The Importance of Entrepreneurship
I phoned an acquaintance of mine today to invite him to take a look at one of the many business ventures that I am involved with. This was a young guy, he is newly married and he is starting out in his chosen profession, in other words, he has the world at his feet. Unfortunately his reply did not surprise me as much as it should. He told me that he was putting all his efforts into his job and career, so he did not have time to look at other options.
To some of you this might seem like a reasonable response, and perhaps even a good mentality. I’m going to be very honest with you and tell you that this philosophy is one of the most dangerous traps an ambitious person can fall into. Why? Let me explain.
There is one little nugget of wisdom that any financial adviser will tell you at some point or another. That piece of wisdom is that you should never put all your eggs in one basket. Most people will agree, right? Doesn’t it make so much sense? After all, what will happen if one basket falls down and all your eggs break? If you’ve followed the right advice, you will still have tons of eggs in lots of other baskets. But the same people that hear this and think its great are the same people that are sweating it out at one job, and trying to climb up one corporate ladder.
The secret is to start building your own ladder on the side. Or better yet, start building a money tree; in other words, many, many ladders, as many as you can. If one branch dies, or one ladder falls, and stops giving you fruit, that’s fine because you will be covered.
Starting your own small business on the side is easy. Money is out there for the taking. Buy a bicycle and rent it out, do whatever it takes, but get to it. The only retirement that you are sure to have, is the one that you make for yourself.
A multi-millionaire once told me that ‘as long as you’re alive, life will happen’. I repeat, as long as you’re alive, life will happen. Don’t put all your hopes and dreams on your job, or on a single stream of income. Broaden your horizons and be on the lookout for the many opportunities out there.
And most importantly, enjoy your business.
Simon
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