Those stories are great for inspiration, but people often forget that for every one of those stories, there are hundreds of people whose businesses failed. There are tons of stories about people who got an idea, quit their job, and founded soon-to-be successful businesses in a day. So it’s best to start small, just in case things don’t go as planned. Their first business was immediately successful. And accept the fact that you might not be as lucky as my brothers. Test the waters with low-risk, low-investment, low-effort opportunities. That’s like showing up to a gym for the first time and expecting to deadlift a 400-pound weight. Your first venture in entrepreneurship doesn’t need to be the next Google, Uber, or Facebook. Here are the three most valuable lessons I learned spending 15+ years trying to convince my brothers to become entrepreneurs. Think you or someone you know has what it takes? You can’t know what you’ll love, what you’ll succeed at, until you try. They ended up becoming some of the best entrepreneurs I know, all because they were finally willing to try something new.Įntrepreneurship isn’t for everyone. If they’d come to me afterwards and said, “This isn’t for us,” then I’d respect that and wouldn’t ask them again.īut they didn’t. I kept at it because I wanted my brothers to try entrepreneurship before ruling it out. Why did I keep pestering my brothers to become entrepreneurs? Was it because I was positive they’d succeed? Today, they’re running a successful multi-chain store complete with branding, business models, and employees. And that really got my brothers thinking.Ī couple months later, my brothers, who swore they’d never be entrepreneurs, quit their day jobs and focused 100% on this new business. So we did, and our second machine outperformed the first by 5x. They wanted to use the money we were making from this machine to invest in a second location. That was all my brothers needed to see they were hooked. We were up and running shortly after and immediately started generating profit. They agreed to give it a try (if I’d finally stop bugging them). Even better, my brothers could do it while keeping the security of their day jobs.Īfter years of pitching different opportunities, I’d found the one. It was low-risk, low-investment, low-effort, and high-potential. The opportunity was perfect: All we’d have to do is rent a machine, set it up in a store, and start earning a profit. Remember when DVD kiosks hit big? A little over ten years ago, I met a guy who was renting out those DVD vending machines, like Redbox.Īt this time, big-box rental places like Blockbuster were on the decline and Netflix hadn’t become the giant it is today. Until one day, when I found an opportunity too tempting not to try it. They simply decided they couldn’t be entrepreneurs, and that was that. They had what it took to be amazing founders if they’d just give it a go. They’d always tell me, “Entrepreneurship is great for you, but it isn’t for us.”īut I knew that was BS. They both landed secure 9–5 jobs at large corporations. I dropped out of high school when I realized I’d rather be building businesses than listening to lectures.
This is the story of how I convinced my two older brothers to leave behind the security of their 9–5 jobs and fall in love with entrepreneurship. Because when no one creates the solution you want, you’re left with no option but to build it yourself. Some are dragged into it, kicking and screaming. While some people are born entrepreneurs, others just stumble into entrepreneurship like a drunk person stumbling into a bar. When was the last time you felt excited about a Monday? Or any workday for that matter?Ĭan’t remember? Then perhaps it’s time for a change.
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