My Journey into the Stock Market

I first got into stock investing back in 2017 – that’s more than 8 years ago now.

Before that, I spent over 20 years as a small business owner, following the path my parents laid out. In the 90s, I opened a fast-food restaurant, then moved into nail salons, and later ran convenience stores like 7/11 and food marts. In my head, there was always just one belief: “No business, no wealth.”

If I had money, I opened a shop. I believed in the idea of “money makes money”—I’d be the boss, and others would work for me.

In 2006, I met a friend—let’s call him Tony. He also came from a business family, but unlike me, Tony went through 6 years of college and earned 3 engineering degrees. Instead of working for a company, he chose to invest in the stock market.

Back then, I didn’t pay attention. In fact, I was skeptical about “stocks” because the news and TV were always full of scams and bankruptcy stories.

Like many people at the time, I jumped into house flipping—buying, putting down deposits, and flipping quickly for profit. But when the 2007–2008 housing bubble burst, I lost not only my profits but also my capital, even ending up in debt.

While I was struggling, Tony was busy hunting for cheap foreclosure homes.
I asked him: “Where did you get all that money?”
He said: “From the stock market!”

I’ll never forget it: Amazon was still under $5 a share, and trading fees were $4.95 each time you bought or sold. In my head, I calculated: if I bought 1 share, I’d already be down $10 before even knowing if I made money—forget it! Then life swept me away—marriage, kids, less time to see Tony.

Fast forward to 2017. We ran into each other at a wedding. By then, I had one house (still with old debt), while Tony owned 5 houses and a small plaza worth over $6 million. His secret? Stock investing.

From that moment, every weekend I went to Tony’s house to learn from him. Since I didn’t have an academic background, it took me nearly 3 years to really grasp the basics. Thanks to his patient guidance, for the past 5 years I’ve been working from home with 4 PCs, earning a stable income—and more importantly, I finally understand what it means to “Work Smart, Not Hard.” Make money through the markets, not by exhausting yourself running stores.

In my next post, tomorrow, I’ll share about the 4 types of investors I’ve observed over the past 8 years—after talking to more than a hundred people—why some consistently make money while others keep losing. Hopefully, you’ll recognize which group you belong to and avoid the common beginner mistakes most people fall into.