If you take the simplest example from life, you will notice that as you get older, you face more challenges. The same thing goes with doing business, the more you expand, the more challenges you will face. Opportunities are truly unlimited when people start out with their first business, but as they grow that business and expand into other companies, entrepreneurs are limited on what they can and cannot do. I get numerous emails daily, asking me to participate in new projects people are starting, as much as some of them are appealing, I just don't have the time to invest in their start-ups.
When I started out with one business, it was the only thing I concentrated on. One of the biggest challenges that a business owner can face is, maintaining sales. Even in a good economy, it is tough to do. If you look at any "rich" person you know, you will probably think they have unlimited money to spend, but it isn't the case. In fact, I consider people will more businesses, having less to spend. In order to keep my the doors for all my locations open, I literally have to make thousands of dollars per day, starting from paying for the staff, paying for the products, rent, utilities, etc. But in some cases, some business owners have to close their doors, in which case they end up putting money back into the business. The bottom line is, the bigger you are, the more vulnerable you can be to face huge challenges.
I remember when I was a kid, there was nothing to worry about- as far as putting food on the table or anything like that; instead it was my parents job to think about that, so when I just started out my first business, on my own, it was pretty "fun" for me to make the little money I made, with not too many worries. Now, owning multiple businesses, it is sometimes stressful to keep everything going on the right track and stay profitable. Sure there are management teams that keep a close eye on things, but it is still the owners job to pay the bills at the end of the day. And after all those bills are paid, I still have to pay my own personal life bills, which add up.
So as much as I want to take interest and get involved with new business proposals, I am actually limited to "going after big fish," in order to pay for my expenses. When I was just starting out, there were no big bills for multiple businesses I had to pay, so I was just worried about taking care of that one business and keeping it profitable.
Now you may think that there is nothing wrong with going after only big opportunities, but it is actually extremely difficult to decide what to invest in and what not to. Just like the saying goes, the bigger the risk, the bigger the return. Fortunately, I've never lost big money with any business I have either invested in or personally owned, but it can always happen, and I always have to be prepared to have enough capital in order to pay the expenses- if unfortunately, I make the wrong investment one day.
On an end note, I want to add that the reality is, the bigger you are, the faster you drain when things go bad. I've had friends who have lost a lot of their money because virtually, when one business goes bad, it takes the profit from three in order to take care of that loss. Sometimes when more than one goes bad at the same time, it is very hard from losing everything, which I have seen happen to a few people.
