Three Unconventional Ways to Become a Self-Made Millionaire
The idea of becoming a self made millionaire is something that crosses a lot of minds but then - just as quickly - rushes away again. We've all seen ideas that hit the news and get that annoying "Why didn't I think of that?" moment. Most millionaires have made their cash through things like investing in property or running their own business. Here are 3 unconventional ways that could lead to you becoming a self-made millionaire.
1. Deal with other people's rubbish
Most of the time when we throw something away, that's the last time we think about it. But there's always money in muck. Nowadays, recycling is very popular but to make a decent amount of cash from it, you need to do more than pick up empty cans for the deposit money.
As a general rule, the more obnoxious the rubbish, the more money there is in dealing with it. Although it's unlikely that you'll start out by recycling spent nuclear fuel rods there are other things that need dealing with on a regular basis that need either certification or special handling. Asbestos is a good example of this but there are plenty of other substances that can attract specialist handling and therefore the kind of prices that you need to make your millions. For example, a weed like Japanese ragwort would be well worth investigating.
2. Flip an idea between sectors
This has worked a treat for a lot of people. For instance, at heart eBay is just a flea market that's available online. The same kind of idea goes for Google - in essence, it's the old microfiche that you used all those years ago in your college library. Except that you can search for almost anything, anywhere.
The trick with this is to keep an open mind as to what could be done better.
Adopt the mentality of what would you do if you were starting from scratch, without all the incumbent overhead that the existing industry had.
Amazon did this for books - it seemed totally unconventional when they first launched and people questioned whether anyone would want to buy books without physically flipping through them first. The answer seems obvious now but at the time it was totally unconventional and has made Jeff Bezos an awful lot of money.
3. Turn conventional wisdom on its head
There's a lot to be said for going in the opposite direction to the crowds as any commuter would readily agree.
A lot of people will question your sanity if you take this approach.
Start by taking a look at a business that takes your fancy and split it into its component parts. With each of these parts, ask why they're doing what they do. Keep asking why until you get to the root cause. Do this on enough of the parts of a business and you'll either find a trick that they're missing or a completely new business idea will leap out at you.
Regardless of whether your idea to become a self-made millionaire is conventional or unconventional, there's one more part of the equation:
Actually carry out your idea.
There's no point in letting it lay fallow - that's like the parable of the talents. Burying your idea won't make it come to life and won't make you the cash you want. So embrace your idea and run with it. Who knows, you could be the next self made millionaire featured on the cover of Time.
1. Deal with other people's rubbish
Most of the time when we throw something away, that's the last time we think about it. But there's always money in muck. Nowadays, recycling is very popular but to make a decent amount of cash from it, you need to do more than pick up empty cans for the deposit money.
As a general rule, the more obnoxious the rubbish, the more money there is in dealing with it. Although it's unlikely that you'll start out by recycling spent nuclear fuel rods there are other things that need dealing with on a regular basis that need either certification or special handling. Asbestos is a good example of this but there are plenty of other substances that can attract specialist handling and therefore the kind of prices that you need to make your millions. For example, a weed like Japanese ragwort would be well worth investigating.
2. Flip an idea between sectors
This has worked a treat for a lot of people. For instance, at heart eBay is just a flea market that's available online. The same kind of idea goes for Google - in essence, it's the old microfiche that you used all those years ago in your college library. Except that you can search for almost anything, anywhere.
The trick with this is to keep an open mind as to what could be done better.
Adopt the mentality of what would you do if you were starting from scratch, without all the incumbent overhead that the existing industry had.
Amazon did this for books - it seemed totally unconventional when they first launched and people questioned whether anyone would want to buy books without physically flipping through them first. The answer seems obvious now but at the time it was totally unconventional and has made Jeff Bezos an awful lot of money.
3. Turn conventional wisdom on its head
There's a lot to be said for going in the opposite direction to the crowds as any commuter would readily agree.
A lot of people will question your sanity if you take this approach.
Start by taking a look at a business that takes your fancy and split it into its component parts. With each of these parts, ask why they're doing what they do. Keep asking why until you get to the root cause. Do this on enough of the parts of a business and you'll either find a trick that they're missing or a completely new business idea will leap out at you.
Regardless of whether your idea to become a self-made millionaire is conventional or unconventional, there's one more part of the equation:
Actually carry out your idea.
There's no point in letting it lay fallow - that's like the parable of the talents. Burying your idea won't make it come to life and won't make you the cash you want. So embrace your idea and run with it. Who knows, you could be the next self made millionaire featured on the cover of Time.
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