Millionaire Challenge

ElleWoods

What do you do for a living Young Businessman? It sounds very lucrative!

YoungBusinessman

Don't want to give too much away but I deal with new build houses, I am diversifying by the year end. First part of that is the planning so iv 5 months to get the plans in place and some (self)finance together to get going and tackle it head on next year. As a business it will be different to normal income stream but one I am very interested in and doesn't take great knowledge to get going in. I feel what I do/earn/work is not enough currently and I'm looking to increase it all within 12 months. After all money isn't making anything sat in a bank account so I'm going to try and increase its worth myself. Keeping an eye on wealth aswel I find that's a good indicator.

lessonlearned

Good morning everyone

Gorgeous weather here. Am making the most of it getting out and about. I have done some shopping and actually spent some money....

Some charity shop furniture bargains for the new properties, being delivered tomorrow. I'm on a major upcycling mission now. I've also been tending my "plant nursery".

Landscaping and planting a garden from scratch is an expensive business. Have you seen the prices of specimen trees:eek: Hence my my mini plant nursery. I buy small trees and baby shrubs and plants. grow them on ready for replanting. My bargain 3ft Christmas tree has grown over 1ft in six months, whilst my cheap as chips Japanese Maple has doubled in size within the last 2 months since I have been nurturing it. It was a half dead reject but a bit of TLC and it is now lush and healthy. I paid £2 for it, the same tree in a garden centre would cost around £25.

This little lot will do nicely for the "Diamond in the rough" which currently boasts a sad patch of grass and a couple of overgrown shrubs. It will be transformed into a lush urban oasis for about £30. Very MSE. :rotfl:

So now when it cools down a little in the evening you can see me repotting plants, taking cuttings etc for the next batch. We haven't started our first two properties yet but yes I am already preparing plants etc for future projects. Gotta keep those costs down.;)

Great to hear from you Young Businessman, good to see the savings mounting up again and that you still have lots of ideas and enthusiasm. Your new build business plan sounds intriguing.

As you might know I worked on new builds myself for many years. My goal is to buy some land and start building myself - along with the refurbs of course. I do love rescuing a wreck and transforming it into something beautiful (and valuable), but I also love a modern statement building too.

Anyway time to get cracking and start the day.

YoungBusinessman

Weather is fantastic here aswel, was creeping upto 20 by 8 oclock. Im off for 3 weeks but have my own self employed jobs to do in the third week so im relaxing this week and next, giving my van a good valet and getting the house sorted out, still got a few rooms to be decorated. Was trying to save all my holiday pay and earn more than i spend while im off, booking a holiday for August might make that difficult to do!!

I am saving away, time on my side.....just think i could keep investing in myself and getting a return much better than the banks are paying anyway. Theres a few places(about 70-80 miles from here) that have property quite a bit cheaper than this area, iv been eyeing a few fixer upers. Unsure how far away i would venture as would end up losing alot of the gains with travelling time and cost. Would be a great experience though and a learning curve ready before take on a plot of land like you mention you plan to do.

Another thing i want to have a go at is investing in a local business, thats already established, just to buy it, make my own mark on the place and try to slowly grow it. Im starting to read into investing, pensions and running a business. The idea is generally to become a bit of an entrepreneur, having multiple streams of income. The few set out are -

1. "9-5" job that is currently about £45kish for my basic week
2. Once move up ladder into a house, rent out this place (on 20 year mortage currently and we pay less than someone renting across the street so looks good returns)
3. Invest in local business for small but steady returns+growth
4. Purchase plot of land for new build house
5. Steady long term investments into stock market
6. Keep learning and looking for new ways to create returns.
7. Keep up the self employed earnings on top of 9-5 and try to outsource some of the work, making profit on others work.

ElleWoods

I'd love to have a property based business, as a developer doing 'flippers' or letting them out. Unfortunately I don't have the capital to invest. Yet. :-)

I think multiple income streams are absolutely the way forward. It doesn't pay to have all your eggs in one basket, and that includes those of us who work for an employer. I've lost count of the number of redundancies at my company over the past 4 or 5 years - luckily I'm still there but it doesn't pay to rest on your laurels and take employment for granted.

Hope everyone's enjoying the sunshine! :j

lessonlearned

YoungBusinessman wrote: »

Another thing i want to have a go at is investing in a local business, thats already established, just to buy it, make my own mark on the place and try to slowly grow it. Im starting to read into investing, pensions and running a business. The idea is generally to become a bit of an entrepreneur, having multiple streams of income. The few set out are -

That's a good way to go forward. An old boss of mine did this with a laundrette - not very glamourous but an absolute gold mine. Not sure how many people still use them now, our local one shut down a few years ago. Not sure what sort of business would be comparable.

Soft kitty - you are dead right about not putting all your eggs in one basket. Who knows what lies ahead. No job is for life. you never know when the axe might fall and your job just disappears.

Luckily I don't have to worry about that now. My various pensions provide a modest income that I can live on quite happily. My business ventures don't have to feed me so I can plough money back and make them grow.

I still need to think about something else though. Property is good for me - it's what I know and understand, my antiques and bric a brac dealing are a nice little sideline.

I still have all my equipment from when I was a beauty therapist and I've been thinking I might open up a small salon or treatment centre. Still mulling that one over.......

moneysavingtomcat

Sorry I haven't posted much since I started, but good to see how everyone else is getting on.

I am now working for myself, having given up work and started out on my own. I'm making about the same, perhaps a little more, than I was, but I am much more motivated than before. To the naysayer (not on this forum) who sneered at me that I owned a job, not a business, well, that may be true but nobody's going to fire me.

Much of my off time has been spent looking for a couple of BTLs, which have now gone through. So I have quite a bit of bank debt, but I do have the means to pay it for the forseeable future.

Onwards and upwards. Good luck all.

lessonlearned

Hi Tomcat

Just wanted to congratulate you on your progress - you are going great guns.....

Never mind the sarky comments about you having a "job" rather than a "business". Useless pedantry.

You are working for yourself. You are in control of your own destiny, you sink or swim by your own efforts and you get to keep the profits. What's not to like.

Ignore the sneerers and the naysayers.

I once went to a seminar given by the Aussie guy, Luna Marshall or some such name.... Anyway he said something very interesting.

Ask yourself this. Is the person giving you advice a millionaire. If so then listen because you might learn something. If not, and they are just another know it all loser shouting the odds, then their "business" advice is not worth a candle. :rotfl:

The world is full of negative nay sayers and dream tramplers - I've noticed loads on some of these boards. Thankfully not on this thread. We all seem to be blessed with a never ending fount of optimism.

Anyway all systems go here.

Ready to exchange contracts tomorrow on house no 1, with a view to legal completion next Friday. Phew!! That was quick. Better start packing.....

House No 2 - awaiting survey.

Busy times.

At the moment it's all paying out - fees for this, charges for that. I reckon the 2 house purchases are going to come in at around £6K in fees. Licence to print money:rotfl:

I need another income stream pronto!!!

moneysavingtomcat

Hope all goes well and that next Friday you are the proud owner of house number one, lessonlearned.

YoungBusinessman

Stressful but exciting times,lesson learned. You are going great guns, we could all do with another income stream though and thats exactly what im working on!! Watch this space.