or in your private life, sharing it with a person who makes you happy is very important.
If you’re looking for the right business partner, perhaps Katherine’s story will help you to find them. Not long after completing her marketing degree she was advising her girlfriend, Joanne how to find a wealthy person to finance a new business venture she was keen to establish to help children. “Think of it as a marketing exercise,” she suggested. “Let’s list what you want in a person and then we can define the markets in which they’ll operate and from that we’ll be able to determine where to locate them.”
The two women got excited working on the project that morning and decided the best place to find a very wealthy, businessman or woman was at the Casino on a Saturday night. Saturday, because they presumed interstate or overseas visitors would be looking for entertainment and the Casino always attracted the richest tourists.
They dressed up in the most expensive outfits Joanne possessed. Katherine had to borrow an evening gown as she’d reared five children on a widow’s pension for three years. The two set off feeling very positive that evening and while standing watching the High Rollers, Katherine was tapped on the shoulder by a very attractive young executive who handed her a fist full of chips. “Put them all on red for me?” he said quickly, “I’m at the next table, I’ll be back in a moment.”
She nervously did as she was told and placed a hand full on chips on red numbers. The wheel was spun, the money lost, and she felt devastated. When the man returned and asked what he’d won, she didn’t know how to tell him that she’d lost everything.
“Oh no,” he exclaimed, “I’m broke, they were my last chips, what will I do?” Feeling a little guilty and very empathetic, knowing what it’s like to be flat broke most of the time, she offered him a taxi fare. His response was, “well the least you two women can do is have dinner with me.” Without thinking about how contradictory it was of him to invite them to dinner if he was broke, they accepted his invitation.
Over dinner he discussed an educational business venture with the women and much to Katherine’s delight he was so impressed by her interest in the concept and the fact that she’d studied Marketing while caring for her children as a single parent, that he offered her the opportunity to start the franchise in her city. He financed the whole project and Joanne became a partner in the business. Today the two women are very wealthy, they became the major franchisee in their state and now earn a royalty income from ten additional outlets.
Katherine’s children go to private colleges and she has remarried. Joanne dedicated her life to business and has a wonderful time touring the world opening new branches of the franchised network on behalf of the Australian company.
Were these women lucky? Or did they take a well calculated guess on where their wealthy businessman would be found?
It’s hard to believe this type of thing can happen. But as you can see from the way the meeting was executed, it’s worth empowering yourself with marketing knowledge, there are excellent books and short courses available on the subject.
HOW TO FIND YOUR LIFE PARTNER
In my own case I remember back in the seventies it was difficult to find a partner in my private life because I was constantly travelling between my homes and businesses in three states. When I sold my computer businesses in 1979 and joined the Gloria Marshall figure salons as their State Manager in New South Wales my American boss, Amanda, said to me one day. “Have you ever thought about why you achieve your business goals Lucille, but never have any luck finding the right man to share your private life?”
“Because I can’t afford to mix business and pleasure,” I replied instantly. “Even though I meet interesting and challenging businessmen I can’t date them. There are men who are attracted to me because they think I’m wealthy owning several businesses but they are definitely the wrong types to get involved with. I guess I’m too scared to get serious with anyone,” I sighed.
Her solution was simple. “Plan your private life the same way you plan your business,” she said, “write goals for your private happiness and list the attributes you want to find in the man who will father your child,” she told me, as I’d shared with her my longing to become a mother following a bad car accident I’d experienced in 1976. I went home that evening and wrote out a list describing the perfect man for me and soon decided it would be impossible to find all I wanted in one man. The man I documented was a robot and couldn’t possibly be real!
The one good thing this exercise did for me was to make me stop looking for a man and get on with my career. I decided I’d never marry, but have a child one day when I was ready. My mother was disgusted when I told her my plan but she didn’t try to influence me to change my mind. Luckily for me the man I chose to father my baby had many of the attributes I’d listed and I did marry.
In business, as in our private lives, we’re dealing with relationships. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a business partner or bank manager we must find people who are compatible to work with.
If you’re uncomfortable when talking to your accountant or solicitor don’t use them. Find someone you can communicate with who makes good sense when they speak.
I can remember back in the seventies having a terrible time trying to understand my solicitor and accountant. To help me decipher what they were trying to explain to me, I’d openly record the meetings in their offices and replay them several times to myself until I understood their advice, before I’d give them my answer. At that time I was employing over 100 women on my national payroll and some big decisions had to be made at times and I didn’t want to make mistakes. Don’t be intimidated by professional people, especially if you’re paying for their services, ask like I did if you can record the meeting. No one ever said ‘no’ to my request.
BANK MANAGERS ARE IMPORTANT TO YOUR BUSINESS
I enjoy the time I spend with my bank managers. I’ve never done business with a manager who produces the rule book when I’m asking for money. Once you gain confidence in yourself and you’re ready to ask for a loan, you’ll discover that bank managers can use their own discretion when deciding if you’re a good risk or not.
As early as 1966 I was borrowing money with no collateral to secure the loan. I’ve managed to gain more than a 100% loan on commercial property by borrowing against the bank’s valuation. Did you know this was possible?
With the right bank manager handling your affairs almost anything can be achieved. There must be a trust between you and the person you’re asking for money. This can be built slowly by becoming a regular client of the bank, however in my case I’ve always managed to create instant rapport with bank managers. If you don’t feel you can communicate with the manager don’t bother to ask him for a loan.
When you’re sitting in front of the right bank manager you’ll feel confident to ask him or her for the loan. Go to every branch of every bank in your city until you find a strong communication with the human being you’re dealing with on the other side of the desk.
Don’t get upset, while you’re looking, remember anything worth having in life is worth waiting for, so people tell me. I’ve never been a very patient person: I’ve been lucky to find what I’m looking for fairly quickly. My way of testing people is to get very excited about my project and if their eyes light up I know I’ve made a worthwhile connection.
BUSINESS PARTNERSHIPS
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