&gt;You could keep that corporate job, build your credit, and then buy a McDonald&#x27;s or a gas station or an apartment building. There&#x27;s no reason to make a dent in the universe if all you want to do is put your kids through college and travel abroad once a year.<p>This phrasing I think minimizes the positive impact you can have with those endeavors. Displacing temperamental landlords with professional landlords makes the world a better place, and I&#x27;ve found having property be their only source of income ratchets up the stakes so much that many landlords explode over nothing (I&#x27;ve had a landlord threaten to evict an entire house of unrelated tenants because someone -- unbeknownst to her, her son in the middle of normal maintenance -- had made a very slight mess in the kitchen).<p>More important than &quot;you don&#x27;t have to be Facebook&quot; (as if everyone who tried could be even if they &quot;had to&quot;) is: with proper diligence and care, running a business well DOES make a dent in the universe, with very few exceptions. It makes the lives of yours customers (and vendors, hopefully) better in ways that are tangible and appreciated.