The Reluctant Entrepreneur: Turning Dreams into Profits

THE BEST INVESTMENT YOU WILL EVER MAKE

I was once asked, “What’s the best investment you ever made?”

My answer? Undeniably, it was the time and money I invested in great people. Let me give you some examples:

• SR—an ex-con I mentored in 1980. He ran two multimillion-dollar businesses for a business partner and then became my partner in two more. My investment in SR has returned at least $5 million.
• MW—a former drug addict and a childhood friend. I worked with MW in the early 1990s. He became a very successful copywriter and then my partner. Return to date: more than $1 million.
• JK—Fresh out of college, JK was the boyfriend of our children’s babysitter when I began teaching him about entrepreneurship. Today, I am his partner in three successful small businesses. I do nothing more than have lunch with him once a month. And every time, he hands me a check for at least $10,000.
• DH—a doctor with a family practice when I met him in the mid 1990s. I began working with him three years ago in return for a small percentage of his side-business revenues. Like JK, I meet DH once a month and he hands me a check. Every month, that check has been getting bigger. Last month, it was $17,142.
• RS—Fresh out of a job when I hired her in the late 1990s, RS developed an $8 million business that gives me a $200,000+ dividend every year.
• LP—a “problem” employee about to be fired when I started working with him. Today, he’s in charge of a $60 million division of a company I have an interest in. Last year, ...