In Brian Sher’s book, What the Rich Know & Desperately Want to Keep Secret, he said “As far as I know, there are only five ways to make money:

1. Steal it or cheat others out of theirs-which is risky and undermines your values.

2. Inherit it.

3. Put what you have in financial investments, which is perfect so long as you have perfect skills- or the right advice- and lots of patience.

4. Work for it, which is both honest and noble-but won’t make you rich without leverage.

5. Go into business-the most effective way if you do your homework and pick the right business.

A well- run business can generate staggering profits and will outperform any other means of gaining wealth.”

Running a Business is the Pathway to Wealth

According Sher (business expert), running your own business is the pathway to a world of wealth and riches. It suffices then to say that every wealth seeker must give the idea of running a business a second thought. In J. Paul Getty’s book, How to Be Rich, his first rule is that you must be in business for yourself.

… “and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you.” 1Th 4:11

Friend, if you want to be rich, your effort and energy should be going into starting and running your own business. Prosperous people have always known this basic rule of wealth creation. Starting, owning, and running a successful and profitable small business is one of the most exciting things, which give great joy in life.

Deciding to go into business for yourself is one of the most important decisions you will make in your life.

Andy Warhol once said, “Making money is art and working
is art, and good business is the best art of all,” (The Philosophy of
Andy Warhol, Harcourt, 1975).

According to Brian Sher, the foundational key to running a successful business is the ability to pick the right business.

Whenever you see a successful and prosperous business, know that someone once made a courageous and right decision.

Basically, there are two types of businesses:
1.Product-based businesses- Product or goods. They deal in tangibles.
2. Service-based businesses -Service-based businesses sell time and expertise. They deal in intangibles. Therefore tend to be less expensive to start as there is no inventory to buy.

Operate Around Your Passion

Deciding on an area that you love is the first step when choosing a business to start. A friend of mine who is the editor of a national news paper here in Nigeria went seeking God’s face concerning what to do with his life. And God simply asked him what he loved doing, to which he said writing. Today he’s become a successful and prosperous person. What is it you love doing? What is your hobby? There is something about your passion that pushes you into success and prosperity.

The road to happiness lies in two simple principles: Find
what it is that interests you and that you can do well, and
when you find it, put your whole soul into it-every bit of
energy and ambition and natural ability you have.
-John D. Rockefeller III

Doing what you love is indeed the first prerequisite when you are choosing the right business. There is a saying that goes, Do what you love, the money will follow. We tend to succeed when we are engaged in something that we really enjoy.

Barbara Winter, in her great book, Making a Living Without a Job (Bantam) 1993, says that “passion leads to purpose, that once you get in touch with those things you are most passionate about, you can begin to create a business of purpose around them.”

Offer What the People Want

Deciding on an area that you love is only the first step when choosing a business to start. The second step is to do a market research to find out if there is a market for the product or service you intend offering.

If there are no people willing to pay you for your expertise, people willing to buy the product or service you want to sell, you do not have a business. So be realistic-there must be a market willing to buy what you plan to offer.

“We don’t want to push our ideas onto customers; we simply want to make what they want.”-Laura Ashley

The bottom line is to find a business that combines your interests with the ability to make a good living selling your product or service. While hunches and intuition are great, you need some objective criteria before making the leap into the land of entrepreneurship

Too many new entrepreneurs fall in love with their idea and become convinced that it is the greatest thing that has ever happened to humanity. You must strive to be as objective as possible. Be a businessperson.

“There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.” Pro 14:12

Whatever business you want to start then, whatever product or service you decide to sell, you have to be able to sell it at a price high enough to make a profit, but low enough that people will buy it.

To Your Prosperity