From
Broke to Billions:
5 Strategies These Billionaires Used to Get Rich
There are 2,043 billionaires in this world. Approximately
one-quarter of them are from the US. Millionaires? We boast roughly 16 million
of them. Clearly, it's hard to amass such a large fortune. In fact, when it
comes to getting rich, a billion is an order of magnitude greater than
a million. Millionaires seem to be a dime a dozen. Not billionaires.
When a
person can amass such an unfathomable amount of wealth, it piques the interest
of our global population, much of them steeped in poverty rather
than wealth. But does that mean we should be envious or enraged at the people
at the proverbial top? The truth? Whether you're a victim or a champion of our
capitalistic society largely depends on your financial situation.
Some of us
look at those who've attained such unimaginable wealth with disdain. Others,
with envy. Me? I want to know how they did it. I want to understand the inner
workings of their minds. How did they navigate their way to such sensational
success? How did they avoid all the perils and pitfalls that seem to entangle
much of our civilization?
I
have immersed and inserted myself into a circle of individuals to
specifically answer this question. I've surrounded myself with
people living life at the highest level because I am curious how they did
it. Is there some secret sauce? Some magic formula? Some unknown principles or
techniques?
I want to
know how they did it, kept it and grew it. Making money isn't as complex as most people make it out
to be. Sure, there is a so-called guru gauntlet that most find themselves a
victim of when trying to discover the real secrets to making money online these days. But that's not really
what I was interested in.
I was
interested in things that moved the needle. How did the world's billionaires get so rich? How did
they harbor such intense self-discipline? You
often read about advice or listen to a talk that these individuals give,
but most of it goes in one ear and out the other. Do we follow much of that
advice? Nope. It often falls to the wayside. We live on, steeped in detrimental
habits that hold us back.
However,
before I launch into the strategies that a handful of billionaires used to get rich, I wanted to convey one very powerful piece of
advice. Thoughts are things. There is pure power in your thoughts. Use them
constructively. They can either limit you or they can propel you. if you focus on positivity,
good things will happen. Focus on the negative, and watch as your life spirals
downward.
What it takes to become a billionaire.
You're
likely asking yourself what it takes to get rich. But not just rich. Rich at
the highest level. How do you go from broke to billionaire? Most people might
simply want to have positive cash flow or even a million dollars in the bank.
But does a million dollars really cut it these days? I suppose that depends on
where you live and what you do.
But
billionaires are a different breed. It's a different world. Spending time with
them is more likened to fabled fantasies rather than actual reality. The world
truly is their oyster. Now, if you want to get there, or you're just looking to
become a multi-millionaire, there are some strategies that will propel your
growth.
In fact, there are five strategies these billionaires
have used to go from broke and hopeless, to absolutely on top of the world. If
you’re looking to replicate their success, then you need to heed the following
strategies and take them to heart. One other thing to keep in mind is that
you're far less likely to attain this type of success without owning your own
business.
But if
you're already an entrepreneur or a business owner, then it's a matter of
adapting. Not only do we adapt to survive, but we must also adapt to thrive.
Look at the following strategies and see how you can adapt them to your
business, or to potentially pivot your business to strike while the proverbial
iron is hot in one sector or another.
Most
people think that it's impossible to go from broke to billionaire. But it's
been done repeatedly. Individuals including Roman Abromovich, Francois
Pinault, Howard Schultz, Oprah Winfrey, Shahid Khan, Do Won Chang, Ralph
Lauren, John Paul DeJoria, Larry Ellison and Mohed Altrad were once flat broke.
But they all became billionaires.
How did
they do it? First, and foremost, by harboring the following skills. And second,
by wielding one of the five strategies that you'll find below. As you read the
list and the strategies, ask yourself the following question. How many of these
skills am I employing and how can I adapt these strategies to my business
today, right now?
- Leverage an abundance
mentality and laser-focus your mindset
- Become an expert at business networking
- Overcome the
often-stifling fear of failure
- Effectively manage your time
- Create long-term
goals and take daily action towards them
- Never give up no
matter how tough things might be
- Focus the power of
your thoughts on the positive over the negative
- Never look for
shortcuts or try to cut corners
- Understand the
underlying principles of sales and marketing
- Become a fervent
brand-builder
1. Create something that adds an abundant
amount of value to the world.
Today, as
it's been for all our recorded history, getting rich entails building and
adding an abundant amount of value to the world. The richest and most
successful people have added the most value. That's how real wealth is
attained. Find some way that you can add an excessive amount of value to the
world. This is not a short-term strategy. This takes time.
But it
also involves seizing opportunities as they arise. Patagonia founder Yvon
Chouinard got incredibly rich not by inventing new products, but by improving
on existing products. While Patagonia is a
giant clothing retailer today, at the age of 50, Chouinard's company went bankrupt
after the fallout from a series of lawsuits.
However, Chouinard stayed the course. He
added value. Improved on iterations of products to make them better for the
environment, longer lasting, and higher in quality. That's how Patagonia grew
into a behemoth. He added an abundant amount of value.
2. Create a consumable product that people
love.
There are
a number of industries in consumable products that are simply taking off like
wild fire. From cold-brewed coffee to energy shots and drinks and even
electronic cigarettes have become industries that have begun to balloon. Manoj
Bhargava, founder of the 5-Hour Energy Drink, grew
his business from a 2003 startup to over $1 billion in sales by 9 years
later.
In 2010,
Howard Panes was $600,000 in debt and lost his house to a short sale when he
entered into the e-cigarettes industry, ramping it up within 18 months to over
$100 million in sales. Several years later, after an astounding exponential
growth, Japan Tobacco International,
a corporate giant with 27,000 employees and $20 billion in annual revenue
acquired the company.
With no
experience in the industry, Panes, like Bhargava, did what it took to see
things through, traveling and living in Shenzhen, China where the company
refined its product and delivery systems. Today, as an avid car collector with
a near-$15 million collection of rare and exotic hypercars, Panes has
become one of South Florida's wealthiest residents.
John Paul
Dejoria, who was not only once broke, but also homeless and living in his car
with his son, also did the unimaginable. He created salon-quality products and
went door to door to sell them. He focused on quality and he took action every
single day. At the age of 36, with a $700 loan and while living in a car with
his son, he grew Paul Mitchell Systems into
a behemoth, becoming one of the world's richest persons in the process.
3. Insert yourself as a service provider into
a high-growth industry.
We saw AirBnB grow from
obscurity and blow-up air mattress rentals on floors into a global behemoth,
making its three founders, Brian Chesky, Nathan Biecharczyk and Joe Gebbia, who
were all once broke, into billionaires. AirBnB blazed a trail. But they weren't
the first. Vacation rentals had already begun to take off, but VRBO was first.
Yet, AirBnB did it better.
The goal?
Identify a high-growth industry and become a service provider. Whether that's
vacation rentals, ecommerce, financial services, insurance, virtual reality,
chat bots, or any other industry for that matter, insert yourself into the industry
by finding a unique way that you can provide the same service, but better, more
efficiently and with greater reliability.
You could also find a way you can cater to the rich
themselves by building up a service that attracts wealthy individuals. Whether
that means renting out exotic cars, private jets, or becoming a global
concierge for the uber wealthy like Annastasia Seebohm's Quintessentially Group, find a way you can do something more
effectively than everyone else around you.
Kenny
Trout, the founder of Excel Communications, achieved his success in the early
telecom industry by becoming a long-distance reseller after deregulation took
hold, selling over 200,000 franchises using the multi-level marketing model.
Trout, who grew up with a dad who worked as a bartender, never had much money.
He sold life insurance early on and identified a high-growth industry that he
trail-blazed his way into.
4. Find a way to improve communications or connection online.
Mark Zuckerberg became one of
the world's wealthiest individuals by improving connection and communications
online. Today, we all know about the success of Facebook. But Zuckerberg was
never poor or broke. He hailed from an upper-middle-class heritage.
However, what's most
intriguing is the story of What'sApp founder, Jan Khoum. In 2007, while working
at Ernst & Young, and shortly after the launch of the iPhone, Khoum, who
was an immigrant from Ukraine, where he was born, decided to create a
communications app with Brian Acton that was released in January of 2010.
Khoum, who had been passed
over for a job at Facebook just shortly prior, grew WhatsApp into a wildly
popular communications application that was later acquired by Facebook for $19
billion. Like other billionaires, Khoum seized on the new industry and
identified an opportunity that others might have missed.
5. Invest in real estate and grow your portfolio over time.
Real estate has given a
platform to the world's richest individuals. If you think that making money through real estate is
impossible, especially if you have no money to start with, then you've got a
few lessons to learn. Some of the biggest real estate moguls in the world have
started with nothing. It's called wholesaling and creative financing. Once you
understand it, it truly can propel tremendous growth.
The goal is to focus on
positive cash flow. Like Robert Kiyosaki's iconic, Rich Dad Poor Dad book and
series, discover how to create assets rather than liabilities. Whether you just
want to be a millionaire or a billionaire, real estate will give you a solid
foundation or platform from which you can grow.
Leon Charney became a
billionaire through his real estate investments. But he was the child of two
immigrants, and at the time of his father's death, his family became destitute.
He had nothing, and he worked his way through college and through law school.
Carl Berg, another
billionaire real estate investor, also lost his father early on and was raised
by his mother who was a school teacher. While working at a hotel, he met
someone who turned out to be the largest home builder in the United States, who
later offered him a job to run his mortgage company after he graduated from
college.
