$3,000 to $1,000,000 in 15 months: HOW TO DO IT

[qwerety]

It's not that hard to be exact, at least with the example you give.

A very important part of implementing a successful PLAN is accurate budgeting/costing. This is part of a process called "due diligence". In a nutshell, due diligence is anything and everything you need to do PRIOR to buying something, building something, starting a business, etc.

It's understood that these numbers may change-- costs go up (or down), you think of other things you need, or eliminate others you thought were important, but aren't.

But for the planning phase, go online and get the costs. Investigate what you need, and check a few spots to see what the costs are.

Do NOT just "guess"-- this is a sure-fire way to screw up your PLAN.

The more you flesh out your idea with specifics (thinking through the entire process), the better chance you have of succeeding.

-Russ H.

Thanks. I got a second class to go to later today, but I will still set time to do this. Without me reading the other ideas yet, I'm curious about something. Did anyone who mentioned a plan here actually see it through and do well, or did everyone just use this as a fun experiment?

 

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[Russ H]

Several people have PM'd me re this.

They are actually implementing their ideas, and will post their results in a year or so.

I have no idea if there are even more lurkers who are doing the same thing!
:fastlane:

-Russ H.

 

[qwerety]

I could not think of anything.

I thought of good ways on advertising and getting people to know about my website. I was basically stuck at what to sell, I was down to either a product or a service. I couldn't think of a product, and when I thought of services it made me think the 17 yr old wouldn't have the time, because if you had some service and it became popular, then it would take up too much time.

I'm curious to read the other posts in the thread.

 

[ryanpal]

I could not think of anything.

I thought of good ways on advertising and getting people to know about my website.

want to share some of the ways you've brainstormed about? i'd be interested in reading them.

 

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[qwerety]

Sure Ryanpal.

I will post what little I figured out for myself, I don't know if these ideas are any good, but I don't think they are that bad. I'm no entrepreneur myself so you successful people may have better ways of going about this, but I tried anyway.

First I thought of is that it would have to be an internet based business, because for one it saves gas (assuming the 17 yr old is a driver) also its something you can deal with at your leisure.

Next of course is to buy a website. Making the name catchy and also buying ones for common misspellings that would redirect to your main site.

I figured you couldn't do anything in the porn industry, because I don't think a 17 yr old could legally do that. (Unless you had a front man of legal age to put the name on all the legal documents)

I also figured making money from blogging is kind of unreliable also the time frame is too short to have that do any good.

I figured a good cheap way of advertising would be to use myspace. Not really Facebook, because thats mostly just for people in college and nobody can view pages without being a friend so it would be a waste.

Since you use myspace to advertise, you would have to advertise a product or service that hits to that crowd. Lots of people are on myspace now, but its mostly home to teens and young adults (maybe 16-26) give or take a few years.

There are alot of women and men there so its best to market something general, yet young and fun.

Lots of girls on there looking to (if I may be frank) to inflate their heads a bit and make themselves feel better by getting attention from lots of guys they don't even know, so I figure it would be good to take advantage of that.
What I would do is find a very popular girl on there and become her friend. I would then pay her a bit from my 3 grand to advertise my site along with my product/service. Now if the woman was a celebrity it would cost a lot more, but would also get more views. It may be better to pick out a very popular, but not too famous model, so it would be cheaper to advertise.

Depending on the costs maybe put a quick spot on a popular radio show in a few major cities.

Thats about as far as I got, I just couldn't think of what product/service I would deal with.

 

[bashir26]

I have started an official business as of May 30th, 2008. I give updates every 2-3 months.

 

[howard_two]

I have started an official business as of May 30th, 2008. I give updates every 2-3 months.

Congrats...

Is it ebiz, brick and mortar...?

 

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[Quagzmort]

Yea, I posted the silly investment scenario pure out of fun. Sorta like a jibe to the title of the thread $3000 to $1,000,000 in 15 months. It might be viable for the professional with favorable circumstances, BUT IMO it lures newbies and gives them false hope. So I took a half sarcastic approach towards it...How am I helping others? Hopefully deterring a few newbies from getrichquick hopes.

I'm a newbie, and I view this as anything but a get rich quick "hope" thread. From what I've read so far it's more about getting people to think and grow (no N.H. reference intended). I am going to take this thread idea and run with it. I want to have a sucessful financial future, which is why I'm here. Why should I wait to start? This is the perfect opportunity for me to step out of the box and confront my fears.

So here's my initial rough plan:
1. Overcome my fear. I CAN do it! I WILL do it! I MUST do it!
2. I will have $3000 in August to start my business. (origin is from college student loan leftovers - outside the scope, but then again a 17 yr old COULD be a college student with loans...)
3. I have already contacted a recent MBA grad friend that is willing to help the start up for free, just to get some experience of his own.
4. My wife and I are designing a unique website, and we will be guided by an experienced friend. We are open to paying for a high end site once we're established and it's necessary.
5. My school offers free hosting for school of business majors. I get a very fast in/out with generous storage capacity.
6. Since I am an entrepreneurship major, this will also be my term project. This means I have access to local sucessful business owners and investors as mentors to help me through difficult learning curves.
7. Utilize the college bulletin board, school paper, radio, etc... as a means to get the word out for a very low cost.
8. Set up a site on campus to display and give away samples, offer free trials for the service aspect of the site, and video it all and upload it to myspace, etc...
9. Attend away football games, visit malls, things along this line and and circulate through the crowds offering free information about my business.
10. Work with student organizations and donate time. Hopefully this will get notice in the club's national newsletters and/or website. (I would donate the time regardless)
11. Once business demands warrants it, hire fellow students for part time positions for low wages to package, distribute information, etc... They're happy to have a "walk-to-work" job and I'm happy to have low overhead.
12. Continually evaluate and adjust the plan as needed to accomplish my goal of 1 mil in 15 moths.
12. Most important, do NOT give up due to set backs, missing a set timeline goal or any other circumstance. Work the plan and learn from the mistakes that I'm bound to make.
13. Sell the business, smile when I look at the 1 mil in the bank.
14. Work a new plan for keeping the million i just made.

 

[howard_two]

Here is how I would do it.

• Since $3K is not a lot of dough and it must churn to $1m, our scope of options is limited.
• Our business must be internet based since inherently, we must reach and impact A LOT of people with our product/service.
• Our business must use FREE, open source software in our site development with the our capital allocated toward custom applications.
• Our marketing must have a solid affiliate program with decent compensation to encourage affiliate marketers to participate.
• Our product/service must have "sizzle" or a marketing "hook" that is newsworthy. Can be something entirely new, or a new spin on something old.
• Our product must go viral through the use of home grown videos that can be uploaded to video sharing sites.
• Use of social networking sites like MySpace / Facebook to promote and go viral.
• Use of press releases to promote the sizzle.
• Our product/service must have a easy to remember domain name that can be rehashed and vocalized quickly and easily.
• Our website must incorporate upsells and/or other affiliate programs to monetize the site traffic - most popular being Google Adsense.
• The final piece -- finding that product or service that fills a need, or fills an old need, better. Clever marketing (like the pet rock) can take you places and even get you to your goal of $1mm, but its longevity is finite.

There's a guy that started selling vodka -- his hook was "new colorful packaging" -- it was a new spin on something stale and old. All of the techniques above are capable of generating great traffic, without spending a dime on CPC or Banner advertising.

I 'll say if you do this, not only will you go from $3,000 to $1,000,000 in 15 months, but from $3,000 to $1,000,000,000 (Billion) in 15 months.

Good info MJ.

 

[phoenix_ent]

nicely posted i will apply this to my plan. hope i see you in that far left lane.:fastlane:

 

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[howard_two]

nicely posted i will apply this to my plan. hope i see you in that far left lane.:fastlane:

:smx9:

Let's just keep an eye for the Cops.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

bookmarked.................

Sir, you need to fix your profile. You aren't a 7 year old millionaire. (Unless its your trust fund).

 

[Merkin Man]

Sir, you need to fix your profile. You aren't a 7 year old millionaire.

That would make for one hell of a story, though...

 

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[MsMoney]

OK, Here's a fun exercise inspired by one of our fastlane members:

1. You have $3,000

2. You want to have $1,000,000 in 15 months

****

Limits:

-You cannot borrow money from any banks or other lending institutions
-You are 17, so you're not eligible for most other loans, RE, etc.
-You have to go to school from 8 am to 3 pm M-F
-You have no particular skills that would be considered mega-valuable

****

That's it.

Outline a PLAN for the next 15 months.

Your goal: Fifteen months from now, you have $1,000,000 in your bank account (and it's all yours, not OPM)

****

Ready? Go!







-Russ H.

Hi Russ!

This was the reason I joined this site! I read EVERY single post and was inspired and motivated to move forward.

I was wondering if you've heard from any of these people....how they are doing? I'd love to know.

I have a couple of ideas rolling around in my head myself...I'll share once I can put it on paper....

Thank you for your wonderful idea!

Gwen:cheers:

 

[Russ H]

You're welcome, Gwen.

Welcome to the fastlane!
:fastlane:
-Russ H.

 

[PEERless]

So here's my initial rough plan...

I like it. Everyone here knows I love to have cheap/free help, and entrepreneurship programs at universities are THE best places to find creative labor. Good work.

 

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[Phil]

I 'll say if you do this, not only will you go from $3,000 to $1,000,000 in 15 months, but from $3,000 to $1,000,000,000 (Billion) in 15 months.

Good info MJ.

Sounds a lot like threadless.com although they did it with open source designed t-shirts and not software.

Threadless T-Shirts - Designer Clothing Submissions - Tees, Tshirts and T shirts!

on wikipedia:
Threadless - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

article from inc magazine
The Customer is the Company -- Threadless -- User Innovation

very clever in my opinion. I've been trying to think of a way to replicate the model but using something instead of t-shirts

 

[Alan at SE]

heres what i would do:

people will always pay for advertising. i would create a website using FREE open source CMS that would mimic a local county/city website/directory.

i would have businesses pay something like $20 a month to advertise or have their business listed.

the website would have local news, events, etc. all the websites will be interconnected with other and be a huge chain of websites.

something like www.fairfaxconnect.com, www.restonconnect.com, www.mcleanconnect.com, etc

obviously this is a lot of work to find all businesses that are in the area but once it gets big enough, businesses will want to come to you.

 

[yveskleinsky]

4. My wife and I are designing a unique website, and we will be guided by an experienced friend. We are open to paying for a high end site once we're established and it's necessary.
5. My school offers free hosting for school of business majors. I get a very fast in/out with generous storage capacity.
6. Since I am an entrepreneurship major, this will also be my term project. This means I have access to local sucessful business owners and investors as mentors to help me through difficult learning curves.
7. Utilize the college bulletin board, school paper, radio, etc... as a means to get the word out for a very low cost.
8. Set up a site on campus to display and give away samples, offer free trials for the service aspect of the site, and video it all and upload it to myspace, etc...
9. Attend away football games, visit malls, things along this line and and circulate through the crowds offering free information about my business.
10. Work with student organizations and donate time. Hopefully this will get notice in the club's national newsletters and/or website. (I would donate the time regardless)
11. Once business demands warrants it, hire fellow students for part time positions for low wages to package, distribute information, etc... They're happy to have a "walk-to-work" job and I'm happy to have low overhead.

These are all good ideas, however, you are treating an ebiz like it is a B&M biz (we made this mistake too). You are going to be online. Think of ways to reach your market online- it's faster, cheaper and more targeted. Keep us posted!

 

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[marknels]

3000.00 isn't a lot of money so it would be hard to buy a business. So here is what I would do. I would look for a strong MLM business. Do your due diligence about the business. Once you decide which one is best for you I would search out internet marketers with large databases. If they believe in what you have, you are on your way.

 

[Russ H]

marknels,

How many people do you know that bought an MLM business made $1,000,000 in 15 months?

This is an exercise to get people thinking out of the box.


I posed this challenge specifically because the answer is NOT "buy a business".

That's slowlane thinking.

I WANT you to come up with an audacious idea-- something that has the qualities outlined in the first post.

In most cases, to come up with this kind of money, you must START & DEVELOP A BUSINESS FROM SCRATCH.

So unless you start your own MLM company and can grow it virally, I don't think an MLM could ever come close to generating $1M in 15 months.

So let's try again: Come up with a start up business idea.

Stretch your brain!!!

-Russ H.

 

[sisepuede85]

im 18 and in this situation. I just need to find a product or service

 

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[djs13]

It's literally just taken me over an hour to read every post in this thread but it was amazing. I'm in a very similar position:

-I'm 17
-I have a savings account worth $4,000
-I'm moving into a dorm this January to go to college

So right from the on set the standard e-commerce site is out because I am going to a dorm and I can't store/ship products. Furthermore blogging and informational sites that take alot of updating would be too time consuming and not fastlane enough. I've developed a few ideas but nothing I've pulled the trigger on yet.

I first thought about creating an e-commerce style site but using drop shipped items instead. This would cost $130 to pay the set up fee for Volusion to build a basic site. Then it would cost $500 to get a distributor source that includes all the legitimate drop shippers and their buying guides. This would definitely be a decent start up, but I'd be selling products that other stores sell cheaper and already have established reputations. I also don't really think I would be solving a need and it wouldn't be worth $1 million in 15 months.

So I started thinking outside the box and I came up with some ridiculous ideas. For example, I came up with an idea to start a real estate investing simulator. Something like a stock simulator, but it would have different properties with different income sheets. I thought it was a neat idea, but it would cost more than $4,000 to get the site built - especially since I don't have any web design or programming skills. This type of e-business would have large growth potential, but it's not feasible for me.

I've come to a few conclusions as I continue my hunt for an online venture. First, I need to find a venture that is feasible (unlike the real estate simulator) but also has growth potential (unlike the drop shipping business). I have also realized that an online business that is based on monthly subscriptions is ideal because it provides for passive income and the company could be sold very easily.

My current challenges: creating an e-business idea that has this type of subscription business model by selling a software service or information. I've realized that most monthly subscription sites are either selling a software services (like an e-mail marketing site) or content (like buying an online subscription to a magazine.)

I'll keep everyone updated as I go about this task.

 

[Russ H]

djs13: Great start-- keep going!

-Russ H.

 

[Russ H]

im 18 and in this situation. I just need to find a product or service

No .sisepuede85, you need to do more than this.

You need to think about this-- long and hard.

You need to develop ideas from dreams into reality.

You need to develop an entire business structure-- top to bottom

And after you have all of this planned out, you need to DO SOMETHING. :yourock:

-Russ H.

 

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[Runum]

No .sisepuede85, you need to do more than this.

You need to think about this-- long and hard.

You need to develop ideas from dreams into reality.

You need to develop an entire business structure-- top to bottom

And after you have all of this planned out, you need to DO SOMETHING. :yourock:

-Russ H.

You're right Russ. I've been reading E myth and it all is so clear now. I have had 2 businesses close in the past due to me overworking. I had a products and they sold. I had no structure in place and had to close the doors before losing my health. Now I am developing other businesses but the structure will be there first. +++speed

 

[Roman]

So in a little conclusion, has anyone here found a nice formula with the 3K to 1M in 15 Months?
if they are Real,can anyone be the Guinea pig it and prove it (Great benefits 1M lol )

I would think using the $3000 to start a small business

2.using business, Achieve 50K (For example) in 4 months profits and use as Capitol for new business

3.now you have 2 business's, using both achieve profits with 250K in 5 months (9months passed)

4.Repeat step 2 with a goal of 6 months left

5. on and on and on...

and using that little structure you can achieve 1M at least and go from there on out, Although figuring out your Fastlane vehicles is the only thing left to figure out.

I wish you the best of luck my friends, as this is the little system I am working on in my life which is showing growth :smxF:

 

[HenkHolland]

At the end of June (so, two months ago) I started my own little "from € 6,000 to € 500,000 in 15 months" experiment on the side. My vehicle is trading options. I try not to over-trade and limit my trades to on average max. 2 per week. I don't want to spend too much time on it anyway.
Yesterday I reached the € 23,500 mark. So, provided my win/loss ratio and my discipline don't deteriorate too much I think that the goal is not unrealistic. Although I hope that it will be possible, I don't dare to expect that I can increase my money fourfold again in the next two months.

I'll keep you informed.

 

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[Russ H]

Rep Speed, Henk, for DOING it in the real world.

Not all $3K-1M plans will yield a million dollars (or 500K Euros).

But if they are successful, you'll have more capital for your next fastlane venture!

-Russ H.

 

[HenkHolland]

Thank you Russ.