It Takes _______ To Make Money
There is a saying, a common adage, that "It takes money to make money.
" In my line of work, one of the things I do is help others start up businesses with very little investment of money, but with an investment of time, what I call "sweat equity.
" But the number of people who cannot get past the notion of spending ANY money to make money is sometimes staggering.
However, this truth was made apparent to me from an early age, and so I want to address this.
My First Real Business I started my first real "business" when I was bored one summer during college.
I was tired of spending 8 hours a day at a video rental store to make a whopping $6/hour.
I knew that if I just thought long and hard, I could find a way to make significantly more money in a shorter amount of time.
I just had to find a niche and fill it.
I was on a bit of a stroll and coming back to my house when I kicked a rock and it hit the curb...
right where someones house numbers were painted on the curb.
They were quite faded, and barely legible, and I thought to myself, "Self, I bet they'd pay me $5 buck to re-do that.
And I bet with some spraypaint and some stencils, I could do that in about 5 minutes.
Hmmm...
" So, I immediately went to my local paintshop, and bought about $30 worth of spray enamels and laquers.
I bought some stencils and some poster board, and threw it all in my backpack with a bottle of water, and I began going door to door.
In richer neighborhoods I charged $10, and if they haggled with me so be it, I'd do it for $5.
But I quickly began making upwards of $70/hour.
In cash.
I was in business.
Literally.
I was making way more than my "sandwich artist" Friends, and I had much more spare time too! Unfortunately, I was young and lazy, so I just idled away my time - but the main point is that I HAD TIME! How many people can say that in their day-to-day jobs? Would I get rich from painting numbers on the curb? Probably not.
But it was a great way to make some quick money, and make it smart.
And it opened my eyes to a real business truth: It does take money to make money.
More Precisely Now, money is a resource.
I could have started my business without spending that $30.
I could have leveraged my time taking orders and collecting money one day, and then going back through and painting the next day.
In this situation, my time could have been invested as a resource.
So, it doesn't take money to make money necessarily, but it does take resources! Many people lose site of this, and they spend their lives chasing money or slaving for money or fearing money, and living in poverty, or debt, or impoverished debt.
This is horrible! You should do everything you can to get out of debt right now! If that means curtailing your spending, then so be it.
It rarely means getting a second job, but it could entail starting up a side business.
NOTE: Having two jobs is nearly always a mistake - with a job you are making someone else's business prosper at the cost of your time.
But with a business you can make your own business prosper and make more money for the same amount of work.
And the proper kind of business can be a real asset that generates money repeatedly over and over again.
But the important lesson is that if you want to succeed, you must invest: in a business, in resources, in your skills.
People invest in education for a job.
They invest their time and material resources in a job (car, suit and tie, etc).
But so often we don't invest in ourselves and our future.
It's time to stop that destructive trend, and not be afraid to invest in our futures.
" In my line of work, one of the things I do is help others start up businesses with very little investment of money, but with an investment of time, what I call "sweat equity.
" But the number of people who cannot get past the notion of spending ANY money to make money is sometimes staggering.
However, this truth was made apparent to me from an early age, and so I want to address this.
My First Real Business I started my first real "business" when I was bored one summer during college.
I was tired of spending 8 hours a day at a video rental store to make a whopping $6/hour.
I knew that if I just thought long and hard, I could find a way to make significantly more money in a shorter amount of time.
I just had to find a niche and fill it.
I was on a bit of a stroll and coming back to my house when I kicked a rock and it hit the curb...
right where someones house numbers were painted on the curb.
They were quite faded, and barely legible, and I thought to myself, "Self, I bet they'd pay me $5 buck to re-do that.
And I bet with some spraypaint and some stencils, I could do that in about 5 minutes.
Hmmm...
" So, I immediately went to my local paintshop, and bought about $30 worth of spray enamels and laquers.
I bought some stencils and some poster board, and threw it all in my backpack with a bottle of water, and I began going door to door.
In richer neighborhoods I charged $10, and if they haggled with me so be it, I'd do it for $5.
But I quickly began making upwards of $70/hour.
In cash.
I was in business.
Literally.
I was making way more than my "sandwich artist" Friends, and I had much more spare time too! Unfortunately, I was young and lazy, so I just idled away my time - but the main point is that I HAD TIME! How many people can say that in their day-to-day jobs? Would I get rich from painting numbers on the curb? Probably not.
But it was a great way to make some quick money, and make it smart.
And it opened my eyes to a real business truth: It does take money to make money.
More Precisely Now, money is a resource.
I could have started my business without spending that $30.
I could have leveraged my time taking orders and collecting money one day, and then going back through and painting the next day.
In this situation, my time could have been invested as a resource.
So, it doesn't take money to make money necessarily, but it does take resources! Many people lose site of this, and they spend their lives chasing money or slaving for money or fearing money, and living in poverty, or debt, or impoverished debt.
This is horrible! You should do everything you can to get out of debt right now! If that means curtailing your spending, then so be it.
It rarely means getting a second job, but it could entail starting up a side business.
NOTE: Having two jobs is nearly always a mistake - with a job you are making someone else's business prosper at the cost of your time.
But with a business you can make your own business prosper and make more money for the same amount of work.
And the proper kind of business can be a real asset that generates money repeatedly over and over again.
But the important lesson is that if you want to succeed, you must invest: in a business, in resources, in your skills.
People invest in education for a job.
They invest their time and material resources in a job (car, suit and tie, etc).
But so often we don't invest in ourselves and our future.
It's time to stop that destructive trend, and not be afraid to invest in our futures.
