Financing Your Business

Anyone who is serious about making some money is already very well aware of the fact that it takes some type of investment to make this happen. I've read a lot of copy that suggests one can build a business for free, if they are willing to spend an extra amount of time to compensate for their lack of financial backing.

At the risk of bursting a few bubbles, I'm going to put this myth into perspective right now. While it's true a lot of hard work can make up for some weaknesses in your budget, the idea that anyone can build a prosperous business from the ground up with zero monetary investment is, at best, ridiculous.

I'm not saying this to discourage anyone. Quite the opposite, I'm trying to help people who are new to all this avoid months of frustration by giving them a dose of reality.

With the proper determination, you most certainly can succeed without spending a small fortune. However, there is simply no way to avoid putting at least some money into your projects if you truly expect them to grow and expand.

Maybe you don't have a lot of money to spend right now, and that's fine. There's nothing wrong with looking for a few freebies in the beginning, but you should definitely start mapping out a plan to generate some operating funds for your networking business.

Sit down and draw up your current budget. Start with your total monthly income and deduct all your monthly expenses. Next, identify any excess spending that can be reduced or curtailed. You may even need to develop some ideas of how you can generate a little extra money throughout the month to help fund your business. An honest, organized approach to identifying your financial capabilities and limitations is essential for your success.

Some of the things you can do to increase the size of your advertising/operating budget include:

- Reduce some of the "frills" on your monthly cable bill (pay per view events, movie channels, etc.).

- Locate a few extra hours of offline work per week. This could be another part time job, or it could be a matter of picking up some "odd work" a few times per month.

- Reduce entertainment expenses. Consider eating out less, or saving money by catching the matinee show instead of the more expensive evening movie.

- Consolidate your credit card debt into a single card, thus lowering your monthly payment obligation.

- Take out a small business loan.

- Have a garage sale.

- Buy your essentials (toothpaste, razors, deodorant, etc.) at a "Dollar Store." Thrift stores often retail the same merchandise sold at corporate stores for a fraction of the price.

These suggestions may sound silly to you, and that's fine. We all set our own priorities. If your business is just a hobby, then you probably aren't willing to go to extremes to insure its success. On the other hand, if the success of your business is paramount to your personal happiness, going the extra mile isn't too much to ask.

Personally, I think of network marketing as my "ticket" to freedom and porsperity. With this attitude in heart and mind, I am more than willing to cut a few luxuries and funnel as much revenue as possible into the growth of my business.

****************************

Tim Whiston has enjoyed network marketing on the world wide web since April of 2003. He publishes a monthly ezine, and is the author of Net Marketing Exposed.

****************************

In The News:

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/hysta-celebrates-outstanding-2008-annual/story.aspx%3Fguid%3D%257BD3657135-4F75-400E-8398-822C89D0637A%257D%26dist%3Dhpprcid=1256255200ei=nO3wSP_UBI_u6gOdoYmmBAusg=AFQjCNG4W6ydml48fPOZkv7mPOLrYvRgEQHYSTA Celebrates an Outstanding 2008 Annual Conference, Incredible b.../b/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fMarketWatchnbsp;-/font nobr19 hours ago/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1I am proud to say HYSTA continues to serve the international business community in our mission to promote bentrepreneurialism/b and career development among b.../b/font/div/font/td/tr/table
table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://telegraphjournal.canadaeast.com/opinion/article/444762cid=1256417540ei=nO3wSP_UBI_u6gOdoYmmBAusg=AFQjCNG7MVHAbYBhFcXYF2RUqTYT0iU73QA salute to our newspaper carriers/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fTelegraph-Journal,nbsp;Canadanbsp;-/font nobr9 hours ago/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1The image of the young, bright-eyed newspaper carrier is iconic - an emblem of eager bentrepreneurialism/b as recognizable today as it was a century ago. b.../b/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://dailygleaner.canadaeast.com/front/article/444881cid=1256417540ei=nO3wSP_UBI_u6gOdoYmmBAusg=AFQjCNE93DY3YWYpCzl9FDyj6KF1K9c4LAGraham: Delivering newspapers is a great way to build a career/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrKings County Record/nobr/font/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://timestranscript.canadaeast.com/lifetimes/article/443636cid=1256417540ei=nO3wSP_UBI_u6gOdoYmmBAusg=AFQjCNEcZv1Z5uDodbLzo_rLA2DuIYMkjACarried away/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrTimes and Transcript/nobr/font/fontbrfont class=p size=-1a class=p href=http://news.google.com/news?sourceid=navclientie=ISO-8859-1rls=GGLG,GGLG:2005-22,GGLG:enncl=1256417540hl=ennobrall 4 news articles/nobr/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table
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table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.prweb.com/releases/2008/10/prweb1417844.htmcid=1254086062ei=nO3wSP_UBI_u6gOdoYmmBAusg=AFQjCNHaL1eYyEqzuMfBUCaVGloy2hELEQAgentShield.com selected as Finalist for ITFlorida#39;s Innovation b.../b/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fPR Web (press release),nbsp;WAnbsp;-/font nobrOct 4, 2008/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1Agent Shield, Inc. has been recognized as one of only four finalist statewide for the quot;Innovation and bEntrepreneurialism/b Awardquot; in the annual ITFlorida b.../b/font/div/font/td/tr/table
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table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.citywire.co.uk/Adviser/-/news/other/content.aspx%3FID%3D316848cid=0ei=nO3wSP_UBI_u6gOdoYmmBAusg=AFQjCNGcwHMCIkM8aOrL-PFPaoH5V9os0AGerber and Mone reiterate the secrets to success/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fCityWire.co.uk,nbsp;UKnbsp;-/font nobrOct 9, 2008/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1By Colin McClelland | 09:30:00 | 09 October 2008 Author Michael Gerber said he had an epiphany 35 years ago that bentrepreneurialism/b was a myth and the b.../b/font/div/font/td/tr/table
table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.albawaba.com/en/countries/UAE/236330cid=1251529772ei=nO3wSP_UBI_u6gOdoYmmBAusg=AFQjCNH-bKFz-sEZfMt5pVRBbS3Dga6kYgbbg allies with arab business angels network/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fAl-Bawaba,nbsp;Jordannbsp;-/font nobrSep 27, 2008/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1“Through our alliance with ABAN, we continue to support the growth of bentrepreneurialism/b, innovation and local knowledge creation. b.../b/font/div/font/td/tr/table
table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.dailypress.com/news/opinion/dp-op_sunltrs_10050oct05,0,4023167.storycid=1256327592ei=nO3wSP_UBI_u6gOdoYmmBAusg=AFQjCNHDZSdxMsu5KjeahI1zAqSpMEFp1wMaverick, not Marx/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fDaily Press,nbsp;VAnbsp;-/font nobrOct 5, 2008/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1b.../b of dollars from successful business owners to redistribute wealth will reshape our society from one of bentrepreneurialism/b to revolutionary socialism. b.../b/font/div/font/td/tr/table
table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://markkobayashihillary.computing.co.uk/2008/10/where-to-offsho.htmlcid=1254765324ei=nO3wSP_UBI_u6gOdoYmmBAusg=AFQjCNF-sF7PPngVE7CgHf9Rf4SJXMg7fAWhere to offshore (and why not here?)/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fComputing,nbsp;UKnbsp;-/font nobrOct 7, 2008/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1Perhaps the global downturn may actually encourage more regional talent and bentrepreneurialism/b in countries like the UK, where the conventional wisdom has b.../b/font/div/font/td/tr/table
table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.canada.com/theprovince/news/editorial/story.html%3Fid%3D47befd22-9871-4cc4-bcc6-c9a919864766cid=1255833534ei=nO3wSP_UBI_u6gOdoYmmBAusg=AFQjCNGqzmg7HqGBt9nItZlMyW07I4sbQAMiddle ground fertile for NDP/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fThe Province,nbsp;Canadanbsp;-/font nobrOct 6, 2008/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1b.../b supported by organized big labour and linked to the party#39;s inherent hatred of big business, corporate profits and the spirit of bentrepreneurialism/b. b.../b/font/div/font/td/tr/table
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