There’s a simple but powerful psychological tool you can use to motivate yourself or someone else to build a habit or stick to a goal. It’s a technique that has been used in everything from presidential politics to personal fitness, and it all comes down to one simple shift: asking instead of telling.
I was fourteen, standing on a stage, and I was pretty sure my entire life was about to end. The auditorium lights felt blinding, and the silence from the crowd—a mix of students, parents, and teachers—was deafening. My job was simple: give a few closing remarks at the school awards night. But as I stood there, script shaking in my sweaty hands, my mind went completely blank.
Maybe creating your own digital product from scratch doesn’t sound like your cup of tea. That’s perfectly fine. There’s another path you can take—one that requires some initial effort and investment but can generate income for years if you set it up correctly. This is a great way to that has long-term potential.
When you’re thinking about buying a business, knowing what you’re looking for is everything. Making the wrong choice can be a disaster for your finances and your reputation. If you’re just getting started, it’s a good idea to explore different business models and industries to see what clicks with you.
When you see videos of accelerator classes chanting like rock stars, it’s easy to think that raising money is the only way to build a real company. There’s a growing sense that the funding-obsessed culture in tech can be unhealthy, and I have to agree. That’s why, aside from a little bit of early help, we decided to bootstrap our company instead of chasing investors. I’m convinced that for many (though not all) entrepreneurs, forgoing venture capital is the smarter play.
I’ve read my fair share of business books—probably hundreds. And while they’re full of valuable lessons, I’ve always found that nothing beats learning by doing. It’s a cliché, I know, but think about learning to ride a bike. No one gives you a manual on balance; you just get on and figure it out, collecting a few skinned knees along the way. It’s one thing to be told what to do, but it’s another thing entirely to internalize it through your own experience.
Business theories are great, but they don't really hit home until you see them work in the real world. It's one thing to talk about strategies, but it's another to see how real people took simple and transformed them into something much bigger. These stories show the practical steps involved when you and have ambitions for it to grow.
So your side hustle is officially making money. It’s moved past the idea phase and is bringing in real cash. The next big question is what to do with that income to build something that lasts. For many people who are , the dream is to shift away from pure —where you’re always trading hours for dollars—and build a system that generates passive or semi-passive returns. The journey from a project to a real requires capital, and this is about how to build it.
You’ve already done the tough part. You found a concept that works, figured out who your customers are, and started building a brand people recognize. But now you’re at a crossroads. To really grow, your venture needs to become more than just you. This is the moment where you transition from a personal project to a sustainable business—a shift that’s less about simply making more money and more about building an operation that can run without you handling every single detail. It’s the critical step in turning a .