Want to hear some of Jay-Z’s success lessons?

Unlike many fellow music artists; who will spend all of their money on fancy houses, cars and nights out, Jay-Z has invested the money he’s earned from the music business back into himself in the form of building his own businesses.

Don’t get me wrong, he has all of the above, but over the years he’s been smart with his money and has become both a truly successful entrepreneur and music artist.

Jay-Z’s Success Lessons

Jay-Z now has an estimated net worth of over $710 million to his name.

Whilst I’m not entirely sure how much of this has come from the business side of things; it’s safe to say that it’s a hell of a lot, with Jay-Z owning companies such as Rocawear & Roc-A-Fella Records.

Here are 10 of Jay-Z’s success lessons:

1. Hustle

Jay-Z, as a young child didn’t really have many opportunities going for him when he was growing up. He grew up in Brooklyn, living with his mum who had to support their family on her own.

When he was old enough to start wanting to go out and make his own money, the only real option he had where he lived was to go out and deal drugs.

Even when he was dealing, he showed true talent as a hustler, and as he started to work hard towards his ultimate goal of becoming a rapper, it wasn’t long before his talents started to grow.

2. Have an ‘Empire State of Mind’

When you think of a hip-hop artist, wealth is something that springs to mind very quickly. Although, there’s a big reason why Jay-Z’s wealth exceeds far beyond most other hip-hop artists.

He sees music as his passion and an excellent way to express himself, but his overall mentality is towards building an empire. He’s owned restaurants, clothing companies, bars record labels and much more. This is a state of mind that every entrepreneur should have.

3. Don’t Wait Until You Have The Tools

Many people seem to get stuck in the mindset that they should wait until they have everything they need before they begin on a venture.

This is not the natural order of things. Work leads to growth, which leads to income, which leads to investment in the correct equipment, which then leads to more growth and so on.

Jay-Z didn’t start by expressing all his rhythms using instruments, oh no, he started by simply using his hands on a table to create beats.

It’s the exact same story for when he first started Roc-A-Fella Records. There were no fancy computers, not even a desk. He started from the bottom and worked his way to the top.

4. Have a Plan

Jay Z is a serious entrepreneur. He didn’t just start a business and take it from there. He created a proper and official business plan to make sure he knew exactly what the plan was before jumping into things.

A lot of people think that they might have a pretty good memory, so they don’t need a hard copy plan. But the reality is, that once you have everything written down in front of you, certain things appear much clearer than they would in your mind.

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5. An Idea Could Strike at Any Time

You never know when another idea could pop into your head. Funnily enough, when you move about from place to place in your daily lives, a sudden change in the environment around you could easily give a new idea.

Jay-Z was prepared for this. Whenever he used to wonder around with his friends, he would always carry a pad around in case something triggered any new lyrics to come about. He’d then stop and write down anything that came to mind before moving on.

The same can be applied to whatever business venture you’re a part of.

6. Don’t Run Your Mouth

It’s pretty easy for people to get persuaded by others. Whether it be their friends or family. If you start pouring out your dreams and goals to them, you may not get the right response and support you were looking for.

So instead of gossiping to them all about your dreams straight away, try and refrain from it. Them not knowing will allow you to focus on your work and heading towards your goals.

7. Skills Can be Transferred

Jay-Z doesn’t have a fancy degree or diploma in business. Far from it. He learnt most of his skills from when he was growing up, dealing on the streets.

Even though we don’t really think of drug dealing first as being a great skill set user, Jay-Z gained a lot of knowledge about sales and management from this and transferred it into his later real, legit and professional businesses.

8. Ignore Trends

Trends, most noticeably in fashion, don’t last for very long. So if you end up copying a trend in your business, the chances are you won’t last very long. Auto tune was a very trendy element in the music industry as Jay-Z grew as a music artist.

T-Pain is the most notorious for using this in his songs, but Jay-Z stayed clear and kept on doing his own thing. He made a wise choice.

9. Don’t Take Your Eyes off the Prize

Sometimes when you’re working so hard at something and you finally start to get a little taste of what success is like, you automatically think you’ve made it; Start to spend more money than you can afford and so on. Try to resist this temptation.

10. Start a Blog

Might seem slightly strange that a hip hop artist who’s also trying hard to build an empire, has time to regularly blog. However, Jay-Z saw it as a good way to write down his feelings and to be able to communicate them with the rest of the world.