Student Question
Hello, Master. I see many people with profitable projects, but when I try to do them myself, I feel completely lost and don’t know where to start. What is the core of making money?
Master Chi’s Response
The underlying logic of making money is actually the same across the board.
I wonder — have you ever taken the time to summarize and reflect on it yourself?
Those who haven’t will spend a lot of time studying other people’s success stories, but they never develop anything of their own. The reason is simple: they don’t know how to organize, summarize, and distill their own experience and methodology.
So no matter how many case studies or money-making methods they consume, it ultimately amounts to nothing. What you need is a clear methodology for making money, along with a practical execution process.
Let me share some key insights on making money.
Remember this: everything revolves around four elements — product, channel, traffic, and monetization.
Now, let’s break down what a product is.
A product can be either virtual or physical. Selling goods is a physical product. Selling software, selling an IP (personal brand), selling services, selling influence — these are all virtual products.
When choosing a product, it must first satisfy these two criteria:
First: Demand. Your product must meet a user need. Is that demand strong enough? Is there a big enough market? This is the primary factor.
Second: Differentiation. How is your product different from everyone else’s? Where does that difference lie? Why would someone choose you over them?
Differentiation is what makes your product stand out.
If you’re already an advanced player, there’s one more element you’ll need: barriers (a competitive moat).
Once you have demand and differentiation, how do you build your barrier? If you want scale — if you want to grow and seize the high ground in your market — you must have barriers. Without them, your product can easily be copied or replicated. So to build a real business, you must continuously widen your competitive moat.
That is the methodology for choosing a product and choosing a market. All of your business strategies must be built around these principles.
When executing on them, however, there’s a split: those with resources versus those without, those with capital versus those without.
For most people — those who’ve never had family in business, who’ve never run a business themselves, but who desperately want to start — here’s what to do:
First: While working your current job, observe everything the company does and mentally rehearse that entire path in your head.
Second: Lean startup. How do you validate the entire process at the lowest possible cost?
There is a significant difference between a child who grew up watching their parents run a small shop and someone who only starts thinking about business after college.
If you don’t have money, you must find a way to minimize costs while maximizing value.
When starting out, I highly recommend finding a benchmark — a teacher in the form of a competitor. Study your competitors repeatedly. What are they doing well? Why are they doing it well? Learn from their strengths. Your first step is to follow their blueprint — do what they do.
Gradually, as the concept of lean startup takes root in your mind, remember: the key is to validate the process, find your footing, and understand the core — not to hit a specific revenue number right away.
No one becomes an exceptional soldier overnight. Even soldiers need to go through trials, refine their skills repeatedly, review and reflect — only then can they advance step by step.
Finally, let me share my own thinking about business.
First, find a large enough market — one that’s trending upward — then carve your way in. Find your differentiation, focus on it, grind it relentlessly, and amplify it.
When you operate this way, even when difficulties arise, you know your path is right. Persistence will always pay off. That is why I don’t give up easily when I face obstacles.
So when I see people spending entire days scrolling through money-making methods, anxious and frazzled with no idea how to move forward — I’m genuinely baffled.
How could you possibly not find an idea? Opportunities are everywhere in the market.