Here’s some food for thought for your New Year…

One of the most popular conversations among people is what to do if you’re desperate for cash.

So, let’s talk about making money vs building a long term business.

Every transaction or sale begins with an agreed upon value. Put your old couch out front with a for sale sign on it, or run an ad on Craigslist with a good price, and it will probably sell within hours.

If you do that, you’ve made some quick cash. You’ve made A transaction. But you don’t have any “long term” financial security… or stability.

You might make enough money to pay the light bill or the rent, but next month you’ll be right back in the same place…

…SQUARE ONE.

Can you make money with one time transactions? Sure you can. But the problem is finding enough ‘stuff’ that people want to buy.

You can sell your services if you’re a landscaper or mow lawns or shovel snow, but you only have so many hours in the day, and you have to stop every now and then to eat and sleep… and shower up for the next day.

Good honest work, but it doesn’t always make for long term stability.

The fastest way to make money is to sell something you already have, get rid of it at a low price and make some quick cash. But if you are desperate, the cash goes quickly, bedcause you already owe it to someone else before you even get it. Not a good business model.

The Internet gives you the ability to wash, rinse and repeat the process by buying and selling stuff online if you’re promoting a digital product. You could sell your TV for 100 dollars, or you could sell your car for several thousand. But a digital product you can sell unlimited… something to think about.

Internet Marketing could be a one off transaction model, but that’s only good for quick cash. It’s not so good for a long term strategy… which is why you need to build a business for long term profitability.

A business — ONLINE OR OFF LINE — will make more transactions than the Buy-Sell model or it will make bigger dollar transactions per sale. But it’s certainly a lot more stable than trying to sell off all your furniture to keep from getting thrown out on the sidewalk by the landlord.

A well thought out business plan starts with a MARKET. Then you find or develop a product/service to provide to that market.

A group of people who buy “stuff” is a good place to start IF you can create or acquire a product/service which matches what they’re buying now. But will it be sustainable over the long haul?

A product can be a good place to start if there is a DEMAND or one can be created, as in computers or laptops, for example. You might even be able to build an ancillary need for a product and “dove-tail” it into something else you offer.

You might be able to make money without having a business like so many amateurs do on Facebook groups, but you’ll work harder than anybody else because you will always be changing “shiny objects” to find something that works… or you’ll end up going back to that job you just love to hate.

Or… you can take the time to learn how to properly build a business from the ground up: one that will be sustainable for the long term.

So, what do you want to do in 2016? Build a business? Or just make some money until rent is due again?