By: Stefan Aarnio
Freedomway.ca
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This morning I was having breakfast with a colleague of mine and we were trying to find ways to compliment each other's respective real estate businesses. Sometimes it can be difficult to find ways to compliment another person's business due to personal similarities or differences and we spent a considerable amount of time talking about our business philosophies and dreams.

My philosophy in business has predominately been: it is better to sell one $1,000 hot dog than sell one thousand $1 hot dogs. 

Selling one hot dog for $1,000 makes much more money, requires less effort and has a completely different clientele and resources required to sell one thousand $1 hot dogs. 

However, we don't often see any hot dog carts selling $1,000 hot dogs… Why?

Years ago on the Celebrity Apprentice, one of my business heros Gene Simmons sold a $5,000 hot dog to one of his friends for charity. The context of the sale was a battle between two teams of Celebrities to see who could raise the most money selling hot dogs for charity. The business models of the two teams varied greatly with one cart selling $5 hot dogs and the other cart selling $5,000 hot dogs. The results for the two teams was vastly different with the $5 hot dog making approximately $17,000 while the $5,000 hot dog made closer to $52,000.

All of the money was raised for charity and both teams were loaded with celebrities. Both teams did very well, but the huge difference in money raised was that one team was thinking bigger by asking for more dollars per hot dog.

Years ago when I was in the music industry, I wanted to find a way to do business in a bigger way. Naturally I got into real estate because in music I was selling hundreds of $1 "hot dogs" whereas in real estate I could sell a few $1,000 "hot dogs" and make a much better living. Real Estate in general when compared to a music business has much better margins, takes less time, less work and is much more sustainable because there is usually only one customer instead of 1000 for a similar profit.

After I had mentioned that I would rather sell one $1,000 hot dog, my friend replied that his philosophy has been to sell one thousand $1,000 hot dogs. He elaborated by saying that he was working on a multi-million dollar land subdivision deal where he would sell nearly 100 lots of land and metaphorically speaking sell one thousand $1,000 hot dogs. His thinking was clearly bigger than mine.

When we had met that morning, we were looking at a house that I was going to buy to flip. I had clearly illustrated my $1,000 hot dog thinking with my current business model of flipping houses one at a time. My colleague had a much greater plan to take the profits of my plan and multiply it by 100 with the same effort.

But what do the hot dogs mean?

There are two ways to build a business model. One is vertical and the other is horizontal. 

HORIZONTAL BUSINESS - $1 hot dogs x 1000

A horizontal business will have lots of customers with low transaction volumes. The business relies on having a high amount of customers and transactions to make a profit. This is the hot dog cart with $1 hot dogs.

VERTICAL BUSINESS - $1000 hot dog x 1

The other model is the vertical model. This model has less customers, but makes more money per customer. It relies on having a few great repeat customers who account for 80% or more of the business. This is the model I am building in my business today. This is the hot dog cart with the $1,000 hot dogs.

DIAGONAL BUSINESS - $1000 hot dog x 1000

There is a third model, and this model is the diagonal model that uses both vertical and horizontal strategies where we sell $1,000 hot dogs to 1000 customers. This model is much more advanced and requires the customer care of the vertical model with the systems and velocity of the horizontal model. If you can build a diagonal model, you will be rich - guaranteed. However, this model is the most difficult to create and few people know how to actually build a horizontal business model that works.

After examining the $1 hot dog cart and the $1,000 hot dog cart, which hot dog cart would you like to own? Which cart are you running in your current business? Is this where you want to be today? What is holding you back from building a diagonal business?

Thanks for reading,
By: Stefan Aarnio
Freedomway.ca
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https://twitter.com/stefanaarnio
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By: Stefan Aarnio
Freedomway.ca
facebook.com/stefanaarnio
https://twitter.com/stefanaarnio
http://ca.linkedin.com/in/stefanaarnio

Remember: Please share this article if you found it enjoyable!

Everyone loves perfection.

We demand perfection when we go out to a restaurant for dinner. We demand perfection when we go the dentist to get a tooth drilled. We demand perfection when a relative goes into the hospital for surgery.

Of course, perfection has a cost - perfection is not cheap!

For our perfect dinner, we need 5-10 people working in the restaurant dedicating their lives to our dining experience plus all of the suppliers of food, contractors who built the restaurant, interior designers who designed the restaurant and everyone else who indirectly created our experience.

When we see the dentist, he usually has a team of 5+ people working in the office plus nearly a decade of post secondary education to earn the right to work on your teeth.

The surgeon is has a similar team and education to the dentist.

Perfection is something we all want, but is it something we need?

Studies show that Top Achievers, the world's most successful entrepreneurs, actors, sales people, sports stars etc. strive for perfection but choose improvisation over perfection.

Top achievers improvise.

Consider the 80/20 rule, 80% of our results come from 20% of our actions. If we want to achieve the last 20% the "law of diminishing returns" comes into effect. After a certain point, the same actions will yield no further results and the last 20% becomes nearly impossible to reach.

Perfection is an ideal, something that we all strive for, but something that we cannot achieve without an irrational amount of effort. Therefore, top achievers will reach their point of satisfaction, improvise and will move onto the next task. 

You are better to grab the first 20 cents of every dollar than to try to grab 100 cents of every dollar because the last 80 cents are so hard to achieve that the return on time yields no measurable result.

Improvisation is a key skill for success. In his book Lynchpin, Seth Godin talks about the concept of "shipping". When creative, influential people are working on a project, they set a deadline and on that day they "ship" the product whether it is ready or not. The deadline benefits the author twofold:

1) It gets the product out the door in it's first revision, the product is imperfect, but it exists and is ready to go.
2) The product no longer has the risk of never becoming completed

Instead of perfection, we have a shipped product that is ready for use and is ready for improvement.

Microsoft (love them or hate them) has a very practical business model. They always "ship" their software - ready or not, bugs and all. The software that they ship is not always ready, but with patches and revisions, it eventually becomes functional and the company is able to earn revenue and serve it's customers. Bill Gates became the richest man in the world by "shipping" his software like this and improvising rather than seeking perfection.

If software companies would hold onto their software until it's perfect, they would all go out of business before the software is ready. The fact of the matter is that perfection should be reached for, but we cannot wait for the "perfect" product to ship because perfect does not exist.

What is much more practical is to produce a good product and slowly adjust it towards perfection.

Even companies like Blizzard Entertainment, the creators of World of Warcraft, the most profitable video game of all time are known for "taking their time" to produce their product. They will develop a title over 10 years and reach the closest they can to perfection without achieving it. After 10 years of development, they will release the imperfect software and continue to patch it to bring it closer to perfection over a 5-10 year period on the back end.

Are you addicted to perfection? Is your addiction holding you back from achieving your dreams?

For myself, I have renamed my company and brand nearly 6 times this year, I have gone through 6 runs of business cards, I have created and re-created 6+ websites to get the exact message I want. My motto is to "ship" whether or not it's perfect and adjust as necessary. The benefits of shipping when it's functional instead of perfect vastly outweigh the drawbacks. For example, I won the Canadian Real Estate Wealth Magazine's Joint Venture Partner of the Year award for 2012 because I had started blogging on an imperfect blog and gained some visibility.

My business was exactly the same with or without the visibility, I still did 12 deals, however, because I had an imperfect blog with imperfect articles distributed in an imperfect way, I was visible and nominated for the award.

Had I not "shipped" my blog until it was perfect, I would not have won the award. The deals still would have been done, but I would have lost out on $30,000 of press and exposure.

Perfection is a fickle mistress, chase her as an ideal, but do not succumb to her allure. Favour the maiden of improvisation and all will be well.

Thanks for reading,
Stefan Aarnio
Freedomway.ca
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https://twitter.com/stefanaarnio
http://ca.linkedin.com/in/stefanaarnio

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By Stefan Aarnio
Freedomway.ca
Facebook.com/stefanaarnio

Photo: 40 Wall Street, The Trump Building by Donald Trump. Bought for 1 Million dollars, valued today at 400 Million dollars.

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Almost every day I get asked by one person or another; "how do you find great deals?"

My answers are always vague:

1. Deals come from ads I put up
2. They come from my network
3. They come from bird dogs or wholesalers
4. Inside connections with centres of influence
5. Deals come from my blog
6. Or one of my realtors

Every week I look at more than a dozen deals and send out offers. I keep very active and can often get great discounts or no money down deals that are not offered to the general public. 

HOWEVER

Just because a deal is no money down or at a "discount" doesn't mean that it's a good deal.

The truth with deals, whether in real estate, business or dating is that they are often cherry picked before you get access to them and the best ones are usually taken.

Even a private deal goes through at least a dozen sets of eyes before it gets to you privately.

If a deal is so great, then why hasn't anyone bought it yet?

The answer to the question is: There is no such thing as a good deal because - the best deals are created, not bought.

The formula for a great deal is simple:

1. Find a great opportunity
2. Add value
3. Collect profit

The key with this formula is step #2.

Adding value is the hardest part of this cycle and figuring out how to maximize the opportunity takes the most skill.

I would estimate that the average person gets 8 great opportunities every day (real estate or just personal life opportunities). However, it takes a certain pair of eyes to recognize the 8 opportunities that fall into our laps and a very sharp skill set to add value and collect profit.

At the stage I'm at in my career, I have deals coming to me daily and the biggest challenge I have is figuring out which ones to pursue and which ones to drop.

When evaluating deals, I ask myself: which opportunity can I force the most value out of? Which deals take too much time or effort? Which deals can be done the fastest? Which deals will align with my mission in the best way?

Often i have found that the more creative I can get with a deal, the higher my profits go. However, just because I get creative, doesn't mean that I am ensured a profit.

There are many times when creativity doesn't work, we have to be very careful and look at creative approaches with a sober second look.

The questions I always ask when someone approaches me with a deal is:

1. Why is this a good deal?
2. What is everyone else failing to see?
3. What mistakes did the vendor/seller make?
4. What is my unfair advantage with this deal?
5. How can I maximize my profits?
6. How fast can this deal be done?
7. What is the effort required on my part?
8. How safe is my partner's capital?
9. What threatens my position in this deal?
10. Can I negotiate further on the price/terms?
11. How can I get creative with this deal and make it even more valuable to me and my organization?
12. Can I repurpose this deal and sell it to another audience (rezone, repurpose, assembly, commercial/residential)?

The wonderful thing about real estate is that there is a very high degree of control.

A real estate entrepreneur controls just about every aspect of a deal and value can be created in an infinite number of ways. 

I was at a Real Estate trade show this weekend and looked at 40 different real estate companies who were promoting their products and their deal inventory.

I was very impressed with the creative and innovate ways that the 40 different companies were able to find unique and innovative ways to create deals, create value and in turn, create profit.

The ability to create a deal is an entrepreneurial skill that very few people are actually competent at.

When I think of a person who can create a deal, I think of Donald Trump. If you study Trump, you will find that almost every one of his deals is created, engineered and highly innovative.

Every deal is different and he can see value where no one else can see it.

One deal that comes to mind is 40 Wall street that Trump bought for 1 million dollars and is now worth close to 400 million dollars. Some people say that it is the best real estate deal of all time.

Most real estate entrepreneurs make amazing returns when they double the value of a property. Through creativity and deal engineering, Trump was able to increase the value of the property by 400 fold.

What deal can you multiply the value by 400? I do not have the skills to create a deal like that yet, and very few people in the world have a skill set like Trump. This is why Donald Trump is a billionaire and the rest of the world is not.

When you are analyzing a potential deal, think of the ways that you can "create" a great deal where most people fail to see a profit.

The best deals of all are missed opportunities that are often obscure and mis-marketed.

Get a hold of a mis-marketed opportunity, create value and reap the rewards. The formula is simple.

Thanks for reading,
Stefan Aarnio
Freedomway.ca
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https://twitter.com/stefanaarnio
http://ca.linkedin.com/in/stefanaarnio

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By Stefan Aarnio
Freedomway.ca

Remember: Please share this article if you found it helpful.

In October, 2012, I had the wonderful opportunity to spend the day with George Ross in Chicago. George Ross is Donald Trump's lawyer, right hand man and business partner on select deals. George became famous on the hit TV show "The Apprentice" and although he has written books on negotiation, closed some of the world's most exciting real estate deals, he is more famous for sitting in Trump's board room than anything else.

George has been practicing law for more than 50 years and has closed more deals than any other lawyer. He has taught university courses on how to negotiate hard deals and has written two books on negotiating. With a lifetime of accomplishments behind him, George has lived a somewhat anonymous life until he fired a few "kids" on "The Apprentice". After being featured on the Apprentice, George is famous for firing people with Trump.

George Ross has dedicated his life to negotiation, it's a topic that has fascinated him and it is one of the most important skills required to be successful in business.

The two skills that most entrepreneurs fail at, according to George Ross are:

1. Time Management, and
2. Negotiation

Those are the two skills that separate the top from the bottom in entrepreneurship.

One study on negotiation that George shared with us was "the Top 3 traits desired by CEOS for top negotiators"

THE TOP 3 TRAITS FOR NEGOTIATION

Years ago, 150 CEO's were contacted and were asked for the top 3 personality traits desired for the company's best negotiators. The Top 3 desired traits were indeed very surprising:

1. Personality
2. Knowledge of human nature
3. Ability to organize information

Negotiation is a people game and all of the traits above are all people skills. These results surprised George when he saw them. However, when we look deeper into each trait, we can see why these traits are highly desired.

NEGOTIATION TRAIT #1: PERSONALITY -  if people don’t like you, they won’t negotiate with you. Successful negotiation depends on whether or not the other side likes you. Negotiations are PEOPLE TO PEOPLE. Before the days of cell phones, Ross used to ask “can I use your telephone to make a quick call?” Once inside his opponent's office, George would take a peek at items on their desk so he had subjects to talk about like golf, wives, mistresses, baseball etc. In one office, George saw a huge fish on the wall and Said “you must love deep sea fishing”. The man he was negotiating against said “I do!”… George said “I Love deep sea fishing too” (George knew nothing of deep sea fishing, but ran with it. )


TIP: Google a person before you engage with them so you know a little bit about them them before you try to talk deals. Try to learn as much as you can about the other side.


NEGOTIATION TRAIT #2: KNOWLEDGE OF HUMAN NATURE - People are basically predictable with what they do. Due to human nature, you can see what they do and rely on it. If you use this, you can see patterns in behaviour and predict a person's next move. 

Typical human nature: Everyone loves a "Freebee" such as "buy 2 get one free". This tactic exploits human nature and people end up with 3 things they don’t want. 


Exclusivity: Everyone wants what they can’t have. This is why “limited edition” is so effective. 


Scarcity: “Last 2 items" and Time sensitive offers are extremely effective negotiation tactics: “this deal is no good after 10 days” or "70 day supply for free, just pay the shipping." George reminded us that NOTHING IS FREE, especially in negotiation.


Another pillar of human nature is "The AURA OF AUTHENTICITY" which is the tendency people have to look at something and believe that it is true. If something is in print, people believe it to be true: “I read it in 'The Times' therefore it’s true". Of course, a reporter’s opinion is just an opinion, "but if it’s printed in 'The Times' then IT’S TRUE".  Celebrities are often used to endorse products for “Truth”. 

In retail environments, the Aura of Authenticity is often used with a tactic called "Suggested Retail Value". Often you will see something like this in a retail store:

1. RETAIL VALUE $700, 
2. today’s price $500, 
3. you save $200, 
4. SALE THIS WEEK ONLY $450 
5. you think “I’m making money by making this purchase, how can they afford to sell me this item?" people are convinced that the price is real because the price is in writing. Car dealerships have the suggested retail price that is ridiculous, no one ever pays that. The brochures look so amazing and beautiful, you believe it.  These are negotiation tactics that are slanted against you.

The third key negotiation trait is the ABILITY TO ORGANIZE INFORMATION: Most people are bad at organizing information and this makes them bad negotiators. Most people use sticky notes to store information and can’t organize them. 


Years ago, George took a course in time management and the professor said "ALWAYS KEEP a spiral notebook and leave it on your desk, everything you do goes in that book". George thought this idea was a "crock" until he saw a spiral bound notebook on Trump’s desk: Keep a log of daily events. 


PRIORITIZE… when orders/papers/statements/tasks come to you, make 3 files A, B ,C:

1. The "A file" - everything that has to done quickly goes here.
2. The "C file" -  everything that can wait is C
3. The "B file" - everything that is nether an A or a C goes in the B file

Eventually everything in the files will be sorted and done. Ignore the things that are not important. 


Pay attention to the 80/20 rule, 80% of your income comes from 20% of your clients. Concentrate on the 20% and forget about everything outside of the 20%. THE REST IS NOT WORTH IT. 


Don’t waste time in tasks that will not create a tremendous reward. 


Don’t try to grab every dollar, just get the first 20 cents, that’s where all the money is. 


After spending time with George Ross, I have since purchased a few books on negotiating and am becoming a student of negotiation. Everything we do in life is negotiation and we must study negotiation to be successful in our endeavours.


What are you doing to improve your understanding of negotiation?


How can you become a better negotiator?


Which of the three traits are you weakest at?


Thanks for reading,
Stefan Aarnio
Freedomway.ca


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By Stefan Aarnio
Freedomway.ca

Remember: Please share this article if you find it educational!

What does Coca-Cola, the 59th company on the Fortune 500 and the multi-trillion dollar illegal drug industry have in common?

Both Coca-Cola and Illegal Drugs have:

1. Worldwide organizations
2. Highly addictive consumable product
3. Both have insane profit margins
4. Can operate in areas where governments fail (such as war torn zones and socially unstable areas of Africa)
5. Line ups of customers waiting to purchase a specific product and will accept no imitations
6. There is a concentrated "producer" in both models and a large network of "distributors". Coca-Cola makes it's own syrup and hundreds of "bottling companies" distribute and bottle the mix of water and syrup.
7. Established networks of dealers who get paid to move product

Years ago, I was watching a documentary on a war-torn country in Africa. The government had been wiped out and it was nearly impossible to re-establish a government because of civil unrest. Local warlords were constantly threatening any group that wished to take power and the entire country was in chaos.

The documentary also enlightened me as to why Coca-Cola was able to operate in an environment where there was no government or regulatory body to protect their supply chains from bandits, child armies and criminals.

One African man who worked for Coca-Cola attributed the success of the company to the fact that "everyone who touches the product gets paid". This means that everyone who carries it, sells it, distributes it, transports it or markets it gets paid. Government protection or not, this business can function ANYWHERE.

The multi-trillion dollar network of illegal drugs works in the same way that Coca-Cola does. These organizations face daunting odds and have gone to "war" with formidable foes like The United States of America. However, these cartels function and thrive because they have the same philosophy driving their business:

"Everyone who touches the product gets paid".

The farmers who farm the raw materials get paid, the people who process the ingredients get paid, the drug mules get paid, the networks of dealers get paid etc.

Coca-Cola and Illegal drugs have the exact same supply chain philosophy and can operate anywhere in the world against all odds. Both entities have a "Pay Everybody" philosophy and have created an extremely smooth, well organized, well oiled machine.

But what does this mean for you and your business?

Only 2% of business owners understand Joint Ventures, although most of the Fortune 500 companies derive significant revenues from creating joint ventures. 

A joint venture is where two companies, people or organizations align their goals for mutual benefit.

The most simple joint ventures are referral commissions: If a customer is referred to a company, the company receiving the referral will pay an ongoing commission on all business done between the new customer and the business. This is extremely lucrative for both the referral client and the receiving company. Ongoing revenue is what keeps the relationship strong and creates incentives for the referral client to continuously send business.

Understanding joint ventures is a huge component to becoming the leader in your market or industry. Since only 2% of entrepreneurs truly understand Joint Ventures, you can have an unfair advantage in your market.

In my own business, I have adopted a "Pay Everybody" policy and have had wild success with the program.

I have access to private real estate deals first before they hit the open market, I have access to Capital that I would not normally have access to, my phone rings all day with opportunities for deals and capital and I don't have time to take every call.

This is an extremely good problem to have.

Most businesses/entrepreneurs spend HUGE budgets on advertising and marketing, I spend virtually zero dollars, but I pay for results.

If someone refers me a private deal, they receive a handsome $500 "thank-you" fee. If another investor has a good deal under contract, I will generally pay $1000-$5000 to purchase the contract and take on the deal myself. I have similar programs in every aspect of my business and I don't spend any money on advertising because:

I pay for results, NOT promises.

In the past, I have been murdered on advertising. A year ago I spent $2700 on a print ad that generated ONE PHONE CALL for my business!

One pathetic inbound phone call and NO SALE. Just a $2700 lead.

I was furious, felt like I had been ripped off by the advertising company and vowed to never ever repeat this mistake. I felt like I was the victim of a ridiculous joke and I will be extremely cautious to repeat any form of print advertising.

Nowadays, I spend $0 on advertising and my phone rings off the hook because I have learned a lesson from Coca Cola and Drug dealers... I make sure everyone who touches my product is paid. I make sure everyone is paid well and happy to work with me. If someone doesn't like working with me, I let them leave and work with someone else. I surround myself with a network of outstanding peers and highly competent people who get my phone to ring off the hook.

Unfortunately, so many entrepreneurs are too short sighted or too cheap to pay commissions to keep their people happy. This is why so many companies cannot retain good talent, spend huge dollars on advertising and eventually become weak and vulnerable from attrition to their teams and advertising budgets. There are few things in business that are more expensive than employee attrition and advertising.

Learn from Coca Cola and Drug Dealers and implement the "Pay Everybody" strategy in your business. If you build a good program and stick with it then you will see wild results in 30 days.

Thanks for reading,
Stefan Aarnio
Freedomway.ca

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By Stefan Aarnio
Freedomway.ca

Years ago, an italian economist by the name of Pareto came up with a rule that is now known as the 80/20 rule. 80% of our results come from 20% of our actions.

In nature, this law is seen throughout the natural world and especially in business. 

80% of the results come from 20% of the actions. This ratio can become even more skewed with higher and higher ratios.

We have 80/20, 90/10, 95/5 and 99/1.

In the media recently, the Pareto principal has become popular because perceived "class warfare" between the have's and the have-not's. The big controversy in the USA right now is over the 1% of Americans who control 99% of the wealth.

Regardless of your political affiliation, or philosophy; the Pareto principal is fascinating in that a small number of people or actions can control a VAST number of results, resources or people.

But what separates a person in the 99% from a person in the top 1%?

The people in the 99% are focused on TACTICS. Tactics are "how we do things". It's also the "doing of our doing". These people are focused on day to day tasks. They pull levers, push buttons and trade time for money. They are concerned with the HOW of what they do and are technicians of their respective trades.

Tactical thinkers, or tactical minds are people who usually define themselves as a vocation. They can say "I'm a doctor", "I'm a lawyer", "I'm a plumber", "I'm a bus driver", "I'm a janitor".

These people think about the TACTICS and techniques of what they do. If a tactical thinker were a chess player, they would be a novice and see only 1-2 moves ahead on the chess board.

The 1% of people at the top of society are focused on STRATEGY. Strategy is the "why we do things". It's the thinking that keeps our "doing the same" but changes "what our doing does". These people are focused on the residual and compounding results of their actions executed over time. They choose to do (or not do) certain tasks and focus on campaigns and missions. These people are the thinkers of society who do NOT trade time for money and are concerned with the WHY of what they do. 

These people are the visionaries, the strategists and the leaders of society.

Strategiests and strategical minds are found usually in positions of power, at the heads of organizations. These people drive the boat, steer the ship and keep it from smashing up on the rocks. These people are the people who run our organizations, businesses and governments. These people lead our tribe.

Strategic thinkers are our centres of influence and can wear the mask of a doctor, lawyer or janitor, but they are much more under the surface.

Strategic minds are very rare, and very hard to find. Strategic minds can camouflage themselves and work "behind the scenes" or they can be flamboyant front-men leading the charge. These people understand how the world, people, societies and tribes work.

Strategic minds think about STRATEGY and not TACTICS. In their minds, they are thinking like an advanced chess player - at least 8 moves ahead. Some strategic thinkers are like grandmasters who can think up to 25 moves ahead!

There are 5 parts that make up the strategic mind and usually these types of people excel at all 5 parts to operate on a STRATEGIC and NOT tactical level.

The 5 Parts of the Strategic Wealth Mind:

1. 1/5th MEMORY - Strategic minds pay attention to everything and remember all the details. Big things are made of many small details compounded.
   
2. 1/5th ATTENTION - Focus is key. You can have all of the resources and brainpower in the world and if your focus is not there and you cannot focus strategically. Many people remain tactical thinkers because of lack of focus.
3. 1/5th SPEED - Speed is paramount to a strategic mind. Strategies and speed of execution become exponentially less valuable if they are not executed quickly. Speed lends to agility of the mind and the next trait...
4. 1/5th FLEXIBILITY - How flexible is your mind? How can you adapt to change? Can your plans change and flex? Can you change your plans on a direct 180 degree turn? How coachable are you? Can you take advice from advisors?
5. 1/5 PROBLEM SOLVING - Strategic minds are problem solvers. They seek out, attract problems and get the largest compensation for solving the largest problems.

Every day I read and listen to strategic minds and work my once-tactical mind to become a young strategic mind. I find that the best thing I can do to develop my thinking is to surround myself with strategic minds through books, audios, seminars, masterminds, and relationships. The #1 thing that has helped me transform into a strategic thinker has been my time with my coaches and mentors. They can truly see 10-15 moves ahead of me where I was only seeing 3 moves ahead.

Surround yourself with strategic minds and you will eventually become strategic in your thinking. That is where the real leverage in society comes from. Become strategic and join the 1% that achieves 99% of the results.

Thanks for reading,
Stefan Aarnio
Freedomway.ca

P.S. Please share this article if you found it helpful!

By Stefan Aarnio
Freedomway.ca

The english language can be a deceiving and confusing tool that can either empower you or cripple you. 

Years ago, when I was earning a degree in English at the University of Manitoba, I learned that words in the english language are actually very flawed and primitive tools that do not really work. 

Words can be a broken, primitive man-made tool. It's common knowledge that words account for less than 10% of our actual communication (I believe the number is around 7% of communication.)

For example: In Canada, we have people who are really self employed that call themselves "entrepreneurs". Realistically these people trade time for money every day, operate their business as technicians, have zero competent employees, take on all the risk and liability and cannot leave their business for a second or it falls apart.

Words are confusing tools: Just because you are self-employed does not mean you are an entrepreneur.

Of course, we are working with the English language and words are deceiving. There is a vast population of self employed people in Canada and around the world who think and believe that they are true "business owners" or "entrepreneurs". The reality is, these people own risky jobs with high time requirements and overhead. 

They have not built any real businesses, and they cannot sell their "business" because there is nothing to sell. However, many of these people think they have a REAL business.

Words do not work to differentiate a legitimate business from a self-employed JOB... for many, this can be a very confusing scenario.

My definition of an entrepreneur is a person who starts businesses. Starting businesses is an entrepreneur's vocation. They start businesses often, likely have multiple businesses at once and are always aiming to start yet another business. This is the entrepreneur's game and few have the stomachs or the balls required to play the game.

The word "Entrepreneur" (to me) is all about the art of the start up. The best entrepreneurs are visionaries and they are brilliant at creating a successful chain of businesses and brands. They often do not stay in a particular business too long because they actually build a competent management teams to take over and grow the business without them.

The best entrepreneurs in the world (Today and in the past) are visionaries: Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Richard Branson, Henry Ford, Thomas Edison and others have all started a chain of ventures and created a succession of businesses. These men were creators who created businesses often and eventually left a vibrant collection of businesses behind upon death.

But how does this apply to you?

One very successful living entrepreneur that I am studying right now is Nido Qubein. Nido is an immigrant from Lebanon who came to America as a boy and has built a succession of businesses valued at over $100 million dollars a piece. I have heard that his estimated net worth is around $500 million dollars (but net worth is very hard to determine).

As a sign of a true entrepreneur, all of Nido's businesses are in unrelated industries. He is able to move from industry to industry and become successful every time. Nido has built successful businesses in the following industries: the banking industry, the bread industry, the furniture industry, the speaking industry and now he's in the education industry at the head of High Point University.

Nido is able to take complicated concepts and make them simple, he is a very talented man at communicating (and english is certainly not his first language).

There are 3 key important factors to consider if you are going to determine if you own a real BUSINESS or just a risky JOB.

Nido's 3 factors are:

1. Sustainability - Is your business sustainable? Can the business be scaled? Can the market support you? Can the business run without you?
2. Consistency - Is your business consistent? Is there consistent money coming in? 
3. Predicability - Can you predict the numbers in your business? Do you track past performance and know your numbers inside and out? A great number to know that most people don't is "what is the cost of acquiring a lead in your business"?

If you do not have Sustainability, Consistency and Predicability in your business - then you don't have a business! Instead you own a job.

Entrepreneurs who jump from being an employee to self-employed always have to make the following decision "Am I going to do whatever it takes to become a real business owner? Or do I quit now and get a good job at the union or with the government?". There is absolutely nothing wrong with either scenario, but there are costs to both choices.

Nido says that everything in life is PAINFUL. What that means is that we have to PAY-IN-FUL for everything and nothing in life is free.

If we quit and get a job with the union, we give up much of our time and consequently the opportunity in life. We trade freedom for security. If we make the leap towards business owner, we risk all security for a chance at freedom.

For those of us that want to be true business owners, the cost is extremely high. Becoming a true business owner may be the most expensive thing a person ever does in their life. It takes blood, sweat, tears, time and money to achieve sustainability, consistency and predicability in a business. 

The real question we have to ask ourselves is; which currency do we want to pay for our success in? The school of life accepts the following forms of payment; blood, sweat, tears, time and money. Please beware that the School of Life also gives no refunds.

Thanks for reading,
Stefan Aarnio
freedomway.ca

P.S. Please share this article if you found it helpful!

By Stefan Aarnio
Freedomway.ca

Every single person who ever goes into business "for themselves" has felt the feeling of not earning what he or she is worth. Often this feeling is what employees feel at their jobs every day. This feeling is often strongest when good employees open their paycheque to see relatively meagre earnings every 15 days.

When these same people get fed up with their wimpy paycheque, they quit their jobs, become self employed and charge higher rates per hour (the rates that their employer was billing out to clients) to earn more money. However, the next part of the cycle is one of two things:

1) They either run out of time and hit their new earnings ceiling with escalated risk of being self-employed. 

-OR-

2) They begin to lose clients because they raised their prices and earn the same amount as they did in their job but work less hours.

I know this, because I have been in both scenarios and know the crushing feeling of not living up to my potential. So many  Real Estate investors, Self employed small business owners and all business people get the feeling of not earning our potential.

JT Foxx is one of my teachers and mentors and he has identified the "8 reasons you are not worth what you should be worth at this point":

1)   Time management – so many people who become self employed think that they have earned a holiday - every day. They are still in the "time is money" mentality and trade time for money on a 1:1 ratio. Time management is something that really separates the top earners from the bottom earners. Most people waste huge amounts of time because they are programmed to work on the clock. Time needs to be budgeted and leveraged the same way that money is to grow your business and earning potential exponentially.

2)   Fear - Fear of failure or success is a crippling disease. I have often been stopped in my tracks many times from fear of failure and even more frozen by fear of success in other cases. Fear of prices and fear of spending can often hold entrepreneurs and investors back from moving forward in their businesses. Warren Buffet says "Price is what you pay, value is what you get." Remember: It’s not how much things cost, it’s how much value that your purchase produces that matters.

3)   Procrastination- Top earners are action takers who implement everything at amazing speed. Procrastination ties in with time management, it comes from not having a specific blueprint or plans for success. Often a coach can remedy this and build a specific blueprint for you to remedy this common problem.

4)   Lack of Focus- This is something I personally struggle with. Often, effective entrepreneurs have a mild to severe case of A.D.D. and try to implement everything across the board. Richard Branson has been nicknamed "Dr. Yes" by his investment teams because he says "yes" to every opportunity and needs help with focus. Branson has actually hired specific investment analysts to shoot down his ideas and screen the bad ones. He is very happy to pay people to reject his ideas and maintain his focus. In the words of the wise: "do 1 thing 5000 times instead of trying to do 5000 things 1 time."

5)   Accountability- We are often very bad at identifying our own mistakes and punishing ourselves when we don't hold ourselves accountable. People who do not have coaches often have little to no accountability and this makes it easy for us to allow failure and abandonment of goals to occur. Accountability coaches are brilliant for "checking up" on us when we are about to give up. Hire a coach to check on your goals and ensure that you follow through with your intent.

6)   Lack of Funds- Every entrepreneur, business person and investor needs funds to "run the machine". Many times when we start out, we are WAY undercapitalized and as we grow, we need to raise cash. A common myth in business is that funds are hard to come by. However, in reality, it's talent and business acumen that are much more scarce than funds. If you can prove your skills, you will NEVER be without funding.

7)   “I can do it myself”- This is one of the worst sins a person can utter as a business owner or a self employed entrepreneur. "Doing it yourself" is extremely destructive because it keeps you from building the systems and teams required for a saleable business. People who do everything themselves do not have businesses, they have glorified J.O.B.'s and they ALWAYS BURN OUT. It's a fact. I've had the "DIY" disease for the past few years and am extremely liberated to ditch the dirty habit. "I can do it myself" is the battle cry of an ignoramus and a phrase for self enslavement.  It keeps you pinned as a self employed slave and prevents you from becoming the CEO of your own organization. Another common phrase by a chronic DIY'er is "I’ll do it after I’m successful." This is like saying "i'll purchase fire insurance after my house burns down". You have to build your business right from the beginning, otherwise, it becomes exponentially harder and more expensive to demolish it and rebuild it later. You will get trapped if you try to "DIY" it after getting the business running.

8)   "'I'm not sure what to do" - Most people, especially people who have been conditioned to be employees, have trouble figuring out what to do. We are programmed to take orders, not question authority and execute other people's orders like robots. Once you pull the plug on the J.O.B. and come into the real world, you suddenly have to think for yourself. The two things you can never pay an employee or contractor to do are:

1) Think and
2) Do things in the right order

In the land of the free, you are now the #1 thinker, you drive the ship and have to make the calls. Do not let your ship smash up on the rocks. Of course if you're not sure what to do, you will need to find a coach or a mentor to navigate you on your journey to freedom.

When you look at the 8 reasons why you are not earning what you are worth, the same list can be used to identify why people will not do business with you. Go over the list one more time, take an inventory of the reasons why you are not earning your maximum potential and focus on improving your weak categories. Remember: Where focus goes, energy flows and if you can eliminate your weaknesses and change your mindset then you'll eventually be earning what you are worth and you will be pleasantly surprised.

Thanks for reading,
Stefan Aarnio
Freedomway.ca

P.S. Please share if you enjoyed this article!

By: Stefan Aarnio
Freedomway.ca

Picture Left: Jim Treliving, Owner of Boston Pizza and Dragon on Dragon's Den with Stefan Aarnio

I had the great pleasure and honour of being in the "right place at the right time" in September this year when I was casually driving by a Boston Pizza on Taylor Avenue in Winnipeg and the sign outside advertised that Jim Treliving, current owner of the 1 Billion dollar pizza company: Boston Pizza and more notably, Venture Capitalist on the hit TV show Dragon's Den was doing a book signing.

I saw the sign in my peripheral vision and immediately went in to the Restaurant to see him. I am absolutely fascinated by Venture Capitalist shows like Dragon's Den and Shark Tank because I love evaluating business models and watching people pitch for money - it's a very visceral experience.

My two favourite Dragons on Dragon's Den are Jim Treliving and Kevin O'Leary. My reasoning for these two choices is:

1. Jim is the most practical, down to earth, and hard working Dragon. He has a real  street smarts from being a cop and has a "work till you drop" grinder mentality. He is often the Dragon on the show that the other Dragons look to for advice and if Jim is "in on the deal" then everyone wants to jump in. If Jim is "out", the deal often dies. He is a true leader and often leads the group of Dragons, quietly from behind the scenes.
2. Kevin O'Leary is the most honest and real of the Dragons. He delivers a hard dose of reality and although many people think he's mean and harsh - he delivers the cold hard truth every time and can actually save entrepreneurs from BAD BAD BAD ideas. There is no shortage of bad ideas on the show, and Kevin punishes them mercilessly. After he tears their bad ideas apart, these entrepreneurs should pick themselves up off the floor and thank him for the beating.

When I arrived inside the Boston Pizza Restaurant, there was a line of people waiting to get their books signed. I had come in off the street and was ready to buy a book but the restaurant would not sell me a book. I immediately dashed out the door and had to run through the rain (in my suit) to purchase a book at the local McNally Robinson. I could not miss an opportunity to meet Jim and get him to sign his book.

Meeting Jim was was a humbling experience. He is 6'4, so am I, so we see eye to eye and I noticed how well he handled all of his fans who were there to get their books signed. He is very gracious and takes a great interest in children who want to get into entrepreneurship. jim has a great respect for all people big and small and it was a pleasure to exchange a short conversation with him.

When I got home, I immediately devoured his book "Decisions" in one day and the book is fantastic. It takes you through Jim's entire life from being born to building Boston Pizza into an international pizza empire with 1 Billion dollars a year in annual revenue. I also learned at the event, that Jim is (likely) the wealthiest of the Dragons because his Real Estate holdings set him head and shoulders above the others in accumulated wealth.

It has been close to a month since I finished JIm's book and the #1 take-away for me is Jim's decision making style. Often, entrepreneurs and real estate investors have the tough, tough job of calling ALL the shots for the team. Decisions need to be made throughout the day. Sometimes entrepreneurs have to make 100's or 1000's of decisions  in a single day depending on the activity level of an entrepreneur. Strategic Decisions are exhausting, complicated, dangerous, risky and most people are AWFUL at making Decisions *period*.

Jim's book is rightfully called "Decisions" and over and over again, Jim breaks down his decision making style, which I have implemented in my own business.

Jim's style of decision making is as follows. We have 3 decision making parts in our bodies:

1. Our head
2. Our heart
3. Our gut

People often make poor decisions because they assign the types of decisions to the wrong body part... 

For example: Many people make financial decisions with their heart and will lend money to relatives in trouble. These same people are surprised when their relatives do not ever pay them back. Lesson: Financial Decisions should NEVER be made with the heart.

Likewise, When Jim was young, he had the opportunity to make fast, easy money in the oil trade which began to boom in Manitoba. Oil was the fastest, quickest, money that a young man at age 17 could make with no training or education. Jim knew he could make more money than his father right out of school and was seduced by the allure of fast cash. However, he also saw many young men get ruined by the "easy come, easy go" lifestyles of fast, unearned cash. However, Jim knew in his heart that he would be unhappy in the oil industry and would eventually dread getting out of bed in the morning. Instead, JIm wanted to full fill his childhood dream and join the RCMP. He knew, from a young age, that needed to become an RCMP officer and wear the badge of honour. Lesson: Make "work/career" decisions based on your heart and NOT your head. Never base work decisions on salaries, bonuses or money. Money comes from passion and energy, it does not come from labor.


When Jim was in the RCMP, he was trained to see through deception and use his gut to evaluate people on the street daily. Jim became very street smart while stationed in a rough mining town in BC and dealt with the rowdy population on a daily basis. He learned to only use his gut and NEVER his heart when judging people. Lesson: Judgement calls about people need to be based on your gut, never the heart, never the brain. The gut can sense what the heart and mind cannot and the gut is rarely wrong when judging character.


One of the most important decisions Jim ever made in his life, was a seemingly unsuspecting moment one night when he was in his mid-twenties and his fellow co worker asked him if he wanted to eat "Pizza or Chinese?". Jim knew nothing of Pizza, didn't know how to say it, didn't know what it was and had no interest in it at all. He walked past the original Boston Pizza every day without ever thinking about taking a look inside the building. Pizza was a foreign concept and JIm spent no time investigating it. 

However, Jim kept his mind open, and made the decision to try something new (Pizza was new at the time), he took a chance and walked into the restaurant that started the Boston Pizza legacy. He instantly fell in love with the owners, the atmosphere, the menu and most of all - the experience of sharing and eating this strange new food called pizza with your hands. Lesson: You NEVER know where your next greatest opportunities and passions will come from. Keep your mind open and make the decision to take risks and try new things. If Jim had only said "I will only eat Chinese food after work like I always do", he would have never been introduced to his flagship, signature business that shaped him into the great man he is today.

To recap: Jim's simple, yet extremely effective decision making style focuses and simplifies your decision making energy:

1. Decisions about money need to be made with your head. Not your heart or your gut. Your head is logical, cold and analytical and the numbers don't lie. Numbers and money are a cold calculated game, do not get emotional or you will get burned.
2. Decisions about your work, your passion and your path in life need to be made with your heart. Your heart holds your passion and your passion will push you through any obstacles that get in your way. Do not make work decisions with your head or you will find yourself eventually unable to get out of bed in the morning because you need to be in LOVE with what you do on a daily basis.
3. Decisions about people need to be made with your gut. Your gut is a 6th sense and can tell you if someone is genuine or not. Do not make decisions about people with your head or you will judge them incorrectly. Similarly, your heart can lead you astray if you judge people with your heart.

Jim has found in his 70 years of experience on this earth and 40+ years in business that this system does not fail.

I myself have implemented JIm's decision making style into my own business and have ignited my passion, tightened up my business model and can read people better than ever before.

It's simple and sound advice from an extremely successful multi-industry tycoon. If you get a chance, pick up JIm Treliving's book "Decisions", you will not be disappointed with his 70 years of knowledge, understanding and real life experience.

Thanks for reading,
Stefan Aarnio
Freedomway.ca

P.S. Please share this article if you found it helpful to you.