Take a look at entrepreneur Manny Khoshbin's 650,000-plus follower Instagram account: you'll see his drool-worthy supercars, palatial properties, meticulously tailored suits, and wonderful family life. But as you scroll through the evidence of his success, you'll notice something else.
Many of his posts are peppered with inspirational quotes, advice and support for entrepreneurs. Khoshbin's profile is something akin to a handbook on how to achieve massive success from nothing.
No one is better placed to write that story. Khoshbin used to work at Kmart. A few decades later, and he's worth more than $100 million.
Khoshbin started from literally nothing—he arrived in the U.S. at age 14 with his family, who had fled civil unrest in Iran. They were penniless and lived in a station wagon for weeks before finally moving into an apartment. Without knowing much English and needing to make ends meet, Khoshbin started stocking shelves at Kmart for $3.15 per hour and dealt with racially-tinged abuse from customers.
“That experience sucked,” Khoshbin recalls. But the monotonous grind inspired him to dream bigger. He decided to become financially free and developed an unshakable resolve to make that dream a reality.
Khoshbin worked tirelessly at Kmart to save for a 1983 burgundy Honda Accord, which he used to get a better job at a tire company. His paycheck at Kmart was a little more than $100 per week. He took $100 from it every week, put it into an envelope, and after one year went and bought the Honda. Today, he owns more than $20 million worth of supercars like the McLaren P1 and Porsche 918.
He leveraged every single opportunity into greater success, eventually getting a real estate license and building a property portfolio. The rest was history. Today, The Khoshbin Company has a commercial real estate portfolio in excess of 500,000 sq. ft. in six U.S. states.
Khoshbin sat down with us to share five exclusive tips to help anyone duplicate his success:
1. Plot your remarkable destination.
“Average goal-setting techniques create average results,” Khoshbin warns. Instead, he recommends being more aggressive: chart out exactly where you want to be in one, two, five, 10 and 20 years. "Set goals that you can 100 percent commit to each year," he says. "Then stick to them."
2. Define your plan.
"You can't drive from point A to B in the dark," Khoshbin explains. So, turn on the headlights by planning every step of the journey to achieving your one-, two-, five-, 10- and 20-year goals.
3. Always seek knowledge.
"In the drive to the top, you must hone your driving skills," Khoshbin says, ever the car connoisseur. "Surround yourself with successful, like-minded achievers and always absorb knowledge like a sponge. Remember: no one was born an expert, so don't feel insecure."
4. Take a weekly pause.
Khoshbin suggests taking every Monday to check-in on your goal checklist. "Refresh and review your goals to see if you’re on the right path,” he says. “This sharpens a winning mindset and direction for the week. Your subconscious will create solutions and paths to your goals throughout the week."
5. Never give up.
Too many people think of quitting before they reach their destination, Khoshbin cautions. "This is the part where you need to be stubborn and stay the course! If you ever think of giving up, return to those one-, two-, five-, 10- and 20-year goals. You'll remind yourself of why you started this uncommon journey in the first place."
Take it from the Kmart shelf-stocker turned mogul: with the right mindset, work ethic, and advice, anyone can create remarkable success, not matter where you’re from or where you currently are.
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