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Bun Bydaway, is serial entrepreneur, and prison reform activist, who was born in Wilmington, Delaware. He was raised in a community once dubbed “Murdertown,” and had his own encounters with the justice system when he was young.
“Like other black men across the country, I found myself at the mercy of our criminal justice system early on. A system that was created to recycle criminals for oppression and profit, rather than rehabilitate them and help them find opportunities for reform.” Bun Bydaway shares.
Bun Bydaway served his time and paid his dues for his decisions as a teenager. Afterward, he evolved into a serial entrepreneur and became a prison reform activist. Today, he runs a recording studio (BDW Studios), a vending machine provider (Monroe Vending machines), a car rentals company (BDW Exotics), an entertainment corporation (CBDW), and a real estate investment and development business (CBDW Home).
“I was motivated to get started with my business because it was important to me that I establish property and create equity opportunities, not only for myself but also for my children and my community. It’s important that I’m an example that the streets are not all that is written for us. There’s more to our story and I am going to be a part of writing that.”Bun Bydaway says.
Bun Bydaway was inspired to get into this industry after watching people that look like him experience evolution and completely change their life around building six and seven figure businesses.
“These people would invest the money they made back into themselves.” Bun Bydaway adds. “I began to understand that working for someone and collecting only a small piece of the profits they garnered would never get me the things that I desired most: security, financial freedom, and passive and residual income.”
Because Bun Bydaway’s past seemed to negatively impact his life, moving forward and achieving financial freedom was key. For him, financial freedom is the ability to build and design the life he wanted, with no obligation to any one person or corporation.
“The biggest challenges when starting a business are fear, hesitation, procrastination, and doubt. These are all the things that can keep you from starting.” Bun Bydaway emphasizes. “Overcoming the fear of failure and the fear that your failures will be judged by the masses is difficult. But once you get over it, it’s not smooth sailing, but failure becomes the least of your worries.”
To overcome these challenges, it is necessary to have the right mindset to understand that although things may seem unachievable, you must keep going.
“If your mind cannot understand the persistence, consistency or process failure and turn it into success, you will never start, and if you start you will never finish, instead you will quit.” Bun Bydaway states.
This is why Bun Bydaway’s advice to people who are trying to start their own business is to focus on something they are passionate about.
“If their hearts are not in it or their minds are not in it, they will not nurture the business, they will not care about the business, or they will not fight for the business the way every business owner has to, to bring it to its highest level of success.” Bun Bydaway says.
In his case, Bun Bydaway is motivated by his desire to attain success, which for him means freedom, and the ability to operate at his maximum potential and profit from it. He wants to be able to take care of his family and do it in his own terms. This pushes him to overcome any obstacle.
“The biggest obstacle I have dealt with so far in my career is overcoming my criminal background, and changing the minds and perception of the people who judge me solely on my past alone.” Bun Bydaway shares.
In the following months, Bun Bydaway’s goal is to continue to grow each business and re-adapt all his ventures to the current climate and circumstances.
To find out more about this eclectic entrepreneur and activist go here.
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