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Foreword

by Robert Kiyosaki

When I left the Marines I had to decide which father’s advice to follow. My real father, my poor dad, wanted me to go back to school and get a good job with a big corporation so I could “climb the corporate ladder” as an employee. My best friend’s father, my rich dad, advised me to “build my own corporate ladder” as an entrepreneur. But he also told me that if I wanted to become an entrepreneur I first had to learn how to sell. So I joined Xerox for the sole purpose of learning to sell. I had decided that I was going to become an entrepreneur.

When I was ready to make the leap from employee to entrepreneur, I had already become the top salesperson for Xerox. I was even more committed to becoming an entrepreneur because I had realized that I did not want to work harder and harder for the next thirty years to make someone else rich. I wanted to work less and less to make more and more to make myself rich and pay less in taxes, just like my rich dad taught me. When I went to tell him the great news, he bluntly asked me one question, “Are you willing to pay the price?”

What kind of question was that? I thought. Of course I was willing to pay the price. I had just become a top salesperson for a major corporation just as he had told me to do. Think about what I could accomplish selling products I myself had created and had great passion for. I was ready, or so I thought.

So I threw myself into creating a nylon-and-Velcro surfer wallet company with two partners. Starting out, it was a great ride. We developed new products that quickly generated millions of dollars worth of orders.

We were millionaires and felt like we had conquered the world. Cash was rolling in and the future looked bright. We were at the top of our game when we went to the Sporting Goods Trade Show in Los Angeles in 1978. We arrived at the show very confident and excited about our prospects. That excitement came to a screeching halt. We were shocked to find that competitor after competitor was flooding the market with our products. I was determined to stop them from ripping off my ideas. The problem was I couldn’t. I had not legally protected my product because I had thought getting a patent was too expensive. My first big business was out of business in less than a year, and we were deeply in debt.

I had wanted immediate success. Who needs to take the time to gain practical experience? Who needs to work tirelessly for months on end to research and write a winning business plan with a competent team of advisors? Dreams and intense determination were going to be my keys to success. I was beginning to better understand rich dad’s question, “Are you willing to pay the price?”

You know the old saying, “If I only knew then what I know now.” When rich dad learned of my company’s fate he simply smiled and said, “Failing to plan is planning to fail.” Then he added, “Failing is part of winning. This means you are one step closer to winning. Keep going.”

Money Follows Great Entrepreneurs

Investors like winners, and that means money follows great entrepreneurs. The better track record you have, the easier it will be to raise money for your business. On the other hand, many good business plans don’t attract money – not because of the deal but because of the people controlling the deal.

There are a lot of people chasing dollars to start a new business or launch a new product. The biggest problem most of them have is that they personally lack experience or they have no team behind them, or they have a team that doesn’t inspire confidence. If the team is weak or lacks experience and a track record, I rarely invest.

My rich dad taught me that true entrepreneurs love building businesses for the challenge of it. They start new companies because they can’t imagine doing anything else. They know that each new business plan has a price and they are willing to pay it, no matter how large – and they have a track record of success to prove it.

Start Small and Build

I recommend that people start small and build, leveraging other people’s training programs and systems to gain the experience, education, team of advisors, and track record of success to move on to “Big Deals” like the ones on our board game CASHFLOW. A great way to start small and build is to pursue opportunities in franchising or network marketing, because these provide great training and proven systems. Starting a part-time business while you are still an employee can help reduce the stress of “needing a paycheck” while you create your business plan.

I Invest First in People!

As a sophisticated investor, I know to invest in people. I look for spirited entrepreneurs who are prepared to succeed and are “willing to pay the price.” They’ve done their homework and have a strong track record of success. The better they are at basics, the more money they will make me with less risk. Building a business may be the riskiest road for most people. But if you can survive and keep improving your skills, your potential for wealth is unlimited. If you avoid risk and play it safe, you may limit what you can earn and find yourself in a dead-end job.

In Writing Winning Business Plans, Rich Dad Advisor Garrett Sutton outlines the specific “how-to” of writing a winning business plan by combining practical advice with “street-smart” rich dad principles. Garrett not only provides a framework to write your plan, he forces you to think differently and encourages you to ask the tough questions that, if answered honestly, can improve the odds for your business. If you are ready to dare to live your dreams, this book is for you.

Remember that the primary goal of a winning business plan is to have investors lined up to give you money. This book will help you write the plan that investors WANT you to read.

Thank you.

Robert Kiyosaki