You’ve decided to take the leap into entrepreneurship. After reading countless motivational stories about billionaire entrepreneurs who faced failures, you feel confident in your resilience. You’re thinking, “Even if I fail, I’ll keep pushing forward, developing new businesses. Success is bound to happen eventually, thanks to the law of averages!” And you’re right – at least, in theory.
You’ve chosen a booming industry, maybe even the mobile sector, and assembled a competent team.
You’re all set to start!
But before you hit the ground running, let me share one crucial insight with you. It’s the final piece of the puzzle, the billion-dollar paradox that no one seems to talk about. Without understanding this paradox, your chances of becoming a billionaire are slim. Grasp it, use it, and you’ll be one step closer to massive wealth!
First, let’s set the stage. We need to dive into the intricacies of the business world – understand its hidden dynamics and how its players interact. We’ll start by exploring a few smaller paradoxes that lead to the big one. Ready? Let’s dive in.
Paradox #1: Entrepreneurs Dislike Traditional Jobs
It’s true – most entrepreneurs aren’t natural businessmen or managers. Consider a typical businessman for a moment. He thrives in a structured 9-to-5 job, enjoys the corporate environment, and loves departmentalization with tidy labels like H.R. or R&D. Businessmen also relish working with accountants – it’s just how they’re wired.
Now, don’t get me wrong – businesspeople are essential. However, you probably don’t aspire to be one of them. You want to be an entrepreneur, right?
The Entrepreneurial Mindset
Entrepreneurs typically couldn’t care less about the structured corporate world. They despise the illusion of security that a 9-to-5 job brings.
Entrepreneurs are often outspoken leaders. They’re dynamic, chaotic, and diverse. Because of this, they usually hate accounting and other routine tasks. Entrepreneurs are far more excited about starting new ventures and taking risks compared to businessmen.
They value the real-world impact of their businesses more than quarterly profits or shareholder returns. As a result, investors have a complicated relationship with entrepreneurs, often preferring to trust their money to corporate businessmen.
Paradox #2: Entrepreneurs Struggle with Long-Term Growth
While being an entrepreneur is thrilling, it comes with a paradox. Entrepreneurs often find it challenging to manage long-term business growth because of their inherently volatile nature. If you’re an entrepreneur, you’re constantly itching to start something new, grow a fresh business, or invest in a groundbreaking idea that could change the world. This approach is exciting, but it can – and often does – backfire.
The “screw it, let’s do it” mentality, popularized by billionaire entrepreneur Richard Branson, sounds fantastic for startups. However, it’s less effective when managing a medium-sized or large business, which requires focus and a cautious approach.
Running a large company involves overseeing dozens or even hundreds of employees and managing millions in venture capital. You can’t afford to gamble with that. And yet, another paradox emerges: despite these challenges, entrepreneurs are more likely to become incredibly wealthy than most would assume.
Paradox #3: Most Billionaires Are Entrepreneurs
Indeed, most of the world’s billionaires are entrepreneurs, not traditional businesspeople. They’ve learned how to transform their ventures from hands-on jobs into automated systems. They achieve this by hiring a skilled businessman as CEO and letting him run the company while they move on to their next venture. This cycle is what keeps the momentum going.
Make no mistake, billionaires dislike the idea of a ‘job’ as much as anyone else. So, why not hire a businessman who thrives in that environment?
Successful entrepreneur-billionaires have mastered the art of working with businessmen. They know how to recruit them, place them at the helm of their growing startups, and leverage their skills to automate the business. This is how they turn their ‘startup job’ into a self-sustaining enterprise.
This is precisely how they become billionaires!
Finding the Right Person
The final challenge you’ll face, should you choose this path to billions, is supervising the businessman you’ve hired. Ensure he’s doing a great job. It’s a win-win situation: you’ll have more free time to pursue new ventures, and the businessman gets what he wants – a secure 9-to-5 job.
Keep Innovating!
While overseeing your chosen CEO, restart the cycle. Grow as many businesses as you can. Experiment and see what works. If one venture grows to the point where your “screw it, let’s do it” management style no longer applies, start searching for CEO-like businessmen to bring on board.
Unfortunately, those CEOs will likely never become billionaires. But you will. I genuinely hope you do. Soon, you’ll have multiple automated businesses, generating substantial wealth. But remember, it’s not all about the money, right? Or… is it?