The Value of A Buck…A Hundred Pennies

What exactly is the ‘value of a buck’? Let’s see… the buck would be 100 pennies, right? Or maybe not. I’m sure we could inspire a fairly in-depth conversation around this topic but the truth is; the value of a buck is whatever we assign to it. Let us examine the ‘values’ side for a minute and then I want to share a story about a very inspiring business building man I met recently. Here is a short list of values that I hear from people; I encourage you to add your own: HONESTY * INTEGRITY * COURAGE * CLEVE ESS * INTELLIGENCE * LOVE * EDUCATION * SENSITIVITY * TALENT * RELATIONSHIPS * RECOGNITION * WEALTH * HEALTH * SPIRITUALITY * FREEDOM * IDEAS / INNOVATIONS * PURPOSE / PASSION * MONEY * SECURITY * STATUS * THRIFT / SAVINGS * CREATIVITY * HEART AND SOUL * If you can imagine with me for a moment that how you value money is how you value everything, would you consider changing the way you value certain things? What are your values with regards to money? How do your money values create powerful intentions around the currency of money in your life? Let’s take a look at Mike Galgon’s values and how they set the stage for transitioning from homeless to a business building billionaire in 7 years. And let’s examine the story with an eye toward how your values can create the same powerful transition for you. Mike Galgon’s Story I had the good fortune recently to meet the highly successful entrepreneur Mike Galgon while he was speaking at an event I was attending. Mike shared the history of how he had tried and failed 3 times over a 7 year period to create a business around selling ad space on the internet. He began this endeavor in 1997. Mike literally lived in his van for 6 months when he was just beginning. Although he clearly saw the potential returns possible for people to advertise online, the mainstream public just did not understand the value of it yet. His idea was ahead of its time In between his efforts to launch an online advertising company he and his partners learned (and created the service for) what businesses did want to invest their advertising dollars in. They actually built several other small businesses this way, but all the while he never lost site of the potential for moving his customers over to online advertising. Finally, as a result to his strong belief in his visions, the online advertising niche he envisioned began to take off in 2004. The market was finally ready as businesses began to understand the value of online advertising. Flash forward to 2007; Microsoft also sees the value of online advertising and in an attempt to keep up with Google they bought Mike’s company aQuantive for $6 Billion dollars! That is BILLION with a ‘B’! Mike’s business building account of how he and his partners created their businesses was inspirational on many levels. The one key component that impressed me the most was the company’s allegiance to their values – their businesses’ heart and soul. They were team players and honored self-expression, creativity, integrity and the VALUE of what they were creating for their customers. He shared that at one time he had to make a very difficult decision to fire his top salesperson. This person was single handedly bringing in as much business as the rest of the sales force combined! If money were his primary value, Mike would keep that salesperson. Here is where we come back to the ‘Value of a Buck’, or several thousand bucks as in this instance. The leading sales person was basically a jerk to other people in the company and chose not to be a team player. Mike and his partners had to decide whether or not the profits this sales person generated were worth compromising their team values and the integrity of everything they had created. The short term answer of letting this person go was terrifying – it meant cutting their income in half. But the long term prospects of tolerating the attitude and behavior of someone only looking out for themselves was demoralizing to everyone. Did they value money over morale? In the end, the partners discovered that they believed that valuing integrity and morale would provide even more money over time. The results were that when they fired that sales person, the rest of the team felt supported and valued and became a much more productive and cohesive group. The rest of the story, of course, is that everyone experienced incredible returns as a result of honoring their instincts and values. One other valuable business building nugget that Mike shared with us was how he has always worked with a mentor (or several) during the evolution of his businesses. He was able to share his ideas with third party experts who could objectively offer feedback, advice, resources or training on whatever phase of the business he may have been struggling with. Mike’s words were, “A mentor / coach helps to hold the balance card for you.” How true! Creating a business (especially on your own) is a tremendous balancing act. There are so many moving parts. Sometimes we just need someone to help us understand which part needs to move first in order for the others to fall into place. Here is a very powerful question to ask yourself … What are you tolerating that is preventing you from honoring your values and achieving the next level in your business? (Relationship? Habit? Belief? Clutter? Excuse? – be specific) Ex: Mike and his partners were tolerating the negative energy and attitude of a team player that compromised their business values. They feared that letting him go would cause a devastating financial blow to their company. Who is helping you to balance your $6 Billion Dollar idea? A coach / mentor can help you balance your business to the point where you begin to get where you want to sooner rather than later. Do you value moving ahead quickly? Or do you value losing money trying to do it all yourself? How do you value a buck?