Segment:- Mindset vs Money: The Real Barrier to Business Success.

Summary

Konnected Minds Podcast – Episode Summary

Segment: Mindset vs Money: The Real Barrier to Business Success

Host: Derrick Abaitey
Date: November 3, 2025

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Episode Overview

This episode dives into a provocative debate: Is mindset or money the real barrier to business success? Host Derrick Abaitey and his guests tackle traditional notions about what holds entrepreneurs back, exploring how upbringing, beliefs, resources, and learned skills combine—or collide—on the path to success. The segment features lively conversation, practical examples, disagreements, and memorable analogies, aiming to break through listeners’ limiting beliefs and inspire entrepreneurial confidence.

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Key Discussion Points

1. Mindset vs. Money: The Core Obstacle

• Mindset as the Foundation ([00:06])

  • Speaker B strongly claims that mindset is the real determinant, arguing “anybody can get money… but mindset is what maintains it, mindset is what gets it.”
  • He references 'Secrets of a Millionaire Mind' by T. Harv Eker and explains that losing money doesn’t erase the mentality needed to regain it:

    “If you lost all your money today, you’ll be able to get it back. Because it’s a money mindset.” ([00:23])

  • He breaks down the concept:
    • Mindset isn’t a single attitude but a "collection of things"—beliefs picked up from family, teachers, and environment, which may need to be "unscrewed" or unwound to make true progress.
    • Quote:

      "Most people...haven’t dealt with all the different types of sets of mindset they've received..." ([00:58])

  • Conclusion: Mindset precedes money; it’s the cause, while money is the effect.

• Money as a Real Barrier ([01:50])

  • Speaker C pushes back, emphasizing the pain of not having financial resources to execute ideas:
    • “Money has been one of my biggest challenges in business because you have the ideas, you have the mindset ready, but you don’t have the money to execute. That is really painful as a business owner.”
    • Agrees that mindset matters, especially managing money effectively, but for many, access to capital is a more immediate barrier.
    • Points out that foundational principles apply whether you have $1 or $1 million:

      “There are some people who can have $1 million now and nothing changes in their lives because they don’t know how to use that $1 million.” ([02:29])

• Causality Argument: Mindset Begets Money ([02:52]–[04:32])

  • Speaker B challenges the money-first argument:
    • “Money is a result. I don’t think people... But money is a result of something. So money is the outcome. Money is not the cause; it's an effect… The cause of everything is—it begins with the mindset.”
    • Uses the Latin etymology of 'cause' and 'effect' to drive home the point that a money mindset is the root of financial results.
    • Quote:

      “Once you have the mindset of multiplying, maintaining, everything changes.” ([04:28])

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2. Custom Approach vs. One-Size-Fits-All in Business Startups

• Custom Approach Advocacy ([04:33]–[05:18])

  • Speaker B argues for tailoring your business to a specific, focused group:
    • “I believe that you need to have a custom approach with working with a streamlined group of people... tailoring your product for a particular group of people.”
    • Emphasizes starting small and focused as the path to meaningful growth.

• Standard Model Defense ([05:18]–[05:52])

  • Speaker C disagrees, suggesting that the business launch process follows universal steps regardless of the product or service:
    • “The model of starting a business is clear. You have the idea, you execute, you test the idea.”
    • Suggests tools and frameworks can be replicated across niches, supporting a 'one size fits all' method.

• Back-and-Forth: Principles vs. Practice ([05:52]–[06:52])

  • Speaker B uses a religious analogy, describing how even major movements (like Christianity) began with a custom approach (the Israelites) before scaling universally.
  • Speaker C concedes the importance of focus but insists on unchanging core principles like customer focus, unique selling proposition, and pricing.

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3. Is Entrepreneurship for Everyone?

• Entrepreneurial Interest for All ([07:43]–[09:01])

  • Speaker C believes everyone should at least be interested in entrepreneurship, if only as an investor or partner:
    • “Three to five is amazing. Sometimes I'm even jealous of the people who have climbed up the corporate ladder… But after the 9 to 5, after 60 years, what next?”
    • Advocates for thinking beyond a single income source, emphasizing an investment and diversified approach for a fulfilling post-retirement life.
    • Quote:

      “Whatever business you are working for is also a business. If they hadn’t set it up, how would you be able to earn from it?” ([08:33])

• Not Everyone’s Wired for It ([09:06]–[11:01])

  • Speaker B counters that not everyone is cut out to be an entrepreneur:
    • “Not everybody has the mental fortitude to be an entrepreneur at every point in time.”
    • Cites personal experience: as a child, he resented entrepreneurship after watching the struggles his parents faced as business owners.
    • Views his own path as a product of circumstance, not destiny:

      “I didn’t want to be an entrepreneur… I ended up being one because of survival things.”

    • Argues that entrepreneurship is hard, sometimes thankless, and not everyone has the resilience needed, especially when facing bankruptcy or other adversities.

• Clarifying Definitions ([09:10]–[11:44])

  • Speaker C clarifies: by entrepreneurship, she means making your money work for you, not just being a founder or CEO. She believes everyone can learn business skills, even if not all become company leaders.
  • Speaker B stands firm: even with learning, running a business is not for everyone.

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4. Final Thoughts: Wealth, Jobs, and Investment

• Who Will Do the Work? ([11:03])

  • Speaker B: “If entrepreneurship was for everyone who [would] be working for who?”
  • Speaker C: Some should stick to stable employment, but stresses the importance of multiple income streams for wealth.
  • Points out that most ordinary jobs alone won’t make you rich; casting a wider “fishing net” through investments and side ventures is necessary.
    • References Tim Cook as an exception but notes most people can’t count on a single salary alone ([11:44]).

• Investment as an Alternative ([11:51])

  • Speaker B closes by highlighting that being “an investor, not a business owner” is also valid and perhaps a more realistic path for many.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Mindset vs. Money:

  • “You can take all of the money away from you, but the skill is still there.” – Speaker B ([00:22])
  • “You have the ideas, you have the mindset ready, but you don’t have the money to execute. That is really painful as a business owner.” – Speaker C ([01:56])

• On Starting Small:

  • “Nothing ever starts big…You can’t just be working with one size fits all, just covering everybody…” – Speaker B ([05:54])
  • “There are certain things you can’t take away from any business model at all.” – Speaker C ([06:49])

• Entrepreneurship for All?

  • “Not everybody has the mental fortitude to be an entrepreneur at every point in time.” – Speaker B ([09:44])
  • “You can partner with people, you can invest in things, but you should definitely have an interest [in entrepreneurship].” – Speaker C ([08:38])
  • “You can’t become rich with one source of income. I, I strongly believe that one source of income is not enough to make you a rich man. It's simple. You have to cast a fishing net, not a hook and line.” – Speaker C ([11:14])

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Mindset vs. Money Debate: [00:00]–[04:32]
• Custom Approach vs. One-Size-Fits-All: [04:32]–[07:36]
• Entrepreneurship for Everyone?: [07:36]–[11:51]

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Tone and Style

The conversation is dynamic, candid, and sprinkled with personal anecdotes, analogies, humor, and respectful disagreement. The hosts encourage listeners to challenge their perceived limitations, emphasizing both the tangible (money) and intangible (mindset) barriers to success. The back-and-forth keeps a conversational, relatable, and motivational spirit throughout.

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For more insights on business, mindset, and personal growth, subscribe to Konnected Minds on your preferred platform.

Transcript

[A]

Mindset or money? Which one is the biggest barrier to businesses?

[B]

I'll say mindset. Okay. Why? Because, you know, anybody can get money, anybody can get. But mindset is what maintains its mindset, is what's going to get it. So people like, there's a book that I read, Secrets of a Millionaire Mind by T. Harv Eka, and you're speaking about how there are some billionaires who lose it. I'm sure that if you lost all your money today, you'll be able to get it back. Because it's a money mindset. You can take all of the money away from you, but the skill is still there. And so the mindset. And you see, the thing about mindset is this is a mindset. Mindset set means a collection of things. I think when people think about mindset, they think about one way of thinking. It's not just one. There's a collection of different things because there's a set. Like in school we used to have this thing called math set. A math sets with the set square, the compass and everything. Because so it's a different set of things. Same thing with mindset. So there are different things in our minds that contributes to our success or failure. And so most people, they haven't dealt with all the different types of sets of mindset they've received from their father, their mother, their school teacher, who is, who is broke. Your teacher is broke and he's, he's teaching you something. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with school, but sometimes they teach you certain mindsets or teach certain mentalities because the mindset is basically a set of mentalities. They teach you a particular mentality that can contribute to the reason why you are where you are right now. And so mindset is hard because you need to unwind all of those things. You need to find a way to unscrew all of those things before you can succeed. And once you have that, even if you lose your money, you're going to get it back. If you are back to rock bottom, you're going to get it back. And so mindset has always been important. Mindset precedes money.

[C]

So this is contradictory, seeing as earlier I said you can start a business without money. I mean, earlier that's what I said. As somebody who runs a retail shop or a retail business, money has been one of my biggest challenges in business because you have the ideas, you have the mindset ready, but you don't have the money to execute. That is really painful as a business owner. So I found money to be a huge stumbling block in my business growth. Yes. Even though mindset is important, because the mindset of money is also important. Understanding money, understanding how to utilize money when you have it. Because there are some people who can have $1 million now and nothing changes in their lives because they don't know how to use that $1 million. Right. But there are some of us, if we get that $1 million, we will make it work. But. Yes. So I would say money has been one of the biggest challenges for me in business.

[B]

Yeah. So, yeah. So the thing about mindset is that, for example, if I put a random person in charge of a real estate business and I put maybe Kennedy in Japon, no money. Like, he has all his experience.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

He's going to win. And it's not because he's probably richer or he's. It's just because he has built a different type of mentality. And so you need, first of all, in order to be a millionaire, you need to have a millionaire's mindset. If you want to be a billionaire, you have to have a billionaire's mindset. And so what you need to do is that you need to first of all attack the mindset before. Because money is a result. I don't think people. But money is a result of something. So money is the outcome. Money is not the course. It's like it's an effect, not a cost. And so the. The cause of everything is. It begins with the mindset. Mindset is not the only thing, but mindset is always going to precede the effect. So since mindset is the cause and money is the outcome, the word cause or the law, of course, and effect, that's what we have. So cause comes from the Latin one, means a reason. Effect comes from the Latin one as effectus. That means an outcome. So when you talk about a reason, I'm saying money. So I'm basically saying that a course is a reason. So mindset is the reason for the outcome, which is money. And so the moment your mindset is wrong. So most people get into many businesses and they fail, fail, fail, fail, fail. And they're wondering, why am I failing? Because it's not just about the money. You could have 500,000 cities and lose it all one day and you're done. But once you have the mindset of multiplying, maintaining, everything changes.

[C]

Fantastic.

[A]

So now the next point I have is one size fits all, right. Or a custom approach in business, which one do you think is better? When people are starting out for me.

[B]

I'm saying a custom approach. Why? Because when you're starting, you're starting a business, most people are just thinking of everybody all at once. But I believe that you need to start with somebody that you are dealing with. So if you're running a hair business, you're thinking about maybe the modern young lady who wants the hair or you want something like that. And so for me, I believe that you need to have a customer approach with working with a streamlined group of people, somebody in who you are, who you're trying to. You're trying to really work with, as in tailoring your product for a particular group of people. I feel that's how you need to start.

[C]

I don't agree with that because I believe that the model of starting a business is clear. You have the idea, you execute, you test the idea. So you have the idea, you test the idea, you launch the idea, and then you execute. So you execute on a small scale and then it goes to a larger scale. So the model of business is simple. So once you understand that in every niche you find yourself it's a one size fits all, you can do this, you can replicate this system over and over and over to start multiple businesses, and it's going to work.

[B]

I don't quite agree with that. And my entire thing is based on this custom approach is how anything in this world has ever grown. Nothing ever starts big. You can't just be working with one size fits all, just covering everybody into your entire, entire business. The reason I'm saying this is this in the Bible, that's a good. Because I'm Christian. When God wanted Christianity to be able to be a widespread religion, because in Mark 16, he says, go into all. Go into the world and preach the gospel. So that means you're supposed to go to everybody inside the world and go and preach the gospel. Yeah, but before he got to. Before that happened, God was only working with the Israelites. He was only working with the Jews. So it was a custom approach before he moved to the one size fits all, because he was not working with a group of people called the Gentiles that are working with a group of people called the Jews and the Israelites. He built a tradition with them. He built a custom approach with them. It was like a custom thing. Some of the things in the Bible are just only for the Israelites and later.

[C]

But wait, don't you agree that with your experience or your expertise? Because I have expertise in the hair business, but trust me, I can give solid advice to anybody in Any industry at all. Based on the experience that I have running a hair business. Right. So even though you may need, sure, you need to niche down, you need to have a laser focus on your customer. But in scaling or in starting, in launching or in starting the business, you can't change the model. You need to start in a particular way. There are certain principles that you can't change. Certain principles of your customer being the focus, defining your unique selling proposition, pricing rights. There are certain things you can't take away from any business model at all. Yes.

[A]

Do you think if I don't stop you here, I think there's going to be blows. Do you think that entrepreneurship is for everyone?

[C]

I believe that everybody should have an interest in entrepreneurship. You don't need to be the one selling or running the business, but you should have an interest in entrepreneurship. Three to five is amazing. Sometimes I'm even jealous of the people who have climbed up the corporate ladder. I'm jealous of their resources they have. They get to meet so many amazing people at work just by going to work. They have so many benefits. But after the 9 to 5, after 60 years, what next? What happens to your life? 60 years is young. What do you do next if you don't have an interest in entrepreneurship or in maybe having like a widened portfolio and a widened investment portfolio after 60, basically your life is over because you now have to live and rely on your pension, which we all know is not very reliable. So I think entrepreneurship may not be you essentially marketing your business and running your business, but you should have an interest in it. You can partner with people, you can invest in things, but you should definitely have an interest because whatever business you are working for is also a business. If they hadn't set it up, how would you be able to earn from it? Yes. So I think. Well, so I think everybody should have an interest in entrepreneurship.

[B]

So it's for everybody?

[C]

Yes, I think everyone should have an interest in entrepreneurship at all.

[B]

I don't think everybody is wired to be an entrepreneur. I don't think everyone can be an entrepreneur.

[C]

Maybe you are looking at it as a founder or a CEO. Not everybody is wired to be a CEO or a founder. But entrepreneurship is basically making your money work for you, right? In putting your money somewhere and making it work for you. Right? Starting something that works for you. So I believe that everybody should have an interest in making their money work for them.

[B]

So you think everybody can run a business?

[C]

Everybody can learn how to run a business.

[B]

I don't think everybody can run a business.

[A]

Okay, make your point.

[B]

I don't think anybody can run a business. How many people? That's why they said entrepreneurship is not for the weak. Not everybody has the mental fortitude to be an entrepreneur at every point in time. Because now even I didn't want to be an entrepreneur.

[A]

Why did you become it then?

[B]

Because it's a story that I don't really share, but my parents are both entrepreneurs. I've seen us go through struggles just because they decided not to be, not not to work for somebody else. So when I was little, I used to tell people that. I used to tell myself that all these people just go and work for somebody. That. And so I, when I was growing up, I was resenting entrepreneurs, resenting running your own business. Why? Because I just felt as though like everybody else, all my friends, the parents are working. Why don't you just go work and just do something like that? And so for me, I really felt as though, no, entrepreneurship should not be for everybody. I didn't want to be an entrepreneur. Just that life so happened that I ended up being one. And this is just because of a few survival things. And I feel like, because I also kind of help my mom do a few things, I feel like I already had the entrepreneurship thing impulse inside of me. But it's not for everybody, because there are times whereby when you have to pay people and your business is bankrupt. I mean, you look at how they've. Look at some of the banks that they wiped off in 2017. Look at what are some of the founders up to now. Some of them are. Some of them are miserable. Some of them are in jail. Some of them. It can happen to anybody.

[C]

So if you don't think entrepreneurship is for everyone.

[B]

Yes.

[C]

So you think that somebody should.

[B]

Entrepreneurship was for everyone who be working for who?

[C]

Yes, sure. You think everybody or those who entrepreneurship is not for should stick with their nine to five perfectly. But then I also believe that you can't really. You can't become rich with one source of income. I, I strongly believe that one source of income is not enough to make you a rich man. It's simple. You have to cast a fishing net, not a hook and line. So in for somebody who wants to be wealthy, maybe I know people have been wealthy from their nine to five, but somebody who is not as fortunate as the CEO of. Because I know that some of the CEOs have been.

[B]

Really?

[C]

Yes. Tim Cooks. Yes. But some of us who are not as fortunate as them, how do they widen their investment portfolio?

[B]

So you become an investor not a business owner. Connected Minds podcast.