Get RICH in Your 20’s: DON’T Start a Business

Jacob Hopkins

1 Nov 202207:08

Summary

TLDRThe speaker shares his journey from college dropout to successful entrepreneur, emphasizing the importance of acquiring skill sets before starting a business. He recounts his early ventures, including a car detailing business and e-commerce, which taught him the value of hard work and the pitfalls of lacking expertise. After a failed attempt to create an app, he pivoted to real estate but struggled due to inexperience. A pivotal moment came when a mentor challenged his abilities, leading to a realization that mastering sales was crucial. Through dedication and learning, he excelled, earning significant income and highlighting that the key to success lies in skill development, not just in choosing the right business.

Takeaways

🚫 Avoid starting a business without relevant skill sets; the speaker emphasizes the importance of having specific skills before venturing into entrepreneurship.
💡 The idea of escaping the traditional 9-to-5 job and the 'Matrix' of debt and work is a driving force for the speaker to seek business opportunities.
💨 The speaker's first business venture was a car detailing service, which taught him the value of hard work but also the physical demands of such a job.
📉 The speaker experienced a crash in his e-commerce business, illustrating the volatility and risks inherent in entrepreneurial ventures.
💡 Inspiration from 'The Social Network' led the speaker to attempt creating an app, showing the influence of media and success stories on aspiring entrepreneurs.
🚫 A pivotal moment was the rejection of his app idea by a potential investor, highlighting the reality check entrepreneurs often face regarding their ideas and capabilities.
🤔 The investor's questions made the speaker realize his lack of specific skills necessary to build a successful business, leading to a period of self-reflection and reassessment.
🏋️‍♂️ The speaker's transition into real estate was marked by financial struggles and the realization that he still lacked the necessary skills to succeed.
📈 A turning point was the acquisition of sales skills through a cold calling position at Gem Launch, demonstrating the power of focused skill development.
💰 The speaker's income increased significantly after mastering sales skills, underscoring the financial benefits of becoming proficient in a specific skill set.
🔑 The key takeaway is that the type of business one starts is less important than the skill sets one acquires and masters, which can lead to success in various ventures.

Q & A

What is the main lesson the speaker learned about starting a business?
-The main lesson the speaker learned is that one should not start a business without having the necessary skill sets.
Why did the speaker initially not want to be in a nine-to-five job?
-The speaker felt that the nine-to-five job was a scam, a system designed to keep people in debt and working for others forever.
What was the speaker's first business venture and how did it go?
-The speaker's first business venture was a car detailing business, which he scaled up with a friend from high school. It was successful, earning him around a thousand dollars a weekend.
What happened to the speaker's e-commerce business after a few months?
-The speaker's e-commerce business initially did well, but it crashed during the summer after his senior year of high school.
What was the speaker's reaction to the failure of his e-commerce business?
-The speaker was trying to figure out how to escape college and was inspired by 'The Social Network' to create an app, which he thought would be his way out.
What was the name of the app the speaker attempted to create and what was its purpose?
-The app was called 'Book Me' and it was intended to be a connection app, though the specific purpose isn't detailed in the script.
What was the turning point for the speaker when he realized he lacked the necessary skills to build a business?
-The turning point was when he pitched his app idea to a potential investor who questioned his skills and capabilities, leading him to realize he was not prepared to start a business.
What did the speaker do after giving up on the app idea?
-The speaker decided to go to school and get a job, feeling lost and unsure about what to do next.
How did the speaker's involvement in real estate business start and what were the initial challenges?
-The speaker started a real estate business using his savings and cash, but quickly realized he had no skill sets for it, leading to losses of three to four thousand dollars per month.
What was the speaker's breakthrough in terms of skill development and how did it impact his earnings?
-The speaker's breakthrough was learning sales skills through a cold calling position at Gem Launch. Within six to eight months, he was earning twenty thousand dollars a month.
What is the speaker's final advice on business and skill development?
-The speaker advises that it's not about what business to start, but rather about what skill set to learn and develop, as stacking skill sets can lead to financial success.

Outlines

00:00

🚀 Entrepreneurial Journey and Lessons Learned

The speaker reflects on his entrepreneurial journey, starting from his early attempts at side hustles to his eventual success. Initially, he was in debt and sought to escape the traditional 9-to-5 lifestyle. He tried various ventures, including a car detailing business and e-commerce, but faced challenges and failures. The turning point came when he realized the importance of having specific skill sets to build a business. His first business idea, an app called 'Book Me,' was rejected by a potential investor who pointed out his lack of necessary skills. This led to a period of self-reflection and the eventual decision to focus on learning and mastering sales skills, which later became the foundation of his financial success.

05:00

📈 Overcoming Failures and Mastering Sales Skills

The speaker details his struggle with multiple business failures and the emotional toll it took on him, leading to feelings of depression. However, a pivotal moment occurred when he received tough love from a friend, who bluntly told him he was poor at sales. This critique motivated him to improve, leading to an opportunity at Gem Launch, a company where he could learn sales from the ground up. Through sheer volume and persistence, he honed his sales skills, eventually earning significant income. The speaker emphasizes that the key to success is not the type of business one starts, but rather the skill sets one acquires and masters, such as sales, media, and leadership, which can be stacked to create a prosperous future.

Mindmap

Keywords

💡Business

A business refers to an organization or venture created for the purpose of making a profit by providing goods or services to consumers. In the context of the video, the speaker emphasizes the importance of having relevant skills before starting a business. The speaker's journey includes starting a car detailing business and later an e-commerce venture, illustrating the ups and downs of entrepreneurship.

💡Skill sets

Skill sets are a collection of abilities and knowledge that an individual possesses, which are relevant to a particular field or job. The video's theme revolves around the necessity of acquiring specific skill sets before embarking on a business venture. The speaker's realization that he lacked the necessary skills for his app idea and his subsequent focus on developing sales skills are pivotal moments in the narrative.

💡Side hustle

A side hustle is a part-time job or a small business that one engages in alongside their primary employment to earn extra income. The speaker mentions being on YouTube to figure out the next side hustle, indicating his drive to find alternative ways to make money outside of traditional employment.

💡E-commerce

E-commerce refers to the buying and selling of goods or services using the internet, as well as the transfer of money and data to execute these transactions. The speaker's foray into e-commerce resulted in significant revenue, but it also led to a crash, highlighting the volatility and challenges of online business.

💡App idea

An app idea is a concept for a software application that can be developed for various platforms, such as smartphones or computers. The speaker's app idea, 'Book Me,' was a pivotal point in the video where he sought investment but faced rejection due to a lack of relevant skills, leading to a crucial learning experience.

💡Pivot

To pivot means to change the direction or orientation of something or to cause it to move on a central point. In the video, the speaker's pivot from the app idea to focusing on sales and real estate signifies a strategic shift in response to challenges and a reassessment of his capabilities.

💡Real estate

Real estate involves the buying, selling, renting, and development of land or properties. The speaker's attempt to start a real estate business, despite lacking the necessary skills, led to financial losses and further underscored the importance of skill acquisition before venturing into a new business area.

💡Sales

Sales refer to the activity of selling products or services to customers in exchange for money. The speaker's experience in sales, initially characterized by poor performance, eventually led to significant financial success after dedicated practice and improvement, illustrating the power of mastering a skill set.

💡Volume

In the context of the video, volume refers to the quantity or amount of a particular activity, such as making sales calls. The speaker mentions that 'volume negates luck,' suggesting that consistent and high-volume efforts can lead to improved performance and success over time.

💡Growth mindset

A growth mindset is the belief that one's abilities and intelligence can be developed through dedication and hard work. The video's theme implicitly supports a growth mindset, as the speaker learns from his failures and focuses on acquiring new skills to achieve success.

💡Freedom

Freedom in the video refers to the liberation from traditional employment and the pursuit of one's own business ventures. The speaker's desire for freedom is a driving force behind his various business attempts and reflects a common entrepreneurial goal of autonomy and self-determination.

Highlights

The speaker emphasizes the importance of having skill sets before starting a business.

Shares personal experience of starting a car detailing business and scaling it up.

Mentions the transition from a physical business to e-commerce with varying degrees of success.

Reflects on the failure of an app idea due to lack of coding and selling skills.

Recounts the pivotal moment of realization about the necessity of specific skills for business success.

Narrates the story of an unsuccessful pitch for an app idea and the valuable feedback received.

Describes the process of starting a real estate business and the challenges faced due to lack of skills.

Highlights the financial struggles and emotional toll of repeated business failures.

Shares the turning point of getting a job in sales to learn and master a skill set.

Talks about the importance of volume in sales and how it negates luck, leading to improvement.

Details the journey from a low first paycheck to earning a significant income through skill development.

Stresses the idea that it's not about what business to start, but what skills to learn and master.

Advocates for stacking skill sets as a pathway to financial success and personal growth.

Provides insight into the mindset shift from wanting to escape the traditional education system to focusing on skill acquisition.

Shares the personal growth and transformation that came with learning sales skills.

Concludes with the message that acquiring skill sets is a lifelong process that contributes to wealth and success.