Success means different things to different people. And that’s liberating. For entrepreneur Kareem, it meant turning his passion into a source of income. And he did. Here are the top-five lessons to learn from his inspirational journey.
Find your passion
Kareem used comic books as a time machine to escape from his dysfunctional family. In them, he found heroes he could hope to be. Reading comics led him to events like comic con, where he started to see the power of the business of stories. It’s here he says he “started to see comic books as collectibles and forecasted investing in them as a formula for success.”
Build relationships
Once he’d discovered his passion, he then began the part of his life where he started “forging relationships with the comic con vendors. It was all about getting them the books they needed or finding new ones. It was a small window of opportunity, and I took it gladly. Sometimes, it fetched me 5-10% commission and sometimes nothing at all. But it all went towards building relationships that matter.”
Plan for your future
Kareem wanted to build his own future. This meant he spent the best part of his early 20s running round-the-clock, developing his skills. He was determined to “make my mum enjoy her life in her twilight years and live comfortably forever. This desire fueled my passion and kept me on track.”
Be your own boss
Kareem’s main goal was to work for himself. And he had to learn the hard way by making mistakes and learning from them.
Share your knowledge
For Kareem, sharing knowledge is the whole purpose of individual success. And mentorship is something he takes very seriously and considers it “a part of success.”
Small steps taken in the right direction, as Kareem’s journey shows, can go a long way indeed.