Think Like an Entrepreneur: Lessons from Trump University Students

by Michael Sexton

Sixty percent of all Americans are dreaming about starting their own businesses. Why? What's their motivation?

I recently heard some fascinating answers to that question while I was listening to recorded transcripts from The Entrepreneur's Success Codes, a Trump University course that's taught by Jeff Burrows. In those transcripts, a group of Trump University students - all successful entrepreneurs - answered Jeff's question, "Why did you decide to become an entrepreneur?" Let's take a closer look at the reasons they gave:

• Motivation #1: An unstoppable passion for the work itself. It could be making real estate investments, restoring old cars or designing computer systems for businesses. As one student in The Entrepreneur's Success Codes class said, "I loved my work so much, I couldn't not do it."
• Motivation #2: A drive to help others. It might be a desire to help other people be healthier, or more successful, or richer, or more beautiful. One student said that her longing to help people started after she recovered from a serious accident.
• Motivation #3: The need for freedom. One class member said that after working in rigid corporations for years, the desire to control his own work took over his life.
• Motivation #4: A hunger for challenge. For some entrepreneurs, the greatest motivator is the challenge of starting a business itself. Other concerns are secondary.
• Motivation #5: Security. One entrepreneur said he started his own company because he hated working for companies where he could get laid off at any time. Of course, starting a company is risky. New companies fail. But despite those risks, running his own company put him in control of his own destiny.

Please take a moment to post a comment here. Let us know why you started your own business, or why you are thinking about it. If you are dreaming about becoming an entrepreneur, this would be a great day to enroll in our course, The Entrepreneurship Mastery Program. New classes are starting next week and today could be the day that changes your life.

Michael Sexton is President of Trump University.

---