Felix Wong is 24, Makes $2 Million a Month—and He Wants More
The 24-year-old entrepreneur has founded online platforms selling everything from overseas SIM cards and balloons to wedding supplies and handkerchiefs: He claims to make $100,000 per month from each of his 20 ongoing businesses.
Why did you decide to become an entrepreneur? As a child, starting my own business was my second dream. My first was captaining the Hong Kong football team, which I gave up at 16 because it was unrealistic. Coming from a working class family, I knew I had to work extra hard to earn the things I wanted, and that starting from scratch at some company wouldn’t do it for me.
Are you your own boss because you have a problem with working for people? I’m results-driven, so I take the most straightforward route because the process is less important. Maybe that’s why I’m reluctant to work for other people. As a boss, I hire people according to their abilities, regardless of age. There are people on my team who are twice my age, and that’s perfectly fine with me.
How did you start out? I started learning to write web pages when I was around 17, without much success at first. I’d always hated school, but I managed to do OK and got into law school. I didn’t enjoy it, but I stuck with it anyway because that was what my parents wanted. I used most of my time at university starting up businesses. After multiple failures, my family wanted me to focus on becoming a lawyer, but I convinced them to give me two years, during which I enrolled in a Master’s program at the University of Hong Kong. Those two years were crucial: I put two calendars up on the wall, to remind myself to use every day to its fullest.
Your goal is to earn at least $100,000 per month for every business you start. Does it actually work? At this stage, yes. But before I was able to do that, I had my fair share of trial and error. Before I found my way, a lot of my projects did not go as planned: I’ve lost count of the ones that have failed. I went through a time when none of my family members believed in what I did anymore. Even my best friend encouraged me to quit. But now that I have figured out the “formula,” all of my business projects are able to reach that goal.
You set yourself a challenge to wake up at 4:30am every day. Why? I’ve always been an early riser, but I decided to challenge myself to get up at 4:30am every day for 30 days because I felt like I didn’t have enough time. Being successful is not only about external factors—it is also about your personal habits, willpower and motivation. Now, I get up at 5am and start the day with a jog on a near-empty street, which feels liberating. I listen to an audiobook while I run. After that, I meditate and use affirmations and visualization to get me ready for the day and help me to actively pursue my goals instead of simply being reactive. I get to the office by 7am.
You’re young and well off. Does it get you girls? I thought it would, but surprisingly, it doesn’t. My only conclusion is I’m still not rich enough!
What is the one thing we can all do to be more successful? Aim high and dare to dream. Jordan Belfort from “The Wolf of Wall Street” said that people fail not because they set their goals too high and miss them—it’s because they set them too low and hit them. Society makes us think that it’s no use trying to make a difference, or to create something extraordinary. That’s why most people in Hong Kong don’t dare to dream. A lot of them complain about the lack of opportunity. I hope that through my actions and accomplishments, I can show young people that this mindset is wrong. No matter how young or how broke you are, or what society tells you, success is possible.
