FORGOTTEN BUSINESSMAN

 

We all know the business acumen of famous Indian businessmen like Mr. Mukesh Ambani, Sir Ratan Tata, Mr. Sunil Mittal, etc. but I think there is a businessman who, over time, has been forgotten. His business acumen may not be as good as the above-mentioned businessman, but he died as the richest duck with a fortune of more than $32 billion. Yes, I am talking about Mr. Scrooge Mc Duck. Mr. Scrooge or Uncle Scrooge, as he was famously called, was a Swedish businessman who made his fortune by running an oil company, followed by investing the surplus wisely in the markets. He started his career as a normal middle-class Swedish guy who also worked as a shoe polish guy, but he had the dedication to put in the work and pull himself out of that. He says that the worst thing about being a middle class is not the money problem, but a mindset problem. If your mindset is middle class, no one can help you get out of that zone. 

Since the beginning, Mr. Scrooge was interested in adventures and hence, after becoming the world's richest duck, he appointed a CEO for his company and went out to become an adventurer who would use his money to make more money by finding hidden treasures. One of his life goals was to mentor someone and he chose his 3 nephews for this activity. Over the course of 25 years, he took his nephews on various adventures and enlightened them with his business and life wisdom. I assure you that those lessons are applicable even today, even after 55 years of his death. Let's take a look at some of his lessons. 

1. No one can damage steel, but its own rust can. Similarly, no one has the power to make our life miserable, it's our own mindset that can create havoc in our lives. 

2. Do what you love and never love what you do. In the long run, the prior situation would help us from ruining our own life. 

 

3. Money matters. One of the rules to follow regarding money is that money is the root cause of every situation, so make a lot of money and just get over the situation. 

4. Inflation is like rust that has the power to ruin your hard-earned money. So, make sure you feed yourself with the appropriate knowledge to multiply your money. If not, then find someone who can multiply your money and forget about it. 

5. Self-education is the apex form of education. Never rely on traditional form of education. It would lead you to hell. 

6. People will screw you in life and in business. The mantra here is to be aware of who can screw you and in what relationship he can screw you and to screw him first. 

7. The easiest way to get rich in the long term is to spend less than you earn and to invest wisely, rather rationally. Don't buy a stock just because your best friend asked you to. The perfect example would be the current situation of cryptocurrencies. 

8. Money rule no 3. Old school assets like gold and silver are god's money and hence they are here to stay. Irrespective of how many stocks, mutual funds or real estate you have, allocate some part of that money to gold and silver.

 

9. Mr. Scrooge was famous for having large amounts of wealth, but he was also famous for being a miser. Ironic combination, but that's how Uncle Scrooge was. His lesson here was that a man should also act in a way that suits him or in a way where he is comfortable. Your internal alignment and external alignment should always match. For e.g., if your nature is for spending, then trying to act thrifty would kill you. Similarly, vice-versa. 

10. Last but the most important lesson Mc Duck taught us is that life is not fair, so don't ask for favors. Have the guts to go out and get what you want from life. Never underestimate yourself. We have to take into consideration the fact that Uncle Scrooge started his life as a shoe polishing guy and ended up being the richest duck. 

Even though he was this great businessman, he earned a lot of his fortune by doing unethical things. He used to say that life had been bad for him and now it was his turn to give it back. What I think is that ethical business practices can make you a lot of money and can earn you respect as well. 

But I consider Uncle Scrooge to be one of my 4 mentors. Ignoring his unethical business practices, he has taught me a lot of things that have helped me with my business, my investments, as well as have made my life easier. I highly recommend you all to watch the cartoon Duck Tales. He is the protagonist of the show. It is one of the best investments anyone can make, irrespective of your age. Uncle Scrooge has talked a lot about choosing the right friends or different criteria for selecting friends and hence, it gives us another reason to watch the show. I can't help myself but quote another mentor of mine, Mr. Charlie Munger. He says, "if you can't find good friends, the world does not come to an end. Many of the greatest people are dead and hence make friends with the eminent dead." 

questionalble ethics