When it comes to entrepreneurship, many people love to read success stories of entrepreneurs who emerged from nothing, yet there are only a few who are actually willing to take the same risk. What stops most of these individuals is the need for financial stability. People would rather take up stagnant 9-5 jobs that provide them with financial security than pursuing their passion and working their way up the ladder of success.
But what if you were told that you can do both at the same time? It might seem impossible, but Myles Broom has proved that it is not. Hailing from the U.K, Myles is a 25-year old successful entrepreneur. He is the co-founder of The Normal Company, a marketing agency that specializes in scaling e-commerce brands to their highest ever returns, mainly through paid advertising. The company’s clientele includes several top tier celebrity-endorsed brands including the likes of Kylie Jenner and other A listers.
Before starting this company, Myles stepped into a variety of different ventures, with the first one being at the age of 14. These include a t-shirt store, a content creation agency, an elite members’ club, and a champagne export business in London. Although these ventures were somewhat successful, Myles still stepped into the job industry for two reasons: he wanted to learn more by observing a company’s operations from the inside, and because he needed a safety net to pursue things without being susceptible to ‘taking from the business’.
According to Myles, a job is a great opportunity to learn. “What can be better than getting paid to learn something? Plus at the same time, a job also provides you a safety net (financially), which means you can make your business your side hustle. This will enable you to take more risks, be bold and aggressive as you know you’re not dependent on your venture for putting food on your table, which in my experience is one of the biggest factors in keeping small businesses exactly that; small. When you take yourself out of the equation, you’re likely to secure higher returns more quickly and reach heights of success faster because you don’t drain the business. Moreover, you won’t have any emotional attachment with your venture that entrepreneurs usually have so chances are that you won’t be demotivated even if something goes wrong, but rather you’ll be able to be much more nimble to take hits, and keep taking calculated risk for the greater good of the business growth.”
Myles believes that once you find your ‘thing’ and have a well-established setup, you can easily quit your job and become a full-time entrepreneur. For Myles, it was the Normal Company. Once he found it, he left the job industry. However, according to Myles, most people love to take shortcuts; they just want to dive into the business right away instead of taking the longer route because they do not realize its importance, and feel that entrepreneurship is an all in or all out mentality.
His exact words were, “I get a lot of DM’s about starting a business or a new venture, and that’s the issue; most want to dive right in and learn as they go, which will likely lead nowhere aside from a stress ridden life with lack of return. My advice is to have the humility to work for someone else that is already doing things similar to what you personally want to create a business within, do so for many years and stack the experience, then when the learning stops move, then move again. Then, begin your hustle on the side, and when things start to compound you can take the jump, armed with what you need for longevity”. Myles adds that the long game is key for success, and that being an entrepreneur doesn’t mean you have to go out on your own loaded with risk, financial instability and fear of what could happen, but rather being strategic and carefully roadmapping for the long haul.
“Don’t get convinced by guru’s online that you have to quit your job as soon as possible or you’re a failure, that is toxic advice for most, and things can be far well thought out with long term thinking”
Indeed, Myles Broom’s life is the perfect example of ‘practice what you preach’. He is showing young entrepreneurs all over the world to not give up on their dreams and instead work on them side-by-side with a job to eliminate the stresses and instability it could cause, which would jeopardise success.
