Helping You Avoid Life's Financial Mistakes

Why You Need To Stumble To Move Forward

October 31, 2008 By 1 Comment

Have you ever made mistake?

I’m sure we all know of few times when we realized that we screwed up.  I can think of a few times inparticular.

In this post my outcome here is to show you that making mistakes are OK as long as you learn from them and keep moving forward toward your goals.

Don’t let mistakes run your life.

Before entering a career in financial services I had just gotten married and had already been making financial mistakes from day one.  I was buying things at random not even considering my cash flow or what I had.  Within a few years I had a timeshare, a couple of snowmobiles, and a mortgage.

Remember at this time I didn’t have a clue about money.

Then it hit me like a ton of bricks.  I woke up one day and realized that I had to deal with the mistakes that I had made and at first they were hard to admit but I finally had faced my fears.  A friend of mine who got me started in financial services helped me out putting me on the right track.

Today I have to admit that I am not where I want to be but I’m getting closer everyday.  This inspired me to  get started in financial services.  I figured if it didn’t work out I would at least get an education in how money works, something I didn’t have.

Your mistakes

After that point I realized a few things:

  1. Mistakes are a part of life.
  2. Don’t be afraid to make them.

It was at that point that I realized that mistakes are a natural part of life and how we learn things.  Imagine, if I didn’t make those mistake I wouldn’t have been inspired to get into financial services, to learn more about how money works, how to run a business, or even to start this blog.

It’s odd how life sends you down some interesting roads.

Mistakes are what makes us better.

Even though we may have made mistakes with are money and in are personal lives that doesn’t mean that we are failures.  With every mistake that we make is one more chance that we have to learn from it and get better.

On the other end of the stick though don’t try to be a perfectionist.  I notice this out of a lot of people especially business owners.  They try everything not make a mistake and when they do they put themselves down by criticizing there mistakes.  Eventually to the point were they believe they can do no right.

Call to action.

Now it’s your turn to act.  Here are a few ways you can make less mistakes.

  • Educate yourself on what you are trying to achieve and you will be likely to make less mistakes.  If you would like to make less mistakes with your finances sign up for my RSS and also check the blogs on my blogrollto grow your knowledge.
  • Start a To Do List.  I like to call this my actions list.  I use this a lot of times to get my mind off the mistakes I make and keep me focused on moving forward.

Last, what financial mistakes have you made?  If you would like to share them leave a comment at the bottom of this post.

 

 

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3 Part Time Businesses You Can Start Today

October 24, 2008 By 2 Comments

Do You Want Financial Independence?

If you would ask this question to almost anyone they would give you an empathic “YES!”  I can relate.  Achieving financial independence has been in my blood since I started my first business. 

Just to recap quick last week I posted an article Why you should start a part time business about what I learned about my first part time business opportunity and what you can learn from starting your own part time business.  This article is a good place to start.

In this weeks article my outcome is to show you a few business opportunities that are low barrier and low cost to start.  There may be more business opportunities out there like the one Isaac told me about running a vending machine business from home.  

What will these opportunities give you?

  • A new way to fund your get out of debt program.  Starting a part time business will allow you to fund your debt plan and if you already have one you can apply the extra money you earn to get you out of debt quicker.
  • A new way to build financial security.  You can also use this money to fund your emergency fund, buy extra insurance you may need, or put money back for your retirement.
  • Finally it can also be a great way to achieve financial independence.  If your looking to build a business that will give you recurring income this is also a great place to start.

Last thing before I go on.  Starting a part time business is a great way to earn extra income but I recommend that you don’t start any business expecting income immediately.  Instead keep a steady full time job while you get your business off the ground.  This way you aren’t rushed to do it and you won’t be pressured as much to show results.

Now that that’s out of the way lets move on.

Low Barrier Part Time Businesses

  • Blogging.  Out of the 3 this is the simplest to start and lowest investment of all of them.  All you have to buy is a domain name and some hosting space and your up and running.  OK, it not that simple but you get my drift.  If you would like to learn more about this opportunity here is a great free video tutorial to get you started.
  • Financial Services.  This is where I started my first part time business.  However this opportunity will require little bit more of an investment for licensing and getting you started in there company.  Though one thing I feel that this opportunity will give you is an education on how to run a business.  Usually at no cost to you.  If you have an interest in this you can contact me and I’ll give you more info on this. 
  • Affiliate Marketing.  This opportunity allows you to sell products from different companies usually on the internet.  This is similar to blogging but you aren’t constantly putting post up you are marketing products on your website.  Here is a great place to learn more about this.

Other Part Time Business Opportunities

You may be wondering what other ideas there are.  Well this is where it is up to you.  I am starting a new section on my website dedicated to helping you find a part time business opportunity. 

This is where you come in.

If you know of a business opportunity that you would like me to post on my website let me know.  You can either leave me a comment at the end of this post or you can contact me here. 

The business opportunity must be legit, the investment should be minimal, and also be able for someone to start part time.  If you would like me to add an opportunity send me some info so I can review the opportunity.

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Why You Should Start A Part-Time Business

October 17, 2008 By 10 Comments

The Beginning of Your Financial Independence

I know I haven’t spent a lot time discussing financial independence but I hope do so as things progress.  The reason I haven’t though is because I felt I haven’t truly reach financial independence.  Though that doesn’t mean I won’t talk the things I’ve learned along the way.

In this post though my outcome is to show you that starting a part-time business is your first step to becoming financially independent.

My First Part Time Business

In 2004 I started my first part-time business in financial services.  A friend of mine who had been in the business for several years presented the opportunity to me.  At that time I didn’t know anything about financial services, insurance, or investments.

The first few years in the business I didn’t make much progress at all but I kept after it and after five years I managed to end up with a handful of clients and little bit of money.  Though after those years of being in financial services I didn’t make much money but I did learn 2 very important lessons.

  1. I learned how to run a business.  You can go to school for many years to learn how to manage and run a business by reading a few books and taking a class or two is nothing compared to getting some real world experience.  The great thing about this education is that I didn’t pay one cent for it.  That’s the great thing about starting a part time business.
  2. I learned how to manage my money.  Before I got into financial services I knew nothing about saving my money or where to save it or how to pay off my debt.  People can pay top dollar to get the education I did but it didn’t cost me a dime.

When You Need To Start A Part Time Business

You can start a part time business any time you want.  In fact it’s easier than ever.  With all the opportunities out there you won’t have much trouble.  I will share a few ideas with you at the end of this article.  However I must warn you though research the opportunity before you decide on any particular one there are some bad scams out there.

Starting a part time business allows you to have a full time job while you are running your part time business.  This way you can build up your business until you have enough cash flow to switch to a full time position. 

Another reason you should start a business is if you have debt.  You might be thinking this would be the worst time but allow me to elaborate.  When your in debt this is the best time start a part time business because you can learn what it takes without taking the big risk and also raise some money to pay off some debt, fund that emergency fund, or even save for your kids college education.  There are a lot of thing you could do with this money.

At any rate the clear idea here is to take action.  Don’t delay.  Those that want to succeed will take this step and go for it.  So why don’t you be one of them.

What Kind Of Part Time Business Opportunities Are There?

Before I get into what ideas are out there I should say that there two ways to go about this. 

  1. Start your own business.  Start a business that you would like to do.  For example I know a guy who started his own taxidermy business and he is seeing some great success from this.  However I don’t recommend this route for any new people who want to start a business because you may become frustrated easily and quit before you really see any success.
  2. Join a business.  When you join a business or what is called a business opportunity you generally pay a fee (usually a couple hundred dollars) and they will take care of everything from training to helping you grow your business.  This is my suggested route for those who have never run a business before.

Where I Would Start

These are a few of my ideas but you may know of more.

  • Start your own blogging business.  This is very easy to do and has a low barrier to entry.  Just a few bucks a month.
  • Financial Services.  This is where I got started learning how to run a business, manage money, and do sales.  I wouldn’t be where I am today if I hadn’t jumped on this opportunity.
  • Affiliate Marketing.  This is where you set up a website to sell products on the Internet.  This is again a low barrier to entry and if you work at you can make some great money too.

Are you considering starting a part time business?  What kind of business would you like to start?  Let me know what you would like to do.  I will also be doing a sequel to this article next week to go more in depth on the 3 business I have given you. 

Until then.

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