In the past year we have seen some of the biggest company’s and banks in the world collapse.

Some would say it is a bad time to be in business, but I would put it to you, that this is a great time to get started in business, especially an online business. Lets face it - starting an online business doesn’t have to cost much at all, in fact it can cost as low as $20 a year to put your website online.

Tips for Surviving the Credit Crunch:

- Don’t quit your day job! (well, not yet)

Yes, I know… I did once tell you to quit working the 9 - 5 and to join me down the beach but unless you have a serious money making plan or a business that is already making you a lot of money, now may be the time to keep your backup day job working for “The Man”. Of course start your new business - but get it up and running on lowest costs possible before taking that leap of faith that is required when you tell the Boss you will not be coming to work on Monday.

- Live Frugally, don’t spend what you don’t have.

The reason some bank’s have collapsed is because they were spending money they didn’t have. (and lending to people who could not repay them) If you can’t afford some of the things you have been buying, cut them out or switch for cheaper alternatives. In fact now is a great time to save some money and be in the CASH. There are many bargains to be had and real estate has not been as cheap in years. Suddenly property that seemed unaffordable may be affordable after all.

- Don’t get too comfortable.

People who are comfortable don’t usually work as hard or as smart as they could and if you are not working smart / hard then you are leaving money on the table.

- Create some alternative income streams.

There is no reason why everyone reading this post can’t have another income steam by the end of the week. Create a blog or website today and start writing about the things you love. Some of the biggest website’s have come from people who were at rock bottom. Once you have one stream on income working, look out for a create additional related streams of income.

- Stay healthy

As a nation we take millions of sick days through winter and when your ill your not earning money!

Lifestyle Choices For Successful Young Entrepreneurs

The Invest or Sacrifice Model For Successful Young Entrepreneurs

I was talking with some friends (who are not entrepreneurs) and some how the issue of money came up. Nothing that deep on meaningful but I was aware that some of my friends had considered I was making “sacrifices” to be a young entrepreneur.

I on the other hand did not see any of their points as sacrifice - but rather as investing in myself and it got me thinking about an idea for a blog post.

(As a side note: most of my offline friends are BROKE, so no idea why they even tried to make these points)

Lifestyle Choices For Successful Young Entrepreneurs

Not everyone will agree with me - but there are reasons why some people are rich and some are poor!! (well, at least there is in a Freeish, democratic free enterprise society)

6 Lifestyle Choices For Successful Young Entrepreneurs that will mean they are on the right side of the poor/rich devide.

Money

If you are not prepared to invest in yourself, no one else will. I have had to spend money on all sorts of things from, programmers to hosting. You will have to cut back on your personal spending, don’t drive so often, only go out once a week to make sure you have the money you need to bring your site to the level you want it. If you could cut your spending by $100 a week then you would have $100 extra to invest in your website which could earn you a extra $500 or even $1000 depending on your business model.

Time

If you don’t work the hours then you don’t get the rewards, simple as that! It doesn’t come easy, you have to put all your time into your idea and business to make sure it will be a success! Some times you will have to pass up the opportunitiy to go away with friends or to go out in the evening with my friends.

Want to learn how to be more productive with the time you have, here are some links I suggest:

Get Off Your Butt: 16 Ways to Get Motivated When You’re In a Slump

How to Become an Early Riser

How to Actually Execute Your To-do List

How to Take Action Consistently

Taking It Easy

When you are self employeed and work from home it is very easy to be Lazy but if you want to make it big and make the big bucks then you have to cut this out now! Not tomorrow but today - right this second! When I got home today from playing football I had two choices, to go sit down, relax and watch TV or come up stairs and finish this blog post. STOP BEING LAZY!

Friendships

You have to have people around you that are constantly supporting you and encouraging you in your interests. Especially as an entrepreneur. Because being an entrepreneur can be a lonely journey, as most people are comfortable with their 9-5 jobs and don’t understand how we think. So it is important to make sure we have friends around us that will encourage us and sometimes we have to let friends go that cant get their heads around why we are who we are.

This has effected me sometimes, because my website is called “Retire at 21″ friends like to take the piss and say “As if it could ever happen” and put my ideas and website down. I have had to learn to forget and forgive because if I dwelled on it, it would effect my business and the way I think.

Compromise

You won’t always get what you want, don’t waste your next two months trying to get the perfect domain at a price you can’t afford.

Also you should realise you have to compromise with yourself, if you work 10 hours on Monday then you can go out with your friends in the evening on Tuesday.

Comfort

When life becauses to comfortable you won’t work as hard as you could or should. I have realised this myself lately, I haven’t had to work hard because I don’t need to go out and pay the bills, my parents do! If I was to move out, I’m sure I would find myself working a lot harder to make sure I was making enough money to live on and with that I would see more success.

Finally Note

I don’t think you should have to sacrifice somethings such as health and well being because these things are important and effect the way you work. Make sure you always have time to eat well and exersise.

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Thanks and Best Wishes,

Michael Dunlop

Matt Walls, Making Money Online Selling T-Shirts

OK Folks, another great interview for you.

CHECK OUT THE INTERVIEW HERE:
Interview with Matt Walls - Founder of Snorgtees

Some fantastic advice - like:

What advice would you give a young entrepreneur trying to make money online selling t-shirts?

I’d say you might want to re-evaluate why you want to sell t-shirts, and if something else might be a better idea. It is a very competitive industry. And since we have started we’ve seen a lot of people start up and then fade away, often trying to unload their remaining inventory to us. I think this happens for two reasons:

1. It is not all fun and games. Most people think all we do is sit around and think up funny ideas, when in reality most of the time is spent on executing projects and managing the business, just like any business. You have to be prepared to operate an online retail shop. That means we have to do all the things that another online retailer would do, such as Barnes and Noble (customer service, order fulfillment, supply chain management, marketing, accounting, and tons of other administrative things), only in addition to that we also have to come up with our own product.

The 2nd reason I think people fail is it’s harder to get noticed in the industry now than ever before. There are so many players already out there, it’s difficult for a new one to become well known enough to make any money. I’ve seen a few run themselves into the ground because of this. But if you still have your heart set on selling t-shirts, I’m not giving away any secrets!

Interview with Matt Walls - New Funny T-Shirts Every Week

To find out more about Matt and Snorgtees visit www.SnorgTees.com

Retire at 21 Young Entrepreneurs Website - Version 3

Hello everyone,

Today I am pleased to announce the release of Retireat21.com Version 3. We have been working behind the scenes for several months making sure we had the “perfect” design and programming. (Well as perfect as we can make it for now)

The main challenge with previous programming has been that anytime we got a Spike of traffic the site slowed down considerably.

We knew the reasons for this (poor programming) but it has taken to now and some saving up of money to get the funds to correct these issues.

I am not saying everything is fixed - far from it and I doubt frankly that I can ever say that, but hopefully you will find things much improved.

As always we appreciate your feedback - especially if you spot any bugs or errors - our programming team are still working on some issues.

For the record - here are the main changes to the site:

- Brand new server which has helped to shorter loading times

- Completely reprogrammed the whole site to ensure we had perfect code through out the site, this should also speed up the site.

- News section where you can read latest news in the entrepreneur industry.

- Recent Interviews, Blog Posts, Forum Posts and News on the homepage

- Now offer new advertising space in the sidebar called Recommended Websites which includes text link and description of the website.

- Any lots more that will appear in the next few weeks

To all our successes

Michael

PS: Currently accepting suggestions for new Young Entrepreneur Interviews - contact me with your suggestions.