In general, there are three ways of becoming ultra-successful financially. You can:
- Become a virtuoso.
- Invest successfully.
- Start a business.
Becoming a virtuoso – somebody who is highly skilled at what they do – is challenging. In almost every field of human endeavour, there is a lot of competition, be it music, art, sports, or literature. Yes, people like Stephen King and Luciano Pavarotti made hundreds of millions of dollars in their careers, but they are very much the exception. 99.9 percent of people who enter these fields never get that type of success.
The ordinary man can become financially successful through investing, but again, it isn’t a particularly appealing route to wealth. You have to spend years of your life cutting spending to the bone while working as hard as you can – often seven days a week – perhaps in a job that you don’t like.
Investors on relatively high incomes – $65,000 or more – can become millionaires in the space of around fifteen years, if the market performs. But to get to that point, they need to spend at least the first ten years without a car, never going on vacation, and not spending any money at all (essentially ruling out a family). The costs are high.
The third option is to start up a business. In general, it is the only viable route to success for most aspirational people. When you set up a new brand, you’re able to leverage society’s resources without relying exclusively on your own. That’s what makes it so different from the other two approaches mentioned above.
Here are some of the reasons why setting up a business is one of the only practical routes to success:
It Automates Cash Generation
In a regular job, you have to give up your time to earn money. What’s more, the amount of money you earn is proportional to the time that you dedicate (in many cases). You could work longer hours, but that would likely leave you feeling exhausted, preventing you from enjoying yourself.
Businesses, though, are automated. We’re not talking about technology here necessarily. Instead, we’re referring to the fact that owners don’t usually have to do much, particularly when they can afford to hire competent managers to take care of their enterprises for them.
It’s Low Cost
Setting up a business is also surprisingly inexpensive these days, particularly if you live in a Western country.
There are, of course, filing fees, but these are low. And you don’t even need an office. Many companies use a virtual PO box instead, giving them an address but without any of the overhead of actually having to rent somewhere.
With the power of the internet, running a company can be even cheaper. Course hosts, for instance, can make thousands of dollars per hour simply because they have so many paying clients, wanting to use their services at the same time.
It’s Fulfilling
Lastly, running a business is much more fulfilling than spending years of your life in a job you dislike. Often, there’s no sacrifice. There’s just the fun of the work.
