How to make a million dollars

There are many ways, at least numerically, to achieve this goal. For example, you can collect $1 from a million people or a penny from a hundred million people.  Let’s continue looking at numbers, you can reach 1,000 people and get $1,000 from each; even better you can reach out to 100 people and get $10,000 from each.

Many small business owners have a dream to make a million dollars. Each of these methods, if accomplished, will provide the same results.

I believe that it would be easier to find 1,000 people as a source of funds rather than a million or a hundred million.  The lesson here is one of narrowing your focus so you can concentrate on your goal.

Some companies have achieved the best of both worlds. For example, Starbucks sells a relatively small ticket item (although it has a large profit margin) and yes, it makes its millions. Starting small is ok if you can win over a local community with your services or products and then expand to reach the number needed to make your million dollars profit.

The lesson for today is for you to look at your products/services and the profit margin on each sale. Time also becomes an important part of the equation. How much income can you earn in your current small business situation? Are you a one person business? At your current rate of production can you project a one million dollar profit within a reasonable time frame?

Unless you feel comfortable that you can generate that million dollar profit, you have to step back and consider a different growth plan. Your business is like a tree; if it doesn’t grow it will die.

The basic Vision Based Business plan presented in BizQuack offers a great process for achieving your million. Most people will complete the Foundation section. The Testing the Foundation section is not as exciting, and some skip to the Outreach and Marketing sections.  The sad part is that the last section of the plan has to do with growth, and very few businesses plan for future growth. Concentrating on survival is the wrong answer and the wrong way to achieve your million dollar profit.

Business planning is not an “I can do it alone” process. Real growth can only occur if you plan for it from the beginning and have a support team to help you stay on track.