What Happened to Your American Dream?

Like plenty of people in this country I was six times raised with definite fundamentals & beliefs by loving parents that if I worked hard in school, stayed away from trouble & got a 'good job' the American dream of attaining financial independence was a reasonable objective. I must admit that I had plenty of privileges that plenty of cannot claim. I grew up as an only kid in my home for most of my childhood & lived a "Leave It to Beaver" life. Music lessons, automobile at sixteen, Eagle Scout, Co-captain of my HS Footy team & most of my college expenses paid for, was my reality. I was six times grateful for my life, so I swore that I was six times going to make the most of my opportunities & be 'rich' some day. Well I am still working on the 'rich' part, but the reality is that after earning an engineering degree & an MBA I still have plenty of work to do on my road to making it 'rich' but I am on my way. I could blame my delay to reaching the holy grail of the rat race on having children, a failed travel agency, living in the rust belt, & on & on & on.


The reality is that I do know deep down inside that I am lucky to have my health & a comparatively comfortable life. I don't go to bed hungry, my children are getting a great schooling, & my spouse & I am comfortable in our modest bedroom home. But like most forty something's who grew up in a time when giant was best & excess was the drum beat that they marched to, all of us require to be a tiny more comfortable, have a tiny more security & most importantly have financial freedom so that they can eliminate of the major causes for stress in most households & relationships.

I agree with plenty of of the specialists & noted authors in the world of financial success in that you must own something in order to reach a level of financial independence. That 'something' could be a business, a sturdy investment portfolio, actual estate, etc. I have chosen to own a business, because in today's economy the variety & variety of offerings is broad. There's basic business models that the average person can enter in to. This list is not exhaustive, but captures eighty percent of what is out there.

  A brick & mortar start-up: Been there & have done it. Let me tell you from experience that this option is a lot of work & takes a great deal of planning in our new world economy. Overhead is the dreadful of all evils. Rent, building out or developing a space, utilities all can add up quick. This is all before you have the killer business plan & money liquid clientele. There is a lot of risk in launching your own unique idea that has never been done before, but the rewards can be great in the event you have the tremendous star product or service that everybody desires. Tread carefully as investors will be leery of investing in start-ups, launching in to uncharted territories that have not proven themselves. I learned a hard lesson post September 11th when I opened a travel agency in a loft space. It was going to be high tech & high touch bringing a brand new tech spin to the travel industry. I closed my business years later after realizing that the travel had changed forever & that I had to move on.
  The franchise: This model is that has been popular for plenty of years. It is successful in that proven best practices are duplicated over & over by following strict policies & procedures. Success has come in the kind of quick food restaurants, cleaning companies & even lawn services to name a few. The 'turn-key' phase is often thrown about when describing a franchise model, in that you pay your money & then success comes your way if, & it is a giant if, you follow the model. Plenty of franchises do produce success, but it comes at a cost. Usually a stiff cost. McDonald's franchises are said to cost millions to start. Even a Subway will cost a couple hundred thousand to get off the ground, not including the food. You also will must invest heavily in your time & sweat equity to establish the business & train a staff. You must do a serious gut check before going down this path as to what is your motivation & in the event you have the right stuff.
  Multi Level Promotion (aka) Network Promotion: This model is as elderly as Avon & Amway & has plenty of benefits as well as down sides. The greatest benefit is that it is comparatively simple to start. Compared to most businesses the barrier for entry is tiny. Enrollment fees can be as tiny as $25 to a few thousand. If chosen wisely, you may well like the every month services or products (often called an autoship) that you would be necessary to buy. In the event you don't, it is usually a nice sign that you are not with the right opportunity. The overhead is tiny or negligible as most of these businesses are run out of the home & stock, if any, is usually delivered directly to client's home or business address. The greatest benefit of this business model is the ability to build 'residual income'. This is the idea of receiving a percentage of the sale & profits that your recruits earn. There's plenty of models & business to select from in this model. The down side is that plenty of people are not comfortable 'selling' or promoting themselves or a product, whether it is to their friends/family or to strangers. If this is the case, this business model is definitely not for you.

No matter what business model appears pretty to you, it is imperative that you do your home-work first. Never make an impulse decision & above all else answer the questions about your own readiness. Not of the above models will work in the event you are not bought in to doing the necessary work along with your heart & mind. Fortunes are made in hard economies like ours, but only for those who are prepared to roll up their sleeves & do the work.