This Issue: Why Starting a Business Remains the Path to Success

Lots of people have been asking me why I took such a harsh stand on Rosie O'Donnell.

I own the Miss USA pageant and had a Miss USA who is a very lovely girl, Tara Conner.

She had some problems because she was drinking too much. It was causing lots of difficulties but I decided to give Tara a second chance. She's right now in rehab and she's doing fine.

Rosie O'Donnell, however, didn't like that I gave Tara a second chance. She went on television and the venom came pouring out. A friend of mine called and said, --Boy does she hate you.--

I've known Rosie for a long time. She's been a loser. Her television show got bad ratings and she was fired. Her magazine was a total disaster and in fact, the publisher of the company, who was a rising star, ended up losing his job. She also did a Broadway play that was a total mess.

She's unattractive both outside and inside. You don't get worse than Rosie. She's been bullying people for a long time. And I'm the only one who fought back.

As far as I'm concerned, you don't get any lower than Rosie O'Donnell.

Donald J. Trump, Chairman of Trump University, shares his advice in many Trump University courses, including The Real Estate Investor Training Program.Classes are forming now.

--Secrets of the Self-Made,-- an interactive multi-media article on Forbes.com, offers a revealing glimpse into the minds of some of America's entrepreneurial billionaires.

Among the more interesting information, for me, are the descriptions that these ultra-rich individuals share about their first jobs. (All data on the net worth of these men comes from the Forbes article.)

r Franklin Otis Booth Jr., an investor and rancher, started as an electroplater, making 65 cents per hour. Today his net worth is $1.9 billion.

r Danny Gilbert, managing partner of Gilbert & Tobin, fueled his entrepreneurial fires as a kid by selling homemade pizzas out of his family's kitchen. Today he is worth $1.1 billion.

r Wayne Huizenga, the only person in history to start three Fortune 500 companies, started out pumping gas. Today he is worth $2.1 billion.

r Michael Ilitch, founder of Little Caesar's Pizza and owner of sports teams, got his first job removing snow from cars in a used car lot. He is worth $1.5 billion today.

What Do These Titans Have in Common?

These men live in different parts of the country. They have different interests and hobbies. But they do share two things.

First, they didn't like working for other people.

Second, they started companies.

Are you ready to follow in their footsteps and write your name alongside theirs as one of the world's most successful people? Then do what they did. Start or buy a company.

Trump University offers you the tools to make it happen. You can start small, simply by learning all you can about becoming an entrepreneur. But I would urge you to get started today by taking one of these life-changing courses from Trump University:

The Art of Buying a Business - Don't build - buy! Why take on all the risks of starting a business? Buying an existing one lets you skip over many of the pitfalls of the start-up phase and avoid costly --learning curve-- mistakes.

The Entrepreneurship Mastery Program - Our premier entrepreneurship course equips you with all the knowledge and skills you need to succeed in your own enterprise.

Design a Winning Business - Turn your idea into a success plan by mastering the essentials of financing, market research, marketing, operations and more.

Be sure to investigate all our entrepreneurial classes in the Trump University Course Catalog.This can be the year when you begin to write the story of your own success. The best time to get started? Today.

Michael Sexton is President of Trump University.

If you are starting a new business, the day will finally come to stop planning and start interacting with your customers. That day is of critical importance. Ultimately, it will determine your success or failure.

To get the most from that moment, I recommend an approach that I call giving your customers 100 percent of your promise, plus an additional one percent. How can you deliver101 percent of your promise? Let me explain.

You start by answering this question:

What is my promise to my customers?

Let's say, for example, that you are starting a company that will install swimming pools. If that is your business, this might be your promise:

My company will install only the most durable, beautiful, state-of-the-art pools.

That is a good promise. But it is not enough, because you also need to fulfill:

Your promise plus one percent.

Now, what do I mean by your promise plus one percent?

Let me return to the example of a company that installs swimming pools. If that is your business, you know that deciding to have a swimming pool installed is a very big moment in your customers' lives. But it is also a dangerous moment for you, because your customers are so focused on the idea of having a pool, they will forget that you are going to have to dig a big ditch first. They will forget that your trucks are going to back up and make a mess of the yard. They never stop to think that they are going to be scared silly because their kids are going to want to run around in the work area.

If you can identify and manage that extra one percent of issues, you are going to stand out as a company and make profits.

You can add that extra one percent of value by explaining the whole construction process to your customers, so they will know what to expect. You can introduce all your workers to your customers, so they will not be alarmed to see strangers on their property. You can take extra measures to ensure their kids' safety. And you can completeyour work in a way so that when your pools are installed, your customers will say, --Wow, my yard and landscaping look even nicer now than when the pool company came!--

That is delivering on your promise plus one percent. And it will make all the difference in your company's ability to generate profits and outperform the competition. Your satisfied customers are going to tell people what a wonderful job you did. They will be handing out your business cards to their friends. They will be happy to give you testimonials.

Now, you might say that a pool business is unusual and that the things I say above don't translate to your company. But the principle of adding an extra one percent does translate. Have you ever had a terrific car-buying experience, for example, or a terrible one? If you have, you know that you have told other people.

So build your promise plus one percent plan, and remember to use it in lead generation. Run ads that say that you will care for your customers' landscaping as though it were your own, or that you are a caring, family-run enterprise. The more effectively you communicate how well you manage that extra one percent, the faster your enterprise will prosper.

Jeff Burrows is professor of entrepreneurship at Trump University. This post is adapted from the great success principles that Jeff presents in The Wealth Builder's Blueprint premium self-instructional course from Trump University.

To master the art of starting your own company, be sure to enroll in The Entrepreneurship Mastery Program at Trump University.Classes forming now.