Passive income

As my quiet middle class Queens neighborhood becomes the latest destination for young people to move to, new construction is coming in.  I’ve taken an interest in watching this building go up, partly because I’m a curious guy and partly because it got me to thinking about the business side of it.

Someone is putting a lot of time, energy, and money now into building something that will provide income in the future.  Who knows how much money the owner has put out for property, materials, labor, design, and permits.  But once he’s done he’ll be able to fill it with tenants who will pay him rent in the future.

And I realized… this is what passive income is all about!  Sure there will be maintenance, tweaks and upgrades, but once this initial push is done he’ll be able to settle down.  If he wants, he could hire other people to manage the building, deal with tenants, and make repairs for him.  Further, because he has built something that makes him money, he now has an asset that he can sell some day.

Isn’t this what we all want from our business? To build something of value for our customers that gives us dependable income in the future, freeing up our lives to pursue greater goals and interests?  That’s what exactly what this building owner is creating: a place for people to call home in the best neighborhood in New York City (I’m not biased at all!), and in return for that value they’ll reward him with their monthly rent.

So if I might ask… what are you building now that will provide future income?  Is it a business with processes and best practices that you can scale and leave the management to somebody else?  Is it a new product where you’ll outsource the manufacturing?  Or are you writing a book?  Are you creating a consulting methodology and documenting it to license to others?  It is a destination web site that on which you’ll sell advertising?

Whatever it is, I’d encourage you to be thinking about building over coming weeks.  By taking a building mentality I have become very productive, because my focus is on creating value even more, and it is something that I’d love to see you have too.