An Entrepreneur’s Handbook on Making Money
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What is money for you? Money is often seen as a symbol of success, but at its core, it’s simply a tool. For me, it has always been a transactional tool, a medium of exchange that I can use for guarantee. This tool is not for accumulation but rather utilization. Understanding this is the foundation for anyone who wants to succeed in the art of making money. You can get what you want, be rich, or even be wealthy if you use money wisely.
But how do you earn enough money for utilization or even more if you have an insatiable hunger like me? In my 10 years of money making, I have devised a foolproof guide on how to make money from scratch. In this handbook, I will break down the steps and principles of creating wealth, scaling it, and using it effectively.
The #1 Rule of Money
Money is like water; it flows from one hand to another. It may or may not return, depending on how strong the flow is. The only rule of money is that it demands something in exchange to flow continually. An exchange of something valuable. There are two ways you can exchange value – service and product. Suppose you walk into a cafe for brunch; the ambience is peaceful, with soothing music playing faintly on the speakers. The staff is kind and serves you with great hospitality. You have a great time with amazing food on the table. While leaving, when you paid the cafe staff, what did you actually pay for?
- Service – The welcoming ambience and generosity you experienced with satisfaction.
- Product – The occupancy of a table and food that you had.
Similarly, to earn money, you have to give something, whether it is a service or a product. It can be anything from software to medicines and even comfort that you provide. If there is no value exchange, there is no money-making.
Gather the Ingredients
To get started, you need to identify what service or product you can provide and get paid for. The key ingredient here is – skill! It could be an existing skill you have that allows you to develop a product or provide a service. Or you might need to build a skill, and hence we start from scratch.
Self-awareness is very important at this stage. You need to ask yourself questions and figure out what it is that you can give to the world and get money in return.
What’s trending in the market? What are people looking for? What skill has the most value?
Remember that whatever you do, your skill has to be personalized as per your needs. No two people have the same skill set ever. Every skill has its value, and, at a given time in history, it has given indiscriminate results compared to the other skills.
Whip up Some Expertise!
While you make the decision, it is important to remember that not everyone can be an expert in a skill they pick. Until and unless you are an expert in that skill set, there is not going to be a significant difference between you and the others doing the same thing as you. For instance, being a lawyer requires utmost dedication. Millions of people get educated in the domain, but how many really make it to the top 1% of lawyers? The 1%.
So, getting your skill right is not where it ends but begins! It is time to choose your profession based on your interests, your talents, and the demand. Don’t dive head-first into something just because it promises good ROI. Look at the odds of you becoming an expert in that profession. If you are an artist, have the right talent, and work hard, then you will end up making more money as a great artist than an average software developer. The arbitrage is much greater!
Now, you may think an expert makes the most money, but that is not the truth; becoming an expert in your field is only half the journey.
As demand for your expertise grows, your time becomes increasingly limited. This is the point where you must implement systems and processes to sustain and scale your operations. To maintain these systems, you will need people.
To scale anything in life, you need the right processes and systems that can run, scale, execute, and do the same quality of work with or without you.
Even the best professionals, like surgeons or tech innovators, require a team to support their work. From drivers to assistants, each person plays a role in enhancing your efficiency. To scale your success, you need to work with the right people—and that’s where people skills come in. Learn to work with people who share your vision and can execute your systems. The earlier you build your army, the better it gets in the long run. These people need to perform to their full potential and work at their best (and of course in your favor;)).
How well you can collaborate with them depends on your people skills and leadership. We will dive into those some other time.
Manage & Multiply
When you start making good money, it’s natural to think about earning even more. However, think about it: you have already increased your supply by engaging more people. If you keep growing your supply without understanding the demand, you risk lowering the value of what you offer. For instance, a painter creates hundreds of paintings in a month. While they may sell more, the exclusivity and demand for their work might decrease, reducing its overall value.
It is time to let your money multiply! Use the extra money you have made to make it grow on its own. It means investing wisely, whether in a business, real estate, stocks, or other assets that can multiply your wealth over time. This is where Money management skills come into the picture.
Learning the principles of money management at the earliest is crucial because, without them, it’s tough to grow beyond a certain point. It is what makes all the difference between being rich and being truly wealthy. Rich people know how to make money, work hard, and understand how to generate income. Wealthy people, on the other hand, know how to digest the money they make.
It’s important to maintain a lifestyle that covers your needs but resists unnecessary extravagance. Upgrading your car or wardrobe every time your income grows doesn’t show success; it shows a lack of discipline. Instead, use that money to create opportunities or invest in something that benefits you and others. If you are agile and adaptable enough to grow, you can grow.
Epilogue
It’s not the skill; it’s the will that matters.
People think that only a person in business makes the most money. However, it is those who provide value to the maximum number of people or a few people with a much deeper impact. If you have the hunger and the will, then you can be as wealthy as you wish. Beyond this point, the hunger in your belly will be your driving force and a deciding factor in how far you can really go. The last stage of money leads to power, and for that, you need to learn how the economy of the world works. More on that later! 😉