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I just love Robert Kiyosaki’s work. Not for nothing has ‘Rich Dad, Poor Dad’ become the No.1 best-seller in the world… closely followed by ‘Rich Dad’s Cash Flow Quadrant.’
I have absolutely no doubt that Robert Kiyosaki will come to be recognised as one of the most prolific and influential of authors of this new century.
And, by his own admission, he is no Shakespeare. He just writes from the heart and shares simple life-changing experiences that have turned him and his wife from being down-and-out, broke, forced to sleep on the beach and in their beat-up old car, to becoming financially VERY wealthy.
Right now, I have nothing but rave reviews to give for his newest 2nd edition of ‘Rich Dad’s - The BUSINESS SCHOOL - For People Who Like Helping People’.
In this publication, Robert Kiyosaki clearly explains and updates the super-positive ‘hidden values’ to be found in a network marketing business.
As a worldly-wise and highly-respected, best-selling financial writer, Robert continuously found himself being asked for his opinion on the starting of a business in the network marketing industry.
Kiyosaki goes back to the mid-1970’s to trace when he first noticed his closed-mind blocking him from recognising the possibilities inherent in network marketing.
He attended a 3-hour presentation on a network marketing opportunity in which, he now recognises, he was not intellectually or emotionally ready to understand the opportunity.
‘Simply put I was building my business to make me rich and they were talking about a business that made many people rich. At that stage of my life, my mind was not open to such radical new ideas.’
At that time, Kiyosaki thought that a business was ‘..supposed to make only the owners rich.’
Kiyosaki gave his introducer friend the only response that can come from those too IGNORANT to assess the truth: ’It was interesting but it’s not for me. Besides, I have heard rumours that these network marketing businesses are just pyramid schemes and are illegal’.
It was only 15 years later, in the early 90’s, when his closed mind began to open. A very wealthy friend of Kiyosaki’s ‘..a friend I respect for his financial wisdom and his business success..’ told him why HE was in the network marketing business as well.
Robert Kiyosaki made it his task to analyse why his wealthy friend was in this business: ‘… my closed mind was beginning to open. I was beginning to want to know more about why someone as rich as he was had a network marketing business. I was beginning to realise that there was something more to the business than just money’.
He discovered that his friend wanted to help people. Secondly, he wanted to help himself make more money by helping others become rich enough to invest in real estate with him.
And thirdly, he loved learning and teaching - ‘For me, people who start a network marketing business are looking for new answers and they are ready to learn. I love learning, teaching business, and sharing new ideas with people excited about their ongoing education. You will be surprised how many very smart, well-educated people from different backgrounds are in this business. It’s a great business and a great real-life business school’.
So began Robert Kiyosaki’s quest to understand the network marketing business.
Writes Robert: ‘After retiring in 1994, financially-free at the age of 47, I began my own research into the network marketing industry.’
‘Once I got over my own prejudices and met people I respected and related to, I found the heart of the industry…. I finally found a business with a heart and a deep caring for people… a value that goes beyond just the potential of making a lot of money.’
Kiyosaki’s awakening leads to a powerful revelation and endorsement from one so highly rated as a financial author:
‘Today many network marketing companies are spreading peace through economic opportunity all over the world. Not only are network marketing companies thriving in all the major capitals of the world, but also many network marketing companies are working in the third world, bringing financial hope to millions of people who live in impoverished countries. Most traditional corporations can only survive where people are rich and have money to spend. It is time that people all over the world have an equal opportunity to enjoy a rich and abundant life, rather than spend their lives working hard only to make the rich richer. If the gap between rich and poor widens, it will be harder to give peace a chance.’
‘If you are willing to stick it out, and learn and study at your own pace, the business will continue to stick by your side. Many network marketing companies are truly equal opportunity businesses. If you will invest the time and effort, so will they… I will support any business that values human compassion and true equal opportunity.’
But, what is it that really got Robert Kiyosaki to take a serious look at network marketing as a serious business concept..?
Personally, I believe that it was because he was ready to move to the next intellectual level of understanding a simple business system that many people erroneously reject due to the emotional, and often grossly incorrect and ignorant input of others.
The saddest thing for society has been that this ignorance has been perpetuated by highly-educated people who should have known better… and who should have done simple basic economics in making their evaluations.
Unfortunately, prejudice does not allow for even high-brow economists to break through their own clouded misconceptions. Prejudice and ignorance are terrible, debilitating, poverty-creating mental blocks to own in the Information Age.
What saved Robert from total prejudice was the common-sense advice of his Rich Dad who constantly drummed into the young Robert’s head this simple statement: ‘If you want to be rich, you need to be a business owner and an investor’.
He recalled Rich Dad telling the story of Thomas Alva Edison, who became rich by understanding that he had to turn the light bulb he invented into a business. Edison did not just look at the light bulb as the solution to people’s problems, he recognised that it would take ‘..a system of electrical lines and relay stations..’ to power the light bulb.
Said Rich Dad: ‘Another name for system is “network”… without the electrical network, the light bulb would have very little value to people’.
Rich Dad continued: ‘If you really want to learn how to be rich, you must know and understand the power found in networks. The richest people in the world build networks. Everyone else is trained to look for work.’
Thomas Edison became the wealthy founder of General Electric... and a number of other major companies.
So Robert Kiyosaki’s mind was already stimulated to recognise the fact that, throughout the 20th century ‘..the ultra-rich have always built networks.’
From John - D. Rockefeller – ‘..a network of gas stations, delivery trucks, ships and pipelines..’, to Alexander Graham Bell – ‘..a telephone network called AT&T..’, to people who became rich building railroad networks, airplane networks, ship networks, car networks, retail store networks and fast food chain franchise networks.’
As Kiyosaki contemplates Bill Gates software network and AOL Time Warner's network, he remarks: ‘In today’s world, the power of super-computers and the power of PC’s allow many individuals the power to build great wealth if they would work to build their networks.’
He makes an observation about people, which is extremely illuminating: ‘If you want to become rich, you need to network with those who are rich or who can help you become rich. Many people spend their lives hanging out with people that hold them back financially’.
Kiyosaki’s book is intended to pass on one key idea: ‘..a network marketing business is a business with people who are there to help you become richer. One question you may want to ask yourself is this question. “Is the company I work for and are the people with whom I spend time dedicated to me becoming rich? Or, are the people and company more interested in me continuing on as a hard worker?”
In his publications, Robert Kiyosaki goes on to discuss 11 different ways to become rich… in this review article we focus on the 11th way – 11. You can become rich by building a network marketing business.
Writes Robert: ‘The reason I put network marketing as an 11th way of becoming rich all by itself is because it is a revolutionary new way of sharing the wealth with anyone who truly wants to acquire great wealth.’
Well, it may be to Robert, but many of us who have studied this industry for almost two decades, covering it’s almost sixty years of history, have always recognised its savvy economic sense.
Nevertheless, Robert is quite right to rave about what he has recently discovered, he continues: ‘A network marketing system is set up to make it possible for anyone to share in the wealth. A network marketing system, a system I often call a personal franchise or an invisible big business network is, in my opinion, a very democratic way of wealth creation.'
'The system is open to anyone who has drive, determination and perseverance. The system does not really care what college you went to, if you went to one, how much money you make today, what race or sex you are, how good looking you are, who your parents are, or how popular you are.'
'Most network marketing companies care primarily about how much you are willing to learn, to change and to grow, and do you have the guts to stick it out through thick and thin while you learn to be a business owner’.
Wow… that is powerful stuff… and a pretty simple, astute summary of all that is good about network marketing.
Yet, we all recognise that, like any other business, the flaky element with zero integrity, and with low morals, is always on the fringes looking to make a fast buck. As in any other industry, due diligence should always be the order of the day.
He puts a seal to the chapter on becoming rich by stating: ‘A primary reason I support the network marketing industry is that their systems are fairer than previous systems of acquiring wealth.’
‘If you step back and look at this new form of business, it is a very socially responsible system of sharing the wealth. A network marketing business is not a good business for greedy people. By design, it is the perfect business for people who like helping other people. Saying it another way, the only way a network marketing business works is by helping someone else become rich as you become rich.’
Kiyosaki’s fantastic book goes on to explain 11 hidden values that exist in most network marketing businesses:
Value #1: True Equal Opportunity
Like all prejudiced, closed-minded, first-time evaluators of the network marketing industry, Robert first looked for and found all the negatives that people almost seem to ‘want’ to find at first glance, the ‘..dreamers, hustlers, con men, losers and get-rich-quick artists that are attracted to this type of business’.
However, his super-tuned inner financial sense, honed by the teachings of his Rich Dad, got him to open his mind… and he found the real reason behind the strange types that are also attracted to network marketing with all of the good folk.
It is because the network marketing industry has ‘..an open door policy, which allows almost anyone to join. This open-door policy is the fair and equal opportunity that most socialists cry out for, yet I did not meet many hard-core socialists in these business meetings. These businesses are for capitalists or at least for people hoping to become capitalists’.
Value #2: Life-Changing Business Education
Now here’s what I find really interesting about Kiyosaki’s analysis of the network marketing business, he writes – ‘It’s not about the Money’… and ‘It’s not about the Products’… he goes on to discuss the very wide variety of products and services offered by thousands of network marketing businesses. But, for him ‘..The number one reason I recommend a network marketing business is for its system of education.’
What he came to recognise is that many of the leaders and trainers in network marketing have achieved their success in the real world of business. They are practical skills-oriented folks who do not educate on the basis of theory alone. He became really excited to see that network marketers are taught by the best leaders to overcome rejection.
He writes: ‘I am more financially successful than most people, not because I was smarter than most people, but because I failed more than most people. In other words, I got ahead because I made more mistakes. In network marketing you are encouraged to make mistakes, correct, learn and grow’.
Kiyosaki continues: ‘The best network marketing companies encourage their people to learn something new mentally, take action, make mistakes, learn, correct and repeat the process. That is real-life education’.
He closes this chapter with a quote from his Rich Dad, who said: ‘The reason most people never find the rich person inside of them is because the poor person still thinks it’s bad to make mistakes.’
Concludes Robert: ‘To me the difference between the values found in traditional education and the value found in life changing education is the difference between the values placed on learning from our mistakes, versus punishing people for making mistakes, and placing value on the human spirit, a spirit powerful enough to overcome any lack of mental, emotional, or physical talents.’
Value #3: Friends Who Will Pull You Up, Not Pull You Down
Here Kiyosaki touches on the single most emotional reason why many people don’t ever give themselves a chance to get rich in network marketing, and that is… they are too worried about what other people will think of them if they get involved in a network marketing business.
He recalls that the hardest job he ever had was when ‘..leaving a secure job and starting a business was dealing with what my friends, family and co-workers would say or think.’
Referring to his CASHFLOW Quadrant model, he distinguishes between the Employee and Self-Employed quadrants as being those that see most people stuck in the Rat Race… to that of the Business Owner and Investor quadrants as being those outside of the Rat Race and living on the Passive Income generated from their investments.
Writes Robert: ‘A network marketing business is for people who want to enter the world of the B quadrant.. because.. it is designed to expand… also, the income potential in a network marketing business is, in theory, unlimited... you can earn as much as your network can earn. If you build a big network, you can earn a massive amount of money.’
Perhaps the most sage advice Kiyosaki gives to new network marketers is contained in this chapter. He recommends that anyone entering into any new business of any kind should give themselves at least five years to make as many mistakes as possible.
‘If you or your friends think that you can start a network marketing business and expect to start making money right away then you are still thinking like a person from the E or S quadrants. People in the E or S quadrants are the ones who most often are sucked into the get rich quick schemes and scams of life. If you are serious about starting your journey, I would recommend committing to a minimum of five years of learning, growing, changing your core values and meeting new friends. To me, those changes are far more important than a few extra bucks.’
Robert Kiyosaki, I doff my cap to you, sir… too few people take the journey of business and their lives seriously enough to make a success of it. Your advice is right on the button in this commentator’s hard-won experience.
It is important to realise that Kiyosaki warns in his early publications that a person moving from the E and S quadrants in the Rat Race, to the B and I quadrants of the wealthy, will often have to move away from the stifling E and S influences of his old friends and family… to the input of new friends and role models in the B and I quadrants.
‘The advantage of a network marketing business is that not only does the business provide a great business education, the business often provides a whole new world of friends, friends who are going in the same direction as you and share the same core values as you. In addition, to me, that kind of friendship is priceless. I know that I would not have made the journey if I had not met some great friends along the way.’
Value #4: What is The Value Of A Network
Kiyosaki introduces us to the creator of the Ethernet, one Robert Metcalf, who defined Metcalf’s Law as:
A Network’s Economic Value = Number of Users2
He explains Metcalf’s Law in these simple terms: ‘If there exists just one telephone, that single telephone really has no economic value. The moment there are two telephones, according to Metcalf’s Law, the economic value of the phone network is now squared. The economic value of the network would go from zero to two (squared) or four. Add a third phone and the economic value of the network is now nine. In other words, the economic value of a network goes up exponentially, not arithmetically.’
He goes on to explain how, in the network marketing business ‘..your job is to clone or duplicate someone just like you. The moment there are two of you, your economic value is squared. The value of your network has just gone from zero to four. The moment there are three of you, the economic value goes from four to nine. If the two people you bring in also develop two more each, the economic value of your network begins to look like a rocket taking off for the moon. Instead of working hard arithmetically, your economic value begins to grow exponentially. That is the power and the value of a networked business.’
He puts it in another great way: ‘Just look at it as a math problem. Let’s say you bring in 10 people, ten new friends into the business. The value of your network is now worth 100, not 10. If those 10 people bring in 10 people each… the value of your business explodes.’
Now… this where Robert Kiyosaki, the super-wealthy business and property tycoon, makes his most startling admission: ‘Today I have seen the light. If I had to do it all over again, rather than build an old-style type of business, I would have started building a network marketing business.’
Boy, isn’t that just a little embarrassing for many so-called economists, over-zealous regulators and media sceptics..?
He talks of how his traditional businesses cost him millions of dollars, in risk and losses, whereas ‘..a network marketing business, with its low cost of entry and great training programs, is a far better idea... it is an idea whose time has come.’
He points to the rosy future of network marketing as being timely and on trend as we have broken out of the Industrial Age and entered into the Information Age. ‘Network marketing businesses are truly Information Age franchises simply because most network marketing businesses run almost solely on information, rather than land, factories and employees.’
‘Today people need new ideas and systems via which they can find the financial security our parents once had. One answer is network marketing. The more people wake up, and many are after the September 11th terrorist attack and the stock market crash, the more people will realise that network marketing is a new answer for a world with less and less security. Network marketing gives millions of people throughout the world the opportunity to take control of their lives and their financial future. That is why the network marketing industry will continue to grow, even though old world thinkers fail to see it growing.’
Value #5: Developing Your Most Important Business Skill
In this chapter, Robert Kiyosaki makes the one critical observation that too few people wanting to get rich ever make. He recognises that in order to get wealthy as a B quadrant business owner there is one skill that is MORE IMPORTANT than all the other business skills you need… and that is, the ability to SELL..!
‘The ability to sell is the most important skill of the B quadrant. If you cannot sell, don’t bother thinking about becoming a business owner.’
In a discussion with his Rich Dad, Robert recalls commenting: ‘So the better I am at sales, the more successful in life I become?’
His Rich Dad agreed and added: ‘And look at it another way… look at people who are the least successful in life. They are the people no one wants to listen to.’
Rich Dad sets the seal on this chapter with this profound insight: ‘Poor people are poor because they cannot sell… or they have nothing to sell. The same is true with poor nations. A poor nation is a nation with nothing to sell or a nation that cannot sell what it has. The same is true with people. There are many very talented people, but they cannot sell their talents. A business that cannot sell is out of business even if it has tons of inventory.’
‘The world is filled with many lonely people and poor people, simply because they were never taught how to sell… how to communicate… how to overcome their fear of rejection… how to stand up after being rejected.’
‘If you want to be successful in life, you need to learn how to sell.’
Good for you, Rich Dad, as reviewer I need to mention that I am constantly amazed at those who claim to want to be successful in business, yet who always look for a way not to have to sell… or for the easy sale. They are the people who respond to business opportunity adverts which state ‘Make a fortune… No sales required.’ It is wishful thinking..!
Almost every cash-strapped person I meet seems to have the strange notion that if you develop the right idea, product or concept, people will just flock to you and hand over their money. Nowhere is this perception more noticeable than in those who approach network marketing for the first time.
For some strange reason people seem to think that if they join a network marketing company, and then sit on their behinds, then someone, somewhere will reward them with a lot of money. It is both the most amusing and most pathetic of notions I witness in this industry.
In almost 30 years of business, working with some of the finest products and services in the world, I have always had to overcome the strangest of objections by the smartest of people, been rejected by people who have had a clear need for the product, had sales cancelled by the spouses of the purchasers, and been spurned for totally ridiculous reasons… take it from me, no one beats a path to your door to make you rich. You have to beat a path to their doors and sell them on why they should hand over their hard-earned money to you for your goods and services.
Concludes Robert: ‘One of the beauties of network marketing is that it gives you the opportunity to face your fears, deal with your fears, overcome your fears, and let the winner in you win. Most people are not successful because they have not been rejected enough. The more I risk being rejected, the better my chances are of being accepted.’
He provides a lovely formula for us to work with:
Rejection and Correction = Education and Acceleration
One more bit of wisdom from his insight is important to note: ‘In network marketing not only do you have to learn to sell you also have to learn to teach others to sell. If you can sell, but cannot teach others to sell, you will not be successful in network marketing.’
I love Robert Kiyosaki’s work… he is spot-on again… he recognises that network marketing is a serious business that will make the person who takes it seriously… seriously wealthy..!
Value #6: Leadership
This is a subject that really gets this reviewer’s juices flowing… and again, Kiyosaki impresses with his astute insight: ‘In the B quadrant, leadership skills are not optional. Money does not go to the best products or service. Money flows to the business with the best leaders and the best management team.’
He shares, in this chapter, a fantastic story that enscapsulates how network marketing provides some of the best business and leadership training grounding in the world:
‘One of the most important values I found in some network marketing business was their life-changing business education. Recently I met a young man who made hundreds of millions of dollars from his computer business. He said to me: “I was just a young computer programmer for years. One day a friend took me to a meeting and I signed up in his network marketing business. For 6 years, all I did was go to meetings, attend events, read books and listen to tapes. Today I have hundreds of tapes and piles of books in my closet from those days. Not only did I eventually become successful in the network marketing business, but also from what I learned. I quit my programming job once the income from my network marketing business provided me enough residual income and I started my own computer business. Three years ago, I took my computer business public and made over 48 million dollars net after tax profit. I could not have done that without the training that I got from that network marketing company. It was the best business and leadership training in the world.’
Robert feels that network marketing builds a different type of leader to that of a traditional competitive business leader… ‘the type of leader that is developed is a leader that influences others by being a great teacher, teaching others to fulfill their life's dreams by teaching others to go for their dreams. Instead of beating the enemy or beating the competition, most network marketing leaders simply inspire and teach others to find the financial bounty this world offers without harm to others.’
Value #7: Not Working For Money
Kiyosaki shares how both he and in his wife were flat broke and homeless at one point in their lives… and then became ‘..financially free in fewer than 10 years simply because we knew the difference between money… and wealth.’
This story is covered fully in his previous publications – 'Rich Dad, Poor Dad’ and 'Rich Dad’s CASHFLOW Quadrant’.
He underlines that ‘..wealth is not measured in money, instead wealth is measured in time.’ His definition being:
‘Wealth is the ability to survive so many number of days forward.’
‘You may want to ask yourself this question: “If I (and if married, your spouse and you) stop working today, how long could I survive financially?” Your answer is your wealth today. The good news is that your wealth can be greatly increased even if you do not make much money today.’
Says Robert: ‘The formula for success in the network marketing is the same formula my rich dad taught me. The formula is as follows: 1. Build a business. 2. Reinvest in the business 3. Invest in real estate. 4. Buy luxuries.’
‘Most people lack the patience, the discipline, and the willingness to delay gratification to follow such a plan.’
‘One of the great values in building a network marketing business and then investing in real estate, those two actions can give you back control over your life… and if you have more control, you have more happiness… and happiness is a very valuable emotion to have in your life.’
Value #8: Living Your Dreams
In this chapter Kiyosaki touches on the things that get in the way of people making money and living their dreams to the full.
He recalls his Rich Dad’s words: ‘Many people don’t have dreams… because dreams cost money.’
What a sad reflection of a society to be so negatively caught up living from hand-to-mouth to be too scared to dream..!
Rich Dad also said: ‘Be aware of people who want to kill your dreams. There is nothing worse than a friend or loved one killing your dreams. There are people who may innocently or not so innocently, say things such as: “You can’t do that”… “That is too risky. Do you know how many people fail?”… “Don’t be silly. Where do you come up with such ideas.”… “If it is such a good idea, why hasn’t someone done it before?”… “Oh I tried that years ago. Let me tell you why it won’t work”.
Writes Robert: ‘I have noticed that people who kill other people’s dreams have given up on their own dreams.’
He explains that dreams are important for the journey they lead people into: ‘..striving, learning, doing your best to develop your personal power.. it is who you become in the process… people who dream small dreams continue to live lives as small people.’
Rich Dad put it another way: ‘Big people have big dreams and small people have small dreams. If you want to change who you are, begin by changing the size of your dream.’
Kiyosaki’s concluding remark in this chapter says it all: ‘If you are a person with big dreams and are a person who would love to support others in achieving their big dreams, then the network marketing business is definitely a business for you. You can start your business part-time at first, and then, as your business grows, you can help other people start their part-time businesses. This is a value worth having – a business and people who help others make their dreams come true.’
Wow… is this good stuff or what..?
Value #9: Marriage And Business
This chapter written by Robert’s wife, Kim Kiyosaki, just has to be read in its entirety to be fully appreciated for its profound message of joy, love, faith and hope.
Here is just some of the copy from Kim: ‘We were broke. We knocked on friend’s doors and asked to stay the night. We slept on the beach. Some nights we slept in an old borrowed beat-up Toyota. My family thought we were crazy.’
So, you think you’ve got it bad, do you..?
You must follow Kim’s story of how they were able to retire financially secure in less than 10 years from their desperate position.
Value #10: The Family Business
This chapter is written by Kiyosaki’s co-author – Sharon L. Lechter – underscoring the value that a successful network marketing business brings to the family… and this what Sharon identifies:
‘Over the last few years, I have had the opportunity to get to know many wonderful and successful people and families in the network marketing industry and I found many qualities they all share:
Sharon concludes with the one key element that has had this reviewer blissfully working from home and enjoying family life for well over 20 years: ‘What a gift to be able to build your business WITH your family instead of FOR your family. Rich Dad defines wealth in time not money. The more successful you become, the more time you will have and the more freedom you will have to spend with your family.’
Value #11: How You Can Use The Same Tax Loopholes The Rich Use
A very interesting chapter that needs to be read in it’s entirety as well. Written by Kiyosaki’s financial planner – Diane Kennedy C.P.A. – she makes a pertinent observation: ‘The real tax benefit from having a part-time business comes when you discover your hidden tax benefits.’
And… that’s it… what a great book for people wanting to build a business and retire wealthy. This summary review does not even cover 5% of the value of this fantastic publication by Robert Kiyosaki. The man is pure, simple genius in the manner in which he guides his readers to wealth. Do not short-change yourself and think that you have got anything but a smidgen of the information you should have from this book. Go out and buy yourself a copy right now.
Bibliography:
Kiyosaki, Robert T. ‘Rich Dad's the BUSINESS SCHOOL’. 2nd. Edition. Pub. Momentum Media 2003
Points To Ponder
Action Program
Quite simply, you HAVE to go out and buy this book for your personal library and study it.
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For Better or for Worse and The Secret Psychology to Money and Success.
I just love Robert Kiyosaki’s work. Not for nothing has ‘Rich Dad, Poor Dad’ become the No.1 best-seller in the world… closely followed by ‘Rich Dad’s Cash Flow Quadrant.’
I have absolutely no doubt that Robert Kiyosaki will come to be recognised as one of the most prolific and influential of authors of this new century.
And, by his own admission, he is no Shakespeare. He just writes from the heart and shares simple life-changing experiences that have turned him and his wife from being down-and-out, broke, forced to sleep on the beach and in their beat-up old car, to becoming financially VERY wealthy.
Right now, I have nothing but rave reviews to give for his newest 2nd edition of ‘Rich Dad’s - The BUSINESS SCHOOL - For People Who Like Helping People’.
In this publication, Robert Kiyosaki clearly explains and updates the super-positive ‘hidden values’ to be found in a network marketing business.
As a worldly-wise and highly-respected, best-selling financial writer, Robert continuously found himself being asked for his opinion on the starting of a business in the network marketing industry.
Kiyosaki goes back to the mid-1970’s to trace when he first noticed his closed-mind blocking him from recognising the possibilities inherent in network marketing.
He attended a 3-hour presentation on a network marketing opportunity in which, he now recognises, he was not intellectually or emotionally ready to understand the opportunity.
‘Simply put I was building my business to make me rich and they were talking about a business that made many people rich. At that stage of my life, my mind was not open to such radical new ideas.’
At that time, Kiyosaki thought that a business was ‘..supposed to make only the owners rich.’
Kiyosaki gave his introducer friend the only response that can come from those too IGNORANT to assess the truth: ’It was interesting but it’s not for me. Besides, I have heard rumours that these network marketing businesses are just pyramid schemes and are illegal’.
It was only 15 years later, in the early 90’s, when his closed mind began to open. A very wealthy friend of Kiyosaki’s ‘..a friend I respect for his financial wisdom and his business success..’ told him why HE was in the network marketing business as well.
Robert Kiyosaki made it his task to analyse why his wealthy friend was in this business: ‘… my closed mind was beginning to open. I was beginning to want to know more about why someone as rich as he was had a network marketing business. I was beginning to realise that there was something more to the business than just money’.
He discovered that his friend wanted to help people. Secondly, he wanted to help himself make more money by helping others become rich enough to invest in real estate with him.
And thirdly, he loved learning and teaching - ‘For me, people who start a network marketing business are looking for new answers and they are ready to learn. I love learning, teaching business, and sharing new ideas with people excited about their ongoing education. You will be surprised how many very smart, well-educated people from different backgrounds are in this business. It’s a great business and a great real-life business school’.
So began Robert Kiyosaki’s quest to understand the network marketing business.
Writes Robert: ‘After retiring in 1994, financially-free at the age of 47, I began my own research into the network marketing industry.’
‘Once I got over my own prejudices and met people I respected and related to, I found the heart of the industry…. I finally found a business with a heart and a deep caring for people… a value that goes beyond just the potential of making a lot of money.’
Kiyosaki’s awakening leads to a powerful revelation and endorsement from one so highly rated as a financial author:
‘Today many network marketing companies are spreading peace through economic opportunity all over the world. Not only are network marketing companies thriving in all the major capitals of the world, but also many network marketing companies are working in the third world, bringing financial hope to millions of people who live in impoverished countries. Most traditional corporations can only survive where people are rich and have money to spend. It is time that people all over the world have an equal opportunity to enjoy a rich and abundant life, rather than spend their lives working hard only to make the rich richer. If the gap between rich and poor widens, it will be harder to give peace a chance.’
‘If you are willing to stick it out, and learn and study at your own pace, the business will continue to stick by your side. Many network marketing companies are truly equal opportunity businesses. If you will invest the time and effort, so will they… I will support any business that values human compassion and true equal opportunity.’
But, what is it that really got Robert Kiyosaki to take a serious look at network marketing as a serious business concept..?
Personally, I believe that it was because he was ready to move to the next intellectual level of understanding a simple business system that many people erroneously reject due to the emotional, and often grossly incorrect and ignorant input of others.
The saddest thing for society has been that this ignorance has been perpetuated by highly-educated people who should have known better… and who should have done simple basic economics in making their evaluations.
Unfortunately, prejudice does not allow for even high-brow economists to break through their own clouded misconceptions. Prejudice and ignorance are terrible, debilitating, poverty-creating mental blocks to own in the Information Age.
What saved Robert from total prejudice was the common-sense advice of his Rich Dad who constantly drummed into the young Robert’s head this simple statement: ‘If you want to be rich, you need to be a business owner and an investor’.
He recalled Rich Dad telling the story of Thomas Alva Edison, who became rich by understanding that he had to turn the light bulb he invented into a business. Edison did not just look at the light bulb as the solution to people’s problems, he recognised that it would take ‘..a system of electrical lines and relay stations..’ to power the light bulb.
Said Rich Dad: ‘Another name for system is “network”… without the electrical network, the light bulb would have very little value to people’.
Rich Dad continued: ‘If you really want to learn how to be rich, you must know and understand the power found in networks. The richest people in the world build networks. Everyone else is trained to look for work.’
Thomas Edison became the wealthy founder of General Electric... and a number of other major companies.
So Robert Kiyosaki’s mind was already stimulated to recognise the fact that, throughout the 20th century ‘..the ultra-rich have always built networks.’
From John - D. Rockefeller – ‘..a network of gas stations, delivery trucks, ships and pipelines..’, to Alexander Graham Bell – ‘..a telephone network called AT&T..’, to people who became rich building railroad networks, airplane networks, ship networks, car networks, retail store networks and fast food chain franchise networks.’
As Kiyosaki contemplates Bill Gates software network and AOL Time Warner's network, he remarks: ‘In today’s world, the power of super-computers and the power of PC’s allow many individuals the power to build great wealth if they would work to build their networks.’
He makes an observation about people, which is extremely illuminating: ‘If you want to become rich, you need to network with those who are rich or who can help you become rich. Many people spend their lives hanging out with people that hold them back financially’.
Kiyosaki’s book is intended to pass on one key idea: ‘..a network marketing business is a business with people who are there to help you become richer. One question you may want to ask yourself is this question. “Is the company I work for and are the people with whom I spend time dedicated to me becoming rich? Or, are the people and company more interested in me continuing on as a hard worker?”
In his publications, Robert Kiyosaki goes on to discuss 11 different ways to become rich… in this review article we focus on the 11th way – 11. You can become rich by building a network marketing business.
Writes Robert: ‘The reason I put network marketing as an 11th way of becoming rich all by itself is because it is a revolutionary new way of sharing the wealth with anyone who truly wants to acquire great wealth.’
Well, it may be to Robert, but many of us who have studied this industry for almost two decades, covering it’s almost sixty years of history, have always recognised its savvy economic sense.
Nevertheless, Robert is quite right to rave about what he has recently discovered, he continues: ‘A network marketing system is set up to make it possible for anyone to share in the wealth. A network marketing system, a system I often call a personal franchise or an invisible big business network is, in my opinion, a very democratic way of wealth creation.'
'The system is open to anyone who has drive, determination and perseverance. The system does not really care what college you went to, if you went to one, how much money you make today, what race or sex you are, how good looking you are, who your parents are, or how popular you are.'
'Most network marketing companies care primarily about how much you are willing to learn, to change and to grow, and do you have the guts to stick it out through thick and thin while you learn to be a business owner’.
Wow… that is powerful stuff… and a pretty simple, astute summary of all that is good about network marketing.
Yet, we all recognise that, like any other business, the flaky element with zero integrity, and with low morals, is always on the fringes looking to make a fast buck. As in any other industry, due diligence should always be the order of the day.
He puts a seal to the chapter on becoming rich by stating: ‘A primary reason I support the network marketing industry is that their systems are fairer than previous systems of acquiring wealth.’
‘If you step back and look at this new form of business, it is a very socially responsible system of sharing the wealth. A network marketing business is not a good business for greedy people. By design, it is the perfect business for people who like helping other people. Saying it another way, the only way a network marketing business works is by helping someone else become rich as you become rich.’
Kiyosaki’s fantastic book goes on to explain 11 hidden values that exist in most network marketing businesses:
Value #1: True Equal Opportunity
Like all prejudiced, closed-minded, first-time evaluators of the network marketing industry, Robert first looked for and found all the negatives that people almost seem to ‘want’ to find at first glance, the ‘..dreamers, hustlers, con men, losers and get-rich-quick artists that are attracted to this type of business’.
However, his super-tuned inner financial sense, honed by the teachings of his Rich Dad, got him to open his mind… and he found the real reason behind the strange types that are also attracted to network marketing with all of the good folk.
It is because the network marketing industry has ‘..an open door policy, which allows almost anyone to join. This open-door policy is the fair and equal opportunity that most socialists cry out for, yet I did not meet many hard-core socialists in these business meetings. These businesses are for capitalists or at least for people hoping to become capitalists’.
Value #2: Life-Changing Business Education
Now here’s what I find really interesting about Kiyosaki’s analysis of the network marketing business, he writes – ‘It’s not about the Money’… and ‘It’s not about the Products’… he goes on to discuss the very wide variety of products and services offered by thousands of network marketing businesses. But, for him ‘..The number one reason I recommend a network marketing business is for its system of education.’
What he came to recognise is that many of the leaders and trainers in network marketing have achieved their success in the real world of business. They are practical skills-oriented folks who do not educate on the basis of theory alone. He became really excited to see that network marketers are taught by the best leaders to overcome rejection.
He writes: ‘I am more financially successful than most people, not because I was smarter than most people, but because I failed more than most people. In other words, I got ahead because I made more mistakes. In network marketing you are encouraged to make mistakes, correct, learn and grow’.
Kiyosaki continues: ‘The best network marketing companies encourage their people to learn something new mentally, take action, make mistakes, learn, correct and repeat the process. That is real-life education’.
He closes this chapter with a quote from his Rich Dad, who said: ‘The reason most people never find the rich person inside of them is because the poor person still thinks it’s bad to make mistakes.’
Concludes Robert: ‘To me the difference between the values found in traditional education and the value found in life changing education is the difference between the values placed on learning from our mistakes, versus punishing people for making mistakes, and placing value on the human spirit, a spirit powerful enough to overcome any lack of mental, emotional, or physical talents.’
Value #3: Friends Who Will Pull You Up, Not Pull You Down
Here Kiyosaki touches on the single most emotional reason why many people don’t ever give themselves a chance to get rich in network marketing, and that is… they are too worried about what other people will think of them if they get involved in a network marketing business.
He recalls that the hardest job he ever had was when ‘..leaving a secure job and starting a business was dealing with what my friends, family and co-workers would say or think.’
Referring to his CASHFLOW Quadrant model, he distinguishes between the Employee and Self-Employed quadrants as being those that see most people stuck in the Rat Race… to that of the Business Owner and Investor quadrants as being those outside of the Rat Race and living on the Passive Income generated from their investments.
Writes Robert: ‘A network marketing business is for people who want to enter the world of the B quadrant.. because.. it is designed to expand… also, the income potential in a network marketing business is, in theory, unlimited... you can earn as much as your network can earn. If you build a big network, you can earn a massive amount of money.’
Perhaps the most sage advice Kiyosaki gives to new network marketers is contained in this chapter. He recommends that anyone entering into any new business of any kind should give themselves at least five years to make as many mistakes as possible.
‘If you or your friends think that you can start a network marketing business and expect to start making money right away then you are still thinking like a person from the E or S quadrants. People in the E or S quadrants are the ones who most often are sucked into the get rich quick schemes and scams of life. If you are serious about starting your journey, I would recommend committing to a minimum of five years of learning, growing, changing your core values and meeting new friends. To me, those changes are far more important than a few extra bucks.’
Robert Kiyosaki, I doff my cap to you, sir… too few people take the journey of business and their lives seriously enough to make a success of it. Your advice is right on the button in this commentator’s hard-won experience.
It is important to realise that Kiyosaki warns in his early publications that a person moving from the E and S quadrants in the Rat Race, to the B and I quadrants of the wealthy, will often have to move away from the stifling E and S influences of his old friends and family… to the input of new friends and role models in the B and I quadrants.
‘The advantage of a network marketing business is that not only does the business provide a great business education, the business often provides a whole new world of friends, friends who are going in the same direction as you and share the same core values as you. In addition, to me, that kind of friendship is priceless. I know that I would not have made the journey if I had not met some great friends along the way.’
Value #4: What is The Value Of A Network
Kiyosaki introduces us to the creator of the Ethernet, one Robert Metcalf, who defined Metcalf’s Law as:
A Network’s Economic Value = Number of Users2
He explains Metcalf’s Law in these simple terms: ‘If there exists just one telephone, that single telephone really has no economic value. The moment there are two telephones, according to Metcalf’s Law, the economic value of the phone network is now squared. The economic value of the network would go from zero to two (squared) or four. Add a third phone and the economic value of the network is now nine. In other words, the economic value of a network goes up exponentially, not arithmetically.’
He goes on to explain how, in the network marketing business ‘..your job is to clone or duplicate someone just like you. The moment there are two of you, your economic value is squared. The value of your network has just gone from zero to four. The moment there are three of you, the economic value goes from four to nine. If the two people you bring in also develop two more each, the economic value of your network begins to look like a rocket taking off for the moon. Instead of working hard arithmetically, your economic value begins to grow exponentially. That is the power and the value of a networked business.’
He puts it in another great way: ‘Just look at it as a math problem. Let’s say you bring in 10 people, ten new friends into the business. The value of your network is now worth 100, not 10. If those 10 people bring in 10 people each… the value of your business explodes.’
Now… this where Robert Kiyosaki, the super-wealthy business and property tycoon, makes his most startling admission: ‘Today I have seen the light. If I had to do it all over again, rather than build an old-style type of business, I would have started building a network marketing business.’
Boy, isn’t that just a little embarrassing for many so-called economists, over-zealous regulators and media sceptics..?
He talks of how his traditional businesses cost him millions of dollars, in risk and losses, whereas ‘..a network marketing business, with its low cost of entry and great training programs, is a far better idea... it is an idea whose time has come.’
He points to the rosy future of network marketing as being timely and on trend as we have broken out of the Industrial Age and entered into the Information Age. ‘Network marketing businesses are truly Information Age franchises simply because most network marketing businesses run almost solely on information, rather than land, factories and employees.’
‘Today people need new ideas and systems via which they can find the financial security our parents once had. One answer is network marketing. The more people wake up, and many are after the September 11th terrorist attack and the stock market crash, the more people will realise that network marketing is a new answer for a world with less and less security. Network marketing gives millions of people throughout the world the opportunity to take control of their lives and their financial future. That is why the network marketing industry will continue to grow, even though old world thinkers fail to see it growing.’
Value #5: Developing Your Most Important Business Skill
In this chapter, Robert Kiyosaki makes the one critical observation that too few people wanting to get rich ever make. He recognises that in order to get wealthy as a B quadrant business owner there is one skill that is MORE IMPORTANT than all the other business skills you need… and that is, the ability to SELL..!
‘The ability to sell is the most important skill of the B quadrant. If you cannot sell, don’t bother thinking about becoming a business owner.’
In a discussion with his Rich Dad, Robert recalls commenting: ‘So the better I am at sales, the more successful in life I become?’
His Rich Dad agreed and added: ‘And look at it another way… look at people who are the least successful in life. They are the people no one wants to listen to.’
Rich Dad sets the seal on this chapter with this profound insight: ‘Poor people are poor because they cannot sell… or they have nothing to sell. The same is true with poor nations. A poor nation is a nation with nothing to sell or a nation that cannot sell what it has. The same is true with people. There are many very talented people, but they cannot sell their talents. A business that cannot sell is out of business even if it has tons of inventory.’
‘The world is filled with many lonely people and poor people, simply because they were never taught how to sell… how to communicate… how to overcome their fear of rejection… how to stand up after being rejected.’
‘If you want to be successful in life, you need to learn how to sell.’
Good for you, Rich Dad, as reviewer I need to mention that I am constantly amazed at those who claim to want to be successful in business, yet who always look for a way not to have to sell… or for the easy sale. They are the people who respond to business opportunity adverts which state ‘Make a fortune… No sales required.’ It is wishful thinking..!
Almost every cash-strapped person I meet seems to have the strange notion that if you develop the right idea, product or concept, people will just flock to you and hand over their money. Nowhere is this perception more noticeable than in those who approach network marketing for the first time.
For some strange reason people seem to think that if they join a network marketing company, and then sit on their behinds, then someone, somewhere will reward them with a lot of money. It is both the most amusing and most pathetic of notions I witness in this industry.
In almost 30 years of business, working with some of the finest products and services in the world, I have always had to overcome the strangest of objections by the smartest of people, been rejected by people who have had a clear need for the product, had sales cancelled by the spouses of the purchasers, and been spurned for totally ridiculous reasons… take it from me, no one beats a path to your door to make you rich. You have to beat a path to their doors and sell them on why they should hand over their hard-earned money to you for your goods and services.
Concludes Robert: ‘One of the beauties of network marketing is that it gives you the opportunity to face your fears, deal with your fears, overcome your fears, and let the winner in you win. Most people are not successful because they have not been rejected enough. The more I risk being rejected, the better my chances are of being accepted.’
He provides a lovely formula for us to work with:
Rejection and Correction = Education and Acceleration
One more bit of wisdom from his insight is important to note: ‘In network marketing not only do you have to learn to sell you also have to learn to teach others to sell. If you can sell, but cannot teach others to sell, you will not be successful in network marketing.’
I love Robert Kiyosaki’s work… he is spot-on again… he recognises that network marketing is a serious business that will make the person who takes it seriously… seriously wealthy..!
Value #6: Leadership
This is a subject that really gets this reviewer’s juices flowing… and again, Kiyosaki impresses with his astute insight: ‘In the B quadrant, leadership skills are not optional. Money does not go to the best products or service. Money flows to the business with the best leaders and the best management team.’
He shares, in this chapter, a fantastic story that enscapsulates how network marketing provides some of the best business and leadership training grounding in the world:
‘One of the most important values I found in some network marketing business was their life-changing business education. Recently I met a young man who made hundreds of millions of dollars from his computer business. He said to me: “I was just a young computer programmer for years. One day a friend took me to a meeting and I signed up in his network marketing business. For 6 years, all I did was go to meetings, attend events, read books and listen to tapes. Today I have hundreds of tapes and piles of books in my closet from those days. Not only did I eventually become successful in the network marketing business, but also from what I learned. I quit my programming job once the income from my network marketing business provided me enough residual income and I started my own computer business. Three years ago, I took my computer business public and made over 48 million dollars net after tax profit. I could not have done that without the training that I got from that network marketing company. It was the best business and leadership training in the world.’
Robert feels that network marketing builds a different type of leader to that of a traditional competitive business leader… ‘the type of leader that is developed is a leader that influences others by being a great teacher, teaching others to fulfill their life's dreams by teaching others to go for their dreams. Instead of beating the enemy or beating the competition, most network marketing leaders simply inspire and teach others to find the financial bounty this world offers without harm to others.’
Value #7: Not Working For Money
Kiyosaki shares how both he and in his wife were flat broke and homeless at one point in their lives… and then became ‘..financially free in fewer than 10 years simply because we knew the difference between money… and wealth.’
This story is covered fully in his previous publications – 'Rich Dad, Poor Dad’ and 'Rich Dad’s CASHFLOW Quadrant’.
He underlines that ‘..wealth is not measured in money, instead wealth is measured in time.’ His definition being:
‘Wealth is the ability to survive so many number of days forward.’
‘You may want to ask yourself this question: “If I (and if married, your spouse and you) stop working today, how long could I survive financially?” Your answer is your wealth today. The good news is that your wealth can be greatly increased even if you do not make much money today.’
Says Robert: ‘The formula for success in the network marketing is the same formula my rich dad taught me. The formula is as follows: 1. Build a business. 2. Reinvest in the business 3. Invest in real estate. 4. Buy luxuries.’
‘Most people lack the patience, the discipline, and the willingness to delay gratification to follow such a plan.’
‘One of the great values in building a network marketing business and then investing in real estate, those two actions can give you back control over your life… and if you have more control, you have more happiness… and happiness is a very valuable emotion to have in your life.’
Value #8: Living Your Dreams
In this chapter Kiyosaki touches on the things that get in the way of people making money and living their dreams to the full.
He recalls his Rich Dad’s words: ‘Many people don’t have dreams… because dreams cost money.’
What a sad reflection of a society to be so negatively caught up living from hand-to-mouth to be too scared to dream..!
Rich Dad also said: ‘Be aware of people who want to kill your dreams. There is nothing worse than a friend or loved one killing your dreams. There are people who may innocently or not so innocently, say things such as: “You can’t do that”… “That is too risky. Do you know how many people fail?”… “Don’t be silly. Where do you come up with such ideas.”… “If it is such a good idea, why hasn’t someone done it before?”… “Oh I tried that years ago. Let me tell you why it won’t work”.
Writes Robert: ‘I have noticed that people who kill other people’s dreams have given up on their own dreams.’
He explains that dreams are important for the journey they lead people into: ‘..striving, learning, doing your best to develop your personal power.. it is who you become in the process… people who dream small dreams continue to live lives as small people.’
Rich Dad put it another way: ‘Big people have big dreams and small people have small dreams. If you want to change who you are, begin by changing the size of your dream.’
Kiyosaki’s concluding remark in this chapter says it all: ‘If you are a person with big dreams and are a person who would love to support others in achieving their big dreams, then the network marketing business is definitely a business for you. You can start your business part-time at first, and then, as your business grows, you can help other people start their part-time businesses. This is a value worth having – a business and people who help others make their dreams come true.’
Wow… is this good stuff or what..?
Value #9: Marriage And Business
This chapter written by Robert’s wife, Kim Kiyosaki, just has to be read in its entirety to be fully appreciated for its profound message of joy, love, faith and hope.
Here is just some of the copy from Kim: ‘We were broke. We knocked on friend’s doors and asked to stay the night. We slept on the beach. Some nights we slept in an old borrowed beat-up Toyota. My family thought we were crazy.’
So, you think you’ve got it bad, do you..?
You must follow Kim’s story of how they were able to retire financially secure in less than 10 years from their desperate position.
Value #10: The Family Business
This chapter is written by Kiyosaki’s co-author – Sharon L. Lechter – underscoring the value that a successful network marketing business brings to the family… and this what Sharon identifies:
‘Over the last few years, I have had the opportunity to get to know many wonderful and successful people and families in the network marketing industry and I found many qualities they all share:
- All are very family focused.
- All value the extra time their success allows them to spend with their family.
- The children learn the benefits of the network marketing business from experiencing it with their parents.
- They take many more family vacations and family business trips than we ever did.
- The children learn the benefit of passive income and financial education at early ages.
- The children often choose to participate in the business on their own.
- Many set family goals and work together for a common goal.
- Often, one parent will continue working their full time job while the other parent begins building the network marketing business on the side.
- The very nature of the industry promotes family togetherness and unity.
Sharon concludes with the one key element that has had this reviewer blissfully working from home and enjoying family life for well over 20 years: ‘What a gift to be able to build your business WITH your family instead of FOR your family. Rich Dad defines wealth in time not money. The more successful you become, the more time you will have and the more freedom you will have to spend with your family.’
Value #11: How You Can Use The Same Tax Loopholes The Rich Use
A very interesting chapter that needs to be read in it’s entirety as well. Written by Kiyosaki’s financial planner – Diane Kennedy C.P.A. – she makes a pertinent observation: ‘The real tax benefit from having a part-time business comes when you discover your hidden tax benefits.’
And… that’s it… what a great book for people wanting to build a business and retire wealthy. This summary review does not even cover 5% of the value of this fantastic publication by Robert Kiyosaki. The man is pure, simple genius in the manner in which he guides his readers to wealth. Do not short-change yourself and think that you have got anything but a smidgen of the information you should have from this book. Go out and buy yourself a copy right now.
Bibliography:
Kiyosaki, Robert T. ‘Rich Dad's the BUSINESS SCHOOL’. 2nd. Edition. Pub. Momentum Media 2003
Points To Ponder
- 'If you want to be rich, you need to be a business owner and an investor.'
- 'The richest people in the world build networks. Everyone else is trained to look for work.'
- 'Network marketing systems are fairer than previous systems for acquiring wealth.'
- 'I found in network marketing companies an education system designed to draw out the rich person in you.'
- 'In the world of network marketing, you are encouraged to learn by making mistakes, correcting, and getting smarter mentally as well as emotionally.'
- 'After you have built your business, and you have strong cash flow, then you can begin investing in other assets.'
Action Program
Quite simply, you HAVE to go out and buy this book for your personal library and study it.
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Mark Khan
Life Coach / Inter-Networker
Skype ID: ageofseth
Life Coach / Inter-Networker
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