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

Idea threads

AroundTheWorld

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When confronting an idea, or a task, or a problem, simply write down the idea, task or problem on top of a piece of paper and then form a question pertaining to solving the task/problem or pertaining to developing the idea.... at this juncture, spend at least 20-30 minutes writing down every single idea that pops to mind... no thought is too crazy to put on paper.

I love this. I've been teaching this to my kids lately. In the last week, that little nagging, "I can't" voice has entered their minds when they sit down to do their writing assignments. We all have that little voice.

"I can't":smxD:
"It won't work":smxD:
"It is too boring":smxD:
"It is too hard":smxD:

That same limiting voice can crop up on an assignment like this. We are so busy trying to perfect the idea or the plan or the paragraph before it has even been generated that we can't generate it! So.... get it all down - no matter how crazy it is.

You just might amaze yourself at finding a solution so crazy it just might work!

To quiet the that nagging little voice - try this exercise I recently read in Anne Lamote's book, "Bird by Bird". When you hear those voices close your eyes and imagine they are little mice people. Pick them up one by one (by the tail) and put it in a little jar. Put the lid on and watch the little mouse person scrambling and hitting the side of the jar to get out. Turn the volume all the way up and listen to those angry hateful little voices for a minute. Then, turn the volume all the way down - and get to work.
 
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wildambitions

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Russ- I fall into that third catagory where, "I don't even know where to begin". However, I realize this is self limiting and I am anxiously waiting to see other peoples ideas. I don't have the "web" interest or e-commerse interest (unless you count automating a vacation rental business) or expertise...and I guess I am really not interested in spending the required amount of time to learn the expertise in these areas either.

I DID find it very interesting though, that my son (who lives in a different state than me and is also on this forum) replied with an idea that he has actually started putting into action. (Kudos kiddo, keep it up). I know that I have always encouraged him to think big and attempt to accomplish whatever he wants. I'm glad he is listening. And I'm really glad he gets to share all of the ideas and information on this site.
 

djs13

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OK, being a noob to business (and being 16 years old) my guess might not be the best.

If you have a $3,000 down payment, can't you take a large mortgage out and purchase a piece of real estate? Then flip that real estate and take the profit and put it into a larger piece of real estate with a larger mortgage. Then eventually you'll be owning properties worth WAY over $1 million.
 
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Russ H

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djs13-

Read the initial premise.

-15 month time frame.

-You are 17 (can't legally do your own mortgage)

-Russ H.
 

yveskleinsky

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...There is a part in the movie, "The Secret" where Jack Campfield talks about his idea to get $1m- and it all started with making connections with people who coud carry the idea. So maybe, in order to start a viral transmission a goal needs to be to get on some nationally syndicated program like Oprah or Dr. Laura (only ones that come to mind right now). Seems like all the people that get on these shows are overnight millionaires. Of course, the product or service is already developed. Hmmm....I need to possibly revisit an old idea.

MJ- We need a graphic of a hamster getting on the wheel!

China-I'm bummed that I missed your joke! Anyone who can weave that many un PC topics together for a joke is someone that I gotta meet!
 

BeingChewsie

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Think about how many examples there are of people who've done this less than a year ago. Here are two:

www.milliondollarhomepage.com - took him 5 months
www.milliondollarwiki.com - He's at $100k in 3 months I believe

I heard about this from a friend of mine and don't know the name of the company. I post this just as an example of thinking outside the box. Two people developed a website that tracks lightning strikes. Collects weather data from sources online. Simple huh? WTF do you do with a website that collects lightning data???? Sell it to insurance companies!!! Result? $1M sales in a few months.

How about a site that sells a service at $25/mo. 10,000 members in 12 months. $250,000 a month in gross revenue.

I can think of several services off the top of my head(one I'm working on right now but haven't got to the price stuff yet) that I could build a membership/service site around but would have to delegate the building/maintenence of the place for my services to exist to someone who knows how to do that. I would want to focus on the content of the site and building a community not the behind the scenes website stuff. Can you get a service website/membership built, hosted and maintained for $3k or it something you'd have to know how to do yourself in order to do it for $3k?
 
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nomadjanet

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This is an like old game we used to play when we were young & starting out. And with our kids when they were teenagers.
What would you do if money were no object?
Think about what you would do, define every aspect of it including the time you would use.
Then think of the talents & tools you have to begin the process of doing, what you bring to the project.
Next map out the things you don’t have including the money.
Next map out what you can do to acquire the things you don’t have.
Including bringing in partners or consulting with others.
Take action until you complete the agenda.
Janet
 

biophase

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I can think of several services off the top of my head(one I'm working on right now but haven't got to the price stuff yet) that I could build a membership/service site around but would have to delegate the building/maintenence of the place for my services to exist to someone who knows how to do that. I would want to focus on the content of the site and building a community not the behind the scenes website stuff. Can you get a service website/membership built, hosted and maintained for $3k or it something you'd have to know how to do yourself in order to do it for $3k?

The bulk of the cost would go into development of the site. I think that you could get a simple site done for $3k.

I'm learning and building my site myself using free software. My biggest cost so far is opening up a merchant bank account for $200. Everything else was free.
 

yveskleinsky

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I've been thinking a lot about this post lately, and while I haven't figured out to specific time frame to get $1m, I am thinking about how to get $1m in the shortest amount of time possible. (Which in itself has been huge for me. Now I think of ideas in terms of fastlane or slowlane- not just rat race v. fast track. HUGE difference in my thinking!) This would generally need to be done (as MJ said) by viral transmission. hmmm. So maybe infomercials would work in addition to a website. ...Does anyone have any knowledge of how to produce an infomercial and how to get it released? ...My brother and I got into a conversation about this yesterday, and he mentioned that Tony Robbins was doing infomercials right when he started- which makes me wonder how he bankrolled them, as they helped him launch his career. Any thoughts?
 
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Peter2

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Does anyone have any knowledge of how to produce an infomercial and how to get it released? ...My brother and I got into a conversation about this yesterday, and he mentioned that Tony Robbins was doing infomercials right when he started- which makes me wonder how he bankrolled them, as they helped him launch his career. Any thoughts?


It's pretty easy to make an infomercial. There are a lot of companies that can make one for you, however, most of them will charge you twice the money they would charge me. The majority of all companies involved in the infomercial industy are making all their money from overcharging people that have no clue what they are doing.

You also have to remember that 95+ % of all infomercials will lose money. Airtime is very, very expensive. For example, a 30 minute spot on the Discovery channel early in the morning will cost you more than $30,000. You have to sell a lot of products to recoup that money. If you don't have a very strong back end program, you will never make it.

If you are one of the few people that do make a profitable infomercial, there are companies that do nothing but bank roll it for you.

If anyone have any specific questions regarding the infomercial industry, I will be happy to answer them for you.

Now back to our regular scheduled programming. :)
 

bashir26

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As the market the way it is now this is what I would do.

- Invest in the stock market
- Invest in Commodities

and this is what I'm doing as of now.
 

Russ H

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bashir-

Your post says little (sorry for my bluntness).

You could make or lose a million using your approach.

Or, you could make or lose five bucks.

Exactly WHAT would you need to do to turn $3,000 into $1,000,000 in only 15 months?

Specifics.

Stretch your mind. Take it places it hasn't been before. :)

-Russ H.
 
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CRBFL

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Well, I might take the liberty of extending the time frame a little as I'm not starting with $3,000. I'm going to start with $0, I figure the book deal will be better from that perspective ;P

eBay a few things to raise capital.
Use that to build website.
Build website to the point that it is bringing enough passive income to make a difference.
At the same time, continue to use eBay as well as employee income to invest in education as well as starting a business.
<This is where I am>
Once the business is bringing in $2,000 monthly income (profit), quite my employee job.
Build business to the point that it can be sustained by employees I bring in.
Move from lower level business work to building, promoting, and networking heavily to build the business.
Continue to build website.
Publish book, not the one referenced earlier (already writing.)
Use cash flow from business and website as well as book revenue to buy cash flowing investment property.
At this point the 1.Website 2.Business 3.Book 4.Cashflowing property will raise money while I search for investment properties that are immediately cashflowing.
Re-evaluate. Create new plan. Move forward.

Who knows how that'll all go, but it's already begun!
 

bashir26

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bashir-

Your post says little (sorry for my bluntness).

You could make or lose a million using your approach.

Or, you could make or lose five bucks.

Exactly WHAT would you need to do to turn $3,000 into $1,000,000 in only 15 months?

Specifics.

Stretch your mind. Take it places it hasn't been before. :)

-Russ H.
You don't have to be sorry Russ, your right 100%

What I would do is sell clothing. I did this before when i was 16, i gathered all the money i worked during the summer and bought some clothes whole sale I bought alot of Seven jeans for all mankind, some Ralph Lauren polo shirts and what not. What i found out is that the stores mark up clothing at least %100. For example a polo shirt would cost me $40 if I bought 50 of them. I would sell them at $100, while the stores sold them at $130. I made alot of quick money.

The way I advertised was just pretty much referral, where a customer was happy and he would tell his friends about it. From a $2000 investment I made $5000 in a month. I was 16 at the time so I treated the companies money like it was my own and pretty much spent whatever came to me.

If I did what I did 3 years ago, I think its very possible to make $1,000,000 out of $3,000. Why I haven't done it since then, well because I wanted to try different business ventures. I just talked myself into going this route again.

So my final answer is buy whole sale authentic clothing and sell them at discount prices, under cutting high-end stores.

While selling clothing I would take about 20% of my profits and put it into the market and make some calculated risked purchases so that money can grow as well. So at this point I have income from 2 different sources. Then put some money into my upcoming web 2.0 style website so I would be able to have 3 sources of income. So the possibilites of me reaching 1,000,000 would be 3 times more likely, and 3 times faster.
 

Russ H

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Great reply, bashir26!

Thanks for "filling in the blanks". :)

-Russ H.
 
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CoMp1eX

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I guess the most exciting part is the pathway to your success. I was planning on waiting another year, but I can't! I am really working hard right now to get everything ready in order to be able to take a year off of school. Sometimes you need to take chances and do what's best for you. No matter what anyone else thinks! I need to take action and I get closer to my destination each and every day.
 

Russ H

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CoMp1eX-

Nice to hear you're getting started.

But think about your post: How does it help others?

We appreciate your sharing-- and I encourage you to tell us about your further adventures.

But sharing some of your process might help others who are trying to get started and don't know where to start.

That, and the more the experienced folks on this site know about your venture, the better input they can give you. :)

-Russ H.
 

CoMp1eX

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I'm currently not finished with the business plan, it's really vague but I have the Biggest Part... the general idea. The best advice I can give is that sometimes we get caught up in our jobs, school, ect. and don't think of the big picture. It's good sometimes to spend time alone and actually Write Down your thoughts and ideas on a piece of paper. Not just think about it, write it down! It really helps.

15 months is a great timeline to do it. You just have to take action, try and figure out all that you need and set *required* time to get each question solved. I found that creating a website was the best way for ME to do it and i'm putting everything I got into it. Where else can you find the # of customers, think about it. Almost everyone has a computer..

With me setting a timeline. It is making me work harder and save more. I'm becoming more successful because of my set timeline, so that is why this post very relevent to my business venture even though I can't explain it all at once. Continue on...
 
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Russ H

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OK, here's an idea for those who said "this is hard to do . . ." (and for those following this thread who want to brainstorm and share ideas):

Look on the web, and find at least 3 examples of others who have generated at least $1,000,000 in 12 months.

There are PLENTY of stories out there.

NO MLM or AFFILIATE MARKETING STORIES are allowed (My thread, my rules, 'K?). :)

See what you find. Perhaps after seeing the first dozen examples, this idea may seem more real-- more attainable.

Have fun! :)

-Russ H.
 

Russ H

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OK, here are some I found in 30 seconds:

1. A college student who needed some extra cash for school:

http://www.milliondollarhomepage.com/

2. While not technically a million dollars, here's someone who traded a red paper clip for a house. No reason you couldn't keep on going . . .

http://oneredpaperclip.blogspot.com/

3. $60,000,000 in 18 months

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/06_33/b3997001.htm

4. How Radiohead made $10,000,000 in 10 days

http://www.smartbiz.com/article/articleview/2290/1/54

5. Plentyoffish.com, the story:

http://www.affiliateblog.com/2006/04/how-i-made-a-million-in-three-months-the-interview/

That's a start. Lots more out there! :)

-Russ H.
 

SteveO

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I am curious why you chose to not allow real estate ventures into this mix. It certainly seems to be one of the very vialble ways to accomplish the task.
 
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Russ H

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SteveO-

Because the person who presented this challenge to me was under the age of 18, and said, upfront, that he wanted to do RE, but was not old enough.

BUT-- if you can figure out a way to do this at 16 years of age, then go for it!

My RadioHead link above also violates the rule of not having any advance experience/skills, but I still liked its audacity (bypassing the record companies).

I think it would be extremely difficult for a 16-17 year old to generate $1,000,000 in RE before they were 18, but again--it's probably doable.

I encourage out-of-the-box thinking in this exercise-- but do keep to the limits (16/17 years old, no advanced skills/experience/network of investors).

-Russ H.
 

santiago

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Great Idea for a thread. I'm still brainstorming so this isn't a plan - but rather just a thought that might spur some people :)

It seems that there are a number of websites where a company provided an infrastructure for others to provide content. Then, make money off subscriptions, ads, etc., or just sell the site in 15 months for $1M + Think about it - Youtube, myspace, the example above Digg all created value by having others create content for FREE. Another example I have read about in the past, and I'll dig up the name was this - a guy created a website where artists could create t-shirt designs. Those designs were then voted on by users of the site and the top 10 or 20 or whatever were then created as t-shirts that could be purchased. It was a win-win-win for the "community". The artists got a cut of the sale, the purchasers got a cool t-shirt that they voted on, and the website owner got a cut for making it all happen.
 

LazyPenguin

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From one month ago i have spent $578.48 >.<

forgot about my car too.. so +260
so a total of 858.48... whew. I dont even make that much in a month.. yikes
time to change
 
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MQL

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I am working on a business idea right now, which is almost in line with the conditions of this challenge. The difficult part is the limit of 3.000 start capital to begin with. Here I should think about outsourcing and a creative payment arrangement.

The idea is an online service where a monthly fee has to be paid. The information supplied by my online service obliges companies in certain industries, to get a membership of my service, which has this monthly fee, that Biophase was talking about earlier.

The question is one million realistic for this service?? The answer yes it is, but can it be done within 15 months... not sure but I will do my best to get it done!!

What kind of service it is, I will not tell, but I will tell you that is fills up an existing need, of a market that is big enough for me, but too small for big companies. Furthermore I am figuring out more ways to add value.

As soon as I can tell more I will let you know.

Dick
TNT (today not tomorrow)
 

MJ DeMarco

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I am working on a business idea right now, which is almost in line with the conditions of this challenge. The difficult part is the limit of 3.000 start capital to begin with. Here I should think about outsourcing and a creative payment arrangement.

The idea is an online service where a monthly fee has to be paid. The information supplied by my online service obliges companies in certain industries, to get a membership of my service, which has this monthly fee, that Biophase was talking about earlier.

The question is one million realistic for this service?? The answer yes it is, but can it be done within 15 months... not sure but I will do my best to get it done!!

What kind of service it is, I will not tell, but I will tell you that is fills up an existing need, of a market that is big enough for me, but too small for big companies. Furthermore I am figuring out more ways to add value.

As soon as I can tell more I will let you know.

Dick
TNT (today not tomorrow)

Please keep us updated and post a new thread when you are ready -- we love reading about projects that are just starting.
 

Dennis Taylor

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The whole reason I posted this thread was to challenge ALL of us to expand our thinking.

Yes, it's easier to come up with ideas to make 10K or 100K in a year.

But if you see that, why not try to scale it up larger? Is that possible?

My favorite responses on this thread are the ones who say, "Gee, this isn't easy."

No duh!

If it were easy, it wouldn't be a challenge, eh? :banana:

Seems like we get at least 3 groups of people responding here:

Group 1: Those who read the initial post and got all fired up to come up with a solution. They worked out a whole plan-- not just a few half-hearted suggestions, but an actual implementation plan.

Groupl 2: Those who try, but are stymied by their own self-imposed sense of what is -- and IS NOT-- possible. The ones who start, and can only come up with "invest in stocks" or "try this one big general topic". No high-level planning or entrepeneureal thinking is involved.

Group 3: There are others who can't see a thing. They're dead off the line. Car never even starts. Some don't even post--- they just read and click the back button. Others post how hard this is.

All in all, this is a great cross section of typcial responses to any problem.

But you have to ask yourself: If you're in Groups 2 or 3, and you plan on being a millionaire someday, how will this ever happen if your beliefs and lack of motivation hold you back?

-Russ H.


You rock Russ...this thread has inspired me to find my new reality. In a different thread, I introduced myself and I've taken the first steps into becoming financially free - this is giving me the sparks of innovation to look past where I was before.

Real Estate (commercial) will still be in my plan, but as I said, your post and this thread have got my creative juices flowing!

Thank you!! :thankyousign: :hl:
 
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PEERless

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I am loving this thread. Some of the insight shared here is "worth a million bucks!" I am formulating a plan for the thread that is very grassroots -- very inexpensive. The initial idea is FREE, so the full $3k can be used for directing traffic.

The idea is so good, I'm nabbing the domain now. More details to follow...

Investment to date:
  • Time: <8 hours
  • Money: $10.
Wish me luck. :smx1:
 
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AlwaysCurious

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OK 3k to 1M in 15 months. Well, I´ve got two suggestions:

1. Forex trading.
This is the way to go: Learn all about this particular business, participate actively in specialized forums to learn markets, language and strategies. Decide for a strategy, open several demo accounts and fine tune on leverage and money/risk management. After 3 months, yes time is running, open a real account and go for it. You still got 12 months left. Keep emotions out of the way and stick to your verified strategy. Don´t change it. If it´s working you´re on the fastlane. Nevertheless it is quite risky...

2. Wine (Yes I´m serious)
For the second suggestion I´m lacking a little vocabulary, so bare with me if it sounds funny or inadequate. It´s about one of the businesses with the most fantastic cost/profit ratios I´ve ever heard of. It is about selling "mulled vine" (thats what my dicitonary tells me) on german christmas markets. Ingredients are cheap, with 3k you could immediatly start. They are selling one cup for 2-3 Euro and the colder it gets, the more they make. People accept those prices! This means they make huge profit around several hundred percent. A single man earns up to 30k each week(!) of a christmas market. Take this as a start for the million. Should be quite a boost. The only hinderence are official licenses and the already divided markets. But maybe there is a way, or even better a possibility to go for "mulled wine franchising".

Right now I´m heading for solution 1.
 

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