I have modified it a little over the years. 318 Rich Dad's Guide to Investing The B-I Triangle 319 I was about 16 years old when I first saw this diagram. Rich dad drew it for me when I started asking him the following questions: 1. "How is it that you have so many businesses and other people can barely handle one?" 2. "Why do your businesses grow while other peoples' stay small?" 3. "How do you have free time when other business own- ers work constantly?" 4. "Why do so many businesses start and then fail so quickly?" I did not ask him all these questions at the same time, yet they were questions that came to mind as I studied his busi- nesses. Rich dad was about 40 years old, and I was amazed at how he could run several different companies all in different industries. For example, he had a restaurant business, a fast food business, a convenience store chain, a trucking com- pany, a real estate construction business, and a property man- agement business. I knew he was following his plan to have his businesses buy his true investments, which for him was real estate, but it was amazing how many businesses he could run all at the same time. When I asked him how he could start, own, and manage so many businesses, his response was to draw the B-I Triangle. Today, I own interests in several different companies in completely different businesses because I use the B-I Triangle as a guide. I do not own as many companies as rich dad did, but by following the same formula outlined in the B-I Triangle, I could own more if I wanted. Explaining the B-I Triangle Obviously, the amount of material that could be written- and needs to be written-to cover the information repre- sented by the B-I Triangle is more than this book could cover. However, we will review the basics. The Mission Rich dad said, 'A business needs both a spiritual and a busi- ness mission to be successful, especially at the beginning." When he explained this diagram to his son and me, he always began with the mission since he thought it to be the most im- portant aspect of the triangle and why it was at the base. "If the mission is clear and strong, the business will weather the trials every business goes through during its first ten years. When a business gets big and it forgets its mission, or the mis- sion it was created for is no longer needed, the business be- gins to die." Rich dad chose the words "spiritual" and "business." He said, "Many people start a business only to make money. Just to make money is not a strong enough mission. Money alone does not provide enough fire, drive, or desire. The mission of a business should fill a need that the customers want, and if it fills that need, and fills it well, the business will begin to make money." When it came to a spiritual mission, rich dad said, "Henry Ford was a man driven by a spiritual mission first and a 320 Rich Dad's Guide to Investing business mission second.