No money.
No problem.
If you're deep in the trenches of the business battlefield, you might believe-like many other business owners-that lack of money is one of the biggest obstacles holding you back from success.
After all, it takes money to make money, right? WRONG.
It does NOT take money to make money.
That's one of the biggest excuses in the world, and it's bullshit.
What is does take to make anything happen in business, including making money, is a combination of self-education, creativity, negotiation skills, and most importantly, TENACITY: Self-Education.
Creativity.
Negotiation.
Tenacity.
If you pay attention to what's going on around you, create your own opportunities, and apply the tenacity to see your plans through, you can find creative ways to make money every day, no matter where you are.
Not convinced? Then let me tell you a story and walk you through the same lesson I gave my six year old son during a family vacation in Mexico.
During the course of one highly enjoyable day at the beach, he and I started out with empty pockets and ended up with pockets full of silver jewelry and a cash profit.
It all started with sharks.
We were vacationing in Cabo San Lucas - a big group of friends and family all having a wonderful time.
Every morning, my son Zac and I had breakfast on the beach together, just the two of us, man-to-man.
If you've never been to Mexico, you may not know that beaches in the resort towns there are more than sand and surf and bikinis-they are MAJOR marketplaces.
Anything and everything you can possibly think of to sell is being peddled there.
This was Zac's first experience with Mexico's finest beach vendors and he was awestruck.
Now there are two things my son is crazy about: airplanes and sharks.
So the first morning when he saw his first shark tooth necklace he quickly fell in love with it and asked me to buy it for him.
I figured, why not? The second morning, he found a different shark tooth necklace he liked even more, along with a shark "tattoo," and I bought him those as well.
On the third day, it was time for the spending spree to stop.
He wanted yet another necklace, but this time I explained that unless he could pay for it himself, he wasn't going to get another necklace.
Zac was frustrated because he knew he didn't have any money.
So instead of getting angry with him, I decided this could be an ideal opportunity to teach him a real life lesson.
Even though he's only six, Zac is very bright and full of energy.
I asked him if he could think of any way to come up with some money to pay for another necklace.
He thought hard for a while but was stumped.
It all started with sharks.
THE INCENTIVE: Zac wanted another shark tooth necklace, and he wanted it BAD.
THE OBSTACLE: Zac didn't have any money.
How can a kid buy a shark tooth necklace without any money? THE CHALLENGE: Could I find a way to show him how to make or find enough money to get another necklace in the few hours we had left to spend at the beach? THE PROPOSITION: "Zac, if you really want that necklace, pay attention and watch Daddy very closely over the next few hours.
I'm going to show you how to get it.
I'll teach you what to do and explain why I am doing what I am doing, every step of the way.
In the end you will learn how money is made- and you'll get that shark tooth necklace!" Gather data and information.
Self-Education.
I started by educating myself and putting together the facts.
From a few trips to town over the preceding days I had learned that pieces of silver jewelry and souvenirs were selling in town for about $4.
50 each.
On the beach, prices were higher.
I noticed that silver was in high demand among tourists there and that people on the beach were willing to pay as much as $40 for a necklace and bracelet set.
I paid close attention to how each vendor acted and reacted throughout the morning by experimenting with specific low-ball offers and seeing how much they where willing to haggle or negotiate down on their prices.
I paid especially close attention to the most popular vendors, who happened to be the people selling silver.
Gradually, an idea came to me...
Developing the Business Plan.
My business plan was to choose one of the silver vendors, purchase his inventory at wholesale pricing, and then resell the silver to everyone around us at a bargain price they could not resist.
The lesson begins.
Negotiation.
Negotiation - Part One.
A particular vendor who had visited us many times on the beach over the past couple of days seemed to be having a bad day.
He made several unsuccessful passes back and forth near where Zac and I were sitting, and as the sun got higher, the temperature began to climb.
Afternoons on Cabo beaches can be unbearably HOT and it was clear we were in for a scorcher.
"Pay attention," I said to Zac, "the lesson is about to begin.
" I approached the vendor and started a conversation.
"Wouldn't you like to get out of this heat and be back home with your family?" I suggested.
He replied, "Yes, but I haven't made any sales today.
I can't leave yet.
" This was powerful information for me to negotiate with! I now knew what he wanted-to get home out of the heat.
And I also knew what was standing in his way-he needed to make some sales and was getting anxious that he wouldn't be able to.
I offered to buy the vendor's entire inventory on the spot and asked him what he would charge.
"$375.
00," was his answer.
I laughed and said that was crazy, but I asked him to tell me how many pieces he had in his case.
He stopped, knelt down and started to count.
The total came to 42 pieces.
My Offer: $150.
00 for everything.
Here's how I came up with that number: • In town, silver was selling at $4.
50 per piece.
• Based on that knowledge, I estimated that the vendors' wholesale cost for their product was probably around $3.
00 per piece.
• My vendor had 42 pieces.
If he had paid $3.
00 per piece then his wholesale cost for the lot came to $126.
00.
• I was offering him $150.
00 for the chance to earn a quick $24.
00 profit and get out of the sun.
No Dice.
Part Two.
Negotiation - Part Two.
The vendor turned me down flat and went on his way.
Thirty minutes later he returned, still with no sales for the day, and offered me his entire inventory for $275.
00.
He was definitely heading in the right direction, but still far from my $150.
00 offer.
"No dice.
" I said.
"I am offering an opportunity for you to get out of the heat, be with your family, purchase new sellable inventory, and make a profit.
How can you lose?" But the vendor laughed at me and left again.
About 30 minutes later he came back, this time making a counter-offer of $185.
00 for everything.
At this point, I KNEW he was going to end up selling to me for $150.
00-he just wasn't ready to do it quite yet.
"No way," I insisted.
"$150.
00 or nothing.
" He argued and waved his hands around and showed me how finely-made his pieces were.
He spread them out to make sure I could see the quantity and the quality I'd be getting.
"They might be great, but you're not selling any of them today, are you?" I said.
Going according to plan.
By this time, people on the beach were enjoying the spectacle of our haggling back and forth.
What's even better is that they could all clearly see what great stuff he had.
The buzz started to build.
At this point you're probably wondering, where was this $150 coming from? My money was back at the hotel, which was a bit of a trek from the beach.
And I really wanted to show Zac that I could achieve my objective without using any of our own money.
So I took my business plan to an investor.
Lining up the capital.
One of my friends had been watching this scene play out all morning.
I asked him to loan me $150, which I would pay back after reselling the silver.
I offered him the 42 pieces of silver as security and made it clear that there was VERY LITTLE RISK for him because even if I didn't sell $150 worth of product, I did have the money to repay him back in my hotel room.
He had nothing to lose, and was getting some good entertainment in the process.
He handed me the cash.
Mission Accomplished! I showed the cash to the vendor, and this time he said yes! It was GO TIME! While he was individually bagging up all of his pieces, I started broadcasting the news that I had quality silver jewelry for sale at much less than what the other beach vendors were charging.
The word spread fast up and down the beach and even to the pool area at the nearest hotel.
I was quickly surrounded by eager customers.
Within 15 minutes, we exceeded our sales goals.
The sales results and breakdown: 10 pieces @ $10 each = $100 10 pieces @ $5 each = $50 4 pieces together @ $10 set = $10 3 pieces together @ $5 set = $5 27 Pieces SOLD @ $165.
00 Win/Win/Win: • $15.
00 profit in 15 minutes without using any of my own money.
• Zac got his shark tooth necklace for $8.
00.
• We paid back the investor $150.
00 plus two cervezas and a mojito as interest.
• We still had 15 pieces of silver left over.
Even better yet-the vendor benefited by selling his entire inventory in one shot and going home early on a blistering hot day.
The 4 steps to success.
STEP ONE: SELF-EDUCATION Get the Facts! The vendor wasn't having any success selling his products that day.
It was hot out.
The silver jewelry in town was less expensive than what the beach vendors were attempting to sell it for.
The beach vendor needed better inventory.
The beach vendor wanted to be at home with his family.
STEP TWO: CREATIVITY Invent a Plan! Purchase a silver jewelry vendor's entire inventory for approximately 35 cents on the dollar and resell it quickly to all of the surrounding tourists at a substantial discount from the vendor's market value.
STEP THREE: NEGOTIATION Leverage the Facts for a Win/Win Deal.
Everybody won on this one.
The vendor made a small profit, escaped the heat, made enough to purchase new sellable inventory, and went home early to spend time with his family.
Our customers, the tourists, won because they were able to purchase silver jewelry at a substantial discount.
Our investor got his money back, three drinks, and a few hours of entertainment.
Zac got his shark tooth necklace, a nice gift for his mom, and souvenirs for his friends and teacher back home.
I made $15 and had a blast.
But what matters most to me was the chance to teach my young son a life-changing lesson and spend priceless time together on a day neither of us will ever forget.
STEP FOUR: TENACITY "No" is only temporary! When someone tells you "no," that doesn't mean the story is over.
"No" is only good for about five minutes or so.
"No" is a temporary answer that allows you to ask more questions and provide more facts.
The beach vendor told me "no" multiple times over the negotiations, but in the end he said YES to everything we asked for.
The Whole Point.
No Excuses! Having no money is no excuse for not going after what you really want! If it's really important to you, you CAN find a way.
Go get it-PERIOD.
Don't ever let someone tell you can't do something, or that it will never work.
Anybody who says that is only trying to justify their own failures by keeping you from doing better than they did.
The next time you run up against an obstacle that feels like a brick wall, remember that brick walls appear for a reason, and that reason is NOT to keep us out! They appear in our lives to give us the chance to prove how badly we want something and how committed we are to getting it.