On The Beach Education Corporation

We create businesses to make a living, have ownership, have control, make a contribution, take advantage of an opportunity, exploit a skill/talent/intellectual property, ultimately for profit. Some people labor for years and others for less. It takes determination, passion, strategy, planning and a whole whack of savvy stuff to get a business operating profitably, then systematically returning a profit. The key to starting up a business and getting it turnkey is TIME. There is a learning curve involved. It takes time to create a successful business even when you have mentors.

Real estate investing is a business in and of itself. There is a learning curve in first understanding how real estate works, then mastering how to invest. I see many people enter this arena and give up. It’s not only frustrating at times; it’s a huge commitment of time and energy.

I’d just like to comment on something I’ve been seeing lately, and that is people suddenly switching from a business they know well to starting up a completely new business they have no understanding of. This is a recipe for disaster or mediocrity, for one or both businesses.

In my personal experience, I’ve started up over nine network marketing businesses in the past. I was in the middle of my real estate learning curve when I started up network marketing business #10. My time was split between two businesses. Neither did well for a few weeks until I made the decision to drop the network marketing business.

In other examples, Steve and I have met people who have run a business for 8, 10, 15 or more years. These people have a lot invested in their business. They’re tired or stuck or bored with the business. They want passive income. They decide to switch their time and energy to becoming real estate investors. This is all well and good, but their existing business starts to suffer from lack of attention. They want to create a passive income stream. The amount of time, energy and money that is required to invest in your start up business as a real estate investor is a hundredfold in comparison to spending that same amount of time, energy and money on your existing business.

For example, in order to create an additional $2,000 per month passive income in real estate, it took me less than two years. That was my learning curve. I spent a lot of time, energy and money investing in my education.

Now what if you spent that same amount of time, energy and money investing in your current business that isn’t doing so hot? What if you made a two year plan to systemize your business? The results are astonishing. The return on investment is huge, far more than could be accomplished in your first two years as a real estate investor. Once your business is systemized, it runs without you on a daily basis, you are making money whether you’re at work or not, you’ve created a four hour work week, now all this spare time can be used to get up to speed on your new passion: real estate.

Real estate is a fantastic business. Just don’t sacrifice what you have already built in search for greener pastures. Real estate investing takes a lot of work, just like any business. The end result is passive income but all forms of passive income require some form of active management. The more passive the investment, the less risk. That’s why a Guaranteed Investment Certificate offers 0.2% interest. This is a fraction: two-tenth per cent interest. That’s the best rate my bank can offer me.

Even if you don’t have a business right now, it’s prudent for you to observe how you spend your time, energy and money. Do you rush off to different projects, do you scatter your energy, do you start something and don’t finish, do you finish other people’s projects, how do you focus, what kind of results do you create, do you wait for something to happen? Because how you are right now is how you are in business. P.S. this is how I used to be in 2001. I didn’t have staying power. I got bored quickly. None of the many businesses that I had started had a firm foundation upon which to grow because I quit early in the game.

I’m not saying that all businesses are meant to be kept and grown and systemized. This article is meant to help you look at the highest and best use of your time, energy and talent to get what you desire faster, sooner and more. Sometimes what’s in your back yard is where you’ll find your acres of diamonds.