Full Dream Ahead

Your second secret is, "Build a superlative dream team with superstars in four categories: Creatives, Advancers, Refiners and Executers." Do I need all four people to start?
Hansen: You need two to start. People have one dominant and one recessive style-you can test yourself here. You need to complement your weaknesses.

Allen: A Creative and [an] Advancer usually get together to start. Don't let a Refiner in at the beginning. They will punch a hole in your balloon, and you may not be able to say, "Good, go away, we will discover a way to make it happen and get back to you."

You need to build confidence first. Who must be on the team in the beginning to ensure success?
Hansen: The visionary. When Jack Canfield and I did Chicken Soup for the Soul, he said, "I don't know if we are going to sell one or a million." I said, "Let me run the show because I know it will sell more than a million."

Allen: Everything flows from vision, but you will be as weak as your weakest link. Eventually, you need a complete team, or you'll be slowed down.

How do I get a superstar on my team?
Hansen: You can easily create a virtual team full of superstars. Thirty years ago, when I was bankrupt, I had Walt Disney; Napoleon Hill, author of Think and Grow Rich [Ballantine Publishing Group]; and John F. Kennedy on my team, because I read their books and interviews.

And when you take action and prove you can build your dream, others will be inspired to help.
Allen: If you are doing it, then you are ready to be mentored.

Hansen: Find the one person to push it to reality.

Allen: You can also go to your most influential contacts and ask them for potential team members.

What are some unique ways to contact superstars?
Allen: Help them achieve their top three goals, and they will be willing to help you. Do something unique-find out what your mentor's favorite charities are, and get involved in raising money for them.

It goes back to benefiting others. How do I thank superstars who help me?
Hansen: There is the tangible-cash and options. Do something that people normally wouldn't do for themselves-take them on a shopping spree, or buy them a massage.

Allen: It's usually not money. Show them that you've used their advice to create incredible success for yourself, and agree to mentor someone just like they did you.

Your third secret is: "You've got to create multiple streams of income so you have an everlasting flow of revenue." What are multiple streams of income?
Hansen: Culture teaches us to get jobs, keeping us one step from being rich. I want people to get their MBAs: massive bank accounts. There are four areas where most people make their money: real estate, infopreneuring, the Web and their own businesses. Discover ways to create residual income in each one of these areas.

Allen: Create products that bring in money when you are not there. For example, using infopreneuring-a hybrid of information and entrepreneur-we market and sell books, seminars and other licensed products that contain our information and others' [information].

If my business only produces one stream of income, what is the first step I should take to create multiple streams of income?
Hansen: Write down what is going on in your fantasy world. What is the goal you want to achieve? Define the business areas you want to start and how you can make them a reality. Then use your dream team and other experts to poke holes in your ideas to discover what will work.

Allen: Read my book, Multiple Streams of Income: How to Generate a Lifetime of Unlimited Wealth [John Wiley and Sons], for other ideas.

How do I figure out which idea will produce the best results, especially if I do not have the money to hire experts or develop new products?
Allen: I don't believe in spending lots of money to launch a new idea. You don't need money-you just need a great idea.

Hansen: Taking nothing and finding a way to create something is the perfect way to start. Get your team together, and ask how you can implement your dream. Bounce your idea off other business owners; you will discover new ways.

Allen: Start with the idea you are the most interested in. It's the one that you are probably destined to do anyway.

How long should I expect an income stream to last?
Allen: Good question. If it's free and clear, real estate lasts the rest of your life and beyond. If it's generic information, you can market it for 20 years or more. If it's a product, three to five years.

How do I motivate customers to keep purchasing my products or services?
Hansen: This is the entrepreneur's greatest challenge-continually finding new customers while keeping the old ones. Create ways to constantly improve the deal by discovering what people want and how you can deliver it to them.

Allen: Add a bonus that is more valuable than the product itself, and give that bonus for free.

One last question: Can we create "everlasting flows of income"?
Allen: Absolutely! Money in a bank, a savings account or a Treasury bill can generate endless cash flow.

Hansen: Constantly find new ways to give it away and help everyone. It will come back to you multiple times.

Speaker and consultant Romanus Wolter, aka "The Kick Start Guy," is the author of Kick Start Your Dream Business.

This article was originally published in the February 2004 print edition of Entrepreneur's StartUps with the headline: Full Dream Ahead.