An Interview With Alex PAPA From Business Opportunities Expo

This is a superb and cool interview with Alex PAPA.I’ m sure that by the time you finish reading this interview you would pray for me .

The  first time I met Alex PAPA was when he commented on my blog. His comments were very insightful and it shows that he knows much about what am talking about.

Since then I started following him and I have been learning a lot from him also he does give insight answers to whatever question you ask him. He’s the  man you should follow! Read this interview and  better get to know him. I hope you would enjoy the interview.

Hi, it’s great having you on. Could you please tell us about yourself?

Thank you Sam! It is great to have the opportunity to contribute to your blog. Well, my name is Alex Papa, and I am originally from Greece. With my wife we now live in the UK and we have an adorable daughter who is just 11 months!

Being an entrepreneur, how long have you been in the entrepreneurship world?

I was entrepreneurial from when I was a kid. I was only about 8 years old when I would try to make things and sell them for money. Later in my teens I got more interested into getting good grades at school, rather than being entrepreneurial. I was taught by the system that I needed to get good grades, in order to get into college, study, graduate with a degree that I can use to get a job. I graduated with 3 degrees, which is more than what the average person would have, thinking that I will have greater chances of getting a good job. I tried many jobs, but none gave me the satisfaction I wanted. Eventually, in my late twenties I went back to my childhood dream and I pursued entrepreneurship. So I have been an entrepreneur for over 10 years.

Give me 3 reasons why kids should put on the entrepreneurial spirit?

I was entrepreneurial as a kid because it was my blood. How can I explain that? In a family of five kids, three of us had this from when we were younger than 10 years old. My other two brothers did not have it. You can’t force a kid to be entrepreneurial. When my daughter is old enough to understand I may show her the advantages of being an entrepreneur:

The first one is that you satisfy your desire to create – this is huge. Creativity can be expressed in many forms, one of them is through building your own business. Building a business system is a form of art, you put so much of your own personality and style.

You can live the lifestyle you desire, enjoy a much higher income, travel, be your own boss, and spend more time with your family as a business owner. But I don’t think these reasons are good enough to become an entrepreneur. I think the main one is the need to satisfy your own need to create something. Not everyone has it, and that is why entrepreneurship is not for everyone.

Do you think that schools are killing entrepreneurship?

I can’t say that schools “kill” entrepreneurship; however, they usually don’t promote it as an alternative to getting a job or being self-employed. This is not what schools were made for.  I have a radical view about schools. Generally speaking, I think schools and colleges are like factories that produce qualified workers to fill certain positions in the society either as employees or as self-employed people. That’s why I call them mass education systems. The reason they exist is to create graduates with no particular aspirations other than to take the administrative and managerial jobs of the society.  I am not encouraging young people to quit their school education. I am encouraging them to get financial education in parallel.

Tell us the challenges you’ve faced in your entrepreneurship journey?

I think getting over my own fears, uncertainties and doubts were the greatest challenges. I had financial, cashflow and legal battles in the past, but I think the greatest battles were not in these arenas. They biggest battlefield was in between my ears. In the last few years, I have learned certain techniques that have made me the ruler within my own mind. If I conquer that area, then I win every other battle of whatever nature.

Is it until someone retires’ before he or she can embark on the journey towards financial freedom?

Not really. My definition of financial freedom is when you have enough passive income streams to pay for your desired lifestyle. Every person who pursues financial freedom must first sit down and decide what is the lifestyle they desire and how much money they need to have every month to pay for it. My advice is to start with simple things that do not cost much, and then think of systems you can create that they can fund your lifestyle. For example, if you can live with $1,000 a month comfortably, then you must decide what system you must develop and optimize that will provide $1,000 for you on autopilot. It is extremely doable, especially in the internet world.

How can someone be a good investor?

I think it all starts by understanding two hugely important definitions:  What puts money into your pocket every month without you having to work for it is an Asset. What takes money out of your pocket is a Liability. As a good investor you want to acquire, build or create more Assets. Use the income from your assets to fund your living, and what is left re-invest it in buying more assets. Do that and you will be a good investor. Most people do not understand the difference between assets and liabilities. They keep acquiring more liabilities for themselves. No wonder they are broke.

Many people would love to start a business but they are finding it difficult to locate their business    passion can you please give them tips on how they can figure where their business spirit lies?

Yeah, many people want to do something, but they don’t know what to do. Here is a simple, but fool-proof guide to building a great business out of nothing: Find something that people need, (in your neighborhood, in your town, in your country or on the internet). Find a service or product that satisfies that need. Offer people that solution at a great price. There are so many needs out there just waiting for that person who will find the solution and offer it to people at the right price. These are fortunes waiting to be made. Business Opportunities Expo was built recently to connect people and allow them to share ideas in entrepreneurship and find new small business opportunities.

What are the common silly mistakes small businesses do make and how can they avoid it.

The greatest mistake small businesses make is that they operate like self-employed people, rather than businesses. I have pity for self-employed people. If they are not there, doing all the work they make no money. They work their back side off, everybody is their boss, and they slave all year round often with little money. They would be better off having a job and take a steady salary and paid leave. Self employed people think they have a business, but what they have is a bad job with bad terms. They need to turn this in to a system that works without them and then they will have a business.  An audio business course I published recently teaches exactly how to create a business system.

I’ve been seeing you stunting on the big blogs in the blogosphere, I guess you are now the PAPA of the blogosphere Loll so what’s your mission on here?

A few weeks ago, one of you guys had a post that discussed why young people do not learn how to become financially free from their parents. In my comment I said that most parents don’t know what financial freedom means and the responsibility is with those who know to teach and educate. I feel that is it my responsibility to share things I know. I also write in a blog about internet security where people can benefit from the latest Norton discount code.

What advice can you give an aspiring entrepreneur also to entrepreneurs in the game so as to keep the spirit going?

The best thing to keep the spirit going is to be with other people of the same spirit. I know the net provides great forums for people to get ideas and find solutions to their business problems. In my opinion, nothing beats meeting people in real life. Meeting like-minded people, sharing stories over dinner is both motivational and inspiring. It is great to have a group of people like you in your area that you can meet and have a chat on a weekly or monthly basis.

Thanks A Lot PAPA! Have Fun……

Speak Your Mind!

I hope you enjoyed the interview? Feel free to comment below by sharing your opinion. Thanks a lot.

Am Very sorry!

I know most of you must have click on the links above, and you found out that they were broken. To be candid i don’t know the problem but i will try to contact Alex to know what the problem is. Thanks a lot.  Please comment below to share your opinion.