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How it Feels to be Rich like Bezos

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What makes Jeff Bezos tick? You. From the very beginning Jeff Bezos has always been about the customer. And that ethos flows through the company like a package from your computer to your doorstep.

To Bezos, if the customer isn’t satisfied, what’s the point of being in business? And the Smith house is satisfied. At times it feels like an Amazon fulfillment center with all the boxes. How does Amazon do it?

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Driving past the gargantuan Amazon building in Fall River, MA, going 70 mph, it literally takes several seconds. It’s sheer size is breathtaking. It looks like it belongs in another country. But somehow Bezos makes it work. How? Because he’s always had laser-like focus on the customer and not necessarily the competition. There’s a certain zen to being able to run a business like that with focus only on the customer. Don’t worry about the competition.

For investors, the competition is always Mr. Market. Don’t let that ruin your life. Some investors get stuck on questions like “What did the market do today?” and “Wow, isn’t this market driving you crazy?”

Instead of studying their own situation and researching businesses and understanding dividends, for example, they’re focused on something they have ZERO control over: The Market.

There is an important message here, for every investor, in what Bezos is doing. He is focused on making you happy. That’s his business. He doesn’t have to be worried about the competition as long as he focuses on the customer. For investors, focus on yourself and not Mr. Market and you might someday realize what it feels like to be rich like Bezos.

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E.J. Smith - Your Survival Guy

E.J. Smith is Founder of YourSurvivalGuy.com, Managing Director at Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd., a Managing Editor of Richardcyoung.com, and Editor-in-Chief of Youngresearch.com. His focus at all times is on preparing clients and readers for “Times Like These.” E.J. graduated from Babson College in Wellesley, Massachusetts, with a B.S. in finance and investments. In 1995, E.J. began his investment career at Fidelity Investments in Boston before joining Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd. in 1998. E.J. has trained at Sig Sauer Academy in Epping, NH. His first drum set was a 5-piece Slingerland with Zildjians. He grew-up worshiping Neil Peart (RIP) of the band Rush, and loves the song Tom Sawyer—the name of his family’s boat, a Grady-White Canyon 306. He grew up in Mattapoisett, MA, an idyllic small town on the water near Cape Cod. He spends time in Newport, RI and Bartlett, NH—both as far away from Wall Street as one could mentally get. The Newport office is on a quiet, tree lined street not far from the harbor and the log cabin in Bartlett, NH, the “Live Free or Die” state, sits on the edge of the White Mountain National Forest. He enjoys spending time in Key West (RIP JB) and Paris. Please get in touch with E.J. at ejsmith@yoursurvivalguy.com To sign up for my free monthly Survive & Thrive letter, click here.

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