Keep Your Day Job And Still Become Rich

Once I decided to build a business, the next problem facing me was that I had no money. First, I did not know how to build a business. Second, I had no money to build a business with, and third, I had no money to live on. Feeling weak in the stomach and lacking confidence in myself , I called rich dad and asked him what I should do.

His reply shocked me “I thought you were telling me to start my own business. ”

“Yes I did. But you still have to eat and put a roof over your head,” he said.

What he said to me next I have passed on to countless people. Rich dad said, “Rule number one in becoming an entrepreneur is to never take a job for money. Take a job only for the long-term skills you will learn. ”

The first and only job I got after the Marine Corps was with the Xerox Corporation. I chose it because it had the best sales training program. Rich dad knew I was very shy and terrified of rejection. He recommended I learn to sell, not for the money but to learn to overcome my personal fears. Each day, I had to go from office building to office building knocking on doors trying to sell people a Xerox machine. It was a very painful learning process, yet this process has made me millions of dollars over the years.

For two years, I was the worst salesperson in the Honolulu branch. I took extra classes on selling as well as bought tapes and listened to them. Finally, after nearly being fired several times, I began to make sales. Although I was still painfully shy, the sales training helped me to develop the skills I needed to acquire wealth.

The problem was that no matter how hard I worked and how many machines I sold, I was always short of cash. I had no money with which to invest or to start a business. One day, I told rich dad that I planned to take a part-time job to supplement my income so I could invest. That was the moment he had been waiting for .

Rich dad said, “The biggest mistake people make is that they work too hard for their money.” He went on to say, “Most people do not get ahead financially because when they need more money, they take a part-time job. If they really want to get ahead, they need to keep their day job and start a part-time business.”

Rich dad drew this diagram for me once he knew I was learning valuable skills and was serious about becoming a business owner and investor:

“It is time for you to start your business—part-time, ” he said. “Don't waste your time with a part-time job. A part-time job keeps you in the E quadrant, but a part-time business puts you in the B quadrant. Most big companies are started as part-time businesses.”

In 1977, I started my nylon and Velcro wallet business part-time. Many of you are familiar with that product line today. From 1977 to 1978, I worked very hard at Xerox, eventually becoming one of the top sales representatives in the branch. In my spare time, I was also building a business that would soon become a worldwide, multi-million-dollar business.

When people ask me if I loved my product line—a line that consisted of colorful nylon wallets, nylon watchbands, and nylon shoe pockets that attached to the laces of a running shoe and held a key, money, and ID card—I answer, “No. I was not in love with the product line. But I did enjoy the challenge of building the business.”

I mention this point specifically because so many people today say to me such things as:

To these people, I generally say, “The world is filled with great ideas for new products. The world is also filled with great products. But the world is short of great businesspeople. The primary reason in starting a business part-time is not so much to make a product great. The real reason for start a part-time business is to make you a great businessperson. Great products are a dime a dozen. But great businesspeople are rare and rich. ”

If you look at Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft, he did not even invent his software product. He bought it from a group of computer programmers and then went on to build one of the most powerful and influential companies in world history. Gates did not build a great product, but he did build a great business that helped him become the richest man in the world. The message is, therefore, do not bother trying to make a great product. Focus more on starting a business so you can learn to become a great business owner.

Michael Dell of Dell Computers started his part-time business in his dormitory of the University of Texas. He had to quit school because his part-time business was making him far richer than any job he was studying for could.

Amazon.com was also started in a garage on a part-time basis. That young man is a billionaire today.

Many people dream of starting their own business but never do because they're afraid of failing. Many other people dream of becoming rich but don't become so because they lack the skills and experience. The business skill and experience is where money really comes from.

Rich dad said to me, “The education you receive in school is important, but the education you receive on the street is even better.”

Starting a business at home, part-time, allows you to learn priceless business skills and subjects such as:

These skills or subjects cannot be learned in a weekend course or in a single book. I continue to study them today, and the more I study them, the more my businesses improve.

One reason people learn so much by starting a part-time business is that they start as insiders, insiders in their own business. If someone can learn to build businesses, a whole new world with virtually unlimited financial opportunity becomes available. One of the problems with being in the E quadrant or the S quadrant, however, is that the opportunities are often limited by how hard one person can work and how many hours there are in a day.