My 24 year, 1000 businesses analysis...CONCLUSION.

[GordonJ]

Including the hundreds of hidden businesses that Dien has uncovered these lat 24 years, I have analyzed over 1,000 business opportunities. A THOUSAND.

That is a lot. From MLM/Networking; Amway, Avon, Tupperware, Mary Kay...to high investment franchises like McDonalds, Dallas Cowboys*, UPS Store...

To scores of home based, retail, and even International business opportunities...here is my summary conclusion:

SLOP AND MESS IS ALIVE AND GROWING IN THE WORLD OF $$ OPPORTUNITY.

From a former friend in town (former cause he wouldn't stop trying to recruit me)...who has a garage full of soap, toothpaste and all things Amway, and spending over $1,000.00 a month buying product...

To the lady at the storage center with a unit full of make-up, being in several mlm companies,

To the new guy starting another pizza shop...

To the lady two doors up who teaches zumba, and meditation...

Business and Money Making Ventures are full of all kinds of slop, mess, and products galore.

I hate products, that is, if I were getting into any business venture, I would avoid any and all opportunities that have PRODUCTS involved.

I think that 900, or 90% of all the businesses I have analyzed these last 25 years, are just full of unnecessary movements, details, paperwork, regulations, headaches, wheel spinning...and most who do these are resigned that; "it comes with the territory".

Which makes me ask, why did you choose THAT territory? And the answers, as many as there are, usually comes down to a couple; It sounded good or, I BELIEVED I could make a lot of money doing it, if I just followed their plan.

There are, obviously, other answers.

I contend, most just don't take the time to DO A SELF ASSESSMENT, and then to search for a MATCHING opportunity.

Over my lifetime, I have been involved in setting up several stores, and I mean going into an empty building and coming out with a full new store...these include OLSEN ELECTRONICS (3), MACE Electronics (4), Zayre Dept. Store (2), GFS Market Place (3) Twin Valu and two pizza shops.

I've literally handled thousands of PRODUCTS, and of these once upon a time success stories, only the GFS Market Place is still around, while all of the others have gone OUT OF BUSINESS.

During this time, a few friends, who do ONE thing, have prospered. One is a guy who replaces transmissions. Never had a downturn in 25 years.

Another is a small cleaning company, and they've held some of their contracts for over two decades, remarkable in an industry that is known for its turnover.

So, what is the absolute simplest> what is the most profitable
what would I do today, if younger, and knowing what I know?

Well.

[Dien Rice]

Originally Posted by GordonJ

So, what is the absolute simplest> what is the most profitable
what would I do today, if younger, and knowing what I know?

Hi Gordon,

I can't wait to hear what you would do today, knowing what you know!

I hope you tell us soon... Otherwise I'm going to throw in the towel (literally) and get a job on a nudist cruise ship!

Best wishes!

Dien

P.S. I'm kidding... I'm keeping the towel on...

P.P.S. Jokes aside, I can't wait to hear it!

[GordonJ]

Tried the nudist thing, didn't like the smirks and giggles; went the opposite...where we wore 3 outfits at a time...decided balance and some modesty suited me just fine.

Knowing what I know today...what would I do?

Well.

THINK things over.

And here is THE thing, I would attempt to do what SUITED me, so what I might say I would do, is going to be a lot different from anyone...it is a futile exercise, however, being MR. FUTILE, 1992, and losing that title to perennial title holder, Mr. D. Trump, it won't stop me from mouthing off (see, I do have some things in common).

What I do know is this: WORK should be meaningful. I mean, if one has to work, why not make it both enjoyable and purposeful, eh?

The most deplorable people I've met in the last 50 years were mostly nepos who didn't have to work...the saying, idle hands are the devil's tools...seems to fit these folks.

But as to the slop and mess of it all; I would have much earlier established a proprietary business, one that was not replicable because of that proprietary position...and built off of that.

One size does not fit all.

So, knowing what I know today, I would spend time to THINK about what my real goals would be, WHY? and then about a Plan Of Action to fulfill those, knowing they are only a rest stop on the journey.

For me, I would have started a publishing company much earlier and developed proprietary products only available from me.

How about you all?

Gordon

Originally Posted by Dien Rice

Hi Gordon,

I can't wait to hear what you would do today, knowing what you know!

I hope you tell us soon... Otherwise I'm going to throw in the towel (literally) and get a job on a nudist cruise ship!

Best wishes!

Dien

P.S. I'm kidding... I'm keeping the towel on...

P.P.S. Jokes aside, I can't wait to hear it!

[Dien Rice]

Hi Gordon,

I've recently had an unusual line of thought...

Once you've achieved a certain "mastery" of something... it can become an "art"...

Imagine a gymnast... At the start, she's trying to make sure she doesn't make any mistakes... she doesn't fall off the balance beam, doesn't stumble when she lands after a backflip, that sort of thing...

But once she achieves a certain level of mastery...

She can turn it into an "art"... she can create her own, signature moves, and has much more freedom - because she's no longer struggling to learn the basics!

I believe "business" can be like this... Once you achieve a certain level of mastery, doing and creating business can become an "art" (to a degree)... Where it can be infused with your own personality...

At the beginning, you're struggling to learn how to sell... how to fulfil orders... how to coordinate everything harmoniously, amidst the chaos...!

But, after achieving a certain level of mastery, business can in a sense become your "canvas"... an "art" that makes money...

I really think Steve Jobs reached this level of mastery with Apple, for example... I believe Harvey Brody is in the same mold, and has also reached this level of mastery too... Of course, the artist formerly known as "Mr Chattel"* is an "artist" as well - all you have to do is read his various reports and hotsheets!

What do you think? Am I off my rocker?

(Of course, it still has to make money, or it's not a viable business! All "art" has constraints, and that's one of the constraints!)

Best wishes,

Dien

*For those not in the "know"... Gordon once used to run a forum called "Mr Chattel" !

Originally Posted by GordonJ

Tried the nudist thing, didn't like the smirks and giggles; went the opposite...where we wore 3 outfits at a time...decided balance and some modesty suited me just fine.

Knowing what I know today...what would I do?

Well.

THINK things over.

And here is THE thing, I would attempt to do what SUITED me, so what I might say I would do, is going to be a lot different from anyone...it is a futile exercise, however, being MR. FUTILE, 1992, and losing that title to perennial title holder, Mr. D. Trump, it won't stop me from mouthing off (see, I do have some things in common).

What I do know is this: WORK should be meaningful. I mean, if one has to work, why not make it both enjoyable and purposeful, eh?

The most deplorable people I've met in the last 50 years were mostly nepos who didn't have to work...the saying, idle hands are the devil's tools...seems to fit these folks.

But as to the slop and mess of it all; I would have much earlier established a proprietary business, one that was not replicable because of that proprietary position...and built off of that.

One size does not fit all.

So, knowing what I know today, I would spend time to THINK about what my real goals would be, WHY? and then about a Plan Of Action to fulfill those, knowing they are only a rest stop on the journey.

For me, I would have started a publishing company much earlier and developed proprietary products only available from me.

How about you all?

Gordon

[GordonJ]

A question Sir, is it ART if no one ever sees it? Imagine Leo da Vinci throwing some of his paintings in a closet and no one sees them? What if he did this with ALL of his paintings?

If Art is a broad range of human activity that expresses ideas and emotions through a variety of media, then most of us here can claim to be one, eh? As for business artists, I see what you mean and I agree.

Of all the great golfers, three were artists, Arnie, Jack and Tiger. Many, many had mastery of the game, but these 3 were truly artists.

There are many billionaires today, and just as maybe Jobs was an artist, Musk is NOT, but he is a savvy businessman. Savvy and savage.

Simone Biles has certain moves and techniques named after her, an artist indeed, just as a guy named Fosbury in 1968 changed the high jump forever with his unique ART form of high jumping.

It is an interesting idea, the Art of the Deal, sort of thing. D.T. an artist, well we've all heard of the BS artist, right? Ha!

In making money ventures, which chatteling is, could be, or can be a business, but doesn't have to be...I think there are paint by numbers, routines, do this-get that, processes which almost anyone can follow. So there is probably less art involved than needs be. How hard is it to find undervalued stuff and sell it at market going prices? Pretty darn simple and easy.

As a performing artist, singing really OFF KEY while delivering telegrams, I took a certain artist's pride in my really terrible, gawd awful, well received performances...

As a chatteler, no pride, just profits.

I get your point, and I think it takes time to reach that level, and even then, probably most of us remain journeymen, and never cross the artist's threshold.

And as for the efforts made; doesn't it all come back to INTENT?

In chatteling I wanted the moolah, in golf, I wanted student improvement, the money was a side aspect, a result...so maybe there are a lot of teachers who have become artists as well and we all owe a tip of our hats to them.

Gordon

Originally Posted by Dien Rice

Hi Gordon,

I've recently had an unusual line of thought...

Once you've achieved a certain "mastery" of something... it can become an "art"...

Imagine a gymnast... At the start, she's trying to make sure she doesn't make any mistakes... she doesn't fall off the balance beam, doesn't stumble when she lands after a backflip, that sort of thing...

But once she achieves a certain level of mastery...

She can turn it into an "art"... she can create her own, signature moves, and has much more freedom - because she's no longer struggling to learn the basics!

I believe "business" can be like this... Once you achieve a certain level of mastery, doing and creating business can become an "art" (to a degree)... Where it can be infused with your own personality...

At the beginning, you're struggling to learn how to sell... how to fulfil orders... how to coordinate everything harmoniously, amidst the chaos...!

But, after achieving a certain level of mastery, business can in a sense become your "canvas"... an "art" that makes money...

I really think Steve Jobs reached this level of mastery with Apple, for example... I believe Harvey Brody is in the same mold, and has also reached this level of mastery too... Of course, the artist formerly known as "Mr Chattel"* is an "artist" as well - all you have to do is read his various reports and hotsheets!

What do you think? Am I off my rocker?

(Of course, it still has to make money, or it's not a viable business! All "art" has constraints, and that's one of the constraints!)

Best wishes,

Dien

*For those not in the "know"... Gordon once used to run a forum called "Mr Chattel" !

[Millard Grubb]

I was reminded from this conversation how my performing career developed.

It was my intention, at the beginning, to prove to others in my circle that I could make a living as a performer. I had performed, here and there, just to show that I could successfully make money doing magic.

As I continued to perform, I realized that my performances were not really about fooling people.

It was about entertaining them.

This focus on entertainment made me take my technical skills and develop my performances into more of an "art" form. I wasn't just developing greater ways to fool people, but greater ways to develop the art of entertaining.

However, it wasn't until a world-class mentalist showed me a business card where he performed as a "family entertainer" and did "kid shows" that I truly became an artist of performing.

The only problem was that I had not performed for children! Up until that time, I had only done mentalism shows for adults! I had to start all over again and learn how to entertain children and family audiences.

It wasn't about tricks or illusion... It was about FUN.

I say all this because, through it all, learning the "art" of fun proved to me that even though I was at completely the opposite end of the performing venue with what I was doing... I was able to learn how to make kids and their parents laugh.

So... would this be considered learning an art? Maybe.

Perhaps this is just semantics. Word play.

I had a desire to succeed. I made 54 phone calls and booked 18 shows. Then I had to learn how to do the shows!

Fortunately, I had enough friends in the performing community that taught me how to do all these "kid shows."

My desire drove my intentions.

And my intentions allowed me to learn a new art form. So, for me, it was my intention to succeed that drove me to learn art.