Brian Tracy, one of the world’s leading business success coaches and professional speakers, has inspired many through his countless lectures and bestselling books. In these, he provides guidance on personal development, achieving goals and running a successful business.
Talking to Daily News Egypt ahead of two functions in which he features in May, he shares some of the basic tips necessary for any business’ success. These include innovation, and the 80/20 rule, confirming that these principles are standard in any country, at any time.
Tracy vows that his Total Business Mastery programme, which he describes as a two-day MBA, will be an eye opener to attendees on how to swiftly and easily transform their humble-sale businesses into raving ones. His second event in Cairo, the Future Leaders talk at the American University in Cairo (AUC), will help guide fresh graduates to achieving their goals. Promising to bring the latest of his knowledge and the most updated tips to Cairo, Tracy speaks of his upcoming events in Egypt.
To those who don’t know you, could you tell us about yourself?
I have spoken to more than 1,000 large companies in 70 countries, including companies like IBM, Ford, PepsiCola and others, and to more than 10,000 small and medium-sized companies. I have written more than 70 books which have sold more than 10 million copies worldwide. I have taught in almost a 1,000 programmes for business and personal success. I have been writing books for 25 years, and spoken to 5 million people. I’ve been on more than 5,000 television, radio or newspaper interviews. So the seminars I’ll be bringing to Cairo will be the very best and most advanced material in the business and personal success in the world today.
For two days starting 2 May, you will be conducting the Total Business Mastery programme. Does it target young entrepreneurs, or well-established businessmen? Who will benefit the most from such a course?
It’s very much like Mathematics: 2 plus 2 equals 4, whether in Cairo, Berlin or New York. What I teach is the 10 most important principles for business success. So, in terms of those who find them helpful: some of the world’s biggest companies come to my seminars. Many managers and executives of large companies take this programme, because it gives them a series of ideas, most of them have never heard before. They’re ideas that are being practiced by the most successful companies in the world, in every industry.
In the video promoting the programme, you say that the Total Business Mastery is the most the important two days in anyone’s career. Why is that? What are the most relevant topics you offer the attendees?
The key to success today is to offer the right product, to the right customer at the right time. And while the number one reason to business success is high sales, the number one reason to business failure is low sales. So, what we show is how to design your product and your business so that you are satisfying more customers, at a higher level, and even at a higher price, than any of your competitors.
During the Mastery, we walk through each part of the business project, which are leadership, business planning, product developing, customer development, financial numbers, marketing programmes, customer service programmes, and sales programmes. They’re essential ideas, and if you’re missing, then you risk your business to fail. But if they’re all working together like a machine, like a watch, then your business will be very profitable.
We have given this course all around the world, for years, and we always get 100% satisfaction. People love this programme, because we teach them practical steps they can do tomorrow to improve their business. Many companies have turned around completely in 30 days, after the executives go to this programme, because they learn things which they’ve never learned before: the ideas used by the top companies in the world, and they’re very easy to use.
What are the key mistakes which entrepreneurs commit, or more common traps which they fall into?
The number one is mistake is that they’re selling a product which people won’t work, or at least won’t want much of. So, they advertise, promote and sell something which people don’t really care for. The second mistake they make is that each company has to be excellent at an area that is important to customers, and it has to be recognised as the market leader in at least area.
I’ll give you a very simple example: 80% of the time, people go to 20% of the restaurants they’ve heard of. And 80% of the time, people keep ordering the same dish, the same food. In other words, this restaurant has a reputation for excellence in a specific dish, or food, and you go to that restaurant for that dish. Every company has to be like that. Each company has to have a product or service that everyone recognises is the best in this business. If you don’t have that, then you have to lower your prices. So, the idea in Egypt, and worldwide, is price reduction. But the thing is if you have a quality product, like an Apple iPhone, then you can raise the price and you sell 15 million of that product. Why? Because they concentrate on satisfying their customers at a higher level than there cheaper competitive. So they sell more, and charge more. This represents some of the things we teach. Most people think, we have to lower our prices, but that’s not correct: You have to increase your quality. We teach this process, and it’s a thinking process. At the end of it, people know exactly what to do, to take their business to success.
Which countries have you lectured in, in the Middle East?
I’ve spoken in Turkey, Egypt, Jordan, Qatar, Bahrain, the UAE and Saudi Arabia.
Egypt, as you know, is going through a transitional economic phase quite different from any of these countries. How is the two-day course going to answer questions of those running, or starting up, a business?
I do a lot of research, and continue to do research on the Egyptian economy, so I will tailor, and design my remarks so it takes into consideration the problems which Egypt has today, and I will show that in India, it may work this way, in Poland it may work another way, and in Egypt in a third way, but the basic principles are the same. There is a famous idea, which is to go back to basics, and to become brilliant on the basics. What happens with companies is that they stray from that. What they need to do in Egypt, with its struggling economy, is return to the basics, which is to have an excellent product, an excellent marketing process, an excellent sales process, an excellent customer services process, and a careful plan. This is because you don’t have much room for mistakes, when you have a turbulent economy. So what we do is to help people rethink about every part of their business, as if they were starting all over again today. What would they do differently? Then, we walk them through ten critical ways of thinking, in business success. It’s an amazing process. Since we started giving this programme several years ago, we were amazed at the reaction we got from business people all over the world.
When did you start giving this programme?
I started giving a programme on business success 32 years ago, and then over the years I continued to upgrade it and update it as the economy changed. I started giving this programme before there were computers or the internet, and so it has been changed, and evolved. This programme is very modern, as I continue to research. I will be bringing the best of these ideas and research to Cairo.
What inspired you to give this programme?
It’s very simple: it’s the 80:20 rule, which is that 20% of the businesses get 80% of the profit, and 80% of businesses earn 20% or less; 80% of businesses are profitable, and 20% struggle. So, I began, just like a doctor studying a disease, why is it that some businesses are more profitable than others? We found that the answers are very obvious and straight forward, and when people began to apply these ideas and answers, they themselves became profitable.
Throughout the course of your experience, so much about the economic environment has changed, including technology, people’s demands etc. Did the principles change as well, or have they been pretty much the same?
Many, many things have changed, one of them is the importance of innovation, and continuous improvement. The natural attitude of people is to become comfortable doing what they are now doing. Today, with rapid change, incredible competition and new technology, there must be a continuous improving of work quality. Products, systems, methods and everything else will have to constantly improve, because of you don’t do it, your competition will do it. These principles are the same worldwide.
How do you see business opportunities in Egypt now? What would encourage a young individual to start a business in Egypt today?
There are all these opportunities, but they’re different opportunities from before. It’s almost like the seasons of the year. Different seasons bring different opportunities, different market demands, changes in technology. What people want this year is not what people want next year, so you have to be continually moving. It’s like when you’re surfing, and you need to stay ahead of the wave of change.
How much of the Total Business Mastery content in line with MBA courses?
I call this programme a two-day MBA. I have taken MBA from a top university, and 95% of university education is not practical, it’s theoretical. It’s numbers, science, statistics and theories. What I teach is based on forty years of business experience and working with thousands of business, so it’s very practical. You can learn it and apply it to get immediate results. That is the difference between the two programmes.
You will also be present at the “Future Leaders” talk on 4 May at the American University of Cairo. Tell us more about that?
What we will be teaching there is the importance of being very clear about your goals, and very clear about the process of achieving those goals. Only 3% of adults have goals, and the other 97% have wishes and hopes. The setting of goals is like an architect designing a building. It’s a crucial process and is life changing.
