3 Secrets I Learned From My Grandpa About Business Success

My Grandpa, who passed away a few years ago at 96 years old, was quite a character.

Along with being a successful entrepreneur (he started his business, a machine shop in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, over 50 years ago), he also had an incredible sense of humor.  He just loved going against the grain.

I learned so much from him, over the years, and as a tribute to his memory, I’m sharing some of the gems he passed on to me with you, today.

Grandpa understood business. These three tips helped me with my business and my hope is they can also help you build a solid, successful business:

Tip 1. Being lucky is contagious.

Grandpa would often tell us stories about how his successful friends and associates were also lucky in Vegas—and the ones who weren’t successful generally weren’t (and I’m not just talking about Vegas here, either … the same applied to other areas, too).

This sounds a little like the Law of Attraction, right? Grandpa would never call it that—he considered it more of a “core belief,” I think. If your core belief is that you’ll make a lot of money, then you will.  If your core belief is that you’ll struggle financially, then you will.

Grandpa’s core belief was that he would make a lot of money. And he did—via a successful business AND investing (not to mention his Vegas luck, which never really seemed to run out).

Tip 2. Being in a mastermind helps you grow your business.

Again, Grandpa would never have called it a “mastermind.” He would have said “hanging out with his friends and associates,” while drinking, playing cards, talking about business, and trying to one-up each other.

(Ever heard the expression “Who you hang out with determines your results”? ‘Nuff said!)

What’s even more interesting about Grandpa’s “mastermind” is how the members self-selected themselves in and out of the group. If you read between the lines (and after listening to the stories over the years), you’d start to notice how the friends of his who hit hard times financially and weren’t able to recover quit hanging out with the group. But those who were successful stuck around (and new successful entrepreneurs would join in).

Tip 3. Know your strengths and use them to your advantage.

Again, Grandpa would never say it like that, but he lived it.

For example, Grandpa loved to get a deal. Especially in Laughlin and Vegas. So, he would often negotiate with the hotel (to get a free meal or room or whatever), and he would use his age to his advantage.

He would stand there and hem and haw and move as slowly as he possibly could until they gave him what he wanted, just to get him out of their hair. He especially liked doing this when there was a long line behind him.

There’s no question Grandpa was a character. I have all sorts of stories about him, like how he used to go to Bingo games in Vegas and shout out “Bingo,” only to have the Bingo caller tell him, “Sir, there haven’t been enough numbers called yet for you to have Bingo.” Grandpa would say, “Oh,” and then he’d wait for a couple more numbers just to yell out, “Bingo!” again. (I’m surprised he made it out of those Bingo lounges intact.)

(Did I mention his his girlfriend was 20 years younger than him?)

Ah, I will miss him.

But the point here is this—Grandpa never really went for self-development or personal-development stuff, yet he still came to many of the same conclusions those disciplines teach.

Mainly, you need to cultivate the right mindset if you want to be successful.

So take it from Grandpa—and start there.

If you’d like more business success tips, you may also like my Love-Based Money and Mindset book.