Become an entrepreneur Live on less than 85% of your income and invest the rest Invest in your health and life balance Create proper business and personal insurance for you and your family Invest in your continued learning and education Hire the best (staff, advisers and consultants) Re-invent yourself often Find a successful mentor with a proven track record Constantly look for ways to help your clients improve their business and life Give a lot Laugh a lot Your turn...

1. Strong entrepreneurship spirit which means not being afraid to fail 2. Willingness to take risk knowing that the potential outcome and success can be enormous. 3. Strong desire to work for myself and exit the “employee” mentality 4. Have complete control of decisions and my own future and destiny 5. Ability to enjoy discretionary time and life balance What do you think?

I just returned from my trip to Rhode Island followed immediately with a trip to Austin, Texas, where I attended a conference attracting the owners and top management of independent wholesale paper, sanitary maintenance, and restaurant equipment distributors. While meeting with about 80 of these organizations, I asked them to comment on what they see as the key reasons for their success. Here are the top six answers: Diversity – being able to quickly decide which products and services to...