Now we want to get into the nitty-gritty. What keeps us from living our lives on our own terms?

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The challenge of irregular inflows

One of those things is not having enough money – one of the five elements of bigg success – when we need it. It’s one thing if you have a regular salary. However, a lot of people don’t have a steady income. It fluctuates from month-to-month.

What if you’re a salesperson working on straight commission?

What if you own your own business and don’t draw a regular paycheck? You may be a freelancer or a solo entrepreneur. You may be in business and have employees. You not only feel responsible for putting food on your table, you also have a group of people to whom you feel responsible.

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I certainly can relate to this subject, having been a business owner for pretty much all of my adult life. Come to think of it, before I went into business for myself, I worked on commission as a sales person so I’ve seen both sides of it.

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Of course, with George, I now am a business owner too.

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Welcome to the club, Mary-Lynn!

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We have a couple of businesses in their early stages. I left a job in the corporate world with a regular paycheck, but I sure understand now what it’s like not to have that. I know I’m not alone. A number of people in our community have mentioned this as a major challenge to living their lives on their own terms.

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So what can you do if your income fluctuates from month-to-month?

Understand your cycles

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One thing that I found is that I had to understand my cycles. I’ve struggled with this one. When I wasn’t busy, I’d spend time and money promoting and prospecting. Then I would get too busy – I don’t have time to promote and prospect. So I stopped doing it. The thing I knew, I wasn’t busy again and the cycle would start over!

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If you can be consistent with your most important activities – those things that generate the most income for you – you may be able to smooth out your inflows.

You might even find that you can hire an assistant to perform some of these activities for you. You spend a little money now to save you time and make you money a little later.

What if you can’t afford to hire someone to help you? Then you’ll have to invest the time yourself. When you find yourself in your next “up” cycle – you’re too busy to spend time on crucial prospecting and promotional activities – take a look at it again to see if it makes sense.

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Another thing I’ve found is that I can be more consistent if I carve up my activities into smaller chunks. For example, I may send out five e-mails every day of the week instead of thinking that I need to send out 25 e-mails. If you don’t have the time to do that, start with three e-mails a day.

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Stabilize your outflows

Risk is often measured by volatility. So by definition, if we have irregular inflows, we are taking more risk. Because of that, we should strive for less risk in our outflows.

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We do this by keeping our standard of living relatively low. Our businesses are in their early stages. So we watch what we spend and live very frugally. For example, we watch how much we shop and go out to eat less than we did when our incomes were more regular.

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One of our newsletter subscribers, Randy, says “rowing his own boat” by working for himself are his terms for his life. He’s been on his own for about 25 years now. He’s put his two sons through college while remaining debt free. He says he did it by having a plan when his boys were just babies. That plan paid off. He just turned 50 and plans on living the way he wants from here on out.

Congratulations Randy and thanks for sharing your story with us!

Randy’s story also helps us understand a second part of stabilizing our inflows:

Be very, very careful with debt.

We have to resist the urge to pile onto our outflows by adding principal and interest payments. It puts even more pressure on our inflows and more stress on us because we have to earn even more.

What do you suggest?

Share that with us by leaving a comment below, calling us at 888.455.BIGG or sending us an e-mail at bigginfo@biggsuccess.com.

Thanks so much for checking in on us today.

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One of our listeners just accepted a new management job. Join us next time when we help him with bigg challenge.

Until then, here’s to your bigg success!

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(Image in today's post by kikasha)

Episode 7 begins with Ozzy, one of the tribe members, angry because Tracy, another tribe member, wants to kill their chickens. Ozzy likes the eggs because they are renewable. Tracy thinks the protein from the whole chicken is needed now by many of the tribe members.

Today, we want to talk about the chicken and the egg strategy – a lot of people choke their chicken, and then they don’t get any eggs – by looking at three situations where people choke their chicken.

#1 – Playing less risky
With March Madness winding down here in the States, we had to include an example that applies to sports and to business.

You’ll see a team get momentum. Then they relax, get less aggressive, start playing to NOT lose, and stop taking risks that gave them the momentum.

They choke their chicken! Then they don’t get any more eggs.

When you get momentum, keep pushing in order to win.

#2 – Not acting out
There are certain activities that make us successful. Let’s look at sales people for an example. They may send out e-mails or letters, make phone calls to existing clients and prospects, attend networking events, and work their contacts.

At first, they’re hungry. They need the sale. As time goes by, they start achieving a level of success. Then they get content, lackadaisical, perhaps even arrogant or cocky. They stop doing the very things that made them a success.

They choke their chicken! Now they don’t get any eggs.

When you start achieving some level of success, build upon the thing that made you successful in the first place so you get to the next level, rather than taking a step backward.

#3 – Money matters
A person saves money (chicken). That money makes money (eggs). They start seeing their savings grow. Then they get tempted …

They choke their chicken!

They’re doing so well that they think the chicken doesn’t matter. But now they don’t have a chicken. So they don’t get any eggs. They’ve spent their savings so it doesn’t earn any interest.

If you want to build a nest egg, don’t touch your principal and keep reinvesting your money. When you do that, your money makes money so you’ll eventually be free to spend your time however you want.

Our bigg quote today is an Ashanti proverb:

So don’t choke your chicken until you don’t need any more eggs!

Next time, we’ll discuss how to relax during a job interview. Until then, here’s to your bigg success!

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We have a friend who is setting sales records in her business. However, she recently faced a severe cash crunch. She felt overwhelmed and discouraged, to the point of giving up. She was scared. What should she do?

We told her to find the low-hanging fruit!

When you’re faced with a cash crunch, think about all the places, prospects, and possibilities where you could get cash today. Then spend your time on the things most likely to pay off TODAY.

5 things to understand about this strategy

#1 – Long-term strategy
This is not a good long-term strategy – in fact, it distracts from it! However, when survival is the issue, who cares? Survive today so you can thrive tomorrow.

#2 – Perceptions
This strategy can create misperceptions with customers, employees, vendors, and investors. For example, customers may expect discounts if you offer them frequently. They’ll sit back and wait for the next one.

#3 – Frequency
If it happens occasionally, perhaps seasonally, that may be okay. Even then, you should plan for those occasions in advance. If you’re in this position frequently, it’s probably a sign of a bigger problem.

#4 – Financial statements
To find the real problem, understand your financial statements. What are the numbers telling you? How can you prevent this from happening again? Is it a short-term problem? Or do you need to make some adjustment for the long-term?

#5 – Mindset
Get over any reluctance to cut special deals. Some people really struggle with this. For example, they find it hard to sell inventory at less than cost. But if it’s not selling at its current price, it’s not worth its current price! Mark it down so it moves and you get the cash you need!

5 places to find cash today for your business

#1 – Call people who owe you money.
See when they will commit to paying. Consider a discount if your situation is severe enough.

#2 – Contact customers.
Find the customers who are the far along in the sales cycle. Follow up on proposals you’ve already made. Once again, if your situation dictates, offer them a discount for signing on the dotted line and paying today.

#3 – Work your contacts for referrals.
Who do they know that might do business with you? Tell them you have a special deal that you want to share with as many people as possible.

# 4 – Sell assets you don’t need any longer.
They’re costing you money sitting around. This includes inventory as we discussed earlier. Also think about your receivables. If you have customers with good credit, you may be able to sell your receivables to a factoring company.

#5 – Borrow.
This is similar to #4, only here you use your assets as collateral for a loan. You have a short-term problem; get a short-term loan!

One final tip – don’t appear desperate. People do business with successful people. So don’t present it as your problem; show them an opportunity.

Our bigg quote today is unclaimed, but still good.

And absence makes the heart grow fonder!

Next time, we’ll discuss six factors that will help you succeed when opportunity knocks. Until then, here’s to your bigg success!

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