Like a fairy tale, almost every successful entrepreneur has their very own “Cinderella” story, or, more known as a “rags-to-riches” story: from busing tables in restaurants to becoming millionaires by their 20′sfrom living in a dump calling itself a flat, to owning many homes, one for every day of the week.
And while all those stories are inspiring to hopeful entrepreneurs, the road to riches is a bit more “down and dirty.”
Take into consideration Mike Michalowicz’s approach and try asking yourself this, “A ‘Toilet Paper Entrepreneur’, is that me?”
His analogy for true entrepreneurialism is a typical bathroom experience: “Business” is done, and you discover only 3 sheets of toilet paper left on the roll. As they say, necessity breeds invention, and you’re racking your brains to find a solution to this dilemma.
He adds that successful and serious entrepreneurs are not those who sit around and wait for someone to hand them a “roll of toilet paper”.
[I:http://www.yourblogriches.com/wp-content/uploads/ArtBasmajian28.jpg]They’re the ones who’ll take action, grab the nearest garbage can, root around, pull out the empty cardboard roll and say “AHA!”. A little while later, a flush can be heard and he strolls out, whistling, having naught a care in the world.
Moreover, serious entrepreneurs make it a habit of not making excuses and are impatient to those people who do.
Words you’ll never hear from a Serious Entrepreneur:
“I don’t have enough money right now.”
“I’m not smart enough for that.”
“I don’t have the time. I’m too busy.”
“Businesses take too long to build.”
“There’s too much risk involved.”
“I’m too old.”
They do not sit and dream about their big breakthey get off the pot and create it themselves.
They don’t sit on their money, waiting for it to grow on their own. They’ll go out and make their own moneymaking ventures, whether it’s selling lemonade by the street, or setting microchips in Silicone Valley.
On a lighter note, most millionaires live frugal lives: Warren Buffett, for example, is third on Forbes’ list of the richest people in the world, but still he remains living in the house in Omaha, Nebraska that he bought for $31,500 forty years ago.
Successful Entrepreneurs do not multi-task. They’re like bulldogs: they’ll latch on to one thing until it’s good and done proper.
They aren’t perfectioniststhey say, “Good is good enough.”
Because they know that money likes speed.
They know that if they sit around and do and erase and redo and re-erase, by the time they finish their product, their competition would have swooped in, cornered the market, and left them no room at all.
They take take action, instead of taking a long time on planning and making revisions.
They aren’t afraid of risksthey take calculated measures to reduce risks.
Dick Costolo, founder of Feedburner.com said, “The key is to just get on the bike, and the key to getting on the bike is to stop thinking about ‘there are a bunch of reasons I might fall off’ and just hop on and peddle the damned thing. You can pick up a map, a tire pump, and better footwear along the way.”
Serious Entrepreneurs don’t need toilet paper.
Why? Most likely they have a spare napkin in their pocket with their next million dollar business plan scribbled on its back.