HOW TO MAKE MONEY MOVES TO FUND YOUR DREAM

Welcome to yet another blog post! Today’s has been inspired by something I’ve consistently seen and heard from the women I serve in my community over the past years. Today, I’m sharing about how to make money moves to fund your dreams.

You see, I work with new women in business to help them plan, execute and achieve their business goals. Here’s what I have noticed; many of these women have brilliant ideas to do projects to help other people e.g. abused women, underrepresented children, etc. They are passionate about helping others and I think that is beautiful. However, I have noticed most of these women don’t have the means for these dreams to come to pass. For example, one woman I know wants to help Kayayie (head porters). However, at the time she was musing on this burning desire she didn’t have any source of income. Now she has a job and is starting her own business (which I’m so proud of her for). A few years ago she had the idea, the zeal and all but no financial muscle to make it happen.

I see this happen over and over again including myself! Some seven years ago when I was strongly considering quitting my job to focus on The Fabulous Woman Network, I spoke to a few people about it and they gave me some very brilliant pieces of advice. One particular man advised me not to quit my job as I didn’t have money. He advised me to keep my job, find the means to make more money and use that money to help the people I wanted. As usual, my very stubborn head did not listen to him (he had a valid point though). Although I didn’t heed his advice, I know (now more than ever) how important money is to my ministry.

Listen lady, if you have a beautiful vision to help other people, then we are alike. This requires money – a tool to make it happen. I’ve seen people solicit for contributions to help people or for a worthy cause. While, I love the idea of raising funds to help people, I think this practise of some philanthropists is worth considering. They put their own money on the table before asking their friends to also contribute. That is smart. That is something I believe we can all do. I believe we must also contribute our own money first, then reach out to others to contribute. That way, whether others contribute or not, we can go ahead and take substantial steps towards our dreams. Besides, this shows we have skin in the game and are committed to make it happen.

We need to make our own moves; money moves. Ladies, are we sitting down and waiting for money to drop from heaven to fund our dreams? Don’t get me wrong, I’m a woman of faith; I believe in miracles and divine intervention. I also believe in making moves. Not just sitting down and waiting; even in the waiting period, we can still make moves.

Here are 4 tips on how to make money moves to fund your own dreams and not have to wait or rely solely on the help or contribution of others before we can begin.

Determine how much you need for yourself and other interests

How much do you need to cover your domestic expenses such as food, transportation, clothing, etc on a monthly basis? How about other bills such as school fees, vacation and pension funds, etc. In addition, determine how much you will need for the projects that interest you, e.g. build a shelter for abused women or an arts school, etc. It requires money as well. You have to list them; if you keep track of your expenses every month, you’d know just about how much. This is very important and if you’re not doing that see below the link to bookkeeping tips.

Make an annual budget. Once you know the total, say 150000 Ghana Cedis per year, break it down to a monthly, weekly, daily and hourly figure so you know the exact amount you should be focusing on per hour. Put this amount on your vision board, prayer book or in any plain sight where you can see it everyday. Because there’s power in putting your vision in plain sight (Habakuk 2:2).

Ask yourself, “How do I make this money I need?”

Using the above scenario, ask yourself, how can I make this said amount in a year, month, week, day, hour? First of all, I hope you know it is possible to make that amount. When I wanted to quit my job, I didn’t have products. The only thing I knew I was going to do was create events and so that’s what I started with. Now by God’s grace, I’ve created several products including my three books: Yarns of Inspiration I, Yarns of Inspiration II and Networking Made Easy (visit https://amaduncan.com/store). I also speak, train and have online courses and coaching packages. I even sell Jewellery! You see, now I know that in order to make the money I need, I need to sell something. One of my mentors once said, “Rich people are always selling and poor people are always buying”. I didn’t argue with that, I just run with it. Milady, find something to sell. There’s always something you can sell. It could be a skill you’ve learnt, items you have or other people’s products.

Every human being is unique and has something that is of value to other people. Look for it, hone it and sell it. For instance, if you’re a trainer, you may want to be going from office to office, dropping your proposals, pitching and marketing your products and services daily.

Be strategic. Use different tactics to get to where you want. If your goal is to make a certain amount of money, look for products and services that can potentially lead you to getting that amount of money. Otherwise you will realize that you sell plenty but you can’t make enough money to reach your target. And please note, it takes time, courage, wisdom and determination. Please be patient with yourself. If you don’t make your target, don’t give up, keep going (see below the link to ‘What to do so you don’t give up on your dreams’). There’s nothing like overnight success.

Market daily to your target market

Market daily, be strategic, both online and offline. If you’re sending training proposals, send them every day, at least five to ten per day. Whatever marketing strategy you’re adopting, be consistent with it.

Network too. “Community is truly the new currency” ~ Tom Bilyeu. You want to be in the correct network of people who are not just buying from you but also recommending you to others, praying with, pushing and blessing you. And of course The Fabulous Woman Community (Facebook group) is one such community.

Track your progress

Track how much you’re making per week, month and year. Ask yourself questions on what you need to do. Push yourself on the necessary moves to make. Measure your tactics to see what’s working and what’s not working, tweak when necessary. Then you do more of what’s working.

Be accountable

There are three key people you should be accountable to. Yourself, community and God. For me, when I set my mind to do something for God I do it differently. I am more serious. My attitude is ‘I can’t mess it up’. It’s on a whole new level.

Be accountable to your ‘sisters’ as well. I have my mastermind groups who help hold me accountable. They are amazing, fabulous women who inspire, challenge, advice and pray with me. I hold myself accountable to them.

And then you want to be accountable to yourself too. Make sure you’re paying attention to and doing what it is that you do that brings you fulfilment or makes you happy. Do it.

So these are the five (5) ways on how to make money moves to fund your dreams. Start by helping yourself. They say Heaven helps those who help themselves. Make the necessary moves to get the amount you need. Keep going and in time all the other supports that God has put in place for you will come to you. Market daily to your target market and finally be accountable.

If you feel you need help in brainstorming the moves to make you can reach out to me. Or if you struggle with accountability or need a community to support you, I can also be of help. Here is the link to book a Discovery Call with me where we can talk and I will ask you questions to find the best way to help you. Click http://bit.ly/Book-A-Discovery-Call-With-Ama-Duncan or call/WhatsApp my assistant Seth on: +233246252330 and let’s help you.

Until same time next week, keep making the fabulous money moves dear fabulous child of God.

Ama xx

PS: Here are the links mentioned above

Bookkeeping tips for your new business https://youtu.be/Bt4V1UtOQXg

What to do so you don’t give up on your dreams https://youtu.be/ExBTZ0qGXJA

Photo by: Vera Obeng Photography