We all want to know the answer to that burning question. What is the secret to success? We may visualize ourselves sitting in front of some famous entrepreneur, just waiting to hear the answer. Many people may say the secret to success is to work hard since successful people work hard, but you may conclude that you also work hard, sometimes even harder than most. So, is that really the secret? The truth is successful people don’t just work hard, they also work differently. Entrepreneur and UK-born eCommerce expert Chris Jenkins shares 7 secrets to success that he admits are not exactly secrets. “I guess there isn’t really a secret to success. I would describe it as an accumulation of good habits and strict discipline.”
Tip 1 – Own Your Own Business
“If you want to make a lot of money, you need to own your own business – it’ll take 20-40 years to progress to a high-paying job, and that’s if you’re lucky and beat your colleagues to the same position everyone is competing for. By owning your own business, you can skip the queue and immediately become the CEO.”
The eCommerce expert currently runs several dropshipping stores and is the founder of Giovvani, a luxury sneaker brand that boasts clean, minimalist designs.
Giovvani is handmade with careful attention to detail and quality. The grip of the sole is unique with incredibly comfortable leather. The shoes were designed so that the colorways can be mixed and matched with different outfits and essentially add the finishing touch to a designer wardrobe.
Chris admits, however, “owning your own business isn’t easy, it’s only for a certain type of person, you will have a ton of failures, and that’s to be expected, but you only truly fail when you quit. You will inevitably reach success if you keep going.”
Tip 2 – Surround Yourself with the Right People
“Surround yourself with the right people. This can be hard in small towns, so it may mean reading or listening to books written by your mentors, joining online groups with people who own similar businesses, or share your interests via Facebook, Discord even apps like Clubhouse.”
“Most of my friend’s businesses all make significant amounts of money. I am motivated to keep up, and if I don’t, I feel like a failure. By hanging around with people who have like-minded goals and achievements, they will push you to reach your full potential.”
Surrounding yourself with the right people may also mean making sacrifices, such as leaving home to go to a different area with greater opportunities.
Tip 3 – Save as Much as Possible
While every entrepreneur dreams of the day when money is no object, saving is an integral way of getting there. “Save as much money as possible no matter what you’re earning until your investments give you the money you need.”
Chris relates that many young entrepreneurs in the eCommerce space, for example, start earning huge incomes and immediately aim to live like a millionaire. “Whilst spending feels good in the short term, you are bound to have some challenging months at some point, and if you have zero saved, you’ll likely be returning to that 9-5 job much quicker than you’d like.”
Tip 6 – Use “Dreamlines”
Chris describes “dreamlines” as timelines for your dreams. This is in keeping with the concept of setting measurable, time-bound goals.
“Write down what your dream life looks like, without limits. Then put a timescale on it, for example, 5 or 10 years from now. Work out how much you need to make each year to achieve this on the timescale you have set, and you’ll be surprised that it’s not as crazy as you first thought. Through this method, you’re essentially reverse engineering your dream.”
Tip 7 – Don’t Quit Your Day Job…Yet.
It is often tempting to leave your 9-5 to start your business, especially if you have grown frustrated. Jenkins knows exactly what that feels like. However, he states, “I’d recommend building a business whilst you have a job. It takes off the financial pressure and allows you the opportunity to fail while still having an ongoing income until you have a project which takes off.”
Having an income can allow you to spend some time building your business before fully calling it quits on your day job.