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That "ONE SECRET", Your Best Advice for the Aspiring Entrepreneur

Vigilante

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Professor? Hardly.

In an ironic twist of fate, I am speaking to a couple of classes of small business entrepreneurs on Monday at a local community college... ironic because I flunked a few courses there in years past. (In my defense, I also happened to ace their macro and micro economics classes.)

Basically, what I was asked to speak on is thinking outside of the box. These, for the most part, are small business majors who are back in school as they are looking for continuing education, career enhancement or career changes, and inspiration. I am going to teach them how to break society's rules.

In three sentences or less, what would you put forth as your best, concise advice for wantrapreneurs?

I will take the best few responses (as voted by LIKES by our fellow forum members) and read them ver batem to the classes as part of my lecture. Our fellow forum members will determine the life changing value of your post... so choose wisely.

The deadline for submission is Sunday afternoon, so there can be enough time for your post to gain some likes before I put together my final notes Sunday evening.

Ideas could be :
favorite motivational quotes
favorite MJ DeMarco quotes from the book or otherwise
an original thought
a paraphrase of a fast lane concept

Please limit your post to three sentences or less, or a picture meme. Contest is limited to two posts max per person, so make them count. One thought or subject of three sentences or less per individual post. No duplicate posts containing anyone else's quotation.

Oh... and who ever gets the most LIKES on a single post by 3PM Central Time Sunday that meets the criteria above will get a $50 Amazon gift certificate OR a $75 donation to a non-profit charitable organization of your choice with proof of donation provided privately.

And, Tom Brady, no deflating the balls to win the game (if you know what I mean.)
 
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IceCreamKid

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1936-56ebe0373915b679079c7bfd32467ac4.jpg

Many people fail at biz due to unreasonable expectations. They fail to respect the fact that acquiring customers requires time, energy, and failure through testing/optimization. Accept that the road is hard and that process is necessary.

I hate that this advice is so general, but it truly is what I'd give to a wantrepreneur because it seems that so many think starting the next bestselling app or social network is a walk in the park. They spend a few hundred bucks on marketing then give up, assuming that the project never would've worked out.

Neat of you for taking the time out to provide some value to the young'ns. I wish somebody told me years ago to respect process.
 
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SBS.95

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"Money is like a cat. If you chase the cat, you'll never catch it. If you focus on what attracts the cat, the tuna, it will come to you."

I don't know if I got the quote exactly right. But that cat metaphor from TMF has stuck in my head like nothing else. This little contest aside, I believe you need to somehow incorporate that. People go their entire lives having a fundamentally flawed view of obtaining wealth.

---

Also, I don't know how anyone could think the ball's air pressure had an outcome on that blowout of a game. But since you're a Dallas fan, I know you're used to having excuses for anything, so I suppose I'll give it a pass and move on. ;)
 
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Unknown

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Since you brought up Brady. I'm pretty sure he could have used foam nerf balls to win that game.
 
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Solrac

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I think it comes down to this. Here are my 3 sentences.


We all want to take action, we all want x or y.
But we can't depend on ourselves for that necessarily, Ever since I started having accountability partners my business has accelerated like crazy. I think it's essential to talk about taking an idea and setting up masterminds maybe with just one person you can trust.

So yeah having people holding you reliable to actually getting it done. I mean I was a wantrepeneur for two years. I'm now an entrepreneur. Because of strategic relationships that benefit the both of us.
 

socaldude

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Be economics and value minded not money and egoism minded. Entrepreneurs seek to perpetuate economic systems or consumers by providing value given that resources are scarce. You as a business survive by helping other businesses or consumers survive. -Socaldude

This is what I would tell my 18 year old self.
 

Damage Inc.

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My contribution here is 3 quotes that all hit on the importance of giving in order to get.


"If your only goal is to become rich, you will never achieve it." -J.D. Rockefeller

"No man becomes rich unless he enriches others." -Carnegie

"I soon realized that if you give the market something it needs in terms of value, money follows." -MJ
 

Ninjakid

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Make a decision for yourself. Decide if you want to be the guy (or girl) who slacks off and makes plans they never live up to, or if you want to be the guy (or girl) who builds that business, and achieves their goals? The decisions you make every day will determine your story.
 
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socaldude

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A real entrepreneur is someone who is competitive as a Producer(Who can produce the most value) not someone who is competitive as a Consumer(Who has the most expensive watch or car). Although the former will let you win the latter...if you want :). - Socaldude

Funny how competition exists on both sides of the producer/consumer dichotomy. :rolleyes:
 
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G

GuestUser113

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You truly have to start and you have to take it in a problem by problem basis. I had
people on my forum who were talking about, "What do I do when my first million dollar client comes
in?", and I'm like, "Do you even have a product?" They're focusing on problems that may come up, may
or may not come up for months to years. That's not the way to do it, you take one problem at a time,
solve each problem and it grows one by one, step by step. That's all you're doing when you're building
a business, you're becoming a problem solver. If you're looking at problem number 38 and you haven't
even looked at number 1 yet, that's all the reason to quit. MJ DeMarco

"If you wait until all the lights are " green" before you leave home, you'll never get started on your trip to the top." - Zig Ziglar

“As a fastlaner you carry a producer mindset and the majority of people on the sidewalk carry a consumer mindset.” – MJ DeMarco
 

Kak

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Not three sentences, but three easy concepts.

1. Because I can.

2. Start now. The clock is ticking. You don't need to pay your dues, graduate or have an internship before you jump in. The day they graduate the world won't look any different. (This kind of thinking by my peers in school always bugged me.)

3. Always think scale from the beginning. Don't waste time building yourself a job.
 
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mars

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Ready. Fire. Aim. Is that three sentences? :)

Let them know that being fearful and not taking action, is still taking action. Don't stress trying to find clarity or a perfect plan before taking the next step. Taking action will bring you that clarity.
 

Kak

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1. You reap what you sow in business and life.
2. Make goals and dream big because it's free.
3. Don't start a business that isn't SCALABLE... I am aware I said this twice.
 

FLexitee

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I like the concept of making choices, and what MJ says about not following your passion.

The 3 C's of life : Choices, Chances, Changes. You must make a choice to take a chance or your life will never change.

Every morning you have two choices: Continue to sleep with dreams or wake up and chase your dreams. The choice is yours.

Also I don't remember a specific quote in MJ's book but tell them "DONT FOLLOW YOUR PASSION, FOLLOW WHAT THE MARKET IS ASKING FOR, AND THAT WILL CREATE YOUR FREEDOM TO FOLLOW YOUR PASSION"
 

vinylawesome

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“The man who can make up his mind quick, makes up other people’s minds for them. Decision is a sharp knife that cuts clear and straight and lays bare the fat and the lean; indecision is a dull one that hacks and tears and leaves ragged edges behind it.”

-John “Old Gorgon” Graham



“The real reason why the name of the boss doesn’t appear on a time-card is not because he’s a bigger man that anyone else, but because they shouldn’t be anyone around to take his time when he gets down and when he leaves.”

-John “Old Gorgon” Graham
 
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1step

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Success is a process not an event from each challenge accepted each battle won you rise stronger readier for the next.
You can think of a way to earn a dollar but between you and the possession of the dollar stands a barrier which you cannot dodge, work.
Build your own dreams or someone will hire you to help build theirs.
 
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DennisD

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Money is not hard to come by, it's earned quickly.
There is no reason to sit around all day planning, you're literally 1 months away from your big break, if you can just figure out how to get there.
Find the shortest point between concept and execution, then hustle.
 

FastNAwesome

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Failure will slap you and punch you, but eventually you'll get so good at punching back
that you'll win most matches.

Fear will throw you to the ground, and choke you with one hand, while it crushes
all your dreams with the other one...until you stop feeling desire to live.

In this life you'll have to fight, so your only choices are - TAKE CHANCES with failure, or GIVE IN to fear.

Professor? Hardly.

Professor? Easily. You already are. You're one of those good professors, who demand respect in their class and keep it old school with discipline, but who genuinely want to help their students (and who has actually done in real life what he teaches). Thanks for all the value you provide to us.
 

RHL

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1. Look at people nearing retirement it in your business niche or workplace: If you don't want to be them, stop climbing the ladder they're on top of, because that's where you'll be when you "make it."

2. You make bank by banking on below average success and letting yourself be surprised, rather than needing spectacular success to stay afloat, and then being disappointed.

3. Don't start by looking for a million dollar idea, start by finding a way to consistently get $50 an hour for your time rather than $25, and repeat the process.
 

Andy Black

Help people. Get paid. Help more people.
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  1. Your business growth is a reflection of your personal growth (business could even be seen as the truest form of self-expression).

  2. R + R = Profit (where R + R is Repeat Business and Referrals), and this won't happen if you're not adding value.

  3. Launch and Learn.
 
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