How to be a Millionaire...

How to be a Millionaire - This popped up on my feed - a post I did a year ago, no bling, all graft! I re-read it and it still rings true to me, so here you go...

How to be a millionaire…

I never intended to become a millionaire (just wanted safety and security for my family, through property, a subject I absolutely love, and started by taking ￡60k our of my own mortgage to buy property). The day I realised I was one (years ago and equity, not cash!!! Only took a few years in property) I was driving round a roundabout, listening to radio 4 and it dawned on me. I was so surprised I drove round the roundabout 8 times. In my crappy car, worth, max ￡400. SO the things I think were important to get there were (no bling here!)

1) cut costs and use almost all cash to invest. I went from a healthy marketing director salary to living on ￡686 per month. For years, while my team was paid properly

2) No TV. For 4 years.

3) Graft 16 hour days normal, 6 am starts usual. For 5 years. The first 2 years, all talks were followed by a 3am drive home 'earning my stripes' as I needed to be back at 6 running my business and didn't want to spend the ￡200 plus on a talk overnight and travel.

4) Get a great team waaaaay before I could afford one.

5) Always do my utmost to be honest and straight - any mistakes (and there were tons) were cock ups, not conspiracy - my word is important.

6) Read tons on my specialist subject, property

7) Have a mentor, ahead of me, brain the size of a country.

8) Be in a business that can make you affluent - property has large lumps of equity and margin, I used to run (and own) a Fair Trade small chain of shops - my average price point was ￡4.95, now it is a couple of hundred thousand, so the 'juice' in that is greater.

9) Delayed gratification, big style - see the crappy car driven for years after I broke the millionaire barrier

10) Cash Flow Cash Flow Cash Flow - I watched mine like a hawk, as property is a big hitter, positive and negative and can hit you out of the game

11) Have a plan to constantly grow and develop your business - we started as a sourcing business, then we moved to doing a lot of Buy to Sells (with partners) and in 2017, we will deliver on almost all the deals ourselves - 50 plus - because we always planned to be our own customers, but needed to work with others (who got lots of property and equity, so good on them) on the way

12) Have granite like belief this will work, to take you through all the bumps on the way, and surround yourself with folks to help you keep that belief intact (I've worked with Ash for 5 years now, Jess for 4, Tiff for 3, core original TGPC members)

13) Think independently, go against the flow, be an entrepreneur

14) Out of time, money and skills, time is the game changer. So work crazy hours in the early days, get a team before you can afford them, only keep the absolute top people, and seek to be as effective as possible, thus using the least amount of time possible.

15) Money can be raised from others, skills can be gained through experience and education

16) Network - we have met thousands of property people who we can now call on if need be, and made tons of friends for the good and the tough times.

17) Give back - something in that hippy thing of you reap what you sow, and it works. I was so grateful for the early help folks gave me when I knew nothing, we now do tons of free YouTube videos and fb info, and it weirdly helps people decide to work with us and evaluate us for who we are, so it comes back to us, those seeds of helping / informing others. So give more than you ever hope to get and the boomerang thing works.

18) enjoy it!

But the main one is a no sexy graft like a banshee, invest in assets, not liabilities and delay gratification until your toys (or TV / high roller fun time, you chose) comes out of cash flow (or time bought by having a team.There, my thoughts, first thing. Now back to a cuppa. And work. And lifting at 8.30. Fun.

From a year ago, when I posted that, with no bling just a reflection on what worked for me as a head of household (single parent), I think it still fits with my observations.

Hope it helps you guys when you are grafting at 6am wondering why on earth you are doing it!