Is The 4-Hour Work Week Possible?

I had not read the book but I believe Tim Ferris himself is a living example that the 4 hour work week is a feasible idea.

Cheers
Vincent
Personal Development Blogger

To tell you the truth I have not yet read the part on outsourcing. But I believe I will have read it by the end of this week (because I am loving the book).
You would need to already have a pretty good business to be able to outsource. You also need to have people you trust so that they don't steal money from you.

I have to agree with him... 4 hours a week is a little bit too little but I guess once things are on auto pilot it is achievable... Still, 4 hours a week is less than one a day so...

Wow, it is great to see someone actually doing it. I definately want to achieve 4-6 hour per week in the next 9-12 months so I can have more time to spend with my children

Ferris built his business working long hours, reading a lot
and being generally a top performer as an entrepreneur.

He's clearly way above average intelligence too and he
takes a lot of business wisdom and savvy for granted.

It would be folly to think you would have a lot of luck
building a big business in 4 hours a week. What he did
was work super-hard building it, then re-engineered what
he had built so it practically ran without him.

The message is that if you have the capacity to build
something set it up from the beginning so you will eventually
be able to remove yourself as an employee from your business,
not that you can be a lazy dope and get rich.

The amount of time it would take to track and set up these sites wouldn't be worth it. Though I guess you could always outsource.
I would prefer to have a product (or many) and outsource the customer service

Outsourcing can definately be worth it. But only if you know exactly what you are doing. Otherwise it just costs you a lot of money puts you in debt

I love the way you think. If you have to spend time to make money then you aren't finished yet.
The goal is to be able to make money and yet spend no time making it so you can spend time doing what you love

Hmmm,

I don't think it quite works that way. It is more that other people work for you and you don't have enough work to do so you only work 4 hours per week.
I don't think you can work 20 hours per week and have worked 5 weeks in just one week.

It is more about productivity and free time as opposed to getting rich

John Chow made $50,000 in one month WHILE ON HOLIDAYS
Though I know that he worked more than 4 hours/week to earn that
Plus he has been working hard at internet marketing for the last 4 years.

I want to be able to earn a full time income working 2-4 hours per day. So that when I have kids I have the time to spend with them

I don't believe it... But I'll love to know the secret..

I shall highly appreciate to know if it works

I should check this book out

Yes it's absolutely possible.

No exaggeration and no word of a lie - I run my business in less than 4 hours a week right now (probably less than 2). But like all things there are a few caveats...

It takes a lot more than 4 hours a week to get to that point. I've been through periods where I was working 40+ hours a week for several weeks / months at a time.

Secondly, I challenge anyone to walk away after 4 hours. As I say, all my income is sustained from about 2 hours per week - which is simply checking e-mails from outsourcers. But I spend another 10+ hours (out of choice) researching, brainstorming and so on. Sometimes, I end up making changes to my business for the sake of change.

Finally, and definitely most importantly...

Don't fall into the trap, like I have, of working just 4 hours for too long.

For the last 2 years I've had a lot of free time. I've filled it with leisure and learning activities - I took up golf, learnt to play the guitar, have tennis lessons, go to the gym and do some voluntary work.

Sounds great right?

I'm utterly bored!

Leisure time has lost its preciousness. All those hobbies kind of lose their value and meaning when you don't have a greater purpose and focus.

I have always been infatuated with automation and outsourcing. I've succeeded but it's left a void.

Knowing what I know now, I think the key is to strike a more reasonable balance (20-30 hours flexible work per week on a venture(s) you're passionate about) or to do as Tim Ferris suggests...

Work hard for a few months setting up a project, automate it and then take a month or two off to learn a new skill / have a new experience. But don't leave it too long before your next project.

Phil.
P.s. I have an affiliate site, a site selling an e-book and a site selling a physical product (DVD set).

California man has collected millions of dollars of tolls for over 53 years.

What if you owned a TOLL Booth on a very busy highway? You'd be set for life, wouldn't you? Meet a man who's done it.

You are about to learn HOW to work 4 hours a week, or less, and still make full time income, in fact, you're about to meet a well known multi-millionaire who has perfected the four hour work week, and has been successful for over 50 years.

77 year old Orange County millionaire Harvey Brody says you can create "TOLL POSITIONS" which produce a steady stream of income for decade after decade and he is living proof. Harvey has been collecting tolls since 1955.

Harvey Brody HAS been collecting his tolls for over 50 years and seldom puts in more than four hours a week to do it. He doesn't own a highway or even an actual toll booth. He does, however, collect a steady stream of income from being in a TOLL POSITION. Mr. Brody has collected MILLIONS of dollars and says there is NO REASON why YOU couldn't do the same. HOW?

You are about to find out.

One of the problems I see throughout this thread is the THINKING...and it is, for the most part; too small, too limited and not very "outside the box".

ASK HOW. How can you make tens and hundreds of thousands of dollars, even millions of dollars a year and only "WORK" four hour weeks? You find someone who is doing it and learn from them.

You have to be in between a DEMAND for something and the SUPPLY for it. You don't have to make or manufacture the "product", and instead of thinking OUTSOURCING, which seems to have some negative connotations for some of you...think subcontractors. Smart, savvy guys like Harvey Brody have been using 'SUB-CONTRACTORS' for years. These are professionals, real businesses, manufacturing companies who will "do the work" for you, in exchange for their pay.

Up until very recently, there were scores of small businesses being operated by ABSENTEE owners, who checked in four hours a week to keep an eye on their money making machines. Many small factories supplied the auto industry, for example (and I did say, up until recently).

OH. BUT. That takes money.

NO. It doesn't. It requires motivation and focus. It requires an understanding of how products are created and brought to market, how the distribution channels work and how so many fully developed products never make it, not because they weren't good enough, but because they were under marketed or incorrectly marketed.

Let me give you a peek into Harvey Brody type THINKING. Pick you favorite Internet guru, the one with the current LAUNCH. What is he doing? He's selling products, for the most part, with very few exceptions, to the masses of people who are not yet ESTABLISHED. His customers are trying, seeking, striving...looking for their golden ticket...but they are NOT yet established. And the gurus have to keep reinventing themselves and their products...and SOME of them do very well, and that success is what gets you to buy WSO's and launches and the latest and greatest.

Mr. Brody sells to people (companies, governments, etc.) who are ESTABLISHED. Names you know, like Sears, Home Depot, LOWES. ESTABLISHED names, people (companies) with MONEY to spend.

So it begins in the mind (and this is the mind warriors forum, eh?). KNOWING that dealing with established people will elevate your sales, your income, and limit the amount of time you need to spend dealing with them, why wouldn't you want to work with them?

For example, Sears may place ONE order a month with Mr. Brody, who gets a FAX, sends an email or two and he's done for the month with that customer...who will then send him a check or directly deposit the amount directly into his bank and it could be a six figure amount from that ONE customer. Mr. Brody has about 150 customers. Your guru?

He doesn't need to have a LAUNCH every year or update and he doesn't need a list. He has 150 or so very happy and satisfied customers, and most have never met him. He does the business over the phone, fax and via email. He doesn't have any employees, gets a little help from his wife and daughter...does millions of dollars of business a year all over the world. He works more than four hours a week because it is his PASSION and he loves making deals.

BUT, there are other people who have TOLL POSITIONS on specialty products who are payed a royalty everytime the product is sold because they are in between the supply and demand. You don't have to "own" the product, you have to have control of it.

You don't make it.
You don't ship it.
You don't sell it.

You "SUPPLY" it to the people who want it and they have to go through your TOLL Position to get it.

Is a 4 hour work week doable? ABSOLUTELY. Some "toll booth" owners don't even work 4 hours a month...because they have the THINKING and MINDSET that allows them to work smart and solve their problems in the direction of their goals.

So, instead of questioning IF it is possible, start THINKING HOW it could be. Then find someone who is doing it and learn everything you can.

gjabiz

I really enjoyed reading the 4-Hour work week. I think it is very doable.

In fact that should be the goal of every business owner. A truly successful business is one that you can leave, and let other people run while your away and when you come back to it it has made you more money.

Of course some people love the thrill of business and work as much as they want.

Just my 2 cents...

Great ideas in the book. It is a LOT of work to get to that stage but I too believe it is possible.