Four self-made millionaires share the same advice for success: Just get started

It may not be easy to build a successful business from the beginning — but it's been proven possible.

During my time working at CNBC, I've talked with different entrepreneurs, from people who started successful side businesses to the founders of large, successful companies (global unicorn companies). Ultimately, I've found that it all comes down to beliefs — what one chooses to believe.

These people chose to believe in themselves. They knew it wouldn't be easy, but they also knew it was possible. With that faith, they went on to take risks and sacrifice almost everything for a dream.

The world may see them as inspirational figures, but often, they are just ordinary people who have faced some setbacks and learned tough lessons in life.

In my conversations with successful entrepreneurs, I've found that those who became successful and "made it" tend to share the same advice.

Here's what they credit for their success:

Jason McGowan was no professional baker before he co-founded Crumbl Cookies in 2017, but he didn't let that hold him back from building a cookie empire.

Today, Crumbl is a very successful company (unicorn company) with about 1,000 locations worldwide. The company brought in over $1 billion in sales in 2022, according to documents seen by CNBC Make It.

"I never imagined in my wildest dreams that we would do over $1 billion in sales," McGowan told CNBC Make It. "As I get older and as I build this company, I realize more and more — everything that we do is really just something that anyone can do."
While they'd never worked in a professional baking kitchen before, McGowan and his co-founder often got together to experiment with chocolate-chip cookie recipes whenever they had free time. Today, their cookies make millions globally, and it all came from a decision to believe in an idea and try it out.

Anne Mahlum shares the same opinion.
In 2013, she started a small fitness company called Solidcore in New York. Ten years later, the company has more than 100 locations.
In 2023, Mahlum said she made $88.4 million after selling her shares in the business, making her a very wealthy person.
"The most important thing I've learned from Solidcore is: You can achieve whatever you want to achieve, as long as you're willing to work hard for it," Mahlum told CNBC Make It.

Another piece of advice Mahlum gave is to focus on what makes you special. In fact, she credits this for her success.

"I truly believe in the power of being unique. When we embrace our uniqueness, it really works in our favor, and it has been a huge part of my success, both personally and professionally."

"I think many times, we look at successful entrepreneurs or people who have made it - and we think that they just have something that you don't, or that they have special advantages. To be honest, that might be true - the world and life are not fair, and they never will be," she said.

Everyone has their own unique set of circumstances, advantages and disadvantages, Mahlum explained.

"I think it is up to each of us to figure out what those advantages are, what our talents and skills are, and focus on them to make them work for you."

People often think that those who have "made it" are special in some way. However, according to McGowan and Mahlum, they are not special. They simply focused on what made them different.

Edward Tirtanata, the co-founder and CEO of the successful coffee chain Kopi Kenangan, also highlighted the importance of being different.

"I think the best advice I can give to fellow entrepreneurs is to be different," he told CNBC.

"The next Starbucks will not look like Starbucks, the next McDonald's will not look like McDonald's. The next Google will not look like Google - you need to be radically different in order to compete against the established players," he said.

Tirtanata founded Kopi Kenangan in 2017 as a local Indonesian coffee stall. Today, the company has grown into an international coffee brand with more than 800 locations across Southeast Asia, bringing in over $100 million in annual sales.

Shawn Tsao loved sandwiches – he was deeply passionate about them, you could say.
One day in 2012, he was craving a sandwich from a specific shop that was far away, but he didn't have the time to go and get it.
"What if there was a service like Uber, but for food?" he thought. That's how the idea for the food-delivery company Caviar was born.
In 2014, Jack Dorsey's payments company Square (now known as Block) bought Caviar for more than $100 million. Tsao and his co-founders made a lot of money from the deal.
"If you're an entrepreneur and you're really passionate about the product you're building – not just because you want to be a CEO or founder, but because you truly care about what you're working on – that will help you get through the hardest days," said Tsao.
Tsao built Caviar for himself. The business fulfilled a need that he personally had, and this passion helped him keep going through the challenges of building the business.

Similarly, Tirtanata loved coffee, Mahlum cared about fitness, and McGowan was passionate about cookies – all these founders built something for themselves.
It was this genuine passion that drove them through the most difficult times.

In all my conversations with entrepreneurs, the one piece of advice I've heard the most is to simply get started.

"Nike got it right with 'just do it.' I have a phrase that says: 'Just have a day one,'" said Mahlum.
Mahlum stumbled into a pilates studio in Los Angeles one day and fell in love with it. Months later, she invested all her savings into opening her first studio. That was day one for her.
Similarly, McGowan didn't know how to bake cookies, but he didn't let that stop him from starting a cookie company.
"One of the biggest lessons I've learned from starting Crumbl is to just get started. Whether you don't have a mixer yet, or you don't have a recipe for a cookie, you just get started – you start doing things, you start moving," McGowan told CNBC.
"I think action in the early stage is what's really important to success – just to move forward," he said.

All four of these founders made their millions by believing in themselves, taking the risk when they saw the opportunity, and having a day one.