How To Weed Out Good Business Opportunities

Business opportunities are a dime a dozen especially in the world of internet marketing. Unfortunately such opportunities are often sold to people who have no idea how to evaluate and judge a good business opportunity even if it fell into their lap with a tag that said, "Great passive income pre-packaged business from Mom, with love."

The problem comes when the person promoting the whole business fails to mention the learning curve that will hit you like a ton of bricks. I had recently bought a brick and mortar business, my first one. And although I had previously bought and sold real estate this new class asset was a wild ride. Mr Robert Kiyosaki was wise to teach me through his many books that buying into a business first is the best way to get good at buying and investing in property better than any wage slave could ever hope to master.

He did not really emphasize how you will be placed under a microscope and scrutinized by bankers to a depth of invasion that your employees would never get to experience because you are gracious enough to pay them a regular salary every month like clockwork; and still fail to qualify for full credit. They just need a payslip, identity documents, proof of residence and a hand written list of expenses.

I need six layers of financial documents with accountant verified bank statements for the past 12 months with proof of projected earnings. Even with all this information handed in (which is impossible in your first year of buying the darn business opportunity) they still say your income is too erratic. It never ceases to amaze me when my staff qualify for 100% home loans while I who by-the-way pays their salaries with my erratic business income can barely qualify for 60% home loan on the same property.

That is injustice.

Let's put the jokes to one side, being a small business owner to a living business with huge potential is a truly life altering experience. It changes your way of thinking, you immediately can establish rapport with any business owner who wonders past you in the grocery store. You share a common bond with them because of the shared requirements;

1) Be completely present in your business, own it; mind, body and spirit.

2) Cashflow can wipe you out, protect it with vigour.

3) You get paid last while everybody else; like your employees, your suppliers, the IRS and creditors; gets their cut of your money first.

4) Late nights are a must, especially in the beginning.

5) Customers need structure, you cannot allow customer credit to people who do not understand what it is like not to be paid on time.

6) You need to continue to invest in it long after you bought the business opportunity, be patient and flexible enough to navigate through each long month until you find equilibrium and start to have excess money in the bank.

By taking care of the six points above you should be able to put the first difficult 12 months of owning a business behind you and increase your chances of success.

So, "Are All Business Opportunities Created Equal?" No, but people are created equal (some with better advantages) but all with the ability to learn new skills.

The learning curve of the owner by far is the one reason I believe that about 90% of business startups fail in the first year.