Posted Under: Entrepreneurship, Our Heroes

Our guest under the “Our Heroes” series is Adam Kruse. and he shares his journey as an entrepreneur from his elementary school days when he used to sell candies on the school bus to his ebay days in college to being an Auditor at a large CPA firm to finally becoming an outstanding real estate broker. Here’s our chat:

DD: Who are you and what kind of corporate job were you at?

AK: My name is Adam Kruse. I am from St. Louis, Missouri.  I graduated from the University of Missouri – Columbia with a Masters of Accountancy and I became a public auditor for a large regional CPA firm here in St. Louis.

DD: What made you leave the job? When did you realize that you wanted to be an entrepreneur & why?

AK: I realized I wanted to be an entrepreneur when I started selling candy for a profit on the bus in elementary school. I realized it even more when in college I would buy things and resell them on Ebay for a profit. I was studying real estate in my spare time in college, but there was one day when I truly realized that things were about to change for me: I was the basement of a warehouse on a Saturday doing inventory on light bulbs, and I got a call from my friends who were making more than double what I was at the time (they were already in real estate). They were at the Gasparilla, a festival in Tampa Florida.  I knew I would be at that party with them the following year, and I was. I saved as much money as I could until I had saved 6 months of conservative expenses.

DD: What did you do to break the corporate jail? How did you prepare yourself for the employee to entrepreneur transition?

AK: I saved money, read real estate books, met with Realtors, small business development centers and other entrepreneurs, I tried everything! But most importantly I was never afraid to ask a stupid question or fail.  I spent a large amount of time and effort on trying new ideas, exploring marketing procedures, hiring processes, printing methods, etc while I was in college and while auditing. I have never had a bad day in business because I am constantly living my dream, being a successful entrepreneur. Yes, I have experienced many failed websites, partnerships, companies etc, but every one of them taught me some type of skill which I still use today to become better at what I do.

DD: What are your tips for employees who want to be entrepreneurs but are hung up on something?

AK: 1. Dare to be Dumb.

2. Don’t be afraid to fail, and don’t stumble when it happens (sometimes a lot).

3. Start small, start big, I don’t care, just start.

4. Plan a little, then enact, plan more, then enact.  Don’t plan, plan, plan and never act.

5. Never burn a bridge

6. Realize this: People like talking about themselves.  If you get them to talk about them, they will like you.  I don’t know why, but it happens that way.  Ask lots of questions and don’t interrupt.

DD: How are you now? Are you still in same business, and how do you feel?

AK: I am involved in a few businesses, but my primary day to day job is still being a real estate broker for The Hermann London Real Estate Group in St. Louis. There are ups and downs every single day, but that’s what makes it so much fun.

DD: Thank you Adam! It has been great hearing about your story as an entrepreneur. You have really shown us that paying attention to the small things in life can make a big difference in your future! And to think, you started your adventure as an entrepreneur by selling candy on a bus! Thank you for sharing your journey from warehouse worker to real estate broker.

AK: Thank you, Devesh, for wanting to hear about my experiences and my ups and downs. There have been and will be some more of them, but hopefully more ups than downs. I am very happy now and I can finally say that I fulfilled my lifetime (or college for that matter) dream of becoming a successful real estate broker!

DD: That was Adam Kruse, an enthusiastic real estate broker who has gone through many a challenge in order to get to where he is today. I wish him all the best.

Success to all!!