The Four Questions Every Entrepreneur Must Answer
For any entrepreneur serious about success, these four questions for entrepreneurs could be the difference between achieving your vision
In a video, entrepreneur Patrick Bet-David explores why two equally talented entrepreneurs with identical dreams can have completely different outcomes. According to Bet-David, it comes down to a private conversation each person has with themselves – and the answer they give determines everything.
For any entrepreneur serious about success, these four questions for entrepreneurs could be the difference between achieving your vision and watching it slip away.
The Atlanta Mansion That Started It All
Bet-David recounts a pivotal moment from when he was 26 years old. After running sales contests in Atlanta involving everything from hot dog eating competitions to canoeing mishaps, he became determined to visit a mansion built by his company’s former founder.
When the security guard refused him entry, Bet-David didn’t walk away. “I’ve got to see this house,” he told the guard. “It’s been on my vision board.” What happened next was audacious – he ran past security, sprinted 50 yards to the front door, and somehow convinced the staff to let him in.
The result? A three-hour private tour of what Bet-David describes as a $10-40 million mansion. Walking through those rooms, he made a promise to himself: “I’m going to have my dream house one day.”
The Four Critical Questions for Entrepreneurs
According to Patrick Bet-David, that experience led him to identify four critical questions for entrepreneurs that determine whether someone’s dreams become reality:
1. How big are your dreams? Bet-David isn’t talking about modest goals. He means what he calls “big hairy audacious goals” – dreams so massive they seem impossible to others. His advice: write them down, even if people think you’re mad.
2. How demanding will achieving them be? Real success, Patrick Bet-David explains, comes with serious demands. He shares his own example: working in his office on holidays like the Fourth of July while others relax, with his children doing homework beside him because that’s what his level of success requires.
3. Are you willing to meet those demands? This, according to Patrick Bet-David, is where most people falter. They reach this question and quietly, privately, decide they’re not willing to pay the price. “When this person makes that decision, nobody knows it,” he explains. “It’s subtle, it’s very small, it’s very subtle.”
4. How will it feel when your dreams become reality? Patrick Bet-David calls this the critical question. If you can convince yourself that achieving your dreams will feel “so insanely good,” then you’ll be willing to pay whatever price is needed.
The Private Decision That Changes Everything
The most sobering part of Patrick Bet-David’s message concerns what happens at question three. Many people, he suggests, make a secret decision that they’ll never share with anyone: they’re simply not willing to meet the demands of their big dreams.
“They start redirecting everything else,” Patrick Bet-David explains. “Big dreams is not that important, life is not… they have to convince themselves.” But years later, at 60, 70, or 80, they remember that pivotal conversation they had with themselves.
What Success Actually Delivers
For those who do choose to pay the price, Patrick Bet-David outlines three key rewards:
Personal satisfaction: The self-respect that comes from keeping your word to yourself. “That level of respect is priceless,” he says. “You can’t buy that at Walmart, Nordstrom’s, Neiman Marcus or online. You can only earn that.”
Market credibility: Recognition from others that you deliver on your promises. Even critics, Patrick Bet-David notes, will respect someone who follows through.
Generational impact: Perhaps most importantly, your children witness what’s possible when someone fully commits to their dreams, potentially inspiring them to pursue their own ambitious goals.
Two Camps, One Choice
Patrick Bet-David concludes by describing two camps in life. One is crowded with people who had big dreams but weren’t willing to meet the demands. The other is much smaller, filled with those who decided their dreams were worth whatever they would cost.
“This camp is not that busy,” he says of the successful group. “This camp is busy with a lot of different people who did not want to answer that question.”
The entrepreneur’s final message is direct: if your dreams are big and demanding, and you’re willing to meet those demands because you believe achieving them will feel incredible, then you pay the price. Eventually, he promises, “your big dreams are going to become a reality.”
The question facing any entrepreneur with ambitious goals remains the same: when that moment of truth arrives, which camp will you choose?
These questions for entrepreneurs aren’t just theoretical – they’re the practical framework that separates those who build successful businesses from those who remain stuck in the planning phase.
