13 Small Unfair Life Advantages You Can Exploit to Achieve Massive Success in Business.
You already have what it takes to succeed.
Photo by Adeolu Eletu on Unsplash
Business success is a mixture of:
Luck.
Opportunity.
Unfair advantages.
You can’t control #1 and #2.
But you can exploit #3.
Here’s how.
Unfair Advantage #1: You have access to the internet.
Datareportal reports that 63.5 percent of the world has internet access.
That equates to over 5 billion people worldwide.
Could you solve a problem for four people who would pay you $80 per day?
Great, you’ve got a six-figure business.
Not easy, but not as hard as you think it is.
Unfair Advantage #2: You know how to teach yourself.
If you have access to the internet and know how to self-educate, you can teach yourself anything.
Eliminate the phrase: “I don’t know how to do that.”
Find 1–2 skills that interest you.
Watch YouTube and Google stuff until you achieve 80% competence.
Buy courses and coaching to complete the 20%
Apprentice yourself to people. This may include working for free.
Accumulate testimonials and referrals.
Start charging for your services.
As Naval Ravikant says,
“The means of learning are abundant. It is the desire to learn that is scarce.”
Unfair Advantage #3: You know how to read.
If you can read, you can learn from the best minds in the world.
Reading is the cheapest form of time travel.
For the price of a dinner, you get access to the best leaders, philosophers and entrepreneurs who take a lifetime of knowledge and put it into 300 pages.
Unfair Advantage #4: You can live with your parents (rent-free)
Swallow your ego.
Move back in with your parents while you build your business.
Drastically lower your cost of living.
Reinvest every cent and spare time back into building your start-up.
Unfair Advantage #5: You are single with no kids.
You’ve got more control over your time, money and energy.
Invest it wisely.
Unfair Advantage #6: You know how to use social media.
Invest time to build an audience online through content.
When you’re not creating, curate your feed with people you admire.
Stop mindlessly consuming people dancing on TikTok.
Creating & Curating > Consuming.
Unfair Advantage #7: You know how to build your network
Your network is your net worth.
Most of your most valuable opportunities or ‘big breaks’ won’t come through family and friends.
A study at Stanford demonstrates that ‘loose ties’ are people who you might not hang out with on a Saturday night, but they provide the best opportunities for you.
I’ve been offered board positions and jobs by people I barely know over the internet.
Your network compounds, so start building it early.
Unfair Advantage #8: You went to an elite university
Leverage the brand.
Exploit the networks.
Join the alumni groups.
Display your credentials.
The quality of education you receive is secondary to the people you have access to.
Unfair Advantage #9: You have access to money
Can mommy and daddy help fund your start-up?
Take it.
Sounds unfair but many start-ups begin this way.
Unfair Advantage #10: You have a unique upbringing
Use your lived experience to create products and services.
There’s nothing more powerful than a founder who knows the target group of the problem they are trying to solve.
Unfair Advantage #11: You live in a thriving ecosystem
Start-ups are like real estate.
It’s all about location, location, location.
If you’re in tech and find yourself in Silicon Valley, congrats.
You’ve won half the battle.
You’ve got access to the hottest talent and knowledge spillover.
Leverage your location.
Unfair Advantage #12: You’re under the age of 45.
The average age of a successful start-up founder is 42.5 years.
If you’re under this age, you’re in pre-season.
I am a 27-year-old entrepreneur and I feel like my only job for the next 15 years is to fail and learn as much as possible.
I don’t plan to work another 9–5 again unless it's for another start-up.
Even then, I’ll always have my own side hustle in the background.
Unfair Advantage #13: You’re alive. Most people are dead.
The dead outnumber the living 15 to 1.
If you’ve got a pulse you’ve got an opportunity to create a business that most of the world doesn’t.
Take more shots. Enjoy the journey. Weather downs and learn to celebrate the ups.
What does this mean?
Life isn’t fair. Business isn’t even worse.
But you’ve got small unfair life advantages that can translate into business success.
Use them.
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