Making money while you sleep … isn’t that everybody’s dream?

Erica, my favorite small-biz-whiz, shares her success with a business that makes her money not just when she’s sleeping, but also while she’s away:

You don’t need to stay home to work. Whoosh Traffic had its 1st $1000 day, hit $10K in total revenue, & became profitable while I was gone!

But, there’s a problem, the kind of business that lets you make money while you’re asleep / away is also the type of business that tends to produce small numbers. Take a look at Erica’s results: $1k a day in sales, $10k total revenue.

Now, we know that this isn’t Erica’s only income stream – and, even this one is new and growing – but, I’m sure that Erica will be the first one to tell you that there’s a (low) ceiling to the income that a business can grow that can truly “make money while you sleep”.

In fact, I wager that in aggregate, Erica’s “make money while you sleep” businesses actually keep her pretty busy … and, she has plans to be even busier.

You see, I am willing to bet London to a brick (whatever THAT may mean) that Erica has a Number [i.e. the amount of money that you need in order to begin life after work a.k.a. retirement] that is pretty big, but most “make money while you sleep” businesses won’t be enough to help her get there:

a) The income they produce may not be enough to build up the Number on their own, and

b) They have no – or insufficient – resale value.

Of course, there’s a third alternative: if the business makes money while you sleep, and that income is enough to pay the bills, why do you even need to reach your Number?

Simply because no business lasts for ever … and, do you want to bet your financial future in the face of ever-changing technology and market conditions that you will continue to find replacements?

My businesses made money while I slept or went away – on some days. But, whenever my cell-phone rang – wherever and whenever I was in the world – I HAD to answer it because the buck ultimately stopped with me … banks and ceo’s demanded it!

But, the advantages were:

1. The businesses eventually produced enough cash to fund both my ever-growing lifestyle AND my long-term retirement investment strategy i.e. I could buy enough investments that I reached my Number by my Date, without needing to sell my businesses,

2. Even if I hadn’t already invested externally, I could (and did) sell my businesses for more than enough to reach my Number before technology and/or market conditions could change to my detriment.

Two paths to reach my Number: invest and/or sell [AJC: I did both and advise you to do the same … never rely on being able to sell your business]

Price: restless sleep!

So, is there a place for ‘Erica Style’ businesses?

Absolutely:

– You could build up a portfolio of those businesses; in doing so, you are making building these types of business your business! What?! That’s exactly what Erica is doing: she puts in 110% effort to build these types of businesses and to teach you how to do the same. I bet that she doesn’t have a ‘kick back on the sofa and let the business make money while I sleep’ attitude at all!

– More simply: you can build one or two of these types of businesses while you are sitting around at college, writing your blog, or working your ‘day job’, and use the EXTRA income that this business generates to fuel your investment strategy – or, build up the seed capital for that ‘real business’ …

… the one that WILL keep you up at night, until you sell 😉

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