5 Surprising Strategies That Made Me A Millionaire

Summary

In this inspiring video, the speaker shares five strategies that led to their millionaire status by age 30, with the aim of empowering Muslims to elevate their financial standing. Starting as a corporate lawyer, they identified three main paths to wealth: high-paying jobs, scaling 'boring' businesses, or tech entrepreneurship. The speaker chose the latter, emphasizing the importance of aligning with personal strengths and interests. They highlight the significance of playing to strengths, building a strong network, and taking calculated risks for significant outcomes. The video concludes with a reminder that money is a means to an end, with a greater purpose often driving true success.

Takeaways

• 😀 The speaker became a millionaire by the age of 30 and shares five key strategies that contributed to his success.
• 🎯 There are three main paths to becoming a millionaire: high-paid job, a well-executed 'boring' business scaled up, or a tech startup with high growth potential.
• 🏦 The first path involves working in a high-paying career such as law, where salaries can reach into the millions with experience and partnership.
• 🚗 The second path is about starting a business that is profitable and scaling it up, such as multiple car washes or pharmacies.
• 💡 The third path is tech entrepreneurship, which involves creating a business around innovative technology and a scalable business model.
• 🔥 The speaker chose tech entrepreneurship because of his passion for creating new and innovative business models.
• 💼 He quit his high-paying job at 28 to focus on his business, emphasizing the importance of planning and having a backup plan.
• 🌟 Building expertise in a specific domain and becoming world-class at it is crucial for achieving millionaire status.
• 🤝 The strength of one's network is vital, and the speaker emphasizes the importance of daily networking to build connections.
• 🚀 To become a millionaire, one must take big risks and aim for outsized outcomes, even if it means failing most of the time.
• 💰 While money is a measure of progress, the speaker stresses that the ultimate goal should be something more meaningful than wealth, such as helping others.

Q & A

What are the three main paths to becoming a millionaire as outlined in the video?

The three main paths to becoming a millionaire mentioned in the video are: 1) having a high-paid job such as working for a prestigious firm like Goldman Sachs, 2) running a 'boring' business very efficiently and scaling it up, such as a pharmacy, and 3) setting up a tech startup with high growth potential.

What is the starting salary for a U.S. Law Firm as mentioned in the video?

The starting salary at a U.S. Law Firm like the one the speaker worked for is $215,000.

What are the downsides of pursuing a high-paying career in law according to the video?

The downsides of pursuing a high-paying career in law include being a 'cog in a machine', having horrific and unpredictable client hours, and feeling stifled by the cultural norms of the firm.

What is the importance of picking the right type of millionaire path that suits one's strengths and interests?

Picking the right type of millionaire path that suits one's strengths and interests is crucial because it aligns with personal values and capabilities, leading to greater satisfaction and success in the chosen field.

What is the significance of becoming a tech entrepreneur according to the speaker?

Becoming a tech entrepreneur is significant as it allows the individual to innovate and build a business model around software or deep technology, potentially leading to high growth and scalability.

Why did the speaker quit his job at the age of 28?

The speaker quit his job at the age of 28 to focus on tech entrepreneurship, as he loved working on innovative projects and creating new business models.

What is the 'burning the boats' effect mentioned by the speaker?

The 'burning the boats' effect refers to the idea of making a decision with no going back, which forces one to fully commit to their new path and work hard to make it successful.

What is the importance of playing to one's strengths and compounding them over time?

Playing to one's strengths and compounding them over time is important because it allows an individual to become world-class in a particular domain, increasing their value and the likelihood of achieving financial success.

How does the speaker describe the role of networking in his success?

The speaker describes networking as a crucial element of success, emphasizing the importance of building and maintaining a strong network to help overcome challenges and create opportunities.

What is the advice given by the speaker regarding taking big swings in business?

The advice given by the speaker is to optimize one's business for massive, out-of-the-park swings, meaning to take big risks in pursuit of exceptional outcomes, as this is necessary to achieve millionaire status.

What is the speaker's ultimate goal or mission beyond making money?

The speaker's ultimate goal or mission beyond making money is to help Muslims get back to a level financial playing field, indicating that the purpose behind one's actions is more important than money itself.

Outlines

00:00

💼 Pathways to Millionaire Status

The speaker, a corporate lawyer turned entrepreneur, shares his journey to becoming a millionaire by the age of 30. He outlines three main paths to wealth accumulation: a high-paid job in a prestigious firm like Goldman Sachs, running a 'boring' but scalable business such as a pharmacy, or starting a tech company with high growth potential. The speaker emphasizes the importance of choosing a path that aligns with one's strengths and interests. He also provides an example of his own journey, starting with a high-paying law career and transitioning to tech entrepreneurship, which he found more fulfilling and aligned with his passion for innovation.

05:02

🚀 Embracing Risk and Leveraging Strengths

The speaker discusses the importance of embracing risk and leveraging one's strengths when pursuing wealth. He shares his personal decision to quit his high-paying job at the age of 28 to pursue tech entrepreneurship, despite the risks involved. This decision, he explains, was pivotal in his journey to success. The speaker also highlights the significance of playing to one's strengths and compounding them over time. He gives an example of his deep expertise in Islamic finance, which he has developed over the years through education and professional experience. This expertise has become a cornerstone of his success, as it sets him apart in his field.

10:03

🤝 The Power of Networking and Taking Big Swings

The speaker emphasizes the importance of building a strong network and taking calculated risks in the pursuit of wealth. He talks about the daily effort he puts into networking, which has allowed him to connect with influential individuals across various fields. This network has become a valuable asset in overcoming challenges and seizing opportunities. Additionally, he stresses the need to aim for outsized results by focusing on ventures with the potential for significant growth and impact. He uses the example of curate Capital, a wealth management and investment arm, which has the potential to manage billions of dollars in assets, thus offering substantial returns.

💰 Beyond Money: The Importance of Purpose

In the final paragraph, the speaker reflects on the true purpose behind the pursuit of wealth. He argues that while money can be a useful measure of progress, it should not be the ultimate goal. Instead, he believes that the real value lies in the impact one can make, such as helping others or contributing to a cause greater than oneself. He encourages viewers to find a purpose that goes beyond the accumulation of wealth, as this can lead to greater fulfillment and success in the long run.

Keywords

💡Millionaire

A millionaire is an individual with a net worth of at least one million units of a currency, typically dollars, pounds, or euros. In the context of the video, the term is used to describe the financial goal the speaker aims to help others achieve through the strategies shared. The video's theme revolves around the journey to becoming a millionaire by the age of 30, which is a testament to the speaker's success and the potential of the strategies provided.

💡Strategies

Strategies refer to a carefully devised plan or method for achieving a particular goal. In this video, the speaker outlines five pivotal strategies that contributed to their personal journey to becoming a millionaire. These strategies are the core content of the video, offering viewers actionable steps to potentially replicate the speaker's financial success.

💡Corporate Lawyer

A corporate lawyer is a legal professional who specializes in providing legal services to corporations. The speaker mentions their background as a corporate lawyer, which is significant because it demonstrates that they did not come from a traditional business background but still managed to achieve financial success. This serves to inspire viewers that diverse backgrounds can lead to financial success when the right strategies are applied.

💡High-Paid Job

A high-paid job refers to a profession that offers a salary significantly above the average for similar roles. In the video, the speaker discusses one path to becoming a millionaire as having a high-paid job, such as working for a prestigious firm like Goldman Sachs. This is one of the three buckets they outline as potential routes to accumulating wealth.

💡Boring Business

In the context of the video, a 'boring business' refers to a type of business that may not be glamorous or exciting but is profitable and scalable. The speaker uses the example of a pharmacy to illustrate this concept, explaining that doing such a business well and scaling it up can lead to significant wealth accumulation.

💡Tech Startup

A tech startup is a company designed to develop a new technology or innovation and provide a product or service based on that technology. The video mentions tech startups as a third path to becoming a millionaire, emphasizing the potential for high growth and scalability, as exemplified by companies like Google.

💡Islamic Finance

Islamic finance is a system of asset and wealth management that is governed by Islamic law, or Shariah. The speaker discusses their expertise in Islamic finance and how it has been a significant part of their journey to becoming a millionaire. This concept is integral to the video's message, as it showcases the importance of specializing in a niche area and leveraging it for financial success.

💡Network

In the context of the video, a network refers to the collection of personal and professional contacts that an individual has built and maintains. The speaker highlights the importance of building a strong network for business success, as it can provide access to resources, introductions, and opportunities that can significantly impact one's financial journey.

💡Outsized Impact

Outsized impact refers to the significant and disproportionate effect or influence that an action or decision can have. The speaker advises viewers to optimize their businesses for opportunities that can lead to outsized impact, suggesting that aiming for extraordinary results is necessary for achieving millionaire status.

💡Halal Investing

Halal investing is a form of investment that complies with Islamic law, avoiding interest, uncertainty, and investments in businesses that are considered unethical. The video mentions that the speaker was asked to write a book on Halal investing by a major publisher, Wiley, indicating the speaker's expertise and the growing interest in ethical and religiously compliant financial practices.

💡Wealth Management

Wealth management is a professional service that includes investment advice, estate planning, and tax consulting for affluent clients. The speaker discusses curate Capital, their wealth management and investment arm, as an example of focusing on opportunities that can lead to significant financial outcomes and contribute to their journey to becoming a millionaire.

Highlights

The speaker shares five strategies that helped them become a millionaire by age 30.

The importance of choosing the type of millionaire you want to be, aligning it with your strengths and interests.

Three main paths to becoming a millionaire: high-paid job, a well-executed boring business, or a tech startup.

Details on high-paying careers like law, with potential salaries and the trade-offs involved.

The challenges and lifestyle implications of working in high-salary corporate roles.

The 'boring business' approach to wealth accumulation through understanding cash flows, efficiencies, and scaling.

The benefits and drawbacks of scaling a mundane but profitable business.

Becoming a tech entrepreneur as a third path to wealth, with its potential for high rewards and risks.

The personal journey of the speaker from a corporate lawyer to a tech entrepreneur.

The 'burning boats' effect of quitting a job to focus on a business and its impact on motivation and commitment.

The necessity of planning an exit from a corporate career to pursue entrepreneurship.

Playing to your strengths and compounding them over time for success.

The speaker's deep dive into Islamic finance as a domain of expertise and its role in their success.

The significance of building a strong network for business success and the habits that contribute to it.

The impact of networking on problem-solving and business introductions.

Optimizing a business for exceptional outcomes and avoiding ordinary results.

The importance of aiming for big swings in business to achieve millionaire status.

The speaker's transition to focusing on wealth management and investment for outsized impact.

The philosophical perspective on money as a side effect and the importance of a greater purpose.

Transcripts

I know from the bottom of my heart

inshallah that this video is going to

create future millionaires because I'm

going to share with you five strategies

that made me a millionaire alhamdulillah

by the age of 30. now to be clear I'm

honestly not making this video to flex

so given that we make this channel to

help Muslims level up financially and

we've had some small success ourselves

it only seems right to actually share

that with you as our truth so that you

can learn from that inshallah as well

now I don't come from a business

background at all I'm a corporate lawyer

looking back I have identified five

pivotal strategies that helped shape our

way to the present day and I'll be

sharing that with you in this video

Let's Go

the first strategic and most important

move that I made was to pick what type

of millionaire I wanted to be and to

make sure that it suited my strengths

and interests because you see there's

actually many different paths to

becoming a millionaire but they all boil

down into basically three big buckets

number one you could have a high-paid

job work for Goldman Sachs number two

you could do a boring business but you

could do it really well and scale it up

such as a pharmacy and number three you

could set up a tech startup that makes

money and you can scale that to huge

potential let's unpack those so for

example you could decide like I did

initially my career to go into an

extremely high paying career like law

starting salaries at the U.S Law Firm

like the one that I worked for today are

215

000 and if I was still there today I

would be on around three hundred

thousand dollars and I can assure you

that's not the salary that I am on right

now if you just hang on for a decade or

so once you're into these careers you'll

easily be making about 500k to about a

million dollars and if you make it to

partner then you're on to about two to

five million dollars per annum and if

you move out to the Middle East you'll

make the same but tax-free immediately

boosting your salary by another 40 I

know people in my circle who are roughly

the same age as me and same bracket as

me who are making around the equivalent

of three to four hundred thousand pounds

just because of that additional tax-free

boost and there's a lot of prestige

around these jobs too my old Law Firm

was led by the UK's former Attorney

General represented Qatar against Dubai

when they had a falling out and we

regularly worked on top deals that were

headline news but the downside to this

is that you are always a cog in a

machine that attorney general he used to

work literally on a treadmill I mean

that's such a metaphor you're a slave to

your client hours are horrific

unpredictable and in the hands of your

client even until you are much older

let's say like that attorney general is

much much older and to climb that greasy

ladder you need to be willing to suck up

the pain and play Within the cultural

norms of your firm and I just found this

incredibly stifling now someone might

say well what about if you become much

more senior doesn't become a lot more

relaxed well to some extent it does but

actually Partners at these top law firms

and Banks work incredibly hard still

they still put the hours in they

actually have to do a lot more evenings

now because it's a lot more about

schmoozing so when you're trying to

think about compromising your family

time and all the other things is still a

big commitment now option two is you

become an entrepreneur but you go for a

business model that 100 works and makes

money the only risk is can you execute

it well so you could open up a car wash

for example but if you go down this

boring business route a single car wash

doesn't cut it right it might make you

200k profit every year if you're really

lucky and it's a massive Car Wash so the

way to become a millionaire in this ball

game is to do two things first really

understand cash flows efficiencies and

margins basically be really good at the

boring but vital stuff and number two

but you must scale and by scale we mean

you need to have multiple of these car

washes across the country or across the

world but to scale you either need to

reinvest all of your profits or you need

to land massive contracts or you need to

have debt most of the Muslim

multi-millionaires living in the UK

today are of this slaver of millionaire

for example you've got people who made

money in real estate people who made

money in supermarkets people who made

money in Professional Services people

who made money in groceries all of them

are boring but scaled businesses the

problem with this route is that you

might not enjoy the boring stuff and as

a Muslim you'll struggle to find the

right type of Halal financing you need

to scale in this game so the route I

ultimately chose for myself was a third

and final path to becoming a millionaire

becoming a tech entrepreneur and let me

be very clear for me this third path was

the best but it's very credible and

perfectly acceptable and cool to go for

the first two paths as well many people

have made that work and they love it so

the idea with the tech entrepreneurship

is that you use software or deep

technology to look to build a business

model around that for example you might

develop an AI tool that allows you to

search the internet but unlike the car

wash it's not obvious how you monetize

that but in the case of Google they

correctly figured out that the way to

monetize this technology is through paid

ads by using a keyword auction and

complex algorithms it seems obvious

today of course but it really wasn't

then so now you have a great technology

you've got a bit of a business model

around it the next thing you need to

hope for is that this new technology

isn't just a small Niche thing but it's

something that could become enormous of

course Google worked out just fine for

them however Tech entrepreneurship isn't

right for everyone you might not like

Tech very much right developing software

and leading and engineering and product

team is a very particular skill set and

also with a tech startup it is a very

high risk Pursuit the downside with a

law career or a car wash business is

very capped you're never going to be

completely broke and lose everything but

with a tech startup things can literally

go to zero if you fail I chose Tech

entrepreneurship as I personally love

working on completely Blue Sky stuff

that has never been done before and

coming up with Innovative and new

business models rather than finding

efficiencies in established business

models

I quit my job age 28 at a time when my

salary was around 150 000 pounds I just

picked up a mortgage and my son was two

years old it was for obvious reasons a

massive decision by quitting but it was

pivotal for the growth of ifg and curate

Capital you see there's a burning the

boats effect there's now no going back

you really have to make this thing work

and that has a wonderful way of focusing

the mind and adding that extra nitrous

oxide to your fuel tank the other thing

that happens is that people take you

more seriously it's hard for another

full-time businessman who's hustling and

knows the difficulty of all this stuff

to take someone out seriously who is

part-time the final and obvious benefit

of quitting my job was that I was free

all day for the first time to work on my

business time is the most precious

resource we have and for the first time

I was investing it completely where I

thought I could make the most returns

but a word of warning I carefully

planned my exit from my corporate career

I negotiated a low monthly payment for

my Islamic mortgage I raised a small

plot of money from friends and family

prior to quitting and ifg and the

business was already turning over around

ten thousand pounds per month at that

point so yes quitting is a must if

you're serious but you must plan it

carefully and do it with thought

the third crucial strategy that most

folks get wrong is they don't play to

their strengths and they don't Compound

on their strengths over a very long

period of time I started looking at

Islamic Finance back in 2012 when I was

still studying PPE at Oxford I

subsequently did a Masters on the

subject then I embarked on my alamia

degree as well and through my corporate

career I then deepened that expertise

from a different perspective and ifg

added another Mass Market slant to it

because remember it started off as a

Blog in 2015 and it allowed me to

develop as a Creator then over the last

two years I've been studying a few key

Islamic Finance texts every Friday with

Mufti Faraz Adam we finished that last

year and we've now started another two

year long study of the Quran Hadith that

underpin Islamic financial matters

alhamdulillah this year one of the

world's largest Publishers Wiley asked

us to write a book on Halal investing

the point is very simple I love Islamic

finance and investing and that's my

mission and every year I plug away at my

own craft and try and fix something that

I see in myself and add something else

to my toolkit and so for someone to now

replicate this decade-long journey from

a standing start is extremely difficult

so pick a skill or domain expertise you

have and go really deep in it become

world class at it becoming world class

at something people value will

significantly increase your chances at

becoming a millionaire

the fourth game changer for us was the

strength of our Network and the time we

took and continue to take to build out

our Network pretty much every day since

2019 I will be either building our

Network through a new connection or

rekindling an existing contact to give

you a sense of this I was just flicking

through my WhatsApp conversations from

this week and I've spoken to 133 people

from world famous Scholars to

multi-millionaires to charity workers

old friends and teammates this has just

become a habit for me now what this

means is any problem we face today any

introduction we need we usually know the

right people to make things happen and

in business like in all walks of life

it's often about who you know not what

you know so do the hard yards the cold

LinkedIn Outreach that asking your

friend for an introduction to someone

you want to speak to then add value to

who you meet and ask them to introduce

you to others and do that every single

day for half an hour an hour and you

will have built a massive Network in no

time at all

the fifth and final strategy we

benefited from as recently as this year

is optimize your business for massive

out of the park swings if you want to be

a millionaire you're going to have to

buy a definition achieve something that

99 of people want so logically you won't

get there by doing ordinary stuff you're

going to have to take big swings and try

and hit the Home Run you'll fail mostly

but every so often it'll come off as

Michael Jordan said he's taken 9 000

shots that missed in his lifetime he's

lost 300 games he had 26 moments where

he could win the game with a shot and he

missed and you know what he said that's

why he succeeded because every shot that

you don't take you've already lost

anyway and look what you can't do is

play in products or industries that

don't return you potentially big

outcomes even if you do really well in

them for example we offer digital

Islamic wills and we're the biggest

provider by volume in the UK today

however even with that level of skill as

a Muslim Community is just seven percent

of the total population this doesn't

return you and million dollar outcomes

if we were just to focus on this it

wouldn't make commercial sense we might

be a nice small profitable business but

we wouldn't be a scale business instead

what we are laser focused on today

thanks to the advice of our mentors is

curate Capital our wealth management and

investment arm here the restricting

factor is Muslim wealth that we can

manage but there are billions of dollars

out there for us to manage and we've

literally just scratched the surface

there and already alhamdulillah that is

giving us decent returns so make sure

that you are truly taking those big

swings that have outsized exceptional

impact and that your life is set up to

take those at least once a month if not

more often because the more swings you

take the more chances you have of

connecting well there you are folks I

hope you found that insightful and I

hope it inspires many of you on your own

millionaire Journeys I should stress

though money isn't the end goal here I

use it in this video as a nice number

that we all conventionally measure

progress by but the end goal must be

much bigger than money in our case our

mission is to help Muslims get back to a

level Financial playing field and

honestly I know it's easy and glib for

me to say that but I think for me that's

ultimately far more important than all

of this money that's kind of a side

effect and if you look at what truly

successful multi-millionaires and

billionaires actually end up doing they

end up giving away most of their wealth

why did they do that because in this

finite life we actually just don't have

the time to spend all of that money

anyway so ultimately if that is where

you're headed then the purpose behind

what you're doing is actually far more

important and if your end goal is just

money well then ironically you're less

likely to get there please do like this

video subscribe to the channel it really

does help us and I'll see you next time

assalamu alaikum

foreign

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