Effortless Entrepreneur: Work Smart, Play Hard, Make Millions - Softcover

Friedman, Nick; Soliman, Omar; Schwartz, Daylle Deanna

 
9780307587992: Effortless Entrepreneur: Work Smart, Play Hard, Make Millions
Softcover
ISBN 10: 0307587991 ISBN 13: 9780307587992
Verlag: Crown, 2010

Inhaltsangabe

Nick Friedman and Omar Soliman started the multimillion-dollar franchise College Hunks Hauling Junk when they were just twenty two, and they’ve been having the time of their lives ever since. What’s their secret?
 
That's just it--there isn't one. There's no fancy software or complicated business schemes. No outside investors or quirky market niche. They just followed 10 common-sense commandments to building a straightforward, fun, and successful business that does a simple job well. Anyone can understand it, and anyone can do it.

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Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

NICK FRIEDMAN and OMAR SOLIMAN started College Hunks Hauling Junk in 2005 when they were only twenty-two years old. Since then, College Hunks Hauling Junk has grown into a multimillion-dollar franchise and the nation's premier junk removal service, and has been profiled in the New York Times and the Washington Post. Nick and Omar have been named among the top Under 30 Entrepreneurs in America by Inc., and in 2007 the International Franchise Association named them the Youngest Franchisors in America.

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Chapter 1    

FROM A VAN TO AN EMPIRE    

Nurturing Our Inner Entrepreneur      

It’s hard to recall how our entrepreneurial spirit first began. We met in tenth grade and quickly became best friends. At the time, we didn’t realize we shared an entrepreneurial nature—formal schooling stifled it, and taking an entrepreneurial approach to our activities got us reprimanded. School taught us that fitting in was safer, requiring us to stay in line, defining us by our classes and grades, and weeding out any behavior considered disobedient. A perfect example was when a math teacher sent a scathing letter to Omar’s soon-to-be-angry parents, which said:     Omar spends all of class speaking with the people next to him. He does not own the correct calculator for the class, and I am not sure if he even owns the textbook. Omar is currently failing this course.    

Back then, nobody realized that our “misbehavior” and “bad grades” were really just our entrepreneurial spirit at work. Entrepreneurial qualities tend to be misunderstood. Entrepreneurs typically don’t like to adhere to many rules or follow others, and this individuality isn’t valued in school. Yet once you’ve left the boundaries of the system, positioning yourself outside the traditional path helps you make money as a business leader. If high school had been run the way an entrepreneur runs a business, Omar might have been spared some trips to detention. Nine years later, his entrepreneurial perspective provided a new interpretation of what the math teacher meant in her letter: Omar spends all of class time networking. He opted not to invest in the $150 graphing calculator, since it would be obsolete upon completion of the course. He was also able to leverage the partnership of neighboring classmates and share the textbook rather than purchase a new one. Omar is currently in the red for this course, but it does not fall in line with his overall vision of growth, so it will probably be dropped from his portfolio.    

Doesn’t that sound better? Our nature kept us from fully adhering to school rules, which led us into quite a bit of trouble with teachers and administrators. Many kids with our personalities are prescribed medication. Always wanting to stand out from the crowd, we did things to entertain and gain peer approval and attention. Nick took school slightly more seriously than Omar, but he bucked his share of rules too. He always strove to do the least amount of work necessary to get good grades and to finish everything quickly so he could enjoy himself.  

That isn’t to say there are no benefits to schoolwork. Despite our issues with the system, there’s absolutely no way we’d be as successful as we are now without having had the academic education, training, and discipline we received in school. It may not have been appreciated back then, but we’re grateful for the teachers and administrators who pushed us to get an education. Entrepreneurs need to take risks and be independent and true to themselves, but they should also always try to learn as much as possible to stay on top of their game and keep their business growing.      

BONDING AS PARTNERS    
Our first taste of working together to lead others was when our high school football team played our big rival on their turf and won. Though teachers had warned us against rushing the field, as seniors we felt entitled to our moment of glory, so Nick spread the word that everyone should rush the field anyway to celebrate. We hopped the fence, and the rest of our school followed us. As we ran past the losing team, an angry player chased Omar and dragged him down. Nick ran to help and wound up getting kicked in the face by an opposing player’s football cleats. So by celebrating, Nick wound up in the emergency room getting stitches. Besides sustaining injury and embarrassment, he was reprimanded for disobeying the rules.  

That night we had taken a risk, breaking the rules to lead others for a chance at fun and glory. Of course, that risk backfired and quickly turned into a bad night. That can happen in business too. There are no guarantees that a risk won’t backfire. But if you want to break the mold and win glory, risks must be taken and rules must be broken. Staying on a safe path with everyone else leaves no room for change, and life can become boring and meaningless. Even though that risk backfired, we’re not sorry we took it. If we hadn’t run onto the field, we might not have bonded as friends or seen our ability to inspire and lead a crowd. Even risks that don’t pan out can be valuable learning experiences.  

Developing a successful business is akin to getting out of the stands and onto the playing field. Parents, teachers, and the school system warn kids not to take risks. As you get older, family and social pressures make you feel stuck in a job. Starting a business can be risky. Staying safe and secure is hyped. If you take a risk, there’s a chance you’ll get kicked in the head, as Nick was. But you know what? Even getting kicked wasn’t the end of the world—we both turned out fine, and went on to be successful.You shouldn’t let fear of failure stop you from taking a risk to follow your dreams. No matter what your age, it’s never too late to get out of the stands and onto the playing field. Our expectations of running onto the field were significantly different from the results. But tolerance for risk is what helps you become a successful entrepreneur.  

During our school years, adults couldn’t stop us from taking actions that backfired, and some people even wondered if we’d make it out of high school in one piece. But because we were willing to take risks and weren’t afraid of failure, we were able to begin a million-dollar business—College Hunks Hauling Junk—when we were only twenty-two and were named the Youngest Franchisors in America by the International Franchise Association. We were also finalists for the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award and were named two of Inc. magazine’s Top 30 Entrepreneurs in America Under 30 in 2008. Today the company is quickly expanding into cities across the country; we continue to take risks, as our company continues to grow. That’s why we encourage you to get out of the stands and onto the playing field to pursue your own business dream.      

REAL-LIFE EDUCATION    
Growing up, we understood business only vaguely. It was always drilled into our heads that we needed to study hard and get good grades in order to get a good job. But we couldn’t relate to that. The great American Dream that we pictured and saw on TV seemed like pure freedom—traveling, owning houses, vacationing, partying, attending sporting events, driving luxury cars, and cruising in boats. It seemed to contradict the get-good-grades, get-a-good-job mentality. How could you enjoy pure freedom if you worked your entire life? We worried that having a job would make us feel trapped. Being constrained by a boss’ rules didn’t seem like freedom. Boredom and dissatisfaction with following a predetermined path motivated us to change direction.  

People assume that studying hard and getting good grades leads to a secure job, but that’s not necessarily the case. Education provides a skill set. It’s up to you to apply it in real life. If you’re in school simply to get a job when you graduate, get ready to be disappointed as you lose control of your own destiny. There’s nothing wrong with that if it’s what you truly want. But if...

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Verlag
Crown
Erscheinungsdatum
2010
Sprache
Englisch
ISBN 10 
0307587991
ISBN 13 
9780307587992
Einband
Taschenbuch
Anzahl der Seiten
272
Kontakt zum Hersteller
Nicht verfügbar
Verantwortliche Person
gpsr@libri.de
gpsr@libri.de

Friedensallee 273
Hamburg
22763
Deutschland