22 Lessons from The Chapman Family

Today’s a big day – full of lessons and dreams for you and me.

Because today – a couple of my friends are retiring from a successful company. They’re in their 50s. They’re in great health. They’re leaving the company vastly larger than when they started.

Where can you find the American Dream?

Today, you can find it in Columbia, Missouri.

Given that we had no family here, Ron and Beth Chapman really made us part of theirs.

They were one of a couple clients who made the leap with me when I left the million-dollar company I built for someone else and went out on my own.

Now, both original clients have retired successfully in their 50s. Wow.

How? Best I can tell, here are the lessons we can learn from Ron and Beth Chapman:

1. Work hard.
2. Treat your employees like your best customers.
3. Pay better than what’s average in your line of work.
4. Expect more than what’s average from your employees.
5. Drug test your employees.
6. Do background checks.
7. Guarantee your work and your word.
8. Only plan to advertise as long as you plan to be in business.
9. Give back: Do a boatload of charity work.
10. Charity means more than writing checks. It means doing deeds.
11. Be humble.
12. Always be positive.
13. Have a family meeting about business once a week.
14. Have a family meeting about any expense over $1000.
15. Listen.
16. Be patient.
17. Do the right thing – even when it hurts.
18. Especially when it hurts.
19. Exercise. A healthy body means a healthy mind.
20. Have a strong spiritual life.
21. Have an absurdly strong, close-knit family.
22. Include your marketing guy and his family among your close-knit family even when you don’t have to.

Got all that? Want to retire in your 50s to go see the world and spend weekends at the lake with your grandchildren?

There are your secrets to success.

Thanks, Ron and Beth.

Love,

Us