Money Map

Reverse-engineering how money gets made

A map of the ways to make money, worked backwards. Start at $ and follow the arrows to see each way to earn it, the catch that comes with it, and a small first step you could try this week.

  1. Explore the mapPick any bubble to see what it means and where it leads.
  2. See what it saysThe big lessons, in a few minutes of reading.
  3. Choose a first moveConcrete steps to try, with a checklist to tick off.

How to use the map

Drag to move around. Pinch, or hold Ctrl or ⌘ while you scroll, to zoom. Pick a bubble to read its note.

When you pick a bubble, a bold, highlighted line traces the path from $ to it. The thinner arrows leading on from it show everywhere that path can take you next.

What the map says

It all comes down to whose time

Follow any branch far enough and it ends in your hours, someone else’s hours, or nobody’s: software, templates, courses. Most people climb in that order. Sell your own time, use the money to buy other people’s, then build things that earn without anyone’s. See it on the map

Every route has a catch

No branch is free. The question is which catch you’re better placed to handle than most people. Savings make holding costs easy, a network makes supply easy, and a skill turns other people’s lack of it into your opening. See it on the map

Know which wall you’re up against

Abundant stock is easy to get and hard to sell. Limited stock is easy to sell and hard to get. A business is usually stuck on one of the two, and effort spent on the other is wasted. See it on the map

Product and service meet in the middle

Products still take your time to source, sell and support, and services can be packaged into products. Both halves of the map run into the same limit, Capped by your hours. What really separates them is what each asks for first: money or hours. See it on the map

Cash runs out before profit does

Plenty of businesses that are profitable on paper still fail, because money goes out before it comes in. Getting paid before you pay, through deposits, pre-orders or upfront fees, is the most underrated move on the map. See it on the map

Businesses pay more, if you can prove it

Making a business more money, or saving it time, can be measured, so it can justify a real price. The catch is proof. You need a result to point to, which is why the first job is worth doing cheaply. See it on the map

Where to start with more time than money

This route needs no inventory and little capital, shows you quickly whether people will pay, and teaches you to sell, which every other route on the map depends on.

  1. Pick a problem you can already solve for people who can’t.
  2. Take a deposit or an upfront fee from the very first job.
  3. Turn the job into a written process while you do it.
  4. A fixed package at a fixed price that someone else can deliver.

A close second is reselling limited items. Demand is already proven, so selling is easy, but it stays capped by your hours until you build a network of scouts. See it on the map

24 next moves

Every branch of the map ends in something concrete to try. Tick them off as you go. Your ticks are saved in this browser only.

Start from what you have

0 of 5 done

  • Cash you could risk, skills people pay for, people who'd take your call, and hours a week. Be honest about each. Show it on the map

  • Equipment people need once in a while is worth more lent out than sitting idle. Show it on the map

  • Ask before you build. Then pre-sell the top answer. Show it on the map

  • Ask them to pay full price, and to pass your name on if it helped. Show it on the map

  • A first sale from someone you know is a great start. A sale from someone who owes you nothing is proof people will really pay. Show it on the map

Product

0 of 6 done

  • Look at sold listings and real prices before you buy anything to resell. Show it on the map

  • Be the best option for a small, specific group instead of one of many for everyone. Show it on the map

  • Price, minus product cost, fees, shipping and ads. If that number is small, nothing else on this branch works. Show it on the map

  • Take orders or deposits first, then buy the stock. It tests demand and uses the customer's money instead of yours. Show it on the map

  • Keep the first bet small enough that losing it won't hurt, then reinvest what it earns. Show it on the map

  • Post what you're doing as you do it. Trust builds before you ask anyone to buy. Show it on the map

Service

0 of 8 done

  • Do one job at a discount in exchange for sharing the results. That proof sells the next job. Show it on the map

  • Deposits, upfront fees or subscriptions, so customer money arrives before you pay the people doing the work. Show it on the map

  • A few months of costs set aside so one slow month doesn't sink it. Show it on the map

  • The least you could make that someone would still pay for. Improve it once people buy. Show it on the map

  • Be the obvious choice for one specific fix. That's what lets you charge more. Show it on the map

  • Next time you do the job, write every step down as you go. That list is the start of the system. Show it on the map

  • Describe it and take pre-orders. If nobody buys the description, don't build it. Show it on the map

  • Set prices now as if someone else were doing the work, even while you still do it yourself. Show it on the map

Get your first customers

0 of 5 done

  • Right after a job goes well, ask who else they know with the same problem. Show it on the map

  • Be specific: what you fix, for whom, and roughly what it costs. Ask who they know who needs it. Show it on the map

  • Take something customers need again and again and offer it as an ongoing plan. Show it on the map

  • Pick the one where your customers already shop and do it properly before adding more. Show it on the map

  • Short, specific, and about their problem rather than about you. Track which version gets replies. Show it on the map