To the average person, "millionaire" and
"billionaire" sound similar; they're both people with money, right?
And, indeed, both have access to far more wealth than the average citizen, and
neither may have to worry about money ever again.
Furthermore, because entrepreneurship is often the route to
wealth accumulation, both may have earned their way to riches the same way. Yet
while their monikers "millionaire" and "billionaire" sound
the same, there are in fact significant differences between the two.
For starters, the difference between a million versus a
billion dollars is immense. To put it in context, consider that one million
seconds amount to 11.5 days, while one billion total 31.5 years!. A billionaire
could give his or her wealth away and make 1,000 new millionaires overnight.
There are 2,200 billionaires on the planet and while some of these wealthy elite gained their status from a
family inheritance, many of the top-ranked billionaires are entirely self-made
through entrepreneurial endeavors. So, what separates these hyper-successful
entrepreneurs from millionaires, who are also considered successful?
These are some of the factors distinguishing
billionaires from millionaires:
1. Goals and commitment
First, it's important to consider the billionaire’s goals
and commitments. Very few people become one accidentally; instead, billionaires
tend to relentlessly pursue wealth, and refuse to compromise to achieve it.
Consider the entrepreneur who grows an innovative tech startup for a few years,
then gets an acquisition offer from a major tech company for, say Rs 50 crores
This isn’t exactly rare; Alphabet makes a dozen or more such
acquisitions every year. A “typical” entrepreneur might cash out and take the Rs 50 crores as a personal victory (and early retirement). A billionaire,
however, setting his or her sights higher or living out a commitment to the
business's core idea, might reject the Rs 50 crore in hopes of obtaining
something better, or growing the business further.
Though these rejections don’t always pan out, you can’t
become a billionaire by settling to be (just) a millionaire.
2. Scale
What should also be considered is the scale on which
billionaires operate. If we consider profit as a product of both efficiency and
impact, then the more locations your business reaches, the more money you’re
going to make. Owning a chain of restaurants in one state might make you a
millionaire, but you’ll need to change the world on an international scale if
you want to be a billionaire.
3. Repetition
Billionaires rarely make their riches by starting just one
business. In some cases, they experience a crushing failure and apply the
lessons learned from that failure to future endeavors. In other cases, they
settle for selling a company for a few million dollars, only to roll those
funds into bigger, better startup ideas They’re not only willing but eager to
repeat the entrepreneurial process over and over again to achieve success.
4. Budget and self-control
There’s a reason why so many lottery winners end up losing
everything. It’s because poor financial habits and decisions end up bankrupting
them no matter how much money they start with (conversely, good financial
habits and financial decisions can put you ahead even with a modest income).
Billionaires -- when they first reach millionaire status --
tend to avoid spending lavishly or wasting their money, which makes it easier
to grow their wealth even more and retain what they’ve acquired. Some even take
this practice to an extreme: Warren Buffett, for example, still lives in the
Omaha, Neb., house he bought for just $30,000 in 1958.
5. Passion
You don’t become a billionaire by just "getting the job
done." That level of wealth requires you to constantly come up with new
ideas; adapt and refine your ideas when challenged; and put in long, hard hours
throughout the entire process. While plenty of millionaires can certainly be
described as passionate, their level of passion often pales in comparison to
that of billionaires (think: Richard Branson, Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, Oprah
Winfrey).
