Throughout history, professionals of all kinds have attempted to study what exactly makes entrepreneurs so “entrepreneurial”. For example, are founders like Jeff Bezos, Warren Buffet and Bill Gates born with the brains and drive to become the huge successes they are today? Or, are there other factors at play that are more environmental that has led to their immense wealth and innovation? This nature versus nurture phenomena has been studied at length and several theories have been made about why entrepreneurs are the way they are. While there is no exact set of traits and skills that every single successful entrepreneur possesses, it seems that determination, perseverance, and originality are three major traits that the world’s most successful entrepreneurs demonstrate.
Stan Bril is the founder and CEO of MCG, a private commercial lending firm that focuses on real estate and business funding. Today, he is known as one of the lending industry’s most successful entrepreneurs. Looking back at his life, Stan seems to have possessed the drive and tenacity to become a successful entrepreneur from a young age.
After moving to the United States from Eastern Europe as a child, Stan Bril dove head-first into entrepreneurship, launching his first business at the mere age of eleven. That drive is what propelled him from one business to another – whether that was cutting lawns, selling cars on ebay or ultimately building a large lending firm. No matter what he did, Stan maintained his dedication, perseverance and intense desire to succeed.
Stan eventually became a mortgage banker for six years before he founded MCG in 2009. It was during his time in banking that he saw the need for a lending firm that provided capital to small businesses and investors who didn’t have access to traditional credit. The company has since grown it into one of the leading business and real estate lending firms in the United States. MCG was founded on Stan’s fervent appreciation and respect of the American Dream. Because he was able to achieve this, he wanted to help others do the same. Thanks to Stan’s hard work and dedication, MCG has funded tens of billions in loans for businesses of all sizes. Recently, they completed funding the $1.17B purchase of a hotel portfolio.
While his success in no way came overnight, Stan has been able to forge through trials and tribulations to build one of the most successful lending companies in the country. And, in doing so, he has been able to help others just like him fund their own dreams. If you’re thinking of becoming an entrepreneur or already are one, here are four tips to help you become an even more outstanding businessman/woman and leader:
Raising Capital is Always Challenging
Stan explains that raising capital is always one of the most challenging endeavors when starting or operating a business. No matter where the money is coming from, there’s a ton of work that needs to be put in in order to ensure that your endeavor is worth this money and that your lender will be able to see some sort of return. Even as a lender, MCG is privately financed, meaning that their capacity for funding deals depends on the capital that they themselves go out and raise. That takes an immense amount of time, energy, and persistence. Because this process is difficult, however, is exactly why MCG was founded: to help fund more American dreams.
Transparency is Key to Leadership
Transparency is one of the most important, if not THE most important, qualities to have when dealing with your clients and your employees. “There are a lot of other mistakes that can be fixed, but transparency is something you must get right from day one,” explains Stan. Once transparency is gone, it’s pretty much impossible to recover. Therefore, it’s important to establish yourself as someone who is honest, communicative and fully open with whoever you are working with.
Focus on Baby Steps to Scale
It’s incredibly easy to get fixated on the big picture and forget what’s right in front of you. When you have such a large and innovative idea (which practically every entrepreneur has), it’s important to keep yourself focused on the small, everyday things that you need to accomplish. If you’re not good at thinking micro, then team up with people who are more skilled at this. It’s okay to be a macro thinker, but that doesn’t mean you can abandon what needs to be done today and tomorrow. Baby steps are important when there are so many uncertain factors to take into account in the beginning of your business.
Don’t Take Everything Personally
“In the beginning I took things very personally. As MCG grew, and I along with it, I learned not to take things to heart. Building a company requires a thick skin and rejection and criticism come with the territory,” explains Stan. And this couldn’t be more accurate. When you’re launching a business or in the middle or even end stages, you’re going to run into difficulties, critiques, failures, etc. There will be many ups and downs, just as there are in life, and it’s important to maintain your composure and control when encountering these. You are not your business, so if you’re able to set these two things apart, you’ll be one step closer to your goals.
(Syndicated press content)
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