How to Make a Million Dollars – Getting yourself in motion

If you have not read page 1 yet, please start there.

Start by putting some business books on your iPod and listening to them in every spare minute you have — while driving, while walking between classes, while waiting in line, whatever. Most books now come on CD or as an MP3 file. Here are five books that I would start with. These are “mindset books” — they get you into the right mindset to start a business:

Mindset books:

Rich dad, poor dad, by Robert T. Kiyosaki – A perfect book for getting you head in the right spot to start a business.
The automatic millionaire, by David bach – Teaches you how to manage your finances. A basic guide to “saving $5 a day to become a millionaire in the future.” See also Understanding and controlling your finances.
The one minute millionare, by Victor Mark Hansen – a little over the top, but encourages you to think differently about starting companies and building wealth.
How to be a billionaire, by Martin Fridson – Really makes you look at the world differently.
The Warren Buffet Way, by Robert Hagstrom – Not light reading, but helps you see how one of the richest men in the world thinks about the business world.
Never Eat Alone, by Keith Ferrazzi – Helps you to think about business relationships differently.

Then I would go read books about people who have started successful businesses. Start with these, and there are a thousand other books like these that you can easily find:

Examples of businesses that have succeeded:

The Sam Walton Story, by Austin Teutsch – Tells how Sam Walton went from being a guy with one little store in Arkansas to the richest man in the world.
Dave’s Way, by David Thomas – The story of Dave Thomas, the founder of Wendy’s. He started as an orphan bussing tables in a restaurant, and he went on to create an empire.
Built from scratch – the subtitle says it all: “How a Couple of Regular Guys Grew The Home Depot from Nothing to $30 Billion”
Nuts!, by Kevin Freiberg – The story of Southwest Airlines.
Be my guest, by Conrad Hilton – The story of Hilton Hotels.

Also, go to a bookstore or Amazon or a library and find a basic “How to start a small business” kind of book. Or two. There’s a million of them to choose from. Page through several and find one that appeals to you. It will teach you about basic stuff like incorporating, simple accounting and accountants, business licenses, federal tax ID numbers, lawyers and so on — the minutiae that you need to deal with when starting and running a business.

Finally, here are several web links that you may find helpful:

How to make money on the Web – An ongoing discussion of ideas that will help you learn how to make money on the Web.
How to start a startup
Why Small Web Design Firms Should Think Big – The article could easily be retitled, “Why Small Firms Should Think Big.” It is a general call-to-action for small business owners everywhere. It will help you to think big as you are thinking about starting a business.
Starting your business – from the SBA. A little dry and traditional, but lots of good information.
Getting your business started
Nine more little inspirational stories to give you some extra motivation to get started.

Raising Money?

If you are reading these pages and you are wondering how you can raise money for your new business, this article will help: How to Raise Money from Angel Investors and Venture Capitalists

That’s it — start reading these books and thinking about something you can do that other people will find valuable. You are on your way. You just have to take that first step…

And once you make your first million, please send me an email and let me know so I can congratulate you.

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