Tweet

Got Some Bathwater to Throw Out? Why not Add a Baby?

Written by: Robin Elliott

Article Overview: Some need to be thrown out, but be selective!

Got Some Bathwater to Throw Out? Why not Add a Baby?

We’ve heard the old saying, “Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater.” It amazes me that people do this all the time. They burn the wrong bridges, too. We’ve all done it when we were young and immature, and when we believed we were invincible and that we would live forever and didn’t need anybody. But as we get older, we realize the futility of the quick buck, overreaction and clogging the old drain with a baby.

Recently, a Joint Venture Partner who was paying me thousands of dollars a month in commissions, showed his true colors by getting greedy and cutting side deals with others, in spite of the fact that he had agreed not to do this. He also welched on a commission payment. I walked away from him and left him to his wily ways, and he lost all future business from me. Since then, I estimate he has lost around $90,000 in business that he would have received from my referrals. Greed and pride are the enemies of successful business relationships. Self-discipline, honesty, and generosity build strong relationships and bridges that can carry a lot of money traffic through the years.

Impatience, arrogance and desperation often cause people to fling the infant out with the bathwater. When you see people overreacting and getting overly aggressive about unimportant things, realize that they’re probably in financial difficulty. That’s why it’s important not to rely on sensible, levelheaded responses and choices from emotional, cash-strapped people. Avoid them when considering potential JV partners. They’re more likely than others to lose perspective and justify unethical behavior. Situational Ethics reign in their world.

Successful Joint Venture Brokers understand the big picture; they don’t compromise when it comes to integrity, but they remain human, forgiving, and flexible. They learn to roll with the punches and they’re very selective whom they work with. They seek relationship, trust, and loyalty before the fast buck and instant gratification. The most successful JV Brokers I know don’t forget who hurt them and they don’t forget who helped them. They don’t tolerate dishonesty and they blow up bridges between themselves and losers, while building and maintaining bridges to good people. They nurture good relationships like a baby. They don’t end a million dollar business relationship for $1000. They maintain perspective and build strong foundations for the future.

Robin J. Elliott www.DollarMakers.com

Related Articles
  Does Age Matter?
  Survival Tactics
  SMEs in Africa - is capitalism really dead?
  Success is your Baby
  Calling All Baby Boomers: New Report Provides Guide to Investing in Volatile Markets

Article Tags:



Related Forum Posts
Need help on some crazy ideas... - Hi guys, We are bidding on a viral marketing video for a US based company (selling over the phone can be a challenge!) and I need your help. Can you please give me some crazy ideas - picture yourself being really really really angry with a website - what would you do to your computer if you were really mad... would you throw it against a wall... hit it with a baseball bat? Throw it off a building? Please let me know ASAP. Appreciate your help! Mark
Re: Greybook - Facebook for the senior citizen! - Yeah, I agree to that. Baby boomers at present are the seniors already....so weird, but real.
Congratulations! - Hi Takuya, If her name is Queen, then she really will grow up as a 'Princess'. Does she have a middle name too? We wish you and your wife the best of health as well as the New Baby Reina. When I look at babies, I often think like the Psalmist: ...you knit me together in my mother's womb. .......because I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Ps 139.13-14 Be blessed. Beat
Re: 10 ideas to make you money in 2010 - I think Education would be hard to break into. Baby Boomers, Life Support and Trading Down, however, seem like good markets. As for Green technology goes, I don't think the business has to be entirely based on Green ideologies, but rather a business that embrace Green philosophies and use that as a marketing tool.
Re: Disney to refund Baby Einstein DVDs for Marketing Blunder - I have to say I'm very interested in this. My nephew is 13 months and absolutely loves is Baby Einstein DVDs. I can't speak for other enfants or caregivers, but I know for a fact through these DVDs he was able to learn new words and actions. I think for Disney its a rebranding issue. I believe the current consumers of these videos will probably continue to watch them. And I have to say a lot of it is word of mouth, before he was born I knew nothing about this stuff, but now I probably know far too much and its all because of the information I've been given.


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Tweet

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

Angel Investors Where Are You?

Email Marketing Made Easy #11 - Avoiding Spam

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.