Larry Answers Questions #4

Thanks again for all the questions. There are MANY so be patient as I get through them. Still taking questions so feel free to write me at info@larrywinget.com

Dale asks: Larry, how did you get so darn smart?

Thanks Dale! But I don’t think it’s any special gift. I was raised to use common sense and taught that every decision carries a consequence. My parents always allowed me to experience the consequences of my behavior, whether the consequences were good or whether they were painful. That’s where the bulk of my “smarts” came from: the school of experience. I learned that it is perfectly fine to make about any mistake in the world, and I’ve made most of them, but that each mistake carries a lesson. When you don’t learn the lesson, you have wasted experience and suffered the pain in vain. I also learned that any lesson, not learned, will be repeated. I always try to learn from each mistake so I don’t have to repeat the lesson.

Beyond that, in the past twenty years I have read over 4,000 books and listened to 5,000 of audio from great speakers, teachers, philosophers and business people. I have watched another 1,000 hours of video. As Jim Rohn used to say, “If we knew better, we would do better.” I believe that so I try to read as much good information as I can. This all started over 20 years ago when I heard a tape by Earl Nightingale where he said if you read 500 books on any one topic, you will be a world class expert on that topic. That appealed to me, so I did it many times over.

Bryce asks: What is your advice to entrepreneurs to persevere through the hard times without burning out in the process?

1. Burn out . . . you mean you’re tried, exhausted, frustrated, beat up, disheartened, etc, etc, etc? So? If you are a parent of a teenager you will feel each of those things a million times and yet you still get up every day and keep on keeping on simply because that’s your job as a parent. Think of it that way. Anything worth having is worth fighting for, crying for, hurting for – otherwise, it would be easy and everyone would achieve astounding success! By the way, you can burn out during good times just as easily!
2. Remember WHY you got into the business. The WHY is your motivator. You can endure any HOW when you have a strong enough WHY.
3. Keep selling. Regardless of the business you are in, you must keep selling! You really can sell your way out of almost any problem.
4. Failure is not an option . . . until it’s inevitable. I tire of hearing the motivational bozos tell people to stick with it no matter what. Some people hang on long after the business is done and keep throwing good money after bad simply because they can’t admit defeat. Sometimes you eat the bear and sometimes the bear eats you. Admit it, fix it and move on.

Johnathon asks: Larry, what is the #1 tip that you would give to a service based business?

Johnathon, see #3 above!

Tzone asks: My frustration is with all the hype and crap about what to do when you owe six figures and your home is $300K upside down but I can’t find help to get the credit agencies to quit reporting my ex-spouse and is consistent bad credit on my report.

This is a big problem when dealing with an ex who shared many of the same accounts and when the credit reporting agencies can’t seem to get it straight.

1. Don’t bother to pay one of those “we can fix your credit for you” just send us $XX per month scams. They don’t do one thing that you can’t do yourself. Each of the 3 reporting agencies; Equifax, Trans Union and Experian, all have places on their websites where you can file your own complaint and they will respond within 30 days to your complaint. Keep complaining with all of your documentation EVERY month until it is corrected. This may take a while but don’t give up.
2. Contact NFCC.org. This is the National Foundation For Credit Counseling, a non-profit organization. They are an excellent resource that can work with you to get your credit score fixed and offer credit counseling as well. This is the group I always referred people to when I was doing Big Spender.
3. Be persistent. I can’t say it enough. Stick with it!!!! This is one you can win IF you stick with it long enough.

Rick asks: Larry, this may be tough but I’m sure you have already taken an honest look at it. In another question you answered you said you had a failed business and went bankrupt. Can you list a few of the mistakes you made that caused this? I think we can all learn from other’s mistakes and especially from our own.

Rick, almost all of what I have learned has been from making my own mistakes so I agree with you there. I’m not trying to blow your question off but I painstakingly detailed all I did wrong and the mistakes I made in a couple of my books. People Are Idiots And I Can Prove It has a whole section dedicated to ‘Larry Winget, Idiot Extraordinaire.’ It’s Called Work For A Reason, my business best-seller, also takes you through the business mistakes I made. So I am going to suggest you read those books to find out exactly what I did wrong that brought that business failure about. I can tell you quickly:
1. My success made me lazy and I stopped paying close attention to the day to day details.
2. I trusted other people with MY business, MY money and MY company 3. I spent too much on a new building and new trucks for my crews.
4. I didn’t have enough reserves set aside when things took a downturn. 5. My “good heart” stupidly made me keep people on too long when I should have been a better business person and cut back on employees and downsized even if it meant getting rid of valued employees and friends. For the rest and the details, read the books.

Jim asks: Mr. Winget, I’m curious about your opinion on the things Dave Ramsey teaches. Do you agree with them all? I don’t. I use the Infinite Banking Concept for finance needs in my life and I believe strongly in it.

Jim, do I agree with ALL of what Dave Ramsey teaches? No. I don’t agree with all of what any person teaches. I don’t have the issues Dave does with having a credit card that is used responsibly or with having a home loan but I see his point with both of those. Other than that and a few other minor things I am not 100% in alignment with, Ramsey’s basic financial advice is solid and you can’t really go wrong with what Dave teaches. He is a good guy. I wrote a very simple financial book and did a television show about financial responsibility but that is a small portion of what I do and have done. Dave is a world-class financial guy with that as his one area of expertise. With me, it’s just one facet of my approach to overall success.

As for the Infinite Banking Concept. When you google anything and one of the first things to pop up is the word “scam” you should look closely at it. That said, you say you believe strongly in it. My question is always the same regardless of what we are talking about: Does it work for you? If it does, then go with it. If it doesn’t, then try something else. If this works for you and you believe strongly in it, then nothing I say will matter and shouldn’t.

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