How to Create a Business Plan That Leads to Real Money

by MD

Are you one of those people that gets caught up with planning and ends up doing nothing? Do you do too much and plan not enough?

We all fall under one of those categories when it comes to starting a business, making money on the side, or crushing student credit card debt. They say that an ounce of action is worth more than a ton of theory. Then there’s also the argument that if you fail to plan, you plan to fail.

One thing that I’ve struggled with is creating an actual business plan. I’ve always been a fan of working hard and making money. I just never outlined a clear process for doing so. I guess you could say that I treated free as a business model. In reality, free is not a business model by any stretch of the imagination. You don’t have to ready any sort of business plans for dummies book to realize that you need a clear outline for how you plan on making money.

I always figured that if you build it, they will come. I thought that starting an online business was about putting out a well-designed blog and propping it up with high quality articles. Then somehow the money would come on. Right?

In late-2010 I had to create a formal business plan for a course that was coincidentally titled, “Creating a Business Plan.” I was supers-stoked about this because at this point I had been blogging for a few years and I had already dabbled in a few business ideas. I had always wanted to prepare a business plan. The opportunity never came along.

My excitement quickly turned into the same mundane feeling that I got with every random random business project. We were forced into groups of four by the professor (chosen randomly) and then given topics on a first come, first served basis. I didn’t get to work on anything cool in other words.

I’ve written about excelling in tough college courses before, so I wasn’t a stranger to doing well in courses I didn’t care for. However, one of the main reasons that students fail college is that they choose the wrong courses. This is what happened to me. I thought that I was going to get to create an innovative and useful idea that I could share with the world. Instead I was stuck with some arbitrary product with a group of people that just wanted to get by. At the end of the semester, I learned how to put together a 100 page business plan for the sake of getting a decent mark in the class. I didn’t know how to create a business plan that actually made real money.

How can you design a business plan that leads to real money?

I realized that the whole business plan came down to a few key concepts. I ended up taking online courses, attending conferences, and reading every single book on the topic and related areas. I eventually came to an understanding of what a true business plan is all about.

If you want to create your own business plan that makes you real money, you need to answer the following questions:

  • What will your product be? This can be your time (consulting), a physical good, or a digital item.
  • How will you sell it? You have the option of selling online, in person, and through various channels.
  • Who will you sell it to? Someone has to be willing to buy this product (target market).
  • How will your potential customers find out about it? You need to find a way to get the word out there (marketing).
  • How much will you charge? Have you determine your price yet? Free is once again not a business model.

You just have to be able to answer these questions if you want to write a business plan. If you want to prepare a business plan for yourself and not any formal funding, you just have to be able to answer these questions on your own. Once you answer these questions, you’ll have yourself a slick one-page kickstart for your brand new business idea.

I just wanted to mentioned one more thing before we part ways today. As I’m reading through the $1000 Startup book I found an interesting line on taking action:

“There’s nothing wrong with planning, but you can spend a lifetime making a plan that never turns into action.”

To make money with any freelancing idea you need to solve real problems where people are actually looking for solutions.

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How Much Should You Spend on Your Laptop?

by MD

I wrote about online business tools to help you get started a while back. I never really got into the most important tool of them all. That tool is your laptop.

I don’t know about you but I’ve brought my laptop everywhere and I use it all of the time. I’ve found myself blogging in Budapest, Cracow, Puerto Plata, and many other random places. I use my laptop to make the majority of my income, to connect with friends/family, and to help young people with their finances. In other words, my laptop is really important to me. I now own an expensive MacBook Air that I never imagined buying prior to actually doing so.

Allow me to share a quick story of how I got my current laptop…

When I was a student I lived on a student budget as you could imagine. At this time in my life I was interested in cheap laptops. I spent $500 on a laptop in 2008 and I thought I was set. I don’t play video games or anything, and I really just needed something for web browsing and school work.

When I was travelling through Europe last September I kept on experiencing the same problem consistently. My damn laptop was too heavy. This $500 laptop was a brick that weighed more than a stack of textbooks in my travel bag. It was annoying, but I didn’t want to spend more money on a new laptop. That is until the day I had to.

One day in Budapest I went to the coffee shop to get on and do some blogging. My laptop wouldn’t start. No problem, right? Wrong. The laptop completely died. Some dude at my hostel took a look at it and explained to me that I was out of luck. I knew that I needed a new laptop. I just wasn’t sure of what to do.

Instead of doing the smart thing and shopping around for bargains, I did the complete opposite. I walked to the Apple Store in town and bought myself a brand new MacBook Air with my credit card without even thinking twice. Not a wise move for someone that writes about dealing with your student credit card.

As much as I love my new laptop I do realize that I could’ve been a lot smarter about it.

How much should you spend on your laptop?

I’ll say that it depends on what you use it for. I don’t know anything about gaming. I do imagine that you might want something a little more expensive if you plan on playing games though. On the flip side, as a college student looking to go on Facebook and get some last minute assignments done, you can easily just buy a cheap laptop and save your money for something else.

I don’t want you to convince yourself that you need an expensive laptop just because you plan on starting an online business. If you want to start freelancing or making money on your own, you don’t have to buy anything right now. Don’t be fooled into thinking that you need an expensive laptop with fancy business cards. A cheap laptop with a strong work ethic will get you further ahead.

I’m just curious…

How much did you spend on your first laptop? What’s the most that you’ve ever spent on a laptop or any other piece of technology?

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Motivational Quotes to Help You Gain Momentum Right Now

by MD

Motivational quotes. I love them. Daily motivational quotes are just a simple reminder that you need to stay focused.

I wanted to share some inspirational quotes that I turn to when I need a quick pick up. If you want to enter our challenge to increase your freelancing income or if you just want to get some momentum going, I recommend you continue reading on.

What are the best motivational quotes?

“Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose.” — Steve Jobs

When you’re worried about going after your goals, you need to remind yourself that you’re going to be gone one day. This really helps me put things into perspective. No mater how badly your fail or fall on your face, it won’t matter. There’s nothing to really be afraid of. For example, if working a second job helps you pay down your student credit card debt, then don’t let your pride get in the way.

“When you believe in a thing, believe in it all the way, implicitly and unquestionable.” — Walt Disney

I’ve been guilty of not being full behind my ideas. In the end, others can tell and my results suffer. If you want to start an online business or get an A on your final paper, you need to be behind your argument all of the way. Why go half way? The only point of starting anything is to finish.

“Speak slowly. Such a simple thing, but it can have a big difference in how others perceive you. A person in authority, with authority, speaks slowly. It shows confidence. A person who feels that he isn’t worth listening to will speak quickly, because he doesn’t want to keep others waiting on something not worthy of listening to.” — Leo Babauta

Slow down. Why rush? This is one of the best motivational quotes because it forces you to be conscious of how you speak and interact with others. If you have something to say, then say it. Don’t be afraid.

“Know yourself. Choose the right medium, choose the right topic, create awesome content, and you can make a lot of money being happy.” — Gary Vaynerchuk

It really is that easy to make money doing something that you enjoy. You just need to get started, pick up some momentum, and continue on. My friends have told me that paying down debt is all about seeing results and then pushing harder to pay off more of it.

“In a race, sooner or later there’s a moment that separates the winner from those who don’t win. That instant is your chance, the moment you’ve been waiting for.” — Seth Godin

Your opportunity will come. You just need to be out there working and going after your goals. You won’t get a job if you don’t apply just how you won’t see results if you’re not testing out different ideas.

“The safest way to double your money is to fold it over once and put it in your pocket.” — Kim Hubbard

You can try to make money fast. You’ll quickly learn that the only people that get rich quick are those that win the lottery and celebrities that make sex tapes.

“Innovation comes from entrepreneurs and others who are willing to accept risk and try new things.” — Chris Guillebeau

You know the deal by now. The greater the risk, the greater the reward.

“The more specific you are about what you want to do, the easier it becomes to develop a strategy to accomplish it. Part of that strategy, of course, is establishing relationships with the people in your universe who can help you get where you’re going.” — Keith Ferrazzi

It’s that simple to land your dream position. What you know is just as important as who you know. Don’t be afraid of meeting new people. Don’t let your pride prevent you from asking for help.

Those are the best motivational quotes that I found recently. Did I missed any?

Are you ready to grab control of your life this week?

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Killer Business Ideas For High School Students For This Summer

by MD

Summer is almost here for high school students. That means it’s finally time to enjoy life without those boring classes and to sleep in until noon. Hopefully you pass all of your courses and don’t have to worry about summer school. Some high school students will want to use the summer to make some money to buy Diablo 3 or whatever you want to get your hands on.

When I was in high school I worked every single summer. I remember the summer after grade 10 I landed myself a few jobs and I worked pretty much every single day. I would work at the grocery store in the morning when I was called in, do lawn care work for elderly citizens whenever I was able to book the appointment for, and then referee soccer games in the evening. I rode my bike everywhere I went every single day. It’s safe to say that I got myself into pretty good shape that summer (I believe I actually had visible abs).

One of my regrets from working summers in high school was that I never started my own business or allowed myself to pursue any entrepreneurial plans. I always took the easy path and worked traditional jobs instead of trying to create my own job.

I wanted to share a few quick, yet highly profitable business ideas for high school students:

Go online.

I’ve said this million times and I’ll mention it again. You can easily start an online business with almost no money down. You can create logos, design websites, create your content, offer tutoring, or create something totally innovative online these days. The beauty is that we all spend so much time online that it only makes sense to attempt to make some money while we’re on the computer already. I’ve covered this enough so I’ll leave it at this, it only costs a few dollars a month to sign up with Bluehost.

Landscaping work.

Every single lawn out there needs to be taken care of.

I was pretty much an independent contractor when I did lawn care work. I signed up with this firm that worked with senior citizens and they would give me the contact information of the ones that needed landscaping work done. I would then be responsible to set up appointments, do the work, learn how to do additional work, and then get paid.

I remember I thought I had it made when I found an elderly gentleman that just wanted someone to WATER HIS LAWN. I would get paid $7/hour to water his lawn for 2-3 hours a few times per week, while I got to read or just listen to music on my mp3 player. I thought the was the good life at the time.

Tutoring.

One of the best business ideas for students is tutoring because usually the parents pay for this service. In the summer time you can find younger students that either failed in a previous course or want to excel in a new course. Either way there’s money to be made from tutoring.

I shared in the past how my friend made $2,100 from tutoring his peers. You can check that post out for a more detailed guide on how the process of getting paid to tutor works.

Babystting.

Anyone with little children out there knows how expensive professionally child care is. This is why many parents are willing to find a young person in the community that they TRUST to watch over their kids while they go to work. Babysitting for money has been around probably as long as kids have been around for.

These are all simple ideas to help you get started right now. There’s nothing Earth shattering in this post. These are all ideas that you’ve heard of before. The reason I kept it simple is because you don’t always have to reinvent the wheel. You just need to keep the wheel spinning.

You also don’t necessarily have to start a business in high school or make money on your own. You can find a part-time job in your community at the grocery store (what I did).

“Dictionary is the only place that success comes before work. Hard work is the price we must pay for success. I think you can accomplish anything if you’re willing to pay the price.” — Vince Lombardi

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Not Another Frugal Mother’s Day Post

by MD

I’ve seen a lot of posts go up about frugal gift ideas for Mother’s Day and the like. I’m going to take a different stance here and ask, why be frugal on Mother’s Day? I’m not suggesting that you give in to the marketing hype, because I’m not a fan of Valentine’s Day or the idea of a Hallmark holiday. I obviously believe in saving money most of the time, but not always.

My parents have helped me out a lot in my life. From giving me a place to stay to helping me out with bills when money was tight. They came to Canada and always worked hard to give their kids a better life.

Now that I’m old enough and making money, I try to give them a better life in any way that I can. As soon as I started making money I’ve made an effort to give back to my family as much as I can.

Some of my favorite gifts for my parents include:

  • Sending them to the Bahamas two years ago.
  • Throwing a surprise party for their 25th wedding anniversary this year.
  • Sending my mom to a spa for most occasions.

Yes I do realize that money doesn’t buy happiness. I don’t want you using your credit card to buy things that you can’t afford. With all things being equal, who wouldn’t enjoy a tropical trip paid for by their kid?

If you don’t know where to start this Mother’s Day, I suggest that at the very least you send flowers!

If you have no money, you can keep it simple with breakfast in bed and getting off Facebook for the day. If you have some money, why not spoil your mom this year?

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