Want to be Rich? Don’t Start a Business.
The Hyperfocused Entrepreneur
October 16, 2023
Read time: 15 minutes
Too busy to read? Watch the video here.
There’s gurus all over the internet (myself included) giving the advice that if you want to win the money game, you should start a business.
But here’s the truth:
Starting a business is incredibly hard (which is why most fail within the first few years).
So, I’ve been thinking it over, trying to devise a higher probability path towards financial success, and I think I’ve found it.
And that’s what I’m gonna break down this week: A three part plan that is, at least in my opinion, the lowest risk way of winning the money game.
It starts with:
Step One: Develop a Superpower
Now, there’s two pieces of advice that make me throw up in my mouth whenever I hear them:
- Follow your Passion
- Work on your Weaknesses
The theory behind these two nuggets of well-intentioned wisdom is fine… but theory isn’t always helpful in the real world… and in my experience, these two soundbites are practically useless when it comes to making money.
First, let’s debunk the Follow Your Passion advice.
See, the truth is, we tend to enjoy the things we’re good at… and if we enjoy it we do more of it and because we do more of it we get better at it…
We as humans tend to repeat the actions for which we are rewarded…
This is called a virtuous cycle.
And it works the same way in reverse with the things we suck at.
Because we suck at them, we tend to not do them as much, which means we never really improve and therefore the sucking continues….
Here’s the takeaway:
Passion is often the byproduct of competence.
Unfortunately, most people just aren’t competent at any skills that would enable them to make large sums of money. (I know I certainly wasn’t).
Now, to make matters worse, when we’re young and in school we’re taught the importance of being “well-rounded”.
And to do that we’re told we should work on our weaknesses….
But when you do this, you just become average across the board (which isn’t terribly helpful where making money is concerned because being average means, by definition, you’re really no better or worse than pretty much everybody else).
And if you’re no better or worse than everybody else, you’re 100% replaceable.
Okay, so if pursuing our passion is misguided and working on our weaknesses just turns us into a lukewarm soup that nobody really wants, what are we to do?
Well, it’s simple…
Identify your potential Superpowers and then lean into them.
Now, when I say superpower here, what I’m really talking about are your Natural Talents.
The things that you’re just inherently good at.
For myself, when I was 28 years old and living in the back of a van, I audited my potential superpowers and realized I was an above average writer and storyteller (because these were activities my dad rewarded me for by paying me to write him short stories when I was a kid).
So I leaned into these skills and started writing science fiction novels…
Now, over the next few years I honed these natural abilities, but unfortunately, writing fiction just doesn’t pay very well unless you’re Stephen King or JK Rowling.
So I pivoted and combined my writing skills with my obsession with human psychology and I stumbled into marketing…
And voila… I struck gold.
Now, your path and your talents are probably gonna be a bit different than mine.
Maybe you’re naturally gifted at math and have a high attention to detail… your path forward might be coding.
Then again, maybe you’re an extrovert and a great verbal communicator… your path forward could be sales.
Now, if you’re watching this and you’re thinking, well that’s easy for you to say… I suck at everything.
I’ve got news for you. You don’t suck at everything, you’ve just taken for granted the things you’re naturally good at.
Often, the people around us can see our strengths better than we can. Afterall, it’s hard to see the picture when you’re inside the frame.
So if you’re struggling to identify your potential superpowers, go ask your friends and family what they’ve noticed that you’re particularly good at.
This is actually how I first learned that I was a good writer. So thanks for that insight Dad.
Also, if you’re still struggling, you can check out the video I’m gonna drop a link for in the description called “I Earned Millions With These 6 Skills”.
That’ll give you a nice launching off point for identifying some potentially high value skills to work on.
Alright, now that you’ve identified your potential superpower, it’s time to put it to work in:
Step Two: Get a Job
Now, I used to hate working for other people… I constantly felt underappreciated and undercompensated for my genius.
As such, I would just put in the minimum amount of energy possible because why should I go out of my way to do an excellent job when I’m only making like $15/hour?
My theory was this: Pay me more and I’ll do more or better work.
And this was a really stupid theory… and it’s the reason I got fired from nearly 20 different jobs over the span of five years.
My mistake was twofold:
First, I overestimated my importance (which stemmed from entitlement) and second, I didn’t understand the true value of having a job.
I thought the point of getting a job was to make money… but it’s not.
See, the real value of a job isn’t what you EARN, it’s what you LEARN.
I mean, where else are you gonna get paid for learning a skill than by working for somebody else?
You could go to college and pay $20,000/year for a marketing degree, or you could get an entry level job in a marketing agency making $30,000/year.
One fills your head with theory while putting you deep in debt while the other not only puts some money in your bank account, it also teaches you all the same things, but it gives you the practical experience that can only ever be earned in the real world.
Now, I’m not saying you should bail on college… I’m merely suggesting you reframe how you think about your work.
Think of it like being given a full ride scholarship to a masters degree.
Okay, so here’s three things to think about to get the most out of this job:
- Hone your Superpower
- Nurture Relationships
- Get Promoted
First, Hone your Superpower.
The goal is to find a job that enables you to pour yourself into your craft so that over time you can become UNDENIABLY great at that thing.
For example, if you’re an extroverted people-person, then maybe you take a sales job.
If you’re data driven and analytical, then maybe you jump into bookkeeping or accounting.
If you’re visual and creative, then maybe you go into graphic designing.
Second, Nurture Relationships and Build your Brand.
One of my biggest regrets from my twenties is that I absolutely failed to do this step. I didn’t give a sh*t about my brand and I put practically zero energy into making friends with my co-workers.
The result: I was a bit of a loner with a horrible reputation.
Truth is, in the game of life (and the game of money), Social Capital is worth more than actual Capital.
Also, it takes way longer to get.
Which is why Naval Ravikant stresses the importance of playing long term games with long term people.
The third thing to get from this job is PROMOTED.
Listen, you’re not gonna win the money-game with entry level skills. It’s fine to start out as an intern in the mail room, but you need to set your sights on moving up within the company as quickly (and frequently) as possible.
Now, don’t get it twisted…the real value of a promotion isn’t in the title or the raise.
These are status symbols and they do not really matter.
What matters is that when you get promoted, you move to a higher rung on the ladder… And from this new vantage point you gain a better perspective of your role, your department, and the company as a whole.
For instance:
If you started out on the sales floor, then in time you might work your way up to VP of Sales and get experience building out high functioning sales teams.
If you started out as a bookkeeper, then maybe you work your way up to Controller,, and gain valuable insight into all aspects of a business’ financials.
If you started out as a graphic designer, then in time you could work your way up to Head of Marketing with visibility into all aspects of branding and advertising.
Now here’s a pro-Tip on how to get Promoted:
Eat the Frog for your boss.
Okay, so what the hell does that even mean?
Well, Mark Twain said:
“If it’s your job to eat a frog, it’s best to do it first thing in the morning. And if it’s your job to eat two frogs, it’s best to eat the biggest one first.”
The frog he speaks of is a metaphor for the hard or unpleasant things we all inevitably have to do in life.
This is actually a great general rule for productivity and why I’m a big fan of tackling your hardest tasks early in the morning.
Don’t delay the inevitable. Just eat the damn frog and move on with your day.
But if you want to get promoted quickly, don’t just worry about eating your frog…
Pay attention to the frogs your boss has to eat everyday.
What are those things they have to do which are hard, unpleasant, or that they just hate doing?
Identify those things and then… do it for them.
I promise they will notice and appreciate your effort.
Seriously, if you were to come work for me and you started eating my Frogs without being asked, you would be promoted in the blink of an eye because I know YOU are the type of person who gets hard sh*t done.
This is gonna catapult you up the corporate ladder and it won’t be long until you’re making pretty good money… which is great…
But because you’re still just trading your time for money, it’s gonna be really hard to build the type of true wealth which allows you to make money while you sleep.
No, for that, we need to apply our efforts towards a better opportunity. One that has more leverage.
Because as our boy Uncle Warren says:
“It doesn’t matter how hard you row. It matters which boat you get in.”
Here’s a way to think about this:
Imagine a Lever, which is just a long rod pivoting at a fixed hinge point called the fulcrum. AND we’re gonna put this lever next to a MASSIVE money tree.
Cause ya know, in this example, money grows on trees.
Now, the theory is in this example, the higher up the money tree you can reach, the more money you can grab.
And there’s really only three variables in this lever which affect how heavy an object we can lift and how far we can lift it.
There’s the length of the rod, the size of the fulcrum, and where we place that fulcrum along the length of the rod.
In the context of our money making journey, the Rod is our Opportunity Vehicle and the fulcrum, upon which this opportunity hinges, is our Skills.
This just leaves where we place the fulcrum along the rod, which we’re going to ignore for the sake of simplicity.
So let’s pretend on one end of the lever we have the Weight of our Effort (which is a combination of how hard and smart we work).
And on the other end is our bank account… okay, I admit, this is a weird analogy, but stick with me, I think I can bring this home.
Okay, if our goal is to get our bank account as high up the Money Tree as possible, then we need to pair a big Opportunity with big Skills.
Up to this point in our journey, by identifying our superpower and then honing that ability in the workplace, we’ve developed some really powerful Skills, which means we have a really big fulcrum.
Now it’s time to find our big Opportunity.
And this leads us to the third step in this wealth building blueprint:
Now this is where I have historically said you should go build a business, because owning a business is without a doubt the most powerful wealth generating vehicle in the world.
There’s no disputing this.
However, in this video we’re trying to create a wealth producing strategy that maximizes our probability of success, and because the majority of new businesses fail within the first few years, I’m gonna suggest to you that we don’t make the rookie mistake of going out and STARTING a business.
Instead, in step three, we’re gonna BUY a Business.
Step Three: Buy a Business
Okay, so most of you are probably thinking:
What the hell, Anthony? I don’t know anything about buying a business.
And I get it. On the surface it sounds really scary, hard, and complex, but it’s really not.
It’s way simpler and more accessible than most people even realize, which is why this is such a killer opportunity hiding in plain sight.
I’m gonna walk you through the process in just a second, but first let’s answer the question:
Why is it better to buy a business than to start a business?
And the answer is, again most businesses fail within their first 2-3 years because they have to solve a lot of really complex problems to get off the ground and stay off the ground.
In particular they have to do three things to survive:
They have to create a product, find people who want that product, and then deliver that product.
And in theory, this sounds pretty straightforward, but it’s actually quite difficult.
So instead of starting our own business, we’re just gonna skip over those frustrating early years filled with long hours and sleepless nights, and we’re gonna go and buy a business that’s already up and running.
And the best part is if you buy right, you’re gonna be producing income from day one.
Now, here’s why right now is the perfect moment in time for this strategy. It’s what people are calling The Great Wealth Transfer.
See, everyday 10,000 baby boomers retire.
And of those 10,000, 20% own a business.
The problem is most of them own profitable businesses that their kids have no interest in taking over.
The crazy part is, most of these businesses don’t even bother trying to sell. They just close up shop and retire to the beach.
And this means there’s an incredible opportunity right now to go out and acquire successful businesses that have already done the hard work of creating a proven product that customers are willing to pay for and a system for delivering that product.
You just get to step in and take over operations.
Now, ideally, the type of business YOU’RE looking for is one that you’re already generally familiar with because you’ve spent years in that industry honing your superpower skill.
I personally don’t like the idea of stepping into an industry that I have no experience in.
For example, I’d hate to operate an HVAC or plumbing company because I’m not mechanically inclined and don’t know the first thing about how those businesses operate.
However, I did work as a landscaper in college, so I’ve got hands-on experience there and would feel pretty confident stepping back in.
Now, I don’t know your particular skill-set, but I would encourage you to find something that plays to your strengths.
Which begs the question:
Where do you actually find these businesses for sale?
There’s really three good routes:
First, you could find a business broker. These guys are a lot like real estate agents. You go to them with your buying parameters and see what they got.
Second, you go to an online marketplace like acquire.com or bizbuysell.com. Now, truthfully, it’s hard to find good deals on public marketplaces like this, because by the time they get there, you gotta assume a lot of people already saw the deal and passed which means there might be something wrong with it.
Then again, I bought my first piece of real estate off a public marketplace and it ended up making me $125,000 in 9 months, so diamonds in the rough do exist.
The third option is where you’re gonna find the best deals, but it’s also the most time consuming: You go directly to the seller.
For example, maybe there’s a Hair Salon down the street that you think would be absolutely perfect.
So you figure out who owns the place and then, the tricky part, figure out how to get in front of them.
Maybe that’s a phone call or a letter. Maybe they work in the shop most days and you just pop in, say hello, and plant the idea of buying their business.
We’ve acquired tens of millions of dollars worth of real estate using this exact strategy. It’s THE best way to get an incredible deal, but again, it’s also the most time consuming because you’ll probably have to talk to a bunch of owners before you find the one willing to sell.
Alright, time to address the big question that’s probably simmering in the back of your mind:
Where the heck am I gonna come up with the money to buy a business?
Surprisingly, this might not be as difficult as you initially think.
There’s really four ways to buy a business and I’ve actually used all of them over the years to buy real estate so I know firsthand how this works.
1. Cash
The first option is to just buy the business with cash. The plus side of this is you can probably negotiate a really good deal because you’re able to close quickly. The downside is… well, it’s pretty obvious right… you’ve gotta have a lot of cash laying around.
So for most people, buying with cash isn’t really gonna work.
2. Raise Capital
The second option is to raise capital from investors.
I have a lot of experience with this one as we’ve raised around $30M over the past few years from private investors, but if you’re just starting out and nobody knows you, and you don’t have super wealthy friends and family who are willing to take a chance on you, well, then this path is gonna be hard.
And honestly I’m not a huge fan of giving away equity (which can be really expensive) when you could just go to our third option and get a loan through the SBA.
3. SBA Loan
This can actually be a really great option because the SBA (or the Small Business Administration) WANTS to incentive business ownership so they give some pretty darn good terms for buyers.
They’ll often finance up to 90% of the purchase price of the business, which means you just need to come to the table with 10%.
This type of leverage is what makes real estate, in particular, such a powerful investment vehicle. You’re able to acquire let’s say a million dollar asset with only $100,000 out of pocket.
That’s not to downplay the fact that $100k is a lot of money, by the way, but it’s way less than $1M, that’s for sure.
The big downside of taking out debt is now you have an interest payment and inherently more risk.
But then again, if you’re acquiring a profitable business, you really shouldn’t have any difficulty covering the interest payments with the monthly cash flow from the operations.
The best way to buy a business, though, is definitely our fourth option which is to get Seller Financing.
4. Seller Financing
Simply put, the seller is going to play the role of the bank and you’re going to buy them out over time.
This is great for you because it requires less cash out of pocket, but it’s also great for the seller because they get some tax benefits from spreading out the payments PLUS they get extra profit over the years from the interest rate.
It’s a win-win, which is why this is how 60% of all small businesses are bought at the moment.
Now, this video is not intended as a deep dive into the world of Buying Businesses.
If you want to learn more, there’s a great book called Buy Then Build by Walker Deibel which I highly recommend because in my experience THIS is one of THE best ways to securely build wealth in our current economic environment and yet most people simply have no idea that it’s even an option for them.
But with all that said, remember this whole game plan starts by identifying your superpower skill.
Now, I have no clue what your unique superpower is, but there’s one skill that you MUST master on your wealth building journey…
It’s a single skill that amplifies every other skill in your arsenal and makes you absolutely unstoppable.
The One Skill To Rule Them All
Your ability to FOCUS is THE most valuable asset you have.
Without it, you’re at the mercy of your dopamine-seeking-monkey-mind which wants to keep you zoned out on the couch, eating cheetos, and watching Game of Thrones for the 7th time.
But you are not your Monkey-Mind.
You are not content to merely survive…
You want to thrive.
Here’s the problem:
Your monkey-mind has four incredibly effective weapons at its disposal:
- Distraction
- Procrastination
- Overwhelm
- Multitasking
For years, my monkey-brain kicked my ass and made me feel like an absolute failure.
Thankfully, I was already at rock bottom, so I had nothing to lose by trying over and over again to figure my shit out…
And wouldn’t ya know it, slowly but surely, after countless iterations, I gradually zeroed in on some systems that seemed to work and over time I started winning the battle against my monkey-mind more often than not.
Now, that might not seem like a huge accomplishment, but it had a MASSIVE impact on the quality of my life and the results I was seeing.
If you want to kick your monkey-brain’s ass and take back control of your focus, then check out The Hyperfocus Masterclass.
Learn more about the Hyperfocus Masterclass here.
Until next week,
Stay Hyperfocused,
AV
From YouTube This Week:
Want To Be Rich? DON’T Start a Business.
Want to go even deeper?
1.The Hyperfocused Masterclass: the system I used to turn ADHD into a superpower. It’s worked for me (and 1,800+ other students). Join today.
2. If you’re in relentless pursuit of doing less, but better, than check out my podcast, Amplified Impact, for a quick-hitting daily dose of motivation and inspiration.
