Some will say that I'm is addicted to risk
I got an early start. My first "business" was at age 9. I saw an magazine advertisement selling toilet bowl cleaners wholesale. The ad said that the cleaners had a "double your money back guarantee". At first I thought of buying them and returning them for double my money but, after learning from my parents I couldn't do that I still wanted to see if I could make any money from this "opportunity". I had about $300 dollars and I borrowed another $500 from my parents.
I invested all of my lawn mowing money and my $500 dollar loan into toilet bowl cleaners. I went door to door and sold them all in a few months. At school they called me "Toby the toilet bowl" but, I didn't care; over that few months I turned my $800 dollar investment into $1,800. That was like a million dollars to a 9 year old. It was that experience that taught me the power of leverage. It helped me understand that everyone's a sales person.
It taught me that if I had hustle there wasn't anything I couldn't accomplish. It's possible those few months knocking on doors---being rejected by grown ups and being teased at school that set the tone for my life.
Not caring what other people think and not listening to people telling me I will fail is the foundation of my self esteem. My deep seated belief in myself and my hustle is all that I have ever carried. I've been broke and I've been rich and I have lost a ton of money and learned a ton of lessons along the way.
Many people have asked me which of my personality traits have helped me become successful. Here they are: I am Rebellious, Sets a high bar, ferocious self esteem, plans attack, persistent, thrives off pressure and deserves victory.
I have founded (for a complete list see My Story tab); everything from environmental companies to high-tech companies to finance companies and my latest radio advertising company.
In the last 15 years I've founded 6 companies. Two of them have kicked off 7 figures in revenue, One has kicked off high 8 figures in volume, Two have failed and my Two latest projects Super Agents Live and Real Estate Radio Experts are experiencing very fast growth and are on track to be million dollar businesses within 12 months.