At the age of 19, Tony was the first in his group to own a car and was the envy of all his friends. But then again, he was also the hustler in the group; the great entrepreneur always selling this or that. In his first deal, he made a profit of Sh150,000. He used the money to buy the car, a beautiful red Toyota Starlet. As his friends looked for jobs that would pay them Sh50,000 or Sh60,000, he was making three times the amount.
The car defined his success. Fifteen years later, his friends were driving bigger and better cars and living in the tony areas of town. They were clearly earning much more. He still owned his beautiful boutique and had the best and latest styles in town, but was making considerably less than his friends. What happened? He became successful very early, achieved satisfaction and stopped growing. This is the trap that most entrepreneurs slide into without even realising it.