We have a little quiz for you today.
How do you think the majority of rich people got rich?
It’s not meant to be a trick question. But if you ask people off the street, they almost always get it wrong. The correct answer is not only interesting. It can help you achieve your own wealth and success if you follow the cues.
But before we tell you what that correct answer is, it is helpful to understand the misperceptions that most people have…
Because hanging on to these “millionaire myths” can prevent you from attaining the success you desire.
Common Millionaire Myths
A clever marketer asked the simple question years ago:
“How do you think the average millionaire became a millionaire?”
Surprised at the initial results, he walked the streets and visited malls throughout the country and asked everyday working folks the same question. The results were the same. And the number one response was predictable…
Most people thought that millionaires inherited their wealth. Not so, says Thomas J. Stanley, author of The Millionaire Next Door.
In fact, in this 1996 best seller, he reported that less than one in five of all millionaires had inherited their wealth.
What’s remarkable is how that number has been shrinking ever since.
In a more recent survey taken by American Express Publishing and Harrison Group, the number had dwindled to less than one in 20. Clearly, inheritance is no longer the primary way people become wealthy. The “nouveau riche” have all earned their wealth.
So how have the “new rich” become millionaires?
Stock market? Real Estate? Gold? A lucky weekend in Vegas?
Nope.
The Vast Majority of Millionaires Own a Business
And the majority of them built their businesses from the ground up.
Think about some of the wealthiest people of our generation. They got there by building up (and in some cases selling) a business:
• Bill Gates (Microsoft)
• Warren Buffet (Berkshire Hathaway)
• Jim, Alice & Robson Walton (Wal-Mart)
• Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook)
• Sergey Brin & Larry Page (Google)
• Michael Dell (Dell computers)
Each person on this list is worth over $15 billion each. Bill Gates is worth about $60 billion. That’s more than the yearly budget for the entire nation of New Zealand!
All these mentioned (and there are hundreds of others) started as regular, middle-class folks who made their fortunes during their own lifetimes. Sometimes in a very short span of time…
But all of them did it the same way. Thy started their own business and reaped the capital gains.
The world is filled with millions of smaller scale success stories.
Just think about where you live. Most cities or towns have at least one area that is the “wealthy part of town.”
The locations may differ from town to town. In some places the wealthy may build their homes up on a hill. Or near a lake. Or on the beach.
But no matter where you live, the make-up of the “wealthy section of town” is quite similar. The majority of the people living in those areas are the local business owners.
It’s the people who own the restaurants and car dealerships and antique shops and beauty salons and bowling alleys, etc.
These people are generally career entrepreneurs. And while not all entrepreneurs are millionaires…
…most millionaires tend to be serial entrepreneurs.
Which means they have a different outlook on life. One which you may consider adopting.
You see, while most of the working-class sees starting a business as a great risk, the financially successful see working 9 to 5 for someone else as much more risky.
Working for someone else means you aren’t in control of what happens. You’re at the mercy of your boss.
But even more limiting is how much you can make.
Even high-end wage earners are limited by the amount of time they have. For example, a surgeon is a highly skilled professional who can easily make a high six-figure salary.
But she only has so much time. And the money she makes by doing surgery is limited to the number of surgeries she can perform.
Entrepreneurs prefer to build a business with no ceiling on how much money they can make.
And that’s why the most successful and ultra wealthy have done it primarily by starting a business of their own.
Capital Gains the Ultra-Wealthy Love
A couple weeks ago we told you about Mark F., a member of the ultra-wealthy whom we intervied.
One of his words of wisdom was this: the rich hate capital gains.
He was talking about buying stock or real estate with the goal of netting a capital gain.
He called that speculation, not investment. His idea of investment is something that produces dependable income.
That’s how he invests and grows his own money.
But what we didn’t mention in that newsletter was that Mark is all for “speculating” in his own business ventures.
In fact, like most of the ultra-wealthy, Mark made the vast majority of his $50 million dollar fortune through capital gains. But his gains came from businesses he started from scratch.
He started — and subsequently sold — at least three different businesses in his career. He retired after each sale … only to “unretire” once he got a new idea.
Like we said, the ultra-wealthy tend to be serial entrepreneurs.
How You Can Cash in On This
So where does this leave you? Especially if you are NOT a serial entrepreneur?
First, remember, most people aren’t going to have the billionaire-type success of a Bill Gates or Steve Jobs or Mark Zuckerberg.
But you don’t need that kind of fame and fortune to be extremely successful. Or wealthy and happy.
For you, starting your own business may be the way to go. For others, a side home business may be a better fit.
And even within the small-business or home-based business models, there is a lot of diversity. Some businesses are more hands-on. Others are more passive.
Mark F. talks about some of the high-level attitudes you need to be successful in his interview.
But it’s in the strategy on increasing your cash flow where you’ll find the most valuable information on how to start a business –either a part-time home-based venture or your own full-time business.
There you’ll also find a link to an assessment that can help you discover how your own natural strengths, weaknesses and talents can best fit in to the process of starting a business.
For now, we give you all the resources you need to investigate and make the right decision for yourself.
Starting your own business doesn’ just happen. It takes some thought, some education and some planning.
The time to get started is now. Don’t put this off. We’ll help you take the first step right here …
Read this book to understand it.