NFL players earn a lot of money and that makes NFL players a prime target for business people and con artists looking to make an easy buck. Every year NFL players are scammed out of tens of millions of dollars from business people and scam artists looking to acquire investment money to start a business. The reason for this is that NFL players are athletes and we are not well educated in business. That makes us easy targets.

I am one of the NFL players who has been scammed out of hundreds of thousands of dollars. As an example, several years ago I was approached by a business man who asked me to be a partner in his new business. He said all I have to do is give him $50,000 and he will do all the work and double my money. At the time I did not know about business and the thought of easily doubling my money sounded great. So, I gave him the money. He then quickly spent all of the money I gave him and went out of business. I never heard from him again. That taught me a very valuable lesson. If I want to make money in business, I must become an expert at business.

I’ve watched many other NFL players become victims of unwise business investments. This includes business people coming to them asking for investment money to start entertainment businesses, restaurants, clothing lines, clubs, and more. In nearly every instance, the NFL player lost every cent of money he invested to help start a business.

As I have studied business and become successful at it, I have developed some rules that I live by when starting a new business.

1. There is no such thing as easy money. Starting a business takes time and it is hard work. To be successful at business you must be patient and conservative with your money. As a rule of thumb, triple what you think expenses will cost and divide by three the money you think you will make. By doing that you will have a more accurate picture of how a business will perform in its 2-3 years.

2. When getting involved in business, only get involved in a business you are very passionate about. You must love the business you are in. And, you must be very educated about the business you are getting involved in. Don’t just blindly spend money starting a new business for which you have no experience. You must learn everything you possible can about running that type of business before you invest your money. If possible, get a job working in a very similar business so you can learn all there is to know about running that type of business. See if there are books written about the type of business you want to start and study them over and over. Also, talk to other business owners who run the type of business you want to start. Ask them for tips and the best way to run that type of business. Maybe you can hire them as a consultant to help you start your business. The more knowledge you can gain before you start a business, the better chance you have of making your business successful.

3. Look at your financial situation. Do you have enough money in savings to cover all of your personal and business expenses for at least one full year? If you do not, you are asking for trouble. Nearly all businesses do NOT make a profit their first year in business. If you expect the business you start to immediately generate a lot of money, you are in for a huge disappointment. Again, you must be very conservative with your money.

4. Find a good accountant who will help you with tax planning. If you can, find an accountant who has experience doing accounting for the type of business you want to start.

5. The most important thing you can do is find a successful business mentor. I continued to be unsuccessful in business until I found a business mentor (Peter Geisheker) who helped me with every aspect of running my business. I started an online store to sell NFL merchandise (mcsportsfan.com). Peter is an expert at Internet marketing and e-commerce and he taught me all the ins and outs of successfully running an online business. He has also helped me save a lot of money as I was spending a small fortune on Internet services that I did not need. Now that I am working with Peter, I am making money instead of losing money and I am having a lot of fun in business. Again, I cannot stress how important it is for you to find an honest and successful business mentor to guide you through building and managing your business.