Do You Have A Successful Entrepreneurial Premise?

[MJ DeMarco]

Do You Have a Successful Entrepreneurial Premise?

The most common mistake aspiring entrepreneurs make is to approach entrepreneurship with the wrong premise. You've heard the doom-and-gloom statistic that 90% of all new businesses fail in 5 years. While this stat is disheartening, it can empower you to become the minority 10% who don't fail by understanding why most do.

Quite frequently I read posts from people, albeit well-intended, with grandiose goals of making a fortune by starting a business. You've heard the countless questions repeated dozens of times:

• How can I make money starting a business?
• What business can I start with $200 and still make $5K per month?
• What online business can I start?
• What home-based business can I start?
• I have a friend who manufacturers widgets; you think I can make money selling them?
• How can I make a passive income?
• What's a good product to sell on Ebay?
• What's the best business to start on a shoestring?

If you find yourself sitting around asking yourself these types of questions, your entrepreneurial premise more than likely will lead you into the 90% failure category. Why? An entrepreneurial premise predicated on money is like building a house on sand; it's likely to come crumbling down. Start with a weak foundation in any task and your odds of failure increase.

Fastlane Principle: Selfish premises do not make good, long-term business models.

Businesses should not be created to make money. Businesses should not be created to satisfy your desire to “do what you love”. No one cares about your selfish ideas about dreams and making money. The world doesn't care about your business, your desire to make money, and your dreams of owning a business “doing what you love”. Again, no one cares!

What people DO CARE about is what your business can do for them. How will your business help me? What's in it for me? Will it solve my problem? Make something easier? Provide me with shelter? Save me money? Educate me? Make me feel a certain way? Tell me why should I give your business money for your product or service?

The problem with new business owners is they create businesses based on the faulty premises; faulty premises that don't lead to profitable business.

“I need a new income stream”​

“I’m an expert in [blank] so Ill do that"​

“I read a book and it says to start a business”​

​

Wrong. Wrong. And wrong.

Fastlane Principle: You begin to attract money when you STOP BEING SELFISH and turn your business focuses from the needs of yourself to the needs of other people.

Businesses don't attract money -- businesses that solve needs do. If your goal is to attract wealth ethically and with integrity, selfish motives, albeit a powerful motivator, won't serve you well to attract great wealth.

Money is a like a mischievous cat; if you chase it around the neighborhood, it eludes you-- hiding up a tree, behind the rose bush, or in the garden. However, if you ignore it and focus on what attracts the cat other than the cat itself, it will come to you and sit right in your lap.

The foundation of all highly successful business is the satisfaction of consumer needs as reflected by sales in the marketplace. The marketplace-- people, not you-- determine if your business is viable. If you sell 10,000,000 of Product XYZ, 10,000,000 people have voted that your product will help them, or satisfy one of their needs. People vote with their money.

Fastlane Principle: Focusing on the needs of others is the only entrepreneurial premise that improves your odds of business success.

Growing wealth germinates by solving needs on a massive scale, or in a highly impactual way. It could be as gigantic as starting a software company like Bill Gates or Larry Ellison, or something seemingly minute like putting a new spin on something old. If you own a website that services 10,000 people daily, you're making an impact. If you own real estate company that provides housing to 1,000 people, you're making an impact. Make a freaking impact!!

Is this an all-inclusive rule? No. Exceptions exist. Many profitable businesses are founded on greed -- however profit in the name of greed and selfish interest usually lands those companies on the television or in the Better Business Bureau complaint files. Consumer greed also exists and greedy business owners can serve this demographic well (The all too popular consumer mantra: "We want the best price" often ends up as a scam or services rendered poorly.)

The objective of this post is to increase your odds of business success. While you can chose to ignore this advice and continue moving forward with selfish interest, I'd speculate your failure odds are inline with the stats -- 90% -- whereas moving to an unselfish premise might increase it to 50%.

EXAMPLE
Joe was an expert in martial arts and he loved his craft. Following the advice of gurus, he set out to "do what he loved" and opened up a martial art studio. Within 10 months, his studio closed down as he could no longer support his family on his $21,000 year business profit.

Before starting, Joe was destined for failure due to a faulty entrepreneurial premise based on selfish needs: "I'm an expert in martial arts and love the art, therefore I should open a studio".

The correct premises are: Is there a need in my neighborhood for a martial art studio? What are current martial arts studios doing wrong? What are they doing that I could do better? What better services and value could I provide to the martial art student? What do I bring to the table to this community?

Had Joe analyzed and answered these questions first and foremost, his odds of business success would have increased dramatically.

My advice to aspiring business owners is this: Quit looking around for money-making opportunities -- instead, look around outside of yourself, stop being selfish, and help your fellow man solve their problems.

If you can make 1,000,000 people achieve any of the following:

1) Make them feel better
2) Help them solve a problem
3) Educate them
4) Make them look better (health, nutrition, clothing, makeup)
5) Give them security (housing, safety, health)
6) Arise a positive emotion (love, happiness, laughter, self-confidence)
7) Satisfy appetites of all kind, from basic (food) to the risqué (sexual).
8) Make things easier
9) Enhance their dreams and give hope

Do any of the above and I can guarantee you this: You will be worth millions.

So, the next time you hear yourself trolling around for opportunities to make you money, sit back and ask yourself this ...

"What do I have to offer the world?"

Offer the world something of value and the money will be close behind.

MJ

 

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[aptohosting]

School Tuition- $80,000 (4 years)
Money spent on books/materials- $6,000
Time wasted in business school - 4 years

Logging and getting the best piece of financial advise free from a multimillionaire...priceless

"Money is a like a mischievous cat; if you chase it around the neighborhood, it eludes you-- hiding up a tree, behind the rose bush, or in the garden. However, if you ignore it and focus on what attracts the cat other than the cat itself, it will come to you and sit right in your lap."

4 years in business school, and this is by far the best explanation I have ever received.

 

[The-J]

This is crazy, I'm talking to the author of an international best selling book lol, my heart sped up for a minute there. What do you mean by relative value Mr. DeMarco?

Welcome to the forum.

Do you now see what he means in his books by offering value? By a 'productocracy'? By superior service that breaks expectations (SUCS)?

MJ has the most posts and likes, by far, of anyone on this forum. He's on this forum literally every day. He reads nearly every thread: even the shitty ones that detract from the message. He talks directly with people and gives them real advice. How many forums like that exist?

 

[MJ DeMarco]

I want to ensure it's providing value to my readers before anything else. I'm finding this is easier said than done lol.

Not just value, but relative value. In a world of 42,000,000 blogs, that becomes harder and harder.

 

[Andy Black]

Do You Have a Successful Entrepreneurial Premise?

The most common mistake aspiring entrepreneurs make is to approach entrepreneurship with the wrong premise. You've heard the doom-and-gloom statistic that 90% of all new businesses fail in 5 years. While this stat is disheartening, it can empower you to become the minority 10% who don't fail by understanding why most do.

Quite frequently I read posts from people, albeit well-intended, with grandiose goals of making a fortune by starting a business. You've heard the countless questions repeated dozens of times:

• How can I make money starting a business?
• What business can I start with $200 and still make $5K per month?
• What home-based business can I start?
• I have a friend who manufacturers widgets; you think I can make money selling them?
• How can I make a passive income?
• What's a good product to sell on Ebay?
• What's the best business to start on a shoestring?

If you find yourself sitting around asking yourself these types of questions, your entrepreneurial premise more than likely will lead you into the 90% failure category. Why? An entrepreneurial premise predicated on money is like building a house on sand; it's likely to come crumbling down. Start with a weak foundation in any task and your odds of failure increase.

Fastlane Principle: Selfish premises do not make good, long-term business models.

Businesses should not be created to make money. Businesses should not be created to satisfy your desire to “do what you love”. No one cares about your selfish ideas about dreams and making money. The world doesn't care about your business, your desire to make money, and your dreams of owning a business “doing what you love”. Again, no one cares!

What people DO CARE about is what your business can do for them. How will your business help me? What's in it for me? Will it solve my problem? Make something easier? Provide me with shelter? Save me money? Educate me? Make me feel a certain way? Tell me why should I give your business money for your product or service?

The problem with new business owners is they create businesses based on the faulty premises; faulty premises that don't lead to profitable business.

“I need a new income stream”
“I’m an expert in [blank] so Ill do that"
“I read a book and it says to start a business”
​

Wrong. Wrong. And wrong.

Fastlane Principle: You begin to attract money when you STOP BEING SELFISH and turn your business focuses from the needs of yourself to the needs of other people.

Businesses don't attract money -- businesses that solve needs do. If your goal is to attract wealth ethically and with integrity, selfish motives, albeit a powerful motivator, won't serve you well to attract great wealth.

Money is a like a mischievous cat; if you chase it around the neighborhood, it eludes you-- hiding up a tree, behind the rose bush, or in the garden. However, if you ignore it and focus on what attracts the cat other than the cat itself, it will come to you and sit right in your lap.

The foundation of all highly successful business is the satisfaction of consumer needs as reflected by sales in the marketplace. The marketplace-- people, not you-- determine if your business is viable. If you sell 10,000,000 of Product XYZ, 10,000,000 people have voted that your product will help them, or satisfy one of their needs. People vote with their money.

Fastlane Principle: Focusing on the needs of others is the only entrepreneurial premise that improves your odds of business success.

Growing wealth germinates by solving needs on a massive scale, or in a highly impactual way. It could be as gigantic as starting a software company like Bill Gates or Larry Ellison, or something seemingly minute like putting a new spin on something old. If you own a website that services 10,000 people daily, you're making an impact. If you own real estate company that provides housing to 1,000 people, you're making an impact. Make a freaking impact!!

Is this an all-inclusive rule? No. Exceptions exist. Many profitable businesses are founded on greed -- however profit in the name of greed and selfish interest usually lands those companies on the television or in the Better Business Bureau complaint files. Consumer greed also exists and greedy business owners can serve this demographic well (The all too popular consumer mantra: "We want the best price" often ends up as a scam or services rendered poorly.)

The objective of this post is to increase your odds of business success. While you can chose to ignore this advice and continue moving forward with selfish interest, I'd speculate your failure odds are inline with the stats -- 90% -- whereas moving to an unselfish premise might increase it to 50%.

EXAMPLE
Joe was an expert in martial arts and he loved his craft. Following the advice of gurus, he set out to "do what he loved" and opened up a martial art studio. Within 10 months, his studio closed down as he could no longer support his family on his $21,000 year business profit.

Before starting, Joe was destined for failure due to a faulty entrepreneurial premise based on selfish needs: "I'm an expert in martial arts and love the art, therefore I should open a studio".

The correct premises are: Is there a need in my neighborhood for a martial art studio? What are current martial arts studios doing wrong? What are they doing that I could do better? What better services and value could I provide to the martial art student? What do I bring to the table to this community?

Had Joe analyzed and answered these questions first and foremost, his odds of business success would have increased dramatically.

My advice to aspiring business owners is this: Quit looking around for money-making opportunities -- instead, look around outside of yourself, stop being selfish, and help your fellow man solve their problems.

If you can make 1,000,000 people achieve any of the following:

1) Make them feel better
2) Help them solve a problem
3) Educate them
4) Make them look better (health, nutrition, clothing, makeup)
5) Give them security (housing, safety, health)
6) Arise a positive emotion (love, happiness, laughter, self-confidence)
7) Satisfy appetites of all kind, from basic (food) to the risqué (sexual).
8) Make things easier
9) Enhance their dreams and give hope

Do any of the above and I can guarantee you this: You will be worth millions.

So, the next time you hear yourself trolling around for opportunities to make you money, sit back and ask yourself this ...

"What do I have to offer the world?"

Offer the world something of value and the money will be close behind.

MJ

This should get bumped every week.

Written in 2007, but it's as if it was written yesterday.

Fundamental truths are evergreen.

 

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[MJ DeMarco]

Super old yeh

So old pieces of it are in TMF .

But not so old to be out of style.

The message still holds true as it did 10 years ago. And in 10 years from now, it will still be true.

 

[arpeggiomeister]

Passive Income and the Internet

30 years ago things like passive income were only driven by the power of the wealthy. They could invest and earn interest, own real estate and rent, buy stocks and earn dividends, and many more things outside of the reach of everyday people.

Fortunately in our wonderful age of technology a number of things happened, which I think is well worth a mention.
• The internet arrived and has since grown into a global community of people, creating endless ideas, innovation and opportunities for those who pay attention.
• The scale of these opportunities have reduced in size significantly, and it is now less expensive than ever to participate in these opportunities, making these significantly more accessible to all. Even opportunities that have previously only been available to the wealthy are now available to all, by virtue of sharing approaches. (eg. Stock exchanges are now accessible to anyone with a little cash)
• It is possible to build passive income with hard work and dedication and in no insignificant measure. And having a lot of cash is helpful, but not essential.
• It is possible to build something utilizing efforts, interests and thoughts of others. In fact true success is directly connected with how you do this.
• The scale of possible collaboration has increased significantly, by virtue of access to simpler communication, and sharing of common interests and goals.

Unfortunately as the scale of the opportunities reduced, it also had a direct correlation on the possible returns to be had, and so it has become harder to build passive income from one simple source. And for most to succeed, it requires a combination of several opportunities and work on all of them simultaneously, growing them simultaneously, to actually get anywhere.

The significant amount of opportunities have also made it harder to find the good opportunities. It is no longer a city mall that you could walk through, find all the stores, and pick the one you wish to shop from. It has become an ocean, with molecules, and for the most part, very difficult to locate really well paying ones.

So when considering this it is important to recognize that the digital world is not just a bunch of 0s and 1s, but rather driven by real people. Most of whom will likely share your need for personal freedom and financial security, in varying degrees of course, but nonetheless.

And a lot of these people will also be driven by things that even you have not thought of and considered, which means that for you to succeed, it may prove essential to open your mind, and think outside the box.

When all is said and done the reality is that your pursuit should be people. Find the people. Find their interests and then develop something around that. Only the people will bring you what you desire...

You bring up a lot of interesting points. One point I would like to elaborate on though is that the cost of entry has been reduced thus the ability to build passive income has somehow been reduced along with it. I do not think this is true.

MJ gives us a very simple formula that has been one of the most valuable tools I have ever seen:

Scale x Magnitude = Wealth

Scale is how many you can sell and magnitude is the price that you charge for it. When talking about passive income on the internet the first thing I think of is some kind of subscription based business. You want something that you can charge people for again and again instead of something that sells once and that is it.

I chose my business based on the things listed above. I teach gambling strategy. I went through a lot of things to find my business but having this formula was able to guide me.

Scale: are there a large amount of people who want to learn how to get an edge over the casinos? Yes, there are millions.

Magnitude: Will they pay a decent amount of money for this information. Yes. Sports Betting Professor sells for $197. Blackjack Apprenticeship 1 day bootcamps sell for $1,500. The Golden Touch Dice Control Seminars sell for $3,000.

Is this something that can be sold on a subscription basis? Yes. There are several touting services that range widely in price. The Sports Cash SYstem charges $70 a month, Offshore INSIDERS is $350 a month, Precision picks is $50 per pick for Ray Franklin's picks, which would average $5,000 a month for anyone to follow him.

If sell a touting service for $350 per sports season and did the MLB, NFL, and NBA I can have massive passive income. Look what happens with just 1,000 customers.

3 x $350 = $1,050

1,000 x $1,050 = $1,050,000.

That is a million dollar business that is residual passive income. There will be attrition to deal with, but once customers are acquired, and they are happy with the service, they are likely to stay for a very long time.

This formula can be used to analyze virtually any business within seconds. If a business does not have the potential you are looking for then it either does not appeal to enough people or the problem your business solves is not compelling enough to command a decent price tag. The more desire there is to fix a problem the more money you can charge for it. Gamblers want to win. The desire is huge. That is why I can charge so much.

 

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[MidwestLandlord]

Welcome to the forum.

Do you now see what he means in his books by offering value? By a 'productocracy'? By superior service that breaks expectations (SUCS)?

MJ has the most posts and likes, by far, of anyone on this forum. He's on this forum literally every day. He reads nearly every thread: even the shitty ones that detract from the message. He talks directly with people and gives them real advice. How many forums like that exist?

Seriously this.

Watching MJ's business here (the forum) is very educational.

People here need to ask themselves...

Are they learning from this productocracy, or just consuming?

 

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[EricThePilot]

I love this thread! MJ is right on the money with this. In fact, the core of the message is even stated in the Bible. Proverbs (written by King Solomon, the wisest and richest man who ever lived) 11:24-25 "One man gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty. A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed."

 

[MJ DeMarco]

Great post

You hit the nail on the head once again.

Can't wait for the book

+++ rep speed

I can't wait for it either ... WTF is taking so long ... ha ha

I will make a follow-up thread about how to change your entrepreneurial mindset.

 

[NetMecca]

Passive Income and the Internet

30 years ago things like passive income were only driven by the power of the wealthy. They could invest and earn interest, own real estate and rent, buy stocks and earn dividends, and many more things outside of the reach of everyday people.

Fortunately in our wonderful age of technology a number of things happened, which I think is well worth a mention.
• The internet arrived and has since grown into a global community of people, creating endless ideas, innovation and opportunities for those who pay attention.
• The scale of these opportunities have reduced in size significantly, and it is now less expensive than ever to participate in these opportunities, making these significantly more accessible to all. Even opportunities that have previously only been available to the wealthy are now available to all, by virtue of sharing approaches. (eg. Stock exchanges are now accessible to anyone with a little cash)
• It is possible to build passive income with hard work and dedication and in no insignificant measure. And having a lot of cash is helpful, but not essential.
• It is possible to build something utilizing efforts, interests and thoughts of others. In fact true success is directly connected with how you do this.
• The scale of possible collaboration has increased significantly, by virtue of access to simpler communication, and sharing of common interests and goals.

Unfortunately as the scale of the opportunities reduced, it also had a direct correlation on the possible returns to be had, and so it has become harder to build passive income from one simple source. And for most to succeed, it requires a combination of several opportunities and work on all of them simultaneously, growing them simultaneously, to actually get anywhere.

The significant amount of opportunities have also made it harder to find the good opportunities. It is no longer a city mall that you could walk through, find all the stores, and pick the one you wish to shop from. It has become an ocean, with molecules, and for the most part, very difficult to locate really well paying ones.

So when considering this it is important to recognize that the digital world is not just a bunch of 0s and 1s, but rather driven by real people. Most of whom will likely share your need for personal freedom and financial security, in varying degrees of course, but nonetheless.

And a lot of these people will also be driven by things that even you have not thought of and considered, which means that for you to succeed, it may prove essential to open your mind, and think outside the box.

When all is said and done the reality is that your pursuit should be people. Find the people. Find their interests and then develop something around that. Only the people will bring you what you desire...

 

[Olie Sins]

Welcome to the forum.

Do you now see what he means in his books by offering value? By a 'productocracy'? By superior service that breaks expectations (SUCS)?

MJ has the most posts and likes, by far, of anyone on this forum. He's on this forum literally every day. He reads nearly every thread: even the shitty ones that detract from the message. He talks directly with people and gives them real advice. How many forums like that exist?

Thanks for the welcome. And I had no idea there was a forum like this out here, it's the only forum where I feel I'm actually a part of something, a brotherhood of sorts.

 

[John Stafford]

You're the man MJ.

People in my town do this all the time when they
open up stuff buffets and bakerys, most of the
good ones are full non-stop. Human beings are
slaves to their appetites and lazy by nature.

Anything along those lines and you'll do very
well.


John

 

[MJ DeMarco]

School Tuition- $80,000 (4 years)
Money spent on books/materials- $6,000
Time wasted in business school - 4 years

Logging and getting the best piece of financial advise free from a multimillionaire...pricesless

"Money is a like a mischievous cat; if you chase it around the neighborhood, it eludes you-- hiding up a tree, behind the rose bush, or in the garden. However, if you ignore it and focus on what attracts the cat other than the cat itself, it will come to you and sit right in your lap."

4 years in business school, and this is by far the best explanation I have ever received.

Thx!! Send McLovin some Lovin!

Man this is SO true!!! It seems if an entrepreneur combines Russ' motivation of finding your own personal "why" with MJ's ideas on finding someone else's "why", success and enjoying the process will follow. ++rep

Dana you've got it. Your personal "why" (which is selfish) gets you up in the morning and motivated. Everyone has their whys and the fire it creates should not be denied, but harnessed into action. Now you get Speed++ for summing it up in one nice easy to package sentence.

I second that motion...this is by far the best site I have ever been to..I've gained so much valuable knowledge here.
I get so inspired to know that I'm on the right track. The fastlane....

McLovin thanks you.

 

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[BlackHollow]

WOW!! MJ, I just learned more from those 1140 words than probably ANY book I have ever read. :icon_super:

While my business has not failed, I do understand why it hasn't taken off like the rocket I had envisioned. Much like your example (actually, very, VERY similar), I created my business out of my passion; custom automotive metal fabrication. I build custom fabricated metal parts for auto restorations, resto-mods, 4X4's, one-off customs, etc. Mostly, I have about a dozen parts that I have designed and manufacture in my shop. I built a CNC plasma cutting table to cut large runs of parts and, along with the mounting hardware and install instructions, sell them on various auto/truck forums and eBay.

All this time, I thought I WAS providing a service and/or product to the gear heads, a product that THEY wanted. I am starting to come to realize that I am merely providing a service and/or product that I wanted for MY project, and knew that there would be others that would also want them, and would pay for them.

Items that I am producing are available elsewhere in the aftermarket, and are nothing new. And I know that the largest majority of my sales are from the folks that either know me from the different boards, or folks new to the boards that simply read the threads and see that I have something they haven't seen because they don't have a lot of exposure to the various aftermarkets.

Basically, my business is totally wrong from the get-go. What I saw was an opportunity to take my passion, my hobby, and make money. I am starting to see that I am offering them a product of my design and ideas, where as I should be offering them a product of their design and ideas....... :smx8: I am trying to sell what I want, what is in my head, and not what they want or need.

MANY rep points added for you!

 

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[MJ DeMarco]

Any follow up on The How?

Yup, Chapter 37: The Open Road. Here is the first sub-section of the chapter.

:smxF:

Needs, Ideas, Opportunity And The Open Road

Opportunities, and the open roads they represent, are everywhere. Look around. That person complaining at the store counter. Opportunity. That stupid voice mail maze you hate navigating when you call the bank. Opportunity. That unsold house that languishes on the market. Opportunity. The trash on the side of the road. Opportunity. The rotting salad that lasted only 2 days in the refrigerator. Opportunity. Those people bitching on that online forum. Opportunity.

If you can't see the opportunities that surround you everyday, you haven't tuned your Fastlane frequency to them. When you make a few minor mental adjustments, roads seemingly closed are suddenly opened.

Opportunity is misinterpreted by many entrepreneurs because they associate opportunity with breakthrough, legendary ideas. They seek virgin ideas, perfect and new, one that would be unveiled to the world in a grandiose affair.

Rarely does that happen...

 

[MJ DeMarco]

You bring up a lot of interesting points. One point I would like to elaborate on though is that the cost of entry has been reduced thus the ability to build passive income has somehow been reduced along with it. I do not think this is true.

MJ gives us a very simple formula that has been one of the most valuable tools I have ever seen:

Scale x Magnitude = Wealth

Scale is how many you can sell and magnitude is the price that you charge for it. When talking about passive income on the internet the first thing I think of is some kind of subscription based business. You want something that you can charge people for again and again instead of something that sells once and that is it.

I chose my business based on the things listed above. I teach gambling strategy. I went through a lot of things to find my business but having this formula was able to guide me.

Scale: are there a large amount of people who want to learn how to get an edge over the casinos? Yes, there are millions.

Magnitude: Will they pay a decent amount of money for this information. Yes. Sports Betting Professor sells for $197. Blackjack Apprenticeship 1 day bootcamps sell for $1,500. The Golden Touch Dice Control Seminars sell for $3,000.

Is this something that can be sold on a subscription basis? Yes. There are several touting services that range widely in price. The Sports Cash SYstem charges $70 a month, Offshore INSIDERS is $350 a month, Precision picks is $50 per pick for Ray Franklin's picks, which would average $5,000 a month for anyone to follow him.

If sell a touting service for $350 per sports season and did the MLB, NFL, and NBA I can have massive passive income. Look what happens with just 1,000 customers.

3 x $350 = $1,050

1,000 x $1,050 = $1,050,000.

That is a million dollar business that is residual passive income. There will be attrition to deal with, but once customers are acquired, and they are happy with the service, they are likely to stay for a very long time.

This formula can be used to analyze virtually any business within seconds. If a business does not have the potential you are looking for then it either does not appeal to enough people or the problem your business solves is not compelling enough to command a decent price tag. The more desire there is to fix a problem the more money you can charge for it. Gamblers want to win. The desire is huge. That is why I can charge so much.

I think you are proving my point, not disproving it.

You can have reasonable control (or access) over both variables. And 1,000 subscribers is not a small number, in fact, its a great multiplier if you're charging a price with magnitude.

Great post and analysis. Rep+

 

[MJ DeMarco]

Fundamental truths are evergreen.

Yep, post is nearly 10 years old and it still is 100% true.

 

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[arpeggiomeister]

I think you are proving my point, not disproving it.

You can have reasonable control (or access) over both variables. And 1,000 subscribers is not a small number, in fact, its a great multiplier if you're charging a price with magnitude.

Great post and analysis. Rep+

I totally agree with you. The quote I was debating is "Unfortunately as the scale of the opportunities reduced, it also had a direct correlation on the possible returns to be had, and so it has become harder to build passive income from one simple source. And for most to succeed, it requires a combination of several opportunities and work on all of them simultaneously, growing them simultaneously, to actually get anywhere." from NetMecca.

I think he used scale when he meant magnitude so I interpreted it to mean price of entry. The main point I wanted to get across is that even though you can start an online business for well under $1,000 now due all this great technology, the ability to create passive income has increased. It may be harder to find the opportunities now because there is just so much out there. It is hard to sift through it all if you just flip through an opportunity magazine, but if you apply the formula it weeds them all out like magic.

I just picked up a copy of "Small Business Opportunities" sitting on my shelf. I can weed through opportunities in seconds. Here are a couple of ads. "Own a business with little or no competition!" "Not a Franchise, Keep what You Make!" This is an ad for the BBQ Cleaner. I can tell you straight up this opportunity sucks because you are selling your time for money and thus it is not scalable. Another ad is for Decorative Floor Coatings. Same deal. You would be selling your time for money. Bad deal. A third ad, Reseller Dynamics, offers website building business. If I were to go this route I would get educated on designing my own, not do it through a company like this, but the main point is that I can immediately tell that this opportunity has more potential then the other two. Everybody and their brother is trying to create an online business these days. The demand is there. Templates can be set up so that they can be quickly set up, you can even set it up so the customer builds the sites themselves using the templates thus taking your time out of the equation. Nothing will compare to creating your own business and thus having a unique angle, but if I had to choose then the web design business has far more potential then the other two.

The Scale X Magnitude formula cuts through all of the hype and exposes the business for what it really is. I have read hundreds of books and that formula is probably one of the best things I have ever learned. Every new aspiring entrepreneur should learn that formula before they even consider any kind of business. It is priceless. Thanks for showing me.

 

[V8Bill]

In light of a recent thread, I thought this could use a bump.

...and I'm glad you did because this is a platinum post! Focusing on the needs of others is (to me) the loudest message in here.

 

[Saiful]

YOUR forum and book change my mind.

I really appreciate all that you do.
I really appreciate your work.
I enjoy spending time with you.
You are one of my best friends.

I can’t wait to see you.

 

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[MJ DeMarco]

Bump from 10+ years ago, still highly relevant today.

 

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[yveskleinsky]

Man this is SO true!!! It seems if an entrepreneur combines Russ' motivation of finding your own personal "why" with MJ's ideas on finding someone else's "why", success and enjoying the process will follow. ++rep

 

[kwerner]

Money is a like a mischievous cat; if you chase it around the neighborhood, it eludes you-- hiding up a tree, behind the rose bush, or in the garden. However, if you ignore it and focus on what attracts the cat other than the cat itself, it will come to you and sit right in your lap.

This analogy reminds me of a scene from the film Three Wishes starring Patrick Swayze. In the movie, Swayze's character is helping to coach a down-and-out little league baseball team. The kids on the team want to win so bad, and they try so hard to hit the ball out of the park each time they're up to bat, that they consistently strike out - getting the exact opposite result they intended.

So how does the coach help diminish their anxiety and improve their batting? By enlightening them that when they try to push too hard to get an intended result, they get just the opposite. And explaining that if they want success (at hitting, in this instance), they should try doing just the opposite of what they've been pushing so hard to do - he tells them to let go of their thoughts of crushing one out of the park, and try to strike out! :smx4:

And you know what, it works for them; and I believe that it can work in the real world too. Like MJ pointed out, if you're intent on chasing the mischievous cat called money, it will elude you. At some point you have to step back, take off your blinders of what you want, and put yourself in the shoes of what your market wants. Then the work begins and the money will follow.


I'm not sure how to embed the video into my post, so here's the link to the trailer if you want to check it out: IMDb Video: Three Wishes

 

[Gymjunkie]

''Money is a like a mischievous cat; if you chase it around the neighborhood, it eludes you-- hiding up a tree, behind the rose bush, or in the garden. However, if you ignore it and focus on what attracts the cat other than the cat itself, it will come to you and sit right in your lap.''

Very true! Great post!

Same goes for women too actually.. ;D

 

[mlsalters77]

Thanks for the information and I totally agrees with you. Now my question is how do you train yourself to see the needs that people want, or opportunities ?

When you open up to what's around you I believe it is hard not to notice the needs of others. I think we spend so much time concerned with our daily lives, problems and desires that we have learned to filter out the natural care for others that we are all born with. This may sound a little touchy-feely but children notice everything. especially the pains of others and if you notice it, they always have a whole hearted solution (which we as adults tend to laugh off as cute.) I think listening and seeing things with a child's eyes (meaning honestly and with out discrimination or prejudice) is a true first step to finding those opportunities. Simply said, there are opportunities for greatness all around us its just a matter of spreading your arms out and touching people (like that scene in unbreakable. lol)

 

[RazvanRogoz]

Great post.

To develop on:
"What business can I start with $200 and still make $5K per month?"

You can't start a business generating $5000/month with $200.

Let me tell you why. The $200 may be start-up costs. Fixed start-up costs.

But there are hidden costs also.

Let's say you want to launch a product on ClickBank. Most people say you can do it under $200.

The costs are:
-> CB account ~$40.
-> Domain ~$10.
-> Hosting ~$5 month.

Great. This has the potential of generating a million dollars next year. Or does it?

Next to this, there are the costs IN TIME OR MONEY of:
-> Copywriting, as a efficient sales letter is expensive.
-> SEO or affiliate marketing, as people won't come just because you want too.
-> Developing a good product (being a ghostwriter or hiring one).
-> Proofing your product, creating the design.
-> Customer support.
-> Legal.

Now, yes, I fully admit, you can launch a CB product under $100.

But you need to be a good marketer to do this. You need to bring skills to the job.

And those skills take time to learn. If we value our time at a modest $25/hour, to learn copywriting at an efficient level, you need at least 25 focused hours.

That's an extra $625 in costs just from point #1.

Even MJ, whose story is impressive but I've seen similar, so I know it's both realistic and possible, first spent hundreds of hours learning how to do all of those things and then actually create them.

Therefore, in reality, you don't start-up a business with $1000 and a rented laptop. You start it with 500 hours of specialized study on how to do it or experience and a small capital to ignite it.

That's the difference between the person that can launch a business successfully even if he's broke and the person with unlimited capital who can't make a buck. It's the unseen investment in skill and experience.

Agree?

 

[Andy Black]

Thanks for the bump. Great post.

I love this analogy:

Money is a like a mischievous cat; if you chase it around the neighborhood, it eludes you-- hiding up a tree, behind the rose bush, or in the garden. However, if you ignore it and focus on what attracts the cat other than the cat itself, it will come to you and sit right in your lap.

 

[Sharko]

You should write a book

 

[Saiful]

Solve need=