Becoming an entrepreneur is not just being a business person, it’s a way of life. Successful entrepreneurs live like they love and love like they live. It is quintessential that budding entrepreneurs get into the correct mindset from the get-go that propels them in a forward-thinking direction.
Here is a handpicked selection of life-changing tips from some of the most successful entrepreneurs that confidently stride Planet Earth that will give you a fascinating insight into what it takes to become a successful businessperson.
1. “If you can improve people’s lives, you have a business.” – Richard Branson
Finding a niche is uber-important in the business world. Are you a leader or are you a follower? Successful entrepreneurs are leaders and Mavericks at heart, and nobody personifies this ethos like the famous British billionaire businessman, Richard Branson. Known for building his Virgin Group empire that comprised of over 400 companies, Virgin, under the tutelage of Branson, rose to unparalleled heights in the business world over the past 40 years.
The mercurial entrepreneur has reached demagogue status in the business world and bestowed pearls of wisdom when talking with CreativeLive on their 30 Days of Genius podcast. Branson stated that if you can improve people’s lives, you have the foundations of a successful business. Although it is easy to think that everything has already been thought of, there are still gaps in the market and niches ready to be exploited, especially when it comes to improving people’s lives. Just ask Apple.
2. “If you’re going to start a business, you need to really love it, because not everybody is going to love it.” Arianna Huffington
Loving what you do is always an important part of entrepreneurial success. Nobody wants to wake up on Monday morning to do something they despise. This is a major reason to become an entrepreneur in the first place so you have more control over your life, finances and business ventures.
As co-founder and former editor-in-chief at the Huffington Post, Arianna Huffington is an extremely successful businesswoman and entrepreneur that really knows her stuff. Arianna left her editor job at the Huffington Post to start up her own wellness venture that was a passion for her.
Arianna offered some top advice for those striving to become successful entrepreneurs when saying it is important that your business is something that you love because if you love and believe in your product, you will have more perseverance in the face of naysayers and doubters. If you are thinking of starting a new business, make sure it is something you are passionate about, or how do you expect your potential customers to be passionate about your product?
3. “Good ideas are cheap, and success comes from hard work, not a stroke of genius.” – Nir Eyal
Entrepreneur and author, Nir Eyal, wrote the book, ‘Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products’, and has some fantastic advice for newbie entrepreneurs trying to break into the marketplace. In his book, Nir makes some valid points about how anyone can conjure up a great idea, but “good ideas are cheap.” He advises first-time entrepreneurs that success generally comes from lots of hard work and has nothing to do with being a genius or having genius-type ideas.
Work ethic and vision are what sets successful entrepreneurs apart from the rest. Procrastination and laziness are the kryptonite for businesspersons and anyone else in the world trying to achieve something.
The conclusion is that budding entrepreneurs need to find a business idea that can improve people’s lives and would advisedly be something you are passionate about or at least very good at. And even if you have a great idea, you need to work tirelessly with tenacity to reach your goals and to ensure the venture is a success.
If you’re dreaming of amassing fortunes in the billions and you haven’t hit your third decade yet, you’d be joining a pretty small club. There are just nine billionaires under 30 according to Forbes. That’s an exclusive set indeed.
But what about all the unicorn startups and rags-to-riches stories we hear about so often? Don’t confuse starting a company valued in the billions with raking in the billions in private net worth.
Making (a shit ton of) money isn’t easy. The laws of physics (and stock prices) indicate that it requires time, experience, and something extraordinary. Especially if you’re not next in line to inherit a gargantuan sum any time soon.
What about the likes of Mark Zuckerberg and Brian Chesky? Oh, they’re in the club alright, just not the billionaires under 30 one. They don’t get asked for ID when buying drinks anymore.
Self-Made Billionaires Are an Even Rarer Beast
Now we’ve established that your chances of joining the billionaires under 30 club are on a par with a camel passing through the eye of a needle, take heart. There’s more than a sprinkling of privilege in this club-of-nine list as well.
In fact, of the nine billionaires under 30, the majority are not self-made. The truly extraordinary individuals who have made their own fortunes from scratch are a grand total of just four. The other five had their wealth handed to them on a silver platter.
So, let’s take a look at the four self-made. Who are they and how did they make their money? It seems that the worlds of social media and fintech (AKA tech billionaires) walk away with the prize. The four richest people under 30 are the co-founders of Snapchat, and Stripe respectively.
Snapchat Cofounders
Snapchat (NYSE: SNAP) Cofounders Bobby Murphey (29) and Evan Spiegel (28) got the recipe right with their self-destructing messages and allowing people to take selfies with bunny ears. But like everything social media, trends are only popular for a while. It wasn’t long before even our ugliest friends having profile pics looking like Disney princesses started to get old.
Snapchat has had a turbulent year and so have its cofounders. From a historical high of 27.09 USD in March 2017 to its October 5, 2018 price of 7.77 USD, the Stanford frat brothers saw around 40 percent of their net worth wiped off this year. They still top the rich kids’ list, though, with a net worth of $2.5 billion.
Snapchat’s 200 million users (mainly between 18 and 34) users are a fickle bunch. Look to why the social media giant is losing popularity and it seems many fingers point to a Kylie Jenner tweet. Influential people complaining about the redesign saw a $1.3 billion drop in Snapchat’s worth.
Stripe Cofounders
At the age of 27, Irish brothers and Stripe Cofounders John Collison and Patrick Collison are on the fintech hall of fame with an estimated net-worth of around $1 billion as of February this year.
What’s Stripe? For those of you who don’t know, Stripe is a fintech unicorn that lets companies and individuals accept payments online easily. Another idea to be incubated in a college dorm room, Stripe processed its first payment when the brothers were vacationing in South America.
In 2016, Stripe was valued at around $9.2 billion. But Stripe’s valuation has recently be recalculated to around $20 billion, making it the sixth most valuable venture-backed startup in the US, alongside WeWork, and Palantir.
No plans to take the company public, millions of businesses already using Stripe and an estimated 80% or more US consumers having used it for payments, they see no need for an IPO. Some of Stripe’s most famous investors include Elon Musk and PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel.
The Takeaway
The common threads between these self-made billionaires under 30 are technology and college. But with social media able to shed billions of value on the back of a celebrity tweet, fintech may be a more stable ground on which to build your empire. Moreover, college is really just a yardstick since some of the most successful individuals in the world are college dropouts–just ask Richard Branson and Steve Jobs. Neither of them were billionaires before 30 either.
Featured Image credit: De cellanr – Flickr: Evan Spiegel, founder of Snapchat
Ever heard the expression of not seeing the wood for the trees? Or just having the feeling that you’re too close to a project to see the bigger picture? According to serial entrepreneur and multimillionaire Halsey Minor, a lot of startups fail because their owners get “lost in the weeds.”
Like a dog chasing their tail, they’re caught up in an endless cycle that may keep their business afloat but doesn’t bring in the big bucks.
Who Is Halsey Minor?
If you’re wondering who Halsey Minor is, he’s made a long career out of building successful companies around emerging technologies. As Founder of CNET (one of the first internet media sites to focus on technology, consumer reviews, and videos), Halsey presided over one of the web’s first profitable companies. CNET became a NASDAQ 100 company and was acquired by CBS Corporation for an eye-watering $1.8 billion in 2008.
He was also a co-Founder and early investor in Salesforce in 1999 (to the tune of $19.5 million), co-Founder of Google Voice, Founder of Uphold, an early Coinbase competitor in 2014, and latterly, immersive video company Live Planet, and blockchain startup VideoCoin. Are you keeping up?
With a host of other accolades to his name, you could say that Halsey knows a thing or two about running a successful company. He’s also used to building businesses around technology and ideas that don’t exist yet. And surviving boom-bust cycles and speculative bubbles with dexterity and skill.
So how did he find success while other companies were going under? How did he steam forward without losing focus on the finish line? I caught up with Halsey at the World Blockchain Forum in London last month to find out.
See the Bigger Picture
The only way you can be a visionary and maintain your self-belief while others around you are folding is by standing back from the day-to-day. Having started multiple high-tech businesses, you might imagine Halsey sitting at his desktop writing code or leading the development effort. But that isn’t the case.
“I did some programming in college, but I’m not going to sit down with the programmers every day and check every line of code. A business owner shouldn’t get lost in the weeds.”
A recurring complaint from millennial employees is that owners and managers don’t give them the space they need to do their jobs. The fact that they need mentors, not managers ties in well with what Halsey is saying.
By focusing on the bigger picture, you can steer your company forward while keeping your employees engaged and productive at the same time.
Hire the Right People
Obviously, a successful business isn’t one in which the owner is out playing golf and the minions are updating their Instagrams. But running a money-making company isn’t just about giving your employees space; it’s about hiring the right people for the job, giving them the tools they need to do their best work and then getting out of their way. Halsey is very clear on the need to hire the best talent and let them take the lead.
“I’m very good at getting the best people working on projects. I hired Devadutta Ghat to build the cloud for Live Planet.”
To give you some context, Ghat isn’t just good at what he does. He’s one of the only people who does what he does, having built Intel’s video streaming cloud. “He’s one of the few people in the last 10 years who’s actually built a video streaming cloud,” Halsey explains.
When you hire the right people and are confident that they’re doing their jobs, you can continue growing your business. Ghat is now one of Halsey’s not-so-secret weapons. He brings with him not only experience in building software but also running data centers, encoding, storage, and streaming.
“We’ve got some interesting companies [Live Planet and VideoCoin], we’ve got very deep crypto experience, in my case back to 2012, we’ve got deep experience in video and a highly profitable business.”
Be Better Than the Competition
Ask Halsey what he’s passionate about and he probably won’t tell you it’s customer relationship software, emerging technology, or even making money. It’s more about the challenge of taking on the competition and winning.
“With Salesforce, we went after big companies and their customers,” he says. “With CNET we forced many Internet giants out of business.” And that’s exactly what he’s got in mind for VideoCoin.
The company isn’t about competing with the likes of Google Cloud or Microsoft Azure; it’s about knocking them out of the picture completely.
Would Halsey say he was somewhat addicted to the challenge, to the adrenaline of taking on the big players and winning? “I think that’s why we all do it,” he laughs. And it’s a pattern that emerges starting with CNET all the way up to his latest venture VideoCoin which, unsurprisingly, sees Halsey venturing into exploratory terrain again.
Go Big or Go Home
A quick peek on VideoCoin’s website may lead you to brush the company off as another blockchain content platform trying to fix the broken system. But, VideoCoin isn’t about individual customers. Halsey doesn’t believe in aiming small. And in fact, VideoCoin isn’t just about taking on the likes of Facebook and YouTube either, but AWS as well.
In true Halsey Minor style, he’s looking for large corporations as clients, like 20th Century Fox Film Corp and AT&T Entertainment Group. VideoCoin is as much about decentralized storage space as it is video content distribution. Large corporations make the perfect target since they have excess server capacity. These are otherwise known as “Zombie Servers” that could easily be monetized.
In fact, it’s estimated that around one-third of virtual servers are zombie servers that many companies are running without external communications. They consume electricity but serve no purpose. Through VideoCoin’s decentralized computer storage on the blockchain, Halsey’s created a whole new business model again.
Solving a problem, tapping into a need, and allowing businesses to utilize this computer space that’s going to waste.
“That’s how I invented Google Voice [Grand Central Communications, the technology Google Voice is built on was sold to Google in 2007]. I was on the road a lot and no one could reach me and I needed some way of getting all my notes and messages in one place. A lot of my businesses were designed to solve problems that I had and ended up being useful to others as well.”
Business Acumen Counts
You’ve probably heard enough times about the importance of a strong leadership team when investing in a project. But you may wonder why bringing in advisors and CEOs from non-related business fields or different disciplines helps. It’s because business acumen counts. Experience counts.
And when it comes to churning out money-making businesses one after the other (even withstanding the dotcom bubble) you don’t get more storm-seasoned than Halsey.
When asked about the changing regulation surrounding the ICO space and the reason so many ICO companies fail he says, “It doesn’t make sense to ask people to invest in an idea. You have to show them a working product.” It may sound simple, but after seeing blockchain startup after blockchain startup requesting funding for non-functioning ideas, it’s also extremely logical.
The Takeaway
Want to run a successful business? Start big picture thinking. Not just what’s already in the market, but what could be in the market. Don’t try to stay on top of every last detail, but understanding the importance of hiring the right people and letting them do their jobs. Evolve with new technology, find solutions to people’s problems, and go all-in on your idea. It’s worked for Halsey Minor. It may just work for you, too.
A near 10-year period of low to almost-zero global interest rates is ending, according to experts. That means it’s time to watch credit fees and borrowing a little more closely as rate hikes filter through. For those with cash in the bank, it could also be time to search for a better rate of return.
According to a Bloomberg report on Tuesday, average global interest rates across all developed economies have risen to over one percent for the first time since 2009. This follows the US Federal Reserve’s interest rate rise last week.
It’s the USA that’s leading the charge, where interest rates currently sit at 2.25 percent after the latest increase. Interest rates have also risen in Indonesia, the Czech Republic, Hong Kong, and the Philippines. The increases across these five countries in one week is the most in any week since 2001. Conversely, rates are still hovering at near-zero in the rest of Europe and Japan.
Bloomberg’s conclusion is drawn from JPMorgan and Natwest Markets’ global economy gauges and comes nearly 10 years after the global recession triggered by the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings, Inc.
The Impact of Rising Global Interest Rates
For individuals, rising global interest rates mean the cost of lending, mortgages, credit cards, overdrafts, and other borrowings could rise. That means it could be time to watch these financial products and their rates closely. Shop around for the best rates, and consider extra repayments.
For the US, an analysis by WalletHub in a consumer impact report by CNBC estimates that credit card users will pay an extra $1.6 billion in charges in 2018, based on even a 0.25 percent interest rate increase.
“The best thing that cardholders can do is make the rate hike a moot point by paying the balance in full every month so all of these rate hikes are a non-issue,” said Matt Schulz, an analyst at CompareCards.
Longer-term lending like adjustable-rate mortgages will see an impact too. Although, this could be delayed if interest rates on these products are calculated annually.
USA Today and Bankrate.com predicted that monthly repayments on a $200,000 mortgage could increase from $84 to $112 with four quarter-point hikes from the US Federal Reserve. On this basis, a $400,000 mortgage and four quarter-point increases, would see borrowers paying an extra $672 in interest annually.
To give you some context, in the past couple of years, there has been a total of eight quarter-point increases in the US.
Interest rates on savings products could also rise if these rate increases are positively passed on by banks. This doesn’t always happen and can happen more slowly. The impact on borrowers is usually felt much more quickly.
However, savers could see products with better rates appear on the market. For them, it could be time to shop around for a better return on their investments.
Healthy Economies?
Rising global interest rates are not necessarily a bad thing, as they can be a sign of a healthy economy. Subsequent or preceding rising inflation rates can actually lead to pay increases and better savings rates.
The US economy is relatively healthy and growing but some believe this cannot last. Jesse Colombo, writing for Forbes, says that the US Federal Reserve interest rate hikes will begin to impact global economies, particularly those with high levels of US dollar debt. In the US itself, corporate debt is at an all-time high and real estate prices have boomed on recent low mortgage rates.
Though the news is full of warnings over interest rate hikes, tariffs, and oil prices, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on September 30, 2018, confirmed that global economic growth is still at its highest since 2011. Unemployment is falling in most countries and the number of people living in extreme poverty is at a record low.
The IMF does, however, recognize that there are signs of change or slowdown, but suggests that while the going is good, a little positive direction or steering could prevent any global economic decline.
With a net worth of $21.1 billion, Elon Musk is probably not too concerned about the substantial fine recently handed down by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). A few days ago the SEC broadcast a Press Conference to announce it had “charged Elon Musk, CEO and Chairman of Silicon Valley-based Tesla Inc., with securities fraud for a series of false and misleading tweets about a potential transaction to take Tesla private.”
In early August 2018, Musk took to Twitter stating he had funding in place to take Tesla private, at $420 per share.
Am considering taking Tesla private at $420. Funding secured.
The price quoted by Musk was significant for two reasons:
420 is a term commonly used by marijuana users as the optimum time to smoke “pot,” i.e., 4:20 PM. Some Twitter users suggested that Musk may have been high on marijuana when he sent the Tweet.
More importantly for the SEC was that $420 was significantly higher than Tesla’s stock price and Musk hadn’t provided any evidence for the source of funding.
An investigation for Securities fraud by the SEC would typically take months or even years. Within just two days of the Press Conference, the SEC announced: “Musk and Tesla have agreed to settle the charges against them without admitting or denying the SEC’s allegations.” The punishment for the handful of Tweets is $40 million, split equally between Musk and Tesla, plus Musk has to relinquish the role of Chairman for at least three years. Musk takes a salary of just one dollar per annum, as did the late Steve Jobs of Apple Inc, with most of his remuneration paid as stock options. Resigning as Chairman will probably result in reduced stock options even though Musk is also the CEO and Product Architect at Tesla.
Elon Musk and the source of his wealth
Elon was born in Pretoria, South Africa in 1971 to Maye and Erol Musk. His mother is well known as a model, and his father is a pilot, electromechanical engineer, and sailor. Musk taught himself computer programming before he was a teenager and moved to Canada at the age of 17 with just $2,000 before amassing sizable student debts. His first known business deal was the sale of his computer game, Blastar, for $500 at the tender age of 12. At the age of 27, he sold his 7% stake in Zip2, which he founded with his brother Kimbal in 1995. Zip2 was acquired by Compaq/Alta Vista/CMGi in the year 1999. Elon made $22 million and Kimbal made $15 million on the deal. With the proceeds from the sale of Zip2, he co-founded X.com which became what we know today as PayPal.
Musk received $165 million for his Paypal stocks in 2002 when eBay acquired the business. Since 2002 he has gone on to build and invest in numerous companies, most notably SpaceX and Tesla. Today most of his wealth is derived from stock holdings of Tesla. He has made no secret of his annoyance at short sellers of Tesla stock. Some commentators have suggested the Tweets was his way of making investors think twice before shorting Tesla stocks.
The road to financial independence
Thus far Elon Musk has taken a tried and tested route to financial independence by building and buying income generating assets. We can’t all hope to nurture businesses that become household names like Tesla and SpaceX, but great wealth can still be achieved today from setting up a low-cost website or a smartphone app. If you are serious about creating financial independence for you and your family you might be interested in a couple of articles MoneyMakers published recently:
Amazon Inc. has raised the minimum wage of all its U.S. employees to $15/hour amidst criticism.
The announcement was made on Tuesday 2nd October by Amazon. Starting from next month, 1st November, 2018, all U.S. employees will enjoy an increase in their minimum wage to $15/hour.
According to Amazon, the new minimum wage will benefit nothing less than 250,000 Amazon U.S. workers, which include both part-time and temporary employees, and also another 100,000 seasonal workers. The company added that those workers who already make $15/hour will as well experience an increase in wages.
In the announcement, Amazon revealed that the increase in wages will be reflected in its progressive quarterly guidance. Prior to the increment in wages, Amazon and its CEO, Jeff Bezos, have been facing serious criticism due to its disparity in payment. Last month, Senator Bernie Sanders introduced a legislation known as the Bezos Act to tax corporations for every dollar that their low-wage workers receive in government health-care benefits or food stamps.
Amazon is worth $1 TRILLION.
Jeff Bezos is worth $155 BILLION.
Thousands of Amazon workers have to rely on food stamps, Medicaid and public housing to survive.
That is what a rigged economy looks like. Tomorrow we will introduce a bill to end subsidies for low-wage employers. https://t.co/jYQrtYbwZL
Amazon’s payment to its workers varies by location. For instance, Amazon pays $10/per hour at its warehouse in Austin, Texas, but $13.50/hour in Robbinsville, New Jersey. In 2017, according to Amazon’s filings, the median Amazon employee earned just under $28,500. Bezos earned $1.7 million. According to Bezos:
“We listened to our critics, thought hard about what we wanted to do, and decided we want to lead,” Bezos said in a statement. “We’re excited about this change and encourage our competitors and other large employers to join us.”
According to the Bureau of Labour Statistics, the U.S. federal minimum wage is $7.25/hour presently, while the present average hourly earnings for retail sector workers is $13.20. This action does not only place pressure on Amazon, but also on Target, Costco, and Walmart. All of them have declared their intention to increase the minimum wages for low paid employees.
Target, one of Amazon’s retail rival announced in a press release towards its holiday hiring that it would increase minimum wage of employees to $15/hour by 2020. Whereas, Walmart stated that it has plans to raise its minimum wage to $11/hour next January.
Amazon added that it will also start pressing for an increment to the federal minimum wage. The company also said it would raise the minimum wages for British workers to at least £10.50 ($13.61) for London workers and £9.50 ($12.31) for other employees in the country.
Jay Carney, Amazon’s spokesman, said:
“We will be working to gain congressional support for an increase in the federal minimum wage. The current rate of $7.25 was set nearly a decade ago.”
This announcement is made prior to Amazon’s annual holiday hiring push. Amazon stated last year that it would employ about 120,000 temporary employees for the holiday season.
Jeff Bezos is the founder of Amazon, and currently the richest man in the world, with an estimated fortune of $150 billion. With this action, it seems Amazon is trying to make moves to lure employees in its crucial lead up to the holiday shopping season.
You dream of being wealthy, you dream of having more. You have a strong desire to break free from ordinary routines, but you don’t know where to start. I’m not exaggerating if I say that most people share the same goal.
People want to be independent; we want to stay on our own feet and provide for ourselves and our families.
When I studied for a bachelor’s in Entrepreneurship and Business in Oslo, we did not learn about personal finance. I’ve never learned how to acquire wealth and how to become more independent from employers and banks with their loan practices. We didn’t even touch this topic during my 12 years as a student.
Think about it, one of the essential things in life is to be able to take care of yourself financially. And we don’t learn about it.
I love this video by Ken Robinson on how our educational system came into place, and why it is so outdated:
The current system was designed and conceived for a different age.
Modern society has failed to improve the educational system and is currently stuck in producing qualified employees with degrees. Our schools educate us to be “employable.” Not to stand on our own feet and make smart choices regarding personal finance.
How often did you hear about interest rates? Inflation? And what about consumer loans? Did they tell you to keep away from consumer loans? My guess is no.
The Ironic Failing System
A book that I recommend for anyone interested in our economic system is the book “23 Things They Don’t Tell You About Capitalism” by Ha-Joon Chang. In chapter 17, he writes:
There is remarkably little evidence showing that more education leads to greater national prosperity.
And on page 187:
.. an unhealthy dynamic has been established for higher education in many high-income and upper-middle-income countries that can afford to expand universities. Once the proportion of people going to university goes over a critical threshold, people have to go to university in order to get a decent job.
More education doesn’t mean better productivity for a nation. It can result in the opposite. How many years are spent on education alone? How many years could have been spent on producing?
You are not stupid for not being wealthy
The society isn’t built to help people become financially independent. It’s built to make people economically dependent on being employed. We are fooled into a consumer pattern where “buying more” is considered the ultimate goal of life. Owning the latest gadgets, the most expensive cars we can get our hands on, and living in an ever-expanding house.
Think of how often you see advertisements trying to convince you to purchase a product or service. That’s an enormous part of your life. You are not superhuman. We are easily affected and lured into different schemes.
And when you don’t have the most basic knowledge of personal finance imprinted in your mind, it’s nearly impossible not to fall for their tricks.
Social Pressure Doesn’t Help
We are social creatures. Our mind is warped into living in conformity. We want to be like our friends and our family. It’s very hard to stand up against social pressure. The consumer market is so robust that it makes the smallest attempts to break free unimaginable hard.
I’m struggling with it myself! I don’t own any Rolexes, but when I’m in social gatherings and look at the men wearing their “Rolexes” or “Omegas,” I immediately feel I need to be as good as them even though I know I don’t need an expensive watch. It is hysterical!
Don’t Feel Sorry for Yourself
Stop feeling sorry for yourself. You have been fighting society for all your living years without the necessary tools and support you need to build wealth. Wealthy people have been:
Lucky
Inherited their wealth
At the right time and right place
Educated in personal finance
You can accomplish a lot with guidance. You can also strike luck any time, but you have to try. Try, try, and try again. You will fail multiple times, and you will learn from your mistakes. Trust me; I’ve failed over and over again. Even though I’m quite successful with my ventures and money management, I still striving for my next goal.
Why Do You Not Invest?
One of the great secrets to wealth is ownership. To own something that is both worth money and that generates more.
Who were the wealthiest persons a few centuries ago? It was the landowners. The landowners had a massive chunk of land that they rented out to peasants and other more unfortunate individuals. They made money by either claiming most of their crops or by securing a fixed sum per month. Those were the truly wealthy people.
People do not seem to understand how having a money-generating asset truly can help them economically. To own a house or an apartment for personal use is not the same as to own a house or an apartment that you rent out. Something that generates a monthly cash flow. The more money-making assets you have, the more wealthy you will become in the end. At some point, you might not be able to spend all the money you make even if you wanted to.
We are not taught this skill. There’s a reason why you have not spent most of your adult life trying to accumulate assets. The capitalistic society does not want you to focus on what can set you free; they want you to work and consume to grow the market. Now you are aware.
So What Can I Do?
On MoneyMakers.com I will continue to write educational pieces to make you think, become financially independent, and in the end, be able to live a better and happier life. My passion for this field is intense.
This is not another article on how to make money fast; it’s not a get-rich-quick scheme. I dislike those articles as they are merely spreading false information. There is no way you can get rich fast. Well, you can win in a lottery, but as many lottery winners have shown, keeping the money is an entirely different ball game.
No, Never Chase the Get Rich Quick Scheme
One says that lottery games are the “poor man’s game.” It gives false hope to the millions risking their own money. It’s better to throw money out the window. Rich people do not take unnecessary risks. They never gamble with their money unless there is a high possible return on investment while the risk is minimal. Don’t be fooled into joining hypes and take high risks for small payouts.
If you genuinely want to be rich, you need to think differently. You need to stop doing the same things as your friends and start your own journey to financial freedom. You need to widen your network and find mentors who have done similar things as you want to accomplish.
How to Make Money When You Have None?
You’ve probably heard the phrase, “You need money to make money.” And it is true to some extent. The more money you have, the more opportunities you have to invest and expand your wealth. When that’s said, people with next to nothing are still able to make money. The first and most obvious answer is to get a job. If you want to guarantee a steady income that can support your lifestyle, working for a company can be a good option. You have to start at the bottom, but that’s where most employees start. It takes time to climb the corporate ladder. Always improve yourself, and give your employer the best of you every day. Take more initiative, and read books about the industry you are in. When you feel you are worth more than the salary you receive, ask for a raise! Never settle; strive for more (but don’t overshoot!)
When you have reached a certain level within the corporate ladder, stay open to change and take a different path. There’s only so much you can make by being an employee; if you want to get financially independent, you can focus on entrepreneurship and investing. More on this later in this article.
Start your own business if you want to work for yourself. I would recommend starting a company where you can generate a cash flow rapidly. The less you have, the more reliant you are on a positive revenue.
How I Started My Ventures
I started with a clothing line when I was 16 years old. I managed to sell a few sweatshirts to a local shop in my hometown in Norway called Tønsberg. At that time, I was not very focused on the business as I had school to attend! It quickly faded out and ended up costing me a few thousand dollars. Then, when I was 18 years old, I started a phone company that imported exclusive phones from China. I sold them with a 50% profit margin and generated a profit of $2000 per month! I used Finn.no, which is equivalent to Ebay.com.
The phone business went well for a while. Besides being hustled by a shady character in Oslo, I saw that the phones I sold were beginning to become outdated, as this was in 2008/09. I sold “analog” phones while Apple introduced the smartphone. I decided to shut the business down in 2009 and focus on my last year in high school.
When I moved to Oslo to study for a Bachelor in Entrepreneurship and Business, I got a part-time job as a customer representative for a VoIP company. I didn’t like that job, but it gave me needed money. While I studied, I was enrolled in a mentorship program where I received a mentor working at Telenor (Norway’s largest telecom company). He helped me to go for it and start a new company where I sold website services. I got a few clients from friends and family, and it resulted in enough income per month, that I was able to quit my other part-time job. In some way, it did set me free. Free to focus on my projects and the knowledge of generating money for myself.
The Key Take Away, What I’ve Learned
After that, I’ve started multiple businesses. Many have failed, some have succeeded (like CCN.com and Hacked.com). If there’s one thing that I’ve learned and that you should take away from reading this article, it is this;
Make sure that you can make money fast – get a revenue source.
If you need to develop a product or service over a longer period, the risk dramatically increases, including the costs of the project. That’s why it’s often smart to start a consulting business or a “pay-per-hour” business where you perform specific tasks for other companies or individuals. Perhaps you can run their social media profiles? Maybe you can create a website or an app for them? Or even create a gardening business. The options are endless; make sure you make money from day one. No matter how little you make. Start, build, develop, improve, and grow.
How Do Wealthy People Make Money?
Investors and entrepreneurs are making the most. Unless you live in corporate America (or the UK) and are the CEO of a large multinational company, you are probably earning the same amount as most of your peers with regular jobs, anywhere from $40 000 to $100,000 per year. That’s an okay sum, but it’s not enough to be set for life or to guarantee a comfortable life for your children’s children. To break free from the entangling system we all live in, you must learn what the people on top know and how they exploit the system. Unless we all can exploit the system, then how can we call the system fair?
The rich don’t work for money. Between 1993 and 2010, over 50 percent of the increase in the national income in the United States went to the wealthiest one percent. Since then, things have only gotten worse. Economists at the University of California found that 95 percent of the income gains between the years 2009 and 2012 also went to the wealthiest one percent.
The 0.1% top earners have so much power that they will do everything and currently do, to secure their wealth and keep increasing it. Workers are not rewarded any longer; workers are looked at as a necessary evil. The shareholders want a flexible labor market where they can easily hire and fire people to increase the company’s value. Since the principle of shareholder value maximization was introduced in the 1980s, the focus on short-term profitability for shareholders has exploded. This has led to job insecurity, not only because it became easier to sack employees but the businesses became short-sighted and focused on bringing the highest returns year-on-year. This has caused many Western businesses to fail by not investing in people, research, and development and to have a long-term vision and strategy. Power corrupts; the more power people and businesses get, the more they focus on short-term growth and maintaining control.
Employed? Your Company Doesn’t Care About You
You are easily replaceable. You should not have any loyalty to your employer. None at all. If you get a better offer somewhere else, or even better, you can start your own company: DO IT. Don’t think about your current employer. They don’t give a shit. Wait? I like my boss; he/she is kind to me. Well, that’s your boss’ job! Don’t be fooled. The real rulers are the board members and the shareholders, and they DON’T GIVE A DAMN. They are interested in profits, not in you. And if you are not rewarded based on the profits you bring the company, why should you work there?
So many people I know are STUCK in their jobs. They cannot see themselves working for anyone else or to start anything on their own. Limited by their mind. I was educated to believe that a good life is a life where you work for the same company and do the same thing repeatedly. Wake up! You are stuck. You need a reality check. Do you have a contingency plan? What happens if you get fired or the company you work for files for bankruptcy? Now is the time to create one.
So How Can I Make Money?
What are you good at? Can you start a business on your own and try to expand? Can you change your job to a better-paying one? Always focus on generating income and not spending your proceeds. Use your salary to buy assets, whether it is stocks, or index funds, to lend out money through a peer-to-peer lending service like Prosper, or to buy real estate to rent out for a yearly return above the inflationary level. Do not spend money on unnecessary items, like a new car, a bigger house, or a diamond ring. You do not need it, nor does your family! You need to watch your capital grow, not shrink.
Either become an entrepreneur or start investing in low-risk assets
And please take my word for it. Never fall for the get-rich-quick schemes, they do not work.
