While billionaires have just as many personal flaws and regrets as everyday people have, a healthy portion of these operators have climbed the ladder to make savvy financial choices along the way. Famous figures like Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, Jeff Bezos and Larry Ellison are the tip of the spear when it comes to their commercial acumen and business savvy.

Are there lessons that can be gleaned by others when assessing the tactics and strategies that they employee? The path towards a billion dollar empire is limited to a select few with just over 2,000 of these people existing in the world, but transitioning to a 6-figure income from 5 figures, or turning half a million into a full million will require some insight and endeavor to make it possible.

A simple and frugal approach is where some billionaires have found the most success along their journey. Buffet would be emblematic of a high profile figure who quietly amassed a fortune without blowing his cash on an extravagant and lavish lifestyle. His trick was to make key investments at select times, growing a modest amount into a large fortune over the span of decades. It didn’t draw the headlines or attract widespread interest to begin with, but it achieved the ultimately objective.

It is a fact that billionaires by and large think about themselves and their financial investments before considering others. Without question it is a selfish maneuver from the outset, but by pocketing income and deciding to save on a regular basis before covering debts and financial responsibilities, it does allow the investment practice to start in earnest. Eventually if those debts are outstanding then it will be a wasted exercise, but in terms of priority there is a clear distinction between personal saving measures and covering bills that are due from other parties.

A common case study that billionaires will always point to is the need to create something that communities want and need. This is where these operators will break down into two essential categories: those that innovate something new and others that manage to invest and leverage those creations better than their counterparts. If there is an entrepreneurial streak and a recognition for a gap in the market, then the patent of that technology has to be step number one.

There are very few billionaires who refuse to admit that big investment strategies are a risk. Acknowledging this fact from the outset is essential for those people hoping to create their own path as an entrepreneur. Especially with ventures that are floated on the stock exchange, it is impossible to engage any form of guarantee. By approaching this domain with a healthy dose of skepticism, participants are able to decide when to hold their hand and when to cash in their chips for the big win.

A backup source of revenue with a parachute is the type of insurance that billionaires swear by. Although there are some exceptions to the rule with entrepreneurs gambling big on their entire savings, the best strategy is to have a cushion in place for at least 6 months. This will allow participants to reduce their stress level, to cover operational costs and give them the breathing room to plan strategically and look for new opportunities.

There is a consistent theme that exists along the line with billionaires regardless of their age, ethnicity, gender or public status. They have found strategies that allow them to minimize their risks and leap onto opportunities when they present themselves. Plenty of them have been given a head start, but applying a large dose of commonsense and insurance has given them the platform to make aggressive investment moves without seeing the whole deck of cards collapse.

There are millions of Americans who have the dream of making it big as an entrepreneur. All types of industries come into the equation with this adventure, spanning communications, retail, public services, product innovation, music, sports and private investment ventures.

To forge a new path and to make a success from a standing start, bold decisions need to be made. This is where the real estate market offers a sensible solution for professionals who want to leverage a quality investment and build a foundation for growth. The problem that many citizens have in these cases is failing to understand where the benefits reside.

Consulting with a real estate agent or a conveyance specialist can be an enlightening experience in this domain. It is the type of advice that won’t be stuck behind a pay wall or a random third party because it will draw parallels between the potential of the business to the valuations and longevity brought about by property acquisition.

The first advantage that is evident from the outset with real estate investments is that they provide entrepreneurs with legitimacy. This is tangible proof of the business model, offering a location where staff members and innovators can call home. Owning territory allows brand owners to draw in more investment, to build local connections with suppliers and ensure a consistent brand message to the wider public.

One of the key drivers that entrepreneurs should acknowledge with real estate opportunities is that these assets have the ability to appreciate in value over time. Naturally the economic crash of 2008 would be an outlier and an example that nothing is ever truly certain, but with the volatility of market fluctuations being as they are, it is bricks and mortar property where prices generally stay steady and rise from year to year.

The injection of capital and cash flow provides another dimension for entrepreneurs looking to make their mark in the real estate market. Especially for those that buy and then decide to rent, they have a consistent form of income that covers operational costs. That is before any new innovations or investments are explored in the commercial sector.

There is a strong degree of flexibility for business owners who want to cash in on the real estate game. Although there will be entrepreneurs who want to set up shop and have their patch of turf guaranteed, there will be others who decide to buy the property and rent it out to other entities. This can be beneficial when inflation increases, giving the owner a chance to hike rental prices where it is deemed appropriate.

Tax time can be a big crunch for business owners who are at the forefront of their start up project. Among all of the financial obligations to clients, staff members and debt collectors, the government requires their cut as well. The good news for entrepreneurs who take a close look at the real estate field is that they will receive more dividends and keep more cash in their back pocket when they put money down for a commercial premises. Those individuals who take control of rental properties are rewarded by the government for that initiative, allowing them to leverage lower tax rates and depreciation dividends in the process.

It is peace of mind for the entrepreneur that takes real estate opportunities in the commercial sector to another level. Given the amount of pressure involved in starting a business concept, hiring staff, dealing with setbacks, covering costs and trying to wedge in on an established market, this bold venture provides security, leverage and long-term stability. Those are features that are hard to come by through other methods.

Exotic musical festivals that spawn two separate tell-all documentaries rarely have a happy ending. This is where rapper Ja Rule would draw controversy out of the Bahamas in April of 2017, deciding to partner up with dubious figure Billy McFarland for the worst executed festival in the 21^st century. For an artist who sold over 30 million albums globally and acted as the face of the Murder Inc. Records label, the artist’s net worth and public reputation has taken a major hit over this single investment decision.

The genesis for Fyre Festival and Ja Rule’s partnership would be the desire to push and promote the Fyre app. Founder and CEO of Fyre Media Inc. McFarland would design a specialized app with the intention of allowing users to book music talent for their own events. It would only take 48 hours for the 5,000 ticket allocation to be sold out.

While the concept seemed appealing on paper, the festival still required a location to take place. This is where McFarland and Ja Rule would identify space on an island in the Bahamas, a patch that would previously be owned by notorious Columbian drug kingpin Pablo Escobar of all people.

Ja Rule was used as a major marketing tool for the event, leveraging his financial backing and notoriety to draw people in. What he explains at a later date is that he was unaware that the accommodation setup, the catering, event managers and other celebrity attendees were all covered financially. None of this would be true, leaving overseas travelers stranded without appropriate shelter, electricity access and scant resources for food and water.

For any event that would use Ja Rule as a figure to promote the festival, they would also lean on models on Instagram to build the profile and sell tickets for this “luxury” opportunity. What would turn out to be a major asset for building public momentum would soon turn out to be their greatest detriment, with attendees posting shoddy pictures of poor quality catering, cheap accommodation huts that were inundated with water and a logistical infrastructure that failed on all counts.

One of the great controversies that would tarnish this horror Ja Rule investment story was the size and scope of the unpaid labor from local Bahaman community members. Local restaurateur MaryAnn Rolle would be left $50,000 out of pocket for catering services. Hundreds of others would not be paid for their work to build the accommodation infrastructure, creating a situation where tensions rose between them and Fyre Festival staff.

Ja Rule’s shocking investment decision would see him become the subject of Internet memes and online jokes for years to come, but the substantial damage caused to the local people and the attendees who paid thousands for the privilege remain the focus of Fyre Festival.

The silver lining for the Queens rapper would be the dismissal of his involvement in a $100 million class-action lawsuit that was filed by attendees of the Fyre Festival. Although there is the potential for future legal action to take place in the years to follow, it would be a decision from a New York City southern district judge that allowed the identify to escape bankruptcy given a reported net worth of $8 million.

Fyre Festival would be the ultimate cautionary tale of an investment gone bad, leveraging a famous face for a project that never had any substantial support from the outset before people’s greatest fears were realized. Fyre Media CEO McFarland would pay for his criminality, being the subject of a $25 million fine and a 6 year prison sentence.