A Simple Idea from a Billionaire

It's simple and powerful.

The philosophy of successful people is often easy to understand.

The more I look at how successful people got that way, the more I realize how straightforward they think.

For example, consider these comments from Mark Cuban, billionaire, mercurial owner of the Dallas Mavericks, and star of the reality TV series "The Benefactor."

When asked the key to recognizing opportunity, he sites doing one's homework as the most important factor.

"The hard part is doing the homework to know if the idea could work in an industry," he says. "Then doing the preparation to be able to execute on the idea."

He admits that he does not have original ideas. He combines existing ideas in unique ways that no one else is doing. Of course, he knows no one else is doing it because he has thoroughly studied his industry.

He says that the characteristics of an entrepreneur are willingness to learn, focus, ability to absorb information, and no illusions about competitors' desire to overtake you.

Cuban says that when he set the goal to retire at 35, he studied everything he could find about business and the industries that interested him. He actually considered any job as a paid opportunity to learn more about a business.

He advises entrepreneurs to learn as much about their businesses as possible and never take shortcuts. Over and over again, he emphasizes homework, superior knowledge, the drive to learn, and the need to get to work.

Nothing complicated in this philosophy, is there?

Anyone could adopt his ideas and do well at anything.

Regardless of your dream, if you do your homework, you greatly enhance your odds of success.

Do yourself a favor. Do your homework.

It's simple and insures success.

And you can be your own benefactor.

MORE RESOURCES:

Subaru#39;s unexciting road to success - Los Angeles Times

Texas hopes ’08 success leads to ’09 national title - Fort Worth Star Telegram

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SUCCESS STORY / CHARLOTTE DeBOSE, 37: From 200 to 140 pounds - Atlanta Journal Constitution

Mac Koshwal#39;s leadership vital to DePaul#39;s success in Big East - Chicago Tribune

Caps Fans, Flush With Success - Washington Post

Not exactly a blueprint for success, but it worked tonight - Dallas Morning News

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/5-0fd=Rurl=http://mavsblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2009/01/not-exactly-a-blueprint-for-success-but.htmlcid=1287324411ei=SJpkSfeiEILFmQfUycn0Awusg=AFQjCNGaqwzeG_DyY55GbabnYtGJgY0qLANot exactly a blueprint for bsuccess/b, but it worked tonight/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fDallas Morning News,nbsp;TXnbsp;-/font nobr7 hours ago/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1The Mavs won#39;t win many games in which they#39;re outrebounded by double digits and shoot fewer than half as many free throws as their foe. b.../b/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/5-1fd=Rurl=http://www.star-telegram.com/sports/columnists/jim_reeves/story/1127494.htmlcid=1287324411ei=SJpkSfeiEILFmQfUycn0Awusg=AFQjCNHzA1GuOEc81O4BzkW_xzONSRxPiwIf Howard can’t show up, Mavs need to ship him out/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrFort Worth Star Telegram/nobr/font/fontbrfont class=p size=-1a class=p href=http://news.google.com/news?sourceid=navclientie=ISO-8859-1rls=GGLG,GGLG:2005-22,GGLG:enncl=1287324411hl=ennobrall 10 news articles/nobr/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table

Building Relationships for Career Success in a Downturn Market Is ... - MSNBC

Books to go with your bodybugg: The Biggest Loser success secrets ... - Examiner.com

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Cardio Infrared Technologies has Enormous Success At Anti-Aging ... - MSNBC

Report: Minnesota schools preparing students for success - mostly - Pioneer Press

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Success - Google News

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