5 Things You Need to Be Doing If You Want to Be a Millionaire
There are more million-dollar businesses today than there have ever been. According to recent surveys, over 10 million households earn more than a million dollars. Information is easier to find than it has ever been and several entrepreneurs are using this technology to find mentors, funding and conduct market research. All of the information you need to make a million dollars is out there.
So what is holding you back? If you’re like most business owners, it’s not your lack of technical skills that is getting in your way. It is the fact that you aren’t focusing on the right things and implementing the systems that will create wealth for you. Let us look at five things that you need to be doing if you want your net worth to reach that hallowed seven-figure mark.
1. Experiment more.
You probably get a lot of ideas on a daily basis. You probably never test out most of them. Why? If what you’re doing right now isn’t exactly setting the market afire, why not try something new?
Don’t be afraid to try new ideas, even if they sound crazy or unrealistic. Once you test an idea, you’ll have valuable feedback that will allow you to hone and customize your approach till you hit upon a variation that works.
2. You need to set clear, unambiguous and trackable goals.
Not planning ahead is one of the most common mistakes business owners make. If you don’t know what you’re aiming for, how are you ever going to hit the target? You need to understand the logical progression of your current idea and how it will play out in the real world.
Set yourself tangible short, medium and long-term goals. Make sure they have clearly worded language such as “Get ten new clients in six months.” Assigning a timeline and putting clear numbers on your goals allow you to see how far you’ve come in the pursuit of them. Take some time to think about what your business might look like in the next 3-5 years. What are the potential issues that might come up? How could you make your product better for your customers?
3. You need to delegate more.
You can’t run a successful business all by yourself. One of the greatest secrets to being a great leader is to enlist other talented people to your cause and then give them the freedom to utilize their skills.
You must understand all of the moving parts that make up your business, and then figure out which of them require your personal attention, and which ones would be better performed by an expert. If you’re a software developer, you probably aren’t the best person to manage the complicated financial stuff for your company. Make sure you convey your vision clearly to your team and then step back and let them do their jobs.
4. Leverage your time intelligently.
Let’s assume that you’re working 10 hours a day at your current job. Maybe you spend an hour or two on emails, another couple of hours meeting with your team and spend the rest of the time creating code or researching. If your current approach is earning you say $100/hr. of your time, what can you do to earn more money? If you think spending more time at work is the best way to earn more money, you are sorely mistaken.
You will never be truly wealthy if you blindly trade your time for money. If you want to make more money per unit of time spent, you need to become more valuable. Instead of researching the newest social media tools for your business, you could hire a social media expert and spend the time looking at different investment opportunities instead. Spend your time approaching investors, building partnerships, creating incentives and several other tactics that will be far more valuable in the long run. If you want to be a millionaire, you have to learn the art of scaling your business efficiently.
5. Give the customers what they need.
Maybe you had an idea for a product that you were convinced was the next best thing since sliced bread. But if your customers don’t like it, it doesn’t matter how well-formed your idea was. As a business owner, you have to cater to your customers first and foremost. Make sure you don’t cling to your idea so much that you ignore market feedback to stubbornly try and make it work. You’re there to solve your customers’ problems. Keep it simple.
The richest people in the world have the same twenty-four hours in a day to work with. They’re wealthy because they spend their time performing activities that are much more valuable to their customers and the market as a whole. Don’t underestimate the power of a simple mindset shift. Use the tips listed above to catapult your income to the next level.