What was the biggest challenge you had to overcome to get to where you are today?
I dropped out of college and gave up everything to be an entrepreneur. I was living alone in Australia with nothing. I had no idea what I was doing. I was so broke that for a while, I lived off of stale bread that I bought at a discount. I scraped together every cent I could find just to pay for it. It wasn’t easy, and I thought about giving up sometimes. But I’m proud to have overcome it.
What advice would you give to someone who wants to do what you’ve done?
Find a way to add value to humanity, and find a way for that value to come back to you to help you accomplish your goals. It all comes down to asking the right questions. Instead of saying “How do I make money?” say “How can I accomplish my goal while helping others?”
What’s an example of a way to add value?
At the core of any business, there’s what I called the formula for creating money: problem + solution = money. It sounds so simple, but it’s how every business in the world operates. Every business in the world is built on solving problems, whether they’re conscious of that or not. So when you identify a problem and you pair that with a solution, you get money. Think about Starbucks. Your problem is that you’re tired in the morning. Their solution is to sell you coffee that you can pick up on your way to work. You give them money in exchange for their solution and everyone wins. If you can figure out this formula, then you can build a business that creates win-win situations.
Be sure to follow Andrew on Instagram.