If you have one of the two dry cleaning businesses in a small town, with high overhead and limited customers, scarcity is a reality to you.

If your business depends on the weather, the traffic, offshore competition, finding good people, or politicians, or if you sell your time, lack and risk are your constant shadows.

And if you have all your eggs in one basket,

• if your income depends on the whims of others to any extent,
• or if you rely on others or serve a limited geographic area,

shortage and fear follow you home at night.

Are You a Soldier or a General?

Many “businesses” are really simply prison cells, shackles, time vampires, and Swords of Damocles. If you own a franchise or if you are a self-employed salesperson posing as an entrepreneur, scarcity is a reality for you. Without scalability and replicability, you’re what Domenick Celentano, an Adjunct Professor at Fairleigh Dickinson University, calls an “Artisan Entrepreneur.” Or what I call and “Paid Slave” or “a Laborer with a New Lable” – not much different from being an employee, except that you work harder for less and take more risk. You can be a soldier or a general.  Entrepreneurs are generals.

Stephen Duke wrote:

“There are lots of ‘independent business owners,’ but few are actually ‘entrepreneurs.’ Most are skilled technicians or managers in their fields and they work IN their own business, but fewer still work ON their business. There is a difference.

Self-employment is on one end of the continuum and Entrepreneurship is on the opposite. The difference is what the individual actually does for the business: Are they simply doing what they were doing for the ‘Man’ before they started working for themselves? Or, are they working at building a “world class company” that does the things they once did for a living?

Don’t be delusional about self-employment, even if you are not working by yourself – it is still not entrepreneurial. One must really be working on building a company that is less egoistic and more centered around its stakeholders i.e. what’s in it for them, instead of what’s in it for me. When you understand this, you understand the difference between the self-employed business owner and the entrepreneur.”

Why I Use Joint Ventures

To move from scarcity and risk to abundance and peace of mind, I became a Joint Venture Broker 23 years ago.

1. There is literally no limit to my business, except that which I choose.
2. My business is ultimately scalable.
3. I operate with no cost, overhead, employees, risk, inventory, advertising and marketing budget, or administration.
4. And I have plenty of time on my hands.
5. If you choose to keep the business you have, you can put your bottom line on steroids by understanding how to use Joint Ventures and create huge back-end income at 100% profit, while reducing risk and time spent.

There are many fish in the sea, if you set your business up that way. Threats fade away, and you can focus on building nets and working when you feel like it. A good Joint Venture Broker has his ego in check, focuses on the bottom line, is very selective, and enjoys abundance. And he sleeps well at night.