Posts Tagged ‘millionaire blueprint’

Evaluating the perfect business for you encompasses many factors. If you missed the prior editions of the Millionaire Blueprint, go back and review the advantages and cost factors of a franchise, purchasing a pre-owned brick and mortar business, establishing a new brick and mortar business and becoming a home based business entrepreneur.

Critical factor – all have their value and their place; it is not a matter of one is right and one is wrong. The most important factor is selecting the one which is right for you. Some of you may actually prefer to be an employee rather than embrace entrepreneurial thinking. Being the quintessential entrepreneur, I am personally psychologically unemployable. Entrepreneurial thinking is part of my DNA; entrepreneurial traits circulate through my veins. Once again, everyone must select what is right for them as an individual. Yes, I am solidly in the corner of the entrepreneur and profess the benefits of entrepreneurial thinking.

That being said, the time has arrived to quantify the elements of selecting the perfect business for those of you who do possess entrepreneurial traits and desires.

1. What are your interests and talents? Unless you have an interest in the subject, you will rarely invest the time and effort to study and learn the nuances of the industry. Unless you already possess extensive knowledge of the industry, you will need to seek wisdom.

The acronym S-I-N comes to mind. Yes, you all know what SIN is. I encourage you to SIN. Seek wisdom, implement and innovate (yes I know I am using the phonetic spelling of innovate for the acronym.)

Even if you have extensive knowledge of the subject area, keep learning and expanding.

Talent also plays a part. Do you possess the talent and abilities or do you need to expand one or both? Interest and ability play a significant part in selecting the best industry and niche for you.

2. Market analysis also influences the decision. Is there a need in the marketplace for your specific business? When I started Mt. Castles Property Management in Steamboat everyone was managing condominiums. No one was specializing in single family homes. With more and more second home owners, there was a significant need for a property management company specializing in single family home management. Can you say market niche?

3. Income potential becomes another significant factor. Know the level of income you desire to earn and the potential for this industry to generate that income. This is especially significant in network marketing or MLM. Many MLM companies pay tiny commissions and emphasize the long range residual commission. Caution that the residual only occurs when and if you produce and your down line also produces. Also know the long range nature of that residual; if you require or desire significant short term income, this is not an ideal situation for you.

Keep in mind that it will take the same amount of time, effort and marketing dollar to earn a tiny commission as it will to earn a high dollar commission. It will take a tremendous number of 25 dollar commissions to add up to one 4,500 or 9,000 commission. Look very carefully at the return on your time and marketing dollar investment. Be certain that your selection of a company or market niche can generate the desired return on investment.

4. Review the complaints against the company from the attorney general; this is especially important in the case of MLM or network marketing companies. Significant complaints are a major red flag. These red flags are warnings not only about the integrity of the company but your potential future earnings.

5. What is the long range potential of the company or market niche? A hula hoop or pet rock phase came and went fairly quickly. Have you selected a company which is inflation proof and recession proof? In a tight economy, people will be less likely to purchase lotions, potions, pills and juices. These items will either not be purchased or purchased from the local Walgreens Drug store; perhaps not exactly the same qualities but close enough to pass in a tight economy. Select a company and market niche with long term potential.

Yes, I know I have given you many factors to consider; however, each and every one of these factors has validity for your present and future success. For personalized assistance and additional insight, join me at www.Elaine4Success.com.

First and foremost, we have established that owning your own business provides more security. You can’t be fired or have your job outsourced to overseas when you own your own business. There are no outside forces placing a cap on your income when you own the business. You are your own boss; the way the boss treats you is totally in your control. Your duties are also in your control as well as your work schedule or time off. Of course, the responsibility for the success of the business is also yours.

As a brief review, we have explored the positives and negatives of purchasing a franchise, purchasing a pre-owned brick and mortar business or starting a new brick and mortar business.
1. Franchise fee to purchase the company name recognition and established customer base. Possibly a percentage of the gross revenue will be due back to the franchise parent office. You will also have to rent, lease or purchase the physical location for the franchise. Equipment will need to be purchased to operate the business. Office supplies and equipment will also need to be purchased. Inventory will be required to operate the business. Employees and their related costs will also be incurred. Overhead such as utilities will be incurred. Marketing could possibly be tied in with the franchise as well as individual local marketing costs. Finally, you will expect to spend long hours 5, 6 or possibly 7 days a week away from home operating the business.

2. Purchasing a brick and mortar business will incur all of the above with the exception of the franchise fee, percentage to the parent franchise company and the co-op advertising with the franchise. However you will have the purchase price from the current owner to compensate them for the customer base and reputation they have established. All of the other costs remain the same as purchasing a franchise.

3. Starting a new brick and mortar business will eliminate the purchase price since there will not be a prior owner; however, there will not be any pre-existing customer base or name recognition. Your marketing costs may be higher or your income progress may be slower since you are starting a totally new entity. All other costs remain the same as a franchise or purchasing a pre-owned brick and mortar business.

4. Option 4 is becoming a home based business entrepreneur.

The advantages are numerous for a home based business entrepreneur. First, you are paying a much lower fee to establish the business than you would to purchase a franchise or a pre-owned business. Second, you will not be paying additional rent, lease or purchase for the physical business location; you are in your home. Third, you will probably not have employees, additional overhead or extensive equipment purchase expenses. Your office equipment will be a computer, telephone, printer and telephone headset; you probably already own all of these with the possible exception of the headset. Establishing a great home based business is far less expensive. The perfect home based business can be started on a limited budget especially in comparison to the franchise or brick and mortar business.

A fourth advantage is the flexibility of hours. You can work around your family schedule and not leave the house to start making money working from home.

Working from home is both an advantage and a disadvantage because you will be exposed to more potential interruptions working from home. It is easier to be distracted by family, laundry, or the proximity of the kitchen.

Work from home business ideas are numerous. Select the best option for you.

In the next article, we will discuss the various factors to examine in order to select the best business type for you. Since there is a plethora of work from home business ideas, it is best to examine all of the factors to select the perfect one for you.

For personalized assistance in determining the best business for you, join me at www.Elaine4Success.com.

Once you are blue sky and sunshine clear about your exact current situation, you have drawn a time line. If you are ready to step over that line into new territory and the opportunity to achieve your dreams, unbuckle your seat belt. Yes, I do mean “unbuckle” because a new adventure is not about staying safe and secure. New ventures are about reaching for your future. You know what the past looked like and the present looks like. If either one of those results had satisfied you, you would not be reading this right now. If you are satisfied with status quo, you would not be searching for something better.

Tired of getting ready to get ready? Lets go. It is time to design your millionaire blueprint.

Since everyone has a slightly different starting point, we will set up a case study.

The person is in their mid to late 40s with at least a few years college. They have been in the corporate world for several years and just lost their job. They want to start a business of their own. They want a success plan to become self made millionaires. They have dreams of being able to travel and visit their family and friends without having to look for the “squeeze yourself in the back of the plane next to the restroom” economy seats. They want to go out to nice restaurants and look at the left side of the menu instead of the right side. They want to go shopping in new places without having to say “I can’t afford to buy anything.”

Traveling first class to new places, dining out and shopping all require money. The goal is therefore to make enough money on a consistent basis to afford their ideal life style.

Back to reality. At this moment there is a total of 50,000 available including what was a 401 K and is now a 41 K. Sad but true, it shrunk 90%. I know it seemed like a good idea at the time they invested the money. From $50,000 to self made millionaires is a wide gap.

With only 50,000 dollars, a franchise is not even a vague possibility. Many franchise businesses cost $50,000 or more just for the franchise name. Some popular franchises cost $250, 000 to $750,000. According to Gaebler.com, “In addition to the upfront franchise fee, many franchisors also require an ongoing royalty fee. This fee is assessed on a percentage basis and usually ranges around 5% or 10%. In return for paying the royalty fees, you receive the benefits associated with national marketing campaigns, ongoing training, and territory rights.”

Now add on the real estate cost to purchase or rent the space for the business location. Add on the cost of the inventory and equipment. Of course you will also have overhead: utilities, office equipment and supplies, employees, and marketing before you can even open your doors.

Entrepreneurial thinking is wonderful but it will require careful planning and execution to turn it into a reality.

Buying an existing brick and mortar business will have very similar costs. Purchase price, building, overhead, inventory and equipment, office equipment and supplies, employees and marketing.

You can start a brick and mortar business rather than purchasing an existing business. In this case, there will be more costs and a slower start because the name and business are unknown. You do not already have an established customer base.

Either a franchise or a brick and mortar business will require you to work away from home at least 5 and probably 6 or 7 days a week. Initially, there will be very long hours. I know; I have owned brick and mortar businesses.

Can a franchise or brick and mortar business be successful and profitable? Absolutely, but there is a high cost in terms of start up capital and labor hours.

In the situation of our case study, this is not an option. The monetary cost is too high. So what choice do you have if you have limited resources? Yes, there is a solution. Stay tuned for the answer tomorrow.

Come join me at www.Elaine4Success.com for assistance in designing your perfect situation.

“Build it and they will come,” “See it, believe it, achieve it,” and “We get not what we want or deserve, but what we expect.”

Ever heard any of these expressions? Positive, encouraging and idealistic to be certain but there is also a significant truth component. Despite all of the warm fuzzy feelings, very little will be accomplished until there is a firm decision to take action. The decision comes first, the positive attitude and expectation follow.

No, of course nothing happens unless you take action. Step three must be solid action.

Positive thoughts, affirmations and picturing the success in your mind are all aids to success. True. Until you take action, all of those are little more than a view of the world through rose colored glasses.

While you are dreaming, visualizing and pontificating, the world has a view through smog stained, smudged glasses. The world’s view is not quite so clear and rosy. Reality stands up and declares that until you take positive, consistent and constructive action, it is little more than a daydream. Dream away your life if you choose, but if you really want positive results, you will open your eyes, push up your sleeves and apply your fingers to the keyboard or pen.

Make a specific list of all of the factors as they currently exist. How much money do you have available to start the new project? How much money will it require for office supplies, marketing, telephone, vehicle, office space and accounting software? What other potential expenses do you anticipate? Planning and preparation avoid those ugly “Oh no, I never thought about THAT.” Can you anticipate everything? No, of course not. The more your think and plan in writing, the better. Talk to other successful people in your industry; ply them with questions. Consider asking, “What is it that I have not asked but should have asked you?” Read, study and observe other successful people.

Be extremely specific about the goals you choose to reach. Quantity of sales, gross dollars generated, net dollars generated, and a detailed description of how the successful project or company will appear. Fix the image in intricate detail in your mind. Know exactly what you expect your success image to resemble.

If your success image is a specific new house, then make the image so real that you could actually bump your elbow on the marble mantle and feel the texture of the cool stone.

To truly create a Millionaire Blueprint, you must have 3 distinct entities clearly described.
1. Where are you right now?
2. Exactly how will you plan to go from where you are now to your ultimate goal
3. Picture in intricate detail the ideal goal.

Unless you know where you are, how you plan to make the transition and when you choose to arrive, you have one leg tied to a tree and you are spinning around in little circles. It is like a rocking chair. It is moving but it is not going anywhere.

We have covered the initial criteria for steps one and three. Once you are clear and honest about your current situation and gleefully clear about your goal, you are now ready to formulate a plan to take yourself from start to finish.

For specific personalized help in quantifying your details and clarifying each point, join me at www.Elaine4Success.com. I can take you from Panic to Power.

Want to make it easier on yourself to get out of bed in the morning?        How would it feel to be excited about your work?  Imagine being more excited about Monday morning than Saturday morning?

You will always be more productive, more profitable and more emotionally satisfied when you are working in your passion.  When you are passionate about what you do for a living, it is easier to get out of bed in the morning.  You are actually eager to get to the office.  Does that feel like traveling in a foreign land without a map to you?  If being happy about your career is totally foreign to you, then it is time to seriously examine your career choice.

Remember as a child how you had wild and wonderful dreams about how life could be when you grew up?  What happened to that childish wonder and excitement?  As a child did you imagine yourself as wealthy?

Examine your wealth builders blueprint.  Did you forget to even make one or is it covered with years of dust?  Unfortunately, it is probably not gold dust.  Time to dust it off and reinvigorate your dreams.  Your dreams are the first step in your wealth builders blueprint.

What is a dream anyway?

D – Decide what you truly want

R – Refine it down to a specific goal

E – Examine all of the factors involved in making it come true

A – Action plan to achieve

M – Maintain consistent, persistent, focused action

Deciding what you truly want can be accomplished by paying close attention to your energy.  When do you feel the most invigorated and inspired?  What are you doing when time just flies by without glancing at the clock every five minutes or having the overwhelming urge to jump up and get another cup of coffee?  When do you feel the greatest sense of satisfaction?  Where does your mind wander to in your daydreams?  All of these are clues as to your passion – your area of highest productivity, profitability and satisfaction.

Refining all of these thoughts, activities and “what if” ideas into the one most important goal is a process.  Be careful not to talk yourself out of your dream by saying it can’t happen.  Approach the process as if EVERYTHING is possible.  When you want something badly enough and really focus on it, there is usually a way to achieve it.  Napoleon Hill said, “What the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve.”

Examine all of the factors involved.  Do you need more training?  Do you need to tap into a positive mastermind group who share your quest for achieving a dream?  Careful, no bar room benefactors, they tend to be negative; they are dream stealers.  Look at finances, education, and skills.  You will have to move.  Move your mind in a new direction; move your time priorities; move your seat off the couch and into action.

Form an action plan with step by step activities to move you constantly toward your goal.  It may not be fast but keep checking to be certain you are on course.  Revisit the plan frequently and be certain you have not veered off course.

Maintain consistent, persistent and focused action all headed toward the achievement of the goal.  This means daily.  Your dream becomes a 24-7-365 focus.  You dream about its accomplishment at night, take action on it during the day and daydream about how your life will feel when you are successful.

A wealth builders blueprint starts with a dream.  Live the life you desire and deserve.

Is your net worth sinking from the black into the red?  Is your wallet shrinking right along with your confidence while you eat out of tension and your waistline goes the other direction?  What you want is a tensionectomy?  I’ll let you in on a little secret.  Shhhh.  Having the right non-conflict of interest information at the right time and knowing what action to take plumps your wallet and strengthens your self confidence.

Wealth creation strategies require passion, perseverance and a commitment toward permanent improvement.  Get rich quick schemes are for the foolish, lazy and perhaps unethical.  Serious wealth creation strategies require a mindset change.  If your current mindset would create a path toward wealth, you would already be rich.

Millions of people invest hundreds of thousands in college, various schools and classes every year.  Americans, and now the world need solid, accurate financial information.  How much are you willing to invest in yourself to receive honest, non-conflict of interest education about how to earn more money and make better choices with the money you do have?

The alarm bells are ringing all over the world now.  The euro is screaming in terror as its debt level rises to flood stage and it is swimming in a sea of red ink.  The US Dollar has been drowning in its own red ink for months now and the massive bailouts are causing it to go down for the third time.  Pouring in more debt, red ink, to an already overflowing debt level only intensifies the problem.

Now since we are doing such a terrible job of managing our own economy, we have decided to expand this disastrous flood stage economic model to Europe, Portugal, China and any other poor soul who decides to listen.  Increasing debt far beyond what can ever be repaid makes no sense.

Hello, bankruptcy.  When your debts far exceed your current and future income, you are bankrupt.  Running the printing presses to flood the market with deflated dollars is like tying a big rock to your wallet and expecting it to float to the surface.  What are we doing to ourselves?  Even worse, what are we doing to future generations?

Wealth creation strategies require making wise decisions with current money and becoming wealth builders for the future.

1. Stop buying things you can not afford with money you do not have to impress people who do not care.
2. Start taking your financial education from people who want to educate you rather than sell you the latest and greatest “get rich quick” scheme.  Real wealth does not happen overnight.  It is a mindset of wise decisions at the right time backed by action.
3. Stop jumping on every fad that floats through the media.  Pet rocks are long gone.

The US economy and the world economy are changing rapidly.  If you go with the flow of the masses, you will go down with the masses.  By the time information floats down through the spin artists from the top of Wall Street through the media and talking heads down to main street, it is far too late to act on it.  Come learn the facts.

Join me at http://www.elaine4success.com/ and get honest non-conflict of interest information.

Would you order a truck load of building materials, a backhoe to dig the foundation, and no blueprint for the structure?  Of course not, that would be foolhardy.  No one in their right mind would spend thousands on materials and equipment without a specific blueprint for success.  Most people spend months designing the perfect structure.  Building departments and homeowner associations need to approve the plans as well.  The blueprint details exactly what materials are needed and exactly how they will be assembled.  The larger or more complicated the structure, the more elaborate the blueprints.

Unfortunately it is quite common for people to start a business without any blueprint for success whatsoever.  The more common delusion follows a pattern of:

1. Buy a business on emotion.  Most people buy on emotion rather than logic.  Accountants and engineers are more likely to buy on logic and analytics; however, it is generally accepted that most people purchase on emotion.  Frank Rumbauskas of “Sales Tips and Advice” declares that “People buy on emotion and justify with logic.”  The fact that emotions overrule logic explains why experienced sales people sell based on benefits rather than selling based on features.  “Don’t tell me what it does.  Tell me what it will do for me.”
2. Now that I have a company, what do I do with it?  It is like the dog chasing cars.  It seems like fun at the time but they have absolutely no idea what to do with it if they ever caught it.

My suggestion is set your goals.  What income do you desire to make?  Set a specific blueprint for success to map out the road from where you are to your desired goal.

1. One of the major elements of your blueprint for success will be your marketing plan.  What funds do you have available for your marketing budget?  What marketing skills do you possess?  What marketing skills do you need to learn?  Marketing either requires time or money.  A small marketing budget means you had better plan on spending much more time.  Which do you have more of, time or money?  A larger marketing budget means that you can advertise in more expensive but less time consuming venues.

Social network marketing, web 2.0, is quite inexpensive financially but extremely time consuming.  Google pay per click requires far less time once it is all set up and rolling; however, it is one of the most expensive forms of marketing.

1. Once your business has been purchased, your exact path to success determined, your marketing established, and your leads flowing, you need to follow up with those leads.  Until you are consistently making 10,000 per month, I recommend following up with every leads.  Personally, I like to talk to my people so I still call every lead possible within the time frame available for prospecting.  Each lead also receives both a personal email and a series of autoresponders.  Any lead, potential business partner, who attends a business presentation also receives another follow up call and email. The serious individuals are then taken to a 3 way call for third party validation; the 3 way also assures the new individual that they will not have to answer questions when they get started.  The removal of the fear of answering questions eases many nervous minds and sweaty palms.

The blueprint for success is simply a step by step focused plan to take you from initial idea all the way through to money in your bank account.  For more specific tips and techniques or for assistance in designing and finalizing your personal blueprint for success, join me at http://www.elaine4success.com/.

You want to be an entrepreneur?  Great.  As one who is and has been psychologically unemployable for over 30 years, I personify the entrepreneurial mindset.

Making money from home requires a committed entrepreneurial mindset.  The characteristics of the entrepreneurial mindset are as different as the behavior of a rhinoceros and a cow.  The rhinoceros charges through the jungle breaking through shrubbery barriers on a direct mission toward the goal.  The cow stands in the field eating grass and waiting for hay to be brought to them when the grass is unavailable.  A rhino will go after the food rather than sitting around passively waiting for it to come to them.

Compare the rhinoceros mindset to the entrepreneurial mindset. The rhinoceros goes after the goal as does the entrepreneur.  The cow performs the basic duties required of it at the will and direction of someone else and expects the hay or grass to be presented to them.  The employee performs the duties required of them by the boss and expects the pay check to be delivered to them.

The entrepreneurial mindset has an overwhelming desire to create their own duties on their own time schedule and reap the significantly higher rewards of that extra individual effort.  By the same token, the entrepreneurial mindset accepts the responsibility of their decisions, good or bad.  The employee expects to receive the pay check on a regular basis regardless of the consequences of each individual decision; after all, it was not entirely their decision, it was either the decision of the boss or with the approval of the boss.

The rhino and the entrepreneur effect to receive the rewards of their efforts and the consequences of their actions.  Making money working from home requires the entrepreneurial mindset.  You are your own boss when you are an entrepreneur.

Another aspect of the entrepreneurial mindset is the constant drive to do better, do more and be more creative.  In order to be making money working from home, you absolutely must focus your mind on the task at hand.  Be creating, be willing to take a risk on a new marketing campaign or new marketing method, and be decisive.  No boss will be making the decision for you, nor do you want them to make decisions for you.  Look carefully at each option and make a decision.  Analysis paralysis will not be tolerated.  Time becomes an important commodity; time must be focused and used wisely, not wasted.  Wise time management is critical to making money working from home.

If you desire to be making money working from home, develop your entrepreneurial mindset and put it into action with focused time and effort.  The rewards will thrill you.

For more in depth tips and techniques for making money working from home, join me at http://www.elaine4success.com/.

In this world of few guarantees, rest assured that a successful entrepreneur is never ever lazy.  The entrepreneurial mindset seems to remain in motion.  One of the most difficult tasks for a successful entrepreneur is to turn off the flow of creative ideas.  There is always one more thing they want to do, one more advertising campaign to launch, and one more marketing strategy to explore.  If you were ever in their bedroom you would find a notepad on the night stand for those flashes of brilliance which awaken them in the middle of the night.

Another of the characteristics of successful entrepreneurs is their constant quest to do just a little better or do just a little more.  They are always seeking perfection.  This tendency to constantly tweak a logo or a brochure or even an office procedure can drive those around them to reach for the chocolate or the tenth cup of coffee.  Entrepreneurs may not always be easy to live with because of this constant drive.  We have even been called such names as “workaholic.”  Imagine that.

Yes, we immerse ourselves so fully in the task at hand that we forget to bring home the milk; time just flies by and the focus is on the project of the moment.  Don’t be frustrated with the entrepreneurial mindset; it is simply one of the characteristics of a successful entrepreneur.

Examine the entrepreneurial mindset and you will find a checkerboard.  Each task has its own individual square; however there is also the larger puzzle of making each square function to lead to the ultimate goal of becoming a king.  Strategic individual moves, awareness of the moves around them, and target focus on the ultimate goal are all working simultaneously.

The entrepreneurial mindset is complicated but invigorated at all times.  This moving, thriving energetic mind is one of the characteristics of successful entrepreneurs.

Another characteristic will be the ready smile and the excitement for life.  It is not uncommon to find another characteristic of successful entrepreneurs to be rising early and retiring to bed late.  It is that “one more thing to do” thought pattern.

So if you call your successful entrepreneur and ask him to stop at the store on his way home from the office and he forgets to do so, just smile.  It is just one of the characteristics of a successful entrepreneur.  Bring them a cool beverage, a warm smile and forgiveness for the oversight.

“When you dare to dream, dare to follow that dream; dare to suffer through the pain, sacrifice, self-doubts and friction from the world.”

– Laura Schlessinger, talk-show host

What is it worth to you to have a reliable blueprint for success?  Think it is complicated?  Actually it is quite simple.

1. Find your passion
2. Convert that passion into the ideal business for you
3. Write out very specific, SMART, goals
4. Write a detailed business plan which takes you from your starting point to your victory line.
5. Take focused goal directed action toward your ultimate target
6. Constantly check your progress and make course adjustments on steps 3, 4, and 5 as needed.
7. Repeat until successful

Your blueprint for success is quite simple and logical; the problem is that it is not easy.

Your mind wanders to family activities, your feet wander out to the kitchen or the snack bar, and the lure of the internet tempts you to search for this or that rather than concentrate on work.

You flounder around like a fish out of water not knowing your true passion.  You spend endless hours, months and years working at something you do not like.  Why are you wasting your precious time?  Do you think you have no choice because you must make a living?  Are you paralyzed by fear of making a change?  Are you stuck in analysis paralysis?

Look deep into your soul and be objective.  If you keep doing what you have been doing where will you be five years from now?   In order to have a different result, you must do something differently.

Your blueprint for success in business is the same as your blueprint for success in your physical fitness or your weight.  You do not become physically fit by sitting on the couch watching an exercise program or reading an exercise book.  You become fit by repeatedly performing specific exercises designed for your fitness goals.  You release weight (don’t want to lose it because you might find it again) by carefully planning the right foods to pass from your hand to your open mouth and then consuming only those foods.

Finding your passion is the essential first step to the process.  What activities inspire you?  What are you doing when you feel most energized?  What are you doing when you feel the happiest?  There are specific exercises you can perform to locate your passion.  These are a start in the right direction.

The next step is converting that passion into the ideal business for you.  Is it really possible?  Yes.  That conversion is more personalized.  Locating the perfect business for your passion encompasses the passion, the initial business investment budget, the time available to work the business, the ultimate goal and the ongoing budget.  Send me a comment in the “contact Elaine” section of http://www.elaine4success.com/ so that I may assist you.  Subsequent articles will cover steps 3 through 6.