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The Fortune 1000 Entrepreneur: Wayne Huizenga Gets his Start

He is the only person in history to build three Fortune 1000 companies. He is the only person to have developed six NYSE-listed companies. And, he is the only person to ever own three professional sports teams in a single market. His name is Wayne Huizenga, and he is one of the most successful entrepreneurs of modern times.

Turning Garbage into Gold: Huizenga’s Business Takes Off

Huizenga did not just start a waste management company. He saw the potential in an underdeveloped industry and bought into it in order to develop it. That is why, after Huizenga’s Florida business began to take off, he in turn began to set his sights even higher.

Lesson #1: Service is the Secret to Success

Huizenga did not create three Fortune 1000 companies by accident. Nor was it simply luck that took him to the top. Instead, Huizenga implemented a formula for success that, through each of his ventures, has proven to work time after time. What was that formula?

Lesson #2: Be Ruthless and Refuse to Accept Rejection

At 22 years old, Huizenga was stuck in rut. His high school classmates were all graduating from university and beginning stable jobs. Huizenga, on the other hand, could not seem to find something that suited him. He had tried college, but decided it was not for him after just three semesters. He had tried the army, but that too did not fit his bill. Instead, he had spent the previous five years drifting from temporary work. Huizenga had reached a self-admitted crisis point in not only his career, but in his life.

Lesson #3: The Essential Lies in the Execution

When Huizenga was asked what he thought was more important in creating a successful company – the idea or the execution – he did not hesitate for a second to respond: “The execution, because there are many great ideas, but you must be able to execute to succeed.”

Lesson #4: Have Your Own Definition of Success

“I busted my butt all my life building companies,” Huizenga once said. “I have a friend who’s my age, and the last thing we say when we hang up is QTR – quality time remaining. I don’t know how many years I’ll be able to play golf, so I’m going to enjoy every minutes of this.”

Lesson #5: There is No Greater Good Than Your Gut

Huizenga was able to achieve the success that he did because he loved what he was doing. He loved being able to take an idea and try to sell others on it to make it happen. But what was behind Huizenga’s confidence in those ideas? What made him believe so strongly that they would work when others might have already tried the same thing and failed? The answer is quite simply, gut instinct.

Creating a String of Blockbusters: How Huizenga Achieved Success

“My father always said working for somebody else never amounted to anything,” Huizenga once said. “You have to be an entrepreneur.”

Wayne Huizenga Quotes

Wayne Huizenga Quotes

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