Start Your Dream Business Today

Businesses You Can Start With No Money or Education

James G. Palumbo

• Publisher: G&D Media
• Year: 2022
• Print ISBN: 9781722505738, 9781722510602
• eBook ISBN: 9781722526863
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Business General
• Index: Business

This energizing, entertaining, yet practical guide will launch you into an entrepreneurial career that will immediately make your life – as well as those around you better.

 Most people are not able to make the practical connection from observing their community and the world around them to what a great business idea looks like. They need a blueprint...not only an idea of what kind of business to start, but tips and techniques on how to make it work.

 The Biblenomics™ approach and philosophy with principles that are guaranteed to work will not only put great opportunities within your grasp, but you’ll see that making money is easy and there is no mystery or secret to achieving success. In fact, the only thing that can kill your dreams is you.

 With profiles in creativity, and the mission of empowering people with a dream and the drive to succeed, the author will inspire you with his knowledge of:

• Why be an entrepreneur
• Stories of entrepreneurs who pioneered a niche or a great idea 
• 101 Business that require no money or education
• How to get started
• Marketing advice
• Tips and techniques for building your business
• Suggestions for horizontal growth
• Suggestions for vertical growth
• Variations
• How to write a mini-business plan
• The foundation stones upon which every good business is built
• How to differentiate yourself from similar businesses 

The opportunity to be an entrepreneur is for everyone, everywhere. We all long for the dignity of financial independence.  Let this book empower, equip and teach you to build your own dream.

1Why Be an Entrepreneur?

The best way to predict the future is to create it.

—PETER DRUCKER

There are many reasons why entrepreneurs go into business for themselves, but I believe that we all share a few in common.

Priorities and balance. Bring balance and ease to your life. You set your schedule and priorities. When you’re able to put your faith and family first without having to serve your employer’s priorities, you will have a sense of freedom unlike any other.

Being the CEO of YOU. Be the boss of you!

Build your dream, not your boss’s dream. If you are going to give your hours, toil, sweat, and tears to your work, why not build your dream instead of someone else’s? Why wind up at the end of your life with regrets about what you were inspired to do but didn’t?

Building confidence. Overcome self-criticism, negative mindset, and unproductive behavior patterns. Each tiny success along the entrepreneurial path builds self-confidence.

Freedom. You get to choose what you do and when you do it 99 percent of the time!

Self-determination. Be the captain of your own future.

Living your dream. As Henry David Thoreau wrote, “Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you’ve imagined. As you simplify your life, the laws of the universe will be simpler.”

Unlimited income potential. You are limited only by your faith, inspiration, and perseverance.

The three best decisions I’ve made in my life were to commit my life to God, marry Cheri, and be an entrepreneur. Not surprisingly, they are all related. Being self-employed has enabled me to dedicate my life to my family and to the service of others while assigning work and business their rightful place on the list of life’s priorities. Instead of being a slave to the fear of losing a paycheck, I took charge of my finances by being the captain of my own ship.

So where should work and business rank on the hierarchy of priorities? Surprisingly, it is solidly number four. It should always come behind our commitment to the things that matter most. Money is not the goal in life; rather it is a tool to help us help others.

Here in a nutshell is an eternal, unchangeable hierarchy of life’s priorities. It is the encapsulation of all life’s philosophy and legitimate worldviews; it is, in a nutshell, what the Bible teaches:

1. God
2. Family
3. Others
4. Stewardship

Numbers two and three are really the same. We should love everyone, everywhere, all the time, but I think there is a practical distinction here, because we have a special commitment to our families. Our families are the training ground for us. It is where we learn to perfect our serve and learn to love.

Executive summaries are great because they give you the Cliff Notes version of big ideas and subjects. Jesus summarized the entire history of philosophy, all religious life and teaching, the contents of the entire Bible, and our purpose in life into two sentences. He said (and I’m paraphrasing), “All of the moral law and the teachings of the words of the prophets are fulfilled in two commandments: to love God with all of your heart and mind and soul and strength and to love others as yourself” (Mark 12:29–31).

These words express the meaning and purpose of life with perfect clarity. With childlike simplicity, they tell us where our priorities should be. No equivocation, no compromise—this is our truth, and we’ve got to live it.

So what do we do with this whole prosperity, money, and success philosophy? We hear it everywhere: Do what you love. Pursue your passion. Find your fulfillment, meaning, and purpose in financial, career, and business success. I say, turn it upside down! Let me explain.

Jesus seems to spend an inordinate amount of time talking about money and business, such as in the parables of the talents, the unjust steward, and the workers in the vineyard. So what’s the message? Is it love or is it money? I believe the answer is hidden in plain sight.

Your destiny in life is to love others, so you can’t find your purpose and meaning in life through monetary success alone. It is only a tool to serve and love others. If you want to be a great business-person, commit yourself to be a servant to your employees, helping all of them find success. Only by helping others succeed do we succeed ourselves. Success with money is important, not for its own sake but for the sake of others.

Only by helping others succeed do we succeed ourselves.

Why am I an entrepreneur? It’s simple: because it gives me the freedom and wealth to serve others. That’s it, my friend. No more, no less. If you get your priorities straight, you will not be driven by greed or ego, and you will be a rock star in business. You will be fulfilling your purpose in life. Free from the shackles of avarice, vice, and lucre, you can launch and grow your business quickly and successfully.

2Career Pathing and Stepping-Stones

Find out what you like doing best and get someone to pay you for doing it.

—KATHERINE WHITEHORN, JOURNALIST AND AUTHOR

“Hey, Jim! Come over here. I want you to meet somebody,” said Pete Gatto. We were standing in front of the coffee bar at church. I had met Pete and his wife, Cheryl, an award-winning author, after moving to Colorado Springs. They also had just arrived in Colorado after several years running a youth camp in La Paz, Mexico. Pete is a great networker and loves to bring people together.

“This is Peach,” said Pete. I couldn’t miss the young man standing before me. Lean and outgoing, with asymmetrical tangerine hair, Peach shook my hand, and we began to talk about business. I was fascinated by his story. After hitting rock bottom in a life of music and drugs, he committed his life to God and submitted to doing what was right—exemplifying hard work, good stewardship, and a deep commitment to helping second-chancers start a new life. Not only was he blessed with business success, but he used his success to help others. The more he and his wife, Danielle, helped others, the more they prospered.

Following are excerpts from a recent discussion with Peach, where he tells part of his story. After that, I’ll profile one of his businesses—a hair studio and the career path, plus outline an entrepreneurial path that it can represent for you.

Later in the book, I’ll profile two additional businesses started by Peach and Danielle and the opportunities that they have pioneered, one of which might be a viable choice for you!

According to Peach

I asked Peach to tell us their story. How did he and Danielle become millionaires in just ten years?

“On March 10, 2008, I started IAAO, LLC, a management company for my band. I was the drummer, and music was the only place I felt competent, particularly playing the drums. I started when I was six years old. The company had a half-million-dollar overhead, with a tiny 2 percent profit margin. It only made $10,000 a year net, which had to be split between all the people on the road.

“That experience taught me how to manage a profit and loss statement. Even though there was a lot of money, I had to learn to spend wisely and steward really well. But no matter how hard I studied business and how hard we worked, the unexpected happened, and the band’s bus broke down in Vero Beach, Florida. We had to end the tour early.”

The result: Peach found himself $38,238 in debt.

“I will never forget that number,” he says. “My wife and I were left with all the debt. The other band members were not willing to help us out of the hole. I was newly married, and I had to take responsibility. I couldn’t just leave my new wife stranded. At the time, she was cutting hair at another salon and making $40,000 a year. It clearly would have been irresponsible.”

So Peach did what he knew to do: he got down on his knees and prayed: “Lord, I am $38,238 in debt, and I need your help.” He chuckles that he spoke the exact amount to God. He was very aware of the burden on him.

“The answer came quickly. It wasn’t audible, but it was very clear: ‘Whatever I put in your hands to do, do it well.’ It just rang in my heart. About five minutes later, the phone rang. It was a friend of mine, who said, ‘I have a deck you can paint. I’ll pay you $250.’ I ended the call and threw my phone to the ground, saying out loud, ‘God, this isn’t going to work!’

“I knew I had to be obedient, yet I was doing the math in my head, and not seeing how this was going to work. I would earn less than minimum wage, but I figured I just had to start and get my work ethic moving.”

As Peach was painting the spindles of the deck, another friend strolled by and said, “That looks really good. I have a patio you can paint. I’ll pay you $800.” From there, Peach picked up other deck and repair jobs. Within three months, that debt was gone.

“What stops us so often is our own disobedience to God’s plan,” says Peach. “I can’t imagine what our life would look like if I hadn’t taken that first deck job. The $800 deck was easy. The $250 deck job was the hard one.”

Within three months, Peach and Danielle were debt-free. All $38,238 had been paid off. Peach says, “If you can show people your vision, people will take a risk on you if they can see it.” His friends took a risk on him, and it paid off well.

“Today,” he continues, “my wife and I have a holding company that is worth $1.1 million, and investors are stepping in because I’ve shared my vision. We were thousands of dollars in debt, and now we own four different operations, all of which began with a vision.”

Peach’s willingness to ask God for help and obey the commands given to him factored into this success, not only in the beginning but throughout his career path.

After the debt was repaid, Pe...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• Preface
• Introduction
• 1. Why Be an Entrepreneur?
• 2. Career Pathing and Stepping-Stones
• 3. The Work of Your Hand
• 4. New Life for Old Stuff
• 5. Crafty Stuff: Make It, Pin It, Sell It
• 6. Local Lessons
• 7. Specialty Tours
• 8. Mi Casa, Su Casa
• 9. Life Is a Highway
• 10. Rentals
• 11. The Mobile Explosion
• 12. Culinary Delights
• 13. Virtual Teaching
• 14. Virtual Reality
• 15. Build Their Buzz
• 16. Fur, Fin, and Feather
• 17. Gifts for All: Baskets, Boxes, and Surprises
• 18. Marketing Products for Others through Direct Sales
• 19. Guide to Website, Online Store, and Virtual Office Tools for Online Commerce
• 20. Selling Your Services
• 21. Get Started!
• 22. Glossary
• 23. A Mini-Business Plan
• About the Author