In my experience, the top concern is always the start-up cost. No matter what the entry fee, people will act like they don’t have the money. But if you’re good at resolving concerns, you’ll find out whether or not it’s true. If it is, here are 12 ways to raise start-up money you can offer your prospects.

1. Find something to sell. In order to fully maximize my business, I sold my Jeep. It gave me the exact amount I needed.
2. Gather old scrap metal around your property/neighborhood to recycle. Then, find the recycling business that will pay top dollar. Rural areas may not pay as much but will still pay.
3. Ask a family member for a loan and pay them back with your first profits.
4. Use a credit card. If your choice of business doesn’t accept credit cards, you can get a cash advance.
5. Have a yard sale. If you’ve been in your home for more than five years, you probably have plenty of stuff you don’t need that you can sell.
6. Take a loan out from your 401k or retirement funds.
7. Use your home equity. If the start-up costs are a large some of money, borrow against the equity in your home.
8. Become a collection agent. At some point in time, you’ve lent money to someone that hasn’t paid you back. Well, now would be a great time for them to return the favor!
9. If you’re handy, crafty or creative, you can make something and sell it. One year, my wife and I gathered up some old crates, took them apart, and made some rustic kitchen hutches. We sold every one of them at a local craft fair.
10. Bake something and sell it. This is an add on to number nine above.
11. If you’re employed, work overtime. The only secret to this is not spending the money on something else when you get paid!
12. Ask a private investor. Create an actual business plan showing your profit margin and present it to a private lender.

HINT: Another idea would be to take a little from every paycheck for a few months and set it aside. I DON”T recommend this method. Nine times out of ten, if your prospect waits, their excitement to get started in your opportunity will fade, and they’ll end up losing their motivation. Urgency in any home business is key.

If you have any other ideas to suggest, please leave them in the comments, I’d love to hear them.

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As imperfect beings, we judge….a lot. Our first impressions aren’t exactly spot on sometimes. If a dirty, filthy guy wearing clothes that are all torn up and greasy walks by me in the grocery store, it would be easy to judge. But chances are, they guy isn’t a bum, he probably just finished working on his Grandmothers car. We can be quick to cast judgement before we have enough knowledge about a person.

The same thing happens in business. You can also teach people how much you are worth, or how much you deserve to be paid for your product or service. It’s the basic law of business: get the lowest possible price for high quality products. If you don’t tell your potential clients how much you want to be paid, then who will? If you don’t know, then you’ll get paid whatever your customers want to pay you. You’ll accept any offer and by doing so, you’ll give your product or service away for less than what it’s really worth. Every time!

First, You Deserve to be Paid

Entrepreneurs tend to fall into a pit of low self worth when things aren’t going so well in their enterprise. So what do they do? They lower they’re prices thinking more customers will be attracted to the new “lower” price tag. When in all actuality, doing that just sends out a signal saying, “I’m desperate!”

Know one thing, you deserve to be paid. If you’re product can help people and is of value, you deserve to be paid for it. Don’t ever sell yourself short. Show the value and your clients will buy.

Get Good at Crunching Numbers

Here’s a great way to gauge whether or not you’re getting paid enough:

If the amount of the offer doesn’t excite you or open your eyes a bit, then it’s probably not worth your time.

During a conversation with a former business associate, he mentioned that at one point, he considered purchasing a Mexican restaurant here in town. But once they crunched the numbers, he would have been buying himself and $35k/year job. Currently, he makes well above that. The numbers didn’t excite him. Too much work for too little.

How Much Should You Be Charging?

Only you and you alone can set your price tag. It’s a combination of a few things.

1. Your Knowledge or Expertise
2. Your Confidence Level
3. The Value You place on your Product or Service
4. The Actual Value of your Product or Service

Whatever the price tag, just make sure the numbers excite you, and once they do, make sure you deliver the value. To me, it’s worth it to pay more for Kraft Macaroni and Cheese because I know that it tastes better and my kids will eat it. People pay more for value, even when offered a lower price. The price tag isn’t everything.

In conclusion, I’d like to give one more word of advice. When you hit the price tag that excites you and motivates you, there’s one great way to tell whether or not you delivered on value…..Referrals! If your customers recommend you, then you know you’re delivering.

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If you’ve read a recent blog post of mine, “Does a Home Based Business have to be in Network Marketing,” and have determined that Network Marketing isn’t for you, here’s a list of home based business ideas outside of the network marketing industry:

1. Web Design
2. Hair Stylist
3. Laundry Business
4. Graphic Design
5. Transcriptions
6. Web Content Writer/Freelance writer
7. Copywriter
8. Social Media Expert
9. Virtual Assistant
10. Blogger or Affiliate Marketer
11. eCommerce – Start an Online Store
12. Homemade Crafts or Craft Ideas – Sell them with your own Etsy Shop
13. Tailor
14. Drop Shipping Business
15. House Sitter
16. Pet Sitter
17. Day Care
18. Write and Sell eBooks
19. Tutor
20. Meal Delivery
21. Professional Grocery Shopper
22. Caterer
23. Cake Decorator
24. Personal Trainer
25. Candle Maker
26. Soap Maker
27. House Cleaner
28. Event Coordinator
29. Jewelry Maker
30. Interior Decorator
31. Gardener
32. Music Teacher/Voice Lessons
33. Wedding Planner
34. Pet Groomer
35. Antique Restoration
36. Carpenter
37. Photographer
38. Accountant or Book Keeper
39. Tee Shirt Business
40. Professional Consultant
41. Professional Yard Sale Business
42. Artist
43. Mechanic
44. Message Therapy
45. Event Rentals (Birthday Bounce houses, Arches, Columns etc)
46. Florist
47. Disc Jockey (DJ)
48. Animal Trainer
49. Computer Repair
50. Choreographer

If there are ideas you have that you’d like to share, please leave a comment with your idea.

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There are so many people who struggle with making money online, and I think their issue is just the lack of simplicity. Making things too complex will demotivate and kill almost anything.

For example, take a look at this stay at home mom. One day, she decided that she would sell books online. So, with $500, a few emails to wholesale book distributors and a website, bam, she was in business. In her own words, “When I mention I am a stay at home mom who sells books online, people’s ears perk up. I bet they would perk up even more if I told them I am going to do over $70,000 this year working 3-4 hours a day. ” E-commerce is a wonderful thing! Here’s her site: http://www.booksmn.com/

Here’s a link to the article I found for some link love: How a Stay at Home Mom Lives Her Dream Selling Books Online.

As for me, I’ve made a ton of money online doing random things. I’ll have to include a list in a future post. From selling tee shirts to affiliate marketing. If my site, product or blog brings value, people will click and buy.

So here are three non-secrets to making money online in whatever niche you decide to pursue:

1 – Provide Real Value

The secret to success in making money online or offline is simply providing true value to the open market. If you’re not offering value, why would anyone visit your site or buy your product. If you choose affiliate marketing as your way to make some cash, provide value on your site to draw in the visitors who will buy. If you have created your own digital product and are selling it for $300 bucks but all you have are two videos from YouTube and some affiliate links, don’t expect great reviews.

My motto when it comes to value is to go above and beyond. Give your customers more than what you would pay for. If it has real value, it will spread on its own.

2 – KISS – Keep it Simple Stupid

No, I’m not calling you stupid….unless you really are. All jokes aside, the most simple business ideas seem to flourish. Example: “A brother in law of mine likes to go to the dunes with his quads and buggies. He also likes to cook barbeque. Hmmm….people probably get hungry at the dunes because there’s not much out there.” Simple!

A bit of warning though, most people make the simplest of things the most difficult to do. I don’t understand it, but it’s true. Sometimes the simple things aren’t the most exciting or result in the biggest accomplishments, but a bunch of them together equal a win.

Second warning, fear of failure may set in. Ignore it. If you fail, you can always go back to your job. But, if you’re passionate about it, and keep it simple, you’ll have nothing to worry about.

3 – Promote, Promote, Promote….and Do It Consistently

To make money doing anything, especially in the very beginning, you have got to get the word out. Being listing in the search results for the name of your website will not bring you much traffic, unless your domain name was something amazing like “Barbeque.com.” Use the tools available to you such as social sites to spread the word. Start of with those you know and trust to share your new business with and ask them to spread the word for you. And don’t be bashful about doing that, if you are bringing value, they will share it for you.

Facebook it up! Use StumbleUpon and twitter. Place classified adsall over the place. Here’s a list of free classified ad sites. Make yourself a shirt with your website on it. Put vinyl lettering on your car spelling out your web address. Set up a website and tell people what you have to offer. Instead of packing so much food to the dunes, they’ll eat at Joe Moes Barbeque shack, but only if they know it’s there.

In conclusion, and in all honesty, the only thing holding anyone back from success in business is their own self. The biggest failure in business is the failure to start.

I hope this information has helped. Comments are welcome!

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In my experience, TIME is the most important ingredient.

Depending on the type of business you’re involved in, it’s going to require a lot of your time, especially if it’s a new business. Many people make the mistake, specifically in the Network Marketing industry, of thinking they can get something for nothing. Which is why more people fail in business than those who succeed. Getting started is just the first step. You’ll never reach the city of success unless you keep walking.

As a family man, the biggest factor of a happy family unit is spending time together. Not just with your children, but with your spouse. Conversation time, dating, recreation and romance. Sometimes it’s difficult to pull away from your entrepreneurial activities to simply hangout with your family. Sometimes the bike ride with the kids doesn’t seem as important as making the next sale for your business, but when you start making those kind of poor decisions your family starts to fail. The bike ride with your kids is ALWAYS most important. These are moments you’ll NEVER get back. The business may still be there, but your children won’t ever be that age, at that moment ever again.

It’s easy to fill your day with all sorts of activities that make you feel like you’re busy. There’s a difference between staying busy and being productive. Checking your email a hundred times during the day is keeping busy but not so productive. Sitting on the couch while your kids play on the living room floor doesn’t account for quality family time. They deserve interaction from you. Keep busy doing the things that matter, building activities.

Proper funding is essential to success.

Everyone should realize that money does not bring happiness…..but is sure does help! Without a stable financial situation, it’s difficult to focus on having fun with your business or your family. When your world is upside down financially, everything seems to be a wreck. If your business is making a good income, you can use that cash flow to reinvest and build your enterprise. The same for your family, a stable income allows you to do more and experience more together.

Enjoy it. Have fun.

The most successful business idea for anyone, is the one they enjoy doing the most. That’s where the passion falls into place. If you love what you do, it doesn’t seem like work when you’re doing it. More people will be attracted to you and your businesses if you look like you’re happy….and actually are happy.

In your family, laughter and smiles are the glue that strengthens those family relationships. Have fun with your kids, instead of rolling your eyes when they ask you to jump on the trampoline with them. If you’re not having fun, chances are, you’re just getting old and fat. Seriously!

Goals are Essential.

In any organization, personal or professional, as a leader, your goals should be to help others achieve their goals. Set goals with those you have stewardship over and provide a way for them to achieve their goals. As they’re progressing and getting better at what they’re striving for, they’ll feel productive and accomplished. Individual wins bring an over all win to the team.

Sacrifice and Unselfishness.

Nothing truly great and of virtue can ever come about without some level of sacrifice. So if it means skipping golf one weekend to take your spouse out of town, just the two of you, or putting your hobbies on hold to help your kids with theirs, it will be well worth the sacrifice. As a business owner, often times great personal sacrifice for the growth of the company is needed. Sacrifice shows passion and passion is what makes things great.

In conclusion, I feel I could go on and on with all the different similarities between being a great family man and at the same time, applying those principles into your business. Really what it comes down to is being a leader and caring about those you are surrounded with. It takes a great deal of effort and passion to be successful.

If there is anything else that you would include in the list, please share.

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