Archive - Business Start-Up RSS Feed

Want to be a Millionaire?

March 14, 2012 in Business Start-Up, Finding Passion with 28 Comments

In 1900 there were fewer than 5,000 Millionaires in the United States. According to Forbes.com today there are nearly 8.4 million Millionaires and    413 Billionaires.

But I think we are frequently mistaken about how people get to be millionaires in America.

Here is a list of how people accumulate wealth in America.  Read more »

  • 74% Self-Owned Business. This includes typical entrepreneurs, eaglepreneurs, real estate agents, etc. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel or patent something to be very successful. Three of the most common millionaire producing businesses in the United States are dry cleaning, vending and printing.
  • 10% Senior Executive Positions.  People like Bob Iger, CEO of Walt Disney who was paid $53.3 million in 2011.  In today’s work environment, longevity and seniority are not necessarily going to be rewarded. Results are what get noticed, so these senior executive positions may be filled with a newcomer. CEOs, CFOs, and other senior positions may be attained quickly if one can prove his/her ability to get the job done, however, there is little traditional “security” in any of these positions.

Necessity is the mother…..

March 13, 2012 in Business Start-Up, Finding Passion with 12 Comments

Remember how we’ve always heard the old Plato saying, “Necessity is the mother of invention?”  We’ve seen that played out in many ways around the world – kids in Rwanda making wooden bicycles, William Kamkwamba making an electricity-generating windmill for his village in Malawi, in southeast Africa, or Amish kids using solar powered lights on their buggies.  Samuel Fay needed a way to harmlessly attach claim tickets to fabric without piercing the material.  Not long after, on April 23, 1867, he was awarded US Patent number 64,088, and the paper clip was born.

48 Days Podcast listener Rob from Houston, Texas sent me a link to this amazing video – Plastic Bottle Lights – showing a creative guy in Manila using old drink bottles to create a light in the roof of dark houses.  They use old plastic soda bottles, install them through the roof where it captures the light of the sun and transfers it to the room below – comparable to a 55-watt light bulb.  Read more »

Don’t Wait for Perfect…..

March 7, 2012 in Business Start-Up with 16 Comments

One of the beauties of today’s workplace is that we can just get in the game and then refine our business as we go.  The unfinished and imperfect business, book, website, house, job, garden, or fashion design is a starting point.  Releasing a trial version can be an act of transparency – and an invitation to customers and friends to help complete and improve it.

When Joanne and I purchased our current house we had made a list of all the things that would come with a perfect home.  What we found had about 90% of what we were looking for.  In the 11 years we’ve been here we’ve had the pleasure of changing and adding things we didn’t even have on the original list – and we love what it is becoming.  One thing we wanted that was missing was a nearby stream or lake.  Over 10 years we dreamed and planned for how we could add a water feature – so we were able to create exactly what we wanted – not just accept what was already here.  Read more »

Maybe it’s too easy to start a business

March 6, 2012 in Business Start-Up with 36 Comments

It used to be that to start a business you would need to lease or build a building, purchase inventory, hire employees and the work for years to recover your initial investment and move into profitability.  Maybe you borrowed $500,000 to open that restaurant you always dreamed of.  Today, you can start a business with zero investment.  You can grab those signed baseball cards in your attic, put them on ebay and launch a real business.  Or you can write an ebook, not even wait for a publisher, but put it on Create Space and have the instant exposure and marketing power of Amazon with no money investment of any kind – making profit from the very first purchase.  Read more »

Are you fishing or hoping for a free boat ride?

February 27, 2012 in Business Start-Up, No More Mondays with 17 Comments

This morning Joanne and I were talking to some locals on a tiny island where we’re hanging out for a few days.  We saw a fishing boat come in right after a pretty violent storm.  There were probably 20 guys hanging around the edges of this very small boat.  No one is paid for their services – they all fish and keep track of their catch.  Typically, they pay the captain and owner of the boat 2 pounds of fish per day for the privilege of fishing from his boat.  When they get back into the city they sell what they have to the local market at $5-6.00 per pound.  Let’s say they’ve been out for 3 days.  The boat owner gets 20 times 6 pounds for a total of 120 pounds.  At $5.00 per pound his share equals $600.  You can see the incentive for piling more guys into his little boat – and with no OSHA requirements – well, you get the picture.  Read more »

Page 2 of 22«12345»1020...Last »

Switch to our mobile site

Close
Remind Me Later
Remove Ad Permanently