People want directions. They demand that things be spelled out one step at a time — in the most simplest of terms.

This works out wonderfully for many things. Driving a car. Making a sandwich. Opening a bank account. Creating a Power Point presentation.

In a business environment influenced by rapidly evolving market forces, this does not work out very well at all. Very quickly you’ll discover you are “dumb money.”

Consider this, Bloomberg reports John Paulson is at the top of their best-paid hedge fund managers so far this year. How much has he and his co-manager made this year? $2.69 billion. Thats averages out to about $8 million a day.

Whats the big secret? “Rather than depend on evaluations of mortgage- backed assets by rating companies such as Moody’s Investors Service and Standard & Poor’s, he and his staff dig into the securities and look at thousands of individual loans.”

Each one of us owns and runs a unique business. We build a body of knowledge, skills, and assets that enable us to approach our market differently from everyone else. In order to discover what works for your business and what doesn’t you need to experience things first hand.

Personally, looking back at my various business ventures, my most profitable ones have involved things everyone said were “worthless”, “too difficult”, or “too much competition.” If I listened to everyone, I would have a college diploma right now