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Common Sense Business

HarperCollins Publishers, Inc.

Chapter One

The Dreaming Stage

Everyone has dreams -- perhaps without knowing it, we are even born with them.

They begin at age five ... perhaps earlier ... sometimes later.

When I was a child, most boys my age wanted to become a "Roy Rogers" cowboy, a fireman, or a policeman. Most girls dreamed of becoming nurses, schoolteachers, secretaries, beauticians, or housewives. (C'mon, give me a break here ... this was the 1950s ... we had no clue that girls could become astronauts, bioengineers, news anchors, or senators. It was nurse, teacher, secretary, beautician, or housewife. Period.)

At age eleven, my dream was Annette Funicello -- the effervescent brunette with the killer smile on The Mickey Mouse Club who stirred the hearts of nearly every prepubescent boy in America.

At fourteen, my dreams turned to radio broadcasting. So my friend Jack and I started our very own illegal AM radio station in our small Minnesota hometown. Things were going quite well until the federal government -- specifically the FCC -- caught word of our operation and traveled the 135 miles from St. Paul to Mountain Lake to pull our plug. Literally. Physically. Completely. Forever.

Undaunted, I decided to study hard and take the test to earn a real FCC radio operator's license and get a job at a real, legitimate radio station. So I did, and I got a DJ job at the local radio station at age sixteen.

As part of my job, I had to write commercials for a variety of sponsors, which sparked a new interest and a new dream. At age eighteen, I decided to attend the University of Minnesota and take a double major in advertising and radio-television production.

While attending college, I devised a personal goal -- a new dream. I decided I wanted to be rich.

There was just one catch. Because I had grown up in a modest home in a small farming town in southwestern Minnesota, I had never seen wealth, let alone experienced it. Still, I thought it might be worth a try.

As a caring, giving person -- thanks to my upbringing --I knew that I didn't want money just for myself and my own selfish goals. No, not I! I wanted it for the other people for whom I could create a better life. My family. Worthy charities. The starving people in Third World countries that my mother brought up every time I didn't want to clean my plate. The nearest Mercedes dealer. Fortunately, I had learned something crucial from watching my father, my grandfathers, and the employed fathers and mothers of my high school friends. Most people do not get rich as the result of working for others.

After considerable thought about the matter, I concluded that there were only eight ways to gain great wealth:

1. Win some form of contest or lottery -- one of those multistate Powerball-type lotteries would be perfect!
2. Develop an idea that can be widely franchised. Another McDonald's would be the ticket!
3. Invent something that everyone needs, preferably on a regular basis. (I've heard that the person who invented those little plastic "whatevers" on the ends of shoelaces retired in utter opulence.)
4. Become a movie, television, recording, or professional sports star.
5. Invest in stocks, bonds, buildings, and land -- but only when such investments are absolutely guaranteed to increase in value.
6. Inherit big bucks.
7. Create and own intellectual property (books, music, stage plays, film, television programming) and earn royalties and residuals in perpetuity. (Neil Simon makes money every time actors in any theater in the world step onstage to perform The Odd Couple or any of his other plays.)
8. Start a business, devote a tremendous amount of energy to it, and make it prosper and grow.

Great ideas, one and all. But upon further thought, I ruled out the first six of the eight methods.

The statistical odds against winning some form of contest or lottery are astronomical, in spite of the widely held belief that "Someone has to win it; might as well be me."

As to the others?

I'm no Ray Kroc of McDonald's, and besides, the world probably doesn't need another fast-food chain. (Although if there were a drive-through sushi bar in my neighborhood, I'd be a regular!)

I don't have a mechanical mind, so inventing something new would be a pointless pursuit on my part.

I can't act, sing, or dance, and I was always chosen last for every sport or game. (I remember the fights between the team captains. "You take Gottry." "No, you take him; I had him last time." It doesn't do much for a seventh grader's self-esteem.)

I thought stocks could be the answer, but those investments have not worked out as well as others -- real estate, for example. Some of the companies in which I have invested are out of business. (Ever hear of Fingermatrix or New World Computer? I didn't think so!)

Inheritance sounds like a plan, but I don't have any wealthy relatives or friends. (I know a fellow about my age who, for years, has actually befriended wealthy elderly people in the hope that they will put him in their wills. That's unbelievably tacky, but I'm pleased to report that it hasn't worked for him -- yet.)

As to intellectual property, well, I've written two stage plays, and neither one has been produced. If you buy a copy of this book, and everyone you know buys a copy, and everyone they know buys a copy (and so on ...), maybe the royalty thing could work.

It then seems that the best option for most of us hardworking, highly motivated people is to start a business and nurture it to growth and profitability.

Continues...

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Excerpted from Common Sense Business by Steve Gottry Copyright © 2005 by Steve Gottry. Excerpted by permission.
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