How to Reduce Your Risk by Building Baskets

    Traditionalists say you should choose one business and put all your time and resources into it.  I'm not a traditionalist and I firmly believe that you reduce your risks and increase your rewards by putting your eggs in several baskets. 

Some of the most successful entrepreneurs in the world believe in building baskets.  Not gift baskets - business baskets. They simply start one business venture, and as soon as it begins to make money, they use their profits to add another business.

Would you rather have 100 baskets making you $10,000 dollars per year each, or one basket making you $1 million?  It's a no brainer really isn't it.  If 50 of your 100 baskets went wrong, you'd still make $500,000 a year, but if you only had one basket and it failed you'd make a big fat zero.

Felix Dennis is a media entrepreneur who estimates his net worth as being between $400 and $900 million.  And, he's a huge fan of creating baskets.  In fact, it wasn't until he'd built his 20th basket that he began making real money.  Imagine if he'd just stuck with his first basket.  He'd probably be broke.

Another huge basket building fan is Richard Branson.  In fact, he has well over 200 baskets.  Branson says that whilst it is conventional to stick to what you know in business, he loves learning new things.  He carries a notebook with him at all times, and jots down any ideas he has whilst chatting to people.  The Virgin group is such a popular brand that Branson has developed a smart business sytem called "branded venture capital."  All businesses he starts come under the Virgin umbrella and the businesses he partners with provide most of the capital required to launch them.

So doesn't this get complicated?  Well, yes and no.  If you get the first business working well - to the point where it doesn't need your personal attention 24/7, it will be easy to duplicate the sytem to work in new ventures.  Also, you can add baskets that require less attention than others. Robert Allen shows you some great ways to do this here.

For me, building baskets is exciting too.  Why limit yourself to doing just one thing, when there's so much out there to learn and explore?

Ok, so maybe you're just starting out, and you don't have two pennies to rub together.  How do you start building baskets?  Well, remember that most entrepreneurs are just as poor as you to begin with.  Both Richard Branson and Felix Dennis started out with no money, and you can too.

Here's some tips for building your own business baskets

Get the first one profitable before beginning the second one.

Carry a notebook with you and jot down business ideas like Richard Branson does.

If a business basket is making a loss, and you've tried your best to improve it - ditch it and add another basket that works.

Remember - just because one of your ideas fail - it doesn't mean you are a failure.  Just forget it and move onto the next one.

Find additional baskets that will take up minimal time - whilst still making you a profit. 

An example of a low maintenance basket I added a few months ago was buying and selling domain names.  When I have a bit of free time, I brainstorm name ideas and search their availability on GoDaddy. It's a cheap basket to add, as you can pick up some domains for $1.99.  I keep the ones that may come in useful for future business baskets, and I sell the rest at a profit.  You can advertise your names for sale on many websites and Sedo is probably the most popular one.  They don't charge a listing fee, just a commission if you sell.

Some great basket building resources

How to Get Rich by Felix Dennis This book is a no BS guide to creating baskets and getting rich.  Felix tells it like it really is.  And he knows what he's talking about.  He's a real life multi-millionaire - not just some guy who met a rich person on a plane, train or boat and decided to write about it.  The thing I love about this book is that he'll give you the negatives of getting rich - not just the sugar coated version.  And he's also generous in sharing many of his mistakes.

Multiple Streams of Income by Robert Allen.  This book gives some great ideas on additional baskets you can add, and many will take up very little of your time at all.  Robert is also inviting people to take part in his Million Dollar challenge.  If you could use some guidance from an expert, Just click here to apply.

The Science of Making Money by Dr D H Roberts.  How to make, multiply and manage money.  Dr Roberts is a financier, investor and Internet entrepreneur.