Connect with us

Success Advice

4 Habits Of The Highly Successful Business Owner Next Door!

Published

on

Image Credit: Unsplash


Author Thomas J Stanley has been examining the super rich for years, his book “The Millionaire Next Door,” became a New York Times bestseller. Dr. Stanley’s main thesis is that the rich live within their means while the wannabe-rich use status symbols (BMWs, Rolexes, Grey Goose vodka) to try to transplant themselves from one economic class to another without doing the hard work of actually earning a place among the super-rich. A couple years back, Thomas released “Stop Acting Rich . . . and Start Living Like a Real Millionaire”. How do you become a millionaire entrepreneur? It may not be quite the way you think. Taken from the theories of Thomas J Stanleys here are 4 habits (I’m sure there are more) to build a business like a millionaire:

 

Habits Of The Rich Neighbour Next Door

1. Choose a boring industry

I have found that the most profitable businesses are in the least sexy business categories. The scrap metal dealer or the heating and air conditioning company with the grubby vans is likely more profitable than your advertising agency or craft brewery. Generally speaking, businesses that sell to other businesses grow faster than business-to-consumer companies.

A good part of the reason boring industries are more profitable is a simple fact of supply and demand: Fewer people want to make plumbing gaskets than bake cupcakes. Pick your industry wisely.

2. Create a two-color logo

Back in 1995, I started my first business and was convinced I needed a four-color logo. By the time I printed business cards, envelopes, invoices and some basic marketing materials, I had blown through thousands of precious startup dollars. Every time I hired a new employee, I couldn’t use a basic quick-copy center to get his or her business cards. Instead, I had to send the cards off to a professional printer who charged hundreds of dollars per box of fancy four-color cards.

Smart companies make do with two colors. The Nike swoosh was one color. Lululemon Athletica — two colors. John Deere is just green and yellow. Coca-Cola is and always will be red and white.

Book publishers know that two colors is plenty. When my publisher, Penguin Books, sent me mock-ups for the cover of my new book, sure enough, it was two colors. They’re smart, they’ve done the math, and they know two colors is enough to make a cover striking. When applied over thousands of copies per title and hundreds of titles each year, the money adds up.

3. Rent month-to-month

Perhaps because I blew so much money on my fancy logo, I started off skimping on office space, and I think this moderation was the main reason I was able to get my business off the ground.

My first office was my parents’ basement (five-foot ceilings and the scars on my forehead to prove it), but the price was right: $0. The next office was a spare bedroom in the $800-a-month apartment my fiancée and I rented.

I finally moved out of the house two years after starting up and rented a 100-square-foot closet (really) that had no windows and no ventilation system. In order to get any air in the closet, I had to leave the door to the hallway open, which made for some interesting encounters, given that the building was a little seedy and a hot spot for street people and panhandlers. Both my first employee and I toiled from the closet, and I paid $75 a month with no long-term commitment.

The next office cost $250 a month — and had a window. As we grew, I negotiated other month-to-month leases.

After years of skimping on digs, I screwed up. Figuring we had “graduated” as a business and were now successful, I did what Dr. Stanley would have rolled his eyes at: I signed a five-year lease on a trophy office that cost me $20,000 a month. It was way more space than we needed and had individual offices for each of my staff. It was ridiculous, and I would live to regret it. We never actually filled the space and rarely entertained clients there. After five years and $1.2 million paid in rent, my penance was over, and we moved into space that cost less than half as much, with an option (not an obligation) to take extra space if we needed it. Lesson learned.

4. Buy furniture at auction

I think office furniture actually depreciates faster than a car, which is worth 15 percent less the day you drive it off the lot. Determined to bootstrap our first few offices, I paid less than $100 per work station (chair, desk, etc.) for furniture I bought at various auctions over the years.

The best time to pick up office furniture was in 2001, just after the tech wreck, when thousands of well-funded dot-coms blew up, flooding the auction market with Aeron chairs and Herman Miller desks available for pennies on the dollar. In my opinion, we’re in the midst of another enormous technology bubble that will end with a “pop,” and then you too can pick up furniture for a pittance. In the meantime, keep an eye out for auctions in your town.

Here are some highlights from the Washington Post

  • Eighty-six percent of all prestige or luxury makes of motor vehicles are driven by people who are not millionaires.
  • Typically, millionaires pay about $16 (including tip) for a haircut.
  • Nearly four in 10 millionaires buy wine that costs about $10.
  • In the United States, there are nearly three times as many millionaires living in homes with a market value of less than $300,000 than there    are living in homes valued at $1 million or more.
  • Forget the Manolo Blahnik high-priced shoes. The No. 1 shoe brand worn by millionaire women is Nine West. Their favorite clothing store is Ann Taylor.What are your thoughts on this?Article By John Warrillow from Built To Sell

I am the the Founder of Addicted2Success.com and I am so grateful you're here to be part of this awesome community. I love connecting with people who have a passion for Entrepreneurship, Self Development & Achieving Success. I started this website with the intention of educating and inspiring likeminded people to always strive for success no matter what their circumstances. I'm proud to say through my podcast and through this website we have impacted over 200 million lives in the last 10 years.

Advertisement
3 Comments

3 Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Success Advice

How Your Beliefs Can Supercharge or Sabotage Your Success

Your life is dictated by beliefs and biases that drive your thinking, behaviors, and decisions

Published

on

Your Beliefs Can Supercharge or Sabotage Your Success (1)
Image Credit: Midjourney

Pause for a moment and ponder two pandemic-era beliefs: First, closing schools will control the spread of a serious virus. Second, the consequences of such school closures—particularly social interruption and the prevention of immunity—are worse than becoming sick with the virus. (more…)

Continue Reading

Success Advice

How to Break the Cycles of Mediocrity and Manifest Your Greatness

There is no greatness without becoming and there is no becoming with authenticity

Published

on

Image Credit: Midjourney

In just a few weeks, we will be wrapping up 2023. Can you believe it? This year has been absolutely incredible for me.

I have seen amazing doors opened, new relationships formed and I am seeing dreams realized in my life. While this seems like the hallmarks of a great year, this has also been the most challenging year of my life. With all of the change happening in my life, I have been forced out of my comfort zone and challenged to grow in every area of my life.

I can truly say that I have made the most of my moments this year and I have used everything as a catalyst for maximizing my greatest potential.

As a revolutionary leader, I have the pleasure of consulting and advising leaders around the world to fulfill purpose, realize their greatest potential and make an impact.

I want to share some insights with you that will help you to break cycles of mediocrity and manifest your greatness

Everything legal must come through the matrix

I am sure that some of you are wondering why I am using the term matrix. However, what you have to understand is that I am trying to make a highly complex spiritual principle practical to understand.

Regardless of your spiritual beliefs, every life has an origin and I believe that origin is divine and begins with eternity. You are birthed from eternity and into time to fulfill a unique purpose and assignment in your lifetime and generation.

The matrix is simply the portal or vehicle that brings something out of the invisible realm and into tangible form. The problem with much of the teaching today is that it excludes the matrix. We are told to believe that success is instantaneous and overnight.

Nobody talks about how a dream progresses through stages beginning with visualization and ultimately culminating in manifestation. Without a matrix or portal then everything that you attempt to birth and build will be illegal.

The matrix not only makes you legal but it gives you the authority and power to function as the greatest expression of who you were created to be. 

Every matrix has an incubation process

While many people admire and respect me today, I remember a time when nobody knew who I was or the significance of my message. How did I get to where I am today? I got here through an incubation process.

In other words, everything that has been destined for your life is incubating and awaiting a set time of manifestation. The problem is that most people live their entire lives idle and never initiate the incubation process.

What do I meany by that? Most people are living reckless and very few people are living intentionally. I am amazed at the number of people I have conversations with that have no vision, goals or strategies for their lives. They show great promise and they have undeniable potential.

However, without development they will die with their dreams still in them.

Everything that has been destined for your life must be incubated and converted to become realities born to time. 

“Visualize this thing that you want, see it, feel it, believe in it. Make your mental blueprint and begin to build.” – Robert Collier

You must give expression to that which is not yet born to time

When you think about a matrix or a prophetic incubation process, you have to understand that potential is often unrealized and untapped. In other words, your potential is in raw form and your potential cannot serve you as long as it is untapped.

The thing that makes me valuable is that I have the ability to convert potential into power. I have done it in my own life and I have empowered leaders around the world to do the same. How do you convert potential into power?

First, it is important to note that you have to perceive potential. If you cannot perceive your potential then you can never cultivate your potential. In addition, you must take the time to cultivate your potential. We often get excited about our capabilities; however, we never expand our capacity in order to realize our greatest potential.

In other words, the strength of your potential is only discovered through your willingness to stretch. The more we are challenged the more we are empowered to expand our capacity for greatness. Most of all, you must begin to express your potential. The expression of potential is different for every person.

For example, the expression of my potential is best demonstrated through the thoughts, ideas, products, services, books, etc.

For another person the expression of potential may look like a screenplay, artwork, sports, scientific discoveries, medical breakthroughs, etc.

Regardless of the form of expression, I know that you will live empty and unfulfilled until you make the decision to express your potential. The expression of your potential gives voice to your dreams, life to your vision, significance to your moments and activates your true power.

You must manifest your greatness

As a revolutionary thinker and leader, my work has impacted people around the world. I am grateful that my life is a source of empowerment to so many people. However, before anyone could ever benefit from my life, I had to make a non-negotiable decision to become who I was born to be.

I wish I could tell you that this journey is easy and that you will get there overnight. However, in a world that celebrates us for doing we are often criticized for being. As a result, I wasted a lot of time trying to be who other people wanted me to be instead of being who I was born to be.

There is no greatness without becoming and there is no becoming with authenticity. It is through our bravery to be vulnerable that we ultimately manifest our greatness. We do not bless the world by being a duplicate. We bless the world when we honor our difference. When you honor your difference you honor your potential.

Ultimately, your difference is how you manifest your greatness.

When you present anything but your authentic self to the world, you are playing small and you are robbing the world of your significance. Manifesting your greatness requires you to master your gifts.

Continue Reading

Success Advice

Here’s a Young Man’s Antidote for the Uncertainty of the Modern World

Why do a lot of young guys lack confidence in today’s world? 

Published

on

How to boost your confidence
Image Credit: Midjourney

We all have been told that confidence is a key factor in achieving success and happiness in life. But what is it exactly? (more…)

Continue Reading

Success Advice

Toxic Leadership: 5 Ways to Identify a Bad Leader

if you have a leader who displays any of the toxic traits, it’s time to move on to greener pastures.

Published

on

Toxic leadership
Image Credit: Midjourney

Let’s be honest, we’ve all crossed paths with a toxic leader in our careers at some point. Unfortunately, while some toxic leaders don’t even bother to hide their behaviour, some know very well how to conceal their true selves behind a strong-built facade. The latter is the most dangerous of the two. (more…)

Continue Reading

Trending