70 | MENTORS MAGAZINE | EDITION 2
saying 'hey you know what? We were going
that direction, I am wrong, here is what I
think needs to happen now. And let’s go this
direction.' And you are going to get a lot
more respect from people. As
long as you are not do-
ing it constantly you
are going to get a lot
more respect from
people. I thought that was great advice, and
I have tried to live by it. I make mistakes all
the time, what I try to do is adjust when I re-
alise that it’s a mistake and adjust it and
move forward.
Neil: What are some of the things that you
did before you started your business? That
would be helpful tips to some of the reader
who have not yet taken the first step of be-
coming an entrepreneur?
Ivan Misner: So, there are a number of
things that I think are really important that I
started thinking about after, after I started
my business. And they were never taught to
me in business school. It was not taught in
class. And here is a handful of them.
'Ignorance on fire, is better than knowledge
on ice' I love this concept. 'Ignorance on fire,
is better than knowledge on ice.'
Let me explain it. I would rather have an em-
ployee who is on fire, they are excited, they
are passionate about what you are doing as
a business, as an entrepreneur. And they
may not on paper, on their resume, they
may not be the most qualified, but they areteachable, they want to learn and they are
passionate. Compared to somebody who on
paper, is excellent. They look really good, but
they are not really excited. They are just,
'yeh I am here, I will do the job. I am good, I
am qualified.' But
they are just not pas-
sionate about it. Igno-
rance on fire, is better
than knowledge on ice, and it’s really all
about selecting people who are passionate.
And here is the thing that I was probably not
as good at as I should have been. Firing
those people who were not passionate. I
hung on to people. Harvey Mackay, I really
started to.. Do you know who Harvey Mac-
kay is, he has written a lot of books, Swim
with the Sharks.
Neil: Yes
Ivan Misner: And he said something to me
once, that has stuck with me, he said, 'I have
lost more sleep over the people I have not
fired, than the ones I did fire.' And if I had to
do it all over again, I think one of the things
that I would do is I would let people go
sooner, when I realised they were not pas-
sionate for the business. You are not doing
them a favour by keeping them and you are
not doing yourself a favour by keeping them.
Neil: Absolutely.
Ivan Misner: I will give you one more, and
this one I learned and re-learned throughout
my life. But I got this in high school from myIgnorance on fire, is
better than knowledge on ice