Gordon Gekko (played by Michael Douglas) is perhaps one of the most memorable villains in movie history. He is the tempter of Bud Fox (Charlie Sheen), showing him a world of money and power, in the movie Wall Street.

Many people don’t view Gekko as evil. In fact, he’s a hero to some. That’s one of the reasons why one of his quotes – greed is good – got so much acclaim.

He’s at a meeting of the stockholders. They’re considering his offer to purchase all the outstanding stock of the company.

He stands up and grabs the microphone. He begins by addressing Cromwell (Richard Dysart), the CEO of the target company, Teldar Paper. You have to see the full quote to really understand the context.

“Well, I appreciate the opportunity you’re giving me Mr. Cromwell as the single largest shareholder in Teldar Paper, to speak. Well, ladies and gentlemen we’re not here to indulge in fantasy but in political and economic reality. America, America has become a second-rate power. Its trade deficit and its fiscal deficit are at nightmare proportions. Now, in the days of the free market when our country was a top industrial power, there was accountability to the stockholder. The Carnegies, the Mellons, the men that built this great industrial empire, made sure of it because it was their money at stake. Today, management has no stake in the company! All together, these men sitting up here own less than three percent of the company. And where does Mr. Cromwell put his million-dollar salary? Not in Teldar stock; he owns less than one percent. You own the company. That’s right, you, the stockholder. And you are all being royally screwed over by these, these bureaucrats, with their luncheons, their hunting and fishing trips, their corporate jets and golden parachutes.

Cromwell retorts, “This is an outrage! You’re out of line Gekko!”

Gekko replies, “Teldar Paper, Mr. Cromwell, Teldar Paper has 33 different vice presidents each earning over 200 thousand dollars a year. Now, I have spent the last two months analyzing what all these guys do, and I still can’t figure it out. [laughter] One thing I do know is that our paper company lost 110 million dollars last year, and I’ll bet that half of that was spent in all the paperwork going back and forth between all these vice presidents. [laughter] The new law of evolution in corporate America seems to be survival of the unfittest. Well, in my book you either do it right or you get eliminated. In the last seven deals that I’ve been involved with, there were 2.5 million stockholders who have made a pretax profit of 12 billion dollars. [applause] Thank you. I am not a destroyer of companies. I am a liberator of them! The point is, ladies and gentleman, that greed, for lack of a better word, is good. Greed is right, greed works. Greed clarifies, cuts through, and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit. Greed, in all of its forms; greed for life, for money, for love, knowledge has marked the upward surge of mankind. And greed, you mark my words, will not only save Teldar Paper, but that other malfunctioning corporation called the USA. Thank you very much. [applause]”

A second rate power

The movie was set in the mid-1980s. Think of America then versus America now. But don’t stop there. What about other developed countries? How strong are they now compared to then? Perhaps Gekko was prescient.

From entrepreneurial capitalism to golden parachute capitalism

In days gone by, Wall Street was the place companies went to for growth capital. Wall Street worked with Main Street to build empires.

Wall Street served an essential purpose. It reduced the risk of investing in companies by creating a market for the ownership stake in them.

But the entrepreneurs behind these companies still held significant stakes. They benefitted with the shareholders, not at the expense of them.

Today, most companies are run by agents, not principals. Sure, the top executives may own a small stake. But they don’t have the same skin in the game required of the entrepreneurial executives of the past.

These executives share in the upside, but they don’t have any significant risk other than reputational risk. If they don’t perform, they still get a golden parachute.

The entrepreneurs of old lost wealth along with the shareholders. Now executives still gain financially even in the worst case.

Perhaps Gekko was on to something.

Greed is a misnomer

BIGG success is life on your own terms. Terms are very important.

And this is the point where we can all take away an important personal lesson. Because Gekko got this wrong.

He was close. But he used the wrong word.

Greed is excessive. Greed is never satisfied. Discontent is one thing; greed is another. We’ve talked before about why you should be happy, but not content. But greed pushes it to an unhealthy extreme.

Greed is selfish. A greedy person is largely only concerned about himself or herself. They only care about others unless their concern directly helps them out.

Greed is covetous. A greedy person wants what others have. They will stop at nothing to get it.

Greed has no principles. The acquisition of things is what matters. One cannot be concerned with moral or ethical boundaries in the pursuit of these objects of desire.

Zeal provides the crucial connection

We like the term “zeal”, rather than greed. Zeal implies the same degree of intensity but it offers the benefit of being grounded.

Zeal comes with an attachment to a higher cause. By keeping your pursuits connected with your principles, you don’t step over a line which causes turmoil and leaves you feeling empty in the end.

There is value in your pursuit because you keep your values intact!

So let’s look at Gekko’s quote again, paraphrasing it somewhat and substituting the word zeal:

“Zeal is good. Zeal is right, zeal works. Zeal clarifies, cuts through, and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit. Zeal, in all of its forms; zeal for life, for money, for love, knowledge has marked the upward surge of mankind. And zeal will save that malfunctioning corporation called the USA.”

We believe our best days are still ahead of us. But we need our leaders to create an environment where entrepreneurs can succeed.

And we need you to be zealous in your pursuit of prosperity. It leads to BIGG success!

Are you zealously pursuing a better, brighter future?

Image in this post from stock.xchng

Normally we advise people to stop worrying. But some people just can’t do it.

In fact, there are people who are only happy when they’re worrying.

If you fit into one of these two categories, this post is for you. We’re going to give you three things to worry about.

Worry about what you can control

You can’t control the economy. So worry about your personal economy.

You can’t control your spouse or your kids. Worry about how much love you give them.

You can’t control what happens to you. So worry about how you respond.

So stop worrying about anything and everything you can’t control. And start worrying about what you can control.

Worry only about the next level of success

If you’re unemployed, don’t worry about becoming the CEO. Worry about getting a job.

If you just started a business, don’t worry about selling out for millions. Worry about reaching break-even.

You know what it will take to get you to the next level. Worry about the things you need to do to get you there. Don’t worry about anything else.

Don’t worry about BIGG success. Worry about your next success.

You will never achieve the ultimate if you don’t focus exclusively on the next level.

Worry about not getting it done

Don’t worry about all the things that could happen. Worry about what you’re making happen.

Don’t worry if all doesn’t go as planned. Worry about how you will get back on plan.

BIGG success is life on your own terms. If worrying makes you happy, then worry away in a focused way. Even worrywarts can reach BIGG success.

At least that’s what we think. What do you think? Can you worry your way to success?

 Image in this post from JuliaF

We once heard Donald Trump asked, “What’s the difference between a net worth of $70 million and $700 million?”

He replied, “A bigger boat.”

BIGG success is life on your own terms. If a bigger boat floats your boat, then go for it.

When people sell their boat to buy a bigger boat, it helps our economy. It puts people to work. Companies make more money. Taxes are generated. It’s a win all the way around.

Or is it?

We’re going to share a thought process to determining if a bigger boat (or any other major purchase) is consistent with life on your own terms.

Hear George & Mary-Lynn discuss today’s topic on The BIGG Success show. Click a player to listen.


iPhone/iPad Podcast Player

We hope to demonstrate the interconnectedness of the five elements with this discussion.

Money

Obviously, it will cost you money to buy a bigger boat. You will get the money by earning more than you spend.

The question is: Is a bigger boat worth the price? To determine that, you need to answer two more questions:

What are the returns?

What is the true cost?

A bigger boat may or may not yield financial returns. We’ll talk about this more when we hit on work.

However, you would expect a bigger boat to give you emotional benefits.

Time

In order to reap those benefits, though, you will have to spend something else – time. Time is part of the cost of a bigger boat.

Will you really have time to enjoy it? Or will you have even less time because you’re working more to pay for it?

Work

Let’s skip growth for now. We’ll come back to it shortly.

Work may pay for your bigger boat. However, if that’s the case, your true cost of the boat is higher. In your quest to live large, you’ll sacrifice living.

You’ll be spending more time at work. Is it worth it?

Of course, a bigger boat may actually help you make more money. You may be able to entertain clients, employees, funders, etc.

A bigger boat may help you build more and better relationships. Or is that just a rationalization? If that’s what it takes, are they the right relationships?

Play

On the other hand, a bigger boat may be the ticket to more free time. You may enjoy being on it so much that you just naturally schedule time away.

Of course, you could do this without a bigger boat. But maybe you know you won’t.

Growth

How does growth come into play? If we use the factor cited by Donald Trump, your net worth must increase 10 times to buy a bigger boat.

So it will take a significant amount of growth to accomplish this. How can you increase your wealth 10 times over?

This is where a bigger boat really comes into play. It makes the intangible tangible.

It’s your reward. You know you will work long, hard, and smart to be able to buy it. You will save and invest your money wisely or you won’t get it.

It represents BIGG success to you. Great!

Then get a brochure. Or find a photo of the bigger boat you want.

Keep these visual representations in front of you. Plaster a BIGG “10x” on top of it.

Put the exact net worth you need to reach on the brochure or photo. Now break this goal up into smaller steps. Devote all your energy to getting to the next one. Then keep going. Keep driving to BIGG success!

For you it may not be a bigger boat. What is it? What drives you to achieve more?

Direct link to The Bigg Success Show audio file | podcast:
http://traffic.libsyn.com/biggsuccess/00721-072611.mp

Image in this post from Eastop

In some cases, it’s because of the economy. More often, though, they’re just ready for a new challenge.

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We often associate career moves with employees. But even small business owners sometimes need to move on.

There’s good reason to do so: study after study have shown a link between satisfaction at work and our health. Even the person at the top experiences this occasionally.

But for small business owners, it’s not just a matter of changing jobs. It may require a bold move.

Listen to The BIGG Success Show podcast to hear:

• George share what led to his career move

• 7 signs that it’s time to move on

• The surprising thing that happens when entrepreneurs talk about what’s next for them

If you’re a business owner thinking about moving on, maybe we can help. Leave us a voice message at 888.455.BIGG (2444) or e-mail us at bigginfo@biggsuccess.com

Direct link to The Bigg Success Show audio file | podcast:
http://traffic.libsyn.com/biggsuccess/00669-020811.mp3

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Last year, holiday sales were down 3.4%. This year, even more Americans are dealing with job loss, fear of job loss, wage cuts, a drop in home prices and a rise in credit card interest rates.

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So what will consumers do? What's a retailer to do?

Working twice as hard but not making anymore
Let’s start with retailers. Dropping prices to push out inventory has become the norm since last year. Offering extreme discounts is a tactic many will use to try to get customers in their doors. Here's what that means:

Let’s say you have a product that costs you $10. You normally sell it for $20, leaving you with a $10 profit. You decide to cut your price by 25% to $15.

So now you make $5 every time you sell a product. You have to sell twice as much of this item just to make the same amount of money!

In this example, we used a product sale to keep it simple. However, many small businesses sell a service. So think about it this way:

Carrying forward the numbers above – if you cut your hourly rate by 25% – you would have to work twice as much but you wouldn’t make anymore.

Is it worth it? Would you be better served pursuing another strategy?

Consumers are more price-sensitive, but value is still king
Now, let's look at those customers. Experts cited in the article say consumers will shop for good value on items they want and need. Note the term “value”, not price.

Consumers are more price sensitive than ever. However, because they have been bombarded with super-low prices, they are beginning to think that those products are worthless.

Furthermore, they will pass up an offer – even if the price seems too good to be true – if they think they just don’t need the item. If you cut prices too much, you may kill your business by killing your customer with kindness!

3 strategies for a tight-belt economy:

• Divide your product or service offerings into three categories – must have, need and want. In this economy, focus on the must haves. Which customers must have your must have product? Focus most of your efforts here.

• Is there a way to bundle a “need” with a “must have” or a “want” with a “need”? Offer a special deal on the bundle rather than the individual product or service. You may find that you can sell more without having to work a lot harder.

• Think about your customer’s bottom line. How can you add value to your product or service and boost your customer’s bottom line at the same time?

For example, is there some essential knowledge that you could impart to help your customer use your product or service to save money? If so, they’ll be much more likely to buy – even now.

How are you compelling your customers to buy your products or services?

Share that with us by leaving a comment, e-mailing us at bigginfo@biggsuccess.com or leaving a voice message at 888.455.BIGG (2444).

We think you’re too kind for checking in with us today. Thanks so much!

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There’s a popular celebrity who says it took him 26 years to get one mile down the road. Please join us next time and we’ll fill you in on his story of bigg success. Until then, here’s to your bigg success!

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Direct link to The Bigg Success Show audio file:
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