Michael Dell's Mindset | Business in 6 Minutes

Hi, I'm Evan Carmichael. Welcome to another edition of Ask Evan. Today I'm going to answer questions from one of my Facebook readers, Nadine, who wrote in saying, "Hello, I don't know what to do because my family doesn't approve of me becoming an entrepreneur and taking risks. Can I have some advice?" So thanks for the question, Nadine. Really sorry to hear about that situation, and it's It's actually quite common. In general, you know, the safe way to live your life is to go to school, get your first job, become an accountant or a doctor or a lawyer, and, you know, go through that path. And I think the world kind of leads us towards those paths, and it can be tough when everyone around you is on that path and it's hard to break free. In terms of what to do with your parents, My suggestion would be to start small. So, you know, you don't want to risk that relationship. And what I would try to do is build your business up on the side, part-time. I don't know if you're going to school or not, or if you're already in the workforce or not, but start by moonlighting. Start by doing something small on the side, build up something to first see if you like it, right? See if you like being an entrepreneur, because it's hard and it sounds exciting, but Once you're into it, the glamour kind of goes away and you're, you're stuck running this business. So make sure it's something you really like, and a great way to do it is to start part-time. See if you can start making some money at it, see if you find value in it, see if you're helping people, see if you're getting good feedback from people, and see if it's something you want to continue doing or not. And I think, at least with some parents, if they see that you're really excited about something and that you're helping people, it's easier to get their approval and to get them to say yes. You know, I don't know how helpful they'll be ongoing, but that part is a little easier. You know, one common thing about parents is they want to see their kids happy and successful. And so they're, I'm sure, worried about you that you're going to not be successful with your business and not be able to, you know, have your place, I guess, in society. So seeing that you are happy and that you are helping people, even if it's not making a lot of money yet, That's a good start. So that's what I would do at the beginning. As it starts to grow and you think you're getting, you know, this is something you want to continue doing and you're getting a lot of fun out of it, you're getting a lot of value, you're helping a lot of people with it, I try to negotiate something. So a great example is with Michael Dell. So if you look at Dell's story, we have it on the website, but long story short, he was a university student, I think it was University of Austin, and he started his his business making these computers in his dorm room, and it was growing and became, you know, he needed to expand beyond it, and it started getting in the way of his studies. And his parents wanted him to continue on, I think become a doctor, and he made a deal with them to say, listen, I know you want me to go and finish school and, you know, become the doctor and finish my education, but I really want to be an entrepreneur. And here's my proposal to you. I'm gonna take one summer, I'm gonna take the next summer off. I'm not gonna do an internship, I'm not gonna, you know, go get a job. I'm gonna take the summer off and I'm gonna work on my business. And if I can grow it to the point where I can sustain myself and keep it going, then I'm gonna run that business and not go back to school. And so it was a trial, so it's easier for them to say yes to something on a small scale and see if it works. And if you can come back with data to say, "Hey, look, we're growing, I'm making money, I'm adding a lot of value, I'm a positive member of this, of our community and society," then it's easier to get their approval and to keep going and to, you know, continue to build this business. I know it's still tough, and at the end of the day, if you really want to do it and they don't want you to do it, you have to make that decision and figure out how much is that going to impact your relationship with them and how important is it versus starting your own business. You know, at the end of the day, most parents love their kids and want to see them be successful, even if it goes against what they originally had in mind. I think a lot of parents have a game plan for their kids and they almost never follow it. So again, what I would start doing is start part-time, continue the path you're on, but start part-time. See if you like it, see if you're able to help people make some money. If you're able to get it to a certain point where you think this could really take off, then try to negotiate a little bit of time off, if it's the summer or half a year or whatever it is, focus on building your business, and then, you know, if you're able to achieve that success, keep on going. In my own case, just as a quick example, I went to university, I finished my degree, undergrad and Bachelor of Commerce at University of Toronto. I started my business, the first one, when I was in university. So I was in third year university, and when I graduated, I had job offers and successful companies and, you know, banks, investment banks, consulting companies, and they were interesting, you know, and it's seductive. It's what all my friends were doing at the time who were in university in my classes with me, and I thought once I get on that treadmill, it's really hard to get off, you know. If you're 40 years old or 50 years old and you've been doing this for a while, it's really, really hard to jump off that corporate treadmill and do your own thing. The risks are a lot higher if you have a family and kids and so on. And so I thought to myself, "Elise, the time to do this is now." And I told myself, and luckily my parents were very— I had their support, I didn't have to worry about that, it was more what I wanted to do. And I told myself, "I'm going to take a year and try this thing. And if I can't make it work, then I can always go back and get those jobs again in a year. But I'm going to take a year and try it out and see what I can make of it." And I took that year and I never went back. That's my recommendation to you. So hopefully this helped. For those of you watching, if you like the video, please give it a thumbs up below. Always gives me more motivation and encouragement to do more videos for you. And I'd love to hear what you have to think. If you want to leave a comment below, comment about this video, or if you have a question about your own company or business, I'd love to try to answer it for you. I always read those and I appreciate them when they come in. So thank you, and we'll see you on the next episode.