Exclusive Interview and Video on Billionaire Brian Sidorski

What is the #1 most costly mistake you have made, or seen many investors/business owners make that could be avoided?

The first costly mistake I would like to discuss is selling the goose that lays the golden eggs. Selling the mobile home park portfolio was probably one of the biggest and costliest mistakes. Not only did it trigger a very large tax bill it also curtailed the inflation-proof rental cash flowing income. It has taken a long time to re-invest the income when all we needed to do was borrow against it. We effectively should have bought another goose and paid for it with the cash-flowing golden eggs. Never sell cash-flowing real estate when you can borrow against it.

The second most costly mistake that most business owners make is getting BRIGHT SHINY OBJECT SYNDROME. This is when other opportunities start to show up and you take your eye off your ball to examine and perhaps Pursue them. Start-up businesses need and require 100 percent attention energy and passion to begin to become even remotely successful. The cure for BSOS is to double down all your energy and attention and focus on your original plan. The most valuable strategy.

What is the most valuable strategy, worth far more than $1 million, that you wish someone provided you with early on that you can share here?

The most valuable strategy I can share worth more than $1M. Don’t try to be everything to everybody. 80percent of most business sales are made on only twenty percent of their inventory. Focus on maximizing your volume on fewer items. Maximize your buying power with fewer items by providing better faster quality items or services at more economical prices because of efficiency. Have only the elite salespeople the best of the best. Illuminate mediocre and bad salesman. Your remaining fewer better salesmen will outperform all previous results by closing more sales from your bad and mediocre order takers, not salesmen.

Another $1M lesson that took me years to figure out – NO GOTIATE MEANS NO NEGOTIATION. It is a word I invented. It saves a lot of time and energy and builds credibility when you know that you are telling the truth whenever quoting the value of your goods and services. When we stopped negotiating with our customers about price we more than tripled our volume of sales and our credibility. that does mean having volume discounts or bonuses or rebates or advertising credits. It means that everyone is treated equally in regard to pricing.

What was the major turning point, point of increased momentum, or strategic choke point, that once you acquired or completed, made everything you were doing surge forward?

Having enough working capital to pay all suppliers on time and to take advantage of all cash discounts. To remove the credit risk to all our suppliers. When that happened all our suppliers lowered their prices which in turn increased our volume and our profits. Too many businesses take too long to pay their suppliers. In turn, suppliers are reluctant to ship or purchase raw materials to fill their orders until they have in fact been paid. Paying on time and taking cash discounts for early payment resulted in receiving maximum service and pricing from suppliers which in turn increased our volume and profits. Hope this is helpful. I have more if you want.

What operating businesses of yours are you most excited about driving forward? What 1-2 contribution projects or non-profits are you most focused on?

We are most focused on building houses and apartments. Our favorite charity is Junior Achievement