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Some people are just really, really good at talking things up. I've worked with several over the years who could "sell snow to an Eskimo." There is something about their personality that people makes people eager to buy whatever they're selling. That includes not only their product, but more so themselves and what they have to offer.
Some are quite honest, just gifted at gab. Others I've known never did anything positive, but promote themselves. I've seen these guys lie through their teeth to the boss and get praised for it.
A lot of us wish we had the same gift just to get by every day.
I look at people like this in total awe and admiration. But I'm someone who has never made more than a few dollars above minimum wage my entire life.
You don't have to be college educated to start a business. And the least expensive type of business is a service type business. What can you offer people that they need done? Serve your customers well, establish an excellent reputation, get more clients than you can handle, hire help, keep growing, hire more employee's, keep the cash flowing or sell it.
Most importantly just because you start raking in the money don't think you're rich yet (in other words don't spend like crazy). People who don't understand money mistake income for wealth, wrong. Take that income and instead, start building your wealth) buy assets that will pay you a monthly cash flow from very little effort on your own.
I think it's willingness to stick their neck out and take risks, and unbridled energy...these are the kind of people that are working even when they're not at work, and consider sleep a waste of valuable time. One of the Shark Tank guys said he trained himself to only sleep 2-3 hours a night or something ridiculous, then he gets up and starts his "day". In any case I don't have the energy level or ambition or willingness to take risks so I will continue to work for others. I think energy level is about the genes you get, and unfortunately everyone in my family is kind of low energy.
I think it's willingness to stick their neck out and take risks, and unbridled energy...these are the kind of people that are working even when they're not at work, and consider sleep a waste of valuable time. One of the Shark Tank guys said he trained himself to only sleep 2-3 hours a night or something ridiculous, then he gets up and starts his "day". In any case I don't have the energy level or ambition or willingness to take risks so I will continue to work for others. I think energy level is about the genes you get, and unfortunately everyone in my family is kind of low energy.
He must be YOUNG....that'll catch up with him. Sleep deprivation===health issues.
The Military interrogates people using SLEEP deprivation techniques...works REAL WELL!
ENERGY LEVEL definitely play an IMPORTANT part in working and starting a business. You gotta be ABLE to bust arse 60-70 hrs a week (in my mind anyway---during start up period).
I was thinking of a former classmate of mine a few days ago who is a serial entrepreneur and only in his mid-late 20s. He's founded multiple companies, each of them with incredible success, and he's made enough money to retire.
What differentiates people like this, who found and run multiple successful companies, from the rest of us? He is extremely intelligent and technically proficient, and has essentially made all of his money in five years. As far as I know, he never attended college, and projects went from free, to a couple hundred dollars, to a couple thousand, he had to hire, etc, and the businesses grew exponentially.
Dude. Was this guy a high school classmate? Sounds like yes because he never attended college. If you know so much about him, I think you should tell us how he differentiates from the norm!
I started my accounting firm with less than $2K in the bank, I started a mortgage company with a net worth of $50 K and $500 of my own money invested. I started a flyer delivery company with a ream of paper, an ink cartridge, and $40 to register with the state and city where I was at which I sold 6 months later for $7,500 after using it to pay my bills for 6 months and that is with a stay at home wife and 2 kids in the house. I started a landscaping company with a rented aerator which I used to hustle aeration jobs for 2 days in March, which I used the money to buy a good mower, I sold that company at the end of the season for $15,000 after supporting my family with that income. I have clients that started a housecleaning business on a payday loan, one that started off with a shovel shoveling snow and turned it into a multi million dollar landscaping and snow removal company. It can be done, but it takes a ton of work and usually involves some type of physical labor that others do not want to do.
I am what you would call a serial entreprenuer, even now owning my own company and having spent 5 years building it, I have been thinking about and am now looking into selling it to start pursuing 2 other business ideas I have had for years.
I have a problem working as hard as I work in order to let a company take a piece of whatever I produce, when I can easily start my own company providing those services to others and let other people do the work I do not want to do.
I have always worked to learn, I take a job to improve or learn a skill that I do not already have, then when I learn what I needed I have a hard time staying engaged. I have been told I am a great employee, and then have the same guy want to fire me 6 months later after I lost interest.
I made & lost more money by 27 years old than most make in 3 lifetimes (due to bad investments and overextending), while the money is important, it is far from the most important thing to me.
Reality is I am constantly wanting a new challenge, I am always looking for something to keep my interested. I am a gambler, but instead of betting on horse racing or other sports, or throwing it in a slot machine, I bet on myself and my ability to pull off what I want to do. It usually works out, but occasionally will not. I hope to one day find a business that keeps me challenged until I retire, but until then I will keep looking. There are times I wish I was more normal, that I could be like my father who has spent 38 years in the same line of work, most of it split between 2 companies, but I just cannot take the routine daily. The idea that many people spout of wanting a good job that is routine and easy for them terrifies me more than starting a business often terrifies them. At the end of the day we are just different breads, and there is a place for all of us.
What I don't understand is the people who go from nothing to making a million dollars in the first year with a startup. Not that it is impossible, but that that type of situation in my opinion requires a large chunk of capital. (as in like minimum 50k and ideally more). I can't imagine someone starting with a couple thousand and making a million in a year, but I suppose it may happen every once in a blue moon.
Most times, new businesses will fail within the first year, and most not reach a comfortable revenue structure until about 5 years in. (if they didn't fail yet!)
On the flip side, one success makes becoming a serial entrepreneur all the easier. Sad thing is that when you have a lot of money it's very easy to make more money. One success can quickly spin off into more quick start up successes (thanks to the capital you now have from your first success), and thus you become rich very quickly. But back to my original point, a lot of businesses fail. Being risk averse is not the right mindset for the entrepreneur. You got to take some pretty big risks!
What I don't understand is the people who go from nothing to making a million dollars in the first year with a startup. Not that it is impossible, but that that type of situation in my opinion requires a large chunk of capital. (as in like minimum 50k and ideally more). I can't imagine someone starting with a couple thousand and making a million in a year, but I suppose it may happen every once in a blue moon.
Most times, new businesses will fail within the first year, and most not reach a comfortable revenue structure until about 5 years in. (if they didn't fail yet!)
On the flip side, one success makes becoming a serial entrepreneur all the easier. Sad thing is that when you have a lot of money it's very easy to make more money. One success can quickly spin off into more quick start up successes (thanks to the capital you now have from your first success), and thus you become rich very quickly. But back to my original point, a lot of businesses fail. Being risk averse is not the right mindset for the entrepreneur. You got to take some pretty big risks!
As I said I am a gambler, and most true serial entrepreneurs are, it is just how we are built mentally. I have went from broke to a net worth of $8 million in 3 years, and back to broke in 6 months, being an entrepreneur is high risk high reward, and I had to learn the hard way that you can gamble on starting a business, but you should never gamble with your investments for your future.
You are right that most businesses will fail, most due to a whole list of factors, some are closed for other reasons, but for whatever reason people like me all believe that we can and will beat the odds every time. As I said I have pulled it off multiple times, and I have failed a few times as well, but I still would start another company right now if I sold my current company.
Most people are not like me, they just are not built the same way, they want set hours, set income, and stability. I have 4 half brothers that are all that way, but I cannot do that, it drives me insane. Even those that work a steady job for decades and dream of starting a business one day are not like me. They still need stability and all the tools they hope will one day ensure success, but they often fail, while guys like me will have nothing we need, spend hour upon hour researching and learning what we need to know, and then just do it hoping it works. As I already said there are days that I wish I could be more like normal people, but I am different.
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