18 June 2007 2 Comments Print This Post  Email This Post

Just as I was about to go to bed last night, I came across an interesting headline over at CNNMoney. It read, “Do you have what it takes to get rich?” I clicked it and it brought me to an online quiz. Obviously the title got me interested, so I took the quiz and got a 10 out of 12. I missed one question. I absolutely love the way this quiz is set up. Rather than asking the obvious, it forces you to think outside the box. If you get an answer wrong it explains why you are wrong.

Click here to find out do you have what it takes to get rich.

Take the quiz before you read on. No cheating! Post your results and your reactions.

My conclusions

Question #1. Ok this is the one I got wrong. It threw me off because they said regular, hard working game players. I would say entrepreneurs are more creative than they are regular. The wording threw me off. After I got it wrong, I read the reasoning and understood what it meant. To be rich, you don’t have to be the smartest of the bunch. You don’t have to have the best education, the best environment and the best funding. There are many examples of this including massively successful underdogs like Russell Simmons and A-list ventures such as friendster that end up failing. You just need to want it,  find a way, then go get it. It’s really as simple as that.

Question #2. This deals with risk. Most people think entrepreneurs take huge risks and aren’t afraid to do something crazy. On the contrary, most that I hear about actually use experience and research to minimize the risk in any venture. They choose to accept calculated risk vs. spontaneous risk. Don’t go for the ‘hit or miss’ approach.

Question #3. “I hate my job, my co-workers are jerks and I want to be my own boss so I’m quiting.” Thats not a wise statement if you haven’t even registered your business’ domain name or filed for a business license yet. The smart thing to do is to think of your job simply as a source of income to provide peace of mind while you plan out and grow your business. You’ll know when the time is right to quit. In the mean time you have your income paying for life’s expenses so you can concentrate on building your business and not worry about how you’re going to pay cable bill or how your bank account is diminishing.

Question #4. Why are you worried about the economy? I mean, seriously the economy is such a big picture term and I don’t think it effects businesses on a macro level. Whether or not someone goes on your website or in your store and purchase something has little to do with the state of the economy. Don’t worry about the economy, worry about running an efficient business that provides good products and/or service to a needing group of people.

Question #5. If you’re thinking about the next big thing, you may be waiting a lifetime. Stop trying to win the entrepreneurship lottery and focus on aiming to be the best at what you do. The quick way to wealth has a great deal of uncertainty whereas the slow way (working, saving, investing) is measurable.

Question #6 If you’re not ready to start a business, thats no reason not to learn and become financially savvy. Start saving up. If you know absolutely nothing about business or investing, just save up a portion of your income every month in a high yielding money market account like HSBC Direct, Citibank, or ING Direct. While you’re learning and planning for your future business and investment ventures, you’re money is growing more and more every month.

So how did you do on the quiz? Let me know and let me know your thoughts on the questions.