Sowing Seeds of Future Financial Demise

It is impossible to negotiate effectively when you have few, or no, options. If you are not willing to walk away. Dean Acheson, acclaimed Secretary of State in the Truman Administration, said:

"The single most powerful tool for winning a negotiation is the ability to get up and walk away from the table without a deal."

I've seen smart people all but seal their financial failure by failing to negotiate effectively. By being unwilling to walk away. For example, I've seen smart people want so badly to become business owners that they agree to unreasonable terms (i.e., terms of purchase of a business).

Sure, the buyer gets what he/she really wants - the keys to a business. In their minds, they have "arrived." Unfortunately, they also have sowed the seeds of their future failure.

So ironic.

Maybe more common is the business owner who agrees to unfavorable terms to obtain, or retain, the business of a sizeable customer.

In many of these cases, the business owner knows - consciously or subconsciously - that he/she so badly wants near-term victory that he/she is willing to overlook the inevitable: long-term trouble.

Don't you do it. Be committed to building a strong and sturdy foundation for long-term success, even if it means pain or humility today or delayed gratification.