3 Lessons Entrepreneurs Can Learn from Poker and Storage Wars Star Rene Nezhoda

While many reality TV stars today have been able to leverage their newfound celebrity into a business venture, Rene Nezhoda’s silver screen fame came as a direct result of his savvy money making efforts.

Nezhoda is best known for being a cast member of the hit show Storage Wars, which is set to release its 16th season later this year. One of the most popular series aired on the A&E Network, the show’s runtime has even been extended into a full hour in light of its consistent viewership. For the past several seasons, the Austrian-born Nezhoda has been one of its most beloved cast members thanks to his wit, charm, and knack for business. As such, it’s only natural that his journey is an inspiration to many.

But just how did Rene reach this level of success? Below, we’ve listed three practical lessons straight from Nezhoda’s business playbook that every entrepreneur can apply.

Start with what you know

While it may be tempting to base your business on whatever is trending, it’s a safer bet to begin with something familiar. By doing so, you’re much less likely to encounter unfamiliar hurdles that will stump or cost you. Over time, this will help you create a reliable foundation that will then make it easier should you still wish to branch out into new territory. This is precisely what Nezhoda did when starting his career as a reseller: he focused on items he was already in the know about, like playing cards.

As of writing, Nezhoda says he’s been in the collecting and reselling business for 30 years now. A self-proclaimed collector, it’s this familiarity with the items he resells that has helped guide him away from fads and towards more long-term investments. Recently, this mindset has helped him scale up his reselling initiatives by turning to online breaking. This is another business pursuit that he’s been avidly learning about and exploring on eBay, which is the largest online marketplace in the world and one that often features Nezhoda as a key opinion leader, too.

Explore multiple income streams

In light of the above lesson, while it helps to start with what you know, that doesn’t mean you should put all your eggs into one basket. Meaning, if you have multiple interests that you strongly believe can be monetized, there is no harm in taking advantage of one or more of them. In particular, entrepreneurs who are just starting out may find that this will even help pad their income nicely. In Nezhoda’s case, he did this by pursuing poker circles alongside his reselling. In fact, he admitted that poker games were his primary form of income for many years before he made it big in reselling.

Not one to let go of an opportunity, Rene has continued to play in lucrative poker games through the decades. In 2022, he even took home over $70,000 when he won at a poker tournament in South America called the Enjoy Poker Tour. The event was hosted by the US’ leading online poker site ACR Poker. Established in 2001, the operator is renowned for partnering with only the best poker personalities, which also happens to include Nezhoda. Since 2022, he and his wife Casey have been ambassadors for the site, further allowing them to partake in games with impressive prizes whenever they’re free from shooting their show or running their reselling business.

Reevaluate where you find value

Lastly, it pays to think outside of the both when looking for opportunities. Often, many entrepreneurs miss out because they’re too caught up in assessing value based on blanket standards. However, it’s important to remember that another man’s trash could very well be another man’s treasure. This is a similar mindset shared by finance guru Codie Sanchez. She believes that there is much to gain by looking into things that may otherwise be deemed undervalued or ordinary. After all, this still allows you to capture a niche audience with less risk from competition.

As somebody who makes his living by bidding on storage units, this is clearly something Nezhoda takes to heart. He takes it a step further, though, by opting to take chances on items that even other veteran resellers may balk at. For instance, in the past, he’s shared that he’s sold even very specialized items like earth testing equipment, which he was glad to discover ended up selling for up to $500.For more on innovate business and entrepreneurship insights, please check out the rest of our website.