Page 163 - Midas Touch

Yet, becoming an entrepreneur is no big deal. Almost anyone can become
one. For example, if a young boy or girl mows their neighbor’s lawn for
$10, he or she is an entrepreneur.

What determines if that boy or girl becomes a great entrepreneur is what
they do with that money.

Many entrepreneurs simply stick the $10 in their pocket. Millions of small
entrepreneurs around the world do this. When they stick the money in their
pocket, they join the underground economy, keeping no records and paying
no taxes.

This is what most professional investors are afraid of. They know most
small entrepreneurs stick the money in their pocket, feeding themselves

rather than feeding the business and returning the investors’ money. On
top of that, stuffing money in your own pocket is a criminal act. Most
investors do not invest with criminals.

The world is filled with S-quadrant entrepreneurs who are tax cheats and
criminals, members of the underground economy. You come across these
entrepreneurs at swap meets, garage sales, farmer’s markets, people
cleaning houses on weekends, people washing your car window while you

wait for the light to change, waiters and bartenders not declaring their tips,
and billions of other people doing anything they can to make a buck. In the
United States alone, the underground economy is estimated to be a $1.5 to
$2 trillion economy and growing. Without records, it is difficult to
measure this economy.

If you are in this record-less and tax-less economy, it is best to stay small
and under the radar. The problem with being in the underground economy

is becoming rich. If a person in the underground makes a lot of money,
suddenly buying a big house, driving flashy cars, sailing their new boat,
and charging large sums on their credit cards, their “living large” puts
them on the radar screen of the tax department. If caught for tax evasion,
their business is often destroyed and they will spend a lot of time and
money defending themselves.

Obviously, we do not recommend becoming entrepreneurs in the

underground economy. We mention the underground economy simply to