Kevin O'Leary Shares His Secret To Earning $1 Million Fast

In Nationwide's ninth annual Advisor Authority survey (2023), 34% of people aged 18-54 said they had acted on financial advice that turned out to be misleading. This is perhaps one reason why you may want to look to successful business people like Kevin O'Leary for money advice. Recently, O'Leary said (in a YouTube Short) that "the fastest way to make a million dollars is to make the first $10,000," adding that this startup journey indeed takes "very hard work."

Which is perhaps why Kevin O'Leary has also said, in July 2023, that "it's almost impossible to make your first million dollars." This challenge comes from the learning curve in entrepreneurship, as you've got to get past early mistakes and risks. But O'Leary says it is possible to succeed, and that there are "a lot of tools in today's world" that can help. Ultimately, though, O'Leary says the key to reaching $10,000 (and perhaps $1 million), is to figure out "what people want and how to ... solve their problems." In other words, begin by identifying a market gap. (See super-successful businesses that rejected their "Shark Tank" offers.)

Kevin O'Leary argues that a business can thrive when it targets niches, where there's a strong demand but little competition. While he says the first step to making $1 million is to make the first $10,000 (as "that's really how it works"), he notes that success ultimately comes down to problem-solving. As O'Leary said on YouTube, "Successful businesses solve problems for people, and they want to pay, because it saves them time and money ... [and makes them] more productive in their lives."

According to O'Leary, if you can figure out what the "pain points" are in society, ones that everybody has, then you can get ahead of the competition and fill that market gap with your product or service. If you can do that, O'Leary says that $10,000 you've made will start to multiply. "That's how you make a million," he said. "That's how you make $5 million. That's how you make $100 million. That's how you make a billion." (Read about Bombas socks, the most successful "Shark Tank" product ever.)

In addition to finding solutions to common problems, Kevin O'Leary also says that making money (like $1 million) isn't about greed, but rather, about passion. He said, "People get wealthy, not for pursuing money out of greed, but pursuing a passion around a problem-solving exercise. That's what business is all about." And he says that while it sounds simple to carry out, it's not. It's quite the opposite, in fact ("It's so hard," he said), which is why, again, he's also warned that "it's almost impossible" to make that first million.

This difficulty isn't only because of the hard work it takes, though, but because of the discipline required not to be frivolous when it comes to spending, especially early on. O'Leary also said that investing smartly is key to growing your money, and that, in the end, once you get past that first $1 million — as difficult it may be — your path to the next milestone, like $5 million, gets easier. Why? It again returns to "pursuing a passion." Said O'Leary about reaching $50 million: "This may sound insane, but to get to 50, you just have to love what you're doing." (On that note, this is the "Shark Tank" deal Kevin O'Leary says was the worst one he's ever made.)