by Margaret Hirsch
Most people go to Business School first and then go into business. I did it the other way around. There was no money to pay for any tertiary education, so I went straight to work and then I went into business not knowing anything about business or how it worked. I always tell people I attended the school of hard knocks!! Remember, in the words of the great Rocky, ‘It’s not how many times you get knocked over, it’s how many times you just keep getting up!’ However, once I made it and made my fortune, I went back to school and did my Business Degree, my Honours, and ultimately my MBA which I received the year I turned 70.
Here are some life lessons that I learned along the way.
Lesson No 1
"Life ain’t fair, get used to it."
Said the great Bill Gates and truer words were never said.
All the things your mother and your teachers taught you about being nice and sweet and kind, and that life is fair get thrown out the window in the first five minutes of being in the real world.
It’s a dog-eat-dog world out there and you had better be on top of your game else a pack of wolves will descend on you and devour you if you let them. You have to be able to have a tremendous amount of courage and be ready to fight for what you want in life.
Lesson No 2
The golden rule is that you need to do unto others as you wish them to do unto you. This is so true – it says in the bible – whatever you wish on others is already wished on you – so make sure you wish everyone all the best at all times.
Lesson No 3
My friend’s mother told us when we were teenagers that if you want to stay out of trouble, wear beige and zip it! Well, you can do this if you want to live a life of mediocrity but my mentor Mr Bob Rickards taught me to always be the one who wore the red shirt – why? Wherever you are you can say “Remember me, I am the one in the red shirt”. Not many people are in red – most are in white, beige, and black! In a world where everyone is happy to blend in – be the one who stands out. Which leads me to, why blend in when you were born to stand out?
Lesson No 4
Why blend in when you were born to stand out? Unless you want to spend the rest of your life stamping passports, moving boxes, or doing nothing in particular, you are going to have to do, say, or wear something that will make you stand out from the crowd. There are eight billion of us on this planet and you are unique in every way – let everyone know that. Make sure you stand out from the crowd and be the one who everyone notices.
Lesson No 5
Be responsible. Be the one who puts your hand up and offers to be
On the PTA
On the body corporate
Head of the entertainment committee at work
It does take a little extra effort, but the rewards are so great they cannot be counted. This will get you far ahead of the pack wherever you are, will increase your popularity, and teach you even more life lessons.
Lesson No 6
The great Jim Rohn said:
"Education will make you a living but self-education will make you a fortune."
So many people go to school and university and think they have made it for the rest of their lives. I was in the bunch who left school as soon as possible and went out into the world. I had to educate myself as there was no one to do it for me and through great teachers like Jim Rohn, Tony Robbins, Les Brown, and even local guys like Robin Banks – I educated myself and made my fortune.
Lesson No 7
Start paying into a pension fund when you are young, and you will be well off when you get old. Nothing could be further from the truth – you really need all the money you can get hold of when you are young take me for instance – I paid into a pension fund from when I was 18 until I cashed it in when I was 60 years old. When I was 18 I was earning R50 a month and paid the princely sum of R5 into my pension fund which went up year by year – always at approx. 10% of my salary. I was told way back then that when I retired I would get R2m in a lump sum and then R2000 a month for the rest of my life. It sounded like a recipe made in heaven. However, when I went to cash it in when I turned 60 – out of the R2m I only got R168 000 in my hand as the rest had to be reinvested, taxed, and many other things that eroded it down. I do get just over R2000 a month now – but with inflation, I spend more than that every month on my hair! Start saving for your retirement but invest wisely in an inflation-beating investment, like property which will take care of you in your old age.
Lesson No 8
DO IT NOW! People will say, don’t start now – wait till you are older. Nothing could be further from the truth – it’s like the story – when should you plant a tree? The answer is 20 years ago but if you didn’t do it then, do it today! I started saving R100 a month from a salary of R2000 a month and eventually had enough to put down the deposit on a really run-down house in Durban North. I put a tenant in, paid if off quickly, and then bought a bigger, better house up the road for R5000 and so I went on until today I have a billion Rand property portfolio. If I had not started then, I wouldn’t be where I am now. Whatever you want to do, achieve, or be in your life – start TODAY!
Lesson No 9
Wait till you have enough money to start your business or borrow some to get going.
That is why the failure rate of new businesses is so high – about 97% of all businesses opened this year will fail in three years and 97% of all businesses that opened three years ago will fail this year. It’s so necessary to start right now, where you are, with what you have, and don’t borrow any money. If you borrow, you always have to pay back with interest and you just never catch up. Even if you are doing well you have to spend your life paying back everything you earn to those you borrowed from. Start selling your skills and saving the money so that you have some money to start what you want.
My thesis for my upcoming Phd on African Women Entrepreneurs is on how to start with nothing and make a fortune. Watch this space!
Lesson No 10
Again, people will say to you “I know you want to start a business but get a job so you have something to fall back on” You don’t want to fall back -even if you fail, fail forward!
Going back is never an option as the world keeps on going and you can go backward at a rate of knots – and then you have to start all over again, which takes a long time as you have to get back to where you were before you can move on and become successful. Start your business and just keep going – no matter what.
You can work for a boss and make a living.
Have a job and be Just Over Broke
Or you can start your own business and make a fortune.
The difference between a winner and a loser is the winner is the one who just keeps going in the direction of their dreams – no matter how difficult, if you just keep going forward you will get there. It will all be fine in the end and if it’s not fine, it’s not the end yet. Grab the opportunity when it comes and just GO FOR IT!!
Much Love,
Margaret Hirsch