For a long time I was reluctant to invest in a business that marketed a high ticket product or service because I didnt have the money to invest. Even though I was convinced that if I was coachable and trainable and seriously worked the business I could generate a few thousand dollars in the first thirty days, I kept putting off joining the business opportunity until I had the money up front to invest. So I kept fooling around with MLM opportunities that marketed great products but never making more than a few hundred dollars. But finally the light came on for me about OPM (other peoples money) and positive cash flow.

If Donald Trump wanted to buy a business that he knew would generate him a serious positive cash flow, he wouldnt use his own money. He would borrow the money from investors who were satisfied with a guaranteed fixed rate of return on their money, and Trump would keep his own money invested. I realized that if I borrowed $5,000 from my credit card even at 18%, it would cost me $75 per month in interest to use that money. Actually I talked one of my credit card companies to give me a cash advance @ 4.99% for the life of the loan. So the monthly finance charge would be about $21. If I wasnt carrying a balance from any other purchases on that card, the minimum payment would be $100. So whether I considered the monthly service charge or even the monthly minimum payment, all I needed to generate from my business in the first month was $101, and I would have a positive cash flow. I was convinced that I could make 4 or 5 sales per month with the business I wanted to start and would be making a minimum of $1,000 on each sale. But even if I only made one sale per month Id have a positive cash flow.

I am a home owner, but if I didnt have the money to buy a home, I would not live on the street. Id rent a place that I could afford. Why wait until you have the money to invest in a business that you are convinced will generate a serious secondary income? Why not find someone who will rent the money to you? That could be a small business loan, home equity line of credit, credit card line of credit, or even a friend. If I hadnt had access to a line of credit, Im sure that I could have found a friend who would have loaned me $5,000 if I had promised to pay them $50 a month until I repaid the $5,000. Thats 12% APR. Or I could have found five people who were willing to loan me $1,000 for a return of 12% APR.

Any legitimate business will have some up front start up costs as well as regular monthly expenses such as advertising. Why not figure the rent on your start up costs into your monthly business expense budget? If you can generate more than that amount each month from the business you want to start, youll have a positive cash flow in the first month. Go for it!