Legitimize Your Hustle: A Layman's Guide to Entrepreneurship

By Victor J. Hamilton

“Hustle…Hustle….Hustle….Hard!!!” As I sit back and play my hustle music in my mind, I hear Rick Ross say “Hustle real hard!” or Jay-Z claiming “Im a hustla disguised as a rapper, in fact you can’t fit this kinda hustle inside of a rapper;” and I just wanna get it. I know that if I hustle and I do it right, my earning potential is limitless. So I hustle like it’s the last thing I got left. Regardless of what your hustle is and what you’re selling, you gotta push it because at the end of the day what you’re really selling is you... ...Once you experience the freedom and sense of achievement you get from hustling and creating your own destiny, you’ll be hooked on hustling. Trust me!!... ...You need to legitimize your hustle, and I have developed a blueprint to help you do just that. I call this blue print the 5 I’Z of entrepreneurship....

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu Publishing Services
• Release date: Dec 23, 2018
• ISBN: 9781483494685

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Hamilton

Copyright © 2019 Victor J. Hamilton.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored, or transmitted by any means—whether auditory, graphic, mechanical, or electronic—without written permission of the author, except in the case of brief excerpts used in critical articles and reviews. Unauthorized reproduction of any part of this work is illegal and is punishable by law.

ISBN: 978-1-4834-9469-2 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4834-9468-5 (e)

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Lulu Publishing Services rev. date: 12/17/2018

Preface

What would you say is the leading contributing factor to lack of small business success or small business startup failure? If you were to ask that question as a poll, you would get a variety of answers. These answers could include lack of capital, not having a solid business plan, lack of unity within the business, poor marketing, and lack of business knowledge in general. Though I believe that most of these answers are very valid reasons for small business failure; it is my opinion that there are far more potential businesses and business ideas that never actually get started than there are businesses that start up and fail.

There are many reasons why potential businesses and business ideas never actually start up and become businesses. Among the reasons are lack of information, lack of capital, improper image, and fear of the unknown.

Most of the time when people go to school to study business the schools don’t give you the information that you actually need. Most often the student doesn’t learn how to form a business entity or apply for an EIN or establish a business credit profile. You may learn what a business entity is but not learn the steps to take to form one. The schools give you general knowledge and don’t teach you how to or where to start when trying to get a business license. They won’t teach about the business credit bureau Such as DUNN & BRADSTREET and how that affects your ability to secure business capital.

Schools don’t teach you the soft skills like how to present yourself image-wise, or how to maintain good credit so that you appear competent to investors and lenders. They don’t teach proper etiquette of an entrepreneur which varies depending on what your line of business is. Many of the things you need to know when navigating the business arena are ever-changing, so the schools can’t effectively teach these things. Things like what criteria lenders use when evaluating loan applications or what are the requirements for renting to section 8 or the latest social media marketing trends. So all in all schools don’t fully prepare people to start businesses and most people get to the end of their educational journey and they know they don’t have enough information. So it is very understandable that people are skeptical about starting a business.

To be fully prepared for entrepreneurship is an illusion. The nature of entrepreneurship is uncertain and there is no way to prepare for all the hurdles you will come across along your journey. But to give yourself the best chance at success you will need the theoretical knowledge that comes from the books and you will need the wisdom and intuition that comes from experience and trial and error. I have a tad bit of both because I have studied business in school through college and I have started and operated a few businesses. And I understand not everyone excels at school so some of us struggle trying to go to college to learn about business. I also understand that some of us learn the book theory but struggle with trying to apply that knowledge to the real world. So I wrote this book to bridge the gap and show how those theoretical priciples look in real life and to also take those priciples and explain them in a way that average people can grasp and understand. I intend to share my little bit of wisdom knowledge and understanding throughout this book in hopes to inspire you, inform you and better prepare you to take that next step and move your business or business idea to that next level.

Part One

The Making of a Hustla

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What’s up Hustla? What’s the matter? Are you shocked or surprised? Or maybe you’re offended at the notion of me calling you a hustla? If that’s the case, then you may have an understandable gripe against being called a hustla.

The persistence of illegitimate hustles has tagged the whole concept of hustling with a negative image. Hustlers have been seen as money hungry people with no morals to guide them in the right direction. The word hustle has even become a negative term. Whenever someone had been scammed or taken advantage of, they would say, I got hustled, and if a person recognized someone trying to get over on them their warning would be don’t try and hustle me. So with hustling being seen in such a negative light, it is of no surprise to me that you may have taken offense to being greeted as a hustla.

Take notice that I called you a hustla and not a hustler. There is a big difference between the two; so let me break it down. Hustlas are not immoral villains chasing after a quick buck and all hustles are not elaborate schemes designed to take advantage of honest people. While there are still some illegitimate hustlers out there hustling and taking advantage of people, there are just as many and likely even more honest and respectable people out here hustlin legitimately. There are similarities between a hustla and a hustler but the two are far from being one and the same.

I say the two are similar because an illegitimate hustler and a hustla share many of the same qualities and characteristics. Among them are: an unwillingness to work long hours for someone else’s benefit, the ability to recognize and seize opportunity and the willingness to take risks. Both a hustla and a hustler make a living for themselves without working for wages and they both know that the harder they hustle the more they themselves will profit.

By now you may be wondering just what is the difference between the two. The difference is that hustlers take on more of a by any means necessary approach. Hustlers have one goal; that is to make money and they often look for the fastest and easiest way to accomplish this goal. A hustler has no problem with lying, stealing or taking advantage of people. So with one goal in mind and no moral standards or guide lines to keep them honest, you can only imagine the methods a hustler will use to make money. They often resort to illegitimate means. That’s why I call them illegitimate hustlers.

A legit hustla takes a more respectable approach. Hustlas have that drive to succeed at all costs, but they also have morals and standards that guide and inspire them to find acceptable methods of making a living. A hustla is an extraordinary individual seeking economic excellence through entrepreneurship and investing. They are strong minded, self-motivated and determined to make a living using his or her own methods. Hustlas have a unique way of seeing life. A hustla recognizes opportunity where the average person just sees that something is missing. Hustlas see this opportunity by recognizing when someone has a want or need that is not being fulfilled, and finding a legit way to fulfill that want or need.

Being a hustla is a lifestyle and it influences all aspects of life, from the way you dress to the way you view employment. As a hustla, you have to actively define your image and tailor it to fit your hustle. If you own and operate a limo service then you would probably wear suits and speak in a professional manner, whereas if you sell purses and perfume from the trunk of your car you could get away with wearing jeans and boots and speaking slang. I’ll go into more detail about your image as a hustla in Chapter one.

It feels good to say I’m a hustla. It means I’ve got freedom because I have what it takes to generate wealth and earn a living for myself. I don’t have to fear corporate cut-back and being laid off. It means I do things my way and I hustle for a living, so I control my life and everything in it; from the number of hours I work to the amount of money I make. It also means that I have the spirit of a hustla.

Have you ever noticed how some people need to be told exactly what to do and how to do it and even then they need a little push to get them started; and then you have others who seem to ignite themselves and others ever so effortlessly?

This internal