Nico Bernhardt

With the book "Values for Success", I would like to share some of my experiences and values that have accompanied me on my path to success. Many people believe that there is a secret button or an ultimate tip to become rich and successful overnight. Based on my many years of experience as an entrepreneur and managing director, I cannot confirm this. I don't know of a "single valuable secret tip" that guarantees overnight success. Rather, success is like a large jigsaw puzzle made up of many small, carefully assembled pieces - the experiences I have gathered and which I would like to share here as a guide.

I was born in Munich and grew up in Germering, a suburb. My mother was a single parent from the age of three. I visited my father occasionally until I was ten, but contact eventually broke off and I never really got to know him before he passed away. During this time, my mother and I were essentially alone - at least until I was seven. Then a new male caregiver came into my life: My mother had met a new partner, who moved in with us relatively quickly after his military service in the Bundeswehr. In hindsight, I can say that I was lucky that he looked after me like a real father and made sure that I was successful at school. He wasn't afraid to study with me. While spelling was one of my weaknesses back then, I was quite strong in math. During puberty, it was a great advantage not only to grow up with my mother, but also to have another caregiver as a counterbalance. I also think that having a steady partner made life a lot easier for my mother. Being a single parent in Munich, especially as a retail saleswoman, is anything but easy. 

There were no great luxuries in my childhood. Expensive branded clothes or my own PC were things I had to earn for myself. I started delivering newspapers at the age of twelve and later worked in a fruit store, where I had to carry heavy crates into the cold store in the evenings. Before my apprenticeship, I also worked every Saturday as a temp in a drinks store.

These early experiences taught me what it means to earn your own money. Of course, it is frustrating as a teenager when friends get "cool" and expensive things from their parents, while you have to work long hours for them. Looking back, however, I see this as a decisive milestone.

Because when you work for something yourself, you understand its value and feel real pride - a feeling that you can neither buy nor receive as a gift...