Entrepreneurial Story About Aaron Walker
I would like to share a true entrepreneur story that I hope will resonate with people who want to start their own businesses. I believe that you probably learn better – if not more – through experience. As an example, an entrepreneur recently shared his story on The Daily Grind Podcast and what he learned from his experiences in life and how he applied those lessons in his current business were enlightening.
The entrepreneur started his first business when he was only 18 years of age and he retired at 27 after selling this business to a Fortune 500 company. His retirement lasted for a period of 18 months before he turned around and bought the company he started with when he was 13. He grew this second business to 4X its original size during a period of 10 years and life was grand. On Aug. 1, 2001, a pedestrian walked in front of his car and was unfortunately killed. Although he wasn’t to blame, he was devastated.
It was at this pivotal moment, and in his words, that he was “blindsided”. Before this moment, he and his wife were living the dream. They had two beautiful children, a beautiful home on the beach, and they were only working 3 days a week. His life went into a tailspin. He had to regroup. He sold his business, his house and he and his wife traveled extensively. After a period of almost a decade, they started another new business in the construction industry. It was a time of discovery and reflection and during this process, this is what he learned:
- He felt very guilty because up until that point in his life all his success was about himself.
- It was based around his family by having a bigger house and making more money.
- He felt that he had not done anything significant in the lives of other people.
- He changed his mindset from scarcity to abundance and from a fixed to a growth mindset.
- He wanted to leave a legacy by helping other people instead of always being a taker.
He now operates a new business that allows him to teach people that “we are not only significant but we are twice as successful.”
Here are some more golden nuggets of true wisdom that you can use from this truly seasoned entrepreneur, Aaron Walker: https://dailygrindpodcast.com/2017/11/23/ep-17-aaron-walker-shares-his-view-from-the-top/
“The word failure should be eliminated from your vocabulary. You are either succeeding or you are learning. For those that are straddling the fence by having one leg in entrepreneurship and the other leg in working a job for what you perceive as safety, then you will be living a life of mediocrity. You will not get to live at the level where you want to go. Do not worry about what other people think because if you do, it will hold you captive.”
“The enemy to your success is isolation. The number one key to the success in your business is building relationships.”
“We are always after the sale rather than adding value. If you add more value then you will make the sale.”
“Success does not come overnight. It is a process. You have to delay gratification in order to have later what you really want. Break your business down into incremental steps and consistently work on each step every day and you will accomplish whatever you want to do.”
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