Here is where I come from financially:

My dad grew up on a small corn farm in Iowa, he was one of 4 brothers. When he was 18 he hitchhiked to California, and was a Janitor in a daycare in exchange for being able to live at the facility (in a storage closet). He also worked in a warehouse for a company (can't mention what field exactly, but it is electric like). He then memorized the catalog, and proved through hard work that he was a good worker. Eventually get was moved into the office doing petty work, he excelled and then moved into sales. He was the #1 salesman after only 3 months. He then attended night class at a community college but only finished 2 years.

He got a big break when a regional distribution company in that field went broke (the office that went broke had 8 employees). My dad moved to the area and setup an office with another another person. My dad did all the work, bought out his co-owner, and hired a secretary and a engineer. Now my dad has 30 people working for him and he has sole distribution rights to 8 states and contracts with major stores (where you guys probably buy alot of stuff). So from corn farmer to multi-millionaire...

And now a couple other things... 25% return? wow... I am an avid investor (IPOs, venture capital, stocks, and a bit of bonds) and 25% is really good. Most I have made in one year is 22% average return, but then again I have only been investing 3 years and that was mostly from an venture capital investment that was really successful.