To this day, I still carry my old business card in my wallet.
The summer of 1998 was life altering. I was entering 7th grade in a small school on the Lac du Flambeau Indian Reservation. And while other kids my age were out being kids, I was doing something drastically different.
At the tender age of 12, I was building a business – a technology-handyman business to be exact.
What I had discovered was that the surrounding area was predominately home for retirement age folks all in need of a little technology help. And I had an unwavering drive to become their solution. So with some initial referral help from my teachers and parents’ friends, I came in to gobble up market-share. Since this was pre-Geek Squad days, business was-a-booming!
Here I was, a middle-school kid garnishing upwards of a couple hundred bucks an hour for things I enjoyed so much I would have done for free…
And the following 6 years would prove to be a huge learning lesson in business, money management, marketing and living an a-typical life.
How I Did It (and How the Concepts Still Apply)
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There is a very intriguing trait of crabs. When placed in a bucket, a single crab easily climbs out. Adding two or more crabs to the bucket, however, none will ever escape. The lower crabs will grab onto the higher climbers and yank them down. This phenomenon is analogous to anyone striving for a better life. Your current scenario is the bucket and your critics are the fellow crabs. And the world is not short of crabs who love to pull you down.
The Escape
After weeks of brutal torture, André Devigny successfully escaped a WWII POW camp by, among other things, scaling a massive fortress wall. Talk about climbing out of a mighty extreme bucket! And he did so when the German army considered his living arrangements permanent. Yet he didn’t allow his current situation to determine his future. Neither should anyone else.
Everyone looking to escape his or her circumstances will face similar detractors. Remember, those who think you can never break free will forever doubt your intentions. So it’s best to realize early on that no matter what you do, others will find ways to criticize.
Luckily we are not crabs. By recognizing that others are trying to pull you down, you can overcome their flak. We are free to create a better lifestyle and the commentators can stay in their self-imposed lair of fear. Also, we are not in a bucket, we can choose who we associate with. If someone says you cannot do something, impose a social embargo and cut all ties.
Put in other words; ditch the critics and their pent-up hostility towards success. You have a remarkable life ahead and you don’t need them.
Good luck climbing out of your bucket!
As I talk with others about investing or starting a business, I very often hear, “I don’t have any money to do that, I’m poor.” And other times they say, “not right now, I’m broke.” These are interesting statements to me as the dictionary defines broke and poor similarly. However, subconsciously the two words set off strongly opposing implications.
Broke is a scenario. Nothing more than a temporary setback. A broke person is simply someone that is low on funds. But they can change their financial situation. Poor, on the other hand, is a lifestyle. These people actively chose to pursue a poor life. And can be identified as the moneyless folks that love the couch, do not care about education and are not willing to change. They’ve been poor, they’re currently poor and they’ll always be poor.
The next time you are low on funds, how are you going to explain your situation? Are you poor? Or just broke?
I am tired of hearing how investing is risky and how a house & a 401k are someone’s largest investments. Why is it hard for people to realize that these can be the worst investments you can make? Personally, a 40-year mortgage with an adjustable rate based on a bad credit report is extremely risky but droves of people signed up. And I’d imagine the same people who may now be in foreclosure still believe starting a business; self-managing a stock portfolio and holding real estate are risky strategies.
You want to know the ugly truth? Your home is not an asset. If you don’t believe me, answer this: Does it cost you money to own your home? Unless you operate a bed and breakfast or some other money making venture through the use of your home, your house is a liability. And your 401k? I understand it’s nice to know that in a few decades you will be a millionaire, but what about today? (Or what if the market tanks as you approach retirement?) If you and your spouse sacrificed your holiday vacation, continued driving that clunker another year or even canceled your XM subscription, forget the “don’t worry, we will one day be millionaires mentality!” Life is meant to be enjoyed day in and day out. (And with religious views aside) We have one life on earth, let’s live it to the fullest everyday. The simple cure? Don’t drop most of your income into a mortgage while hoarding the rest away like a pack rat into an untouchable fund.
Hey! Life isn’t all about money!
I completely agree there is more to life! However, if you are saying this, ask yourself:
Do I truly love working 40+ hours a week just to pay the mortgage, plan for retirement and occasionally splurge on soon-to-be closet clutter?
If you absolutely love your job and answered yes, stop reading. You are one of the lucky ones. Conversely, if you dream of working less, while making (or donating) more money, it is absolutely vital to continue reading.
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Most employees are liars.
Bold statement? Yes. The truth? You bet. The reason being is their thoughts on income are flat wrong. Even those who remember to calculate take home as their actual income are not 100% correct. Thus, each time a worker figures their hourly rate, they are lying to themselves and every person they tell. Here’s why:
Scenario: Paul, a single man, is hired as the new network admin of a medium sized business in Illinois. He signs the contract at the agreed upon $60,000 a year salary plus benefits, paid biweekly. Which is $28.85/hour on a promised standard 40-hour workweek. Great! Or is it? Let’s see what happens to that money by the end of the day: [click to continue…]
As you begin your lifestyle as an entrepreneur, everyone will have an opinion. Critics might tell you to instead look for a new job or that your system simply won’t work. Worst yet, there will be a huge influx of people giving advice. With a flood of conflicting views and information, whom do you trust? Answer: No one. Or to be more accurate, no one who has yet to walk in your shoes – AKA advisors.
Advisors will have suggestions usually directly related to their experiences. Employees who advise you know the business of working for someone. Small business owners [click to continue…]
“Entrepreneurship is living a few years of your life like most people won’t, so that you can spend the rest of your life like most people can’t.”
~ Unknown
The majority of the world’s employees will never take the leap into entrepreneurship due to an unfortunate reality; they have grown accustomed to a paycheck. When the thought of exchanging work for a steady income becomes one’s mindset, the prospect of starting a business fades exponentially each pay period. While not as powerful an addiction as drugs or gambling (or as with my addiction, golf), this craving for safe and recurring pay psychologically destroys all but a slim chance of breaking the cycle and building a business.
You’re on the Right Road
Seeing as you’re reading this, you either understand the benefits of entrepreneurship or have already joined the club. If your business concept is in its infancy the probability of launching will be directly correlated with how well you answer this question: can you work for weeks, sometimes months on end in lieu of little to no pay without any guarantee of success?
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Across the globe a newspaper cannot be read or a TV watched without hearing about record amounts of foreclosures, bankruptcies, and layoffs. Scrambling to regain their financial footing, Americans are hindered by one major illusory obstacle almost impossible to overcome: the rat race. Getting caught in this rat race is a slippery slope that far too many people unknowingly become trapped in, with little possibility of escaping.
The scenario starts shortly after college:
A once financially broke student (lets call him Steve) starts his first [click to continue…]
