Position Yourself for Success
Success isn’t about what you know, how much you know, who you know, or how hard you work. It also isn’t about being in the right place at the right time or catching the lucky break. It is however, a combination of all of these things.
It has been said that “success happens when opportunity and preparedness meet.” In other words, if opportunity arrives and you are not smart enough to recognize it, or not courageous enough to go after it, all the luck in the world cannot help you, no matter how hard you work. And even if you have the desire, knowledge, and skill to go after it, if you don’t have the financial resources to make it happen, it will become someone else’s opportunity.
For example, in 1984 ATT was considered a monopoly and was court ordered to be broken up into what were called the Seven Baby Bells. This allowed other long distance carriers to start competing for the long distance customers that ATT had sole access and ownership of. Almost overnight there were over 100 small start ups reselling band width on the overbuilt ATT network.
One of these companies was Excel Telecommunications, founded in 1988 just a few short years after the ATT breakup. Kenny Trout, an insurance salesman, teamed up with a man who believed in network marketing and together they built an incredible customer base that propelled their business to become one of the fastest companies to make it on to the NYSE—in under 8 years. Ten years after launch, with growth that surpassed Microsoft, Kenny had the opportunity to sell, and he did. Excel Communications Inc sold for $3.4 billion dollars (almost $7 billion in today’s dollars). At the time he was he was 40 years old, and became one of the wealthiest men in America.
If Trout did not have experience that valued customer service, if he didn’t have the insight into the telecommunications environment, if he hadn’t met his partner, Steve Smith, if he had not risked trying a new business model, if he didn’t have the courage to act, and if he didn’t have the resources to invest, it would have been just another missed opportunity.
The advise is to not only have an emergency fund, but also start an “opportunity fund.” Allocate a portion of your non-essential income into a special savings account. Mentally and financially prepare yourself to take action when you need to. Having some extra finances set aside will remove one more obstacle that might otherwise hold you back. Every banker, and most investors want to see some skin in the game and you’ll be ready. Keep your eyes and ears open—to quote the Excel recruitment phrase, “Opportunity doesn’t always knock, sometimes it rings.”