"When we started selling tickets, I watched the eBay auctions for about a month. I kept detailed information (some on spreadsheets, some in my head) about what

"When we started selling tickets, I watched the eBay auctions for about a month. I kept detailed information (some on spreadsheets, some in my head) about what seats sold for what, which seats didn’t sell, which cities sold well, which didn’t, etc. By the time we bought tickets, we knew exactly what we were buying. We knew the dates, venue, times, keywords, and even what times we would list on eBay to receive maximum exposure. That was part of our secret sauce. We didn’t flippantly buy tickets, and if we had, we would have failed." This is smart business. It takes discipline and the ability to learn from your mistakes and continue on, even if you fail 100 times. "And when you talk at entrepreneurship events about how to be successful, give vague answers like “work hard” and “learn fast” and “hire well,” but never, ever reveal the secret sauce" Making money is hard. One of the hard parts is finding something that's profitable. If you lay out all of your plans to every other entrepreneur, you will quickly bring competition and you might lose your business in the process. Who wants that? Those vague answers are the truth. You need to do all of that to succeed. I've found that most people just want a quick buck. They aren't willing to slave away for a couple of years to build a business. Especially if there are no immediate results. I built a million dollar lifestyle business with 2 other partners with what you call the 'secret sauce'. It took multiple years of doing exactly what you mentioned. My business lasted almost 8 years before the market changed and I had to move onto something new.