Great news: You’re not special

Yesterday I emailed you about the myth of the “million-dollar idea.” To view this email as a web page, [click here]() {NAME}, Yesterday I emailed you about the myth of the “million-dollar idea.” That pervasive yet wrong belief that before you start a business, you need an idea that no one’s ever heard of before, and wow that’s so smart, {NAME}, how’d you come up with that? You’re a genius. The frankly relieving truth is that starting a business that earns $1,000, or $5,000, or even $100,000 a month isn’t restricted to the naturally brilliant among us. (Or the naturally charming and magnetic. Phew.) For the most part, successful business owners aren’t smarter than you. They’re not better people, morally speaking. And lots of them are worse. They just have systems. And they use those systems to find, test, and prove their business ideas, fast. Side note: Some entrepreneurs like to be obnoxiously loud on social media about the process of creating their systems. This is part of the “SIGMA HUSTLE GRINDSET” you see from famously productive entrepreneurs. Along with the idea that “I have to have a totally original idea to start a business,” there’s also this unfortunate belief that “I have to work my a** off and figure everything out for myself. That way I’m really earning it.” Pinky-swear, {NAME}: There’s no glory in needlessly struggling. Making money doesn’t have to be so hard If you needed to go to the grocery store this afternoon, would you start building a car from scratch? Literally reinventing the wheel? No. You’d hop in your car and drive there. (Or better yet, have your groceries delivered to your door. I started doing this pre-pandemic, and I will never stop.) It’s perfectly fine to start with a system created by others who came before you. Here’s another reason to work smarter (use a system) vs. harder (figure everything out for yourself): You’ll unlock your second income stream sooner than you would on your own. Inside Earnable, I show you [the exact system I use to create standalone products]() that people can buy, use, and get real value from, without ever needing a second of my time. That means I can leave my business for 6 weeks and know that it’s still going to generate hundreds of thousands of dollars while I’m strolling the streets of Jaipur and sampling chai and samosas with my wife. [Ramit and Cass] I didn’t pack enough for this last-minute 4-day trip to Jaipur, so I’m rocking my shawl I also left my business on autopilot while shooting my Netflix show, “[How to Get Rich](),” for 4 months. We were shooting 14 hours a day, 6 days/week, all around the country. [How to get Rich - Netflix]() Two more things I want you to know: - Nobody starts out immediately earning $1M/year from their business. You have to build from zero. And that’s scary! It’s a lot easier to fantasize about running a 5-million-dollar-a-year business than actually running a $50,000 one. But when you start from $0, your very first dollar is a huge success. And because of that… - The stakes are SO low right now. This is actually fantastic news. No one knows who you are. No one is watching you to see if you trip or fail or fly. That means you can literally try anything. I’ll say it again: The stakes are low, and that’s a great situation to be in. The only way to go from here is up. Especially when you focus on finding a profitable business idea and building out your first offer instead of getting caught up in the fun but ultimately unprofitable stuff, like choosing your website fonts and brand colors before you’ve even validated your idea. Right now, you can do anything. The key is to start small and use a system. Honestly, I don’t care if you use the Earnable system or one of the other business-building systems out there. As long as you’re not wasting your time and energy trying scattershot tactics, getting frustrated, giving up, and coming back — I don’t care whose system you use. [But here’s how Earnable is different from other business-building programs]() (just Ctrl+F "How Earnable is different" and watch the 7-minute video). With Earnable, you can launch your business within a week and get your first paying customer within two weeks. From idea to sale in 7 days Here’s how Brandon’s first 10 days of Earnable went: [Earnable - Brandon]() Knowing your customers always pays off Maybe you create your first offer. Then you realize it’s not *quite* attractive enough to potential customers. You can still use Earnable to create something new in the same space (the fancy word for this is “pivot”). That’s what Emma did: [Earnable - Emma Mitchell]() Congratulations Emma! I love that she didn’t give up. She used what she knew (I show you exactly how to do this inside [Earnable]()) and she landed on something her customers are delighted to pay for. Even better, she loves hosting her events. It’s easier to earn more than spend less If you’ve been on this list for a while, you already know I’m not a fan of traditional financial advice like “Spend less and save more.” It’s vague, hard to visualize, and most importantly, hard to accomplish. (Spend how much less? Save how much more?) I’d rather spend without worry, and save a good chunk of cash at the same time. To do both, I have to earn more. So the advice I give my students is: Figure out a way to earn more. [Get a better job](). [Create a second income stream](). [Build your business](). Think of it this way, {NAME}. If you only have one income stream, there’s a cap on what you can save, because there’s a cap on what you earn. But what if there were no cap on your earnings? What if your monthly income grew by $500, $1,000, or even $5,000? What would that enable you to do? And what if getting there didn’t have to feel so hard? Here’s to eating samosas on vacation, [Signature] P.S. Keep an eye on your inbox tomorrow. I’m sending you an invitation. You may be new to IWT. Here's all the stuff we offer [Programs]() [Podcast]() [Netflix show]() [Books]() [Check out our website for more]() Follow Ramit [ig]() [fb]() [tw]() [yt]() [pc]() Was this forwarded to you? Sign up [here](). This email was sent to [{EMAIL}](). If you no longer wish to receive these emails you may [unsubscribe]( at any time. 548 Market St #89946 San Francisco, CA 94104-5401