No Limits Ladies.com

There has been much talk as of late around here about sexy or unsexy investments and businesses. Kimber mentioned in her blog just today that she is the "Pooper-Scooper" of stocks. (Pooper-Scooper=Unsexy) I thought it was appropriate to address this issue, seeing as we have been talking about starting up businesses as a means to financial independence.

I was thinking about The Millionaire Mind by Thomas J. Stanley, Ph.D., in which he questioned multi-millionaires and then laid out the results of the things they felt made them successful (multi-million dollar successful).

One section was devoted to their choice in vocation. A striking 32% of all (multi/deca) millionaires became so as Business Owners/Entrepreneurs (Senior Corporate Exec. 16%, Attorney 10%, and Physician 9%, remaining % "other"). In many cases, the business was something they loved, or "fell into", and was often an unsexy niche.

For example, The Millionaire Mind tells of Mr. Richard's story:

In his late twenties, Mr. Richard had worked for a large manufacturer and distributor of trucks for five years. He was a college graduate with a so-so grade point average, and he wasn't making enough money to do much more than keep up with living expenses. He and his wife were rather frugal, and they always wanted to be financially independent. But Mr. Richard recognized that he would never become wealthy in his current employment position, so he was restless. He wasn't sure what to do with himself, and then a series of situations took place at work.

"I was working for White Motor Company [as assistant manager]. My boss asked me to sell this wrecked truck to a junk dealer...Sold it for $500...About two weeks later he asked me to go back to the junk dealer. We needed a used engine for another truck.

They [the junk dealer] pulled the engine out of the same truck that we had sold them two weeks ago. And the guy invoices me out $500, plus we had to exchange another engine that needed to be replaced."

The light bulb went on inside Mr. Richard's head. He reasoned that many of the other parts on the truck also had value. In fact, that truck which was sold for $500 in total, was worth five to ten times or more when sold as parts. At this moment in his life, Mr. Richard had what people call intuition. He immediately recognized the extraordinary business opportunity within the vocation he refers to as junk....

Mr. Richards indicated, as did 31% of his fellow business owners, that he "stumbled across this great opportunity". Because of his affinity with trucks and the people who worked distributing them, Mr. Richard's decision was not just a random, stumbling event- he found a refined niche in a generic industry that he loved...

Many millionaires have told me that their financial success is a direct function of owning a specialized business in a geo-area that contains little or no competition...

But the "intense need for social status" blinds people to many significant economic opportunities...Snobs do not make great entrepreneurs. It is often the simple solutions to problems that are the basis for a successful business.

...Everybody out there has an opportunity to get into business...The opportunity to sell somebody something...Some can't see it. You have to be able to see it.

Unsexy businesses can make you wealthy (which is sexy).

**Quick Note from yesterday: Asset Gatherer was the first to email and request Before you Quit Your Job! You can check out her entrepreneurial and investing progress over at Assets and Liabilities.