Lessons From Kevin O’Leary AKA Mr. Wonderful On How To Compound Your Money

This week I had the opportunity to attend the Make Money Like A Boss seminar featuring Mr. Wonderful himself, Kevin O’Leary.  If you’re not familiar with him, he’s one of the shrewd investors on ABC’s Shark Tank – more specifically, the one everyone loves to hate because of his royalty deals.  I only went because 1) It was free (thanks to a friend inviting me) and 2) I was curious to see Kevin in person and find out if he was as cold-hearted as the show portrays (he actually seemed quite nice in person).

Mr. Wonderful and his cohorts talked about their backgrounds and how each one had journeyed from being a peon to being a millionaire through various varieties of hard work, education, and of course their biggest pitch, Options Trading.   We learned the basics of a Put Option and Call Option – just enough to whet our appetites and make us believe that we, too, could make the big bucks by attending their classes and using their proprietary software.

I didn’t sign up for their class, but I did leave with some relevant advice.  Here are 5 things that stood out to me:

• When I see the success of others, whether financially or in other areas, I should be inspired, not jealous!  I hope to use that inspiration to fuel the pursuit of my passions!
• I have to change in order to for my situation to improve – blaming others or outside influences will never put me on a good financial path.  I need to take responsibility for my own life and actions!
• Giving back – leaving a legacy to benefit others is so much more fulfilling and enriching than keeping money only for yourself.  This made me think of Acts 20:35.
• I need to stop caring what other people think about me.  To them, this attitude was a big key to their success, but this also reminded me of the spiritual side of things.   I should live my life to serve the Lord and not be consumed by trying to fit in.
• Most people are saving money, but NOT compounding it.  They mentioned that broke people have their money working for someone else instead of themselves.  I need to invest in products that will pay dividends and provide passive income.

After the financial advice, Kevin moved on to focusing on the relationship between entrepreneurs and investors.  Those of you that watch the show might remember the business Wicked Good Cupcakes which has been one of the most successful companies that Kevin has made a deal with on Shark Tank.  Anyone else craving a cupcake after looking at their site?!  Yummo!  After showing us a video of their pitch, he shared the 3 attributes that ALL successful pitches to investors share:

1. Be able to articulate the opportunity you’re offering in 90 seconds or less with NO confusion.
2. Convince investors why you are the right team to execute the business plan.
3. Know your numbers and have a comprehensive understanding of your business models.

Though they did push the wealth workshops, I liked that Kevin and the other two speakers spoke candidly about the need for incredibly hard work, and mentioned practical things like getting rid of cable TV, your daily Starbucks drink, and other luxuries in order to get out of debt and improve your financial situation.

What did you think of these lessons from Mr. Wonderful?  Are any of them applicable to your situation as an aspiring entrepreneur or someone looking to improve your financial situation?   Let me know below.

Thanks for reading,

Emily