This is a rather interesting thread. Being rich before 30 (millionaire aint dead rich in 2008 anymore)..So, most of the people here would be the middle class stucked in the middle class but are dreaming of becoming rich. From most of the replies, i do found some problems.

1) Most tend to think only and only how to make profit. They studied and researched everything on a particular field on how to make money. One very simple mistake. They didnt study how to fail. Knowing how to fail, or how your business could possibly fail, would one be more prepared of counter-measures.

2) I do agree with Dreamer. Earn, Save, Invest. Most people these days, they are going "Earn, Save, Save till you die for you children and let you money devalued". However, I might not be on parallel with Dreamer's defination of "Invest". Putting money on FD, Unit Trust, Insurance, etc, are not Investments to me. Those are merely "savings" that would maintain the value of your money.

Investment is in terms of, investing in share market, forex, buy something cheap online and resell it, be a partner of your friend's business by leeching, etc. If you have dead high capital, buy a shoplot and rent it, or franchise a McDonald's.

3) Identifying market needs. That's part of micro-economics, and economics is one of the hardest subject to study (which would include macro-economics). While most people would wish they could "capture" the trend in time, so that they could have a share of the market pie, they often "capture" it wrongly, or the trend is already in its "mature" state.

Now, looking at the dead rich people, or at least those richer-than-thou. Almost all of them didnt try to capture or follow the market trend. Instead, they create the market trend. Who would ever wondered that the majority of PC will be using a Microsoft based OS? And who could ever anticipate that people will buy Donald Trump's ever expensive apartments? Who could even thought that people will line up buying J-Co's doughnuts?

In every business, it's all about Q&A. If you get the question wrong, you get the answer wrong, and you failed your business. Now, what IS the question? In my personal opinion, after seeing so many people failed in their business, and so many wanna-be restaurants failed, is definately NOT "What people want?". That question would always lead to an very optimistic answer of "Hey, people want this and that, so lets sell this and that". And so, they failed. Before starting a business or while doing research (which is vital to understand the market and demographic), one should always ask, "Why arent they buying?".

4) Starting/planning with a business. Most would first start to think what to sell (stage 1). Then they figured that it's a great idea after several session of super brain-storm and super survey while risks are identifiable(stage 2). The next thing is, they'll start to calculate the initial capital (stage 3). This stage always hindered people from starting their business. Before they could even start, they'll say they dont have enough money/capital to start with. And they stop.

A better way. After the first 2 stages, list down all the items you needed to start that particular business, then calculate the expected capital required (stage 3). When the expected capital exceeds your budget, no worries, go borrow money. If after borrowing money is still below your required capital, then read through your list again, and remove those items that would not directly influence your business or cause a major impact.

Now, if you think that borrowing money (ie. relatives, friends, banks) are too high of risks, that would show that you lack of confidence in your business plan. Go back to the drawing board.

5) The more customer the better. This is correct if you're a huge organization or you're doing corporate business. If you're doing small business, it might be a nightmare that could work you to your death.

Sounds stupid eh? lets do it this way. If your target profit is RM10k, between 1000 customers give you a profit of RM10k, and 100 customers give you RM10k, which one is better?

6) This is what I personally think. Businesses are all the same, what differs is the customers. Hence, all businesses are profitable, if the right customer(s) found your product/service suits them. A typical consumer will spend zillions of items on his/her earning. It would varies from electronics, to services, to food, to etc. And for a typical consumer to buy a different product/service, he/she will go with a different approach, may it be brand, marketting, quality, price, etc. It is always important to indentify the target market first, and understanding their approach.

In Klang Valley, after buying a house, you'll be left with around RM600k (assuming you pay cash and after taxes). Then you buy an ordinary car, leaving you with RM550k. Now, what can you do with that RM550k? FD? Unit trust? Mutual fund? Fund Management (maybe)? At best they give you 10% per annum, or RM55k. It's still on a below average if you have a family with 1 kid. Hence, you'll still have to work for someone.

RM 1mil is not a small amount, yet it's not that big of amount either. To live on a above average life, one may need to use that RM 1mil to generate an annual profit of no lesser than 14%, for both living expenses and inflation.

I wouldnt buy a house and pay off every debt i have if i have RM 1mil. I'll invest it either through doing business or shares (or that alike).

dreamer:
RM145 for a double story linked house is the average price during the early 1990s. Even the cheaper house near Bukit Tinggi 2 (after Teluk Panglima Garang) developed by Lion Property cost about RM180+ today (if i'm not mistaken). Just to consider the plain inflation, it has increased from 1.1% in 2003 to 3.8% on end of 2006 (source), while that alone does not consider the price swing of commodities prices, real estate, interest rate swings, etc. Best way to gauge price hike, compare prices of McDonald's meal set from year to year.

Though i'm still being single, but i do understand the cost of having a child at home, may it be from a average income family, below average, and poor. If you're saying that having RM2k after deducting basically everything from debts (loans), living expenses, insurance (life, car, etc) for you and your family, then yeah, RM2k is good to survive. Heck, even my clerk (household income about RM3700 per month) who only takes RM5 to work each day says life is like hell.

Our average GNP income is RM12k per annum because most are still poor. There are a lot of people aged 30+ yet still have a wage of RM1500 per month. Living on RM2k for a family of 4 would still be able to survive. Heck, there are even family of 10+ living on a monthly wage of not more than RM1k. But they are categorized as poor. As a typical middle class, i wouldnt want to be living THAT poor.

this i would have to agree. I see farmers, fishermen, and those in agriculture making more money than those working in offices...sadly, Malaysia has somehow turned into a relatively failed industrial state.

jongkolkhoo:

i work in the steel industry. About agriculture, no, i dont draw up conclusion based on assumptions. Comparing small family business, I do see those in the agriculture industry is making more money. As for Malaysia being a failed industrial state, well, that's another topic.

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Well, if those who shop like there's no tomorrow, and those people who tied up their life with bank loans are stupid, then their existance are of great importance. They are those who're contributing to most of the credit market and retail sales. If everyone is saving their money, the country would go broke, even if the bank if loaded with money.

Humourboy:
you can also work here, save money, then go live in some poor African country. You'd be rich there as well.