Ways to Get Rich Quicker

1. Start a New Business

Risk level: High
What do success stories like Henry Ford, Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg have in common? They all made their mark (and their millions) by coming up with a better idea and running with it. Starting a business is a proven path to wealth, and the best way to get there is to start small and scale up -- which usually means being bought out by a larger company, selling franchises or licensing your product.
An ambitious goal is critical if you want to expand your business, says Barbara Findlay Schenck, a small-business strategist and author of Selling Your Business for Dummies.
Before you apply for loans or sign up investors, polish your business plan. And don't overlook sources of free help. For example, you could tap your alma mater's alumni network for potential mentors. You can also get advice from more than 13,000 small-business volunteers through Score, a nonprofit organization supported by the Small Business Administration.

2. Create a Product

Risk level: Medium
Creating a product and licensing it or selling it through retailers is another route to making money from your good idea.
One of the biggest mistakes that aspiring inventors make is to create a product before they've determined whether there's a demand for it, says Sidnee Peck, who teaches classes in entrepreneurship at Arizona State University's W.P. 

3. Flip Real Estate

Risk level: High
You can make a lot of money fixing up run-down houses and selling them for a quick profit, but you need cash to venture into this business. It's tough to get a mortgage for a property you plan to flip, but a home-equity line of credit against your primary home is a good source of funds for first-time flippers.

4. Become a Landlord

Risk level: Medium
The average interest rate for a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage on a rental property is only about 4%, according to mortgage Web site LendingTree. That means your monthly rental income should cover the mortgage, which wasn't possible when rates were 7% or higher, says Michael Corbett, an adviser to the real estate Web site Trulia and author of Before You Buy! Plus, the National Association of Realtors projects that average apartment rents will increase 

5. Go Viral With a Video

Risk level: Low
You don't need talent or money to cash in on YouTube. In fact, all you need is a camera, something unique to share and plenty of luck. "A lot of people make over six figures a year on YouTube," says Ross Ching, a commercial and music video director.
A good one-off viral video is under three minutes and it gets you hooked within 

6. Get a Hardship-Location Job

Risk level: High
If you can withstand 12-hour workdays on an oil rig in the North Sea or maintain your composure during military coups, you may be rewarded with free housing, a six-figure salary and the chance to see the world.
According to Rigzone, an oil and gas industry data provider, entry-level workers on a rig earn more than $68,000, on average; the pay ratchets up