If You Want to Get Rich, DON’T Start a Business

This is Bill. Every morning, he wakes up to the sound of a piercing alarm, dreading the day ahead at a job he despises. He feels trapped, undervalued, and like he’s not making any progress in life. Bill comes to the conclusion that the only way out of this situation is to start a business and become his own boss. So he quits his job and goes for it. Now, I’m sure you want this story to have a happy ending. However, life doesn’t really work like that.

As a multi-millionaire businessman, I’ve seen hundreds of people who quit their jobs and start their own businesses. And only a small percentage of them end up being successful. That’s because—and I’m not going to sugarcoat it—most people don’t have what it takes to be an entrepreneur. So, before you think about starting any kind of business, make sure you take the following five steps.

Step 1: Kill Your Delusion

You’ve been fed the lie that becoming a successful entrepreneur is all about coming up with the perfect idea. They want you to believe that the only thing that stands in your way is that lightbulb moment, and once you have it, everything will go perfectly. That’s because selling this delusion is highly profitable.

I mean, I’m sure you’ve seen the headlines like “How I built a million-dollar business in 30 days” or “How I fired my boss and started my own business”. These stories might be true, but they’re very out of the ordinary, and they don’t take into account all the previous failures that that person had to go through to get to where they are today. Media outlets and social media gurus make things sound easy so that they can capitalize off your delusion. But guess what? You’re being lied to.

In order to become successful in business, you need to burst this bubble of lies. Otherwise, it will be burst for you, and trust me, this is way more damaging. For me, this harsh reality check happened very early on. I shared my business plans with a friend, and he stole all my ideas and set up a business for himself. Fortunately, I didn’t have many options, like a fancy degree to fall back on, so I had no choice but to adapt and come up with a new strategy. I suppose that’s the difference between wanting it to work and needing it to. When you’re left with no other options, you’re much more likely to come out on top.

I see way too many people giving up when they hit that first big challenge, as they can’t understand why it’s not working out perfectly like they were led to believe. But I’ve got some news for you: successful people aren’t business gods who get it right every time. Most entrepreneurs are winging it. They’ve never got all the answers. I mean, the majority of businesses on Shark Tank and Dragon’s Den, they failed, and they’ve got billionaires backing them. Your biggest heroes have probably faced more struggles than most, but that’s the reason you’re inspired by them. After every setback, they pulled themselves together and came back bigger and better than before.

So, kill your delusion, expect failure, and accept that success doesn’t come easy.

Step 2: Replace Your Friends

In my early 20s, I spent every waking hour building my first business. I was so obsessed that I didn’t even notice how lonely I was deep down. A recent national survey by Cigna actually showed that almost half of Americans report feeling lonely, and I suspect this is much higher for entrepreneurs. I worked so hard for so long, and when I finally came up for air, I realized I’d lost almost all my friends. And the friends that I still had could no longer relate to my mindset, lifestyle, or struggles.

If you’re anything like me, then you’re bound to experience something similar, and the more successful you get, the more the disconnect will grow. For some time, I felt lost and alone, thinking that I was the problem. But then it hit me like a ton of bricks: outgrowing old friends is a painful, yet inevitable part of the growth process. If your friends aren’t prepared to grow with you, then you shouldn’t be wasting your valuable time with them.

Now is the time to seek out new people who are willing to level up alongside you. That’s why it could be a great idea to have a co-founder, as they’re in the trenches with you, and you’re able to motivate each other when you’re feeling down. Just be careful when you’re selecting your co-founder because this is the person you’re going to be spending a significant amount of time with—even more than your family. So, it’s very important that you know how this person reacts through tough times.

It’s also a good idea to join communities full of other entrepreneurs. I run one of the biggest free Discord servers called “Strike It Big,” and you’re very welcome to join. There’s about 30,000 entrepreneurs in there discussing all things business and making money. I’ll leave a link in the description below. It’s completely free. So, replace your friends, find like-minded people, and never look back.

Step 3: Rethink Money

My friend Daniel Priestly used to struggle with closing high-value deals in his job as a salesman. The truth is, he felt uncomfortable asking for large sums of money because he placed too much value on it himself. Potential customers could sense his awkwardness when discussing money, which would often lead to him losing a deal at the final hurdle. That’s when his mentor had to step in. He told him to carry $1,000 in cash in his pocket wherever he went. At first, he thought this was crazy, but he followed the advice and scraped together all of the money he had at the time. Because he was carrying it around every day, it quickly started to feel insignificant and little more than pocket change. It completely adjusted his attitude towards money and helped him become a multimillionaire in his early 20s.

If you currently work a day job, you probably have this issue as well, without even knowing it. But if you want to be successful in business, then you have to believe that there is so much money out there waiting to be grabbed, and most importantly, not be afraid to spend it. As a business owner, I have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars this month alone without hesitation, because I know that investing in my business, whether in staff, stock, or technology, will have a positive effect in the long term. So you need to stop thinking of money as a valuable asset that’s hard to get and start viewing it as a tool to build wealth.

Step 4: Maximize Efficiency

Did you know that 72% of all small business owners struggle with feeling overwhelmed? It’s no wonder they feel this way, given the constant pressure to meet daily targets, make decisions about the future of the business, and generate revenue, all while trying to maintain some kind of social life. You just have so many plates to spin as an entrepreneur. That’s why when someone says to me, “You’re the boss, you can take the day off,” it really ticks me off. When you work a normal job, you only have to focus on the day ahead. After work, you can go home and relax. However, for a business owner, it’s very hard to ever switch off. You know that you’re solely responsible for making sure the money keeps flowing. That’s why I hate it when people put down normal jobs. Not everyone wants the stress that comes with running a business, and that is completely fine.

However, for those of you like me that have a burning desire to do business, there is a way to maximize efficiency and keep things running smoothly. The biggest thing that’s helped me manage my stress levels over the years is putting in place great systems and processes. This is because, from my experience, the most stress comes from when your business is reliant on people. It’s easy to get caught up in the thrill of starting a new business, but have you ever thought about what happens when your business grows and one of your key employees suddenly leaves? That’s where having systems and processes in place comes in. Think of it like a big manual to your business that anyone can follow, even if they’re not familiar with your specific company. It’s important to start thinking about this early on, because as your business grows, it will become harder and harder to keep track of everything. This also has the added benefit of making the business far more attractive to potential buyers in the future, as they know that they have a full guide of how to operate that business and get a return on their investment.

So, think ahead, maximize efficiency, and get your systems and processes in place before it’s too late.

Step 5: Become a Wolf

If you want to become successful, then you need to build some kind of team. If you think you can do it all alone, then you’re sorely mistaken. You need a pack. Now, I want you to imagine you have an extremely successful business, but you’re running it all by yourself. You’re making great money, but it’s coming at the cost of your relationships and experiences. So you decide it’s time to hire your first employee. I know this might seem like a million miles away at the moment, but stick with me. Just imagine all the little tasks you could take off your plate and give to someone else to take care of. Just the thought of that seems pretty exciting, but at the same time, it comes with a lot of challenges and potential mistakes.

I remember hiring my first employee to serve customers in my shop. It was such a relief to have someone there to help me. If I ask you to describe exactly what kind of employee you would want in the future, then you’d probably outline someone that is very similar to yourself. But this is the completely wrong way of looking at it. The truth is, you’re never going to find someone exactly like you, because if they were, then they’d be running a competing business. The key is to hire people who are better than you in different areas. This way, they don’t just do what you would do, they actually level up your business by doing it better. So pick the members of your “wolf pack” strategically, and share your success with them along the way.

Look, starting a business is not for everyone, but quitting my job and starting a business was the best thing I ever did. So as long as you’re confident and you can handle the challenges ahead of you, then my advice would be, go for it.