How to Make a HUGE Amount of Money (What We All Can Learn from Federico Macheda)

Here's my tip for how to make a HUGE amount of money:

Do something amazing that benefits your employer in a big way!

Case in point: Federico Macheda.

Ok, so you've probably never heard of this guy so let me tell you a bit about how he's recently delivered in a big way for his employer and how he's soon to get paid for it:

• The Premier League is the top professional level of football (soccer) in England.

• The team currently leading the standings in the Premier League is also the champion from last year -- Manchester United (btw, one of the most valuable sports franchises in the world.) Interestingly enough, AIG is their main sponsor, but that's another story.

• Manchester United was waaaaaay ahead in the Premier league standings just a month or so ago -- it looked like no one could catch them.

• Then they started losing and their opponents started winning. Now they're in the fight of their lives for the title this season.

• Two league games ago, the score was tied in the final minute and it looked like the game would be a draw (yep, there are ties in soccer). This would have dropped them to second place in the league.

• With time running out, 17-year-old Federico Macheda was put into the game. In a matter of minutes, he made an amazing shot that won the match for his team.

• A week later, it was the same scenario -- and the same thing happened. He scored the final, vital goal that won the game for his team. They stayed in first place.

So, Federico Macheda has done something amazing that benefited his employer in a big way and now he's going to reap the financial benefits when he signs his new contract:

Sir Alex Ferguson is so impressed with Macheda that is weekly wage will jump from £400 to £10,000 once negotiations commence in the summer.

No matter how you look at it, that's a pretty big pay increase!

I've only had something like this happen to me once in my career. About 10 years ago, I came up with an idea that no one else had thought about that could potentially make a lot of money for my company. I proposed the idea to the CEO, got approval, and spent the next eight months working on it. When the idea was finally implemented, it had such an impact that it made the difference between the company making its annual financial goals and us missing them. I was rewarded with a major bonus (though nothing like Macheda's salary increase, of course.) In addition, the fact that we made our financial numbers also allowed several people to earn their bonuses as well. I was quite popular around the office for some time after that. ;-)

So if you'd like to make a huge amount of money, either in the form of a bonus or a nice salary increase, I suggest you look for ways to do something amazing that benefits your employer in a big way. Granted, these opportunities don't come along every day. In fact, they may present themselves only once or twice in a lifetime. That's why you need to be on the lookout for them and be ready to strike should the opportunity present itself. Otherwise, the chance may pass you by, not to appear again for a decade or two. And, of course, some luck is involved. But taking advantage of the luck that presents itself is the key to success!

Hey, if it can work for a 17-year-old, it can work for the rest of us too! ;-)

Comments

[Personal Finance]

This would work if you are somewhat senior at the company you work at, I had a friend working for a major US company who came up with a very good idea and mentioned it to his supervisor who laughed it off and told him to do just his job. 5 months later the company announced a new project, the one my friend had come up with and guess who took credit? Yes the supervisor who passed several management levels and a huge pay increase. Not everyone has direct access to the CEO or an executive.

[Foobarista]

For me, the "homerun" was in NOT doing something; there was a large piece of very old software that I was supposed to "port" from an old 36-bit mainframe to a newer 32-bit mainframe, without changing the results. Anyone who knows math knows this is nearly impossible, so I was dreading the task, and it was supposed to take 18 months.

So, I did a bit of research and it turned out that the software was from NASA, and I dug up a phone number from the back of an ancient manual. I called the phone number and it turned out that the software was still supported - and that NASA would give us a free copy if we asked for it. Not only that, the software was running on the newer mainframe that I was supposed to port to! So, I asked for it, got it, and our group was able to use the software to bid on two projects that we weren't going to otherwise.

I didn't get a raise out of it, but I did avoid the layoff that happened in the department and was able to do Something Else for 18 months...

[El Cheapo]

Very interesting. Good food for thought, especially for people who complain that they don't make enough money or that their company isn't paying them what they deserve. I always think about how I can make a difference at my company, which makes it a lot easier during review time to convince my boss of a bigger raise than my counter-parts. Obviously, if your boss is a jerk or something that can't be helped, then start looking for a new job.

[Rahul K K]

Guys Guys Guys ... come out of the closed box thinking of making money for the company and rather make it for yourself .... Am dead sure that if you put so much of work on your own idea you can a hell lot more than Federico Macheda. Warren Buffet earned his first million when he was 32. Cleary if he had been working for some employer then he couldn't have pulled it off in those times .