The 5 Levels of Entrepreneurs

My definition of a business is a commercial, profitable, enterprise that works without me. 80% of businesses fail within 5 years of start-up and most fail because the owner didn’t know what to do. Business is like a game,  if you want to play the game, you need to learn the rules. You need to learn from someone who’s succeeded at the game, not from scorekeepers (accountants), the rule makers (lawyers), the spectators (employees), the money holders and collectors (Bankers) and not from D- grade players (business owners who are just going to fail).

Here are the 5 Levels of Entrepreneurs to give you a framework that’ll allow you to understand yourself and the thoughts you have that got you to where you are now, as well as the tools to grow from where you are now to where you want to be…

Level 0 – The Employee

Everyone starts here but it’s not the most recommended strategy for wealth creation. Your income is at the mercy of someone else’s decision on how much they decide to pay you. Many employees relate to money that it is scarce, that there never seems to be enough, but that’s not true if you look a little deeper.

Level 1 – The Self-Employed

Here is the first jump someone takes from being an employee to being-self employed, however it is quite common that people will get stuck here. Rather than it being their business, they’ve become an employee to their own business. You get stuck working IN the business rather than working ON the business.

Level 2 – The Manager

You’ve finally grown your business and now have employees and you’re starting to feel like your business has started gaining momentum… It’s easy to get stuck on this level as well, especially when you find yourself working harder, longer hours, doing your own work and fixing other people’s mistakes. In order to get out of this level you want to work on your systems, you must have good systems that allows the business to function smoothly.

Level 3 – The Owner/Leader

If a business stops growing, it begins dying. As the Owner/Leader you have more time on your hands than you ever had before. Previously your focus was on cashflow and now your focus will shift into profit. At this level you will now be receiving profits rather than making and/or earning money.

Level 4 – The Investor

Investors have a very different way of thinking when compared to those on previous levels. As an investor you make your money selling businesses, not running them. You buy the business, build them up and then sell them to other people. Look for the best investment return.

Level 5 – The Entrepreneur

This is the most exciting level to be on. At this level you begin making money by raising capital. You use other people’s money to build paper assets like shares, franchises and licenses. Sell the dream, and then work like heck to make it a reality. Never give up. Stay focused and committed and always keep your mind focused on what isn’t real but soon will be.

Trust yourself and your team, to turn it into a reality.

Brad Sugars

http://bradsugarsblog.com/