would venture to guess that more than 70% of your day is spent doing tasks that could easily be delegated to someone else. It is these same tasks that drain your energy, make you cringe, and cost you both time and money. What if you realized the potential you had, what if you used that time to focus on your genius, what if you disciplined yourself to do the one thing that had the most impact? You would be happier, healthier, and wealthier and there’s no one in this world that doesn’t want one of those three things right?!
Focus on building strategic long term relationships with specific individuals.
Relationships are the backbone of business and one of the greatest assets a person has. Sitting with some of the greatest minds in the world and having a conversation it’s evident that they didn’t get to where they are on their own. In fact if you’ve ever been to their office or home you will notice a huge rolodex with prominent names most of us wish we had access to and the truth of the matter is their entire success was built around hard work and great relationships. But why should you care? As a small business your greatest asset isn’t your time, effort, energy or the amount of money you’ve put into the business but rather the relationships you’ve built with the people who support you. I want to challenge you to go through the assets you currently have available such as your FB friends or Fans, LinkedIn Connections, Twitter Followers, YouTube Subscribers, Phone Contacts, etc… those individuals are connected to you because they have a vested interest in the value you bring to the market place. As you go through this list of individuals build strategic relationships with those who have the largest impact in your specific industry and throughout time you will realize the significance of your investment because the return is far greater then you anticipate.
Ask for help.
You could have the greatest business in the world, or the most brilliant idea but execution is everything and while you might believe that you can do it on your own I promise you could do even better if you asked for help. While we are taught all our life that asking for help isn’t a good thing when you realize how much you’ve lost and realize how much it continues to cost asking for help is the most effective solution to getting what you want quicker and easier then you could do it on your own.
Hire a coach.
This is one of the best decisions if not the best decision you will ever make. I was speaking with a high 6 figure entrepreneur the other day and there were certain things in his business that he wanted such as more media attention, to double his income, to qualify and close corporate clients sooner and so I asked him a simple question. “Do you have a coach?” His response was “no, I go to a lot of events, I’m involved in some masterminds, I listen to audios, read books, go to seminars/webinars. I’ve worked on marketing campaigns for Nike, Tiffany, Eastern Bank Limited, Reebok, and Chevron among various others.” Letting him continue to speak for a minute I countered that with “Then you know the best investment you can make is the investment in yourself.” He of course still hesitant because he’s rarely on the other side of the table, pitches 13-14 times a week, has a successful business, invests highly in personal growth and is doing really well says “Ok, no one’s ever pitched me on coaching, I get pitched daily for lots of things but not coaching, I meet coaches at events at least once a week and last week I met one who tried to pitch me but backed down.” And, so as I continued to listen to what he was saying, and continued to take notes about what he wanted I took the opportunity to pitch him and he became a really high paying client. This is important for several reasons:
- No one is too successful to have a coach.
- Value is an exchange for money and there is no reason to back down on what you know you are able to deliver.
- Confidence is irreplaceable.
- You can’t get to where you’re going without accountability, clarity and a roadmap or you could be going in the wrong direction for a long time.
- It costs money to stay where you are and it costs more money to go back to where you’ve been.
Implement systems and disciplines to work less and get paid more.
Systems are everything when it comes to life and business. From social media to financial analysis, traveling, speaking, writing, and everything in between 7+ figure earners create systems and disciplines around absolutely everything. From the moment they wake up to the moment they lay their head on the pillow at night they follow a routine, in fact a very systemized routine that gets repeated daily with the same disciplines that have created their success. It’s no surprise that morning workouts, followed by an early breakfast and a couple hours’ worth of money making activities are normal disciplines for this type of entrepreneur before the sun even rises they are pulled out of bed with passion in their step and enthusiasm in their voice.
Extremely conscious about where their time and money is spent.
Many millionaires are far more frugal then the average person realizes. Millionaires know where their money is being spent, how much of it’s being spent, and in what category it’s being spent. In fact millionaires only invest in the things they value and most of the time it has nothing to do with fancy cars, or million dollar properties but rather their ROI on the money invested. It’s amazing to drive a Tesla there is no other car like it in the world, it’s great to have a huge property in an exclusive community and to give off the vibration that you have money but people don’t invest in millionaires because of their status or wealth they invest because they bring massive value to the marketplace which has equated to material possessions. Next time you think about making a purchase consider the perspective of a millionaire unless it’s something you highly value and there’s a significant return is it really worth investing in? Chances are probably not.
And most importantly they LET GO OF CONTROL!!!
The one thing we all fear is letting go of control, of letting someone do something for us when we think we can do it better ourselves. Letting go of control is the number one characteristic of high performers. They know they can’t control everything and the most important thing they can control is their integrity, actions, and results and there is nothing in the world that speaks louder than those three traits. So next time you make the assumption that being a millionaire is easy remember being a millionaire takes far more discipline then you realize.
