The Dream: How I Learned the Risks and Rewards of Entrepreneurship and Made Millions by Gurbaksh Chahal Read Free Book Online Page B

major player. Most of them probably never even looked at my Web site, of course, which was fine with me. All they knew was that Gary Singh delivered, and that’s all they cared about. They had no idea they were dealing with a sixteen-year-old kid because I presented myself as a serious professional. Once again, perception is reality.
That’s not a kid on the other end of the line. It’s a guy who delivers on his promises
.
    Before long, business was booming, and I learned another valuable lesson: People tend to think that in order to start a new business they have to come up with something new and dazzling, but that’s a myth—and it’s often propagated by venture capitalists. Usually the first question those guys ask you is “What makes you different? Tell me why your company is unlike anything that’s out there. If you want our money, you’re going to have to show us what makes you so special.” What they fail to understand, however—and what most people fail to understand—is that a company can be similar to the competition as long as it has the right people and the right leadership, and as long as it is
committed to being better than all the other players
. In starting Click Agents, I knew I was a small fish in a big pond. After all, I didn’t invent performance-based advertising. But as I evolved, I was able to transform my company so that it stoodout from the pack—in terms of performance, delivery, professionalism—and that’s what got me noticed. My attitude was simple: I knew I could do it, and I knew I could do it better, but I also knew that I wasn’t going to be the best coming out of the gate. I would begin by catching up with the other guys, the guys who got there first, and then I’d leave them in the dust. And that’s what I did: I overexecuted the competition.
    So let me repeat: You don’t have to start with a completely new idea. In fact, if you start with something that’s
too
different, people might have doubts about your untested model. It might be a brilliant idea, and your model could very well be ahead of its time, but if the investors can’t relate to it there’s a good chance you’re not going to get funded. My advice is to work with something they understand, then turn it into the model you envisioned in the first place. It’s a mistake to try to reinvent the wheel when you’re coming out of the gate. Start slow and steady, get to parity, then innovate.
    Another thing that really helped is that I had a healthy attitude about money. I didn’t have to get rich overnight. I was in it for the long haul, and I was looking to build relationships that lasted. The size of the account really didn’t matter. What mattered was the way I handled it. If I treated every customer equally, and to the best of my abilities, I knew it would opendoors, and that those doors would lead to other, bigger doors. It was one thing to deliver on your promises and another thing to deliver
more
than you promised; I made it a point to try to do the latter. And I generally managed it. At the end of the day, people were looking for results. That’s what mattered: results. Results were key. Results inspired confidence, and confidence led to lucrative, long-term relationships.
    The lesson here is clear: Never do anything for money—or, at least,
solely
for money. Of course you want to make money, but if that’s the only goal, it will adversely affect all of your decisions. They will be colored by greed. So don’t let money define the beginning of the journey; make money the rainbow that comes at the end.
    This isn’t rocket science. If I walk into a store to purchase something, and the clerk is dull and unhelpful, I see a person who has a long, difficult climb ahead of him. But if I get someone who is energetic—who treats me with respect, who takes the job seriously (even if it’s a supremely uninspiring job)—I see a person who has the potential to go places. It might not happen that day or that