How to Become a Billionaire
-By Ajaero Tony Martins
Do
you want to learn how to become a billionaire in 10 years or less? What would
you do if you had a billion dollars? If I were to present you with a step by
step plan on how to be a billionaire (as told by the self made
billionaires), will you be willing to learn? If your answer to the last
question is yes, please read on.
“We are self
made, or never made.” – Dr Sidney Newton
I am Ajaero Tony
Martins, an entrepreneur, investor and founder of this blog. For many years, i
have been teaching entrepreneurs how to start a business and today, I want to
share with you a practical step by step approach to becoming a self made
billionaire. Sincerely speaking, I know I am not qualified to teach you
how to become a billionaire because I am not yet one but on the other way
round; It’s my ultimate dream to become a billionaire in my lifetime and
I have been taking mentorship lessons from these billionaires. So it’s these
lessons I have received that I want to pass across to you.
“If you can count
your millions, you are not a billionaire.” – J. Paul Getty
Since I am on a
journey to become a billionaire; I think it’s worthwhile I share with you my
plan and the steps I intend to take to achieve that goal. I want to clearly
state that all I have now is just a dream, a strong will and a plan to become a
billionaire; nothing more, nothing less.
P.S:
When i first
wrote this article about my dream to become a billionaire (10th November 2010),
i had nothing, not even cash. All i had was a dream and a plan. I was simply
following my mentors advice (Robert Kiyosaki and Donald Trump) to think big and
start small. Fast forward to today (January 1st 2014), i can proudly say that i
am a Multi-Milli****** with successful businesses + hard and paper assets. Now
i don’t know if i will still hit the goal to make a billion dollars but i
promise you i will keep pushing for it till my brain fails me. – Ajaero Tony
Martins
Now What Does it Take to Become a Billionaire
Fast?
After understudying
the lives of billionaires such as Bill Gates, John D. Rockefeller, Henry Ford,
J. Paul Getty and Aliko Dangote; I came to a conclusion that it takes nothing
special to become a billionaire. After all, most of the richest people in the
world today were school drop out billionaires. To become a billionaire, all you
need is a dream, a strong will and a fast plan. Once these three things are in
place, the journey has commenced.
“It is my utmost
desire to become a billionaire in my life time and also give away billions of
dollars. I don’t think any paid employment on earth can help me achieve that
dream. If I become a billionaire in my life time, I will just be another self
made entrepreneur on the list. But if I don’t; I will die knowing I gave that
dream my best shot.” – Ajaero Tony Martins
How does one become a self made billionaire
Fast?
My answer is I
don’t know. There’s no outlined format, path or pattern to becoming a
billionaire. In the book “Rich Dad’s Guide to Investing,” Robert
Kiyosaki highlighted that there several ways to become rich. He stated that you
can become rich by inheritance, by being a crook or by marrying someone rich.
Well, I see some
truth in the statement above. The Walton family today are billionaires; thanks
to an inheritance from the founder of Wal-Mart, Sam Walton. There are also
billionaire drug lords and ladies; who acquired wealth by crooked means and
there are billionaire sports personalities and stars like Tiger Woods and
Jay-Z. Now in retrospect, there are those who marry for money; that is why
the media is occasionally filled with stories of billion dollar divorce
lawsuits.
“I think it is a
man’s duty to make all the money he can, keep all that he can and give away all
that he can.” – John D. Rockefeller
So how do I
intend to become a billionaire? I don’t know. All I can say is that I intend to
become a billionaire the same way my mentors and models such as Warren
Buffett, Aliko Dangote and Larry Ellison have done it. I intend to apply
the same strategy they applied.
“If you want to
successfully go up the mountain, ask the man who has gone through it to and
fro.” – Zen Master
How long does it take to become a billionaire?
If you observe
the entrepreneurial path of successful entrepreneurs; you will come to
understand the fact that there was no set time or guarantee that they would
emerge billionaires. These successful entrepreneurs just started the journey,
maintained focus and one day, they emerged billionaires.
“Of the
billionaires I have known, money just brings out the basic traits in them. If
they were jerks before they had money, they are simply jerks with a billion
dollars.” – Warren Buffett
So how long will
it take me to become a billionaire? I don’t know because I might never get
there. It took Aliko Dangote
approximately 30 years to become a billionaire and emerge the richest black man
in the world. It took John D. Rockefeller 25 years of oil drilling and
distribution to become a billionaire. It approximately took 10 years for Bill
Gates, Larry Page, Sergey Brin, Jerry Yang and David Filo to become
billionaires. But Mark Zuckerberg became the youngest billionaire in the
world in less than five years.
“Twenty years and
$40 billion; they seem like good round numbers.” – Michael Dell
“I was worth
about over a million dollars when I was twenty-three and over ten million
dollars when I was twenty-four, and over a hundred million dollars when I was
twenty-five and it wasn’t that important because I never did it for the money.”
– Steve Jobs
So if it’s your
goal to become a billionaire in your lifetime, then just start the process and
forget about the time it would take to get there. After all, Entrepreneurship
is a journey, not a destination.
“The most
important thing is to enjoy yourself and continue to work. Life is a journey,
not a destination. That’s also true in business; your objectives keep moving.”
– Thomas J. Burrell
How to Become a Self
Made Billionaire
1. Start with a dream
“I intend to be,
the richest man in the world.” – Howard Hughes
“It does not take
money to make money.” – Robert Kiyosaki
Becoming a
billionaire begins with a dream. One of the free gifts given to us by our creator
is the gift of imagination. It costs nothing to dream but most people don’t
dare to dream and those who do, dream small.
“People who dream
small dreams continue to live as small people.” – Rich Dad
“Aim for the
highest.” – Andrew Carnegie
On several
occasions, I have shared my dream with friends and all I got were fingers
pointing at me saying; “you must be a joker.” Do statements like that deter me?
My answer is no. I still continue to dream big and pursue that dream
vigorously. If becoming a billionaire is your lifetime goal; then allow your
mind to wander; dream big and shut your ears to critics.
“I always knew I
was going to be rich. I don’t think I ever doubted it for a minute.” – Warren
“You are nuts and
you should be proud of it. Stick with what you believe in.” – Trip Hawkins
“All men dream,
but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds
wake up in the day and find out that it was vanity. But the dreamers of the day
are dangerous men, for they may act their dreams with open eyes to make it
possible.” – T. E. Lawrence
“If I lose a
billion dollars, I will have it back in less than five years.” – Henry Ford
The second step
to becoming a billionaire is to develop the mindset of billionaires. Do you
know that the thinking capacity of millionaires differ from that of
billionaires? To become a billionaire, you must develop your mindset to
accommodate that status. You must think big and you must also increase your
capacity to handle the corresponding risk.
“You must take
risks, both with your own money or with borrowed money. Risk taking is
essential to business growth.” – J. Paul Getty
Becoming a
billionaire means being willing to risk failure; you must also bear in mind
that achieving any worthwhile goal in life requires sacrifice. You must see
possibilities in the actualization of your dreams and ultimately, you must train
your eyes to see opportunities disguised as problems; you must see
opportunities others don’t see.
“Someone asked
me, ‘how can I find a good business opportunity? I replied, ‘go and look for
adversity.’ If you can handle adversity, you will find opportunity. Adversity
and opportunity are two inseparable twins.” – Ajaero Tony Martins
“A good
businessman must have nose for business the same way a journalist has nose for
news. Once your eyes, ears, nose, heart and brain are trained on business, you
sniff business opportunities everywhere. In places where people see a lot of
obstacles, I see a lot of opportunities.” – Orji Uzor Kalu
“If you want to
go broke; go it big. I will prefer to lose a billion dollars than to lose a
million dollars.” – Ajaero Tony Martins
“Skills make you
rich, not theories.” – Rich Dad
Increasing your
business skills is essential to the entrepreneurial process. In fact, becoming
a billionaire requires more than just business skills. It require financial
intelligence, strong intra personal skills and investing skill. Making money is
a skilled act; making money is all about utilizing your acquired
entrepreneurial skills.
“The ability to
sell is the number one skill in business. If you cannot sell, don’t bother
thinking about becoming a business owner.” – Rich Dad
“There are fast
ideas and slow ideas, just as there are fast trains and slow trains. When it
comes to money, most people are on the slow train looking out the window
watching the fast train pass them by. If you want to become rich quickly, your
plan must include fast ideas.” – Rich Dad
From my personal
point of view, this is where the work begins in the entrepreneurial process to
becoming a billionaire. To achieve your dream of becoming a billionaire, you
need a fast business idea; accompanied by a
fast plan.
“All
achievements, all earned riches have their beginning in an idea.” – Andrew
Carnegie
Now what do I
mean by a fast business idea and a fast plan? In previous articles, I stressed
the point that the world is filled with brilliant ideas but the world lack
seasoned entrepreneurs. This is why I emphasized you increase your business
skills before ever starting a business; the world is filled with brilliant
ideas.
Any idea can take
you to the place of your dreams but if becoming a billionaire is your priority,
then any idea is not enough. You need a fast business idea. A fast business
idea is an idea that’s hot in demand; an idea that’s in line with the growing
trend. A fast idea solves a very critical problem and most times; fast ideas
are always the pioneer solution to people’s problems or needs.
As an
illustration to prove the importance of developing a fast idea, I will share
with you the following stories. Early 1900, there was a growing demand for oil
throughout the world and entrepreneurs such as John D. Rockefeller and J. Paul
Getty took advantage of this growing demand; and they became billionaires. When
the demand for affordable means of transportation came up, Henry Ford took
advantage of it and became a billionaire; so also did Cornelius Vanderbilt.
“I have no
complex about wealth. I have worked very hard for my money; producing things
people need.” – J. Paul Getty
Aliko Dangote saw
a growing demand for commodities in Nigeria and he positioned himself as a fast
solution provider; today, he is not only a billionaire but also the richest
black man in the world. Computers came as a trend and Bill Gates, Steve Jobs,
Larry Ellison, Ted Waitt and Michael Dell developed fast ideas to take
advantage of this trend; and they ended up becoming billionaires.
“I’m the NO 1
developer in New York. I’m the biggest in Atlantic City, and maybe we will keep
it that way.” – Donald Trump
The internet came
as a trend and Larry Page, Jerry Yang, Steve Case, Jeff Bezos, Pierre Omidyar
and Mark Zuckerberg developed fast ideas to take advantage of the trend and
they became billionaires. So if you want to join this list of billionaires; you
need to develop a fast business idea. Now how
do you develop a fast idea? I don’t know, but a great way to start is
to ask yourself the question; “What is the next coming trend? Will it be biotechnology,
alternative power, genetic engineering or something else? Only time will
tell.
How to Become a
Billionaire Fast
Let me divulge a
secret to becoming a billionaire to you. If you are mentored by a billionaire;
chances are high that you will end up a billionaire. I have seen young
entrepreneurs perform excellently simply because they are being mentored by billionaires.
So when looking for a business coach or mentor; find one that’s a billionaire
already or has direct access to billionaires
“Seek advice on
risk from the wealthy who still take risks, not friends who dare nothing more
than a football bet.” – J. Paul Getty
A good way to go
is to seek business mentors who are Venture Capitalists, investment bankers,
Angel investors and deal makers. Getting a business coach from any of these
fields will do you good and you will learn tremendously from their wealth of
experience. Now how do you break into this circle of great men? My answer is I
don’t know. All I can say is to repeat what Winston Churchill said:
“He who must dig
will surely find a spade; where there’s a will, there’s a way.” – Winston
Churchill
“To build
wealth today, you must be in your own business.” – J. Paul Getty
What has starting
a business got to do with becoming a billionaire? My answer is everything. Take
a look at the successful entrepreneurs who are billionaires; take a look at the
school drop out billionaires of this world like Larry Ellison or Bill Gates and
you will observe a pattern. They all built mega businesses and those mega
businesses made them rich. To make you understand the point I am trying to
buttress, take a look at the list below.
How
Billionaires Made their Money
- 1900 – Andrew Carnegie made his money from steel – $475 million
- 1910 – John D. Rockefeller became a billionaire in oil – $1.4 billion
- 1920 – Henry Ford became a billionaire in the auto industry – $1 billion
- 1940 – Howard Hughes became a billionaire with military aircrafts, contract, tools and movies – $1.5billion
- 1957 – J. Paul Getty became a billionaire in oil – $1 billion
- 1962 – Henry Ross Perot became a billionaire with EDS – $3.8 billion
- 1970 – Sam Walton took Wal-Mart public and became a billionaire – $22 billion
- 1980 – Ron Perelman made fortune as a Wall Street deal maker – $3.8 billion
- 1990 – Jerry Yang founded Yahoo! – $3.7 billion
- 2008 – Aliko Dangote became the richest black man in the world as a manufacturer – $3.3 billion
- 2010 – Mark Zuckerberg became a billionaire with FaceBook.com – $6 billion
“Build wealth as
a byproduct of your business success. If wealth is your only objective in
business, you will probably fail.” – J. Paul Getty
So if these men
became billionaires simply by building businesses; then there’s surely a door
way to becoming a billionaire through entrepreneurship. Even Warren Buffett,
the acclaimed richest investor in the world made his money as an entrepreneur,
by building and leveraging Berkshire Hathaway. If you are already in business,
then develop a fast plan, stay focused on building your business and keep
learning. You will surely hit your goal even if it takes a long time.
“The richest
people in the world build networks; everyone else is trained to look for work.”
– Rich Dad
A strong business
team is vital to achieving your dream of building a business and becoming a
billionaire. My mentor, Aliko Dangote; the richest black man in the world once
attributed his success to his business management team and if you should take a
critical look at his statement, you will observe the truth in its entirety. No
successful entrepreneur ever became a billionaire alone; they all have a team
of professionals, who are smarter than they are.
“Successful
businessmen share the ability to hire people smarter than they are.” – Dillard
Munford
Your business
management team will really prove vital to you especially in the game of
raising venture capital. No venture capitalist or private investor will invest
in a business that lacks a strong team. Just as a venture capitalist friend of
mine told me in a discussion that:
“VCs would rather invest in a business
venture with an average product and a strong management team than invest in a
business with an excellent product with a weak management team.”
So whenever a
protégé ask me the secret of raising capital successfully, I reply; “Go
and assemble a strong business team.” As simple as that answer may be,
it’s the ultimate secret to raising capital and eventually becoming a
billionaire. Who’s on your team? This is a million dollar question that most
entrepreneurs take for granted. So are you still interested in becoming a
billionaire; then find a team that will work with you towards the actualization
of your goal.
“If you owe the
bank $100, that’s your problem. If you owe the bank $100 million, that’s the
bank’s problem.” – J. Paul Getty
Raising capital
is essential to the process of becoming a billionaire. In the points I
mentioned above, I emphasized the need to develop a fast business plan and
start a business. Now the flipside is that you will require capital to leverage
the potential of a fast business idea. You can raise capital by approaching
angel investors, Venture Capitalists and private investors with your business
idea.
But I want to
state clearly that there’s more to raising capital than simply approaching
investors and asking for money. Raising capital is a process that requires
continuous learning; you need to keep learning how to pitch investors. The
manner in which you pitch angel investors is quite different from the way you
pitch VCs; so you have to learn both.
But ultimately,
expect disappointments. A good piece of advice I normally give to my protégés
is to tell them to start a small business with whatsoever they have. I believe
in thinking big, starting small and finishing big; I encourage them to also do
the same. Facebook, Google, Yahoo, Apple and Amazon all started small until the
funding came. I also started small and grew my capital base with time, so I
expect you to do the same. Start small but think big.
“Despise not the
days of little beginning.” – The Holy Bible
“Taking a company
public is the rite of passage for any entrepreneur.” – Rich Dad’s Guide to
Investing
“Unfortunately,
we are not a public company. We are a private group of companies and I can do
what I want.” – Richard Branson
I don’t believe
going public is a key to becoming a billionaire, but since most of the world’s
billionaires all started companies that went public; I had to become a
believer. The dream of almost all entrepreneurs is to see their company listed
on the market. Analyzing the Bill Gates, Larry Ellison, Sam Walton and Martha
Stewart experience; I think going public is a big leap in your quest to become
a billionaire. Think of it as a kind of financial leverage; using other
people’s money to grow.
“If you are
acquired, a company validates you. If you go public, the market – the world
validates you.” – Fortune magazine
Nobody can
definitely force you to go public but if it’s a way forward for you, then you
better start learning the rudiments of building a company that will end up
going public because it is a task that requires great responsibility.
“The new issues
and IPO market is just like other businesses. The market is always looking for
the flavor of the month. If you want to be very rich, part of your strategy as
a business owner is to be building a company the market want, before the market
wants it.” – Rich Dad’s Guide to Investing
10.
Invest in other businesses
“Once you have
made it, you will understand that any business is limited in the challenges it
offers. You will want and need other games to play, so you will look for other
ventures to hold your interest.” – J. Paul Getty
This is probably
the easiest part in the process of becoming a billionaire. Whether you go
public or not, your business has the potential to make you a billionaire but to
maintain that status; you will have to make a couple of external strategic
investments. This is another scene where the need for a business team comes
into a play.
“Men of means
look at making money as a game which they love to play.” – J. Paul Getty
- In February 1998, Warren Buffett disclosed that he had acquired 130million ounces of silver and stored it in a warehouse. Warren Buffett; at several intervals has made strategic investments in Goldman Sachs, Coca Cola and other companies.
- In September 1998, Canadian business ran an article indicating that Bill Gates has made a buy in silver, acquiring a 10.3% stake for $12million of a Canadian silver company listed on the Vancouver stock exchange.
- In 2010, a TV analysis on Oracle Corporation revealed that Larry Ellison has led Oracle to acquire 57 companies in a space of five years. If these self made billionaires are still investing even after hitting the pinnacle of success, why shouldn’t you.
11.
Stick to the process
“You must not
only learn to live with tension, you must seek it out. You must learn to thrive
on stress.” – J. Paul Getty
This is probably
the most difficult task of all. Most people are very good at starting things
but sticking to it until it yields result becomes a problem. Success does not
come overnight; it’s a product of continuous unwavering effort. Just as every
goal requires a process; so does the goal to become a self made billionaire
requires a process, and that process is not an easy one.
“I built a
conglomerate and emerged the richest black man in the world in 2008 but it
didn’t happen overnight. It took me thirty years to get to where I am today.
Youths of today aspire to be like me but they want to achieve it overnight.
It’s not going to work. To build a successful business, you must start small
and dream big. In the journey of entrepreneurship, tenacity of purpose is supreme.”
– Aliko Dangote
Sticking to the
entrepreneurial process of becoming a billionaire implies staying focused on
your goal; while avoiding distractions and negative influence. Sticking to the
process may imply making a few sacrifices; handling disappointments with a
positive attitude and facing business challenges bravely.
“Patience; this
is the greatest business asset. Wait for the right time to make your moves.” –
J. Paul Getty
As a final note,
i want to clearly state that becoming a billionaire is within the reach of
every individual but unfortunately, many will not aim for it because anything
worth having has a price tag; and many dread the price of success. They would
rather live in mediocrity than attempt to go beyond their comfort zone. Now that
i have taken the pain to explain the process of becoming a billionaire fast, i
believe the rest is up to you. If becoming a billionaire is your dream, I
encourage you to pursue that dream vigorously and I will see you at the top.
“God is such a
loving father. He gave everyone of us a blank signed check. Anything you write
on that check will be yours. But unfortunately; most people die poor because
they don’t dare to write something big on that check. That check is a gift
called life.” – Ajaero Tony Martins
It is very inspiring and motivating
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