by Bobby Mascia, founder and CEO of Green Ridge Wealth Planning and Mascia Capital Group, and author of “Unchained: the raw truth about entrepreneurship, family businesses and life balance“
If you are an entrepreneur – and especially if you work in or operate a family business – you can probably relate to some elements of this story. Even when the numbers are good and morale is high, things get messy. You are always just one contingency in a full-blown crisis. When it’s time to pass the baton, it raises uncomfortable but essential questions about ownership, control, mortality, legacy and your vision of the future. I write from the perspective of someone who has run successful businesses and advised entrepreneurs on how to protect their assets, grow their wealth, provide for their families, and build a legacy without losing sight of what really matters.
This journey is about understanding the challenges that come with being a strategically minded business owner. Build a business, separate yourself from that business, plan the money at all stages of its growth and discover what fulfillment means to you. Entrepreneurship is about relationships. All economic exchange involves more than one party, and businesspeople are influenced not only by economic self-interest but also by complex interpersonal dynamics. Most of us start a business ourselves and then try to figure out how to make it work while we’re in the trenches. Others talk about luck, perseverance or determination. The reality is that these all play a role, but to become truly successful you need to apply different skills at different stages of the journey. Purpose and flexibility are the double guide lights.
I’ll teach you to avoid the common pitfall of working in your business instead of on it: being a true entrepreneur whose business requires no daily involvement versus becoming a business owner who bought his way into a job. Entrepreneurship requires total commitment. Those who succeed in the long term are those who give it their all, without falling back on a plan B. Value your people and invest in top talent because your support team will make your vision a reality. Cultivate mentors or a board of advisors who will tell you straight instead of yes men. Building a business is hard. Building a family business is even more difficult. If you don’t get knocked down, what do you learn? Safe players are not great players.
Success without purpose leads to an empty hunger that can never be satisfied. Money is a means to an end, not the end in itself. Once you reach a certain financial benchmark, you need more than just the next milestone to keep going. The trap that many successful men and women fall into is achieving goals that are purely professional or financial in nature, without a deeper motive underlying the work and sacrifices they make. You have to ask yourself: what is really important to me? Why do I do what I do? Often you only find out when you are in it. Sometimes a memorable disruption opens your eyes.
Know your superpower and learn how to harness it. Everyone has one. Put yourself in challenging situations, aim for a higher purpose than you think you are capable of, dig deep and you will find it. Superpowers are unique to everyone, not in the sense that everyone is a unicorn, but in the sense that everyone has their own unique abilities. What is it that you do so well that you can use to get further and faster? Once you find it, you need to figure out how to differentiate yourself from it.
Relationships are the keys to success. Just by opening yourself up to the world, you learn to interact with others, ask questions and have self-confidence. People are not obstacles to your well-being; they can help you get where you need to be. When sales and marketing are reduced to their essence, they are merely about building relationships and networks between parties who are about to engage in a mutually beneficial exchange.
You don’t have to figure everything out; just keep moving. Life has a way of shaking things up. Even if you have a clear path, things will change, and that’s okay. Embracing uncertainty is a necessity. If you wait for a perfect plan before you make a move, you’re already behind. Life is less about strictly sticking to a plan and more about recognizing when a new opportunity presents itself – and having the courage to go after it. Sometimes life throws you off course, but if you get off course you might end up exactly where you need to be. Take chances, make mistakes, learn and keep moving forward.
Bobby Mascia is the founder and CEO of Green Ridge Wealth Planning and Mascia Capital Group, where he owns and operates several successful businesses. As a 2024 NJBIZ Leader in Finance, he helps entrepreneurs build financial independence, stronger businesses, and clearer paths forward. He is the author of “Unchained: the raw truth about entrepreneurship, family businesses and life balance“.
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