Smart Strategies for Building Your Future: Start Lean, Grow Big

How do you build something without risking too much at once?

How do you finance everything when building your dreams?

These are challenges I’ve struggled with, and I know they are common among people who want to start their entrepreneurial journey.

I’ve made many mistakes along this path so far.

I’ve gone broke struggling to pay rent.

I had moments where I paid way too much for help that wasn’t worth it.

And I made other mistakes that I could have avoided if I had the knowledge I’m about to share.

In this article, we’re going to talk about ways to live below your means and still be able to build the things that you want.

We’ll do that by discussing strategies in the following areas:

• Learning and working

• Being cashflow positive

• Investing

I made mistakes in all of these areas that were unnecessary to make.

It is better to work smart than to work foolishly.

Living below your means is one thing, but knowing how to do it is another.

So, let’s dive into it!

Learn and Work

Okay, first of all, put your ego aside and get a job!

The whole idea of burning all your ships when you’ve got bills to pay is just foolish.

It is not a problem to have a job and earn money.

If you don’t have any money, then how in the world will you have peace of mind to build the thing you actually want?

Your job is the thing that will finance what you want to do.

Work shifts that work for you.

When I was beginning in sales and didn’t make enough money to sustain myself, I started working in a bar so I could do sales by day and bartending by night.

Yes, I slept less, but it was necessary to do the thing I wanted to do—sales.

And I still think it’s funny that the manager got mad at me because I was upselling too many shots and people got way too drunk because of it.

I was just practicing my craft.

Now, I can make good money from sales, and it’s time for the next step.

But what if you don’t want to do sales?

One of the things I would recommend is getting a job where you learn things that are beneficial for what you want to do.

Work in a gym if you want to do something with coaching and health.

Work at an agency if you want to start your own at some point.

Work somewhere in retail or even in a supermarket if needed.

Just get a job to get some income.

There is always something to learn anywhere.

Also, you don’t need to invest in expensive coaching—almost everything you can learn on YouTube.

Just type in “complete free course in [topic],” and you will find something.

Just because you pay for something doesn’t necessarily mean it’s better than the free stuff.

So, work a job and learn in your job, but also learn on the side to become more competent.

The trick is to work harder on yourself than on your job, and the difference will be seen!

Because I have jobs where I learn a lot, everything I learn becomes useful to earn more and do better in my own projects.

Being Cashflow Positive

You’ve got a job—great!

Now you have some cash and some cash flow.

Then it’s time to live below your means.

Living below your means, in simple terms, means spending less than you earn.

One of the key takeaways for building wealth is, when your earnings increase, keep your spending the same.

Begin with that!

Then, in the base, you are cashflow positive.

When you are cashflow positive and have some money that consistently comes in, you will have room in your head to think about what you want to build and start building it on the side.

Also, you know what brings in money, so if you want more money, do more of the things that bring in the most.

Because I know where my cash flow is coming from and what the cashflow-positive points are in the way I work, I can easily determine what I can do more of and what I need to do less of.

It gives me room to work on side projects as well because I know what comes in.

You can always work with two elements: time or money.

Time to do things yourself and learn things, or money if you let someone else do it.

In the beginning, when you don’t have much, use as much of your own time as possible.

If you have less time and still a lot of cash, you can think of others doing things for you.

As long as you stay cashflow positive and earn more than you spend.

At some point, the thing you’re doing on the side will start making as much as the thing you do with your main income.

Then it’s time to switch and do more of the thing that makes the most money!

I made the mistake of spending all I had on things that I didn’t need without having a stable cash flow, and believe me, it will not bring you peace.

Peace comes when you know you have enough cash to go 5 to 6 months without an income and still be fine.

It’s okay to not eat out and save.

It’s okay to spend less.

Why?

Because the reason for doing so is a good one.

You do it because you’re building on your dream, on your goals, on your freedom.

Investing

Now you have a job, and you are cashflow positive, meaning you have cash in the bank.

There are a couple of things that you can do then: spend everything, keep it in the bank, or invest it.

When I say invest, I don’t mean some really complicated things.

I mean two types of investing.

If you’re in a position where you want to have as much cash as possible for a good safety net, I would also invest some of it in stocks—not individual stocks, just some big indexes like the S&P 500.

Why?

Because then your money is not standing still and can grow over time.

And you can always cash out, of course.

Do your own research, of course, but search for some safe investments.

Some might like Bitcoin, some might like Coca-Cola—whatever floats your boat.

I am not an expert.

This is just something I do so my cash is not standing still; I invest it in safe assets.

I also made the mistake of putting it in less safe assets, and it ended up costing me money.

You can also invest in yourself and your future business.

But how?

You can do that by investing in equipment that you need.

You can do that by investing in software that will help you do everything better.

You can do that by investing in an expert who can teach you things, although that is a more risky option because everyone is trying to sell you a course nowadays.

The most important thing when it comes to investing in an expert is checking their track record and making sure you have it clear what exactly they are going to do for you.

Check for yourself if it would make a difference and make it concrete.

Why?

Well, I already made the mistake of spending too much on courses or a coach that I didn’t need or who wasn’t competent enough to help me in the right way.

So that’s what I would say about investing.

The Blueprint

Okay, so if we put everything from this article together, you should have a perfect blueprint on how to start lean and clean.

First of all, I think this point is really clear: put your ego aside and get a job, no matter what!

Just so you have money in the bank and capital to work from when it comes to building things up.

Learn on the side with free courses, and learn what you can from your job.

Then stay cashflow positive.

Do everything in such a way that you always increase your cash.

Spend less, live below your means, to keep clarity and avoid worrying.

When you have cash, invest it in safe things if you want to build a bigger financial position—think of the S&P 500.

That way, your capital will grow exponentially. Or invest in yourself through software, the right coaches, or equipment that you need.

As long as you keep your safety net and stay cashflow positive.

Believe me, I wish I had this article when I started on the whole entrepreneurial journey.

For now, it’s up to you what you do with all this information.

If you think it was valuable, share it with others so they can learn from my mistakes as well.

If you want more!!

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That's it for now.

I wish you a good day - Job Baltes.