From Scrappy to Self-Made

From Scrappy to Self-Made, What Entrepreneurs Can Learn From An Ethiopian Refugee to Turn Roadblocks Into An Empire, by Yonas Hagos with Gary M. Stern, McGraw-Hill 2024

What's all this about grit and hustle?

Yonas Hagos came to the United States at age nine from a refugee camp in Sudan, and when he landed here, he knew only two English words - yes and no. 

But when the World Trade Center was attacked in 2001, he immediately enlisted in the US Army, was shipped to Iraq, and got hit by a rocket-propelled grenade.  

Awarded the Purple Heart, this refugee worked and worked and worked.  And the work paid off - tallied up, Hagos owns 47 restaurant franchises, two restaurants, a meat company and a vodka supplier.  And he's not done.

But along the way Hagos developed some survival and entrepreneurial habits, wide-awake disciplines that propelled him forward. As an immigrant who continues to be proud of his heritage and all its challenges, he reminds us of one of his favorite stats: only 21% of millionaires received any inheritance, or, four out of five millionaires earned their money on their own - they were self-made, encountering all the obstacles and distractions he sees every day.   In fact, he shares some approaches that might well apply to current U.S manufacturing challenges:

            Become a sponge.  Observe all you can see, and absorb everything.  Focus on the specific details.  How do orders come in?  Whom are they ordered from?  How are               they priced?

It's about, says Yonas, going beyond hard work, to grit and hustle, 24 hours per day (even encumbered with a family!)  Tip #2 of Hagos recommendations for success includes one familiar to most manufacturing people - Make the Most of Every Minute.  To keep moving, Hagos sets goals for each new day.  Although service businesses are now suffering from post-Covid labor shortages (manufacturers as well) - Hagos' recommendation is to accept that "natural disasters" will happen, but to hold on to every minute.  Time cannot be ordered and delivered by overnight express!

Patricia E. Moody

FORTUNE magazine  "Pioneering Woman in Mfg" 

IndustryWeek IdeaXchange Xpert

A Mill Girl at Blue Heron Journal, on-line resource for business thought-leaders and decision-makers,  patriciaemoody@gmail.com