by Bobby Mascia, founder and CEO of Green Ridge Wealth Planning and Mascia Capital Group, and author of “Unchained: The Raw Truth About Entrepreneurship, Family Business and Life Balance“
If you’re an entrepreneur — and especially if you work in or operate a family business — you can probably relate to elements of this story. Even when the numbers are good and morale is high, things get messy. You’re always only one unforeseen event from a full-blown crisis. When it’s time to pass the baton, it raises uncomfortable but vital questions about ownership, control, mortality, legacy, and your vision for the future. I’m writing from the perspective of someone who has operated successful businesses and advised entrepreneurs in how to protect their assets, grow their wealth, provide for their families, and build a legacy without losing sight of what really matters.
This journey is about understanding the challenges involved in being a strategically minded business owner. Build a business, unchain yourself from that business, plan for the money across all stages of its growth, and discover what fulfillment means to you. Business is centered around relationships. All economic exchange involves more than one party, and businesspeople are influenced not just by economic self-interest but also by complex interpersonal dynamics. Most of us YOLO ourselves into a venture, then try to figure out how to make it work while we’re in the trenches. Others talk about luck, grit, or determination. The reality is that all of these play a role, but to really become successful you need to apply different skills at different stages of the journey. Purpose and flexibility are the twin guiding lights.
I’ll teach you to avoid the common pitfall of working in your business rather than on it — being a true entrepreneur whose business does not require day-to-day involvement, versus becoming a business owner who bought his way into a job. Entrepreneurship requires total commitment. The ones who succeed over the long term are the ones who give everything, without falling back on a Plan B. Value your people and invest in top talent, because your support team is what is going to make your vision a reality. Cultivate mentors or a board of advisors who will give it to you straight instead of yes men. Building a business is hard. Building a family business is even harder. If you’re not getting your ass kicked, what are you learning? Safe players aren’t great players.
Success without purpose leads to an empty hunger that can never be satiated. Money is a means to an end, not the end in itself. Once you reach a certain financial benchmark, you’ll need more than just the next milestone to keep you going. The trap many successful men and women fall into is achieving goals that are merely professional or monetary without a deeper motive underlying the work and sacrifices they make. You must ask: What really matters to me? Why do I do what I do? Often you don’t figure it out until you’re in it. Sometimes a momentous disruption opens your eyes.
Know your superpower and learn how to leverage it. Everyone has one. Place yourself in challenging situations, reach for a higher goal than you think you’re capable of, dig deep and you’ll find it. Superpowers are unique to everyone, not in the sense that everyone is a unicorn, but in the sense that everyone has their own unique ability. What is it that you do uniquely well that you can leverage to get further and faster? Once you find it, you have to figure out how to differentiate yourself when doing so.
Relationships are the keys to success. Just by opening yourself up to the world, you learn to engage with others, ask questions, and be confident. People aren’t obstacles to your well-being; they can help get you where you need to be. Sales and marketing, when distilled down to their essence, are just about building relationships and networking between parties about to enter into a mutually beneficial exchange.
You don’t have to have it all figured out — just keep moving. Life has a way of shaking things up. Even if you have a clear trajectory, things will change, and that’s okay. Embracing uncertainty is a necessity. If you’re waiting for a perfect plan before making a move, you’re already behind. Life is less about rigidly sticking to a plan and more about recognizing when a new opportunity presents itself — and having the guts to go after it. Sometimes life pulls you off course, but going off course might put you exactly where you need to be. Take chances, make mistakes, learn, and keep moving forward.
Bobby Mascia is the founder and CEO of Green Ridge Wealth Planning and Mascia Capital Group, where he owns and operates multiple successful businesses. A 2024 NJBIZ Leader in Finance, he helps entrepreneurs build financial independence, stronger companies, and clearer paths forward. He is the author of “Unchained: The Raw Truth About Entrepreneurship, Family Business and Life Balance“.
