This morning I had a delightful conversation with an individual named William Hackett Jones. For the last three or four years I watched with great respect for William as he carved himself out of an almost impossible situation.
Several years back I taught a course on Bootstrap Business. William was there. He runs a translation service, and he was actually on the verge of declaring bankruptcy over in Russia. Then he learned about the principles I follow and changed his course. He came to the firm conclusion that indeed Bootstrapping and Zig Zagging was the methodology that he wanted to follow.
So now without any venture capital and without any funding, William has truly subscribed to the Value Equation. It goes something like this:
Value Equation
Intellectual Capital (value of being smart)
+
Relationships Capital (value of those great relationships that he had developed)
+
Not Taking Funding
=
Adding Value that indeed helped build his business
I am thrilled to state that although it took William several years he has grown that business. He’s taken it from being on the very cusp of bankruptcy to thriving business (one that is also projected to be a million-dollar business this year).
William is now preparing to hire his first executive admin, which means he is now at the critical phase of adding resources and processes. It is all very exciting for me.
I must admit it was really fun to listen to the lightness in William’s as we talked, compared to the conversation that we had a year or so ago.
It is really fun to see the fruits of the labors of those around me. It’s always fun and exciting to have a business succeed. But it is even more exciting to see others applying these powerful Zig Zag Principles from the book, as well as those from Bootstrap Business. The success stories that are now starting to flow back to me are absolutely thrilling.
I respect you William. I look for great things. You have a great bright future in front of you. You are definitively making this zig zag turn. Hold strong. We will be watching you carefully. And I will give everyone an update on the success that William has going forward. Keep Zig Zagging in Russia.
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A young man named Tanner Greenwood currently works for me. He’s a fine young man—a hard worker with bright eyes and good intent. This week Tanner has had a hard, rotten, no good, very bad, good-for-nothing week.
It seemed like everything was going wrong for him. He had some car problems, and then some more car problems. The car locked up on the freeway. He had a couple personal issues that didn’t go well. He got a severe case of the flu. Just about everything this week seemed not to be going very well for Tanner. On top of all of that he wasn’t able to come into work this week, and I felt real concern for him.
Then today I pulled up in the parking lot just as Tanner arrived. I could tell from his swagger that he was down just a little bit. I also happened to know that Tanner is really a hard-core rock climber. I whimsically thought, “You know Tanner, we’re going to go up to the Outdoor Retailer Show.”
Then without much more thought, I had him jump in the car and we went up to the show. We got in and he just kind of hung out. It was a fairly good day, and then at the end of the day we went into The North Face booth, and low and behold, who was there, but Conrad Anker.
For those of you who don’t know him, he’s a world premier, high altitude, vertical-face climber. Anker is the individual who discovered Mallory’s body on Everest. He’s also the one who climbed the third step without the ladder. He’s the only one in the history of the world who has ever done that. He also just got done doing an epic climb in the Himalayas that was previously deemed impossible.
So there was Conrad. I recognized him, and went up and talked to him for a little bit and I told him about Tanner. He was so generous. He sat down and talked with Tanner, took a picture, and signed a poster. We were able to hear a couple stories, and ask him if he thought Mallory was able to make it up and over that third step on Everest before he died. (He said he didn’t believe so.)
We just talked and had a couple really delightful moments, and then as we were walking out of The North Face booth, up walks a few other very well-known climbers, including Russell Brice, the very well-known coordinator who is very good at coordinating and helping get people up Everest.
Tanner really enjoying the day and as we were driving back to the office, I heard him mumble under his breath—“The week was worth it!”
I’ve thought a lot about that statement.
I think we all get in these situations where there are horrible, miserable, rotten, good for nothing, hard days (and sometimes weeks). Often just when we get to the point of totally despair, we get these little wonderful cherry-on-top-of-the-dessert moments that end up making all of it worthwhile. Thank heavens for those little cherries that make the pain the misery that we have to go through, worth it.
The reality is that most of our business dealings and most of our day-to-day lives are somewhat mundane. There’s a lot of grinding it out.
Some people think being an entrepreneur is all sexy and hot and flashy all the time. The reality is that more often than not, it’s about slogging it out and just punching it out. Many times it’s just about enduring to those occasions where you get to have your picture taken with Conrad Anker.
My hat is off to you Tanner Greenwood. You’re a fine young man and I expect wonderful things for you in the future. I’m happy you had a wonderful day and that you had this experience.
In the conclusion of Bootstrap Business, I told a story of a young man named Jonathon. I was deeply touched with his story because he had the support of his wife and was willing to make the sacrifice to become an entrepreneur.
This past week, I was delighted when Jonathon called and asked to come visit me. There’s no way I’m going to turn down a visit from Jonathon because he’s taken the enduring path of entrepreneurship. In deed the last three or four years have been difficult for this man.
I talk about how in the early days; my wife and I lived on potatoes and love. Jonathon had been in that phase too, where his wife had to cut out makeup and their family had reduced the budget dramatically in order to keep the entrepreneurial dream alive.
I was so delighted as I looked at a very weary, very battle haggard, very tired Jonathon. It was very evident as he walked into my office that he had arrived at the first phase of Profitability and was well on the path of a successful venture. He knew it, and I knew it!
Jonathon has turned the corner and is now in the Process Phase where he is developing processes and adding resources. He just wanted a few clarifying pointers.
During our meeting he had made the comment to me, “Rich, I didn’t have any idea that it was this hard.” Then we shared one of those moments that I call an “earning your stripes moments”.
I want to say boldly that it is hard, but that anything in life that is worth having is hard. I still stick to the statement that I know of no better way to control your emotional, your personal, and your financial life and control your destiny, than by becoming an entrepreneur.
Of course I will tell you that figuring out what it takes and figuring out those first few models is hard—even if you have and The Zig Zag Principle or even if you’ve read Bootstrap Business. It takes going into the unknown and it will make you weary, but it is worth it.
And it does become easier.
Well, maybe not easier—but you do acclimate to it, and you will learn to get through the sequences more quickly.
I’m proud of you Jonathon, and I Look forward to seeing incredible thing from you in the future. You’ve earned your stripes.
Now, the rest of you…get with it! Go start something you’re passion about. Maybe even have a couple grand-little failures. Just make sure you follow my advice and fail efficiently. And as you work toward your goal, I’d love to hear about it.
Congratulations Jonathon!
What an amazing journey The Zig Zag Principle has been!
I want to so publicly acknowledge and thank all of you that have been involved in this great endeavor.
There are two types of victory. There is the private victory and there’s the public victory. I am so thrilled about the public victory! We hit the bestselling lists!
- We were #3 overall on Amazon the day the book was released. On Amazon we also hit:
- #1 on the Movers and Shakers list
- #1 in Business Management
- #1 in the Motivational category
- #1 in Entrepreneurship
- #1 in Psychology and Counseling
- #1 in the category Life
We are #5 overall on the USA Today list.
And the public victory I am really excited about is that The Zig Zag Principle is the #6 bestselling book in Inc. Magazine.
These listings stand for great public successes and victories. But the successes that I am the most excited about, is you. I love the private successes.
I get to hear the stories from individuals who are wresting control of their life. I love the stories of people take back their life—both emotionally and financially. These are the success stories that I am the most excited about.
I thank you again so much for your support in The Zig Zag Principle and I hope that you will join me in having a zig zag, joyful, amazing, successful life. Thanks again so much for supporting me on The Zig Zag Principle. Go forward and have a great prosperous life.
We often hear about the Apples, the YouTubes and other such companies that nail a market and see instant success. However, most people cannot plan to see this sort of instantaneous success. Rather, you may have to start out like the Marriott Hotels did: as a nine-stool root beer stand.
Early in J. Willard Marriott’s life, he thought like he would be a sheepherder like his father. However, the sheepherding industry took a big hit, bankrupting his father, so he decided to go to college. When he didn’t have the money for tuition, he looked at what hidden assets and resources he had and offered to teach religion classes at the university to pay for his tuition. He considered what he had and used his skills to get him to his goal without debt.
After Marriott graduated, he remembered a business opportunity he noticed years before as a church missionary in Washington D.C. He remembered how thirsty he always got in the summer and thought how well a root beer stand could do, so he went out to Washington D.C. with his wife and opened a nine-stool root beer stand.
The stand did very well during the summer, but business fell as flat as day-old soda as winter approached. Marriott zigzagged and started selling hot Mexican food at his root beer stand to keep business going. From there, he scaled the business and built more of the stands, expanding them into full restaurants and making the very first drive-through on the east coast.
Marriott was a pioneer in other businesses, too. He noticed how people would often come to his restaurant from the airport, buy a box lunch and then take it on the plane with them. Marriott started making the box lunches ahead of time and sold them to the airlines – the first in-flight meals. During World War II when sales were down, he started selling food to government cafeterias to keep things going.
And then, 30 years after Marriott first started his business, he opened his first motel.
Just look at all those zigzags! For 30 years, Marriott slowly and steadily built his business from nothing. It wasn’t a fast, easy process, but instead a legacy of hard work and brilliant successes. Then consider where his company is now, more than 75 years later. If he tried to build one of the largest hotel chains in the world when he first graduated with only a tiny amount of resources, no doubt he would have failed. However, by zigzagging, he managed to achieve that goal and so much more.
What can you learn from Marriott? Don’t be afraid to zigzag! Keep an eye out for new opportunities and chase after them whenever you are able. Even if it means doing something you’re less comfortable with, it may just be the path that will take you and your business to greater success.
The name Zig Ziglar may sound like one I made up for a Zigzag Principle mascot, but it’s actually the name of a man who took 16 years of zigzagging to steadily reach his goal of becoming a motivational speaker.
Ziglar started out working as a salesman before he even realized he wanted to become a motivational speaker. However, when he heard his first professional speaker give a speech, he was instantly hooked and knew that was what he wanted to do for work. He identified his beacon in the fog.
Ziglar was wise! He knew that he could not quit his job and put his family at risk so he could pursue his dream. He knew it would be unacceptable for him to make it to his beacon in the fog without his family, and he understood that he had some big barriers to overcome before even achieving that goal was possible.
Instead, Ziglar worked for 16 years, zigzagging back and forth to get the experience he needed to reach his goal. He persistently maintained financial profitability by working in sales while gaining skills so he could reach his beacon in the fog. I don’t doubt that he faced many great trials in this long series of zigs and zags.
Yet in the end, it indeed paid off. Now Ziglar is not a solitary speaker trying to keep cash flow steady in his business, but instead he is a very successful motivational speaker with a thriving business. That expanded business may not have been part of his original beacon in the fog; however, he kept moving once he achieved his original goal.
Though I admit I’m a little sad someone else has a claim on such a great zigzagger name, I have to respect the constant determination it must have taken Ziglar to keep steadily building his skills and reputation to become what he is today. It’s an amazing accomplishment to build not just a business and see it become everything you hoped it would, but to build yourself into what you’ve wanted to be for 16 years.
One of the key elements in a business is recognizing trends and then knowing how to ride the wave to help your business succeed. Indeed, many businesses fail because they do not adapt quickly or intelligently enough to the changes in an industry. Zigzagging helps keep you take advantage of trends. It also helps you learn to recognize when to jump on a trend and let it take your business to new and exciting places. The book industry has learned to ride the technology wave and adapt like few others have.
Though books have been around for centuries, the advancement of consumer technology posed both a threat and opportunity to the industry. Instead of insisting that people would prefer to hold physical copies of books, Amazon in particular (one of the largest book retailers in the world) jumped on the wave with the Kindle in 2007. And now Amazon sells more ebooks via the Kindle than it does paperbacks on its original website!
What would have happened if Amazon kept driving to its goal of selling books as defined by a limited view of what makes a book? It would still be fighting an ongoing trend that has impacted the world, especially with the advent of the iPad. Instead, Amazon is not only able to keep selling Kindles, but it sells ebooks through Kindle apps on iPads, iPhones, Androids and other competitors.
This continual drive to ebook profitability has enabled Amazon to try something new with the Kindle Fire. Though I prefer my iPad, the Kindle Fire tries something new for tablets by being both comparatively very inexpensive and focused.
Only time will tell how successful this new zigzag will be for Amazon, but think of how you can use the trends in your industry to boost your own business. Then, before that trend dies away, make sure you find another trend to harness, like the Kindle jumping onto the tablet trend. By making strategic, intelligent zigs and zags, you can dance among the trends to keep your business thriving.
On the flipside, at this same time I made a couple of horrific hires, in part because we didn’t have our value system clearly in place. During this time I was 
literally living off three to four hours of sleep a night and I hired an executive assistant who had a good resume, but what impressed me even more were her outstanding grades and recommendations. I had some concern that her work experience was a bit thin; but I needed someone quickly, so I hired her assuming her grades indicated a solid work ethic.
One week while my partner, Ron, and I were working a trade show in Florida, I kept trying to call into my office. I tried at several different times, but I just could not make contact with my new assistant. I finally called another recent hire who was supposed to be at the office. She did call me right back and said she was on a short lunch break and would call me back, which she failed to do. After four days of not being able to reach anyone, I called my wife and asked if she would go by the office and find out what was going on. When she arrived, the front door was locked and all of the lights were off. She found the main telephone was set to voice message. She did find an engineer in a back room, where he was working on a project. When she asked him what was going on, he told her that these two women, who were supposed to be answering my phones and greeting people, had decided that since I was gone that they would “work from home” that week.
Needless to say, I had to terminate both these women when I returned from my business trip. I made the mistake of hiring two young women who weren’t hungry for the work I offered and who had a safety net at home that would rescue them. I also made the mistake of not screening them effectively against my organizational values, one of which is that we value hard workers.
Since that experience I have learned to not be too busy to pay close attention as I add resources. I’ve also developed a series of questions and skills assessments that I run potential hires through, especially my executive admin, who I believe is my most important hire.
One of my best hires is a woman named Colette Marx. She is a mother who, by mutual agreement, is working for me from her home (which is yet another way to conserve resources). When I hired her, I gave her a copy of my book, Bootstrap Business, and told her she needed to read it and then take a test. The other people I hired at the same time all went home and skimmed through the book. But Colette wanted to succeed at this job; so she read the book, and then she went back and read the book again, this time highlighting it and making copious notes. When she brought it into the office to take the test, it was dog-eared, it was tagged, it was well used. Not surprisingly, Colette scored a perfect score. She’s the only one to have done that. (She even scored higher than I did, and I wrote the book!) Colette didn’t come with the strongest resume or the most extensive experience, but she is one of the most committed and engaged employees I have ever had.
I love this diagram. So succinct. So accurate. This is one artist’s summary of The Zig Zag Principle. To order the 198-page version click here.
Also please join me tonight on Twitter as we inspire each other with stories about success. Log in and share your story. I’d love to hear all about your successes.
Tonight. Wednesday September 28, 7-9 p.m. MT, @richchristianse, #zigzag
Today marks the 75th birthday of one of the greatest entertainers I know of, Jim Henson. Not many people in this world have had as great an impact on so many people throughout their lives as Jim Henson. Just think of how many generations of kids Henson influenced with Sesame Street and his other creations.Looking back at Henson’s history and career, I’m amazed at the many zigs and zags he took to achieve his goal. Indeed, he did not begin with the exact formula for how he wanted his creations to evolve. We all know Kermit is the main character, Fozzie is his best friend, Miss Piggy is his girlfriend and Gonzo is a…. whatever.
But that’s not how they started. When Henson was getting his BA in home economics, he made puppets for a kids’ show called Sam and Friends where Kermit made his debut as a sort of lizard. It wasn’t until later when Henson was making Sesame Street that Kermit was revealed to actually be a frog.
Even the idea that adults could enjoy puppet shows as well as children was something that took time to develop. His goal to make puppets an acceptable form of entertainment for adults as well as children was a beacon in the fog that took years to achieve, and Henson had to do things he did not necessarily enjoy in order to get to that goal.
For example, before Sesame Street launched Henson’s work into the limelight, he used puppets for various commercials. The advertising industry was something he reputedly did not enjoy, but he did it in order to keep his business profitable and moving. He exemplified the concept that it’s better to move toward something than it is to sit still and wait for someone else to make your dream come alive. Henson worked hard and waited patiently for the time his business could zigzag closer to his beacon in the fog.
Now, Henson’s Muppets live on and are still fulfilling Henson’s goal of making people happy and feel good despite his passing more than two decades ago. That’s the kind of legacy any zigzagger can be proud to have.
