Have you ever wondered who those people are that travel to the great places of the world whenever they want? And those that are at restaurants at 2PM, 4PM, who don’t seem to be on a schedule? How about those that drive the amazing cars you see on the road, or those that play golf in the afternoon? How about those at the gym in the middle of the day or out on their boats on Monday morning? What do they all have in common? How can they do that when everyone else has to go to a job and work 8-10 hours a day and then wake up to do it all over again the next day?
You’ll probably be shocked to hear that the common denominator is not education, sex or ethnic background. And you’ll be even more shocked to know that they all didn’t get lucky and won the lottery or received a big inheritance. In fact, did you know that only 8% of the affluent actually inherited their wealth? So what’s the common denominator? The answer is that the vast majority of those people actually… OWN THEIR OWN BUSINESS.
Business owners in general, have greater income potential, higher net-worth and what’s probably most important; FREE TIME TO ENJOY THEIR lives. In the animal world there is a food chain. In our world there’s also a “food chain” of sorts and is based on how much money you make and how much FREEDOM you have to enjoy it! Take a look the table below. Start at the bottom and work your way to the top.
Absent from this list, is the mystical “investor” that lives of his “wealth.” This fictional character doesn’t really exist. Even successful investors are truly “business owners.” Their business is to manage and grow their investments. Nothing grows or works by itself. I have friends that are real state or stock market investors, so one could say they make their money from being an “investor”, implying that money is working for them, and they do nothing to earn it. That couldn’t be further from the truth. The investors I know work very hard every day to make sure their “business”, those investments they own, are actually producing income. Mind you, the work may not be extremely hard, but it’s work none the less. They have to pay attention to their investments, be in contact with the key people running it, keeping up with trends that may change the value of their portfolios, and so much more. Now, understand that these rare individuals do have an enormous amount of freedom and they have an amazing financial capability to do much of what they want, and for the most part, they appear to be doing nothing but enjoying their lives. Even though this is true, they are not some disconnected, do nothing, that just lives off his or her “investment” income. Don’t be deceived by that. To prove my point, I want you to think of Warren Buffet, one of the most, if not the most, successful investor of all times, and you’ll realize what I mean. He could be perceived as an investor, when in reality his business, Berkshire Hathaway, is in the investment business; but Warren Buffet is in reality a business owner, that spends lots of time managing his business, doing speeches, speaking to the media, and making deals to keep his investments on track. Think about it, if even Warren Buffet has to do this, then the much talked about “investor” is nothing but a mystical figure that truly does not exist. Or perhaps better explained ,they are the evolution of the successful business owner, that eventually migrates to making ‘their business,’ the business of managing their wealth.
These people all began their journey to business ownership and ultimate FREEDOM when the ENTREPRENEURIAL dream sparked inside of them and they ventured to start a new business activity. More than 20 years ago, I started on that same journey. I went from an employed stock boy in a shoe store at the mall to a self-employed representative with a financial services company that later on offered me the opportunity to become a business owner, and I took it.
Becoming a successful business owner could be achieved by anyone. You can start this journey from zero or from very humble background. Such is my story and you can read more about it, here.
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