Countdown to Millions

As I mentioned yesterday, I’m starting a weekly series of posts showing you how you can think like an entrepreneur. These aren’t meant to be get rich quick scenarios, these are not things like “make millions using Google AdWords,” these are all little things, that when put together will increase your creativity and help you to start thinking like an entrepreneur. With that said, my first tip (if you couldn’t tell from the image):

Get Yourself a “Little Black Book”

This is my entrepreneurial face.

Now, your little black book does not have to be little, it does not have to be black, heck it doesn’t even have to be a book, all it really needs to be is some organized place where you keep your ideas.  If you’d prefer to use Post Its on your wall or a word document, so be it, I’ve simply chosen to use the height of all pretentious writing tools: a Moleskine notebook.

The trick to using your little black book, just like anything, is persistence.  You must be willing to write in your book without a filter, without judging what you’re writing.  No matter how good, or how bad an idea is, write it down.  Given a little time, and some further thought, you may find that you can refine a bad idea and make it spectacular.  Along the same lines, make sure you write down your nebulous ideas; an idea doesn’t need to be fleshed out for it to be useful.  In fact, I usually leave myself about a page or two for every idea just incase I want to write any further notes, thoughts, or further develop the idea.

As much as I wish it was, creativity is not a constant, so it is important to write ideas down as you have them, or else they may be lost forever.  So, always make sure that you have your little black book handy for when you have a sudden moment of inspiration.  You don’t want to have to beat yourself up later for forgetting “the best idea in the world.”

You’ll note that I never said this was limited to business ideas.  I did that because entrepreneurial thinking is something you can apply to any and all aspects of your life whether it be business, pleasure, finance, writing, experimental physics, or whatever.  Personally, I keep two Moleskine books: one for business and product ideas, and the other for comedy and movie ideas and they both stay within 10 feet of me at all times, because you never know when an idea might hit.

Before I transitioned myself to the little black book model, my room was covered with scraps of paper with half-baked ideas, and somewhere across the room there was probably another bunch of papers refining those ideas.  Over the years, because I lacked any sort of organizational system, many of those ideas were simply lost, either physically, or just contextually.  You’d be amazed how quickly you can forget the meaning behind something you wrote.  Take for instance this, apparent, comedic gem that I found on a scrap of paper: “Smoke Condom.”  That’s it!  That is the extent of my note regarding what I thought was a brilliant idea at the time.  Now, all these years later, I haven’t the foggiest idea what I was talking about.

Persistence plays a role here as well; always follow up on ideas, and clearly define them for yourself, otherwise a few years from now you might find yourself struggling to remember what the hell a smoke condom is and why it would be so hilarious.

Alright, here’s this week’s tip in a nutshell: Write every idea you ever have down.  Creativity comes in bursts so you’d better be ready to transcribe it when it arrives.  And always make sure to follow up, define, and refine your ideas so you don’t forget what the idea was.

With that said…does anyone have any idea what a smoke condom is?  I’d really like to know.

-Nick

'ello, 'ave you got an oidea for me? (Typing in an accent is difficult)

For an entrepreneur, one of the hardest things is taking an idea from concept to completion.  That process may have just gotten a bit simpler.

For all of you creative types out there, Richard Branson, founder of Virgin, is creating a television program specifically for Virgin Atlantic’s in-flight entertainment.  The show is called PitchTV, and it could allow you to get your idea in front of the right trans-atlantic passenger to take your concept from a really nice dream to really, really real.

Branson has also promised a special prize for his favorite pitch every year.

So what are you waiting for?  Upload your pitch to the website.  Who knows, if your idea is good enough, you might even beat me to $1,000,000.

-Nick

From now on, this is the only crazy thing on this blog.

I often joke that I must be crazy, or at the very least daft, to attempt to start a business in the current economic climate.  But just today, I found an article that has my back in my endeavor to start a business and make millions.

And this isn’t just any article; no.  It comes straight from the land of fancy accents, queens, Mary Poppins, and Sting: England.  And as we all know, England is without fault (Unless you count bad teeth, the enigma of beefeaters, and all the people they’ve killed in the pursuit of an empire that has since fallen), so such an article is always welcome around these parts…especially when it makes me seem nearly sane.

In the article it discusses many of the reasons that I decided to start this mission, including the simple idea of trying to overcome a challenge, and even goes so far as to say that a new golden age of entrepreneurship is on the horizon.  Now, I’m not saying that I will in any way contribute to this golden age, but it’s comforting to know that there are others like me who see this time not as a cause for fear, but rather as a prime opportunity to create and change the world around us.  Whether the world is simply limited to our own personal life, or whether it reaches into other spheres of influence, there’s no denying that there is great potential for the entrepreneurs in all of us.

So, with that in mind, over the next few weeks, I’ll be posting some thoughts of mine on how to foster that creative, entrepreneurial spirit.  Who knows, with some training maybe you too could become part of the coming entrepreneurial revolution.  And just as with any revolution, it’s always the crazy ones that seem to lead the way.

-Nick

Maybe Biggie got it wrong.

As the song by the Notorious B.I.G. once mused, “It’s like the more money we come across; the more problems we see,” so it stands to reason that the more money you have the more difficult your life will become.  If that was true, I’d have to be absolutely insane to attempt to make as much money as I am (Which I may very well be).  But what if Biggie got it wrong?  Just as someone can choose to work smart instead of hard, so to can you choose to forgo “mo’ problems” in favor of a smarter approach to money.  This is the very same approach that millionaires the world over use…though they often pay someone to do it for them.  However, the secret to this smarter approach is something that you can do yourself, and you don’t even have to be a millionaire to do it.  That secret is automation.

As you know from your everyday life, though there may be a few big issues with money, the majority of the problems that you come across are relatively minor, but given enough of them they can become overwhelming.  The trick then is to get your money to work for you and not against you, through automation.  By doing this you can clear your schedule and leave more time to enjoy the money you have, or even make more of it, like I’m attempting to do.

This article posted by Timothy Ferriss, author of the spectacularly engaging book The Four-Hour Work Week, and written by Ramit Sethi, author of the boldly-titled I Will Teach You to be Rich, lays out some great approaches to automate your money.  The article includes great tips on setting up accounts to help organize your finances, getting money wired into those various accounts automatically without you having to lift a finger, and even how to get your bank to waive some fees and surcharges (With some helpful scripts you can use to make it happen). There’s also a lot of helpful advice about setting up an “emergency fund;” something that has become increasingly important in these tough economic times.

Following the advice in that article might not make you a millionaire, but it may just make you think like one.  So, give some of the tricks a shot and let me know how they work out for you.  Who knows, you might be able to save yourself some money and some headaches, leading to a life with more money and fewer problems.

-Nick

So there you go.  If you’ve ever wanted to become a millionaire, just follow my simple instructions and you’ll be there in no time.  That said, I think I’ll choose another, non-pornographic, route to my millions.

-Nick

The super villain standing between me and my millions.

Just today, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner announced the Obama administration’s plan to attempt to regulate companies, securities, and hedge funds to, supposedly, prevent them from becoming “too big to fail” as is currently the case with AIG.  However, that’s not all this proposal would do if passed.

Hidden amongst the general discussion of regulations and oversights, was one phrase that many people are overlooking: private equity funds.  Under the administration’s proposal, any sources of capital, including these so-called private equity funds would be subject to government oversight and regulation.

What’s the problem with that, you might ask.  The problem is that “private equity funds” literally means any source of private capital, including the capital held and managed by private companies.  This would lead to a business culture where government and not the market would regulate how companies would operate.

Under this proposal, the government would have the power to force a privately held company (One not subject to current laws applied to publicly traded companies) to split if it got too large, pay it’s employees more, or even allow the government to set salary caps for any company that currently operates within America.

If this proposal is approved it would essentially take the “free” out of the free market; a prospect that I, as a hopeful millionaire, do not look too kindly on.  If I reach my goal of making one million dollars, I will undoubtely have at least one successful company, and to imagine that I wouldn’t even be in control of that company, that the government could step in and change the very way I operate simply because they want to, is simply unacceptable.  If these regulations ever come to pass, I’m not sure whether my dream of millions could ever come true, because it would no longer be within my power to make it happen.

Business owners, entrepreneurs, and all those who believe that they should be in charge of their own lives need to stand up for their rights now before the government forces you to sit down.  Because this proposal isn’t about regulation it’s about strangulation.  There are already regulations in place to prevent the events that occurred, the government simply didn’t utilize them.  Since they’re not using the tools they already have at their disposal, it’s likely that the current proposal would do little to affect those large hedge funds and investment groups, and would do a lot to hurt the little guy trying to make his business and his life a success.

…I said I wanted insurmountable odds to overcome on my way to $1,000,000, looks like I might just get them.

-Nick

"We Love Business, LOL!" Not one of Daft Punk's more memorable tracks.

If Daft Punk ran the business world, we would all have four choices when it can to how services were rendered: Harder, Better, Faster, or Stronger.  Those damn French robots are such over-achievers like that.  However, in the real (Non-robotic) world of business, it has often been said that there are only three choices, good, cheap, and fast; the challenge being that you can only ever choose two.

If you choose good and cheap, you won’t get what you’re looking for quickly.  If you want good and fast, it most certainly won’t be cheap.  Finally, if you choose cheap and fast, you can bet yourself that it won’t be good.  So, which do I want to choose for my countdown to millions?

Well, it doesn’t take too much figuring to realize that with a self-imposed time limit, one of my choices has to be fast, but do I want that speed to be at the expense of quality or cost-effectiveness?  It’s not as simple a decision as you might think.

Business isn’t so much about quality as it is about marketing.  Think of all the horrible products that your friends (or even you) buy on a regular basis, from companies who sell nothing but horrble products (*cough* Dell *cough*).  Those companies tend to be doing pretty well for themselves if they can manage to get their foot in the door and market the hell out of themselves.  But is that what I want for my business(es) and product(s)?  No.

I’m a classical perfectionist (Which I think means I enjoy listening to good performances of Beethoven’s symphonies), and to release something that I know isn’t my best might sell, but I would never feel quite right about it, always feeling like I sold out.  So in the end, in my Countdown to Millions looks like I’m going to have to do this thing Good and Fast…let’s just hope I find the money to support that choice.

So, if you wanted to make millions, which two would you choose?

-Nick

If there was a douche mafia, he would be the godfather.

Last night I was watching a show called “Britain’s Biggest Spenders.”  It originally aired on ITV in June of 2006 and followed 4 of the most vain, greedy, overspending Brits in existence…this douche was one of them.  In the course of the show he bought a £14,000 suit, a city (Yes, a city-city), and insisted on referring to himself as No. 1 at every available opportunity.  I’m still not sure whether No. 1 is in reference to his perceived status or the number of people who actually enjoy his company.

So, what is this millionaire asshat’s name?  Scott Alexander.  And if you have a burning desire to find out more about him, here’s his website: LINK

…I’ll give you a few seconds to visit the site, and then clean up the vomit from your keyboard.

Okay, now that you’re back and freshly purged, all I have to ask is…WHAT?!  Is orange this years tan? Does looking like the bastard child of Peter North and Ernie (Of Bert and Ernie fame) really attract the ladies?  There is no way this man has ever been out of the gym long enough to have become a millionaire, but he has.

This drivel in human form, this mass of muscle and human refuse has somehow cracked the secret to becoming a millionaire.  So I ask, if he can do it, why can’t everyone?

I aim to prove that everyone really can be a millionaire…if they really truly want it, and you don’t even have to be a massive tool to do it.

So, who are your favorite millionaire toolbags?

-Nick

I was reminded today about the importance of value, not just of money, but also of the work that we do and the reasons why we do it.  That, too, is a type of currency, with a value all it’s own.  When I tell people that I intend to make a million dollars in such a short amount of time, they often assume that I have merely substituted one form of value with another.  I assure you that is not that case.

Money is nice, but it is only a product of the work that we do.  If I had a company that made solar panels, people would say that those had a type of ethical value to them (It’s a stretch but it’s hard to find a product with a moral value), however that value would be lost if the machine that made the solar panels was powered by babies blood and spewed harmful gases into the air.  That company would have sacrificed one type of value, simply for the sake of the product.  But, it is not the product that should be the focus, just as it doesn’t matter that solar panels are the end result if the means to those panels is not inherently valuable itself, but rather the means.

My means is my creativity.  I’ve been advised many times before to simply “follow my bliss and money will follow,” but whenever I turn a passion into a profession, it has take the thrill out of it.  Four-and-a-half years ago, I began writing a book containing 10 original designs for stage magic effects and illusions, a topic I was very passionate about, something I was and am an expert on.  However, once I started to “professionalize” my passion for magic, it became tedious.  I continued to pursue it though, because even through the tedium, I loved it.  Unfortunately, just over a year ago, after three-and-a-half years of work with the book about 2 months from publication, I lost it all to a hard-drive crash and poor planning (I can’t find my backups).

So, instead of taking something I am passionate about and following that, I have decided to follow an attribute, an innate part of me; my creativity.  Through my book-writing endeavor, it was my creativity that kept me motivated, kept me moving, and it will be my creativity that will keep me moving in this current venture.  In all of the ideas that I have formulated for potential business ideas, I have made sure that there is a basis of creativity.

So, now, instead of working through my passion, I am working for my passion, and by working in this way I will be strengthening that very passion.  That is what I feel is the real value in my mission.  The million dollars is just a by-product…a very appealing by-product at that.  But, in my work, and in your work, the money cannot be the end, if it is, your work will lack all intrinsic value for the sake of monetary value; a sad tradeoff.

-Nick

It was Friedrich Nietzsche who said, “He who has a why to live, can bear almost any how.”  So, I thought I would explain a little about some of the whys you might have regarding my journey of mine before I explained exactly how I was planning on making my millions.

1. Why $1,000,000?  Can’t you be happy with less?  Or are you no better than those greedy corporate fat cats?

Well, one million dollars was chosen, not because it would mark my own personal expectations of success, but rather because it marks a nearly universal watermark of financial achievement.  If I said I was going to try to make $100,000, there are many who would simply say, “That’s all,” scoffing as only the snootiest of internet perusers can.

Had I said I was trying to make a billion, almost everyone would either think I was greedy, stupid, or (to borrow a phrase from the British) having a laugh.  And as high an amount as one million is, it is not unreasonable, nor is it impossible to achieve…it simply takes work (Hell, Regis Philbin used to hand out millions like they were Tic-Tacs).  And if I do succeed in my goal, it is a sufficiently high amount to satisfy most people wishing to determine whether I was a success or not.

2. Why such a short amount of time?  Surely you’re being unreasonable.

On the contrary, I feel that by giving myself a short amount of time, I am increasing my likelihood of success.  If I were to set my goal of making one million dollars 30 years from now, there would be a diffusion of drive towards that goal.  Think of it like a paper you have to write for school, it’s not as if your drive to write the paper is simply a constant, no, there is a finite amount of ‘want’ that you can have to write your paper and the more time you give yourself to do the paper, the less you will want to do it at any given moment.  However, if you give yourself just a few short hours to do the paper, you condense the totality of your drive into some sort of magical ambition singularity.

That singularity of drive is what I aim to create by giving myself such a short amount of time.

3. Why did you decide to blog about this mission of yours?

The desire to be rich and/or famous is a universal one, and I simply thought it would be interesting to allow people to follow my attempts at achieving that dream.

4. So if $1,000,000 isn’t your personal mark of success, then why are you doing this? “Why,” I ask you.

I’m doing this because above all else, I enjoy two things most of all: 1) Autonomy; and 2) A challenge.

Trying to achieve my goal of making one million dollars in such a short amount of time inherently means that I cannot take the road most traveled through the safe, secure world of upper-middle management ladder-climbing nonsense, hoping someday to be an executive with a nice parking space.  I’m going to have to make my own path, and that path will afford me with the autonomy that I seek (And I’m sure a million dollars wouldn’t hurt the autonomy department either).

Secondly, I’ve been told so many times that this dream is impossible, or that I should simply “settle,” but where is the fun in that.  Anyone can “settle,” and if it is something that anyone can do, then I’m not interested.  I want to do this for the very reasons that people think I can’t, because it seems so impossible.  That is why I’m doing this.

5. Why am I reading this?

You tell me, you clearly clicked a link somewhere and ended up in my own personal technicolor Oz.  I can only say, “I hope you enjoy your stay,” and ask that you wish me luck as I continue to Countdown to Millions.

-Nick