Are you undecided if you should open up a conventional brick and mortar business or an online business? Well I am going to tell information about both of them and let you make the choice.

When you start a brick and mortar business you have to start out in debt. You are going to have to take out a loan that is between $100,000 and $500,000. So you are going to have to have at least $50,000 to put down for the down payment. There are tons of cost like store front leases, labor, inventory taxes, possibly Insurance for your employees, the list can go on and on. We figured it out to be around $4,000-$10,000 a month easily.

Plus we are not figuring out the time that you have to put in. Most brick and mortar business owners put in at least 12-16 hours a day. So after all is said and done with you paying back the loan and paying out monthly bills you might make $50,000 to $70,000 a year.

Figure out how much you are making an hour? Well at least under estimate it and say you are working 10 hours on average a day 7 days a week at least for the first 2 years ( big under estimation) It comes out to be around $20 a hour and remember it is probably more like $15 an hour after all that is said and done.

Now lets talk about starting an online business. There are many online businesses you can get yourself into but I will say if you want the most efficient one go with affiliate marketing. This business gives you the most free time and pays you great money for not really doing that much. You do not have inventory, pay rent, pay employees, pay property taxes, etc.

Top affiliates make between $10,000 a month and $50,000 a month. Some have even made it to the millions so you have to think about it there is really no cap on this. There is a couple of start up costs but it comes out to be pennies compared to a brick and mortar. You might have to pay for web site hosting and a domain if you are going to go that route. I suggest you get a couple of e-books on affiliate marketing which might cost you $200-$500.

Then you have to pay for advertising which can cost you some money. But if you read this book that I tell you at the end of my article for every $1 you put in you can make $3 to $30 back. So I advise you to read this it will only help and if you are not satisfied within 60 days you can get your money back.

Now lets go back and see which one is better. If you start a brick and mortar you probably will have no time and not make money for the first 3 years because you will be paying off your debt. The online affiliate business you will probably have to spend at most $1000 with everything including advertising. So that means you will have to make roughly around 25 sales to make your money back and start making a profit.

Well if I lets put it this way my friend is has his own restaurant and I have my own affiliate business. I make $200,000 a year and only work 3 hours a day 5 days a week. He makes around $150,000 after everything and he is working 14 hours a day on average. I get to spend time with my wife and kids and he is having family problems because he is never there. He still does not believe me and think that I got lucky doing what I am doing but it was not luck I just read and applied.

It is so simple a child can do it. Well I hope you are not stubborn and you listen. It changed my life for the better and I hope it will do the same for you.

Melissa Finney is an established online marketer who has learned many tips and techniques about online marketing that have made her very successful and she wants to teach you what she knows. For more information please go to http://www.thesecret2onlinemoney.com.

When I think about it now, I really wish one of my parents or both of my parents worked from home, I think it would have been a lot nicer! Unfortunately for me that was almost impossible considering my father was a big shot Chiropractor and my mom was his assistant. I ended up spending most of my time when I was little either in daycare, with my grandma, or in the back office of my dads business coloring. Personally I would have rather spent every day in that back office with my mom and dad. I loved being with my grandma, and my parents were awesome, but I just wish I could have somehow spent more time with them!

Fortunately for kids now, their parents have a very good chance of working at home. Now you can either do this by working with an existing company and asking them if you can work at home, or you can open your own business, service, franchise right from home on your own time, with your own pay, and your own rules and best of all as your own boss. Sounds good right? Well don’t forget; since you will be your own boss you will need to have some major responsibility.

In my time at working at home I have come to an understanding. The more I work, and more available I am to my customers and prospects, the more money I will make, the more I can save, and the quicker I can establish some sort of a “nest egg” for my future.

Now take a quick look at a few of these little details:

Time -
If you work at home and need to go on business errands, you can take them with you. Obviously if it’s a business meeting, you may not want to unless you are with a company that you work for and they have some sort of a daycare. It would only be for an hour or two and then you can take your kid(s) back home with you. On the other hand, if you work for yourself you will most likely be dealing with a lot of people over the phone, or through email.

Obviously this doesn’t take any extra steps besides your kids understanding (if they are at that age) that mommy or daddy needs to make an important call. My cousin works from home and has two kids, both kids know that when she says she needs to make an important call that this means they have to be quiet.

Flexibility -
If you have kids, obviously you will need to be flexible with your time. Since most kids go to school during certain hours, it’s a good idea to plan your day ahead of time. Take kids to school at 9am, work until 4pm, pick kids up, then spend time with the kids, then after they go to bed, you can work some more if need be. However, if your child gets sick or if it’s the summer time and they just do something like go to camp for a few hours, you need to be flexible enough to accept this, work around it, and move on. Obviously your children should be the most important thing!

Accommodations -
Now if your kids are at that age where they understand things well, it’s a good idea to make a sort of deal with them. Call it a bribe if you will. Tell them that you are working from home now, so that you can spend more time with them, but also tell them that you need to also work as well. So make a deal with them, tell them if they let you work for, however, long that you guys will do an activity or go somewhere afterwards, some place fun. Most kids won’t understand that you are home but that you also have to work while at home, so you need to explain this to them as gingerly as possible.

Also, if you are going to work at home with your kiddies, don’t ignore them. That is so not cool! Unless your lucky enough to have a mom that can come over and help or a nanny of some sort, you’re still going to have to make time for your kids! Remember, you started this because you wanted to spend time with them! They are a perk! A plus! And completely mandatory!

The main objective of being a work at home parent is to be able to incorporate work with family time and parenting responsibilities without the loss of income or opportunity. This is a great way to make the money you want, but still be able to spend time with your kids, and in the long run even if they don’t completely understand it right now, they will be more than happy in the end. And really, isn’t that the most important thing?

This author is a HUGE fan and recommends before starting a Home Business, visiting www.envisionfreedom.net

If you’re finishing up your business plan and starting to think about presenting the plan to potential investors and lenders the presentation is important. The business plan represents you and your company. It doesn’t have to be in a gold embossed leather binder with four color photographs but it does have to look professional. Ask yourself these questions:

Does the plan include a title page with your company name, a person’s name and the address and phone numbers? Don’t just clip a business card to the front page, it could get separated. It’s not a bad idea to include your company name and phone number on every page right next to the page number.

Has your plan been proofed and spell checked? And by a real person, not just your word processor? Word processor spell check doesn’t know the difference between its and it’s, there, their, and they’re for example so those types of mistakes won’t be caught.

Did you check all abbreviations or acronyms to make sure the first time they’re used they’re explained, ie., World Wide Web (www)?

Have you gone through the plan to make sure all technical terms are explained?

Are the pages numbered?

Do the page numbers for the index match the actual page numbers?

Have you edited the business plan to see what you can include in the Appendix rather than in the body of the plan?

Has someone unfamiliar with your company read the plan and understood it?

Is your executive summary limited to no more than 3 pages?

Have you had someone unfamiliar with your company read just the executive summary and understand your company?

Are your margins at least one inch wide on each side, top and bottom?

Is your font size at least 11, preferably 12?

If you are using a word processing system which allows color graphics, have you changed the color graphics to grayscale for printing? Or will you be printing the business plan in color?

Have you checked to make sure you didn’t use too many fonts and font sizes? Variation is fine but using too many fonts makes the page look busy.

Have you taken advantage of bullet points, shading, indents, and borders to add visual interest to your presentation? (Just don’t go overboard.)

Is the use of your page titles and headings consistent in format throughout the presentation?

You can print your business plan on both sides of the paper, just make sure it’s printed on quality paper so that the printing doesn’t bleed through to the other side.

If you are using duplicating or copying services to print your business plans, is the quality nearly perfect?

Follow these tips and your business plan will have a solid presentation to investors and lenders.

What to know what should be in your business plan? Download a free business plan format. Dee Power is the author of , Business Plan Basics. Reach her through her website

As a consultant, I’ve deliberately avoided making too big a deal about this recession we find ourselves in because.

First it doesn’t help a great deal to dwell upon problems when really you ought to be thinking about solutions; and secondly, you’re probably hearing plenty about it from everyone else.

I’ve been getting a lot of emails and calls from business owners who are having an extremely bad time of things at the moment. Everyone, it seems, is asking the same question: “can you help me survive the recession?”

Hmm. Well, first thing I’ll say is this is a hell of a time to ask. The time to be looking for new business is when you’re busy, not when things are rapidly going creek-wise and paddleless. But, there’s no point in worrying about what you can’t change. You can’t change the wind, but you can change the set of your sail. The economy is like it IS, so deal with it in that way.

So, let’s do what I always find it’s best to do with any threat and that’s to face it squarely: there is some pretty bad stuff going on all over the world right now, the economy is dire, it’s probably going to get worse, and just what can we do about it?

Well, let me ruffle a few feathers and annoy a lot of people by saying right upfront I actually don’t believe it needs to be that much of a big deal for us. There are some very powerful things we can do to not just survive this recession but actually to thrive and come out the other side in an even better position than we were going into it. But, does it mean we can just carry on doing things the same old way we’re doing them now and perhaps have been doing them for many years?

No, it doesn’t.

We’ve had it pretty easy until recently, and we could afford to be complacent about marketing and getting new business through the door.
But now things have changed, and if you don’t change with them, then you’re going to have a rough time of it, even to the extent you might go out of business.

So we need to ask ourselves some pretty tough questions: exactly what challenges are we facing? What can we do about them? And how can we still think ‘big’ and grow our businesses and grow our profits, regardless of what’s going on around us?

First, look back over the last few downturns we’ve weathered, and notice something interesting. Notice while there were a lot of businesses struggling, and indeed there were a lot of businesses actually going out of business… there were a few, perhaps 1% or 2% which did very well indeed. Believe me, this wasn’t down to luck.

Here’s the question: what did they do differently?

The answer may surprise you. Because you’re going to find the biggest single factor determining your success or failure in the recession is your attitude, or ‘mindset’. The most important thing these successful business owners did was decide not to knuckle under to the recession. They decided to succeed, instead.

Now, this might sound like a bunch of hippy, New Age woo-woo rubbish, but it’s not. I’m not talking about affirmations or ‘The Secret’ or anything like that at all. If you want to read a highly entertaining and deeply insightful bit of real scientific research on this, I recommend Richard Wiseman’s ‘The Luck Factor’.

Basically, good and bad things happen to us all in roughly equal measure, and the difference between so-called ‘lucky’ and ‘unlucky’ people isn’t what happens to them so much as what they pay attention to and remember. If I can sum it up, I’d say ‘you get more of what you focus on’. See, when you’re surrounded by bad news in the papers and on the television, when almost every conversation you have revolves around the dreadful state of the economy, something happens to you: you inevitably get drawn into all the negativity and unconsciously accept all this doom and gloom as being an unavoidable truth.

Consequently, most business owners are approaching this recession with the view they’re going to ‘just hang on’ and weather the storm. I tell you now: if that’s you, then that’s the BEST you can hope for. We rarely exceed our goals and expectations. As the old saying goes, ‘if you want to hit an eagle, aim for the moon; aim for the eagle and you’ll hit a rock’.

So, the very first thing you need to be thinking about is setting some ambitious and positive goals (and remember I am not taking about tree-hugging here), and so instead of thinking in terms of just ‘hanging on’, think in terms of doubling or tripling your profits in the next 12 months. OK, so you might not actually hit that particular moon, but you will no doubt bag a few eagles in the process.

Once you set this goal for yourself, your brain, which has evolved to be an incredibly powerful pattern-matching and goal-seeking piece of equipment, will start looking for ways to achieve what you want.

OK, once you’ve set your goal, what now? What about those opportunities I mentioned? Well, the chief one is linked to what I just shared with you about people’s expectations.

Your competitors are worrying and fretting and setting their sights on just ‘getting by’. That means their actions and strategies are all aimed at just ‘getting by’. And that’s the best they can hope to achieve. But really, the customers out there still buying are just as scared by this recession as everyone else, and they want to be buying from someone bold and confident.

They want leadership and certainty. If you have set ambitious goals and are acting congruently with your words, then that’s what you offer them. Following on from this, you’ll notice in their fear and panic, most of your competitors will have curtailed their marketing and dropped their prices.

This is great news for you. First, because low price is almost never what really interests us; and secondly, if they aren’t marketing and you are, then you appear to be the only game in town.

Of course, now’s the time people start to complain and whine about how ‘expensive’ marketing is. Fooey. Not so. Some of the best and most effective marketing you can do is completely free, or as close to free as makes no difference. And don’t make the mistake of thinking in this case ‘free’ means ‘cheap and nasty’.

Think on it: how much does a recommendation from a friend cost, and how effective is it? You see my point, yes?

You may have noticed clients have changed their habits a little, but that’s OK. I’ve noticed it in my own business for sure: more clients than ever, but the jobs tend to be smaller and my clients more frantic.

That’s not my ideal situation, but it’s easy enough to cope with and cash flow has increased quite nicely, even though I’ve substantially raised my fees (because I get results and people are happy to pay whatever I ask - there’s a lesson in there for every business).

In short: I’m busier now than I’ve ever been.

So, pull your chin out of your chest, straighten your back and get out there and GET MARKETING!

Jon McCulloch is the hottest marketing sensation in the UK and Ireland and is now taking the US by storm. Discover how YOU can turn the current downturn and recession to your advantage with 9 simple but highly effective strategies: www.RecessionIsOpportunity.com

Restaurant revenue management is often made to appear more complex than it really needs to be even for the experienced revenue managers. Restaurant revenue management is something that all businesses need to be concerned with whether they are large or small. However, the smaller companies may have more difficulty with revenue management because they do not have the resources to hire one person to be in charge of this particular task.

In fact, many owners will have to tackle this task themselves or assign a member of their regular team to handle it that already has other duties to take care of such as the office manager or general manager. For this reason many smaller companies may not realize the benefits that understanding and using restaurant revenue management can provide for them.

Purpose of a Restaurant Manager

A restaurant revenue manager will find ways to use supply and demand as a way to increase their sales. A good way to explain how this works is by using hotels as an example. When a customer reserves a room in advance they will be able to receive some really good rates. As it gets closer to a specific date the rates will go up to full price. This is especially true during holidays and on weekends.

This is one of the reasons why weekly rates are cheaper than the weekend rates. There is a higher demand for hotel rooms on the weekend so the rates are priced higher. Providing lower prices for guest that reserve their rooms in advance or that stay during the week encourages more people to use the facility.

With restaurants the revenue manager will find ways to appeal to customers using the principle of supply and demand. For example, weekends are normally the busiest time for restaurants so offering more specials during the week will draw in more customers during the slow periods. The revenue manager will learn how to predict demands and know what the customers respond to the best.

Restaurant revenue management involves doing your research. It is important to know what your competitors have to offer so you can match or beat their rates. Learn the area in which you are located. This is very important because the location will be a factor in determining what rates can be charged.

The bottom line is, the more demand there is for a product the higher prices can be charged. The revenue manager will learn how supply and demand affects your restaurant and learn the best techniques to use this method to increase the revenue that a company produces.

Restaurant Revenue Management Benefits

Restaurant revenue management is not very difficult to understand or to put into action. Considering all the advantages it can provide, there is no reason why any restaurant would not use this system to increase their revenue no matter how small they are.

A revenue manager will help your company to bring in more business during the slow periods, which can greatly increase your overall profits. It will also allow you to take full advantage of the high demand periods.

It will help your company determine the rates used and make sure that you are using the proper rates for your area. This way you will not be overpricing your products but you will not be under-pricing them either. Once you know the going rates, it will be easier to design good value deals that will bring in the customers and increase your revenue.

Making restaurant revenue management a vital part of your company can greatly enhance your business. Keep in mind that even if you have a small company you can increase your revenue when you take advantage of supply and demand and learn how to use it to your advantage. All businesses can greatly benefit from having a revenue manager and once you incorporate it into your business, you will wonder why you waited so long.

Robert Bylett provides individualised and affordable solutions that are practical, and accelerate the profitability, enjoyment and results you get from your business. Find out more at http://www.justconsultancy.co.uk

Now you can own one of the top secrets that makes riches on the net and cash-in on one of the greatest success principles of all times.

If you can use more new cash out of your internet business and I mean TONS of new sales and dollars, I’ve got great news for you.

Now there’s a powerful principle to bring in all the new business and profits you’ll ever need. The kind of profits that will rocket your bank account right off the charts.

A simple success principle that you can use starting today, this article will tell you all about it with examples.

One of the most difficult and time consuming tasks in this internet business game is having to continually jump from one website to another to hunt from one business opportunity to another. This leads to massive failure of a newbie.

What if you learned one of the most important reason that leads to massive failure of a newbie?

And here’s the reason without wasting much of your time - That’s FOCUS.

Imagine the time you were learning to drive a cycle.

What happened? I bet you are experiencing the conscious thought that you were giving in getting your balance firm.

You were focussing on getting yourself balanced on the 2 wheels because you knew that if you did not focus there was a possibility that you might fall.

Now once you learned it and mastered it after few days or weeks what happened…

- You were driving without any conscious thought, infact your driving now is controlled by your subconscious mind.

Now imagine this, what if you considered yourself a failure before you learned to drive cycle and you gave up?

Would you ever learn to drive it in your life time?

I bet you know the answer. This same principle goes with everything in life…

- Whether it is to learn how to drive a bike, swimming, cooking, walking, etc.

And it also goes with setting up a successful internet business.

If you start an internet business and within first few months you donot achieve success and you quit, how come you will learn how to become a successful internet marketer.

You have to fail multiple times because failures are stepping stones towards success.

Here’s the biggest truth about achieving success…

Learn to fail 100 times to achieve massive success one time. You will learn to fly only when you will learn to fall.

Apply information in this article and finally succeed…

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Do you know the most important part of achieving success in this online world?

Do you know the biggest reason that people fail and why they don’t get exactly what they want? Infact they always get what they don’t want.

Do you know why are you always failing even though you are always trying to make more money, be more happy and become successful in life and business?

Here’s the simple reason. It’s your thinking. If you don’t think big you will never achieve big. Your belief and thinking will lead you to massive internet success.

What you believe will eventually become your future and what you think will execute your feelings.

Here’s how the subconscious system works to get you all the money, business and success you desire.

What you think with your conscious mind will eventually dissolve inside your subconscious mind. This will generate either positive feelings or negative feelings depending upon your thoughts.

Once you get these feelings it will help you to take either positive or negative actions to get towards your dream goal.

What enters your subconscious mind will get attracted from the universe, as like rays attract like rays. So if you fill up poverty in your thoughts you will be poor and if you think rich you will be rich.

You thoughts will give you ideas to move towards your goal. Then with consistent action you will get what you want. This is how the law of universe works and if you apply the rules to your life you will surely be successful.

So to get this entire machine working you have to concentrate on your thoughts. Do affirmation and visualization of your end goal every day and this will get you positive feelings and energy that will finally take you towards your goal.

A simple tactic to make sure that your subconscious mind is working with you to achieve your goal is to do affirmation and visualization.

Affirmation means that you have to repeat your end goal every single day. Write down your dream goal on a paper in positive phrases with a deadline. Then repeat it or better write it atleast 100 times every day.

Repetition is the key to getting your subconscious mind understand what you want in life. Also make sure that you create a mind movie and visualize your goal.

Get your 5 senses involved in your visualization, if you do this your subconscious will take note of it and give you exactly what you want.

Apply the information in this article and boost up your internet business, you can thank me later…

Want to learn how I do it? Download your FREE Cash & Traffic Pulling Report…

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Running a restaurant can be a very challenging job that requires a lot of time, patients and knowledge. Most new owners find it extremely difficult to stay on track and keep up with everything when there is always so much going on. However, having a restaurant operations manual can make a huge difference and help you and your staff accomplish all of the goals set forth for your company.

So, exactly what is a restaurant operations manual and why is it so important in your business? An operations manual is the best source of information you will have that describes exactly what goals are expected for your restaurant. It is also an outline of what steps you need to follow to reach these goals.

The restaurant that uses an operations manual as a guide to enhance their business will enjoy many benefits. Experienced restaurant owners consider them to be the backbone of their company.

Requirements of a Good Operations Manual

A good operations manual will have the following qualities. First, it will be written in clear but brief descriptions that are easy to understand and use while still providing detailed information.

A good restaurant operations manual will also include the following information.

* Cleanliness and Sanitation Guidelines
* Safety Rules
* Security Issues
* Employee Training Techniques
* Management Training
* Marketing and Promotional Technique
* Administrative Techniques
* Promotional Techniques

Each section of the manual will have headers and subheadings that break everything down in that section and provide details on how each function should be performed. You will also find forms and checklist that will help to achieve the results needed to enhance the overall performance of your company.

These are just a few of the things that can be found in a restaurant operations manual, there are still other areas that may be covered depending on the type of restaurant you own.

How to Design Your Own Manual

Many new restaurant owners choose to design their own operations manual. If you choose this option you need to remember that this manual will be the standard procedures that all of your employees will follow to meet the requirements you set forth. It will be your voice when you are not around physically. Therefore, it is important that you take your time and create a manual that will suit all your needs.

When designing your operations manual remember to keep things as simple as possible. It will be easier for you and so much simpler for your staff to follow. If you begin putting to much detail that is unnecessary in your manual, it will just cause confusion which will defeat the whole purpose of having the manual in the first place. Therefore, describe what needs to be done in the shortest most direct way possible. Be clear with the directions and consistent to avoid any confusion.

Each position should have specific responsibilities that are clearly outlined. The job description should include a list for opening and closing the restaurant along with any other task that needs to be done. There should be a section especially for management and one for employees. Once your manual has been completed make sure your staff members know where it is located and that it is available for them to use at all times. A restaurant operations manual can help turn your company into a great business.

As the owner, you have many responsibilities that will be demanding much of your time. There is no way that you could be present all the time to answer questions and make sure things are being run according to your expectations. Therefore, having an operations manual is the next best thing to ensure your business is being run according to your wishes.

Robert Bylett provides individualised and affordable solutions that are practical, and accelerate the profitability, enjoyment and results you get from your business. Find out more at http://www.justconsultancy.co.uk

Are you sick and tired of working the 8-6 hours, never seeing the family and restricted holiday time? Life is meant to be fun - surely making our companies rich while we struggle financially and with family relations. Well here are 5 ways to step you out of the rat race you are in, and get you on your way to living the lifestyle you choose!

Here are 5 options for you to consider - helping you out of the rat race and making money to be a catalyst to your freedom

PROPERTY - Yes, I can hear you say - property NOW? In this economy! To be honest, yes property is a great one. Do the research, look in the papers, talk to real estate agents, and your bank. There are many ways of making money in property - a fantastic book to read is “0 to 150 properties in 3.5 years” by Steve McKnight. It shows you many different ways in an easy to read format! Follow this and you will be on your way!

STOCKS - Ouch - you mean now, when it seems so volatile. All i can say to this is read the article “Buy American, I am” in New York Times, by Warren Buffet. One of THE most successful investors in the stock market and he is investing - he must know something. Again research, speak to other brokers and investors and find what is best for you! Right now could be your chance to shine in this area.

TURN YOUR IDEAS INTO A PROFITABLE BUSINESS - Can’t find a business out there that suits you - why not start your own? Everything you can see around you, all started in someone’s imagination first. Or maybe you see a business that could run ten times better, start that. Although it may be hard at first, if you truly are passionate about your business it won’t seem like work. Another thing to consider is to actually make sure your business can run without you - therefore giving you the freedom you are striving for. The best book I know that can ensure you do this is called “The E-Myth” by Michael Gerber

FRANCHISES - If you feel that building your own business is too much of a risk, but still like the idea of having a business, Franchises are another great way to go! With proven systems that work and have proven profits, what more could you ask for. They often provide guidance and support through the whole way. One thing to keep in mind with franchises however is that you will need a substantial amount to invest with. Banks will probably lend you business loans for a franchise more so than an unproven business. Pick your franchise, check it aligns with your goals and also values & beliefs and you are on your way!

BUSINESS BASED FROM HOME OFFICE - A home based business is ideal for the stay at home parent looking to watch their children grow up. With the internet so useful and phone deals quite cheap, you can be at home - yet connected to customers around the globe! Home based businesses are often cheap to start up and can have the potential to make a lot of money. It is important to do your research as there are thousands out there, and some are illegal. Find the one that interests you and most importantly, has the potential to deliver the freedom and income you are looking for.

So where to start from here? I would look within, listen for your internal voices - one of those options will feel more comfortable than the other when you imagine yourself doing it. Start with that one. If that doesn’t end up being, try the next one…and the next. It will get easier as you determine what is right for you and then you will be living the lifestyle you choose.

Life is for living right? So why is 90% of the world stuck working 40 - 60 hours a week, in a job they can bare - just to be living pay check to pay check not making enough money? It doesn’t seem fair that we are given restrictions on when we can see our families, when and how much time we can have on holiday or be restricted to a pay rate that suits the company in making money - not so we can enjoy life!

5 options to mull over and weigh up which will be your vehicle out of the rat race:

PROPERTY - Yes, I can hear you say - property NOW? In this economy! To be honest, yes property is a great one. Do the research, look in the papers, talk to real estate agents, and your bank. There are many ways of making money in property - a fantastic book to read is “0 to 150 properties in 3.5 years” by Steve McKnight. It shows you many different ways in an easy to read format! Follow this and you will be on your way!

STOCKS - Again, I hear another moan of resistance. This is where I will simply say - read the article (”Buy American, I am” New York Times) by Warren Buffet the man who has made the most in the world off stocks. He basically says right now he is buying stocks. He has survived two other stock market crashes and has done the same in each one, why do you think he is wealthy? As with property - the biggest thing here is to research, research and do more research.

START YOUR OWN BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY - Everything you see around you - the objects, the businesses and the relationships - began as a thought in someone’s mind. What gem is in your head that could bring you freedom and wealth? The best thing to do is start writing down your ideas, when something sticks -research it’s possibilities, the competition and so on. Ask people for their thoughts and ideas, it will evolve as you evolve. A brilliant book that will make sure you create a business that works for you, rather than you work in the business - “The E-Myth” by Michael Gerber.

FRANCHISES - These are proven systems that make you money. The biggest thing here is you will need to outlay a reasonable amount of money. However as these are proven, it may be easier to get a business loan for a franchise than for an unproven business of your own. Again, find a franchise that aligns with an interest of yours, which has similar values to you and yep, you guessed it, research! If you are looking for less of a risk than building your own business, then this will definitely be something to consider.

HOME BASED BUSINESS - now a day with the internet easily available anywhere and phone coverage is wide and cheap - a business can run from almost anywhere. These businesses are ideal for those stay at home parents. Also for those people who want to be able to travel with an income, or even just those that want to live their own lifestyle and fit the business around that. There are A LOT of home based businesses around these days, it is a good idea to find out all you can about the business, research them more on the internet, check they are legal and then once it fills your criteria of creating a lifestyle you want - then go for it!

So where to start from here? I would look within, listen for your internal voices - one of those options will feel more comfortable than the other when you imagine yourself doing it. Start with that one. If that doesn’t end up being, try the next one…and the next. It will get easier as you determine what is right for you and then you will be living the lifestyle you choose.