by Mike | Oct 27, 2016 | Biggest Problems, Business ownership, Finding Money, News, Planning, Types of Business, Venture Capital |
Live Your Dream
Do you want to live your dream? Most people dream of happiness, freedom, and the ability to do the things you really want to do. Most people do not dream of having a stack of money, or dream of a bank statement that shows you have $1,000,000. Having $1,000,000 does not guarantee anything, except that you can say you have $1,000,000. But being a millionaire, and being careful and responsible, allows all the other things to happen more easily. In many cases without good financial resources, many people are stuck in a life they wish was better.
Good News
Opportunity is everywhere, we all know that, but then why hasn’t everyone made $1,000,000 yet? I have covered so many stories of people doing it with regular businesses everywhere. They are not extra smart, definitely not richer, and they don’t know the secret handshake. Opportunity is there, but you must take action. Recently in my Google+ Community, a man complained he had no head for business and has failed twice. I told him, his feeling that he has “no head for business” really was just not having the experience and training. I told him if he thoroughly researched his next business, identified his weaknesses and strengthened those areas, and also sought advice and help from others like the SBDC and SCORE-he might then just have a very good head for business.
So many people take off half-cocked or not cocked at all. Just settle down, get started and systematically get ready, then start your business.
Don’t Pass Up Low-Risk Opportunities
This may not be a good example of a thorough plan, but it is for grabbing an opportunity for with low risk. What if you saw a school bus for sale on eBay for $350?
The $350 School Bus!
Drive Fron Maine
Would you buy it? I know of an individual always looking for business opportunities, Gabriel. He saw a bus for sale for $350, the ad said it was old but operational. He bought it sight unseen then found out it was in Maine if he wanted it, he had to go to Maine and drive it back to Texas. That is exactly what he did. On the way back he noticed an old Pizza Hut was selling its furniture He pulled over, bought several pieces for next to nothing and loaded it into the bus. He was thinking what a great way to redo the interior of the bus. He was already thinking of fixing it up and reselling it, or maybe rent it out as a party bus.
An Adventure
The whole trip was a great adventure and would give him some great memories. But on the trip, it gave him a lot of time to think about how to use his new bus. He did notice on the way back to Texas that the bus had a pretty good smoke trail coming out of the exhaust, he knew he would have to take care of that too. A new muffler cost more than the bus but it had to be replaced. The total cost of fixing it up to rent out was about $3,500.
Now a Party Bus!
He now rents it out for $450/night, 5-8 times/month and gets referral fees for when he is overbooked.
This is just another example of keeping your eyes open for opportunity and taking a small calculated risk as a way to make some extra income to help you get to $1,000,000 in the bank.
Create an Opportunity
Even more unique is Gabriel’s business model as a Business Incubator, which can be found at www.TechStudios.net. His company motto is “Ideas taken to execution.” If someone has a business idea but does not know how to start, how to get the money, or how to find the time, he will get the company started and tested. He will put the plan together, assemble the team, find the means to finance the operation and get the company going.
If you have an idea, look for help from SCORE, SBDC, or a consultant.
The original idea generator can buy it all back later if he wants the whole company. In one sense this is a variation on asking your friends for ideas, to be discussed later, except he lets clients bring ideas to him and gets paid to develop their ideas.
Live Your Dream Boldly
You have to be cautious to not do just anything to make money; you must do things that could lead to $1,000,000. Gabriel will admit his party bus will never make him $1,000,000. Maybe it possibly could if he got more organized, and maybe located party buses in different cities or maybe even franchise the idea. But he really did not want to pursue it. It is best to decide on a business that will have the kind of cash flow and net profit needed to make you enough to save $1,000,000. Do your research, make a business plan and get adviser help. Of course, you may need partners for the money to start and grow, but a good plan and your own confidence can get you the money you need.
Find Your Way to the Door of Opportunity.
In my interviews with people who have become millionaires from nothing, I agree wholeheartedly that almost any business can get you to $1,000,000 in the bank with good execution, sales, and marketing. A solid plan well researched and yet keep your eyes out for low-risk opportunities. Get your head in the game…………..start your plan to save $1,000,000. Allow yourself to live your dream.
Get One Million in the Bank today for yourself or someone you want to help. Also, I appreciate your comments and sharing the post if you liked it.
Michael L. F. Slavin Author of 7-time award-winning One Million in the Bank: How To Make $1,000,000 With Your Own Business, Even If You have No Money Or Experience
www.onemillioninthebank.com
by Mike | Mar 30, 2016 | Motivational Speaker, News |
Hiring a motivational speaker is a big investment. It pays to be thoughtful and deliberate about your choice. After all, the success or failure of your event will be determined by the efficacy of the motivational speaker you choose.
Speakers are, by nature, warm, charismatic, and convincing. Don’t rely on the speaker’s ability to sell you on his services. Instead, use these four criteria to provide your audience with a speaker who is truly capable of serving them.
Criteria #1: Do the motivational speaker’s methods and key topic takeaways match both the event and the audience?
Ask yourself who will be listening to the speech. Where are they in their lives and careers?
Author and entrepreneur Michael L.F. Slavin’s One Million in the Bank speech is aimed at:
- Ordinary people with an ordinary income
- People who have yet to start a business, but who want to
- People who have had trouble thinking of themselves as potential millionaires, but who need a boost in the right direction
- People who have been holding back on starting a business because they believe they have to come up with some new, world-changing, innovative idea in order to be successful
While highly effective for its intended target audience, this speech would likely not be the best fit for veteran entrepreneurs who need ideas on how to increase their profit margins. Find out if the speaker of your choice is able to address a variety of topics for a flexible audience. Most speakers have lists of their most common topics available on their websites. Good, ethical speakers will also tell you if the event isn’t a good fit for their focus area.
Criteria #2: The Motivational Speaker Should be Ready and Willing to Customize His Presentation
A Forbes public speaking expert named Nick Morgan suggested that every speaking event is really a collaboration between the organizers, the speaker, and the audience.
Obviously, there can be very little collaboration if the speaker is only able to deliver a rigid list of pre-created topics. While every good speaker should have a solid list of “go-to” topics to work from, it’s always better to work with one who will get invested in the success of your event, even if that means tweaking a speech to better relate to the audience.
Criteria #3: Has the speaker accomplished anything that’s relevant or noteworthy?
This goes back to ensuring the speaker has the experience and credentials to address the topics and issues your audience needs to hear about.
Motivational speaking is an unregulated profession. Anyone can hang out their shingle and call themselves a “leadership expert” if they want to. It’s up to you to do your due diligence. Where and when has your candidate exercised true leadership? What kinds of accomplishments has he achieved for the organizations he’s worked for? If he’s launched businesses, did they thrive? Has he written any books or won any awards? If you brought this leader on to a project at your own company would you feel reasonably confident that the project would be successful?
Don’t just take the motivational speaker’s word for it. Read his recommendations on LinkedIn. Do a bit of research on Google.
Criteria #4: Will the speaker focus on practical solutions?
Too many motivational speakers focus on rah-rah rehashes of The Secret. It’s all about “vision boards” and the “power of positive thinking.”
In fact, getting too focused on positive thinking can actually increase stress and decrease productivity. Psychologists have found people get overly focused on fixing their thoughts instead of focusing on fixing the real, physical problem that’s before them. And thoughts aren’t easy to change (have you ever tried not thinking about a thing)?
Sure, it’s hard to solve problems from a position of negativity. However, “positive thinking” on its own is utterly incapable of solving problems. Sooner or later the thinker is going to have to stop daydreaming, affirming, and visualizing in favor of taking some concrete steps toward his or her goal.
Sometimes, in fact, you really just need to know what to do. A nail doesn’t really care if you are happy or sad, so long as you drive it home with the proper hammer and do so in the right place and in the right way. A motivational speaker that arms an audience with practical know-how empowers those audience members to move forward.
Besides, increasing a person’s understanding and competence by making the right actions appear accessible will naturally increase a person’s positive outlook by showing them that real solutions are within our grasp. We tend to feel negative when we feel helpless. A great motivational speaker becomes the enemy of helplessness by drawing good road maps to destinations audience members need and want to visit. Look for someone who can do that while meeting all of the other criteria, and your next event is sure to be an incredible success.
Sources:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/nickmorgan/2015/10/20/why-do-good-speakers-go-bad/#4e075ff215f5?
http://www.forbes.com/sites/janbruce/2013/11/19/how-positive-thinking-creates-more-problems-than-it-solves/#af1695b29bc5
by Mike | Mar 21, 2016 | Best Entrepreneur Books, News |
Choosing the best entrepreneur books is something of a challenge for people who are just getting started. It’s tough to evaluate which books are going to provide valuable insights and which ones will ultimately waste your time and money.
While we could tell you that One Million in the Bank has won awards, you’ve probably read several award-winning books in the past that ultimately did not help you achieve your dreams. Here are 10 reasons why One Million in the Bank is going to provide you with a different experience.
1. One Million in the Bank creates realistic expectations
The glitz and glam story that many entrepreneur books promote says that the millionaire lifestyle is achieved primarily when one designs some great, new, innovative app that revolutionizes existing ways of doing things. Let’s face it, this misperception even leads people to conclude they can’t become millionaires, as most of us don’t know the first thing about programming. Alternatively, many entrepreneur books may tell you that launching an “Internet marketing” business is the way to become rich and famous.
But the truth is, 80% of most millionaires are self-employed business owners who have put their efforts into a tried-and-true business like the ones you interact with every single day. Millionaires open roofing businesses, retail stores, and even laundromats. One Million in the Bank focuses on those kinds of businesses. Author Michael L.F. Slavin will even tell you why you should focus on selling real people real goods, instead of attempting to start a 100% “online” business or waiting to leap onto the next technology craze.
2. One Million in the Bank shows you how to find investors without going on Shark Tank
Most traditional businesses will never be that interesting to big-wig venture capitalists, and that’s great news. Venture capitalists really are looking for the next big idea. They’re also looking for a business they can make “go public” in a very short period of time so that they can skyrocket the value. Then, they want to turn around and sell it. Often, the actual entrepreneur is forced out of the process along the way.
Meanwhile, there are quiet investors in your own neighborhood who just want to help their local economies while making an outstanding return on their investment. This book will show you how and where to find them. You receive a step-by-step method for uncovering them and an actual script for approaching them.
3. Less motivation, more action
There’s a place for inspirational, “you can do it,” speech and, yes, One Million in the Bank incorporates some motivational words. However, most of the book focuses on the practical steps you can take to get yourself closer to business ownership and a million in the bank. You could essentially write yourself a to-do list blueprint just by reading the book.
4. Real people, real stories
When One Million in the Bank does focus on inspiration, it does so by sharing the stories of real life millionaires who started from the bottom and made it work. These are people just like you: people who got up every morning hating their cubicle job, and middle class or even lower class people who were barely scraping by.
Nobody suddenly inherited a million dollars. They didn’t do it by writing books and selling seminars about making millions of dollars (you know, the ones that make it sound like everyone on earth should quit their job). So many entrepreneur books focus only on the author’s successes. While Michal L.F. Slavin does take the time to establish his credentials, he also focuses far more of his attention on other people. He also shows there are a variety of ways to make it to the top, which is great news for those of us who hate to write and are afraid of public speaking.
5. You will change your thoughts…but not the way you expect
The occasional dive into “the power of positive thinking” seems to be the norm for just about any entrepreneur book. We all know the drill. “Change your thoughts, change your life.” “Believe it, receive it.” “Visualize it, and it can be yours.” Sadly, positive thinking alone will not make you a millionaire.
One Million in the Bank addresses your thoughts without repeating and rehashing any of these tired old statements. Instead, you’ll learn that yes, you do have to change your thoughts, but eliminating cognitive biases that prevent you from seeing opportunities is the way to get it done. He’ll show you exactly how to do that so you don’t miss the next big opportunity that comes your way.
6. You’ll learn where to focus your efforts next
One Million in the Bank won’t do everything for you. You’ll still have to seek out as much information as you can and learn from as many reputable sources as possible.
But when you’re done reading it, you’ll understand that your next book purchases should be books about how to write a really good business plan, books about how to sell, books about how to effectively market your business, and books about improving both your leadership and your management skills. You’ll have a great foundation for understanding the material in all those subsequent books because author Michael L.F. Slavin already gave you a foundation.
Ultimately, of course, the goal will be to stop reading and to start doing. After you finish One Million in the Bank you will feel absolutely no “analysis paralysis.” You’ll take concrete steps toward building the business that will support your dreams, even as you look for new ways to educate yourself in how to be successful.
Sources:
http://www.investopedia.com/financial-edge/0810/7-millionaire-myths.aspx
by Mike | Mar 11, 2016 | Best Entrepreneur Books, News |
Reading great entrepreneur books is one of the best ways you can get started on the path to business ownership. Most would-be entrepreneurs should plan on reading at least 3-10 of these books before attempting to launch their ventures, as this process of self-education creates a foundation for future success.
Of course, it’s not really enough to read just any books. You have to read the right books. Otherwise, you may waste a lot of time and follow a lot of bad advice. You may even become discouraged!
So here is some simple advice you can follow to find the best entrepreneur books.
Check Awards Lists
Awards lists are a great start. Most non-fiction book awards have rigorous selection criteria and a dedicated team of readers who are serious about selecting and curating high-quality options for their own followers. Here are a few great award sites to check out.
The Feathered Quill – Alhough The Feathered Quill Book Awards don’t have a “Best Business Category,” you can find some outstanding options by checking out their “Best Self-Help” and “Best Informational Book” categories. The lack of “one category for every type of book” is actually a good sign, as it prevents them from having to hand out an award to every single author who comes along.
Nonfiction Book Awards – This site publishes awards on its blog. Take a few moments to scroll through and see what’s out there. You’ll find great business books (and a host of other great reads as well). If you’re crunched for time, stick to entrepreneurial books that have received the “Gold Medal” rating.
Small Business Book Awards – This site focuses exclusively on books about small businesses and entrepreneurship, so you’re sure to find some real gems here.
Make sure the book contains actionable insights
What you really need is a road map—a way to get you from where you are now to where you want to be. Too many books are filled with “positive thinking” fluff. If positive thinking were all that it took to launch and run a business, every optimist in the world would have one!
How can you tell without buying the book? First, look for reviews. Check for words and phrases like, “actionable,” “practical,” and “easy to follow.” If you get the sense that reviewers came away from the book knowing exactly what to do, you probably have a winner.
You might even try to preview the book by flipping through it at your local bookstore or reading an excerpt online.
Once you’ve found a good book, read it with a notebook and pen in hand. You’ll get the most value out of any entrepreneurial book if you use these actionable insights to develop your own plan. Creating a running to-do list and idea list is a great way to put the book to best use. If you find you’re not getting anything down on paper after three or four chapters, give yourself permission to move on and find another book…the one that you’re reading might not live up to its hype, and you don’t have time for anything that’s not going to get you closer to your goals.
Read the author’s story
It’s never a good sign when an author cloaks him- or herself in a veil of anonymity. The best entrepreneur books come from authors who are open about their stories. They are happy to share where they are coming from and what they’ve accomplished.
They are also transparent about their failures—especially their failures, in fact, as there is no road to success that does not include some hard times and tough lessons!
As you read the author’s bio, ask yourself a few questions. Has he or she been where you are? Does the author’s story inspire you? You should get this feeling of, “If he or she can do it, so can I!” If you’re trying to escape your low-end cubical job that barely pays a living wage you don’t want to try to take advice from an author who inherited all of his or her wealth. That author’s reality just isn’t in synch with yours.
Of course, the author’s accomplishments should also impress you. Why follow someone’s road map if you aren’t interested in reaching the destinations they’ve reached?
Look for people who have used the author’s advice
It’s wise to research entrepreneurs you admire. Find out what they are reading lately—it’s a great way to start emulating their success. However, you also want to make sure the advice is accessible to someone in your current life circumstances.
In One Million in the Bank, author Michael L.F. Slavin shares dozens of stories of real people who have made his plan work. It’s easy to see his advice is accessible to anyone at any time. These are the kinds of results you’re looking for, since you can be certain the steps that he outlines will produce results for you, too. Isn’t that just the sort of thing you’d want out of an entrepreneur book?
Remember, this is an investment in yourself
While you may feel like your current lifestyle doesn’t leave you a lot of time for reading, any entrepreneur will tell you that you can only develop your business as you develop yourself. This means taking the time to grow your knowledge and understanding.
Of course, reading alone isn’t going to get you where you need to go. Eventually you have to get out there and start enacting the advice you’ve encountered. After you find and read the best entrepreneurial books, it’s time to commit the actions that will help you change your life!
Sources:
http://www.featheredquill.com/awardprogram.shtml?
nonfictionauthorsassociation.com/category/bookawards/
http://bookawards.smallbiztrends.com/all-books/
by Mike | Jan 14, 2015 | Million in the Bank, News, Writing the book |
Change Your Life
Change your life in 2015,you can do it. It is a new year. How will this year be different for you than last year was? In the theme of my book and blog, if you are here this is the year that you put yourself on the path to having a business than allows you to save $1,000,000 in 3-7 years. (more…)
