7 Profound Ways Starting A Six-Figure Business Reprogrammed My Brain and Mindset For Life

31 July

Starting your own business will teach you more than doing a $100k + MBA.

I took the leap and started my own consulting business this year. I was scared, frightened, and a little bit fearful about failing.

But within six months, I’ve crossed the six-figure revenue mark. I also get to work with clients I love and projects I find deeply meaningful.

Aside from having more freedom and money, it is the psychological growth I experienced that has been the most rewarding.

I can’t guarantee you’ll cross six figures in revenue in 6 months, but I can guarantee that the process of starting a business will change you forever.

Even if you decide to work for someone else after, the mindset you develop as an entrepreneur will be invaluable for your next job.

The good news? It’s never been easier to start a low-risk, no-inventory business. There are few barriers to entry and even fewer gatekeepers.

Let’s begin.

1. You understand the scale of money

Starting my own business has reprogrammed my mindset on money.

I use to think making six figures was a lot of money. But it’s really not.

Now I might sound like an A-hole when I say that but when you break down $100,000 revenue:

$8333 per month.
Less than $2,000 per week.
$273 per day.

With 4.9 billion people connected to the internet, could you find 2 clients that will pay you $5,000 each per month?

Yes? Congrats, you’ve got a six-figure business.

My consulting business started with a laptop, wifi, and two clients willing to pay me a day rate that greatly exceeds $273.

I had zero start-up costs and less than $1,000 per year on fixed costs (website, domain, accounting software, etc).

The best part is that I started at the bottom of my pricing. I couldn’t go lower than what I was currently charging.

2. You get a deeper insight into human psychology

Whenever you tell people you have your own business, their reaction is a projection of their relationship with taking risks.

They will express:

Fear
Jealousy
Pity

Or a mixture of all three.

You’ll have people who tell you how risky it is to start your own business, who have had their own business and it failed. Others might tell you how they’ve always wanted to do it but never had the guts.

When I started my own business, it opened me up for interrogation by friends, family, and ex-colleagues.

In short, you will become a projection of their own insecurities.

3. You will start to see business opportunities everywhere

Starting a business gives you the tools to start more businesses.

Once you’ve got the knowledge, mindset, and infrastructure, it gets easier and easier to start another business.

The first business you start is always the hardest. And doing it once means you can do it.

You’re going to make mistakes and waste money. But that’s okay. That’s an investment in overcoming your ignorance debt.

I would much rather ‘waste’ $10,000 on learning about business through experience rather than getting into $100,000 in debt to learn about it in theory.

You become a better entrepreneur through practice, not theory.

I can’t help but have multiple ideas for new businesses every week.

Whenever I walk into a store or I hear about a business, I immediately start thinking about its business model and process improvements.

I can’t help but talk about multiple business ideas per week. It’s unconscious to me. I see business opportunities everywhere now.

It's reassuring knowing that I have all the tools (emotional and technical) to never be forced to work for someone again. That’s priceless.

4. You will have a different relationship with taking risks

Entrepreneurship is creating something new in an environment of extreme uncertainty.

When you start a business, you understand there will never be a perfect situation or environment and you will need to constantly adapt and change.

Not many people have the stomach to deal with a high level of uncertainty, which is why most people won’t be entrepreneurs.

I don’t know where my business will be in a year. Heck, I don’t even know where my business will be in six months.

I also started my business while starting to build a house in an economic environment of rising interest rates and inflation. I had every excuse not to start a business and start with my safe 9–5 job.

But from this experience, I’ve now got the mindset, emotional resilience and tools to deal with whatever comes my way. I am not afraid for this business to fail and start again.

As Tim Ferriss once said, ‘most people will choose unhappiness over uncertainty.’

5. You will stop asking for permission

As an employee, you get trained to ask for permission.

You have to ask for time off.
You have to beg and steal for a raise.
You have to convince your boss to pay for you to do a course.

Sound familiar?

As an entrepreneur, you realize that most rules are simply guidelines.

I never asked anyone if I could write, I just started a blog on Medium.

I never asked anyone if I could start a business, I just found two clients who were willing to pay for my services, knowledge, and network.

Stop asking if you can start a business. The truth is no one really gives a f*ck about what you do. And you’ll be judged regardless so you might as well be judged doing something you love.

Permission is fear disguised as a question.

6. You will become obsessed with learning

Being an entrepreneur makes you extremely resourceful.

You understand that most skills you need to learn are ‘figureoutable’.

You should be able to solve 70% of your problem via Google or YouTube. If you can’t do this, maybe entrepreneurship isn’t for you.

I’ve taught myself copywriting and marketing by reading books and taking online courses. I am currently teaching myself SEO and web design.

Society makes us too comfortable with the idea that you need to do a 3-year degree, specialize deeply, and get into $100k in debt in order to be ‘qualified’ to do a job.

Screw that. You need to be able to learn a new skill within 60 days or be able to access a network that can teach you quickly.

Remember that the best entrepreneurs are neither decreed nor degreed.

7. You rehab your addiction to status and salary

Starting a business requires you to brainwash yourself.

I see so many people my age unwilling to take a step back in their salary or job titles in order to learn.

“The three most harmful addictions are heroin, carbohydrates, and a monthly salary “
— Nassim Taleb.

They get fixed into a pattern of only wanting to climb higher, even if it comes at the expense of their growth and learning.

Getting trapped in golden handcuffs is still getting trapped.

Whenever they want to start a side hustle, the first calculation they have is: how much will I make per hour?

This salary mindset will kill more business dreams than a lack of talent ever will.

If I had that mindset, I never would have started writing on Medium. I never would have started my own consulting business. Both would have been a low ‘per hour’ calculation than my 9–5 job.

Entrepreneurship follows the law of compounding. The start is slow, but you experience hockey stick growth when you find a product-market-founder fit.

A 9–5 job is linear and predictable. Your employer pays you the least amount possible. Your earning potential is capped. Taxes and inflation erode your buying power. You’re unlikely to get rich from a salary.

Job = Just Over Broke

Stop thinking about hourly rates or you’ll spend the rest of your life being penny-wise but pound-foolish.

What does this all mean for you?

You can learn so much by creating and growing your own business.

Even if it doesn’t work out, the skills and mindset you learn is invaluable to your long-term growth.

Starting a business is the best way to transform your life and the lives of others, what are you waiting for?

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