No Money – No Problem

This question from a reader addresses a common concern:

Considering that my calling is going to involve a large pile of cash, how do I balance the principles that you teach about following your calling, and while keeping in mind the principals Dave Ramsey teaches, which include not taking on more debt? (For example, I feel that part of my calling is to build an outdoor roller hockey facility, which will have leagues, community events, and destination for after/year-round school programs. Obviously I will need to purchase a rink, among other things, to get started) – Matt, from North Carolina

No, no, no – you don’t need to “purchase a rink” to get started.  That would be a horrible risk with a brand new business.  Get an agreement with a school to use their parking lot on a Saturday.  You’ll have instant credibility and an audience because of being at the school and you can test your idea.  My oldest son was a bicycle racer for many years.  We organized and attended races all over the country that were set up in downtown business sections, in business office parking lots and rural roads.  The most popular “criterion” races took place on city streets, often right in the middle of a university.  No one would have dreamed of purchasing land for that kind of race.

Frankly, I’ve never had enough money to start a business – but I just went ahead anyway – with whatever resources I had available.  Here are a couple real examples from my past:

• Auto Appeal – pinstripping.    I ordered the supplies where I had 60 days to pay for them – I ordered about $300 worth of supplies for this business targeted at new car dealers.  I knew the supplies should not be more than 10% of any job.  So that $300 in supplies turned into $3000 in revenue with a $2700 net profit in the first month and I grew the business rapidly with the business profits funding the growth.
• Telephone Address Book.  I purchased a telephone/address book at a bookstore for $12.96 – still have that receipt.  Then I went to a church and offered to give them 1000 personalize copies of that telephone/address book with their church logo on the front cover.  In exchange, I asked them to give me the names of people they did business with – hotels, restaurants, insurance, etc.  I then gave those businesses the opportunity to highlight their business on the inside front and back covers.  That first project took me four days to complete and netted me $4600 after paying for the 1000 free personalized copies that I gave to the church.
• Self-publishing 48 Days to the Work You Love.  I did not have a fancy publishing deal when I first started.  Instead, I bought a few three-ring binders at Office Depot, had the inside text copied, recorded a little cassette to stick in the pocket and then sold over 50,000 at $39 each. (total cost $7.50 each)  That’s over $2 million – with start up costs of less than $100.

There are many such success stories I could share. I worked with a gentleman one time who bought an orange grove, using the existing oranges on the trees as his only down payment. Another purchased an old estate house, contracting to sell the antique furniture inside as his

down payment.  Several years ago I bought a house on a Saturday morning, gave the owner $3,000, took over the loan, did some cosmetic improvements, put it back on the market, and sold it for a $21,000 profit. Many of the best ideas today are not capital intensive. They don’t require buildings, employees, and inventory. Fear of failure is a much larger obstacle than the lack of money.

You can go ahead with your outdoor roller hockey business.  Just don’t try to convince yourself that your calling requires you to violate your personal principles.  That’s a compromise you never want to make.

More on No Money – No Problem in No More Mondays, chapter Eleven

The Eagles

I’m always thrilled when I see someone doing work – that is obviously their passion.  Work that is fulfilling – and profitable.

Last night I had the privilege of attending The Eagles concert here in Nashville.  This is part of their amazing Long Road out of Eden tour.  Dave and Sharon Ramsey booked a suite at the Sommet Center and invited us to join them and a few other friends for this night of a lifetime of memories.

I so often write about finding one’s passion and to see it in a bunch of 60-yr-old guys is not something you see every day.  These guys don’t appear to be “working” – they just look like they’re still having a whole lot of fun.  When they hit the 9-minute version of “Hotel California” the place erupted and they played it with the same intensity they did almost 40 years ago.

Could you imagine your daily “work” being that much fun?

Better to Try and Fail — or Fail to Try?

Last night I watched the 2007 movie Lions for Lambs with my son, Jared.  In this movie a brilliant but apathetic student asks his professor (Robert Redford), “Is there any difference in trying but failing, and simply failing to try – if you end up in the same place anyway?”  He was attempting to justify taking the safe route; never really taking a stand or trying anything big.

What do you think?  Do you cringe at trying something big because of the possibility of failure?  What if you tried for the promotion but failed to get it, started a business but lost your investment, or tried a MLM system but got nothing other than a garage full of vitamins – are you somehow better off?  Or would your life have been better if you had avoided the hassle and the disappointment altogether? 

Yes, I hear from people every day who tried and failed.  One gentleman lost $11 million in a gas and oil business.  Another lost $3.2 million inherited from his grandmother in a failed retail clothing business.  Research shows that if you are under thirty years old, the chances that you will be fired in the next twenty years is 90 percent.  Bernie Marcus was fired from a job as manager of the Handy Dan Improvement Center, then went on to start Home Depot.  In 1988 I experienced a horrible “failure” in business – having to borrow a car to drive to start generating income again.  Should I have avoided the pain and anguish by taking a safer route, or was that experience the necessary catalyst for learning the principles that launched the success I enjoy today?  My friend Dave Ramsey lost his real estate business and suffered personal embarrasement after trying to become rich through his investments. Should he have taken a safer career path?

What has your life experience taught you about trying big things?  Have you learned to keep a low profile to avoid failure?  Or have you found that “failure” leads to bigger successes?

Work Hard (for yourself) and Get Rich

My friend Dave Ramsey sent me an article this morning.   He has already reviewed No More Mondays and knows my message about recognizing new work models.  In this article, J. Paul Getty responds to the question:  “How does one go about making a million dollars?”  He says that unless you happen to locate a sunken treasure galleon or break the bank at Monte Carlo, there is really ony one way to do it.  “By going into business for yourself.”  He goes on to encourage readers to “never mind the bogey of ‘unsettled work conditions’ as is often cited as a major factor preventing businessmen from achieving success.”  He says don’t worry about the “population explosion” or “widespread unemployment” in the trend toward automation.  Getty concludes that those fears are groundless and “the future is bright for those who are confident, imaginative, and energetic.”

Sounds like he’s reading today’s newspaper.  Actually this article was written in September of 1961 — that’s more than 46 years ago.  The same reasons are given today by people explaining why they’re trapped in jobs they hate.  Guess what — if you want more success, don’t wait for circumstances to change — just change yourself and get started.

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Here’s a J. Paul Getty quotation that will make you scratch your head:

Going to work for a large company is like getting on a train. Are you going sixty miles an hour or is the train going sixty miles an hour and you’re just sitting still?