Donald Trump’s Ideas and Strategies for Making Money and Success

Donald Trump’s Ideas and Strategies for Making Money and Success

Following the adage which says, if you want to fly you will need to make friends with high flying birds like the eagle, rather than with chicken or other birds, which do not have the capacity to fly high, you therefore must get closer to big time money makers and successful entrepreneurs to discover and learn from their ideas and strategies for making money and success if that is what you desire.

Today, I want to share with you the ideas and money making strategies of Donald Trump, undoubtedly one of the world’s must successful entrepreneurs, who did not only survive a serious financial crisis that threatened his business in 1993, but who, like the fighter that he is bounced back, and today his money making record is in the billions of dollar category.

How has he been able to get this far? What did he do or is doing differently from other people that have, and is still making him so much money? Simply put, what are his success factor?

Donald Trump knows his business inside out

Born June 14, 1946 to an Estate Developer father, Fred Trump, Donald Trump was well prepared and guided from his childhood, to develop the knowledge and the skills needed for success in the estate development business – he has always referred to his father as his mentor and great influencer of his life.

Professionally, his wealth of knowledge, skill and experience in the estate development business was boosted when he worked for five years with his father’s company immediately after he finished from Wharton business School.

This huge knowledge gave him great confidence to go after big deals even in the early years of his business and saw him achieving great success and wealth. He understands perfectly how to deal with City officials, negotiate tax reduction for his properties, acquire options, etc. This allowed him to buy some properties, such as 40 Wall Street with money from tax refunds in 1993; two properties from Penn Central Railroad with no money down in 1974.

Donald Trump is a fighter – a goal getter

Donald Trump’s huge successes in his business dealings, evident by the enormous amount of money he has piled up for himself is made possible in no small way by his fighting spirit. When he believes in an idea, that it would work and make him money, he would pursue it with all his might. He would never allow anything to stop him from reaching his goal.

In 1973, when his estate development business was still in infancy stage, Donald Trump believed acquiring and developing certain properties in the West Side of Manhattan owned by Penn Central Railroad, which had filed for bankruptcy, would be a highly profitable idea.

But he didn’t know anybody in Manhattan. At the time very few permits were granted for new buildings and people didn’t see how any could go to Donald Trump who was just starting up in business. Also, another problem that confronted him was that at the time both the city and property developers were having a difficult time, and so no body would want to put their money down to partner with him on the project.

In spite of these odds stacked against him, but propelled by the strong belief that the properties would translate to great amount of money and wealth in future, Donald Trump went ahead doggedly to achieve his goal. According to him in his book Think Big and Kick Ass, “I met with the man in charge of selling off the assets of the railroad. I sold him on the deal. I worked on getting zoning approvals, fought the community board, and went before the City Planning Commission and the Board of Estimate.”

And in July 1974, without putting down any money, Donald Trump got options to buy West 59th Street to West 72nd Street and West 34th Street to West 39th Street – two different properties – from Penn Central Railroad.

Donald Trump combines his knowledge with passion

Donald Trump’s knowledge and passion for property development combined together is a formidable force that can be traced to his immense success and the tons of money he has made in the business. While his knowledge helps him to identify and evaluate great business ideas and opportunities, his passion enables him to go all out to getting what he wants, even when people tell him it is not possible.

Donald Trump thinks big

Donald Trump once said: “If you are thinking already, you might as well think Big. It’s your choice. No matter what your circumstances, nobody can stop you from thinking Big.” This thinking pattern has shaped his drive for going after big money deals and coming out successful. It has given him the mind set not to know of such thing as impossibility, and to strive for excellence in whatever he does.

His thinking big and “kicking ass” formula for success and money making that he is widely reputed for has ensured he owned some of the biggest and exclusive properties in Manhattan, which include Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort, Trump Marina Hotel and Casino, Trump Tower and Trump International Hotel.

Donald Trump analyzes business ideas by asking: “How could I lose?”

Undoubtedly, Donald Trumps enormous success in property development can be attributed to his ability to recognize a profitable idea where others could not. And this is as a result of the peculiar way he analyses and evaluates business ideas.

By asking himself, “How could I lose”, he would consider different possible ways the property can be put to use, so that he could choose from the several alternatives the one that will make the most money and be profitable, while other estate developers will only consider the traditional ways of utilizing the property, which might not be making good money at the time.

This was how he made lots of money, and still counting, from 40 Wall Street property, which he bought in 1993 for $1 million. When the building was available, Donald Trump was having some financial difficulties and couldn’t raise the money himself. He approached some people to support him with their money and take up a 50/50 partnership with him on the deal.

But they all couldn’t see how the property could make money. They even advised him to drop the idea or he may lose his money. On the contrary, the answer he got when he asked his usual question: “How could I lose” told him he would make money instead, and he chose to go for it.

“In spite of what everybody said, I was really sold on 40 Wall Street. It was a seventy two-storey building, a total of 1.3million square feet. I could break even if I only rented out the retail store on Wall Street. How could I lose,” revealed Donald Trump in Think Big and Kick Ass.

Donald Trump sometime ago rejected a $535million offer for that same $1million property!

Donald Trump relies on his instincts

A pivotal aspect of Donald Trump’s decision making process is the consideration of his instincts. After using logic, reason, past history and experience to evaluate a business idea for money making potential, he then ultimately goes ahead if his instincts give a green light, irrespective of other people’s opposing idea.

This has helped him right from the early years of his business in achieving great successes and making tremendous amount of money.

From his decision to come to Manhattan in the first place to find properties to develop, buy Penn Central Properties, the 40 Wall Street idea, going ahead to do the Apprentice TV reality show even when his agent asked him not to, convinced it will neither succeed nor make money, Donald Trump has always been guided by his instincts, and today he has billions of cash to show for it.

And he has this advice for entrepreneurs to heed if they want to make money from their ideas, “If you have a good feeling about something, go ahead with it. If the feeling is bad, proceed with caution. Your instincts are there to guide you. Use them.”

Donald Trump goes against the tide

According to Donald Trump, “You will have your biggest successes when you go against the tide.” This strategy, known only to few entrepreneurs has been one of Donald Trump’s biggest money making secrets. He deliberately picks on business ideas that are not in line with tradition or that go against popular beliefs, so long he is satisfied with himself that the ideas would work and generate money. And while other people, including competitors and associates are still analyzing how wrong his idea is, the millions would have started rolling in.

This was exactly the case with the Apprentice TV reality show. People gave a number of reasons why the idea would not work or make money. His Agent asked him to call it off because no business show ever made it on prime time. But Donald Trump had strong conviction it would work and tons of money would be made from it and went ahead to do the show. In a couple of months later, the Apprentice became number one TV show in America.

Donald Trump builds trust

One of Donald Trump’s cardinal principles for business dealings is the building, maintenance and upholding of trust with his business partners and associates. He would never go back on a deal after he had signed it, or “shaken hands” with somebody over a business deal. Doing this has enormously added value to his personality as people are comfortable doing business with him, knowing he is somebody that can be trusted.

This character in him showed when he refused to follow his agent’s counsel about the Apprentice show and cancel the deal he had earlier agreed to with Mark Burnett, the originator of the Apprentice.

“This is another very important thing: when you shake somebody’s hand, go with it. It is very important. Shaking hands with someone means you are making a deal. You are giving your words. If you back out after you have shaken hands on a deal, then people will never trust you again,” Said Donald Trump.

Donald Trump is a visionary

This attribute has equally immensely contributed to his exceptional business success and wealth. When people tell him a business idea will not generate money they usually are looking at the present state of things. But Donald Trump looks at the future and how things could change and affect his properties positively.

He takes position against what he could see of the future, and the result has been astounding. The 40 Wall Street property he bought for $1million in 1993 can now be said to worth about $600 million, even after he has already made lots of money from it.

Donald Trump’s quotes are taken from his book: Think Big And Kick Ass.