Success Stories are something you never get tired of hearing; they’re encouraging and enlightening to say the least. How­ever, the number of people in society as­sumes there is a magical way, or a simple short-cut for overnight success. It’s no surprise how much time people actually waste researching the solution, not re­alising the solution is you and you alone, along with determination of course. Success and fulfilment comes when the only real path is staring them right in the face: real entrepreneurs who start real businesses that use real people, who give real products and services, to real customers. Yes, I know that’s hard. It’s a lot of work. What can I say, that’s life. Besides, look on the bright side: you get to do what you want, and you get to do it your way, rather than someone else’s way. There’s just one catch. You’ve got to start somewhere. Ideas and opportunities don’t just materialise out of thin-air.

Top, successful entrepreneurs say the only way to get started is by learning a marketable skill and getting to work on it-honing your skill, mastering it as if it’s your art form. In their experience, that’s where the ideas, opportunities, partners, and finances always seem to come from. Admittedly, it also takes an enor­mous amount of hard work, but that just comes with the market, and territory.

If you want to do entrepreneurship right, and need further encouragement and assurances on why to go it alone and become a success story. Here are a few sto­ries you’ve probably never heard of, from companies you most definitely know of.

The Howard Schultz Way

A trip to Milan gave a young marketer, working for a Seattle coffee bean roaster, an idea for upscale espresso cafés like they have all over Italy. His em­ployer had no interest in owning coffee-shops but agreed to finance Schultz’s attempt. They even sold him their brand name, Starbucks.

Howard Schultz

The Konosuke Matsushita Way

In Japan in 1917, a 23-year-old apprentice at the Osaka Electric Light Company with no formal ed­ucation came up with an improved light socket. His boss wasn’t interested, so young Matsushita started making samples in his basement. He later expanded with battery-powered bicycle lamps and other electron­ic products. Matsushita Electric, as it was known until 2008 when the company officially changed its name to Panasonic, is now worth 66 billion USD.

The Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs Way

While they had been friends since high school, the two college dropouts gained much exposure to the computer world while working on game software to­gether on the night shift at Atari. The third Apple founder, Ron Wayne, was also an Atari alumnus.

Steve Wozniak

The Pierre Omidyar Way

In 1995, a computer programmer started auctioning off stuff on his personal website. ‘AuctionWeb’ as it was then known, was really just a personal project, but, when the amount of web traffic made it nec­essary to upgrade to a business Internet account, Omidyar had to start charging people fees. He actu­ally hired his first employee to handle all the payment checks. The site is now known as eBay.

Pierre Omidyar

As entrepreneurs say, the world is full of infinite possibilities and countless opportunities, but your life and career are finite, meaning you have limit­ed time to find what you’re searching for, and make your mark on the world. This is your time. It’s lim­ited so don’t waste it. Find something you like to do and just do it. That’s how real entrepreneurs always start and succeed.