Solo Startup

Before I went solo, one book that really helped me see myself as an entrepreneur was Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki.

I will start off with a disclaimer. I did not agree with everything in the book and I believe that there is way too much hype generated by the Rich Dad empire. One of Kiyosaki’s suggested ways to become a successful business owner is to develop your own intellectual property that can be mass reproduced. (Yes, and you too can help make Rich Dad richer!)

Ok, I’m done with the disclaimer. Here are a couple of ideas in the book that really changed my thinking and still challenge me.

Assets vs. Liabilities

Rich Dad is all about increasing assets and decreasing liabilities. Assets add to your wealth. Liabilities take away your wealth. The fools who go into debt to buy stuff are increasing their liabilities. They may appear to be rich but they are becoming poor. Coming to this realization help me and my wife to start to simplify our life. We sold our big house (Liability) and moved into a two bedroom condo (cheaper Liability) with our two daughters (ASSETS!). We sold one of our cars (Liability). We decreased our monthly living expenses on home maintenance and repair and commuting (Liabilities). We started researching more and actively investing in mutual funds (Assets over the long run). You get the point. We still have a lot of learning to do in the area of asset creation (especially as it relates to the business) but we’re on the right track.

Unions

In the book, Poor Dad is a big supporter of unions. As I recall he worked for the government or a teachers union or something like that. Anyway, he was big on having long-term security in your job and the unions provided this security so that people would not have to worry about losing their jobs and their livelihoods. Rich Dad was all about starting businesses and creating assets so that you he would have the money and resources to take care of himself and his family over the long haul.

As I read about the two different attitudes it became apparent to me that I was becoming a dinosaur in my industry. I was not quite 40 years old but I was a senior employee in regard to my experience and responsibilities. I started to realize that I was a lot older than my peers, making a lot more money and less able to put in overtime. Now, one wants to believe that wisdom and experience are valuable, however the bottom line is that IT workers are costing companies too much. Most of my peers spent their time worrying about the problems of outsourcing and offshoring and the impact this would have on their jobs.

So, I decided that I was not going to place my future hopes in the hands of big business or unions (coming soon to an IT shop near you). Having confidence in my technical skills and more importantly my experience, creativity and God-given wisdom I got up the courage to venture out and start something.

So, thanks Rich Dad for rocking my comfortable employee world. You were a big part in helping to create my Solo Startup, Papasoft.