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

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In my life I've always needed a huge "WHY". Why get up early. Why work so hard. Why bother at all. In my office wedged between the window trim and wall are 3 individual photos of my nearest and dearest, ( wife and kids) taken at high points during my life. In my wallet I have a small version of these photos thus giving me constant reminders that my family need me constantly and are relying wholeheartly on me to succeed.

The best WHY I have ever come across is this: YOU ARE GOING TO DIE. When you die, that half-finished sudoku puzzle will never be solved, those books you haven't read will never be read, those things on your bucket list that haven't been crossed off will never be crossed off. You will go into the ground. And right before you go, you will think "Oh shit, this is it, no more second chances".

Imagine you are on your deathbed, and suddenly a voice says: "I'm going to transport you back to the age of [whatever age you are now]." How happy would you be? What would you give for such an opportunity? What wouldn't you give? What would you do? Well... you have that opportunity right now, and it's free.

This isn't meant for you specifically, your WHY is a great one. But I thought I'd mention it, if we're on the topic of WHY's.
 
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Jake

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The best WHY I have ever come across is this: YOU ARE GOING TO DIE. When you die, that half-finished sudoku puzzle will never be solved, those books you haven't read will never be read, those things on your bucket list that haven't been crossed off will never be crossed off. You will go into the ground. And right before you go, you will think "Oh shit, this is it, no more second chances".

Imagine you are on your deathbed, and suddenly a voice says: "I'm going to transport you back to the age of [whatever age you are now]." How happy would you be? What would you give for such an opportunity? What wouldn't you give? What would you do? Well... you have that opportunity right now, and it's free.

This isn't meant for you specifically, your WHY is a great one. But I thought I'd mention it, if we're on the topic of WHY's.
This x1000
Hence my avatar.

I've known too many people who have met early graves.
 

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Here is one more:

Don't force this if it isn't your calling... Entrepreneurs are usually entrepreneurs long before reading a book on the topic!

I have seen too many people try to start ventures only to waste money and fail even with my help because they are not self motivated.
 
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The podcast based on this thread where I name-checked several of you is now available :

http://www.twincitiesnewstalk.com/m...r-business-advice-from-entrepeneurs-25765889/

The end of the show got a little rough with the live reading of your posts... but still I think a super valuable recap, especially for people who need a little encouragement or inspiration.

IceCreamKid won the contest, and opted for the cash. :)
 
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Unknown

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I enjoyed the show. To anyone reading this thread. If you're not inspired to go out and do something by at least one of these quotes then this may not be the path for you.
 

HowToMillion

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I've been a wantrepreneur for as long as I can remember. For so many books I have read, nothing that struck me more than MJ's book. It lays almost every fundamentals/foundation I needed. Knowing "what it takes" in the first place, I think is vital. Thus, solving a multi-variabled equation using only one is so tough if not impossible.
 

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I've been a wantrepreneur for as long as I can remember. For so many books I have read, nothing that struck me more than MJ's book. It lays almost every fundamentals/foundation I needed. Knowing "what it takes" in the first place, I think is vital. Thus, solving a multi-variabled equation using only one is so tough if not impossible.

So... what? How long until you move into the next book?

There is one thing I have determined about reading. Reading, in and of itself, doesn't make any money.

So now what?
 

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Round II is coming up this Monday night.

After having a blast speaking to marketing and small business college students at the local community college, I was asked to come to the Carlson School of Management and speak to their MBA students this coming Monday night. This got serious really quick. :)

I've been F*cking around in Florida all week, hanging out on the Gulf Coast and betting on horses at Tampa Bay Downs. I've spent almost zero time thinking about how to alter the content we all came up with to address an MBA type of crowd.

Should be interesting. The message is the same. We'll probably get into more hard core macro and micro economic theory vs. real world experience. Hopefully I can give them some wisdom drawn from the pages of this thread that they'll never hear about in their MBA classroom lectures. I assume this is a bit older crowd, but I think leading with MJ's "why are you here" intro from this thread will probably resonate with them.
 

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As I get ready to talk with MBA classes tonight at the University of Minnesota Carlson School of Management, I realized... I am perfectly suited for this topic.

Tonight I am talking about why businesses fail. As you guys know, the #1 reason businesses fail is they had no value proposition (or in Fast Lane terms, they failed to meet the commandment of NEED.)

My specialty. I'm a friggin' expert in how to do shit wrong! :)

I'll probably talk all night.
 
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Here was one of my best failures. I'll talk about this one tonight. This was epic. We spent $50k in consumer advertising on it (think about that...), and it was copied all across the country before we knew it was dead. Classic case where you can't listen to everyone tell you how brilliant you are. It wasn't.

 

throttleforward

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Here was one of my best failures. I'll talk about this one tonight. This was epic. We spent $50k in consumer advertising on it (think about that...), and it was copied all across the country before we knew it was dead. Classic case where you can't listen to everyone tell you how brilliant you are. It wasn't.


Was the advertising bought in advance of establishing whether consumers would be interested, or was there something else that prevented this from being a success? Edit: I assumed this was before the advent of widespread smartphone use, but the date on the youtube video is 2010. Perhaps that was the reason for failure.
 
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I guess the problem I see with the emergency card is that if I'm forgetting my money I probably forgot the card too. Your idea might actually work as an app, because very few people ever forget their phone. The Uber card :p
 

Alex Fields

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Ive been an entrepreneur for the last 3 years and if there is one advice I can give to myself and you guys.
Action beats meditation anytime!

I`m considered an expert in my field that I do business in but I dont earn what in my eyes I deserve.
Why ? Because Ive spend to much learning and not enough taking action.

Now im doing the opposite and only learn what I need to implement rightaway.
 

Brentnal

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Here is one more:

Don't force this if it isn't your calling... Entrepreneurs are usually entrepreneurs long before reading a book on the topic!

I have seen too many people try to follow me and start similar ventures only to waste money and fail even with my help because they are not self motivated.

This is so me, i am just doing this for the money. But i got this fear of not getting rich and being a wage slave i can't stop.
 
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Andy Black

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Ive been an entrepreneur for the last 3 years and if there is one advice I can give to myself and you guys.
Action beats meditation anytime!

I`m considered an expert in my field that I do business in but I dont earn what in my eyes I deserve.
Why ? Because Ive spend to much learning and not enough taking action.

Now im doing the opposite and only learn what I need to implement rightaway.
Great first post.

EDIT: AWESOME first post.
 

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The value proposition was wrong. The service was too expensive to do what it needed to do, making the cost of providing the service cost prohibitive. The advertising was the method of marketing. Everyone liked the idea, but when it came time to pony up cash, all I heard was crickets chirping. We ended up fighting a lot of battles at high schools (the anti-drug crowd hated us and saw us as enablers) so the high school market was taken out of the game. Bottom line is not all ideas are good ideas, regardless of what your Mom tells you about yours. It was replicated across the country (by 50+ copycats), and all examples met with a similar (and somewhat enjoyable to watch from my vantage point) demise. One by one, they all hemoraged and died.
 

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We ended up fighting a lot of battles at high schools (the anti-drug crowd hated us and saw us as enablers) so the high school market was taken out of the game.
That's certainly an angle I wouldn't have expected! (Those quotes about plans not surviving first contact comes to mind.)
 
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That's certainly an angle I wouldn't have expected! (Those quotes about plans not surviving first contact comes to mind.)

We walked into one meeting that was memorable. We thought we were going to present to a school board, and instead were hammered by organized opposition. It was crazy. People with a special interest, and we threatened to provide a solution that eliminated part of the problem that fueled their special interest. Mind you... they had never spoken with us before the meeting where they crucified us.

But I digress. Back to the thread.
 

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I got some formal feedback from the students regarding some of your ideas and quotations. I will post some of the relevant and reoccurring comments tomorrow. Interesting what resonates with the average college student/business major.
 

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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.)
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.)

Help Change this world we live in now. Help change what is being taught at local schools about dreams not of ones self but another's dream. Teach us to live our dream..
 
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randomnumber314

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We walked into one meeting that was memorable. We thought we were going to present to a school board, and instead were hammered by organized opposition. It was crazy. People with a special interest, and we threatened to provide a solution that eliminated part of the problem that fueled their special interest. Mind you... they had never spoken with us before the meeting where they crucified us.

But I digress. Back to the thread.

So they were upset that you were solving the issue they had an interest in stopping?
 

Iwokeup

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So they were upset that you were solving the issue they had an interest in stopping?
They were interested in the issue that gave their group existence and meaning.
 

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