Keep Your System Simple

It’s important to not overcomplicate your system of goals and rewards.  In one of my early ventures, I created a chart that had eighteen different targets to hit and a simple “REWARD” written across the top.   My employees were unclear as to what the priorities were and what the reward would be.  I have found it’s best to have three or four target goals to hit, with a very specific reward at the end.  The goals we typically fail to achieve are the ones that are complex and unclear.

Employees should also feel free to devise their own systems (within reason, of course).  My son and his friends came up with their own motivating reward.  They had a Burger King crown they kept in the office.  They were all highly competitive, and they would have contests to see which one could create the most web links on a given day.  The winner then got to wear the crown.  The reward didn’t cost me anything, and it was fun to see these seventeen-year-old boys engage in an all-out push to optimize their web sites, just for the reward of wearing a paper crown. 

One of the benefits of having a team set its own goals and rewards is that the members learn to govern their own behavior.  That way I don’t have to micromanage my teams.  

Avoid the Entitlement Mentality

When I was managing Mitsubishi Electric, I was still young and not completely financially stable myself.  I had an awesome killer team that was also young and hungry.  I began the practice of taking them out to lunch every Friday.  I would pay for their lunch myself because I didn’t feel the company should have that expense.  This was my personal way of showing my appreciation.  A few months into this, I ended up in a tough stretch where I was traveling almost nonstop.  As a result, there were a few Fridays where we didn’t make it to lunch.  Soon, there was muttering and complaining.  Morale dropped.  These employees had become so accustomed to going to lunch each Friday that they felt they were entitled to this perk.  What started as a good intention led to my being the bad guy because I did not consistently provide them with their expected lunch.

I had a similar experience with my crew of teenagers.  I would stock the fridge with food and soda pops so they could grab something to eat after they finished school and before they started to work.  A few times we got so busy I failed to replenish the quickly consumed food items.  Almost immediately, some of the boys started murmuring, “I can’t believe it, there aren’t any burritos or Hot Pockets in the fridge.”  If I have erred, it is because sometimes I have rewarded too quickly or too often.

Allow For Some Flexibility

Situations change, and sometimes you need to change with them.  I’ve lived through shifts in markets where even though my team gave an incredible effort, they fell a bit short of the original goal.  In those situations I still gave the reward so the team didn’t lose steam.  However, be careful not to reward when the reward is not merited.

I employ a group of mothers who work for me from their homes.  They are motivated and hard working.  I told them once that if they had ten consecutive days of making $500 in profit, I would give each of them a large bonus.  These women worked their hearts out.  At the end of the period, I saw that while they were only clearing $300 to $400 on the weekdays, on the weekend their profits were $800 to $1,000.  Even though they did not have the ten consecutive days, on an average they were well over the target I had set.  I told them that in this instance, average really does count for something, and they earned their reward.

What Will Motivate Your People?

Before developing your system of rewards, remember that what motivates one person may not motivate the next.  When I was general manager of About.com’s web services division, I had a highly talented engineer named Earl who worked for me.  He was, without question, one of our brightest engineers, but I continually struggled to figure out how to motivate this guy.  I regularly gave out bonuses, rewards, and incentives that everyone else loved, but Earl did not seem to care.  Nothing I offered seemed to motivate him, and I knew his contributions were affected by his apathy toward my rewards system. 

As we were planning our first Christmas party, I finally figured out what motivated Earl.  During a planning session, he asked if he could play a piano number for the entertainment.  I didn’t think much about it, but told him that would be fine.  The night of the Christmas party, Earl walked in, all decked out in a tuxedo, complete with flowing tails.  When he sat down to play the piano, it was clear he cared deeply about his performance, and he delivered his delightful number with the flare of a concert pianist.  Everyone cheered and clapped for him, and then he stood up and gave an overly exaggerated bow.  From that point forward, I knew what motivated him.  He didn’t care about things or money.  He loved recognition and any opportunity to perform and take a bow.

As the New Year began, I implemented what I dubbed “Lunch and Learn with Earl.”  Twice each month, we’d have a Lunch and Learn where the company would buy lunch and the junior engineers could visit with this master engineer.  They would ask him questions, he would impart his wisdom, and at the end they would all clap and Earl would beam.  The junior engineers learned a great deal from Earl, and Earl loved the recognition.  Productivity went through the roof. 

I had another employee who would always get really excited about the rewards I proposed, but before she achieved her goal, she would simply go out and buy the same thing she was going to be rewarded with.  And while she did good work, I knew she could be doing far more.  This pattern caused me immense frustration, but I finally found out that what she really wanted was for us to pay for her tuition at school and call it a scholarship.  By listening carefully to things she said, I learned that her parents had plenty of money, but they had always drilled into their children how they had gone through college on scholarships.  This young woman had good grades, but because she had no real financial need, she hadn’t been able to get a scholarship.  So, I developed a reward system that provided her with the scholarship she so desperately wanted.  

It’s also important to figure out what the people you are trying to motivate do not want.  I’ve learned that a reward for one person may actually feel like a punishment for another.  A few years ago, we established a reward for the young men who were working for CastleWave to go to Las Vegas and see the Blue Man Group.  We set up a very specific goal and also very specific rewards, which included going to the Stratosphere and riding on a roller coaster set atop of one of the tallest hotels that juts out over the city.  These boys, with one exception, worked extra hard because they loved the idea of this trip.  When they weren’t focused on the work, it was all they talked about. The exception happened to be a different personality type.  He was one of our key engineers who was a little shy and did not like big crowds.  In fact, the thought of going to Las Vegas with a bunch of loud teenagers couldn’t have been less motivating. 

Gratefully, he came to me and let me know that he really did not want to go on this trip. So, I found something else that motivated this engineer, and took the other boys when they reached their goal.  If I had ignored his needs, the outcome might have been tragic.  He was a key member of the team, and he could have subconsciously tried to sabotage the goal for the rest of the group because he did not want to go on the trip.

This morning I had a delightful conversation with an individual named William Hackett Jones. For the last three or four years I watched with great respect for William as he carved himself out of an almost impossible situation.

Several years back I taught a course on Bootstrap Business. William was there. He runs a translation service, and he was actually on the verge of declaring bankruptcy over in Russia. Then he learned about the principles I follow and changed his course. He came to the firm conclusion that indeed Bootstrapping and Zig Zagging was the methodology that he wanted to follow.

So now without any venture capital and without any funding, William has truly subscribed to the Value Equation. It goes something like this:

Value Equation

Intellectual Capital (value of being smart)

+

Relationships Capital (value of those great relationships that he had developed)

+

Not Taking Funding

=

Adding Value that indeed helped build his business

I am thrilled to state that although it took William several years he has grown that business. He’s taken it from being on the very cusp of bankruptcy to thriving business (one that is also projected to be a million-dollar business this year).

William is now preparing to hire his first executive admin, which means he is now at the critical phase of adding resources and processes. It is all very exciting for me.

I must admit it was really fun to listen to the lightness in William’s as we talked, compared to the conversation that we had a year or so ago.

It is really fun to see the fruits of the labors of those around me. It’s always fun and exciting to have a business succeed. But it is even more exciting to see others applying these powerful Zig Zag Principles from the book, as well as those from Bootstrap Business. The success stories that are now starting to flow back to me are absolutely thrilling.

I respect you William. I look for great things. You have a great bright future in front of you. You are definitively making this zig zag turn. Hold strong. We will be watching you carefully. And I will give everyone an update on the success that William has going forward. Keep Zig Zagging in Russia.

A young man named Tanner Greenwood currently works for me. He’s a fine young man—a hard worker with bright eyes and good intent. This week Tanner has had a hard, rotten, no good, very bad, good-for-nothing week.

It seemed like everything was going wrong for him. He had some car problems, and then some more car problems. The car locked up on the freeway. He had a couple personal issues that didn’t go well. He got a severe case of the flu. Just about everything this week seemed not to be going very well for Tanner. On top of all of that he wasn’t able to come into work this week, and I felt real concern for him.

Then today I pulled up in the parking lot just as Tanner arrived. I could tell from his swagger that he was down just a little bit. I also happened to know that Tanner is really a hard-core rock climber. I whimsically thought, “You know Tanner, we’re going to go up to the Outdoor Retailer Show.”

Then without much more thought, I had him jump in the car and we went up to the show. We got in and he just kind of hung out. It was a fairly good day, and then at the end of the day we went into The North Face booth, and low and behold, who was there, but Conrad Anker.

For those of you who don’t know him, he’s a world premier, high altitude, vertical-face climber. Anker is the individual who discovered Mallory’s body on Everest. He’s also the one who climbed the third step without the ladder. He’s the only one in the history of the world who has ever done that. He also just got done doing an epic climb in the Himalayas that was previously deemed impossible.

So there was Conrad. I recognized him, and went up and talked to him for a little bit and I told him about Tanner. He was so generous. He sat down and talked with Tanner, took a picture, and signed a poster. We were able to hear a couple stories, and ask him if he thought Mallory was able to make it up and over that third step on Everest before he died. (He said he didn’t believe so.)

We just talked and had a couple really delightful moments, and then as we were walking out of The North Face booth, up walks a few other very well-known climbers, including Russell Brice, the very well-known coordinator who is very good at coordinating and helping get people up Everest.

Tanner really enjoying the day and as we were driving back to the office, I heard him mumble under his breath—“The week was worth it!”

I’ve thought a lot about that statement.

I think we all get in these situations where there are horrible, miserable, rotten, good for nothing, hard days (and sometimes weeks). Often just when we get to the point of totally despair, we get these little wonderful cherry-on-top-of-the-dessert moments that end up making all of it worthwhile. Thank heavens for those little cherries that make the pain the misery that we have to go through, worth it.

The reality is that most of our business dealings and most of our day-to-day lives are somewhat mundane. There’s a lot of grinding it out.

Some people think being an entrepreneur is all sexy and hot and flashy all the time. The reality is that more often than not, it’s about slogging it out and just punching it out. Many times it’s just about enduring to those occasions where you get to have your picture taken with Conrad Anker.

My hat is off to you Tanner Greenwood. You’re a fine young man and I expect wonderful things for you in the future. I’m happy you had a wonderful day and that you had this experience. 

In the conclusion of Bootstrap Business, I told a story of a young man named Jonathon. I was deeply touched with his story because he had the support of his wife and was willing to make the sacrifice to become an entrepreneur.

This past week, I was delighted when Jonathon called and asked to come visit me. There’s no way I’m going to turn down a visit from Jonathon because he’s taken the enduring path of entrepreneurship. In deed the last three or four years have been difficult for this man.

I talk about how in the early days; my wife and I lived on potatoes and love. Jonathon had been in that phase too, where his wife had to cut out makeup and their family had reduced the budget dramatically in order to keep the entrepreneurial dream alive.

I was so delighted as I looked at a very weary, very battle haggard, very tired Jonathon. It was very evident as he walked into my office that he had arrived at the first phase of Profitability and was well on the path of a successful venture. He knew it, and I knew it!

Jonathon has turned the corner and is now in the Process Phase where he is developing processes and adding resources. He just wanted a few clarifying pointers.

During our meeting he had made the comment to me, “Rich, I didn’t have any idea that it was this hard.” Then we shared one of those moments that I call an “earning your stripes moments”.

I want to say boldly that it is hard, but that anything in life that is worth having is hard. I still stick to the statement that I know of no better way to control your emotional, your personal, and your financial life and control your destiny, than by becoming an entrepreneur.

Of course I will tell you that figuring out what it takes and figuring out those first few models is hard—even if you have and The Zig Zag Principle or even if you’ve read Bootstrap Business. It takes going into the unknown and it will make you weary, but it is worth it.

And it does become easier.

Well, maybe not easier—but you do acclimate to it, and you will learn to get through the sequences more quickly.

I’m proud of you Jonathon, and I Look forward to seeing incredible thing from you in the future. You’ve earned your stripes.

Now, the rest of you…get with it! Go start something you’re passion about. Maybe even have a couple grand-little failures. Just make sure you follow my advice and fail efficiently. And as you work toward your goal, I’d love to hear about it.

Congratulations Jonathon!

What an amazing journey The Zig Zag Principle has been!

I want to so publicly acknowledge and thank all of you that have been involved in this great endeavor. 

There are two types of victory.  There is the private victory and there’s the public victory.  I am so thrilled about the public victory! We hit the bestselling lists!

- We were #3 overall on Amazon the day the book was released. On Amazon we also hit:
- #1 on the Movers and Shakers list
- #1 in Business Management
- #1 in the Motivational category
- #1 in Entrepreneurship
- #1 in Psychology and Counseling
- #1 in the category Life

We are #5 overall on the USA Today list.

And the public victory I am really excited about is that The Zig Zag Principle is the #6 bestselling book in Inc. Magazine. 

These listings stand for great public successes and victories. But the successes that I am the most excited about, is you.  I love the private successes. 

I get to hear the stories from individuals who are wresting control of their life. I love the stories of people take back their life—both emotionally and financially. These are the success stories that I am the most excited about. 

I thank you again so much for your support in The Zig Zag Principle and I hope that you will join me in having a zig zag, joyful, amazing, successful life.  Thanks again so much for supporting me on The Zig Zag Principle. Go forward and have a great prosperous life.

The name Zig Ziglar may sound like one I made up for a Zigzag Principle mascot, but it’s actually the name of a man who took 16 years of zigzagging to steadily reach his goal of becoming a motivational speaker.

Ziglar started out working as a salesman before he even realized he wanted to become a motivational speaker. However, when he heard his first professional speaker give a speech, he was instantly hooked and knew that was what he wanted to do for work. He identified his beacon in the fog.

Ziglar was wise! He knew that he could not quit his job and put his family at risk so he could pursue his dream. He knew it would be unacceptable for him to make it to his beacon in the fog without his family, and he understood that he had some big barriers to overcome before even achieving that goal was possible.

Instead, Ziglar worked for 16 years, zigzagging back and forth to get the experience he needed to reach his goal. He persistently maintained financial profitability by working in sales while gaining skills so he could reach his beacon in the fog. I don’t doubt that he faced many great trials in this long series of zigs and zags.

Yet in the end, it indeed paid off. Now Ziglar is not a solitary speaker trying to keep cash flow steady in his business, but instead he is a very successful motivational speaker with a thriving business. That expanded business may not have been part of his original beacon in the fog; however, he kept moving once he achieved his original goal.

Though I admit I’m a little sad someone else has a claim on such a great zigzagger name, I have to respect the constant determination it must have taken Ziglar to keep steadily building his skills and reputation to become what he is today. It’s an amazing accomplishment to build not just a business and see it become everything you hoped it would, but to build yourself into what you’ve wanted to be for 16 years.

One of the key elements in a business is recognizing trends and then knowing how to ride the wave to help your business succeed. Indeed, many businesses fail because they do not adapt quickly or intelligently enough to the changes in an industry. Zigzagging helps keep you take advantage of trends. It also helps you learn to recognize when to jump on a trend and let it take your business to new and exciting places. The book industry has learned to ride the technology wave and adapt like few others have.

Though books have been around for centuries, the advancement of consumer technology posed both a threat and opportunity to the industry. Instead of insisting that people would prefer to hold physical copies of books, Amazon in particular (one of the largest book retailers in the world) jumped on the wave with the Kindle in 2007. And now Amazon sells more ebooks via the Kindle than it does paperbacks on its original website!

What would have happened if Amazon kept driving to its goal of selling books as defined by a limited view of what makes a book? It would still be fighting an ongoing trend that has impacted the world, especially with the advent of the iPad. Instead, Amazon is not only able to keep selling Kindles, but it sells ebooks through Kindle apps on iPads, iPhones, Androids and other competitors.

This continual drive to ebook profitability has enabled Amazon to try something new with the Kindle Fire. Though I prefer my iPad, the Kindle Fire tries something new for tablets by being both comparatively very inexpensive and focused.

Only time will tell how successful this new zigzag will be for Amazon, but think of how you can use the trends in your industry to boost your own business. Then, before that trend dies away, make sure you find another trend to harness, like the Kindle jumping onto the tablet trend. By making strategic, intelligent zigs and zags, you can dance among the trends to keep your business thriving. 

On the flipside, at this same time I made a couple of horrific hires, in part because we didn’t have our value system clearly in place.  During this time I was literally living off three to four hours of sleep a night and I hired an executive assistant who had a good resume, but what impressed me even more were her outstanding grades and recommendations. I had some concern that her work experience was a bit thin; but I needed someone quickly, so I hired her assuming her grades indicated a solid work ethic. 

One week while my partner, Ron, and I were working a trade show in Florida, I kept trying to call into my office.  I tried at several different times, but I just could not make contact with my new assistant.  I finally called another recent hire who was supposed to be at the office.  She did call me right back and said she was on a short lunch break and would call me back, which she failed to do. After four days of not being able to reach anyone, I called my wife and asked if she would go by the office and find out what was going on.  When she arrived, the front door was locked and all of the lights were off.  She found the main telephone was set to voice message.  She did find an engineer in a back room, where he was working on a project.  When she asked him what was going on, he told her that these two women, who were supposed to be answering my phones and greeting people, had decided that since I was gone that they would “work from home” that week.

Needless to say, I had to terminate both these women when I returned from my business trip.  I made the mistake of hiring two young women who weren’t hungry for the work I offered and who had a safety net at home that would rescue them.  I also made the mistake of not screening them effectively against my organizational values, one of which is that we value hard workers. 

Since that experience I have learned to not be too busy to pay close attention as I add resources.  I’ve also developed a series of questions and skills assessments that I run potential hires through, especially my executive admin, who I believe is my most important hire. 

One of my best hires is a woman named Colette Marx.  She is a mother who, by mutual agreement, is working for me from her home (which is yet another way to conserve resources).  When I hired her, I gave her a copy of my book, Bootstrap Business, and told her she needed to read it and then take a test.  The other people I hired at the same time all went home and skimmed through the book.  But Colette wanted to succeed at this job; so she read the book, and then she went back and read the book again, this time highlighting it and making copious notes. When she brought it into the office to take the test, it was dog-eared, it was tagged, it was well used.  Not surprisingly, Colette scored a perfect score. She’s the only one to have done that.  (She even scored higher than I did, and I wrote the book!)  Colette didn’t come with the strongest resume or the most extensive experience, but she is one of the most committed and engaged employees I have ever had. 

I love this diagram. So succinct. So accurate. This is one artist’s summary of The Zig Zag Principle. To order the 198-page version click here.

Also please join me tonight on Twitter as we inspire each other with stories about success. Log in and share your story. I’d love to hear all about your successes.

Tonight. Wednesday September 28, 7-9 p.m. MT, @richchristianse, #zigzag

I’ve learned a great deal over the years about failing efficiently.  When I use the word fail, I’m not talking about falling off tall buildings, going bankrupt, or losing everything. What I mean by failing efficiently is that if you can’t get to profitability, you accept that you have nowhere left to go.  You have to become financially profitable before you go on to the next step.  I see far too many people say, “Oh, well, if I just add resources and scale, then I’ll get to profitability!”  But they are inevitably wrong.

Failing efficiently means that unless you hit profitability in whatever time you allocated, you are done!  You need to stop.  If you do, you’ve failed efficiently, and life goes on.  If you aren’t willing to stop, you will fail at a level that may have devastating consequences. 

In your personal life, if you keep going into debt without getting to profitability, you will end up in financial ruin.  You cannot keep trying to add resources or buy more and more things unless you have the cash to pay for them. (And while, yes, credit can be easy to get, at some point you’ll max out and no one will loan you more money.)  Become profitable in your life, in whatever pursuit you have undertaken.

Eating our own Cooking

When we took back Froghair, we decided that Curtis would not quit his full-time job to come on board until we had $60,000 in the bank as a buffer.  We felt that a three-month buffer was a safety net we would be comfortable with and that it would take the pressure off in case we had any kind of a hiccup.

To begin with, we were working Froghair as a fifth priority.  I was taking time off to hike in the Himalayas after selling CastleWave, and Curtis had other priorities.  We had a part-time college student named Shane who was helping us.  In August 2010, we sat down and defined our zig number 1.  After looking at our expenses, we determined and wrote down our financial target number, which was that we needed to net $25,000 a month in order to be profitable.  We were both dedicated to putting 65 percent of our resources toward this effort.

Other than Shane, we did not hire any employees until we hit this target, so the three of us were doing everything.  We had a lot of motivation to reach our goal of becoming profitable before January 1, 2011.  We also set a goal to have five new, high-profile brands in place.  On December 1, 2010, we officially hit this goal one month ahead of schedule.  In November we posted $382,600 of sales with $51,195 in net profit.  Now, having hit that target, we celebrated and then turned our skis so we could zag in the other direction.  That next step was to begin hiring and adding additional resources, as I’ll discuss in the next chapter.

Summary

When you are driving to profitability in zig number 1, follow the basic components.  Set a financial target and figure out how long you will allow yourself to hit your target.  And be sure to give yourself permission to be miserable along the way.  This is hard work, and you’ll have to dig down deep to get through it.  But absolutely do not start working on the other steps until you hit this first zig.  If you fail, that’s fine. You failed efficiently.  You can restart.  You should absolutely begin your undertaking with the mindset that you are going to succeed, but if you don’t, get past the pain and move on to the next thing.  But, as your first step, always drive for profitability as your zig number 1.

No matter how great your new business idea is, it will never succeed if you are the only one who thinks it’s a great idea. People have to want what you’re selling for you to have a successful, lasting business. Indeed, one of the best times to start a business is when you can ride a wave of increasing interest in a new, underserved market. This is exactly how Robert Jordan began his career as an entrepreneur with Online Access.

Jordan recognized the wave of interested people clamoring for information about the Internet and how to get online. This was approximately 11 years back when AOL was making a name for itself by mailing millions of free AOL CDs to everyone in the nation. Jordan seized the opportunity to join AOL in the movement to educate people about the Internet and how to use it.

Jordan didn’t waste time; he launched Online Access as a magazine to help people who weren’t online know more about the Internet, and it took off in a huge way. Riding the Internet wave at the beginning enabled Jordan to not only tap into a large market quickly, but it also positioned the magazine as a prime target for advertising. It became profitable almost immediately from the bidding wars among other Internet-focused companies.

Now Jordan has zigzagged away from Online Access and into new a few other companies, but his success all stems from his initial capacity to recognize a need in an oncoming wave and fill that need before anyone else. He has even published a book called How They Did It: Billion Dollar Insights from the Heart of America that compiles handwritten notes and interviews from other wildly successful entrepreneurs.

Naturally, not every business that catches a wave rises to such success. Jordan was lucky and smart enough to catch that particular wave, but there are plenty coming and going every year for entrepreneurs to ride. Pay attention to your area and learn to recognize when something is going to be big and how you can attach yourself or your business to it. And always remember to zig zag in these waves so you don’t crash your business.

Our next Zig Zagger on team Zig Zag that’s heading down to St. George, Utah, later this week is Dave Heywood. His Favorite part of triathlon is…..the party afterward! Actually, he ultimately loves the swim and doing the swimming training. He says it’s very relaxing even though he’s working hard. Running is definitely the hardest part of the race for Dave. It comes at the end when you’re always so tired yet it’s also the most satisfying.

This tough athlete already participated in a Half Ironman Race in Indiana, a couple of months ago. The race included a 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike ride and running for 13.1 miles. He says, “The last 2 miles are pretty rough. I could see the end goal when I got closer to the finish line. It was satisfying accomplishing that goal and cross that line.”

His entrepreneurial dreams all started when he took a course in college while getting his master’s degree in International Management. While there he took a seminar on entrepreneurship and ever since then he has looked for opportunities. He’s had many different ventures to zig zag his way to success. He used to have an import company that imported leather goods from South America. Then he was an insurance agent for a while where he worked as an independent contractor, building up his own business. Another fun job that Dave has done for several companies, is when he heads up the sales training for entrepreneurs in multi-level-marketing companies. He helps the teams understand what they have to do to create sales for their business to grow and be successful.

Dave not only applies the Zig Zag Principle to his business, but he bootstraps each venture as well (he thinks it is more fun that way)! His latest is such an innovative idea that it should be very successful. MZKWRX.COM is a platform that gives independent artists and bands the opportunity to partner with their fans to create a unique channel to distribute their music and increase their fan base. MZKWRX.COM leverages the power of social networking, text messaging, and great music to help artists reach new fans worldwide.

Right now MZKWRX is in the 1st stage of Zig Zag, which is driving to profitability. Dave would tell other entrepreneurs in this same phase the best way to get through this first drive is, “It’s crucial to stay focused. Even though you may zig zag along the way, keep a focus on that end goal. Knowing what you are going to have to do to get there and knowing that you‘re going have to go left and go right. But still don’t take your eye off of that end goal”

Most entrepreneurs think it requires a bunch of money to get your idea to market, but Dave has figured out the value equation and has applied it to his business to help him bootstrap it. It is: 

Dave loves spending time with his wife and 5 children. One thing he appreciates about being an entrepreneur is that he gets to see more of his family and he likes that, especially when he works from home.

Dave has two favorite quotes, the first he has printed out and sitting on the wall next to him. It’s by a triathlon coach from down in Australia, Jeff Smith. “It’s better to be the driver than to be the passenger.” When you’re working for someone else you are the passenger and when you work for yourself you are the driver. He printed it off to remind himself daily as he builds his business that he’s the driver. It keeps him motivated.

The 2nd is from his dad. It doesn’t make much sense, but think about it when you finish a job, “It looks a lot more like it does now than it did before.” It means to Dave that hopefully now the job looks better. One way or another, a change has taken place. Think about it!

We’d like to wish Dave a fantastic race and best of luck to him and www.mzkwrx.com (the site will be up shortly). In the meantime, find them on Facebook at www.facebook.com/mzkwrx.