" Don't Do It for Only $200,000 In coming back to the definition of the accredited investor, rich dad said, "All a person needs to do to be an accredited in- vestor is have a salary of $200,000. That is a lot of money to some people, but it is not enough of a reason to start build- ing a business. If all you dream of is a"salary of $200,000, then stay in the E or S quadrants. The risks are too great in the В and I quadrants for such a small sum. If you decide to build a business, don't do it for a mere $200,000. The risks are too high for a payoff so low. Do it for a much bigger payday. Do it for millions, maybe billions, or don't do it at all. But if you de- cide to pursue building a business, you must call on your en- trepreneurial spirit." Rich dad also said, "There is no such thing as a successful poor entrepreneur or business owner. You can be a success- ful and poor doctor, or a successful and poor accountant. But you cannot be a successful and poor business owner. There is only one kind of successful business owner, and that is a rich one." The Entrepreneurial Spirit 309 Lessons in Hindsight I am often asked, "How much is too much?" or "How much is enough?" The person who asks that question is often some- one who has never built a successful business that made a lot of money. I have also noticed that many of the people who ask that question are on the E and S side of the Quadrant. Another big difference between people on the left side of the Quadrant and people who operate on the right side is: The people on the left side generally have only one finan- cial statement because they often have only one source of income. Those on the right side have multiple financial statements and multiple sources of income. My wife and I are employees of several corporations in which we also have ownership interests. Therefore, we have financial state- ments as individuals and financial statements from our busi- nesses. As our businesses become successful and generate cash flow for us, we need less income as employees. Many people on the left side do not know what it feels like to have more and more money coming in that requires less and less work. While the money is important, it is not the primary moti- vating factor for building a business. I think the question can зю Rich Dad's Guide to Investing best be answered by asking the same question in another way. The question asked is similar to asking a golfer, "Why do you keep playing golf?" The answer is found in the spirit of the game. Although it took me many years of occasional pain and misery, the challenge and the spirit were always the pro- pelling factors for me wanting to build a business. Today, I have friends who have sold their businesses for millions of dollars. Many of them take a few months off, and then they are right back in the game. It is the excitement, the challenge, the spirit, and the potential for a big payoff at the end that keeps the entrepreneur going.