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This doesn't sound difficult, but could someone who makes a little more than minimum wage year round establish anything like that? If so, what would be the steps in detail? Also, is there a way to speed things up so that the person saving money accumulates more than $1M?
I knew a school janitor about a decade ago who retired with over $1M. If memory serves, he made about $10 per hour.
I think I would be well on my way to starting a successful business if I could do these four things.
1. Clearly state a plan or "vision" for my company.
2. Present information in a way that makes people want to come on board and help me.
3. Organize my operations to a fault and have a prescribed method for everything.
4. Present my company to my customers as an appetizing service that can meet many of their needs.
Did I leave anything out?
You have to figure out how to fund this venture. Also most businesses have low profit margins, for example the typical bar/restaurant/retail store. A professional business like Accounting, or IT services has higher margins, but requires experience in the field usually a decade. These are things to consider.
Having a bankable idea for business. While planning, detail, financing, and all that is good, you still need a pro=duct or service someone wants.
Amen. A family member with a brand new MBA collaborated with a couple classmates & professor to start a new business, invested significant amounts in the website, promotion, planning, social networking, etc. They did everything right except consider the fact that their new, unique, excellent product/service was not wanted - by anyone.
Amen. A family member with a brand new MBA collaborated with a couple classmates & professor to start a new business, invested significant amounts in the website, promotion, planning, social networking, etc. They did everything right except consider the fact that their new, unique, excellent product/service was not wanted - by anyone.
But you can't pay for the experience they gained... I love failure... love success more, but failure helps build success in business. Nothing like a hard lesson to make you get something right the next time. Better to get it right the first time though. lol
Obviously, the more you can save, the more money you will have over time, so a larger income definitely helps, IF you maintain a modest lifestyle. The problem with a lot of people is that their spending ramps up the more they make. But the papers often carry stories about blue collar working class folk who after they shuffle off our mortal coil end up having net worths of one million and more dollars. And no one around them had a clue.
So yes, it can be done on a low income. Start early, and invest at least 15% of your take home in low-cost index funds. If you can save more, do it. NEVER touch that money--do not panic during inevitable market corrections, but stay the course. Learn to pay yourself first, and you'll never notice the money. Live within your means on the remainder.
Statistically speaking, this strategy offers a greater chance of success than starting a business.
Quote:
Originally Posted by kmb501
This doesn't sound difficult, but could someone who makes a little more than minimum wage year round establish anything like that? If so, what would be the steps in detail? Also, is there a way to speed things up so that the person saving money accumulates more than $1M?
Quote:
Originally Posted by JimRom
I knew a school janitor about a decade ago who retired with over $1M. If memory serves, he made about $10 per hour.
What intellectual property to you have, and how will you protect it?
What are your capital requirements, and where will it come from?
Who will be your suppliers and under what terms?
What are the resumes of your key employees?
What fellow travellers might you depend upon?
Who is your competition, and how will you beat them?
OK, I haven't actually written a business plan in several years, but you've got to cover these items as well (or convince yourself they don't matter).
In your list in your original post, you seem to place an emphasis on operational effectiveness. Note that there have been some scholarly articles published by business school professors that say that great companies have a focus on sales, or on marketing, or on operations - but not all 3. You seem to be choosing operations. Great operational companies that come to mind include FedEx & Intel & Walmart, for example. Yes, they do sales and marketing, but their key is operations. There are other companies that are great sales companies (Oracle), and great marketing companies (Apple).
But you can't pay for the experience they gained... I love failure... love success more, but failure helps build success in business. Nothing like a hard lesson to make you get something right the next time. Better to get it right the first time though. lol
Totally agree! Everyone I know who has a successful business, including me, had to go through at least one failure before we got it right.
It was just hard to sit back and watch so much cash wash away until they decided to close it down.
Totally agree! Everyone I know who has a successful business, including me, had to go through at least one failure before we got it right.
This is absolutely not the norm.......Plenty of successful businesses got it right on day 1.
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