The 800-pound gorilla -- aka The connection we're not making...

[Dien Rice]

Originally Posted by -TW

I saw a documentary in the UK about the "Millionaire Mind."

They made the point that the millionaire mind is almost identical to the criminal mind, in many ways.

I believe that is true.

Hi TW,

Wow, that's a very interesting thought...!

I don't know if it's true, but if it is, maybe this is why...?

It seems to me that something in common is many entrepreneurs, as well as many criminals, look for "loopholes"...

A criminal might be looking for "loopholes" in security, for example. Such as any "loophole" in bank security, store security, credit card transaction security, etc.

Many entrepreneurs look for "loopholes" too... Of course, it could be a "hole" in the market that isn't yet being fulfilled. However, it could also be "loopholes" in the law, or "loopholes" in a contract.

Bill Gates made practically all his wealth from a "loophole" he created in his contract with IBM, allowing Microsoft to sell their operating system independently to third parties. That single "loophole" brought down IBM from being the "superpower" of computers, and helped Microsoft to take over!

Of course, many of the wealthy actively look for "loopholes" in tax law, to allow them to pay less tax. (Or they have people on payroll, looking for these loopholes for them.) It's a fact that many of the very wealthy pay a lower percentage of their income in tax than the middle-class do. That's because every law has loopholes, and people can find the loopholes in the law and exploit them.

I recently read about a business which provides low-cost treatment for recovering alcoholics (called simply, "The Retreat", located in Wayzata, Minnesota). Many alcohol and drug addiction treatment facilities are very expensive, because of the medical teams they legally need to have on hand. This business doesn't have those medical teams, so they cut their costs, and can charge much less. It means that a treatment facility is available to those who can't afford the usual exhorbitant fees. The "loophole" this business uses to do this is that, they are not legally registered as a treatment facility. Instead, they are only registered to provide "board and lodging". You can read the article about them here - http://www.startribune.com/business/26187774.html

I don't know if that's the kind of thing the program you saw was referring to, but that's what came to my mind. It'd be interesting to find out more about this British documentary you saw...

Cheers,

Dien