Money, fame, financial freedom, success, independence, autonomy, leaving their boring 9-to-5 jobs, and changing the world for the better are only a few reasons people decide to become entrepreneurs. However, with such a level of freedom comes tremendous uncertainty and accountability. After all, if it were easy, everyone would be an entrepreneur.

As Reco Jefferson explains, there are only a few sure things in entrepreneurship and one of them is that you're going to work hard and long for success. Those who choose this way, thinking it's a shortcut to a better life, should steer away from it.

“Success doesn’t come overnight. You can make every right move, and it can still take years to get where you want to be,” he says. “You can be smart, innovative, actionable. All of these traits will help you, but persistence is the only thing you can’t achieve success without.”

Reco Jefferson is a former Air Force veteran turned entrepreneur who started his first business with only $3.67 in his pocket. Today, Reco has several successful businesses under his belt—an 8-figure eCommerce automation business, a real estate investment agency, and a media agency representing Only Fans models called Helix Media.

For Reco Jefferson, entrepreneurship was the only path he saw himself walking on ever since he was a kid. His mother was working so hard, sometimes even having three jobs at the same time. However, despite his mom’s hard work, they still had to make ends meet.

“That’s when I learned the difference between working hard and working smart. I will always be grateful for my mom’s effort because, without her, I wouldn’t ever be the person I am today,” he says. “She raised me, fed and clothed me as best as she could. But that was not the life I wanted my kids and family to have.”

But the dream of a better life initially pushed Reco to become an active duty enlisted member in the Air Force. After years of service, he was honorably discharged and suddenly had a lot of time on his hands. In the meantime, he had graduated from Penn State, and after he finished his patriotic duty, Reco started working as a software engineer.

He thought that high-end corporate life would bring him enough money to sustain his family, but the work-life balance was still elusive. He was earning enough but didn’t have time to spend with his kids. Not wanting to repeat his mother’s “mistakes,” Reco started searching for a better way that would ensure he had both money and time, and he found it in eCommerce.

While building a business from scratch took time, Reco managed to grow it to 8-figures. But more importantly, he learned many valuable lessons along the way. As Reco points out, every entrepreneurial journey has its ups and downs. When everything was going well, he felt like he was on top of the world. Other times, he felt like a complete failure, as nothing went the way he wanted.

“Mistakes are a natural part of entrepreneurship, but you have to embrace every single one and learn from them,” he says. “If you don’t, you’ll keep repeating the same mistake over and over again until you drive your business into the ground.”

However, the most important lesson he learned is how to capitalize on initial success. As Reco explains, many aspiring entrepreneurs believe that they can stop after they finish building and growing just one business. Another certain thing in entrepreneurship besides working long and hard is uncertainty.

“It is a mistake that many new entrepreneurs make. Nothing guarantees that your idea and business will live to see another day. You have to keep digging after your initial success and spread your investments – create a backup of a backup,” he explains. “That’s how you ensure that you won’t ever fall down and be forced to start from scratch once again.”

With that lesson in mind, Reco Jefferson spread his initial success into the real estate and entertainment industries and built the two new companies to protect his assets. Each one serves as a source of passive income for Reco, while his main focus is still on eCommerce.

“You have to work hard, but you also have to work smart if you want to stay at the top of the game,” he says. “Freedom and happiness will only come when you stop working for money and make your money work for you.”