Page 18 - Midas Touch

started.” I also say, “If I had known how hard it was going to be, I might
not have started.” To give these budding entrepreneurs some “brightness of
future” though, I usually add, “I’m glad I did not know, because if I did, I
might not be successful today.” I then begin to tell them about my failures,

because failure was my path to success.

Don’t Read Any Further
In the following pages, I will share a few real-life experiences about pain
and failure. Why do I want to tell you about my pain and failure? The
answer is simple. If my pain and failure discourage you from becoming an

entrepreneur, then I have done you a big favor.

While almost everyone has the ability to become an entrepreneur, not
everyone needs to become an entrepreneur. There are easier ways to live
your life.

Life and success seem easy for some people, but I do not know any of
these people. As my rich dad often said, “Success requires sacrifice.” I
have yet to meet a successful person who did not sacrifice tremendously

for that success. For example, medical doctors pay a steep price in terms
of time, money, energy, and relationships to become doctors. So do most
high-performance athletes, movie stars, music idols, political leaders, and
social leaders. Success in business is no different.

Sacrifice is the price a person pays for success. Unfortunately, most people
are not willing to pay the price. It is easier to be average, comfortable,
safe, secure, and live life just below success.

Stories of My Own Stupidity
Albert Einstein once said: “Only two things are infinite—the universe and
human stupidity. And I’m not sure about the former.”

I am living proof of Einstein’s insight. My stupidity is infinite.

The following are examples of my stupidity when I started my first
business called Rippers, a nylon-and-Velcro surfer-wallet business, which

grew into a big business. To preface the story, I had started a number of
smaller businesses before creating Rippers, but none had taken me to an
international level as the nylon-wallet business did. The interesting thing