Do You Have to Start Your Own Business?

by MD

We all talk about following your passions. I praise the idea of starting your own business. The dream these days is to start a business and travel the world. Those that want to start their own business are often glorified for being risk-takers. If you don’t start a business, you’re boring.

The thing is that there’s a simple problem here. Life isn’t all about starting a business or selling the dream. I don’t want to be trying to sell you guys dreams on here.

Do you have to start your own business? Not at all.

Making more money and being financially successful comes down to a few key concepts in my opinion:

It’s all about having that drive.

I love to meet people that have a certain type of drive. This could be the drive to get in better shape, learn a new language, be a super helpful person, or to save a certain amount of money by next year. Having that drive is essential for getting ahead financially.

Hunger isn’t only for the self-employed. You don’t need to be self-employed to be hungry for more. You can be just as hungry as you’re attempting to move up the ranks in your company, when you’re looking for your dream job, or when you’re trying to pay off your debt. We all have the ability to possess that drive.

You need to solve problems.

You don’t have to start a business or be self-employed to solve problems. Solving problems can be done in your regular 9-5 gig and in your everyday life. If you can “put out fires” or solve problems, you’ll find yourself ahead financially simply because too many people are busy running away from problems or avoiding them altogether.

You have to save your money.

To have more money in your bank account you simply need to save more money. Something as simple as improving your credit score could help you save thousands of dollars in the next few years. Switching bank accounts to a more helpful bank could simplify your financial system. You could even get back to the frugality basics and start preparing your own food. What I’m getting is that there are many ways that you can save more money without starting a business in attempt to become the next Mark Zuckerberg or to start the next Twitter.

You don’t have to start a business. You don’t have to chase the dream. You can keep on living your life the way that it is if you’re happy with what you’re doing. You can stay at your job. You don’t have to travel the travel.

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What Can You Do With $100 Right Now To Change Your Life?

by MD

“I have far more respect for the person with a single idea who gets there than for the person with a thousand ideas who does nothing.” – Thomas Edison

I saw that Chris Guillebeau is releasing another book shortly all about the $100 startup. I haven’t read the book so I can’t comment on it, but the title alone got me thinking.

I’m a huge fan of writing about what to do after college and I love to help you guys figure out what to do next. I wanted to look at what one could do with a $100 these days. Since most of us believe that you need money to make money, let’s see what can happen with a small sum of money.

What can you do with $100 right now to impact the rest of your life?

Start a blog/online business.

Some call it a personal blog, others call it an online business. Call it what you want, but I recommend that you start a blog right now. If you need any help at all, you can follow my 6 easy steps to starting an online business article. If you sign up for hosting with Bluehost and are still confused, then just contact me and I’ll help you launch your blog.

How can this small investment in a blog change your life forever?

  1. A new source of income.
  2. Meet new and interesting folks.
  3. A fun hobby.
  4. A reason to stay focused.
  5. Learn more about your favorite topic.

You can mock blogging or you can give it a try.

Take someone out for lunch.

One of the best ways to spend your money in your 20s is to network and go out with interesting people. There’s just so much that you can do on your own. You never know when just one person can change your life forever.

What are the benefits of taking some out out for lunch? 

  • Land a new job.
  • Career tips.
  • You help them.
  • You guys connect each other to someone else.
  • Have a good time.

Could this really change your life forever? You never know what the outcome of a simple lunch can be. The worst case scenario is that you have a full stomach and a few laughs over lunch. The best case scenario is that you get valuable carer advice that helps you land a new job or convinces you to switch gears.

Have you taken someone out for lunch recently?

Buy an eBook.

An eBook is a fascinating piece of information. Someone experiences something, writes about it, and then shares it with the world. You can then purchase this eBook from the person and change your life forever by applying the content to your own life. You learn a world of information on a brand new topic without having to make any of the same mistakes on your own. How can you go wrong?

With that being said, you can grab my eBook on how you can completely conquer your credit. I guarantee you that this tiny investment could help you save thousands of dollars over the next few years.

That’s what you can do with $100 right now to change your life forever.

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What Should You Do Your First Month Out of College?

by MD

The time has finally passed you by. Those four years are done. You now have a college degree. You’re ready to enter the “real world” or whatever the next step is for you. You’re done with college and you’re debating what to do next. You have so many options. You have the rest of your life ahead of you. What do you do next? How do you figure out what to do after college?

Let’s look at what you should you do your first month out of college to crush your finances from the very beginning…

Figure out your debt situation.

How much money do you owe? Did you pick up a student credit card? Did you rack up the student debt? The first thing that you need to do is to determine what your debt is like. It’s important that you know how much money you owe so that you know where you stand. This will also determine your next few moves.

It’s going to be tough to be care free if you owe tens of thousands of dollars to your student credit card and student debt. On the other hand, if you don’t owe that much money, you’ll have some interesting options at your disposal.

Find a part-time job.

My first suggestion for income is to find some sort of source of money coming in. This can be a simple part-time gig in your community or side work in your field. All that matters is that you slowly get your foot in the door to start making some moves. It’s also important that you have money coming in to deal with debt/save up. This is also the ideal option for those of you not impressed with the average starting salary.

Shouldn’t you try to find a full-time job right off the bat? You might be thinking that it’s counter-productive to find a gig that’s not totally steady. My logic here is that you don’t want to tie yourself up with a full commitment. You want to consider getting your foot in the door, without committing all of your free time right off the bat. Time is highly valuable in your 20s. It’s not always the best decision to take the first job that comes your way.

Get ready to work.

I know that you just finished school. I know that you’re tired of reading and the student lifestyle. You need to understand that finishing school isn’t the end of the road for you. Just because you’re done with school for now it doesn’t mean that the work is done. You’re going to work more now, so don’t be afraid of work.

Take a few days off.

As important as it is to work, find a job, and figure out how much money you owe, it’s equally as important to take a few days off. If you’re anything like me, this means that you’re going to get completely wasted and then have to worry about dealing with your hangover for the next few days. That’s all cool. There’s no hard in taking a few days off in your first month out of college.

Think about your next steps with your education (if applicable).

“If you’re not sure what you’re going to be doing, it probably bodes well to take some job, if you can get one, and get a sense first of what you want from college.” — Richard Freeman, Harvard economist

I personally don’t plan on going back to school just yet. That’s partially because I’m too greedy and I want to try to make it on my own. However, if you can’t get work in your field due to a lack of qualifications, you might want to start looking into graduate school funding options.

That’s how you can conquer your first month out of college. You don’t have to follow all of these steps. These are a few tips that you should consider as you look into what you want to do after college.

Are you ready to crush your first month out of school?

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Does Your Bank Account Really Matter?

by MD

For some reason most of my friends have their money with the same bank account (not that many options in Canada). The other day when I pulled out my debit card to buy something, my friend noticed how I had a strange orange looking card (it’s ING Direct). This led to a quick chat about banking and I explained why I’m with ING Direct (no fees and easier to use).

This reminded me of how I asked you guys about your bank account a few days ago. It got me thinking about personal finance, banking, and the bigger picture when it comes to saving money.

Does your bank account really matter? Does it matter where you store your money?

Yes it does. Allow me to explain myself.

Why does it matter where you keep your money?

Save more money.

It all comes down to keeping more money in your pocket at the end of the day. If you sign up with a bank account that respects your money and doesn’t nickel-and-dime you, you can save more money. You’ll save money by spending less of it on fees and by enjoying the higher interest rates. For me, saving money is important when it comes to something like banking. That’s more money to spend on other areas of life.

Get things under control.

I like to compare personal finance to fitness. Your banking account is like your gym membership. Why be a member at a crappy gym? You want to be apart of something innovative and great. You wouldn’t join a gym that hit you with hidden fees, would you? Imagine paying a flat rate monthly rate and then getting charged every time that you go because there’s a gym limit?

It all comes down to getting things under control. You won’t enjoy working out if you hate your gym. You won’t care about saving money if banking frustrates you.

The bigger picture.

As I hinted at earlier, it all comes down to the bigger picture here. Sure it’s only a few dollars a month that you save. You could get this money back by working more hours or finding a part-time gig. You’re not going to go poor because of banking fees. It just all comes down to the bigger picture. It’s all about building the habit of saving money and demanding respect for your money. Why pay fees if you don’t have to? Why get ripped off?

If you want to make some changes you should switch bank accounts right now. Something like this only takes a few hours of your time. Once you take care of your banking situation, you can move on with the rest of your life. Your bank account is just one minor aspect of your life. The sooner you deal with it, the sooner you can move on with other stuff.

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When to Persevere and When to Pivot

by MD

Everyday is a struggle at a startup: clients aren’t closing, cash is running low, the product is buggy; the battle seems to never end. This is to be expected, and an entrepreneur needs to persevere through the tough times to get to the good.

But what if the tough times never end? What if your target audience just doesn’t want your product? What if your target audience wants the product, but doesn’t want to pay for it?

When do you persevere, and when do you pivot?

It’s impossible to predict the future. As an entrepreneur, it’s important to take a look at the social factors, economic factors, and technology factors in your industry to determine when it’s time to pivot.

Fab.com originally launched as a social network mash-up for the gay community. The team pivoted 11 months later and has since skyrocketed in growth and sales.

Instagram was originally a mobile application with a feature for filtering photos. They pivoted to focus purely on the photo aspect of their product, and 2 years later, they sold for $1 billion.

Andrew Warner of Mixergy originally launched the company as a startup-event community. He later focused on original educational content for entrepreneurs and has since seen great success.

The list can go on and on. For this post, we will focus on my startup pivot, why we did it, and how it has led us to success.

The original product.

RewardMe originally launched as the easiest way for SMBs to create a rewards program. We utilized a QR code at the point of sale to determine if a customer was at the location. Customers earned points for a visit and could redeem a reward via our mobile application.

Social factors that lead to our pivot.

We quickly realized that it’s EXTREMELY hard to get customers to download an app in-store. Furthermore, only 2 out of 10 customers have an iPhone or Android, and even less know what a QR code is and how to scan it.

Because businesses viewed us as a 3rd party application, they always asked us the same question, “how many users do you have?” They believed it was our job to get them customers, not their job to use our product to get loyal customers.

Economic factors that lead to our pivot.

SMBs don’t have a lot of extra money to spend.  They understand traditional advertising such as newspaper or penny-saver ads, but are completely new to mobile and app marketing. We quickly found that SMBs were not looking to pay for a product that created loyal customers; they want a product that will bring them new customers – like Groupon.

Furthermore, SMBs don’t like to give away free items – it cuts into their margins and they’re very wary of anything that makes them “lose” money.

Technology factors that lead to our pivot.

QR codes were fun and novel at one point, but weren’t massively adopted. Relying on a fading technology could lead to very poor positioning in the market.

The technology also did not have anything defensible – it was too easy for competitors to copy with a me-too product.

Our pivot: enterprise digital loyalty platform

Social pivot: we built a loyalty platform for the iPad, allowing ALL customers to join – not just smart phone users.

Economic pivot: we built an enterprise-level loyalty platform targeting restaurant franchises instead of SMBs.  We found that franchises have the sophistication to understand how to use the valuable data collected with a rewards program.

Technology pivot: by creating software for the iPad, and syncing seamlessly with the POS systems, we created a technology that is patent-protected and extremely difficult to copy by competitors.

The next time you run into a crossroads at your startup, evaluate the social, economic, and technology forces in the industry. If all things point south, then it may be time to pivot in a new direction.

Jun Loayza is the Co-Founder of RewardMe, a digital rewards program for restaurants and retailers. In his entrepreneurial experience, Jun has sold 2 internet companies and lead social media technology campaigns for Sephora, Whole Foods Market, Levi’s, LG, and Activision.

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