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Product Management
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The company's product, which the customer ultimately buys from the business, is the last important aspect of the B-I Triangle. It could be a tangible item such as a hamburger or an intangible item such as consulting services. It is interesting to note that when evaluating a business, many average investors focus on the product rather than the rest of the business. Rich dad thought that the product was the least important piece to inspect when evaluating a business.

Many people come to me with ideas for new innovative products. My response is that the world is full of great products. People also say to me that their new idea or product is better than an existing product. Thinking that a better product or better service is most important is usually the domain of the E and S quadrant, where being the best or highest quality is important for success. In the B and I quadrants , however, the most important part of a new business is the system behind the product or idea, or the rest of the B-I Triangle. I then point out that most of us can cook a better hamburger than McDonald's but few of us can build a better business system than McDonald's.

Rich Dad's Guidance

In 1974, I decided I was going to learn to build a business following the model of the B-I Triangle. Rich dad warned me by saying, “Learning to build a business according to this model is high risk. Many people attempt it, and few accomplish it. However, although there is high risk at the start, if you learn how to build businesses, your earning potential is unlimited. For the people who are not willing to take the risk, those who don't wish to undertake such a steep learning curve, their risk may be lower but so will their lifetime returns.”

I still recall experiencing the highest of highs and lowest of lows as I learned to build a solid business. I remember some of the advertising copy I wrote that never sold anything. I remember some of the brochures I wrote where no one could understand what I was trying to say. And I remember the struggle of learning to raise capital and learning to spend the investors' money wisely in the hopes of building a powerful business. I also remember going back to my investors and telling them that I had lost their money. I am forever grateful for the investors who understood and told me to come back when I had another venture for them to invest in. However, through it all, each mistake was a priceless learning experience as well as character -building experience. As rich dad said, the risk at the start was very high, yet if I could stick it out and continue to learn, the rewards were unlimited.

In 1974, I was very weak at every level of the B-I Triangle. I think I was weakest in cash flow management and communications management. Today, although I am still not great on any one sector of the triangle, I would say I am the strongest in cash flow management and communications management. Because I can create synergies among all the levels, my companies are successful. The point I make here is that even though I was not strong at the start, and am still not great at this stage of my development, I continue with my learning process. For anyone who wants to acquire great wealth in this manner , I offer encouragement to start, to practice, make mistakes, correct, learn, and improve.

When I look at the 10% of Americans who control 90% of all the shares in America and 73% of the wealth, I understand exactly where their wealth was derived. Many acquired that wealth in much the same way as Henry Ford and Thomas Edison (who was worth far more than Bill Gates at his day and age). The list includes Bill Gates, Michael Dell, Warren Buffet, Rupert Murdock, Anita Roddick, Richard Branson, and others who all acquired their wealth the same way. They found their spirit and their mission; built a business; and allowed others to share in the dreams, the risks, as well as the rewards. You can do the same thing if you want. Just follow the same diagram rich dad guided me with: the B-I Triangle.

Helen Keller said, “True happiness is not attained through self-gratification but through fidelity to a worthy purpose.”

Sharon's Notes

The product is at the top of the B-I Triangle because it is the expression of the business's mission. It is what you are offering to your customer. The rest of the B-I Triangle lays the foundation for long-term success of your business. If your communication to the marketplace is strong, your systems are set up to facilitate production, ordering, and fulfillment. If your cash is managed properly, you will be able to sell your product successfully and support a strong growth curve for your business.

The B-I Triangle and Your Ideas

Rich dad said, “It is the B-I Triangle that gives shape to your ideas. It is knowledge of the B-I Triangle that allows a person to create an asset that buys other assets.” Rich dad guided me in learning how to create and build many B-I Triangles. Many of these businesses failed because I was not able to put all the pieces together harmoniously. When people ask me what caused some of my businesses to fail, it was very often the failure of one or more of the sectors of the B-I Triangle. Rather than become permanently discouraged as many people who fail become, rich dad encouraged me to keep practicing, building these triangles. Instead of calling me a failure when my first big venture failed, rich dad encouraged me to continue on and learn how to build new triangles. He said, “The more you practice building these B-I Triangles, the easier it will be for you to create assets that buy other assets . If you diligently practice, it will become easier and easier for you to make more and more money. Once you are good at taking ideas, building a B-I triangle around the idea, people will come to you and invest money with you and then it will be true for you that it does not take money to make money. People will be giving you their money to make more money for yourself and for them. Instead of spending your life working for money, you will be getting better at creating assets that make more and more money. ”

One day while rich dad was teaching me more about the B-I Triangle, he made a comment I found interesting. He said, “There is a B-I Triangle inside each of us.” Not understanding what he meant, I inquired further. Even though his explanation was a good one, it took me awhile to realize how true his statement was. Today whenever I find a person, a family, a business, a city, or a country that is having financial difficulties, to me that means one or more segments of the B-I Triangle are missing or out of synchronicity with the other parts. When one or more parts of the B-I Triangle are not functioning, the chances are the individual or family, or country, will be in the 90% that are sharing in 10% of the money available. So if you, your family or your business is struggling today, look at the model of the B-I Triangle and do an analysis of what can be changed or improved.

Solving the B-I Triangle Riddle

Rich dad gave me another reason to begin mastering the B-I Triangle that I thought was unique. He said, “Your dad believes in hard work as the means of making money. Once you master the art of building B-I Triangles , you will find that the less you work the more money you will make and the more valuable what you are building becomes.” At first I did not understand what rich dad was saying, but after a number of years of practice, I understand more fully. Today I meet people who work hard building a career, working their way up the corporate ladder, or building a practice based upon their reputation. These people generally come from the E and S quadrants. In order for me to become rich, I needed to learn to build and put together systems that could work without me. After my first B-I Triangle was built and I sold it, I realized what rich dad meant by the less I work the more money I will make. He called that thinking “solving the B-I Triangle riddle.” If you are a person who is addicted to hard work, or what rich dad calls “staying busy in your busyness and not building anything,” then I would suggest sitting down with other people who are busy in busyness and discuss how working less can make you more money. I have found that the difference between people in the E and S quadrants and the people in the B and I quadrants is that the E and S side are often too “hands-on.” Rich dad used to say, “The key to success is laziness. The more hands -on you are, the less money you can make. ” One of the reasons so many people do not join the 90/10 club is because they are too “hands on, ” when they should be seeking new ways of doing more with less and less. If you are going to become the kind of person who creates assets that buy other assets, you will need to find ways of doing less and less so you can make more and more. As rich dad said, “The key to success is laziness.” That is why he could create so many assets that bought other assets. He could not have done it if he were like my real dad who was a very hard working man.

A Summary of the B-I Triangle

The B-I Triangle as a whole represents a strong system of systems—supported by a team with a leader—all working toward a common mission. If one member of the team is weak, or falters, the overall success of the business can be jeopardized. I would like to highlight three important points in summarizing the B-I Triangle:

1. Money always follows management. If any of the management functions of the five individual levels are weak, the company will be weak. If you are personally having financial difficulty, or not having the excessive cash flow that you desire, you can often find the weak spot(s) by analyzing each level. Once you identify your weakness, you may then want to consider turning it into your strength, or hiring someone with that strength.

2. Some of the best investments and businesses are the ones you walk away from. If any of the five levels are weak and the management is not prepared to strengthen them, it is best to walk away from the investment. Too many times, I have discussed the five levels of the B-I Triangle with a management team with which I am considering investing and I hear arguments instead of discussion. When business owners or business teams are weak in any of the five levels, they will become defensive rather than receptive to questioning. If they do become defensive rather than excited to identify and correct a weakness, I usually walk away from the investment. I have on a wall in my house a photo of a pig I took on Fiji. Under it is printed: “Don't teach pigs to sing. It wastes your time and it annoys the pigs.” There are too many excellent investments out there to waste your time trying to teach pigs to sing.

3. The personal computer and the Internet make the B-I Triangle more

available, affordable, and manageable for everyone. In my talks, I say that it has never been easier to access great wealth. In the Industrial Age, you needed millions of dollars to build a car factory. Today, with a $1,000 used computer, some brainpower, a telephone line, and a little education in each of the five aspects of the B-I Triangle, the world can be yours.

If you still desire to build a business on your own, there has never been greater opportunity for success. I recently met a young man who sold his small Internet company to a major computer software company for $28 million. All he said to me was, “I made $28 million at the age of 28. How much will I make when I am 48?”

Sharon's Notes

If you want to be an entrepreneur who builds successful businesses or invests in businesses, the entire B-I Triangle must be strong and interdependent. If it is , the business will grow and flourish. The good news is that if you are a team player, you don't have to be an expert at every level of the B-I Triangle. Just become part of a team with a clear vision, a strong mission, and an iron stomach.

From B-I Triangle to Business Tetrahedron

A business with a defined mission, a determined leader, and a qualified and unified team begins to take shape as the sections of the B-I Triangle come together. This is when the B-I Triangle becomes three-dimensional and turns into a tetrahedron.

The point of completion is the introduction of integrity. The definition of integrity is wholeness, entirety, as well as perfect condition and soundness. The more common definition of integrity is honesty or sincerity. While the definitions may sound different, they are in fact the same.

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