How to Master 13 Negotiating Skills and Win in Business
There have been a few major failures in my 25 years of business that I have talked about on my podcast show a few times. Admitting my own failure isn't easy to do, but I knew in order to move on, I would have to face my failure, deal with it and put it behind me. But more importantly, analyze and pinpoint what and why I lost in those deals.
There is a valuable lesson to be learned in every failure. Although some came at a very high cost, but at the end, they were still valuable lessons, and I took them to heart.
In 25 years; I have owned, leased, operated, bought and sold over 20 different types of businesses. They have ranged from restaurant to wholesale route sales and everything in between. Looking back I can say with confidence that all the ones I was successful at had one thing in common: a great negotiation that leads to a great deal either in the lease/rent or price. This is the most essential skill needed for any new business.
Looking back on the ones I failed, I know where I went wrong. Again they all had one thing in common: I was too eager and desperate to pay attention to the details and agreed too easily to the terms I was offered.
When I started in the business, there wasn't a mentor or a book to read that taught me how to actually negotiate in business. Rather, I did what came naturally to me; little did I know that a common sense approach to business negotiations is not the best idea. It is really like a game of tough folks, where the one who doesn't blink wins. If this sounds strange, that's because it is strange but that's the reality. Over the years I learned to play the 'game of negotiation' well as I had to practice it often in various business ventures.
Business Negotiation is one skill no one is born with, nor should you "learn on the go" because the stakes are too high. Looking back at my very first deal to the last one, the journey has been painfully long, and at times it cost me dearly. But one thing I will say that most of the costly mistakes I made were limited to my early business life. Sure the more you do, the better you get at it.
In this book, I have summarized 13 most vital "Must Have" skills I learned and practiced over the years on many deals. These are the very skills that most top negotiators use in big businesses. As you read them, you will see and understand why they are so vital and essential to every business negotiation.
I have always been the type of person who learns best by examples because I'm a visual person; I need to visualize and relate to a real life situation in order to completely understand the problem. If you're like me, then you will enjoy reading the real life business negotiation story I share in the last chapter and can actually visualize how the process works.
About the Author: My name is Shabbir Hossain. I have been at gas stations and a few other retail businesses for the last 20 some years. I have a B.S. degree in Marketing from the University of South Alabama. In this 20 plus years, along with gas stations, I have also owned, managed, and/or operated a few other types of retail businesses like fast food franchises, an Italian restaurant, a pizza delivery business, a dry cleaner, B2B wholesaling, and even liquor stores. Every business I bought, sold or leased over the years has had some degree of negotiation involved. I have done everything from simple "handshake deals" to hardcore back and forth negotiation of commercial leases, from financing terms to pricing.
I fell into the consulting business two years ago without even knowing that I did it, when I was first approached by a group of investors to help me negotiate a deal for 3 gas stations that they were trying to buy as part of their investment portfolio. It was a long process, but after 3 months I was able to make a deal happen where my investors ended up with a better deal than what they expected.
I am still involved in gas station business along with freelance consulting but what I enjoy the most is hosting my own podcast show where I talk about various aspects of gas station business strategies.
You can find me in few ways, first, stop by my blog at GasStationBusiness101.com and you can contact me from there. You can also find me on Facebook at CSB_Academy. You can also email me directly at shabbir@gasstationbusiness101.com and send me your questions. If you enjoy listening to the audio podcast, you can listen to my Gas Station Business 101 Podcast show on iTunes, Stitcher or TuneIn Radio.
