Tag: Seed

Invest $100 Dollars and Grow Enough Seed Capital to Start Your Own Business

Do you have ideas for a business you want to start but do not have the seed capital it takes to get your business idea off the ground? Are you tired of being turned down for small business loans because of your credit or financial status? There is a way you can grow enough seed capital to start your own business and even build a substantial income. If a sixteen-year-old can do it with his lawnmower in one month, then so can you!

One summer day I observed my neighbor’s teenage son as he went door to door with his lawnmower offering to cut grass in our neighborhood. I asked him how many lawns he had cut that week and he said four and needed two more to make $120 dollars. I admired the young man’s determination and ambition and I asked him if he was saving for anything in particular. He told me he wanted to buy a car that cost $1200 dollars that he hoped to have saved by the end of summer.

My neighbor’s son didn’t realize that what he was doing was similar to the concept of compounding money. If he repeated cutting the lawns of the neighbors that paid him weekly and added one more lawn per day each week, his money would grow exponentially. His $120 dollars from the first week of cutting one lawn a day would double the second week to $240 dollars; by adding one more a day the third week to $360 dollars and by the fourth week he would make $480 dollars for his week’s labor. His earnings for four weeks would have totaled $1200 dollars. If he thought he could make enough to buy his car by adding one lawn a day, six days a week, for four weeks, I’m sure he would have done it without any problem. Otherwise, it would take him the entire summer at $120 dollars a week to make his $1200 dollars to buy his car.

This is how compounding your money works. The goal is to take the initial investment and increase it by 30% or higher. Using this example, the first $120 dollars never left the young man’s pocket; his investment object (which was his physical labor) increased his investment ten times by adding to his weekly earnings. He would have earned ten times his initial goal of $120 dollars a week in just four weeks, a 1,000% return!

Imagine if this was your $120 dollars that you started with as your initial investment. The difference being, instead of doing a laborious type work for your money to grow, you used the internet to find investment objects with intrinsic value that you could purchase. You would have enough of a profit margin built-in to locate buyers to purchase your investment object that would give you a Return On Investment (ROI) of 30% or higher. The key to this method of compounding money is to repeat this process by reinvesting your profits back into purchasing objects of greater market value and reselling for a higher ROI.

The great thing about compounding is you can start with whatever amount of money you have to work with. You can start with $100 dollars and build enough seed capital to start two or three businesses. Use the internet to search for investment opportunities that you can invest in and build on. If a sixteen-year-old can do it with his lawnmower, you have a much greater advantage; you don’t need a lawnmower as your tool, you just need the knowledge and then the skill. Knowledge can be acquired, and the skill will come through experience. So gather together your initial start-up capital and get started!

Faith in a Seed, Investment in the Roots: Cultivating the Garden of an Entrepreneurial Venture

Henry David Thoreau once stated, “Though I do not believe that a plant will spring up where no seed has been, I have great faith in a seed. Convince me that you have a seed there, and I am prepared to expect wonders.” While I appreciate this quote, I think that it perhaps puts too much emphasis on the seed (or idea) alone. While a seed is necessary, I feel that attention should turn towards the roots (processes, goals, human capital, etc.) that single seed can lead to developing.

In fact, this observation reminds me of the recent Western Carolina University Leadership Development tour of the Cradle of Forestry in Western North Carolina, where I learned of the approach to life (and development) that an oak tree will adopt. Interestingly, in its first approximately 20 – 25 years of life an oak tree will spend ~70% – 80% of its energy and resources developing a robust and pervasive root system. In this example, while the seed is the starting point, it is the root system of a future, mighty oak that serves as the real genius of its development.

I think it is important to reflect on the oak tree’s approach to life. Instead of growing tall and strong first, the oak tree stays small and chooses initially to grow deep, deep into the earth. An oak tree grows with their long or end game in mind, not for the instant gratification and short-term results. This approach to life carries a lesson for all of us as human beings, but takes on a particularly relevant lesson for those of us who, as Machiavelli stated, “choose to take on a new order of things” in the form of innovation and entrepreneurship.

For example, when you think about an entrepreneurial venture, what you see standing above the surface is but a fraction of the energy and results of the effort invested in that organization or idea. For the purpose of this article, the primary components of a start-up’s root system are as follows:

• Value Proposition – identifies an aspect of your product/service that makes your offering appealing to potential customers and helps sell and market that product. This serves as the cornerstone to your venture.

• Talent Development/Cultivation – a basic strategy for bringing in, developing, inspiring, and maintaining the best talent associated with your venture with the greater goal of sustainability. Additionally, talent development can help maintain consistency, trust, and more exceptional customer service or product development, while aligning with the application of your value proposition.

• Strategic/Business Plan – frames your venture in a standard way by providing objectives and methods/strategies for reaching them. This is a recognized document that potential funders can relate to and it serves as a more accurate and robust expansion of your idea/product, the value proposition, and the stakeholders involved.

Finally, as an entrepreneur, the most valuable lesson to take away from the mighty oak is to remember to stay true to your roots. By doing this, you will invest your time, energy, expertise, and resources into your roots. If you nurture your roots, they can support you as you continue to grow to new heights and new depths!

Exit mobile version