Can anyone make a million dollars fast from scratch? What can I sell to make a million dollars fast overnight? What can I do to make a million dollars in a year?
“Anyone who has ever struggled with poverty knows how devilishly expensive it is to be poor.” – James Baldwin
“A million dollars is the starting point.” – Rich Dad
Many people wish to get to the millionaire status but they don’t know what to do or how to go about it. I want to state categorically that there are many ways to make a million dollars but I will be restricting this article to achieving this goal by following the entrepreneurial process; the process of starting a business from scratch. Below is my step by step guide to making a million dollars fast in less than a year.
“The principle of becoming a millionaire is the same everywhere, regardless of the currency.” – Anonymous
Now to be sincere with you, making a million dollars is not a big deal anymore. The reason i say this is because anyone can wake up tomorrow and make million dollars. In fact, it is now easier to become a millionaire starting with nothing. Today, with just a laptop and an internet connection, you can make a million dollars in six months or less; if you have the right knowledge.
Secondly, there are now several easier routes you can take to make a million dollars. So it is up to you to choose the route that best suits you and you have no excuse to not to hit the goal.
8 Smart Ways to Make a Million Dollars Quick
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Play the lottery and get lucky
If you are a gambler, you can play the lottery, get lucky and win a million dollars. The problem however is that if you lose the money, you need another bit of luck to repeat the process.
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Marry a rich person
You can marry someone rich and become a millionaire. Yea, most people marry for money these days so it’s no big deal anymore. But it takes a great deal of heartache to live with somebody you have no affection for.
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Being a celebrity or superstar
You can make a million dollars by being a super star; maybe a footballer, musician, celebrity, etc. But it takes years of consistency, hard work, large number of fans and lots of media power to become a celebrity or superstar.
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Be a crook
You can make a million dollars fast by being a crook; maybe a drug dealer, gun runner, money launderer, public fund looter, etc. However, you may never enjoy your money in peace as you will be constantly hounded by the police, the government or your associates.
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Savings
You can make a million dollars fast by being a good saver or better still, a penny pincher. If you start early and you have a good job, you can save your cash in the bank and become a millionaire. The only hitch is that you won’t know what to do with your million dollars other than to lavish it and even if you want to invest in something worthwhile, the fear of losing your money will never allow you.
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By inheritance
You can make a million dollars by inheritance. Yea, a lot of kids were born with a silver spoon and left a large inheritance. The only hitch with making money this way is that if you lack the competence to run the system that generates the money for your inheritance or if you simply have poor financial control of your life, you will lose that inheritance in due time.
You can make a million dollars by being an entrepreneur. Yea, you can make a million dollars by building a business or simply by being self employed like a forex trader, stock trader, craft man, etc. This was exactly how i made my money. To achieve this, you need initiative, skills and knowledge of the business you are venturing into.
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Become an investor
You can become a millionaire by being an investor. However, your choice of investment vehicle may be stocks, real estate, IPOs, startups, etc. You can also choose to be an angel investor, Venture capitalist, etc. To do this, you need to be financially intelligent. You also need adequate knowledge, a good team, access to information, analytic skills and most importantly; Money.
What does it take to make a million dollars fast?
Sincerely speaking, it takes nothing special to make millions of dollars. All you need is a good business idea, the right mindset and a set of entrepreneurial skills. You see, the world is filled with brilliant business ideas; unfortunately, the world lack savvy entrepreneurs with the capacity to transform such ideas into profit.
Do you have a good business idea but you lack the knowledge on how to take your ideas to the marketplace? Then read on as I share with you insider secrets on how to make millions of dollars fast with your business ideas. Over the years, i have met individuals with brilliant business ideas but surprising enough, they don’t know what to do with such ideas and before you know it, someone else picks this same idea and make millions out of it.
One of the worst regrets to have is to see an idea you envisaged being capitalized upon by someone else, simply because you did not act fast. Do you want to live a life of regret? If no, then here’s a practical guide on how to make millions of dollars fast from your business ideas.
a. What market value does your idea hold?
Most entrepreneurs usually get excited about their business ideas thinking it’s the next big thing. The sad news is that most ideas will not see the light of day. Do you know why? The reason is because most entrepreneurs develop business ideas or products based on what they think the market need; instead of what the market actually needs. If your idea or product is going to breakthrough and generate your desired profits; then it must meet the market needs. Now how do you know if your idea has a high market value? Answering the following questions will help you determine the market value of your idea.
- Is your idea in line with the trend? A fast idea is an idea that’s in line with the present and future trend. If you intend bringing an obsolete idea to the marketplace, think again because your idea may be dead on arrival.
- Is your idea a pioneer invention or innovation? Now I know that a product being a pioneer invention is not a criterion for success in the marketplace but at least, it helps. The reason it helps is because it gives you first mover advantage.
- Does your idea solve a problem or satisfy a need? This is the most important factor to consider if you want to make millions of dollars with your ideas. Your proposed business idea must either solve a problem or satisfy a need; nothing more, nothing less. If it doesn’t, then it’s not worth a pinch of effort.
b. How much is your idea worth?
After determining the market value of your product or idea, the next thing to do is to appraise its monetary value. No one is going to hand out millions of dollars to you for your idea when you don’t even know what your idea is worth. MsDos was sold by some programmers to Bill Gates for $50,000; and Bill Gates went on to become a billionaire with the same idea. Now how did Bill Gates achieve such a feat? How did he build a billion dollar company from a simple idea? The answer lies in intellectual property protection.
- You can increase the value of your idea by protecting it. Before you even begin trying to make money with your ideas; it’s advisable you protect it. Legal protection is what made Bill Gates a billionaire; not the idea. Legally protecting your idea also increases its value. Trademarks, patents, licenses and copyrights are examples of legal vehicles you can use to protect your idea.
- Sharpen your sales skills. Sales skill is the most important business skill every entrepreneur needs. In fact, selling is the primary duty of an entrepreneur. Without it, nothing will be achieved. For your idea to break into the marketplace, you must know how to sell; so I will advice you sharpen your sales skills.
How to Make a Million Dollars Fast in a Year from Nothing
1. Prepare your mind to make a million dollars
To make a million dollars in less than a year, you must see yourself actually making it. You must believe it is achievable. Ultimately, you must prepare your mind to face the challenges associated with your dream of making a million dollars fast. You must also be prepared for disappointments and set backs along the way.
Preparing your mind also entails abandoning the employee mindset of working for a paycheck. It’s all about transiting or changing your mode of thinking; it’s all about thinking like an entrepreneur. In the process of preparing your mind to make a million dollars fast, you must also develop the necessary entrepreneurial skills needed.
“To be successful, you must act big, think big and talk big.” – Aristotle Onassis
One of such skills is that you must develop a tough skin towards rejection and criticism. You must not give up on your dream just because somebody said it’s impossible.
2. Set a goal to make a million dollars fast within a year
The next step is to set a goal to make a million dollars within a time frame of one year. After setting the one year goal, break it down into monthly, weekly and objectives. The goal and objectives must be written down. Writing it down will help you must make sure each new day is fully utilized to the realization of your goal.
3. Look into yourself and list out your strengths
One of the easiest and fastest ways to make a million dollars fast is to utilize your potential. Every human being is blessed with a gift or has a unique talent that needs to be discovered and harnessed. Even if you think you are not gifted, there’s definitely something that drives you crazy; something you are never tired of doing. Something you are very passionate about, something you can do and do excellently well.
It could be an acquired skill, an in-born talent, your hobby or just anything that thrills you; even if it’s the world’s craziest idea, it’s your strength. Debbi Fields took her passion for baking cookies and made a lot of money out of it with her company; Mrs. Field’s Cookies.
Bill Gates discovered at an early age that he loves tangling with computer programs and this passion evolved into Microsoft. Oprah Winfrey utilized her gift for speaking and became the richest black woman in the world; while Rachael Ray took her passion for cooking and became a famous millionaire.
No matter what your strengths are, you can make something out of it. All you need to do at this stage is list them out in written form. Now if you feel you don’t have any talent or skill to leverage upon, which I doubt; then you have to ask yourself the following questions:
- What do I have around me that I can leverage upon to make a million dollars fast?
- What drives me crazy?
- What do I know that others don’t?
The answer to this question may be the skills or expertise of a friend, someone else product, an eBook or software (which you can find in abundance on the internet). Once you can figure this out, you are still on track to making a million dollars.
4. Analyze your strengths or idea and figure out if it interests others
After listing out your strengths, you need to go to a quiet place and reflect on your strengths. Analyze each of them and tick the ones you are very strong at. After analyzing each one of them, you will need to carry out a preliminary research to know which of your strengths or ideas has potential for success in the market place. This research might require you ask questions, read journals, magazines and books and even spend time on the internet. Any of the research vehicle you choose, just make sure it yields the desired result.
5. Draw a plan on how you intend to profit from your strength or idea
If you can get to this stage, then you are half way down the road to making a million dollars in less than a year. This is where you sit down to draw a plan of how you intend to leverage your strength or idea to make money. This is where you to convert the results of your feasibility study into a business plan. Your plan is going to contain tactics and strategies that will help you surmount business challenges and achieve your goals faster.
6. Make sure you are legally protected
Many budding entrepreneurs strive to pass through step one to five, only to bypass step six and proceed to seven. This single business mistake has resulted in the death or painful loss of brilliant ideas and opportunities. I have also seen smart entrepreneurs being launched into a world of tremendous wealth simply because they protected their ideas.
Never test run your idea or launch it without first protecting it using patents, trademarks, copyrights, non-disclosure agreement or conformity forms. If you are leveraging someone else idea or product, be sure to obtain a license, distributive rights or exclusive right from the owner. Legally protecting your idea will cost you money in the short run but it will be highly beneficial to you in the long run.
7. Test run your idea and note down the result
After protecting your idea, you can now test run it to see its workability and identify flaws. Test running your idea might require you to; give out free samples of your product, grant access to experts to scrutinize your idea or join a focus group. The end point of your test running should be to gather feed back and improve or proceed with the idea. If the product is not yours, you will still need to test the market with it. Nobody wants to be stuck with a dying product.
8. Assemble a team to help you expand your idea
If you are smart and open minded, you will assemble a team during the test running of your idea because few will see potential in your idea and will want to be part of it. If this happens, then you need to be selective of who you bring on board as team member. But if not, then you will need to find your own team. Whichever way it works, just make sure your selected team members sign an agreement highlighting their roles and stakes to avoid future dispute.
9. Form strategic alliance with stronger external teams
After kicking off with your idea alongside your team, you will surely meet some business challenges and some progress. You may decide to maintain status quo and work strictly with your team but if you need accelerated growth and speedy achievement of your goal, then you need to seek out external assistance.
You need to form strategic alliance with stronger external teams; teams bigger than yours. This will reduce your overhead and help you grow faster while still running on a lean budget.
10. Expand your business idea with franchising
Franchising is another way to expand your business idea and make millions of dollars out of it effortlessly.
11. License your idea
12. Sell your idea
Everyone has a brilliant idea up his/her sleeves but it is a known fact that not everyone can start a business. Most lack the guts to face the challenges and risk associated with building a business. If you are in this category of people, don’t fret.
You can still make you millions of dollars with much reduced risk. All you have to do is to sell your ideas outright to companies or investors and walk away. But before you do that, make sure that you are legally protected and you have evaluated the value of your idea. If not, you will be ripped off.
13. Stick with the process until you make your first million dollars
Finally, we are at it. What else do I have to say, what advice do I have to give at this point? If you have steadfastly gotten to step nine, I say congratulations but I’m still sorry to say that all your effort will be null and void if you ignore step ten; the most important step of all.
In the game of entrepreneurship and life in general, many start the race with enthusiasm but along the way, most lose their enthusiasm and others their focus. Only about ten percent will make it to the end of the race. Are you going to be among this ten percent? Only you can decide that.
As a final note, this is my ten step guide to making a million dollars fast in less than a year. Reading this article will never make you a millionaire, implementing the tactics or steps will. If you are determined and committed to the process, you will make a million dollars. At this point, I leave you with this quote:
“Anything the mind can conceive and believe; it can achieve.” – Anonymous
“Becoming a millionaire or billionaire is not the real challenge, maintaining that status is the real challenge.” – Ajaero Tony Martins