As I’m launching my own minimalist business, I’ve been reading an exorbitant amount of books, absorbing as much useful information as possible, and then putting said information into practice.

My goal for my own minimalist business is to create lasting art through my writing and artwork that will allow me to live sustainably and minimally. Castles in the Air is my platform that will allow me to do that.

As a minimalist, my expenses are kept at a very low level. Right now, my overhead is in the ballpark figure of $850/month, which includes rent in Chicago, transportation, food, and classes (karate and art classes). Therefore, I don’t need to be making $60K a year to keep up with an extravagant lifestyle. As long as my basic needs are covered, anything beyond that is a bonus.

In order to projectile myself cannonball-style to the next level, I recently read Everett Bogue’s ebook . You’ll notice this is the second review of mine for Everett’s work; the first one was for , which you can read my review here.

Everett is a 25 year old writer and blogger at Far Beyond the Stars, where he talks about how to live a minimal lifestyle and work anywhere.

Here are 9 key take-aways from Everett’s ebook:

1. “Some people don’t get it.”

Whereas some people get the idea of minimalism and how that applies to launching your own business online, others won’t and will resist it. We can try our best to teach what we know but it is up to the individual to actually understand the lessons taught.

2. “If the cost of doing business exceeds the profits from the work, you don’t have a business.”

This is the golden rule for all businesses.

A Quick Story:

Winter 2009, I was brought on board through a friend of mine to become an Amway Global Independent Business Owner. You may have heard of this business. You may actually be an IBO yourself. Some call the Amway opportunity a pyramid scheme or a get-rich-quick model. I won’t go into those details here but end result was my expenses far exceeded any profits to be had.

And this was while I was still interviewing for jobs, had little money, and didn’t really know what I wanted to do (but I do now, yay!).

Once I realized Amway was not how I was going to sustain myself and pursue my dreams, I had to stop.

The best way for me to do business for myself is to work only for myself and not for someone else or to help a company get rich and achieve its goals. My goals are more important to me, not some company’s.

3. “Keep your overhead low.”

No need to fund your business with investors and partners. Just keep your expenses very low (a minimalist lifestyle helps tremendously).

4. “The most successful people work best when they’re not being managed.”

I don’t know about you but I hate being managed and in particular, completely loathe micromanaging. I’ve had way too many bosses who micromanaged the death out of me to last me more than a lifetime or two.

So when starting a minimalist business, managing myself will be at the bare minimum, probably none at all. I know myself and how I work; there’s no need to manage every single detail. It’s just a waste of time.

5. “If you don’t finish, you haven’t created anything. You’re just screwing around.”

Starting is very important to any endeavor. But finishing what you started is even more important.

If I only wrote half a book and never finished it, what good is that to my minimalist business? None at all. My message doesn’t reach anybody and it certainly won’t help produce any income being half done. Finish what you started but only what is actually worth starting in the first place.

6. “If you aren’t being compensated at an acceptable level for work that you hate doing, you shouldn’t be doing that work at all. End of story.”

Yeah, that pretty much sums it up.

7. “Small successes are still successes and should be broadcast as such.”

Having a blog is a great way for not only the blogger to share thoughts and ideas with his readers, but the readers can literally see and follow a transformation of the blogger over a period of time.

If you’ve been with Castles in the Air since its inception in April 2010 (with this dot org website launched on August 1), you’ll have noticed how my writing has evolved in just a few short months and how I made my decision to leave my day job to pursue what I love to do: writing and art. This is already a huge step and I’m glad you’re here to join me on this wonderful transformative experience. How fun!

8. “Making plans for failure generally leads to failure.”

By having no back up plan, the only plan is the original one: Plan A. No fall back plan or excessive preparation for the “what if’s.”

9. “[Don’t] work for less than you’re worth.”

Everett values his time right now at around $100/hour. His goal is to get that to $500/hour. Ambitious? Yes. Possible? Absolutely.

Right now at my corporate day job churning numbers and being fed like a pig in a caged pen ambling towards my trough (every 2 weeks) to get my fill (my paycheck), I take home $15.62/hour. Sounds like a lot to some, and to most, it’s a pretty comfy situation to be in. But it’s not satisfying within. Our life is passing by us, right at this very minute.

I have realized that I will only be truly happy when I work for myself, doing the work that I love to do. Soon, very soon … with the help of and the intense focus of living life the way I want to live life.

So … ?

I found a great resource if you are looking to leave your day job to start your own business and/or if you want to know how to live and work anywhere.

However, if you are satisfied with where you are currently at, by all means, this probably will not be something you’d be interested in reading … and that’s okay! Every book I read sometimes applies to where I’m at in life, but most don’t … though will help me get to where I want to be.

The reason why is because in order to change the way we think and view the world, we must read that which has opposing views, has different philosophies, and offer counterintuitive tips on life, productivity, work, and business. From there, our minds can be opened to new possibilities … opportunities we may very well have passed up if we did not just open our eyes.

Speaking of opening up our minds to new viewpoints, counterintuitive tips, and lifestyles, my new ebook The Radical Minimalist: Taking Your Thinking and Lifestyle to the Extreme! will be launching right here on 10.10.10!

If you decide to purchase by clicking on any of the affiliate links in this post, half the sale will go to me and the other half to Everett, both supporting independent writers/artists. I hope you choose to invest in your own minimalist business.

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