One power that we have at our disposal that we often neglect to use is the power of leverage. I know what your next question is, “Dayo what ...
One power that we have at our disposal that we often neglect to use is the power of leverage. I know what your next question is, “Dayo what are you talking about and what do you mean by leverage”. Well, Leverage is the ability to use systems or other people’s money, expertise, time, ideas or networks to achieve more, with less effort. My question to you is, “Do you use the power of leverage?” Congratulations if you do, but if you don’t, why not start now.
Before my good friend, reggae star, chef and entrepreneur Levi Roots got his break on the BBC Two’ Dragons’ Den. he was working on his reggae reggae sauce alone and produced 165 bottles day. After receiving £50,000 in investment and two Dragons to work with, he opened a factory and now produces 150,000 bottles a day.
J. Paul Getty, the billionaire oil magnate once said: "I would rather earn one percent from the efforts of 100 people than 100 percent of my own efforts." Now that’s an example of leverage working at its best which is using other people’s efforts.
There are five key forms of leverage that gives you maximum success namely; Leverage through People (friends, networks, mastermind, mentors), Leverage through Systems (technology), Leverage through Marketing (Internet, Newsletters, TV, Radio etc); Leverage through Finance (other people’s money) and Leverage through Customers (e.g. a customer database).
Now here’s how one man became successful when he used the five forms of leverage. Phillip Green the UK retailer billionaire paid himself a record £1.2bn on October 20th 2005 thereby awarding himself the biggest pay cheque in British corporate history. Where do you think that money came from? Hold on, I’ll explain.
The huge dividend which amounted to £1.3bn came from the Arcadia fashion business, which has 2,000 outlets including high street names like Top Shop, Wallis and Burton. Mr Green owns 92% of the business and therefore received £1.17bn. The balance went to the banking group HBOS, which bankrolled his purchase of the business for £850m in 2002 and owns 8% of the shares. Stay with me!
Here’s where leverage comes in. He borrowed £850m from HSBC spread over 7 years. In the second year of the business, he made a profit of £1.3billion. He used the bank loan (leverage - OPM) to make £450million and this was after paying back the initial £850m in the second year. Do you know what the interesting side of this story is? Mr Green's £1.2bn was not taxed. It was paid to his wife, Tina, who lives in Monaco.
Now here’s how leverage has worked for me. When I self published my book, 4 Indispensable Strategy for Success, I strategically partnered with Amazon.co.uk, Books etc and Waterstone to distribute the book so I didn’t have to build that capability inside DAYOOLOMU.COM. The result was that the book became a best seller and I attended a book signing ceremony by Books etc in Croydon, Surrey.
To kick started my public speaking career; I joined a mastermind alliance group where I was encouraged, given feedback and tips on how to be an outstanding speaker. For those of you who are not familiar with mastermind (see my article on Mastermind Alliance at www.dayoolomu.com). The result – less than 5 years later I was named as one of the five most popular Black Speakers in the UK. Without this group it could have taken me years to achieve this feat.
We can all access some sort of technology to give us leverage. I use by Blackberry as a means of leverage. With this ‘toy’ I can check my emails and surf the Internet while I’m on the road. How about the power of networks as a leverage, it’s not what you know but who you know, who they know and who knows you that matters. Have you heard of the Six Degrees of Separation theory; it states that only six other people separate everybody on this planet.
Almost all successful individuals understand the power of leverage. Success in any endeavour is accelerated by using leverage. You may become successful without using leverage but, if you aren’t using it that means you are willing to compromise the level of success, speed, and time necessary to get to each level.
I want to challenge you to double your expectations around your objectives in life — by the end of this week ask yourself how you can use systems or other people’s money, expertise, time, ideas or networks to achieve more things in life with less effort. Remember, two heads are better than one, so use the power of leverage to rise to the top faster. You got the Power!
"Dayo Olomu is a leading UK-based motivational coach, personal development trainer and author of best selling “4 Indispensable Strategies for Success” who is passionate about Helping Ordinary People do Extra-ordinary things. His core belief is that we are all endowed with seeds of greatness and his mission is to inspire and empower individuals and organisations to higher levels of achievement and peak performance. Visit his website at www.dayoolomu.com or send an e-mail to info@dayoolomu.com"
Before my good friend, reggae star, chef and entrepreneur Levi Roots got his break on the BBC Two’ Dragons’ Den. he was working on his reggae reggae sauce alone and produced 165 bottles day. After receiving £50,000 in investment and two Dragons to work with, he opened a factory and now produces 150,000 bottles a day.
J. Paul Getty, the billionaire oil magnate once said: "I would rather earn one percent from the efforts of 100 people than 100 percent of my own efforts." Now that’s an example of leverage working at its best which is using other people’s efforts.
There are five key forms of leverage that gives you maximum success namely; Leverage through People (friends, networks, mastermind, mentors), Leverage through Systems (technology), Leverage through Marketing (Internet, Newsletters, TV, Radio etc); Leverage through Finance (other people’s money) and Leverage through Customers (e.g. a customer database).
Now here’s how one man became successful when he used the five forms of leverage. Phillip Green the UK retailer billionaire paid himself a record £1.2bn on October 20th 2005 thereby awarding himself the biggest pay cheque in British corporate history. Where do you think that money came from? Hold on, I’ll explain.
The huge dividend which amounted to £1.3bn came from the Arcadia fashion business, which has 2,000 outlets including high street names like Top Shop, Wallis and Burton. Mr Green owns 92% of the business and therefore received £1.17bn. The balance went to the banking group HBOS, which bankrolled his purchase of the business for £850m in 2002 and owns 8% of the shares. Stay with me!
Here’s where leverage comes in. He borrowed £850m from HSBC spread over 7 years. In the second year of the business, he made a profit of £1.3billion. He used the bank loan (leverage - OPM) to make £450million and this was after paying back the initial £850m in the second year. Do you know what the interesting side of this story is? Mr Green's £1.2bn was not taxed. It was paid to his wife, Tina, who lives in Monaco.
Now here’s how leverage has worked for me. When I self published my book, 4 Indispensable Strategy for Success, I strategically partnered with Amazon.co.uk, Books etc and Waterstone to distribute the book so I didn’t have to build that capability inside DAYOOLOMU.COM. The result was that the book became a best seller and I attended a book signing ceremony by Books etc in Croydon, Surrey.
To kick started my public speaking career; I joined a mastermind alliance group where I was encouraged, given feedback and tips on how to be an outstanding speaker. For those of you who are not familiar with mastermind (see my article on Mastermind Alliance at www.dayoolomu.com). The result – less than 5 years later I was named as one of the five most popular Black Speakers in the UK. Without this group it could have taken me years to achieve this feat.
We can all access some sort of technology to give us leverage. I use by Blackberry as a means of leverage. With this ‘toy’ I can check my emails and surf the Internet while I’m on the road. How about the power of networks as a leverage, it’s not what you know but who you know, who they know and who knows you that matters. Have you heard of the Six Degrees of Separation theory; it states that only six other people separate everybody on this planet.
Almost all successful individuals understand the power of leverage. Success in any endeavour is accelerated by using leverage. You may become successful without using leverage but, if you aren’t using it that means you are willing to compromise the level of success, speed, and time necessary to get to each level.
I want to challenge you to double your expectations around your objectives in life — by the end of this week ask yourself how you can use systems or other people’s money, expertise, time, ideas or networks to achieve more things in life with less effort. Remember, two heads are better than one, so use the power of leverage to rise to the top faster. You got the Power!
"Dayo Olomu is a leading UK-based motivational coach, personal development trainer and author of best selling “4 Indispensable Strategies for Success” who is passionate about Helping Ordinary People do Extra-ordinary things. His core belief is that we are all endowed with seeds of greatness and his mission is to inspire and empower individuals and organisations to higher levels of achievement and peak performance. Visit his website at www.dayoolomu.com or send an e-mail to info@dayoolomu.com"
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