Blog | Entrepreneurship

Team Up for Success

Why teams always beat individuals in business and investing

Rich dad always said, “Business and investing are team sports.”

He went on to say, “The reason why employees and self-employed people often lose against business owners and investors is because they are individuals playing against a whole team.”

Rich dad drew a simple diagram of the CASHFLOW Quadrant to illustrate:

He believed that the school system instilled this disadvantage into kids from a very young age. For instance, students have to take tests on their own. If they try to get help, it’s called cheating. In the business world, however, business owners are only successful if they cooperate at test time…and in the business world, every day is test day.

Are you a lone wolf?

When it comes to business and investing, many people are lone wolves. They could be enjoying the advantages of a pack, but instead they choose to work alone. The result is that they often make less money than they could or would like to.

Many investors today try to invest as individuals. For instance, many people are day traders, sitting around in their PJ’s trading stocks online. This is a perfect example of an individual trying to trade against a well-organized team. This is why so few of them succeed and why many lose their money.

Who’s your team?

Rich dad would say, “If people want to become sophisticated investors and more, they must invest as a team.”

On rich dad’s team were his accountants, his attorneys, his brokers, his financial advisors, his insurance agents, and his bankers. I use plurals here because he always had more than one advisor. When he made a decision, it was with his team’s input. Today, I do the same.

The question for you is, “If you want to be successful, who do you need on your team?” And, “Why don’t you have them yet?”

Your best education

I’m often asked:

• “How did you learn so much about investing and business?”
• “How do you get such high returns with such low risk?”
• “What gives you the confidence to invest in what others see as risky?”
• “How do you find the best deals?”

My answer is always the same: “My team.”

Working with my team is the best education I could possibly have. By investing and building businesses with my team, I’ve learned more than I ever could have on my own.

If you have a hunger for success, and desire to always be learning, then you need a team. And today’s the day to start building one.