In business there will always be competition. Sometimes it is direct competition, as with a product or service that is similar. At other times it is indirect, as with one company grabbing the attention of a client away from another company and their products or services are unrelated. Regardless, competition is good for the consumer and it can actually be good for business. As long as you do not let yourself fall into the trap of concentrating on your competition in a negative manner.

Let me tell you a true story to help illustrate the point. I founded a small technical business in 2001. At the time, there were other incumbent businesses. Within the year only one of them remained. I ran my business with pride, provided my clients with excellent service, solid products and respected my sole competitor. We never ran a formal market research project to survey the market share. But, in all reality, we basically split the business in the area in half. Some clients preferred my company with our service and products. Others preferred my competitor’s company with their products and services. This was great for both of our businesses as well as the clients in the area. The clients had a choice as to where they wanted to go. And because both of our establishments provided excellent service and solid products, the clientele was split on preference and there was enough business to go around.

One day, a new competitor started a business a block away from my headquarters. I sent a team member of mine over as sort of a peace ambassador to welcome the new business to the area and extended our hand in assistance should they need it. You see, in the tech arena, when businesses start up, promote and quickly close down, it destroys trust in the populous. The area clientele is afraid that they will subscribe to service that won’t be rendered or that their technical property may be difficult to recover because of businesses going under and leaving no point of contact. There is always room for a competitor. A smart entrepreneur devises a way to work with them for a mutual benefit or at least design procedures so as to not conflict with each other.

The new company turned us away and was unwilling to attempt to work harmoniously. They began telling their perspective clients that their sole intention was to put me out of business. This train of thought is wrong on so many levels. First and foremost, if that company based their business plan on putting me out of business and they succeeded, they would not have a viable business model afterwards. Second, you never speak in a derogatory manner about your competitor, especially to your clients. You can convey the same message without speaking in a derogatory manner. They could have said, “we have the sole intention of being the number one provider of technical service and products in the area.” Instead, their verbiage and attitude made the populous view them as malicious and unprofessional. Subsequently, the business did not even last 6 months.

If that company would have taken a different approach, it is quite possible that they may still be in business. In 2006, I sat down with my main competitor and proposed that we form one company together. January 1, 2007, NorthStar Global, Inc. was born. We immediately owned the entire market share. Since then, two other smaller companies started up. One seems to specialize on consumer clients (individual home users) and the other seems to specialize on government clients (city and county). Our company specializes on serving the SMB (small to medium business) client market. We all live harmoniously with each other. Our business has actually grown since the other two companies started.

Competition is good. If you take away a client’s option to choose and they are forced to use you because you are the only business that provides that service or product in the area, many of them will not be happy. You may provide top notch service and high quality products. But the consumer likes to have the option to choose. Hence the reason that many people do not care for their phone companies.

If you enter a market where there are competitors, either stay out of their way and run your own program as though they do not exist. Or meet them and become familiar with them. Discuss how you can all work together. If TV networks can do it, you can do it. (Hulu was formed in a joint agreement between Fox and NBC). Whatever you do, do not bash your competition. Remember, derogatory words of your competitor will only gain you ill will, not favor.

Typically I write about specific entrepreneurial insights, lessons and other knowledge that I have gained and find valuable enough to share. However, on occasion I take the time to write about a topic or effort that I believe in and can affect us both at home and in the professional world. I would like to take this opportunity to spotlight the efforts of Dan Vega and Jeff Frahm in creating The Slim Down Challenge.

The Slim Down Challenge was created by Dan Vega, entrepreneur and nationally known speaker, and Jeff Frahm, entrepreneur and development agent of Subway, to raise awareness of healthier choices and combat obesity in the family and the workforce.

The Slim Down Challenge is a contest where everyone who loses, wins! With the collaboration of nationally recognized celebrities and health experts, such as Jared Fogle and his Club 245 Charity, The Slim Down Challenge rewards Americans who lose 25 pounds with various prizes worth thousands, as well as encouraging America to do their part in creating a better and healthier future for our children.

With obesity at an all time high, people eating unhealthy and health issues going through the roof…when is enough going to be enough? Many people do not start their path to a healthier life because they do not have proper incentive, adequate support or the needed knowledge and information to initiate the change. Dan Vega and Jeff Frahm recognized this and they developed The Slim Down Challenge. They will be producing nationwide events with all day education about the proper motivation and making healthy choices. The proper tools, knowledge and support can be found at these events and continued support via membership will be offered as well. The real incentive should be living a healthier lifestyle, trimming the fat and being able to enjoy life more. But, Dan and Jeff realize that some people need added incentive and they are offering individual prizes worth thousands of dollars each to every person that loses the required 25 pounds and keeps it off!

To keep up to date and know when The Slim Down Challenge is coming to a city near you, become a fan on their Facebook Fan Page. You can also subscribe to their Twitter feed.

Once again, I would like to commend Dan Vega, Jeff Frahm and The Slim Down Challenge for all of their efforts. I wish every person who takes the challenge success. And to the rest of you, regardless of whether you are in the US or another country, quit eating all of that processed food, get proper sleep and adequate exercise. The longer and healthier you live the more you can contribute and make a difference in the world. And all entrepreneurs have some level of desire to make a difference or you wouldn’t be an entrepreneur. Here is to better choices and a healthier lifestyle.

Most people think about stress as a tensing up of the muscles and mounting of frustration. Such as the picture in your mind that you visualize when someone says, “I’m stressed out” or “You are stressing me out.” Did you know that you could be in a fine mood and still be stressed out? I didn’t until recently and apparently many other entrepreneurs may be suffering from stress without knowing it.

You see, whether your mind or your body is under stress your adrenal glands kick in to help you handle the negative effects of stress. They are responsible for fighting off the negative effects of every kind of emotional, physical and mental stress. Some of the symptoms that your adrenal glands are functioning insufficiently are:

• Fatigue
• Allergic Hypersensitivities
• Muscular Weakness
• Hypotension
• Low Blood Sugar
• Food Cravings (salt and sweets)

According to some recent data, millions of people suffer from one or a combination of adrenal exhaustion due to some mixture of severe stress and unbalanced dietary habits. You can actually eat quite well and still suffer ill side effects from stress. If you are eating the daily recommended doses of your fruits, vegetables, vitamins, minerals, etc., you may still be under nourished. Those doses are based on normal circumstances. Your severe stress is not a normal circumstance, hence your adrenal glands require more tools to help them repair your body back to a homeostasis.

I am a rather positive person who does not let the day to day grind of business get me down. I am an entrepreneur. I love the business aspect of things. It makes me happy when I am involved in sales, marketing, networking and deal making. Setting goals, achieving various milestones and enacting plans are part of my everyday routine. It keeps me competitive and motivated to always try to out do myself. To strive and constantly try to achieve more. I suspect that many of you entrepreneurs are the same way. It is this type of behavior that can cause you mental and physical stress. If you constantly push and push and never take time to relax at all, you are stressing your body and your mind past the point where they are supposed to operate on a continual basis. It is similar to running a car at full throttle all of the time. It can be done. And on a well built car, you may be able to do it for a while. But, you are prematurely wearing out your engine, transmission and other parts of your car.

Did you know that getting insufficient sleep is worse for your body than smoking cigarettes? So, going all of the time at full speed without a proper diet and inadequate sleep means that you are killing yourself. Slow down, eat right and get appropriate amounts of rest and relaxation. I am not the poster child to be the example for this. But, I am trying and I implore you that you do the same. Live a healthier life and live a longer life.

Throughout the years I have heard this phrase, “Money can’t buy you happiness.” In my most recent years I have also encountered a popular phrase to the contrary, “People who say money can’t buy happiness doesn’t have any money.” Which one is right? Which one should we believe in? I believe that they both are part true and part false. I do not believe that either phrase tells the entire story.

First of all, if you take the phrase, “money cannot buy happiness” literally, you will find truth in it. You cannot go to a store or a catalog and buy or order a quantity of happiness. There is no such purchase available. Happiness is non-tangible. You cannot buy happiness anymore than you can buy anger, sadness or excitement.

Next, take the alternate phrase, “people who say money can’t buy happiness doesn’t have any money” literally and you will find truth in it as well. People who are poverty stricken, homeless and hungry are generally in a more saddened state than those who posses money. Ask many poor people how to make their situation better and many of them will recite “if I could only win the lottery” or “get a job” and they believe their situation will change. Both of those involve more money, not less of it.

Do the truths in each phrase disprove their validity? My personal perception is as follows:

Money cannot buy you happiness but it does help remove the barriers that stand in my way.

After all, most people would not revel in the acquisition of money alone. Really, people want money for what it can acquire for them. Money will buy people time with their family,  food for the table, a roof over your head, transportation to and fro and much more. If you could trade pebbles for these things, people would seek after pebbles. It is the result that brings happiness to people. I do not simply refer to the acquisition of things either. Money can purchase the care needed when your tooth aches or when you are ill. Money can buy you time. If you have money for your necessities, you can spend more time on or with the things in your life that matter.

Money does not buy me happiness. I am a happy person with or without money. I am happy with who I am. I am happy with my wonderful family. And I am happy in my faith. Money had nothing to do with any of those. More money would not make me happier with myself, love my family more or have a stronger faith. If a person is unhappy with them self, giving them money will bring a temporary joy but it won’t fix the unhappiness. Haven’t you ever seen a monetarily rich person who was chronically unhappy?

Money does remove barriers that can make my life easier. Money removes stressors that would cause me anger, discomfort or grief. Less anger, discomfort and grief results in making me a happier person. I am happy with myself. But, if I do not have enough money for groceries, my happiness does not feed my family. In this scenario, money removes my barrier to greater happiness which is a well fed family. If you take someone who is truly happy with who they are and give them money, it will only make them happier. Haven’t you seen a poor person who is consistently positive and upbeat?

Back to my original question as to which phrase is right, my answer is both and neither. Money can not literally buy you happiness but it can literally remove the barriers that prevent you from attaining that happiness. Money is simply a barrier removal tool. See it in this way and I promise that you will have a new perspective on money.

I was recently pondering why you hear so many stories about people that were dirt poor right before they became rich monetarily. I’m sure you hear the stories because they make good stories. But some of the greatest people in business were flat broke before they became wealthy.

Dan Vega was driving a car where he had to climb in through the passenger door without A/C or heat. He had no real assets and came from meager beginnings. One day he had enough and now drives a BMW, closes 7 figure deals and consults on business plans that are structured to produce tens of billions of dollars. Bill Bartmann was living with family, a million dollars in debt and filed bankruptcy. He started with a computer on the kitchen table and, in a short time, became a billionaire. Robert Kiyosaki had grown up poor, went through the military and started a business that amassed him millions which reversed and brought him millions in debt. He was living in a car and used his last money to go out to eat (burgers) with Kim (his wife). In short order, he became a multi-millionaire. Donald Trump built a slow and steady real estate empire that reversed on him and left him millions of dollars in debt.  He said that “the vagrant on the street had more money than him.” In less than a year, he turned it all around and is now a billionaire. Bill Gates started off without the ability to pay his employees. He was broke and sold “vision” to him employees. When vision didn’t work he paid them in stock. Now he is the richest man on earth.

Over and over and over you read about people that were broke and/or deep in debt that flipped it all around and became super wealthy. I was discussing this with a business partner of mine (who also happens to be my best friend and wife) as I pondered “must you be poor or deep in debt to become rich?” As the discussion grew I came to a few realizations that I hold to be true.

I believed that each and every one of these individuals had reached a point where they said, “enough is enough!” They had hit rock bottom and just resolved to not allow that to happen to them anymore. They made a conscience decision that they would not be broke anymore and that they would do whatever it took to change their situation. They all found that “gear” that would only allow them to drive forward and not allow for a reverse. They found their drive which pushed them forward when the world was trying to push them backwards. This made them efficient and focused earners which added fuel to their skills to make money.

It is also my personal opinion that you must appreciate what you have and have a healthy respect for money which leads to better money management skills. If you do not appreciate what you have, you take it for granted. If you cannot appreciate and respect the smaller things in life it is impossible to appreciate and respect the bigger things in life. Disrespect shows a lack of care. No respect for money or what you have means that you don’t care about it. If you do not care about it, then it is unimportant and consequently you do not hold onto it. People who have lost it all and bounce back as wealthy business people definitely learned to respect what they had and relegated to appreciate all that they were able to acquire. This made them more efficient and focused managers which added fuel to their skills to keep money.

And that is what it boils down to. Just as it takes one set of skills to make money and another set of skills to keep money. It also takes a trained and intentional frame of mind to make money and a learned mindset to keep it. That is what all of the people above had in common. They all achieved that mental station where they had their backs against the wall and their choice was to fight or flight. When they chose to fight, they also chose to never flight again. They also relegated to never let themselves get to the place where their backs were against that proverbial wall again. That place was o uncomfortable that they would do whatever it took to never return. The loss and then lack of everything in their lives made them driven and appreciative people.

So, do you have to be poor before you become rich? My final answer on this is “no.” However, all of those who became flat broke before they became wealthy, have the ability to do it all over again. If you took every penny and every possession away from each and every individual listed. They would be back on top of the world in less than a year. In order to become rich and stay rich, you need to hone your skills on making money and keeping money. They are equally important skills. You also need to find that gear that only pushes you forward no matter what and appreciate each and everything you have in your life. Hopefully, you can do all of this without becoming poor. But, in order to accomplish this, you must be mindful and find your “why” before life takes everything and your “why” is forced upon you as survival.