Entrepreneurs can learn a valuable lesson or two from Cash in a Flash: Fast Money in Slow Times, (Harmony Books) the new book by Chicken Soup for the Soul co-author Mark Victor Hansen and Multiple Streams of Income author Robert G. Allen. The title is catchy and goes against everything entrepreneurs know -- that success does not happen overnight, or in a few months. Despite the author's own experiences and stories about fast money in real estate and network marketing, the overriding premise of the book is just not credible. But that doesn't mean the book should be overlooked.
No one can argue with the phenomenal success the authors have had in their respective businesses, so they have earned the right to dispense advice. The core wisdom of the book goes like this. To be successful in business you need to:
- Have a clear vision of what you want to create: The authors encourage you think not just about the product of service you are going to develop, but the end result of the effort, far into the future. If you want a lifestyle change and a certain amount of money (and they think in terms of millions of dollars), Hansen and Allen want you to make it palpable, so you can almost taste it. They call this "ingredient" for success "Wow Now" -- a little contrived but memorable. You have to move the "wow" you are creating for the future and make it happen in your mind's eye "now." Without that vision of what you are building and why, it is much more difficult to create success.
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Control the negative voice in your head: Other books, such as Taming Your Gremlin by Rick Carson, make the point that human nature has bestowed on all of us an inner voice that tells us we can't do certain things. As long as that voice controls our actions, our upside is limited. The authors have another catchy name for the other voice inside all of us that needs to prevail: your "inner winner." How do you allow the inner winner to prevail over the "inner whiner?" There are a number of exercises that are worthwhile to go through.,/p>
Try eliminating any negative words (called "low energy") from your next conversation and flip your comments around to express only positive words and ideas (called "high vibration").For example, instead of saying, "I work at a job that I hate," you'd say, "I work at a job that I don't love." Or, instead of "My boss is a real jerk," you'd say, "My boss is not a nice person." One more: Rather than, "I have so much credit card debt," say this: "I had too much fun using our credit cards." Silly? No, it isn't. There's a connection between negative or positive expression and body chemistry. Thinking and expressing positive thoughts gives us more energy and can help us through ruts. The authors are a bit extreme and lather it on pretty thick, but their point is valid and important.
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Going it alone is dangerous: The authors point out that "as many as 95 percent of the businesses that launch today will be out of business within five years." One wishes they had sourced their research, but we can all believe lots of businesses don't succeed. They continue: "There are a lot of reasons for the high failure rate, but in our experience, one of the key reasons is that most entrepreneurs don't know how to team up. The odds of going it alone -- of solopreneuring your way to financial freedom -- are not promising....The solo way can be said this way: so low! The success rate is so low and the failure rate is so high, it's foolish to go solo."
The answer: create your "dream team" of people who you will involve in your enterprise. They don't have to be employees or paid advisors, just people who agree to help and support your effort.
Cash in a Flash sets out to help people desperate for a big hit of cash right now and argues that properly motivated people can create a million dollars of income in 90 days. And perhaps they can. The world is large and no doubt many examples of such success can be cited. But the authors take their point too far in asking us to believe that anyone can make millions in a snap. Still, they're forgiven, because they've created billions in wealth for themselves and preach a very useful philosophy. It makes sense to have a vision, to think positively, to build a network of people to help you. And to their credit, Hansen and Allen walk you through the steps to do just that, which makes Cash in a Flash a worthwhile read for current and future entrepreneurs.