For many players, Monopoly is the first introduction to real estate. Players buy and sell property and they collect and pay rents. Players have fun playing the game. The players who have the most fun are the winners.



My question is: Are the lessons you learned playing Monopoly killing your capacity to make real money in your business? Monopoly teaches money myths that can keep you struggling with money in your business.

One Monopoly Money Myth is that amount of money available is limited. The game begins with a fixed amount of money. The game ends with the same amount of money. The only difference between the beginning and the end of the game is that the money, which was evenly distributed at the beginning of the game, is now concentrated in the hands of the winner.

The critical point is that no one MAKES money in Monopoly. Monopoly is a zero sum game. Compare the zero sum Monopoly game to what happens to money in business. In business, you create a product or offer a service that actually MAKES more money.

This is how it works. You create a product. The product costs you money to produce, market, and sell. If you sell the product for more than your costs, you make a profit. This profit is money that did not exist when you started the game.

When you create a profit, you create money. You add more money to the money supply. It's not just that you have more money, but more money now exists. This is the essential money difference between Monopoly and business. No one makes money in Monopoly. In contrast, when businesses make profits, they actually increase the amount of money available.

Monopoly teaches players that money is a commodity in limited supply. Monopoly cannot teach the fundamental truth that the amount of available money is potentially unlimited because money is created in transactions. The more transactions occur, the more money is created.