Entrepreneur Beginners Guide
“Ask for What You Want”
Ask and it will be given to you.
—Matthew 7:7
While driving on the major freeway that runs through the heart of Atlanta, I saw a huge banner on the side of a mid-rise. The banner promoted the grand opening of a new residential building in Mid-town, a popular and prime area of the city. Considering that the building had vacancies, 1 thought that the owner would be a great prospective advertiser for one of my media outlets that target young adults. I wrote down the phone number and website listed on the banner and reached out a few days later. Within no time, I was able to set up a meeting with the builder and leasing agent.
After a brief meeting I closed the sale rather quickly. My intuition paid off. At the time, it was one of the biggest deals I had ever closed. I was especially excited about the deal, but I dreamed of having more. I thought, How cool would it be to have an office here, right in the center of town with a spectacular view of the Atlanta skyline? For a second I pondered asking the builder if I could have one of the-large units as an office. I thought that the idea was ridiculous, but then I remembered some of the stories my mentor told me about how he was able to close some out-of-this-world deals. I changed my mind. Since I had already finalized the deal, I figured that it wouldn’t hurt to ask. So I asked the owner of the building, “May I have one of the units to use as an office?” The builder replied, “Sure. That’s not a problem at all.” In addition to paying me well for my company’s services, he gave me one of the best units in his building.
Within a few weeks I was moving into my brand-new, thirteen-hundred-square-foot, fully furnished office for my company. It was quite a space, with a perfect location and beautiful views of the city. In fact, the office was located across the street from PricewaterhouseCoopers and Google’S new office. This new space would serve as my company’s headquarters for a few years. My ten-person team and I loved it. If I had stayed quiet and let my doubts take over, I-would have missed this great opportunity.
When I started my business I had no idea of the possibilities that would be available to me. I never imagined that I would be given a beautiful office space in a prime, urban location simply by asking. Neither did, I imagine that I would be able to simply ask a client for a luxury car and receive it. After closing some amazing was by just asking for what I wanted, my as possible changed completely. I learned that when the scope of your reality is limited by your experience, it’s hard to imagine anything beyond it. Once I widened the scope of my ably reality, I was able to negotiate unbelievable deal.
As I alluded to earlier, my mentor taught me to ask for what want in business. He believed that nothing was impossible. With-out his guidance, would have missed several opportunities simply because I was too afraid to ask for them. For some reason, perhaps because of my young age, I didn’t think that I deserved them. Thankfully, my mentor was able to open my mind to bigger ideas and to show me through his own experiences what was possible. Ultimately, I learned that there’s a big difference between thinking and knowing what is possible .versus having the courage to ask for it. If you want something, I encourage you to ask for it. You will be surprised to see what it gets you from time to time.
