The Secret Advantage That All Great Entrepreneurs Share

Nothing Compounds Faster

In business, you can make more money, feel less stressed and enjoy your work more by leveraging one key thing.

Every truly successful entrepreneur that I’ve come across has leveraged this powerful driver of growth in their business. It’s something that compounds over time and creates opportunities to increase their income on autopilot.

Here’s the secret. They achieve a ridiculous level of success because they switch their focus to relationships instead of transactions.

You see, in business, there are two types of people you’ll come across…. Transactional people and Relationship people. Here’s the difference:

Transactional People

- Self-absorbed. - Want something for nothing. - Squeeze you for everything they can get. - Ask for discounts, pay late, demand unreasonable terms. - Switch to the next business with a lower price in a heartbeat.

Relationship People

- Want you to win alongside them. - Respect, trust and value your expertise. - Generous with recommending you to their network. - Happily pay you a fair price, on time, in exchange for great service. - Value loyalty and partnership over penny-pinching to save a dollar or two.

Who would you rather work with?

Building a client base of transactional people by discounting, undercutting competitors and giving in to unreasonable expectations might be a quick way to make a couple of dollars today, but I promise — it’s a foundation on a house of cards.

A roster of transactional clients inevitably results in you becoming overworked, underpaid and eventually burnt out by the negative energy they’ll bring to your life.

This happens because transactional people don’t value relationships. They couldn’t care less about anything unless it’s going to save them money or get them ahead quickly — regardless of the long-term impact on others or themselves. And they certainly don’t care about you.

They’ll do things like squeeze you for as much as they can, constantly ask for discounts, push for refunds out of nowhere, disrespect you and make your life difficult, if it means making theirs easier.

Good Business Is About Relationships, Not Transactions

I’ve experienced what it’s like to work with transactional people. Without fail, they’ve cost me money, time and resources.

I learned the hard way that while you can make some quick cash by lowering your standards when it comes to who you do business with, it will come back to bite you eventually. And probably sooner than you think.

For example, I once decided (against my better judgment) to work with a client who was disrespectful in our initial conversation and demanded a hefty discount. These were my early days of starting my business, I was eager to make money and naive to the danger of transactional people. In all honesty, I was acting a little transactional myself by thinking this way.

So, I worked with this client. We delivered a good service. Then out of nowhere, the client stopped responding to emails and did a credit card chargeback on their payment, leaving me $5k out of pocket.

That was a big lesson for me. And it was totally my fault. Not because we did anything wrong when it came to our service delivery, but simply by lowering my standards to work with a transactional individual. I played with fire, and I got burnt.

The thing is, something in the back of my mind was telling me to avoid this person, but short-term thinking took over and I allowed it to override my gut feeling. I thought, “What the hell, if they’re going to pay me, I’ll suck it up”. Big mistake.

Here’s what I’ve strived to do for the last 5 years in my business since that lesson.

Not to think in weeks, months or even years. But to think in decades.

Today, this means I consciously choose my clients based on a strong, healthy foundation of a Win/Win relationship. A foundation that has the potential to span a lifetime.

If I can’t see myself working with them for a decade, I won’t work with them at all.

Business happens over years and years. Value is measured in the total upside of a business relationship, not by how much you squeezed out in any one deal. — Mark Cuban

Choose Abundance

Relationship people want to do business with people they know, like and trust.

They understand on a deep level that by carefully selecting who they do business with, getting results becomes a formality. They want to win, and they want you to win alongside them. They believe in abundance.

Transactional people are the opposite. Instead of believing in abundance, they believe in scarcity. They want the cheapest option and don’t even consider the repercussions of choosing price over quality. They want results immediately, even if that means cutting corners. They live in fear and scarcity.

Trust me, it’s exponentially better to work with people who believe in abundance.

These people believe in their heart, there’s more than enough for everyone — simply working with them opens doors and opportunities for growth.

Avoid those who live in scarcity, they see life as a zero-sum game, and if they win, somebody else has to lose. Win/Win is not in their lexicon.

Strive to be selective about who you work with, add unexpected value, and build an even stronger relationship with your best clients.

This creates a sense of longevity that can span years.

In my business, I’ve had many relationship-focused clients who I delivered great service for.

They’ve stayed loyal for years and referred me to dozens of other great people in their network resulting in hundreds of thousands of dollars in revenue for their business and mine.

Just like money invested wisely — Relationships compound.

When you consciously cultivate your client base and the people you do business with based on their shared appreciation of creating relationships, it’s a true Win/Win.

Choose who you work with very wisely. It’s the most important decision you’ll make in your business.

If you enjoyed this article, I made a video on YouTube outlining my philosophy on business. Check it out below and be sure to follow me on Medium so you don’t miss new articles.