15 TPE Part IV - Money & Equity-converted

The speaker receives frequent calls from people asking for money to start their businesses. He believes that focusing only on money can cause people to forget other important aspects of running a business. Instead of waiting for money to come in, he encourages entrepreneurs to learn how to generate cash flow through their business activities. He also challenges the belief that a traditional business plan and raising money is necessary to start a business, emphasizing the importance of ingenuity and resourcefulness. Part 4 Money and Equity Money is better than poverty, if only for financial reasons. Woody Allen. My phone rang just minutes ago. Yet another person asking me for money to launch his business. The inevitable refrain, I need money, I can't get started without it. I get calls like this daily. They are a waste of my time. If you are making similar calls, they are a waste of your time too. What's the point of running a business if you can't earn a darn good living from it? The endgame of entrepreneurialism is to make enough coin to live an abundant lifestyle and to continue the purpose of your business. Problem is that so many people get caught up in the money aspect that they forget everything else that's important. It is critical that your business makes cash, not that it starts with it. Millions of wannabe entrepreneurs never make it off the ground because they're waiting to have enough cash. Waiting and waiting. Enough money never comes in. Inevitably, their dreams are suppressed and ultimately fizzles out. Don't sit around like a bum waiting for a handout. Learn how a lack of cash can benefit your business starting today. Learn to turn having less into generating more. Learn how to bring in cash flow through your business activities, not through begging or borrowing. You have to be active in the process of creating cash, not waiting and wondering if it will fall into your lap. Conventional wisdom tells us that before we can open for business, we need to raise the money outlined in a traditional business plan. I'm here to tell you again that the experts are wrong. As you have learned, the design of your company is all about you, and if you have survived to this point without venture capital, so will your business. Besides, a lack of resources forces you to use ingenuity, a skill that will help you stay ahead of the pack for your entire run.