There is no formula to follow when you decide to become your own boss: every entrepreneur’s journey is different.
For example, Bernie Marcus and Arthur Blank, founders of Home Depot, were fuelled by their sense of injustice. They had run a DIY chain called Handy Dan, but were summarily fired by their boss, Sandford Sigoloff – who resented their success as retailers. Both were in their late 40s, neither had much saved and suddenly they were unemployed.
They determined that they were not going to work for anyone else again. They used their desire for revenge to create a business model that would crush their old company. And thus Handy Dan disappeared – while today Home Depot enjoys revenues of $70bn.