The Wise Online Entrepreneur
Let’s face the fact that many people who work online are not too savvy when it comes to using their income to secure their future.
Just earning a monthly income online does not mean you are “made for life” – however impressive that monthly income might be.
What is important is what money you get to keep and what you do with that money.
There are many examples of successful online entrepreneurs who make millions, buy fancy cars and houses, and end up blowing their fortune.
With the ups and downs of any online business, care is needed to secure one’s hard-won wealth.
BALANCING ON A STOOL
So what should successful as well as struggling online entrepreneurs do at a core level to secure their future?
And why should you pay very close attention to what I will unveil here?
First of all, there is a growing realization that “online business as usual” will not hack it.
What I mean is many people who build a business online are missing a leg to their three-legged stool.
One leg is income. Another leg is expenses.
This makes for a precarious business, even if the income is high.
Too many entrepreneurs fall down trying to balance on two legs of the stool.
So what is missing? What is the third leg that may allow you to sit comfortably on the stool?
If you are building a business online then your main drive will be to bring in an income.
This is obvious, right?
Yes and no.
You will be working to make more money than you spend on promoting your business and so at the end of the day you will be looking at making a profit.
But, as multi-millionaire Robert Kiyosaki says, what is important is the money you get to keep and what you do with that money.
What attention are you devoting to the money you stash away? Do you have a plan for this?
This is where many of us in the online space fall short.
We put the income in the bank and then wonder why we are burning through the money with little to show at the end of the day. Even those earning big bucks can find themselves spending too much on the “trophies” of a successful online business – a flashy car, a cool house, and exotic holidays.
In simple terms, unwise management of your finances as an online entrepreneur could mean you fail to secure your future.
THE THIRD LEG
The wise online entrepreneur understands the importance of devoting time and effort to securing the third leg of the stool.
The third leg of the business revolves around developing an asset base that grows in value and provides income over time.
This is powerful stuff. Yet few are taking the steps necessary to secure their future stability and wealth.
Kiyosaki, the author of the best-selling books Rich Dad Poor Dad and Rich Dad’s Cashflow Quadrant, has long been hammering on about the “genius” of the fourth quadrant in his cashflow quadrant.
Kiyosaki stresses the importance of owning assets that by and large go up in value and provide an income over time.
The author himself is retired and he and his wife live comfortably off the income from the assets they own.
Kiyosaki’s advice can be followed by people from all walks of life – but remains a bridge too far for many people in part because they fail to take the steps necessary to secure their financial future.
Buying property to sell or rent or investing in “risky” stocks appears to be out of most people’s comfort zone. So they don’t take the necessary steps.
And when it comes to online entrepreneurs, the advice is typically not part of the training programs online entrepreneurs buy.
The focus of online training programs tends to be on making income, or activities and skills linked to this, not what to do after you make that income.
THE WISE ONLINE ENTREPRENEUR’S GAMEPLAN
The wise online entrepreneur listens carefully to Kiyosaki’s message and then looks carefully at how he or she can tailor it to the online space.
There are a number of ways to handle this but let’s keep this relatively simple and focus on three main aspects to securing your wealth.
These are – pay yourself first, choose assets to invest in, and if possible include a residual income component in your online business.
Let’s take a look.
Kiyosaki stresses that the first principle you should follow if you wish to secure your financial future and get rich is to pay yourself first.
The author says most people handle things back to front – they pay all their bills and expenses first and then end up with no money to put aside for a rainy day.
Kiyosaki says – take a portion of your income and pay yourself first, invest it in assets, essentially don’t touch it and let it grow.
Sure, it can be a bit hard for some people but even $200-300 put aside every month can add up over time.
Kiyosaki says don’t leave your money in the bank or a savings account. The interest is too low and essentially your money will devalue over time.
WHAT ASSETS?
A stumbling block for many people is deciding what to invest in.
If you are bringing in a large income from your online business every month, then you might decide you have enough to invest in property to buy and sell or in stocks and shares, with a proportion in higher risk options. Even with a relatively low income, if you are in good credit you may be able to find ways to follow this path.
What specifically to invest in and what strategy to use is beyond the scope of this post, but the message here is to invest in assets that are likely to go up in value and possibly bring in an income. Easier said than done but this is an option.
An asset option that a growing number of internet marketers are getting excited about is investing in gold.
There are other options, including cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, and silver, but a clear winner for internet marketers who seek to both save and promote is the option provided by Karatbars International.
The company provides the ability to not only pay yourself first in gold but also encourage others to secure their future through an affiliate program. Here you get paid to help others save.
Owning gold is one of the best ways to safeguard your financial future.
Check out the post, The New Online Paradigm for more details.
THE BEAUTY OF RESIDUAL INCOME
Another string to the wise online entrepreneur’s bow is residual income. It is possible to either promote your own products and services or act as an affiliate for other companies to gain an income on a monthly basis that once set up, keeps coming in.
There are a number of programs that allow an online entrepreneur or marketer to bring in enough customers so that eventually the business runs itself or almost runs itself.
A solid and useful example of this is the Power Lead System – an all-in-one internet marketing system. By buying in at the Gold Level or above, an internet marketer can bring in enough customers, a percentage of whom do the same, to eventually derive a part-time or full-time income from it on virtual autopilot.
Please note that the Power Lead System is a good vehicle to use with promoting the Karatbars International gold investment and affiliate program.
The wise online entrepreneur may set up his or her own membership or residual income products that once set up and promoted can run to some extent on autopilot.
There are many options to pursue when it comes to obtaining residual income online.
SUMMING UP THE WISDOM OF THE WISE ONLINE ENTREPRENEUR
There is a lot more to the wise online entrepreneur’s vision for long-term financial security but these are the key pillars as mentioned, namely:
– Pay yourself first
– Careful choice of assets to invest in
– Residual income options
Kiyosaki makes a big fuss about an element lacking in our educational system – personal financial literacy – understanding how to effectively manage our money and by extension our lives.
The wise online entrepreneur will consider this crucial to his or her financial security.