As a young man in my twenties running a brick and mortar business I thought I was invincible…at least for a while.

I was working every waking hour and I started making some money.

And like many business owners I was looking to make more money so I started to expand…opening other businesses.

In just two years I went from one tiny business to 6 businesses. I was cooking with gas.

But what I didn’t figure is what happens when your sales start slowing off and you still have to pay all those overheads like staff and rent of retail premises.

Brick and mortar businesses can be really scary…

You can lose a lot of money VERY fast…

From this point on I have to warn you that what I’m about to say is not for everyone.

I have no intention of telling you how to live or how to spend your money but if you want to step off the financial treadmill and have some peace of mind then what follows may have some strategies you want to consider.

Ultimately though it’s up to you what you do with your life and your money.

Even if you’re not running a business many people don’t realize how financially fragile their lives really are.

 

When they buy a house they get the biggest mortgage their bank will allow them. They get a car loan…maybe two car loans on vehicles that have huge insurance rates and ongoing maintenance costs.

Then there’s buying a whole variety of gadgets you and your family don’t really need with the small amount of disposable income you have left or worse with credit cards.

If you want to be a slave to money for the rest of your life then what I’ve just described is the classic way of doing it.

But you don’t need to live like that…

Wouldn’t you like to look at your bank account and know that even if your income stops you’re fine for the next 6 months, the next year…even the next 2 or 3 years or longer?

Achieving that for many people is not as hard as you might think.

First if you look at your lifestyle you can think through what you REALLY need and start getting rid of the things you don’t.

Anything that you have that’s still on repayments should be seriously considered first.

Also with vehicles do some research and work out which vehicles cost the least in actual maintenance after you figure in insurance, cost for mileage and physical maintenance costs.

The real figures when you start looking at them may shock you.

I remember a recent study that showed one popular family 4 wheel drive vehicle in Australia cost nearly $1,000 a week to run BEFORE you payed for gas.

Now that kind of expense makes perfect sense if it’s in proportion to your disposable income.

So if you were making $10,000 a week or more a vehicle costing you $1,000 a week might not be so bad.

But if you’re not making that money and you start analyzing your costs you might realize that you’re spending a significant portion of your working week just paying for insuring and maintaining a car.

Personally I think that’s crazy…

Another area where we tend to get brainwashed heavily is in this idea that we should buy everything our children ask for.

I’m not entirely sure why. When I grew up my mother didn’t do that and I’m pretty sure I’m better for it.

My thinking is if it helps a child genuinely build long term skills they’re likely to use in their life that’s something I’m going to seriously consider investing some money in.

But buying kids the latest gadgets so they can eat up their valuable time playing computer games and listening to ipods…I’m a little inclined to think children should work if they want gadgets like that and earn the money for themselves.

That helps them build self reliance and independence.

I don’t think you need to take things to extremes…

But in my opinion the sheer quantity of electronic gadgets, designer clothes and other accoutrements children have these days that really do little to genuinely enhance their lives…I think that’s an extreme.

Being a great  parent is not about giving your children everything they ask for. It’s about equipping them with the skills and experience they need so they can live a happy fulfilling life.

Now that I’ve probably got a whole pile of people offside I want to see if I can get back on your good side…

You have the perfect business already…

The great thing about helping brick and mortar businesses with their internet marketing is you have a business that has almost no fixed overheads and no capital expense.

You can work from your home so you don’t need an office. You don’t need staff.

You can choose to outsource work on a project by project basis if you want minimum risk.

You can outsource to employees anywhere in the world and for minimum risk you can wait till you have written agreements with businesses who are paying you monthly fees so you know any costs are covered.

You can change and adapt quickly.

Your costs are minimal but your potential rewards are huge because you’re effectively becoming a profit partner with any business you choose to work with but you don’t have a downside.

You don’t share in their costs or their overheads.

You don’t have to hire or fire their employees.

All you have to do is help them make more profits and you get paid. Usually you get paid in advance too!

The basic Offline Gold business model is truly a gift from business heaven.

You can take or leave anything I’ve written in this article but it would be great if you realized how fortunate you are to have a business where you’re not at risk of losing your shirt every month.