We may receive commissions for affiliate links included in this article. This is a sponsored post. Future Sharks makes no warranties about the statements, facts and/or claims made on this article. These are the opinions of the author. Read our advertising and contributor disclosure here.
When it comes to the world of business, age is just another number. For businessman Brian Alan Smith, the world of business called him at a very young age. Brian was 10 years old when he experienced his first taste of work life delivering the South Bend Tribune every morning.
At the age of 17 he ventured into business with his father – a car alarm company that evolved into a full-service low voltage company. For Brian, this became a moment of realization for him.
“This was the first time in my life that I experienced great successes and failures while experiencing first hand the truths about revenue generation -vs- wealth generation,” he recalls.
Sadly, this business venture came to a close due to his mother’s diagnosis with breast cancer.
“I was just beginning to learn how difficult it can be to balance one’s personal and professional life. I was 20 when I lost my mom to cancer. She was only 39 years old. My mother’s death, and the emotional trauma that soon followed, temporarily paralyzed us and therefore paralyzed our business,” says Brian.
Nevertheless, the journey for this trailblazer didn’t stop there. “These lessons or better yet, character builders, that I was exposed to at an early age helped me to gain an appreciation of the constant fluctuation in balancing a personal and professional life,” he emphasizes.
Fortunately, Brian persevered and developed a new mindset on what it means to manage and own a business.
“The ups and downs helped me to realize the difference between a hobby and a business. To persevere, it has to be more than just a hobby and it’s important to know where your business stands for continued growth. We were generating a lot of revenue, however, we lacked the structure, processes, and systems that a productive business needs to maintain wealth,” he states.
Brian used this new knowledge to start his current business, Smarter Technologies LLC, a full-service technologies company specializing in Managed IT solutions based in Land O’ Lakes, Florida and currently expanding to the Georgia market.
“Unfortunately, people and circumstances can sometimes be discouraging, even unintentionally. Therefore, choosing and maintaining the mindset to follow through to goal completion is vital to the success of your business,” he relates.
He continues, “Make sure you understand your product or service well enough to share it with clarity and simplicity.” He also stresses the importance of doing research –on market demands, potential profit, advertising expenses, cost of goods -vs- cost of doing business, customer acquisition, cost of labor, etc. For him, it is important that business owners conduct this research themselves.
“Be honest about the sacrifices you are willing to make – money, personal time, family time, vacation time, educational time, and the like,” he states.
He further advises people to make plans before they start – a business plan, a financial plan, and a daily work flow plan. His number one advice for those looking to start their own business is to be excited about the decisions they make.
For Brian, his biggest inspiration when getting into the business world was his father.
“My father encouraged me to embrace the challenges and rewards of business ownership,” he says.
Nonetheless, there were challenges that he had to face throughout his entire career. “The first and biggest obstacle you often face is yourself,” he says. Another obstacle is learning to move forward and accept the success that comes with this journey.
Success, to Brian, is a journey. “Life is like a puzzle with many pieces. Each piece we implement contributes to a greater measure of success when connected. On our journey it’s critical that we build successful pieces along the way,” he states.
What’s next for this entrepreneur? His journey continues with his next project, which consists of providing consumer lifestyle improvements through business ownership.
➡ Looking to get featured on Future Sharks?
