Everyone has the same amount of hours in a day. So why do some people make thousands a day while most make $100? What are these people doing that you aren't? What is their secret?

Here's a clue: It has nothing to do with their job.

These people understand how to leverage time.

Let me ask you a question. How many full time jobs could you work at once? Maybe two? Combined equaling an 80 hour work week? Miserable but possible. If you made $45,000 at one job you now make $90,000 with both jobs but your most valuable resource- time is spent up. Money and time are never equal parts. This means that the more one works, the less their true monetary gain. Any overtime wages are eclipsed by opportunity cost.

Inability to grasp this concept destroys small businesses and franchisees all day long. Here's why:

Let's say you owned a Subway franchise and worked 30 hours a week overseeing the operations and employees. Just for the sake of the conversation, imagine you net $50,000 a year of personal income. Basically, you have created a job for yourself with a few additional entrepreneurial headaches. Let's also say that your first Subway location went so well that you opened a second one based on the business model of your first. At this point you would have 2 locations, work 60 hours, and make $100,000. You have now capped out. To even consistently work 60 hour weeks is brutal plus the responsibility of being a business owner places additional stress on you. The option of opening a third is not realistic because of the time, energy, stress, and other limitations.

Under that same scenario, Imagine if instead of collecting $50,000 a year, you spent $25,000 of your income on increasing the budget for quality labor which would reduce your net earning to $25,000. The difference is rather than overseeing the operation, you have a 2 hour meeting once a week with the general manager you gave the pay raise to.

You make only $25,000 a year, but you work 2 hours a week. Now your time is open. Imagine if you wanted to work 30 hours a week to keep yourself busy. In a perfect scenario you could open a total of 15 locations, and if each location paid you $25,000 a year you'd earn a personal income of $375,000 for the same 30 hour work week that paid you $50,000 before.

Even more, that same philosophy can be applied to hire another "senior manager" that oversees the managers of your 15 locations. You pay that senior manager $110,000 and pocket $265,000. Your new workweek reverts back to a meager 2 hours that you spend meeting with the senior manager.

This same idea can be applied universally.

In real estate people often buy homes to rent out. Many times I've seen people that make the stupid decision to buy a property that loses money counting on the property to appreciate over time. The problem is that like a job that bleeds your time away, a property with negative cashflow bleeds your monthly budget crippling your potential and growth. Let's say that after all your bills are paid you have $1000 leftover at the end of each month. You then buy a property and rent it out for $350 less than all your expenses associated with that property. With a $350 monthly negative cashflow how many similar properties can you afford to buy? One more? If you own two you will be in the hole faster than you can imagine once a repair is needed.

What if you bought a property, rented it out, and gained $350 a month positive cashflow? How many could you afford to buy? An infinite amount. This is the same idea as the Subway scenario, the only difference is the resource- time or money.

Once someone grasps this concept, the next step is choosing the right passive income investment vehicle. That itself is an art that must be based on these principles.