Make Money Money, Take Money Money

Are you young and rich? ("Sort of" and "No.") Would you like to be?

While I personally subscribe to the "Mo Money, Mo Problems" general life philosophy, I respect that there are many out there who want to have a lot of money. And we here at the Chamber certainly want American and Hoosier businesses to have a lot of it, as well. So here are some tips from the "young and rich" on growing your business acumen, from the web site, Under30CEO.com. (Note: These tips are just about the "rich" part, nothing about reversing the aging process, unfortunately.)

Lessons:
1. Think big, start small. “Before you achieve that first $1 million, you have to get your first dollar.” Phillip Di Bella started a coffee business in 2002, selling coffee to cafes. He would roast his own coffee in a machine that he rented and would then pack it and deliver it himself, doing the books for the business on his girlfriends computer.

Sometimes people can have a romantic idea of what it is to be an entrepreneur, usually these ideals are shattered rather quickly when they realise that it’s not all glamour in the beginning.

Having said that, it can pay off. Phillip Di Bella is now worth $47 million and is still dedicated to delivering a quality product to his loyal customers. “My promise to them, and it’s a very simple principle I’ve kept, is that I’ll do for my customers what others are not prepared to.”

2. Never too young. Trent Davis started his company NetBox when he was 22. This was his third business, after his first two businesses had failed. Learning from the first two businesses, Davis went into NetBox with what he calls a “one foot on the brake approach.”

Now 32, David has built NetBox into a formidable company with annual sales of $30 million and 20 staff. Having started the business at 22, he remembers the sacrifices he had to make in order to get started early. “It was two-and-a-half years before I was taking home a proper wage, which is quite a long time to be living like a university student when you’re not at university anymore.”

3. Be willing to rough it (in the beginning). Peter Mavridis, the founder and Managing Director of a Melbourne IT Services company, S Central is turning over $80 million every year and has a personal net worth of $62 million at the age of 37. Last year when Mavridis was listed in the Young Rich List, his personal wealth was $100m but has come back this year due to the financial climate of the last 12 months.

However, in the beginning Mavridis wasn’t talking millions. He remembers the first office he and his girlfriend leased in Melbourne, “It was one of those offices where you were scared to take the lift, so you’d take the stairs.” Mavridis now owes a lot of his success to the fact that he didn’t spend the money he didn’t have, in the early days.

Note II: Please disregard that the money stack held by the gentleman in today’s stock photo is comprised mostly of $5 bills. Just pretend he symbolizes prosperity. Thanks in advance.

UPDATE: Here’s Part II of the "young and rich" article series.