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How do you go from attending one of the top universities in the country and working at a high-end corporation to serving plates at a small restaurant?
Well that's the core of my story. I graduated from an Ivy league institution. I was so lost in the fantasy of attending that prestigious college that I was not truly focused on my future. So when I came out I was lured into a dead end corporate job.
Coming up, in high school, I told people "I want to be a CEO" when they asked what I wanted to be when I grew up.
But I wasn't talking about being the CEO of my own company. I was talking about CEOing someone else's company.
What kind of goal is that?
To work your way up from peon worker to CEO over the course of 30 years, only to one day realize that it's probably not going to happen? After decades of corporate nonsense which can drive even the most stable person out of his mind?
So I quit the first job that I got out of college. It was a decent job making about $40K per year with benefits, but that's pretty much all I'd be making --- maybe 60K max in a decade or two. Whooptie doo.
I went from working that cushy corporate job to slaving away as
a server at a small restaurant. I then took a variety of other
odd jobs (all of which taught me skills that I still use to this day,
by the way).
The Breakthrough
One day, I sat at my computer and started to learn more about Internet marketing, starting writing for web clients and then moved onto more complex SEO marketing concepts. You know how you know you've found your calling? When you stay up for 24 hours straight doing it and feel excited by every minute.I now consult, write and help other small companies with online marketing techniques. That's my passion. And I've managed to make a decent living doing it. I'm not a millionaire, but I am in control of my own destiny when it comes to making money. So the sky is the limit.
I struggled and worked like a dog for many years of my life. My family thought I was certifiable for quitting my corporate job.
But you know what? If I had never quit that job I'd either:
1) still be there, working at a job I hated, hoping to retire in mediocrity
or
2) probably have been let go when the financial recession hit, and be lost and feeling hopeless about my future prospects for some time before finally getting into gear.
Instead, now my mindset is completely solid. I know now that there is a way for me (actually MANY ways for me) to make money on my own. I firmly believe that everyone has at least one valuable skill.
I can go outside right now with a $4 item and make $10... That's the essence of being an entrepreneur.
Starting a small business is really as simple as that. You find the right product, the customer to match and make some money.
So what's stopping you from starting up your own small business?
Society needs you, so that you can one day tell your own small business story to someone else who needs to hear it.
What in the world are you waiting for? You've got a simple, step-by-step start up a small business guide right here at Start Up a Small Business.com !
Get started now...with STEP 1 >>