hard work

How Mark Cuban Became a Billionaire

May 3, 2014 By Jeffrey Strain 1 Comment

One of the best ways to learn about how to make money is to look at those who have been successful at doing it. It’s important to listen and learn from the advice of people like Warren Buffet, Bill Gates and Steve Jobs. Taking the advice that they have to offer can help you do better with your own personal finances, and help you reach the money goals you have.

Bloomberg put together a video about Mark Cuban that’s well worth a look. You can learn a bit more about how he became a billionaire, and also take away some lessons that can be of use for your own personal finances.

Here are five big takeaways from the video that you can learn from and apply to your own success:

Look for Opportunities

Opportunities are out there and you need to be on the lookout for them. Cuban began to do this from an early age. One of his first entrepreneurial exploits was with postage stamp arbitrage. Cuban discovered that he could buy stamps for as little as $0.25 and then resell them for as much as $50. He became so good at it that, according to his brother, that a neighbor gave him $5000 to buy stamps at a stamp show in New York for him.

It Takes a Lot of Work

Success doesn’t just fall into your lap. As Cuban says, he looks at business as a sport, much like football and basketball. The difference is while those games are played 60 minutes and 48 minutes respectively, business is played 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. You aren’t going to be a success unless your work your heart out, and put in more effort than the other competitors out there.

Have an Eye for Marketing

Marketing opportunities can come from strange places and you can take those opportunities to leverage them to your benefit. Cuban, as owner the owner of the Dallas Mavericks, told a ref that he wasn’t qualified to manage a Dairy Queen. This upset Dairy Queen which wanted Cuban (and everyone) to know that it wasn’t easy to manage a Dairy Queen, and their managers are highly trained. Dairy Queen challenged him to work in a shop. It would have been easy for Cuban to blow the whole thing off, but he instead took the opportunity to work at Dairy Queen for an afternoon, garnering him a huge amount of publicity.

Be Willing to do Things Differently

In many of the businesses that he has owned, Cuban has gone about and done something fundamentally different than what businesses in that area had been doing up until then. As he says, if you are doing what everyone else is doing, you are missing the future and where those business will be in the years to come. It’s important to not only look at what’s happening now, but to anticipate where things will go so that you’re the one to implement that future.

Luck Plays a Big Part

Even with a lot of hard work, luck has a lot to do with it as well. He ended up selling his company at the right time at the height of the Internet bubble for much more than he ever could have a few years later. While this doesn’t discount all the hard work that you must do to be successful, there is an element of luck that comes into play as well. Cuban considers himself “the luckiest person in the world” and that luck had a lot to do with his overall success.

Finally, if you’re interested in learning more about Mark Cuban’s business secrets, check out his autobiography How to Win at the Sport of Business: If I Can Do It, You Can Do It. Its gotten an average of 4 stars out of 2,911 ratings on goodreads.com, so its well worth checking out. Pick up a copy on Amazon for under 5 bucks.

Desperate for a Job. Or Not.

January 3, 2011 By Jennifer Derrick 6 Comments

I have two friends who both run businesses. Both have told me similar stories lately about how, in such a down economy, they cannot find people to work for them. The first friend runs a construction business that specializes in renovating restaurants. He routinely has people come to him, begging for work. They plead for jobs because they need to feed their families or they are about to lose their homes. Since my friend always needs employees, he takes many of them on. He even takes on the ones who are “overqualified” because they are out of work professionals.

My friends is upfront in the interviews about the amount of travel required (a lot, but company paid), the salary (which is very generous), the physical labor, and the hours (long, but with overtime pay). Despite the travel and the long hours, these people take the job. They claim to be so desperate for work that they will happily do anything, no matter how long the hours or how arduous the work. Despite their desperation, the average new hire quits after just two weeks. The travel is too much, the hours too long. They beg my friend to find them work closer to home but he reminds them that this was part of the deal. The jobs close to home go to those with seniority. They beg him to cut down the hours so they can spend more time with their families. My friend reminds them that the hours are long because the work needs to be completed by a specific date. When they can’t get easier hours or work closer to home, they quit.

“I don’t get it,” my friend says. “If I was so desperate for money and about to be thrown out of my house, I’d do anything and stick with it.” He told me that it makes him think twice about hiring people. He wants to hire those who really need to work, but having employees coming and going every day is disruptive and expensive. He admitted that he may just have to start hiring only those who are truly qualified and experienced in the field, even if that means he has to do with fewer employees and stop being “the nice guy.”

My other friend tells a similar story. She runs a manufacturing facility. She is always hiring employees because hers won’t stay, either, despite the fact that she provides full benefits and good salaries. They come in claiming to be desperate enough to take the third shift that no one else wants. They claim that the fact they have to work most holidays doesn’t bother them. They beg for the job because it has insurance. Yet within a couple of weeks they are complaining about the shift work and how it means they never see their kids. When she reminds them that this is what they were hired for and that they said it wouldn’t bother them, they beg for special consideration. When she can’t give them what they want, they quit.

It’s not that most of these people are leaving for other, more suitable jobs, either. Most willingly choose unemployment over hard work or inconvenient hours. They would rather be racking up debt, losing their homes, and going without insurance than working at a job that requires travel or odd hours.

I agree with my friends. I don’t understand this behavior. Jobs are hard to come by, let alone jobs that offer good salaries and benefits. If you are truly desperate for money, you have to be willing to take and work at anything, even if it’s not ideal. Maybe you don’t like all the travel. Maybe you don’t like shift work. But which is worse? Travel, or being foreclosed out of your house? When you are desperate for money and you have no job, you have to suck it up and do what you need to do. To do otherwise is to act irresponsibly. You can’t get everything you want in life and sometimes you have to suck it up and deal with unpleasantness until you can get into a better situation.

When someone offers you a helping hand in the form of a job, you should take it and be grateful for the opportunity. You should work at it as hard as you can until you can find something that suits you better. You shouldn’t just cut and run because the work is too hard, or the hours not ideal. You need to pay your bills and support your family more than you need to be home for dinner at 5:00 every night. And who knows? Working at this job that’s so awful may lead to other opportunities. Who knows who you might meet or what you might overhear. You might be able to find a lead on a better job through contacts you make at this job. And a good reference certainly won’t hurt you. If you can get an employer to tell another employer about how hard you worked and how loyal you were to the company, even though it wasn’t your ideal situation, a prospective employer might favor you over another applicant. That’s much better than a reference that says, “You know, Joe quit after two weeks because the work was too hard and he didn’t like the hours.” Even if nothing else happens, at least you can pay your bills, keep your house, and possibly have insurance in the meantime.

The more people who act like this, the harder jobs will be to come by for everyone. Employers like my first friend, who are willing to take on almost anyone who needs a job, will be harder to find because they can only be burned so often before they tighten their hiring policies and look only for those who have years of experience in the field and a proven ability to “hack it.” It’s expensive to hire a new employee. Employers will only take so much of this foolishness before they say, “Enough. I will not hire anyone who isn’t experienced or who isn’t willing to sign a contract for a year of work.” This hurts everyone because there are fewer employers to turn to when you really need a job.

If you really need a job and someone is kind enough to offer and you accept, you really need to commit to that job, at least until you find something that is more your ideal. Quitting because it’s hard or inconvenient isn’t just bad for you, it’s bad for the employer and bad for those who will come after you who could have really used that job.

Financial Success Shame?

October 4, 2010 By Jennifer Derrick 7 Comments

On a message board that I routinely hang out on, there was recently a discussion of people’s finances and whether or not they could afford certain items. As with all discussions of this type, there were some people who stated that they would have huge trouble affording these things and other people said that they would be able to afford almost anything. As the discussion got more heated, two posters who had mentioned their financial success and ability to afford most things were called “lucky” and “fortunate” by other posters.

The first poster responded by hemming and hawing and saying that yes, they had been lucky and that yes, things had kind of always gone their way and that sure, they were better off that most, but only because they’d gotten some bonuses and profits from the sale of a business. The second poster came right out and said that they were not fortunate at all, but that they had worked their butts off in school and at work, sacrificed, never taken on debt, and had educated themselves about money and made it a priority to manage their funds well. Despite obstacles such as medical problems and layoffs, this person had done well because they worked at it.

The first poster seemed as though they were ashamed of their financial success. The second poster attributed it all to hard work. My question was, “What on Earth did the first poster have to be ashamed of?” Obviously the first poster was a hard worker. If most of their money came from the same of a business, they must have worked hard to build that business to the level where it could be sold for a great profit. There’s nothing to be ashamed of in that.

This attitude of shame is common. Many people who are successful financially seem ashamed of the fact. When other people mention their success, they back away from the subject, preferring to hide behind “luck.” In most cases, though, their success is the result of some serious hard work, not anything lucky like winning the lottery or stumbling over $10,000 cash in the parking lot. I think people are ashamed of their success because it’s not socially acceptable to be proud of it, especially these days. When so many people are struggling, admitting that you are not seems uncaring. We’re also taught never to brag. There is a difference, however in bragging (going around saying, “I have a $500,000 house, and a Mercedes and am going on a first-class world cruise) and simply attributing your success to your own hard work and effort. It’s not bragging to tell someone who asks or comments on your “good luck” to say, “Hey, I worked a lot of overtime for that money and then made it a priority to study investing so I could use it well.” When you work hard at something it’s a cause for pride, not shame.

Some people also think that not being ashamed of their success smacks of pride. And in some religions, pride is a sin. I’m no theologian, but I think the pride that is discouraged by religion is the sort of pride where you lord it over other people and say, “I’m better than you because I’m successful financially.” There’s nothing wrong or sinful about healthy self-esteem or taking pride in your hard work as long as you aren’t using it to prove your superiority. Simply saying (when someone mentions your luck), “It wasn’t luck, at all. I built a business and then sold it,” isn’t being prideful. It’s clarifying the subject of where your money came from.

Unless you’ve come by your money through illegal or illicit means, I think it’s fine to be proud of your efforts. You put in the time, did the work, got educated about money, and it’s paid off. That others have not chosen to do so and instead choose to believe in luck is not your fault. You have no reason to be ashamed of your accomplishments and every right to correct those who say you’re lucky. There’s no shame in hard work, effort, and education. There is shame, however, in constantly denigrating your accomplishments to fit some societal notion of propriety. You do yourself and others no favors by making it seem easier than it really is.

Create Your Own Job With Passion, Perseverance and Hard Work

December 26, 2007 By Jennifer Derrick 5 Comments

Both online and in the real world, I’m seeing more and more people desperate to work from home these days. I hear many reasons for this: The high price of gas is making commuting too expensive. Those already at home need to bring in extra income to make ends meet or pay for extras. It’s better for the environment. It’s less stressful than working in an office. It’s more family friendly. Whatever the reason, there are many people looking for work from home jobs.

Unfortunately, in their desperation for quick money and a quick exit from the rat race, I see too many people looking for the “job in a box” – that job that will pay handsomely with little effort on their part. If they’re not looking for the job in a box, they’re chasing the “hot” career of the moment, whether it’s medical transcription, telemarketing, or something else. These hot jobs are supposedly easy to get, require little training, and generate big incomes. Of course, everyone else is trying to get in there, too, which means stiff competition for few legitimate openings. The problem with both of these methods is that neither is the best way to work from home. If it was really as easy as signing up at a website or latching on to that hot career, we’d all be doing it.

Most of the “jobs in a box” are scams. They require you to pay upfront for materials or “training” and then pay you nothing in return. Either that or they’re pyramid schemes in which the only person making money is the one at the very top who’s running the scheme. Some of the hot careers are so hot they’re being taken over by scammers. There are many services that promise to hook you up with clients for a fee, but they never deliver. Or they’ll put you through an accelerated training program that’s “guaranteed” to get you a job upon completion, but guess what? No job ever materializes, and just try collecting on that guarantee. And if you’re only chasing the hot at-home career for the money and not because you enjoy the work, how long do you think it will be before you burn out on that job and start looking for something else?

So if the easy way doesn’t work, how does one get to work from home? The answer is the same as it has always been: hard work. Those who are really lucky will be able to talk their current employer into letting them work from home, even if it’s only part time. It is easier than ever to work from home thanks to modern technology, but many bosses are resistant to give up “face time” in the office. They think that if they can’t see you, you aren’t working. But if you have an understanding boss, try asking because this is the only legitimate “easy” way to work from home. The rest of us need to prepare for some hard work and soul searching in order to create our own jobs.

Create your own job? I see you shaking your head and muttering that such a thing is impossible. No one would pay you to do your own thing. No one would pay you to do something you enjoy. That’s where you would be wrong. In today’s fragmented economy, there is a market for almost any product or service. It is completely possible to create your own job, doing something you enjoy from home. Creating your own job is far preferable to getting involved in a scam, being tied to work you hate just because it lets you work from home, or wasting money on contact lists, training, or programs that lead nowhere.

So what does creating your own work-from home job require? You need three things to be successful long term: 1) Passion for the work you’re doing, 2) Perseverance and, 3) Plain old hard work. Passion is what will get you out of bed every day and keep you engaged with your chosen work. It is why you will stick with this work long term, rather than burning out after six months. It’s why you’ll be successful; because you’re so passionate about this job that you have no choice but to be successful. Others are attracted to passion. If a customer has to choose between two products/services that are equal in every sense, they will usually go with the vendor who oozes passion for the job because they realize that passion equates to a willingness to work harder.

Perseverance is what keeps you going when every one around you is saying, “No” to your ideas. It’s what sends you back to the drawing board when the first idea fails. You have to keep plugging away at your work until you are successful. Unless you’re very fortunate you won’t be an overnight success. You’ll have to persevere until your work gets noticed and takes off. Those who don’t give up and keep persevering are the ones who are ultimately succeed, if for no other reason than they’re the last ones standing when everyone else gives up.

Plain old hard work is self-explanatory. Nothing worthwhile in life is ever accomplished without hard work. Your mother told you the same thing. Prepare to spend many hours making your chosen venture pay off. You’ll have to work hard to get noticed, to perform your job, and run your business. If it sounds daunting, it is. But any legitimate work from home job requires hard work to be successful. Even those “hot” careers require hard work to make them pay off. But wouldn’t you rather work this hard for something that’s your own and enjoyable, rather than working hard for something you hate or merely tolerate?

If you want to work from home, there’s no easy fix, no magic trick to instant wealth. Rather than spending time looking for the easy way, dedicate that time to finding something you’re passionate about and then working on it until you’re successful. Instead of spending money on contact lists and “training programs,” invest in the equipment you need or the real education your chosen job requires. Rather than sitting around saying, “I wish…,” get out there and research your target markets. Get involved with the communities you hope to serve. Rather than begging for leads to easy jobs on message boards, spend the time learning about home based businesses, or study the tax and insurance requirements for your new venture. Stop complaining about how hard it is to find a work from home job and create your own job.

I realize this sounds harsh, but I see so many people wasting their lives and money looking for the easy way that I think a wake up call is in order. If there were an easy way to work form home, we’d all be doing it. If most prospective work-at-homers would spend half the time they spend looking for the easy way on creating their own job, they’d be a success in no time. Instead they waste years piddling around and saying, “I wish,” and, “If only.” They spend hard earned dollars on leads, scams, or training for work they ultimately hate. Wouldn’t it make more sense (and be more rewarding) to spend that time and money on something enjoyable that you create for yourself and that, at the end of the day, you own and control?

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