Download my Ebook For Free!

Download My e-Book "7 Years to 7 Figure Wealth" for Free Now!

Don't Worry - No Spam, I Promise!







[This post originally appeared on Entrepreneur.com.]

Today, I want to say something a little controversial: The business you are building may be the wrong one.

Yes, I know you’ve spent hundreds or thousands of hours on it. But, I’m here to tell you that it might be the wrong business for you. As the famous quote from Stephen Covey goes, “If the ladder is not leaning against the right wall, every step we take just gets us to the wrong place faster.” So, how do you know if your idea is heading up the ladder on the right wall?

Do you simply start climbing and see what happens? I don’t believe so. Not only will you be wasting years of your life that way, but you’ll wear yourself out in the process.

So, here are the three vital questions every entrepreneur should ask about the business he or she is trying to build. If you ask them of yourself, and then answer them honestly, you’ll be sure that you’re climbing the right ladder.

1. Do I want to be doing this in ten years?

Remember the first few months of your last girlfriend or boyfriend? The fun, the excitement, the giggles? This is often known as the “honeymoon phase” and it’s great but it’s not real.

What’s real is the life that comes after the honeymoon phase, when emotion is not the driving force that makes or breaks the relationship. The same is true for business ventures. Every business is exciting in the beginning, but let’s be honest: None of it is real. The feeling won’t last.

Related: What the Classic “3 Little Pigs” Fable Can Teach Us About Building a Business

Many people start businesses because they believe they’ll become rich. And, truth be told, many businesses do make their owners wealthy. But what most wannabe entrepreneurs fail to grasp is the absurd amount of time between starting a business and exiting that business. It’s usually not six months or a year. It’s more like a decade, or longer.

(Click to read on BiggerPockets…)

P.S. looking for hard money loans in California? Be sure to check out my friends over at northcoastfinancialinc.com. They have very competitive rates, can fund within a week and specialize in fix and flip loans and other hard money loans.

Perhaps your ultimate goal is to abandon your job, say “screw you!” to your boss, and never look back.

But let’s be honest: That’s probably not happening today.

It might not happen for a few months, or maybe years.

But that’s not a bad thing. In fact, it’s totally possible (and maybe even beneficial) to keep your job while you build your business.

There are plenty of ways to quit your job. I happen to favor real estate investing, but I get it: Different strokes for different folks. A lot of my examples in this post will be about real estate. But if you are trying to build the next Facebook, I still believe these tips can be life-changing.

I believe these tips will make life far easier as you build your business WHILE working your full-time job.

And by “easier” I don’t mean “easy.” It’s going to take work. It’s going to take hustle. It’s going to take smarts.

And it’s going to take YOU following the following five (and bonus #6) to get there. So let’s get to the list.

5 Life-Changing Tips for Growing a Business While Working a Full-Time Job

1. Take Inventory of Your Free Time

I know what you are thinking right now:

I don’t have any free time. 

Yes, you probably are incredibly busy. I get that. But what are you busy doing? What’s taking up all this time?

If you are looking to invest in real estate while working a full-time job, the first thing you need to do is take an inventory of this time. Actually pull out a piece of paper (go ahead, I’ll wait) and write it all down.

Sure, your job takes time. Probably forty hours a week.

And then you have your commute — probably another ten.

Of course, you need to eat meals, which is probably another ten.

And then sleep, which accounts for another sixty hours a week.

(Click to read on BiggerPockets…)

P.S. looking for hard money loans in California? Be sure to check out my friends over at northcoastfinancialinc.com. They have very competitive rates, can fund within a week and specialize in fix and flip loans and other hard money loans.

Class A, B, C & D Real Estate: How to Know Where YOU Should Invest

(The following is an excerpt from the new book from BiggerPockets, The Book on Rental Property Investing. If you are looking to buy more rental properties this year,pick up a copy today!)

As you begin investing in real estate, you’ll likely hear people talk about a property being in an A, B, C, or D location.

Just like your high school class grades, a neighborhood can receive a grade, though the classification is a bit more subjective than a simple high school test. There is no government organization, board, or company that classifies locations.

It’s honestly more of an unwritten rule accepted by most investors, and the lines are not incredibly clear. You might think a location is an A location (the best), while I might think it’s a B location (second best), but for the most part, investors will agree on the class distinctions.

Some investors grade locations on an A through C scale, whereas others grade on A through F scale. In other words, you might say a location is a C location, meaning that you think it’s the worst, because you grade on an A through C scale; at the same time, someone who grades on an A through F scale might think it’s pretty middle of the road. For the sake of our discussion in this chapter, we’ll use an A through D scale, which is probably the most common grading scale.

Related: How to Identify A, B & C-Class Areas (& How to Know Which You Should Invest in!

In addition to the location receiving a grade, the property itself can be classified as an A, B, C, or D property. So you might hear someone say, “I have an A property in a B area.” To add more specificity to the classification system, some will add a + or – to those grades, so you might hear “The property is a B- house in a B+ area.” I’ll leave out the + and – designations in this chapter, but you can always use them if you want to get fancy or more specific.

Let’s take a minute and talk about the different classes of locations and property types.

Class A Real Estate

A Class A location is an area that has the newest buildings, hottest restaurants, best schools, wealthiest people, and highest-cost real estate. This is truly the best location you can find, and the highest-quality tenants are looking to rent here.

A Class A building follows the same concept. It is generally newer, probably less than ten years old, and therefore has fewer maintenance issues. The building has modern amenities, such as granite countertops, hardwood floors, and other in-demand features. Class A properties generally command the highest rent but may provide a lower amount of cash flow, because of the high-demand for an “easy investment.” More demand, higher purchase cost = lower cash flow.

(click to continue reading on BiggerPockets)

P.S. looking for hard money loans in California? Be sure to check out my friends over at northcoastfinancialinc.com. They have very competitive rates, can fund within a week and specialize in fix and flip loans and other hard money loans.

 

(The following is an excerpt from the new book from BiggerPockets, The Book on Rental Property Investing. If you are looking to buy more rental properties this year, pick up a copy today!)

The first and perhaps most important step in becoming a successful rental property investor is thinking the right thoughts. In other words, it’s not an external action you need to take, but an internal mindset you need to create.

This mindset begins by flipping a switch in your head so that you say to yourself, “I am doing this,” rather than, “I want to do this.” You tell yourself, “I will do this,” rather than, “I can do this.” Your mind says, “I won’t give up,” rather than, “I hope I won’t give up.”

Let me illustrate this further using a common desire for most of the world: six-pack abs. You see, I want to have six-pack abs. I can get six-pack abs. And when I start to work toward those six-pack abs, I hope I won’t give up on that journey. But you know what? I’m not getting six-pack abs with that mindset!

To take it a step further, I even know how to get six-pack abs. I know the exercises I need to do, the food I need to eat, and the lifestyle I need to follow. But I’m still not getting that six pack! Why? Because I’m not yet committed! I haven’t yet flipped that switch in my head so that I tell myself, “I am getting six-pack abs, I will do this, and I won’t give up.” Deep inside my soul, I know I have not flipped that switch, committed myself, and started taking action. And as much as I don’t want to admit it, I know that I have not yet committed to getting that six pack. It’s just a dream, a desire.

Does this sound familiar to you? Have you “flipped the switch” of success in your mind? Have you made the commitment to yourself that you will become a rental property investor, come hell or high water?

If not, don’t worry. I believe that by the end of this book, you will. First, here are a few tips for moving in that direction.

3 Ways to Change Your Mindset for Real Estate Success

1. Write Down Your Goals, and Read Them Out Loud Every Day

I got this tip from Grant Cardone, an investor with over $350,000,000 in real estate assets whom we interviewed on the BiggerPockets Podcast (show 108). He’s been reading his goals out loud to himself every morning and every night for 30 years, and he also reads them when he’s feeling down. In addition, in his book The 10X Rule: The Only Difference Between Success and Failure, Cardone encourages his readers to take whatever goal they might have, multiply it by ten, change their plan/mindset to reflect that new goal, and then take massive action to accomplish their revised objective.

For example, one of my goals was to achieve 100 rental units, and my mind worked toward that goal. I could buy a fourplex here, a single-family house there, a small apartment building there… it was all very attainable. After applying the 10X Rule to my goals, though, I’m now aiming for 1,000 units. My mindset is very different. I no longer think in terms of “a single-family house here.” That will never get me to 1,000 units! I have to think bigger. As Napoleon Hill states in Think and Grow Rich, “Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve.” Your mind will naturally work to solve the problem or goal you’ve set before it. So raise your goal, think differently, and 10X your life.

(click to continue reading on BiggerPockets)

P.S. looking for hard money loans in California? Be sure to check out my friends over at northcoastfinancialinc.com. They have very competitive rates, can fund within a week and specialize in fix and flip loans and other hard money loans.

Landlords: The 6 Best Ways to Minimize Your Chances of a Lawsuit

(The following is an excerpt from the new book from BiggerPockets, The Book on Managing Rental Properties. If you are looking to earn more and have less stress with your rentals, pick up a copy today!)

In our litigious age, it’s impossible to keep yourself 100 percent free from a lawsuit.

As a landlord, the chance of getting sued actually increases. However, there are some actions you can take to decrease your chance of being hit with a lawsuit.

This post is not designed to scare you, but lawsuits are a real thing, hence the need for great insurance on your property. But besides insurance, let’s talk about six of the easiest ways to keep yourself free from lawsuits ever happening.

1. Provide Housing That is Habitable

As a landlord, it is your legal responsibility to provide housing that meets a certain level of cleanliness. If you rent properties that don’t meet basic standards, your risk of getting sued increases greatly. So don’t be a slumlord! Fix up your properties and make sure they are in good, livable condition for the tenant. Be sure to investigate and comply with federal, state, and local housing codes to ensure your property is in good enough condition to rent.

Related: 7 Tips to Keep Landlords Free From Costly Tenant Lawsuits

2. Provide Housing That is Reasonably Safe

If you fail to provide a reasonable level of security for your tenants, you could be sued. For example, if a tenant calls with complaints about their door lock not working, and before you can fix the problem someone breaks in and attacks the tenant, you could face a lawsuit. Therefore, make sure safety-related concerns are addressed promptly. And, of course, don’t rent to people who might hurt other people.

3. Get Repairs Taken Care of Quickly

If a tenant has an issue that must be fixed and you refuse to, you are opening yourself up to a lawsuit or at minimum the tenant legally being able to withhold the rent or using their own money to pay for the repairs. So don’t let things get to this point. Hire qualified people to repair your properties immediately.

(click to continue reading on BiggerPockets)

P.S. looking for hard money loans in California? Be sure to check out my friends over at northcoastfinancialinc.com. They have very competitive rates, can fund within a week and specialize in fix and flip loans and other hard money loans.

15 Things Every Newbie Needs to Know About Starting a Business

Starting a business is exciting — and scary.

I’ve started more businesses than I’d care to admit.

In my experience, it’s a bit like driving through a heavy fog where you are only able to see a few feet in front of the windshield — you don’t know what’s up ahead until it’s upon you.

However, the longer you are an entrepreneur, the better you can navigate through that fog.

As I’ve been driving through the fog for over a decade now, I thought I would take today’s post and boil down 15 of the biggest lessons I’ve learned over the past decade of building and growing businesses.

Consider these tips “stuff I wish I had known when I was young and stupid.” 

Let’s get to them.

1. Don’t listen to statistics.

People love to throw around the statistic that 95 percent of business fail. Don’t listen to that — it’s an excuse to make you feel comfortable about giving up. If that number is even correct, it’s because most people don’t commit, they don’t follow through to the end or they are stupid in how they manage their money.

2. Do something you like.

Don’t start something you won’t want to do in five years. Because if you are successful, you’ll still be doing this in five years.

3. You are not going to know everything.

In fact, you probably won’t know anything when you first start. Start anyway. When I first got into real estate investing, I had no idea how to buy a property, rent a house, or evict a tenant. I figured it all out “on the job.” You will too.

4. Finish what you start.

Nearly every entrepreneur I know suffers from the same curse: We like to start things more than we like to finish them. In other words, if you are a good entrepreneur, you’ll have a lot of great ideas. Most of them would probably work out well and make you a lot of money. However, that doesn’t mean you should pursue them. Pick one and go with it until it dies or it makes you rich enough to buy a private island.

Related: How Top Entrepreneurs Overcome the Dreaded Fear of Failure

5. Never partner with someone because it’s convenient.

Partner with someone because it makes you stronger. The wrong partner will drive you crazy, make you hate your work and end up causing more problems than they solve.

(click to continue reading on BiggerPockets)

P.S. looking for hard money loans in California? Be sure to check out my friends over at northcoastfinancialinc.com. They have very competitive rates, can fund within a week and specialize in fix and flip loans and other hard money loans.

12345678910111213141516Last