| By
Gary Scott
The excellent book "Cleaning
Up" by Barry Minkow offers a way to escape one of the most serious business problems
we face. At first glance this is a book about investing and a cleaning business.
This book gives is a real fraud scam business alert because Minkow was a boy wonder
businessman who started his own cleaning business while in high school at age
16. Yet his cleaning business was not cleaning up in the way it seemed.
By the time he gradated from
school at age 18 he had nearly a hundred employees. Then he built the cleaning
business to over 1,000 staff, took the company public and raised tens of millions
of dollars before he could legally drink. By his 21st birthday he had a Farrari,
a mansion and the value of his business shares was 24 million dollars.
Here Is The Fraud Scam Business
Alert
Yet this book is about more than
money and a cleaning business because his cleaning business was a total fraud,
a huge Ponzi scheme. Minko was immature and lost money from the start. When the
bubble burst his wealth not only dissolved, but investors lost 26 million bucks.
He was sentenced to 25 years in jail and 26 million dollars in restitution. He
lost everything, his house, his car and his freedom. Yet the money was gone! In
business we have to be alert for any fraud or scam.
Barry's transformation in jail,
his parole and reentry into the world as a Christian minister, seven years later
and the obstacles he faced tell a compelling tale. At second glance the story
is not about the wrong way of running a cleaning business either. As we read deeper
we see the real underlying cause. Barry Minkow's rise and fall gives us a deep
business philosophical lesson.
Fraud Scam Business Alert Lessons
These lessons from his cleaning
business begin in high school when Barry discovered that the in crowd had one
of three things, good looks (he says he was no Brad Pitt), to be good in some
sport (he was not) or to have money and a great car (his was a beat up Buick).
His downfall began early when
upon forming his cleaning business he was (at age 16) sent a Diners Club card.
Word spread quickly that Barry had a credit card and loved to invite lots of people
to nice restaurants. His popularity soared and he learned what he thought was
a valuable truth about people, "money imputed respect" and his doom!
From this point Minkow was hooked
on debt. He begged, borrowed, then lied and stole just to stay ahead of his mounting
losses and loans until they finally overwhelmed him five years later. This was
not cleaning up in business!
Barry's story does not end there.
After jail, a divorce, another failed business, plus pressures in his ministry
and the rebuilding of his credibility tell an interesting tale. Minkow came to
realize that his problems, before and after jail, were caused by trying to please
a society of people with shallow values (money imputes respect).
Fraud Scam Business Alert Threads
The threads leading to his early
steroid use (which caused him to be sterile) and early debt were all attached
to giving external appearances rather than building internal values. This is a
grave error that most investors and business people make as well. But Barry Minkow's
drive, energy and cunning allowed him to highly leverage this mistake until he
was caught.
Minko's story is about the quest
for the Three Ps, Position, Possessions and Popularity. This tale shows how this
pursuit in his cleaning business ruined his health and wealth.
We in the West are indoctrinated
on these 3 Ps. They form the foundations of too many lives and are precursors
for stress, tension and poor health as well as financial doom. These structural
flaws create a template for self slavery and a potential failure that we see all
the time. We voluntarily become chained to our desk or jobs and are willing to
even cheat (ranging from small fibs on loan applications to doctoring Enron books)
to gain position, possession and popularity. Why?
Fraud Scam Business Alert Protection
Barry Minkow also shares how
to use the 3 Ts (Transparency, Truth plus Time) to create the Ultimate Fourth
T, Trust. This lesson alone makes Cleaning Up worth reading, but there is much
more you will gain about cleaning up in business and all of life in this fun,
easy to read story of a smart man who bares his inner self to light the road he
followed from being cunning to becoming wise. The minute we realize that "but
for the grace of God there goes I" this book becomes a great primer of success
guidelines.
Fraud Scam Business Alert Continuation
In fact Minkow makes such important
points about cleaning up in business that we will continue this thought and share
what may the greatest risk we face in business and investing today in our next
message. This huge danger is the Perfect Storm of Fraud that is here (due to 911)
and is threatening us all now. Until then have a good weekend and may all of your
business and investing be profitable and clean!
Gary
P.S.My novel, the 65th Octave,
provides an enjoyable way to learn about fraud and scams. The hero is a scam catching
expert working for big banks. The book outlines why scams work and why suckers
always lose. I recommend you read the book. It has some in-depth economic information
but is also a fast paced, fun read.
Order the 65th Octave
at GaryScott.com
Sometimes one picture is worth
a thousand words
To avoid scams balance
yourself in nature like this cabin at Gary and Merri Scott's Merrily
Farm where you are welcome to visit and stay Little
Horse Creek. |
