After building a 7 figure income from scratch in the past 24 months, there are 5 Components of Successful Entrepreneurship that I feel are critical in order to truly succeed in today’s marketplace.
I shared this information on my sister in law’s Internet Radio Show called Nothing But the Truth with Anh Vu on Money Mondays, so just in case you missed the show LIVE, here are my notes:
#1 – Know Exactly Why You Want to be an Entrepreneur
Your reasons for wanting to be successful have to be much more than just “making money”.
Now of course making money is great but you must know exactly why you want to make a lot of money.
It could be that you want more free time for yourself, or time w/ your spouse, or kids.
Or perhaps you want a more flexible schedule to do whatever you want, like workout everyday or travel, or take more vacations.
Or perhaps you want to pay off your bills or become free from debt and reduce the fear, stress or anxiety that you feel from financial pressures and obligations.
Or… maybe you have a much bigger vision that includes restoring water for a 3rd world country or perhaps building a chain of fitness centers around the world, or perhaps even helping to find a cure for cancer through extensive monetary contributions for research.
Ultimately, whatever your reasons for wanting to be a successful entrepreneur, as long as those reasons are bigger than the challenges that you will encounter along the way, you will always have the edge over your competition when it comes to making your dreams come true.
Now I don’t like to tell people what to want or what to do – I will only share here what I wanted and what I did to get it.
Me personally, my goal was to start working for myself part time, so that eventually, I could go full time.
Then, my goal was to work only part time – but make a full time income.
Sometimes, part time even means “no time”, because there have been times that I don’t work at all, for days, even weeks, if I don’t want to, or even can’t, as was the case of when I was in the hospital earlier this summer and needed extra recovery time when I returned home to my family.
In the wake of “no time”, my wife & I are still able to earn many thousands of dollars on a daily basis, whether we work on our business or not.
And yes, this is a part of what we wanted to achieve when we first got started – to work less, but earn more, so that we could spend more time together and with our 2 boys, Carter & Legend.
As you will read below, this is only possible when you know how to automate and create leverage through different processes within your business, which is exactly what Sophia & I have done in the past 2 years.
But back on track here, Critical Component of Successful Entrepreneurship #1 – Know exactly why you want to be self employed.
#2 – Find a Great Mentor or Mentors
This Critical Component of Successful Entrepreneurship is often overlooked, most often by new Entrepreneurs, so, to put a stop to it right now, you want to pay close attention to this one if you are just getting your feet wet in starting your own business.
First of all, you must understand that it’s not the duty of your mentor to struggle for you, but ensure you that you struggle is absolutely worthwhile.
And struggle you will at first – unless you are one of those rare people who enter into entrepreneurship “ego-less”.
Truth be known that very few people get started that way, but learn quickly that “ego” is the #1 culprit that robs most people from the very opportunities that their mentor is showing them.
But let’s get back on track in regards to finding a great mentor.
Here’s a short list of what you should look for when selecting a mentor:
A) Your mentors should have already achieved what you are looking to achieve yourself.
It could be income, lifestyle, or both.
It could be relationships, skills or perhaps even contacts.
Don’t just randomly pick any old person to be your mentor because you like them.
It’s like they say in Hollywood, “Success is not about Show friends – that’s why it’s called show Business!”, so treat your business like a business and select a great mentor to help light your path.
B) Make sure that your mentor in business, is still IN business.
Far too often, people who have had success, stop building their business to teach others how to succeed. They start coaching programs and sell information products and this is great, but if they are not also building their primary business that made them successful, this is called “Management Mode”.
The problem with “Management Mode” is that with the ever changing landscape of the marketplace, the economy and people’s wants, needs and desires, your mentor should be constantly learning or they will fall behind and teaching you strategies that don’t work the same way today, as they did years, months, even weeks ago.
You don’t want to work with a “One Hit Wonder” that made some money back in the ’90s and now claims to know what is working today.
I see this far too often, where people hire mentors who never even really had success.
Make sure to do your research and find out if what your mentor is going to teach you, they made their fortune putting into practice, not just theory.
#3 – Choose Your Product Wisely
This is a Critical Component for several reasons.
First, make sure the Business / Product that you are marketing is in alignment with your own interests & passions.
In other words, you won’t just be working for a “living”, but for a loving!
And it will show in every way imaginable.
Because if you don’t love what you are doing, don’t have fun doing it and don’t enjoy yourself, your prospects will pick up that and find someone else to buy from.
You also want to make sure that your product is as close to whats hot on the market as possible. If you start selling vinyl records, unless you cater to an old school DJ marketplace, your probably not going to make a lot of money.
Find out what’s selling in today’s market, what people are searching for and buying no matter what the economy is doing or not, and see if it’s something that you like, enjoy or can be passionate about.
This is how fortunes are made – by doing some smart research.
#4 – Choose Your Vehicle Wisely
First, the vehicle you choose should offer you the ability to automate and leverage it’s systems and processes so that you can take off, travel, take a vacation or do whatever you want to do and never have to worry about not getting paid.
In other words, the business you choose should be able to make you lots of money and work for you, even when you don’t want to.
Plus, you want to choose the right vehicle to market your products or service because without the right vehicle, you limit yourself to what’s called Linear Income.
This means that if you work, you get paid. But if you don’t work, you don’t get paid.
When you can walk away from your business and still make money, you have Leveraged Income, which in turn, creates Lifestyle! This is when you have plenty of income coming in, repeatedly, and all the time in the world to enjoy it, while it continues to grow.
Some business models or vehicles that you can choose from include, Direct Selling, Multi-Level Marketing, Affiliate Marketing, ECommerce, Retail Sales and/or Distribution.
Each has its own pros & cons, advantages & disadvantages
And finally you want to pick a great vehicle when it cones to products and/or services you market and sell because you can be the best race car driver on the track, meaning you are great at what you do, but be in the slowest car in the race.
You’ve got to look at market trends and the state of the economy and find out what people want and are buying right now. Plus, with the US Dollar on the fall, make sure you pick a productline or service that pays you right now – not in months or years.
It’s called “Get Paid Today”, because your dollar is worth more today than it will in the next 3-5 years while the Devaluation of the American Dollar takes place.
#5 – Personal Growth & Development
This happens to be my personal favorite Critical Component and factor when it comes to being successful.
A lot of people think this is a bunch of crap, but the truth is, you will never out perform your own self image.
And typically, those people who think that personal growth & development is a bunch of crap, usually their lives are a bunch of crap.
Maybe not easily detected on the outside, but like me many years ago, on the inside there is probably a giant tornado ripping right through them whether they admit it or not.
And their bank account balance… their ego is probably bigger than their bank account.
In other words, your personal income will never exceed your personal growth.
Remember, your real product is people, so learn more about people and you will have just learned more about the real product that you market.
Start with yourself.
Read great books.
Listen to CDs and/or DVDs.
Attend LIVE Events.
Model great people and surround yourself with those who have what you want.
Be a great observer.
Be honest.
Stay humble.
And develop high levels of Integrity.
As you develop into a better leader & communicator, so will your income grow as well.
Just remember that you are exactly where you are supposed to be, so if you don’t like where you are starting, you can finish very differently.
Your future does not have to equal your past.
Personal Growth & Development is truly the key to your success!
So, there you have my 5 Critical Components to Successful Entrepreneurship.