Robert Kiyosaki’s Devils and Angels

By David Eedle |

Robert Kiyosaki, the author of ‘Rich Dad, Poor Dad’ and a range of books and educational products designed to get us to think about how money works and techniques on how to manage money like the exceptionally wealthy – has a quote in one of his texts that has stuck with Fiona since the moment she read it. ‘In business there are both devils and angels, and it’s impossible to know the difference between the two.’

Robert’s point is not to have a meltdown and avoid going into business, but to be aware that not all is as it seems and that devils and angels can look the same on the outside. It can take time to work out what you’re dealing with. Therefore it’s important to have strategies to get out of problematic relationships and to minimize any financial and emotional cost quickly. It may help for you to think about what those could be now – let’s do a quick brainstorm of things you can do to get rid of a partnership you’ve taken on in your new business that has recently shown its true colors and you can see is going to cause you problems. What do you do?

Ignore it and hope it will go away?
Research exactly what that person is trying to get from you/your business and find a much reduced version of this as a ‘go away’ payment.
Find the problems in the relationship and use these as the rationale to discontinue any further dealings between you?
If it’s a staff member – clarify there is no progress potential for them in the business – give them the opportunity to find that elsewhere.
Manage the situation and hope for the best
Commence legal action
Redefine the relationship such that the other party has less influence in your business, with a view to termination down the track.

These are just some simple suggestions, but we think it’s as helpful to play with possibilities about what to do when things don’t work out with other parties, suppliers or with staff as it is to imagine the benefits of the relationship. The question ‘what if it doesn’t work out?’ would give Fiona especially, the cold shivers. Being the eternal optimist she had long thought that most things could be worked through to a positive conclusion, but this worldview fails to take into account that the other party may not be wanting a positive conclusion. They may want to ride on your coattails to success and to enjoy the benefits of your hard work and ingenuity without making any contribution. Or even worse, they may want you to fail.

But it is a really good question and one worth answering long before a relationship proves itself to be damaging to your online business. If you can try not to have heart palpitations worrying about all the negative consequences of things not working out with this party and instead map out your key exit routes should the relationship go wrong, and then if there’s legal work required, build the exit routes into any documentation. You will then have options on how to deal with a bad relationship ready for you to activate as soon as it becomes clear that you’ve been dealing with a devil rather than a Kiyosaki angel.

Niche Content Millionaire is a downloadable eBook that tells you the true story how we made millions from subscription content and membership websites.

Buy Niche Content Millionaire Now