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Written by Cherif Medawar

Published: 28 February 2017

The way to grow your game in business and investments is by working with others. So the main question is; Do you know how to attract others to make them want to do deals with you?

Are you able to structure some win/win business models or are you too much or a competitor?

Do you realize that you could reach a level where high net worth people like real estate or angel investors and/or Venture capitalists could seek you out to do deals with you because you are able to offer, add or create value for them like no on else?

So what does it take to not pursue people or deals and have them come to you?

Well, to attract others into your business and investments you must have:

1) The knowledge (practical experience)
People want to join someone with a practical experience not just someone with an idea and some theoretical concepts and concept as to how to implement it.

2) The ability to take action (time and energy)
You must be able to show your own commitment to time and the effort to get things done in an ethical, safe and profitable manner. At the end of the day, it is results that count.

3) A network (be connected)
You must build your network of people early on, as this grows and compounds on itself, just like money does over time. Good people introduce you to better people and the influence of the group creates a bigger momentum that helps everyone.

4) The credit and money (access to)
Building your credit is something you must keep working on since it gives you the needed leverage to expand your reach and do bigger deals. You should build personal and business credit and keep your banking relationship positive and growing as credit lines and cash reserves will come handy both in difficult times of contractions and in great times of expansions.

5) Good reputation (reliable, with proven results)
One of the most valuable things you can build over time is your reputation of reliability, and your track record of good performance and outstanding results. The idea is to over deliver. Exceed expectations so the network you build stays with you and refers more business to you. It can take you a lifetime to build your reputation so you must guard it with your life.

6) Deals, strategies and structure (the offer)
It is not enough to just have good deals to attract others. You must explain your strategies, show proof that they work and most importantly have a structure so those who want to join you can understand clearly what is offered to the. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has rules for those who want to raise capital or deploy it on behalf of others and if you have everything spell out in a Private Placement Offering, you will be able to do business with other and and grow your game by exchanging value and delivering as promised.

Next week I will be in Dallas to speak about raising capital based on the new SEC rules. I will share how anyone can grow their game and do bigger deals whether in real estate or in business and how the new rules of finance and technology are quietly and slowly changing the way we will conduct business in the future.

Wishing you growth and expansion!

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Written by Cherif Medawar

Published: 05 December 2016

The best way to find an honest person whom you can trust, is to select an ethical person and trust them first with small tasks to see how they will perform. Then increase the assignments incrementally until they reach their capacity or grow exponentially with you.

In business and in life, you want to avoid people who are dishonest, disloyal and/or disrespectful.

No one can teach a grown person to be honest. But you can measure the level of integrity in others based on a few irregularities such as their personal beliefs, their present condition in life, their background, the amount of money at stake and so many other variables.

So how can you find, attract and grow with an honest person out there?
Well, start by interviewing a lot of qualified people. (Qualified based on their resume) Interview even those whom you think you know or have dealt with in the past. Watch them and listen to them carefully for any inconsistencies.  

Then select the one who has a history of getting the job done in a friendly, accurate, complete, timely, safe, strategic and profitable manner. Verify their background and check their references including dates reflected on their resume. The most important thing is to establish a clear record of their past performance in handling people, projects and budgets.

You will only truly get to know someone when there is money involved. 

Find out how they have handled past personal misfortunes and any business/monetary losses involving: an employer, a partner, a family member, and/or a group of investors. (Run their credit report to verify how they handled their own finances).

While people evolve through time and change based on their financial status and other events that occur in their lives, their core character and how they react to money, to other people and how they approach work, in general, remain the same. Their personality becomes even magnified and their peculiarities get more dramatized over time. (Most people get emotional about money, they do not work well with others, and tend to get frustrated easily when faced with a big work load or a huge problem.)

The way they’ve handled past challenges, will not only reveal their character, but will also help you predict their future behavior---- especially when the going gets tough, which usually happens when you are building or growing a business.

If you are able to verify and establish that the person has been honest and may work well with you based on their past record of good performance and results, then prepare a written Agreement. The Agreement should include an outline of responsibilities and duties based on the goals and expectations you have of them before you hire them or go into business with them.

Make sure you go over the Agreement with them to gain their commitment on the vision and the guidelines of checks and balances regarding who will do what, how, when, where, why and for how much.

It is work in progress so their flexibility is expected to any changes or additions going forward.

The goal is to cover a 3-Step formula that I created a while back to establish a basic set of guidelines with some checks and balances:

1) Clarify and assign the work duties 
- Set up rules: 
Policies, procedures and monitoring systems (This is to clarify responsibilities, duties and the methods that will be used to measure the performance and expected results). 

2) Supervise and adjust to improve 
- Set up rewards: 
Recognition, incentives and bonuses (You must inspect what you expect and incentivize them to grow and contribute).

3) Follow up and correct any deviations
- Set up penalties: 
Reprimands, punishments and punitive actions (You must act fast regarding any downtrend and correct it. If you've provided the training, direction, tools and support but they are not getting the desired results, then, review and see if they are unaware, unable, untrained or simply defiant. Then if they are good and honest try to work with them to eliminate their bad behavior but if they are dishonest, disrespectful or disloyal, then just eliminate them all together for non-performance or non-compliance especially if you have given them a fair chance to improve).

In conclusion:
After you do the proper, and full due diligence, to hire or work with an honest person (based on their background and history), you must still set up the proper structure to enforce ethics and high performance.

Trust is only built overtime. If you don’t create the set of guidelines, ways to measure and supervise diligently, you may run the risk of having even an honest person succumb to some deviant behavior that could be costly for everyone. 

It is hard to find an ethical, intelligent and energetic person to work with, but nothing is easy and in the long run, if you can build trust and momentum with the right people, you will grow together and eventually contribute a lot more to the greater good.