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In an earlier article, I talked about Cash Machines. The Cash Machine is a legally structured business entity you setup to profit from using your existing skill set and experience to generate more money now to fuel your Wealth Cycle, the self-perpetuating cycle of asset and income. Building and sustaining a viable business, or Cash Machine, is how you create and support your wealth.
To recap, a Cash Machine will:
- Feed your Wealth Cycle with cash flow,
- Potentially grow and appreciate in value,
- Provide you with experience in learning to earn,
- Provide you with the entrepreneurial skills you need to run a successful business.
My next book, The Millionaire Maker's Guide to Creating a Cash Machine for Life, (in bookstores in June), is a step by step guide for launching your own Cash Machine - and for fixing one you might already have, a "how to" for the entrepreneur in everyone. Most people are focused on debt - getting out of it - and forget about building wealth. The Cash Machine is about expanding your life, not scrimping and saving. It's about making money first, and then managing your debt second.
Unlike traditional entrepreneurship, the Cash Machine is simple to start and sustain. The first step is to identify your skill set. Your skill set is different from your dreams. Your skill set is what you already know, and your fastest path to cash and the "know how" of becoming a successful entrepreneur. Many entrepreneurs fail because they choose to pursue a business that requires a whole set of new skills, instead of utilizing their known skills. For instance, you (like many others) might dream of opening a restaurant one day. But let's say you are a schoolteacher. A more successful option, using your skill set, would be to open a tutoring company to start Cash Machine. That little Italian Trattoria or French Bistro of your dreams will have to wait. The problem is too many budding entrepreneurs have no idea what they’re doing. First, you have to learn to earn, generate cash and learn how to run a successful business, then, once you have done that, you can move on to starting your dream business.
In my Gap Analysis, one of the key building blocks of the Wealth Cycle that I have mentioned, the seventh question I ask is, "What are the skills you use to make money?" For some it is obvious: "I am a chef", "I write for a newspaper," or "I design web-sites." The paths for using these skills for a Cash Machine are clear: A catering business, a writing services company and a web site design business.
For others it is less obvious. A lot of people have trouble understanding what their skill set is. They have to dig a little deeper. What you do for a living, your job, is not your skill set. The talents you bring to executing your job are your skill set. For example, being an accountant, keeping the books, is a job, but the skill set is the expertise with numbers, being well-organized, and detail-oriented.
I know a garage mechanic who started a handy-man service company in his community. One "retired" stay-at-home Mom - her kids having left the nest - launched a business helping the elderly. Her skill set? Driving, organizing households, management, communication, health care, emergency procedures, psychology and many more.
And you might have a hobby where your skill set would make a great match for a Cash Machine. I worked with a man who, when doing his Gap Analysis, revealed that he also fixed dune buggies in the family garage in his spare time. This was almost an afterthought in his search for his own skill set, but eventually led to the family Cash Machine in making and marketing dune buggies.
My point is, look everywhere. Brainstorm with your friends and family. Make lists of your hobbies, what you do in your spare time, your tasks at home, what industries you are familiar with. Everything. With what do your friends and business associates ask you for help? This all might take some time, but is worth the effort. The success of your Cash Machine depends on you choosing a business idea that is in line with your skills. Once you define your skill set, do your research and build your team; you are on your way.
You will find some skill that can be a Cash Machine. I've never met anyone who can't.
To Your Wealth,
Loral Langemeier
The Millionaire Maker
