PUSH HARD IN YOUR SMALL BUSINESS - TEN PROVEN WAYS TO MAKE SURE YOUR BUSINESS IS A SUCCESS

PUSH HARD  IN YOUR SMALL BUSINESS - TEN PROVEN WAYS TO MAKE SURE YOUR BUSINESS IS A SUCCESS

"When you work for yourself, you become an innovator or you don't eat". John Marriott

Entrepreneurs and small business owners are always thinking about ways to improve their enterprises. Here are ten ways to consider

1. Diversify your income stream - For example, if you do seminars, you can diversify your income stream through video production, podcast, blog posts, sell e-books, and do consulting.

2. Enhance your cash flow - Favor businesses where you get paid up front. For example, when you design website for people make sure you get paid upfront via pay pal or other pre-paid methods.

3. Avoid business with cyclical or seasonal nature. If you should have such a business make sure you have a different venture to take up the slack. For example, if you run  an income tax return business, you can also provide all year round accounting services to small businesses.

4. Master social media - use it to attract additional leads and eventual clients and customers. You can use it to spread the word about your enterprise.

5.Learn to connect with the community and network with like-minded people.

6.Learn to nurture your assets and build them - you later use your assets as leverage

7. Become Thrifty - would enable you to be profitable quickly

8. Your spiritual condition is important - you have to be emotionally, physically, mentally fit for the endurance

9. Take time  - rest and enjoy your life - Of course life is stressful, but if you incorporate the spiritual dimension into your schedule you will be fine.

10. Enjoy the ride - that is the only way to succeed. It is possible that there might be failure, but chalk it to temporary setback.

THE POWER OF PRIME TIME : 5 WAYS TO IMPROVE YOUR PRODUCTIVITY

THE POWER OF PRIME TIME : 5 WAYS TO IMPROVE YOUR PRODUCTIVITY

 I believe that we should be able to double our productivity and have time to start our businesses or engage in any other ventures of our choice if we are able to use the prime time effectively.

What is prime time? Prime time is the period between 6:00 pm - 10:00 pm during which the networks charges a lot of money to the advertisers because of viewership. Most people are glued to prime time because the TV networks knows that their various shows will attract a lot of viewership. Why don't you use the prime time to advance your interest.

I believe that there will be an exponential growth in all areas of our lives if we limit the time we allocate watching people advancing their careers and concentrate on our own interests and ventures.

Here are five ideas to consider:

1. Use the prime time to think about starting a business. Somebody once said" profits are better than wages. Wages will make you a living, profits can make you a fortune" As entrepreneurs we should always be thinking about how to nurture, grow, or improve an enterprise.

2. Use prime time to learn a skill or improve a skill. It is the time to take a course at one of these colleges continuing education departments to advance your skill.

3. To function at peak mental ability, you need to feel good and have strong physical endurance. Prime time will be the hour to take up some kind of physical exercise  or just take a walk

4. In these days that we hardly have time for reading. Prime time will be a good time  to take up reading which has become a lost cause.  We can borrow books from the library and catch up with the latest fiction and non-fiction books.

5. You can use your prime-time to advance a course you care about. You can volunteer for a cause - write letters to advance a course. Network with people with similar interests. Above all let your prime time be productive and you would have increased your potential.

THE TEN ENTREPRENEUR TOOL KIT FOR SUCCESS

THE TEN ENTREPRENEUR TOOL KIT FOR SUCCESS

Formal education will make you a living; self-education will make you a fortune. Jim Rohn

I believe that entrepreneurship is more a journey of faith than anything else. As an entrepreneur  you are preparing to think, conceive and birth an idea. You nurture  and grow the idea and believe that it is going to succeed in the future. As an entrepreneur we have a lot more going for us than we can  imagine. We can look at our natural environment and believe that we have nothing, but the intangible things we possess is real.

I believe that there are two kinds of wealth:

A. The visible  wealth

B. The Invisible wealth

The visible wealth  - is what we see around us , money, possessions,, building, building, equipment, machinery, inventories etc.

The invisible wealth - is what sometimes we discount - Time, relationships, position, knowledge, reputation, intelligence, religion, philosophy, experience, education, ideas, heritage, talents, discipline, habits etc.

These invisible wealth are as important as the visible wealth. It is crucial that we view them as purposeful to accomplish our goals.

Here are the ten entrepreneurial took kits that are essential for the success of the entrepreneur.

1. Your mind - given to you at birth free and clear of any obligation

2. Good health - we take it for granted, but what  can we accomplish without it?

3. God given talents - you have some talents that are uniquely yours - use them to accomplish your goals

4. Honesty and integrity - you increase your chances of success by operating in integrity and honesty

5. Your loved ones - don't take them for granted - try to involve them in your enterprise

6. You can see, hear, touch, smell, feel - your senses are functioning - be gratefull

7. You have network and connections - you can use them strategically to get the word about your enterprise

8. You can build momentum - momentum is an intangible asset, but it is very crucial to success - it is an

 unseen force that we conjure up at the start of an enterprise that we nurture and grow. We have to continue to harness the momentum as it propels us to new heights. As somebody said "first build your wave and ride it"

9. A prosperous nation - Live in one of the most prosperous nation on earth with everything else that goes with it

10. A free  enterprise system - A thriving and a dynamic free enterprise system the world have ever  conceived

TEN REASONS WHY I HATE LOOKING FOR A JOB

TEN REASONS WHY I HATE LOOKING FOR A JOB

“Take risks: if you win, you will be happy; if you lose, you will be wise.” –Author Unknown

Ever since I can remember I have always tried to have my own business and not depend on the paternal corporation for my existence. But occasionally my business might slow down and I would try to see if I can get a traditional job. But the process of looking for that job and all the processes that you have to go through is sickening and just puts me off. Everybody is acting and being phony. From the onset they know they are not going to hire you, but let you play all that silly games.

Now reason with me. I have a talent, I am educated and have the experience that is required for a company. Why does it have to come across like the one who is interviewing me is superior to me?. Why does the interviewer come across like I should beg for that job.  I think the whole job seeking process needs to be overhauled. We are living in the 21st century and job seeking is still one of the areas that it seems like we are living in the dark ages.

Let me give my 10 reasons why I hate looking for a job:

1. The Resume - suppose to be a summary of your educational background, your experience. But no - you are supposed to include some buzz words so that you can impress the HR people. Because of this there is a cottage industry teaching people how to use those fake buzz words - Here is what I mean

"Assembled a team of five auditors that conducted a Sarbanes Oxley audit of financial operations in less than three weeks.

Eliminated nearly $5 million in operating expenses by consolidating IT contracts under one vendor.

Launched several new product extensions and offerings, resulting in an increase in sales revenue of nearly $15 million over a five year timeline".

Here are some buzz words we are supposed to use: Accomplished, achieved, acquired, adapted, addressed, administered, advised, allocated, analyzed, applied, appointed, appraised, approved, arbitrated, assembled, assessed, assigned, assumed, assured, audited, authored, awarded

2. The long application process - You spend the whole day completing the tedious and long application process - asking you all those silly questions; you submit the application and nobody even bothers to acknowledge your application. I believe that companies don't value your time  and treat you like nothing. If they were really serious somebody from that department will call or email to acknowledge and schedule a follow up or eliminate you from consideration. This is just courtesy human behavior.

3. The Interviewing process - Everybody knows it is a fake interviewing process - the candidate is supposed to answer the questions with canned answers and whosoever is able to perform and lie their way through is able to impress the interviewer gets the job. What a joke? There are people who are good performers and are able to lie their way to good jobs. It happens all the time. Forget about it if you happen to be a foreigner and have an accent!!

4.  The background check - Yes it is all right to do a back ground check. But the wait and unresponsiveness from the companies does not make sense.

5. The second interview process  - where they don't even let you know that you are competing for the job with other candidates so that they can tell you immediately that they will not hire you. I don't know why they HR people will take their sweet time to inform you the results when they know  from the  beginning that they were not going to hire you.

6. Minimum wage - jobs are also requiring resume!!!

7. Temporary Agencies - are the worse culprit in the hiring process -  they let you take all these aptitude test, and all kinds of examinations that have nothing to do with your skill and knowledge as it relates to the job you are applying.  For example, your job as a word process was eliminated after working 21 years for a company. Why do you have to go through all the hoops to starting working. I have experience, honesty, integrity, dependability etc., Why do I need to go through the whole laborious process again.

8. After all the process - the silly application process - the fake interviews - then you receive a rejection letter that make you feel like a failure. Another thing is they let you float in the sky before they email or sent you that stupid form letter rejecting your candidacy.

9. Travelling to interviews - I believe that people looking for jobs  should be paid when they attend interviews for their transportation expenses

10. Salary - Companies ask about your salary requirements, but I know they know what they are going to offer. Just come up with a range of salary and negotiate a reasonable salary that both of you can live with.

The following sums it all up:

"Hello. Are you looking for a job within our company? Well we do have an opening for an IT professional. The requirements? At least five years of experience, references, a resume, cover letter, proper degree and education. Oh we also need your address, phone number, social security number, age, sex, ethnicity, race, religion, etc. The pay is minimum wage. Why you ask? Well, we are a business and we need to make sure we are running at full capacity and making as much as possible. How else do you think America is still the number one country in the world? We, the corporations, have been keeping it alive since the days of Rockefeller. Through thick and thin we have exploited all possible loopholes to make this country shine. If you feel that this company is right for you, please fill out the online application with all of your personal information. We will contact you if we find that you are a good fit in our business, no promises though. I do hope you have a great day in our great country".

WHY BE A MILLIONAIRE .... REALLY..

WHY BE A MILLIONAIRE .... REALLY..

When I was young I always dreamed about being a millionaire -  I also used to tell my kids to call me "my millionaire dad". I am still striving to be a millionaire, although a lot of the deals that I have been working on over the years have not panned out. I was just thinking the other day, when I come into my millions what am I going to do will all that money: I know what to do - bequeath it to my wife and kids etc.

As we all know the word millionaire conjures up such images in our minds that it is just unfathomable . The mention of the word brings images of luxury, expensive cars and yacht, the mansion, the custom designed and gold plated everything. But is that what being a millionaire is all about?

The myth is that a millionaire has his millions ready in cash stacked and piled somewhere ready to be squandered at any moment. This is further from the truth, especially if he is a working millionaire. In the case of a businessman who is a millionaire, it is possible that he might have very little in liquid cash. He might have a huge obligation in case of his monthly expenses.

The millionaire businessman might have:

1. A payroll he has to meet every month

2. Building, equipment and machinery - His wealth might be tied up in these

3. Finished products and inventories

4. Tax obligation

5. A foundation that he supports

In the case of such a situation, the millionaire's cash might be just a fraction of his total net worth. We have to understand this before we aspire to be millionaires.

Let me distinguish between the high income millionaire (like movies stars, entertainers and sports personalities), they might have their income tied to performances, however their monies might be available for their luxuries. But for the working millionaire it is a different story. It is possible for him to go to the bank and borrow money to get his enterprise going or to expand his venture. In short he uses his money as capital, investing, and reinvesting to create businesses and jobs, produce goods and services for the expansion of the economy.

Most people do not need to be millionaires. Start with what you want out of life. May be a home, a nice car, an educational fund for your kids, and funding for your retirement. Work backwards with the numbers and determine what you need to live comfortably. The reason is that you it requires disciple and diligence to manage  money.  As a very wealthy man said "Believe me, wealth is something with which one has to learn to live with - and the task is not always as simple as might be imagined."

WHAT REASONS DO YOU GIVE FOR NOT STARTING YOUR OWN BUSINESS?

WHAT REASONS DO YOU GIVE FOR NOT STARTING YOUR OWN BUSINESS?

As I look at the current economic environment, I can say with a measure of certainty that the unemployment and underemployment rate at the current level will be the new normal. I would like to state further that result is not the fault of the politicians or the so-called elite in Washington and the government who don't really care about the middle class anyway.

The fact is that big business have figured out that they can be more efficient with less ; with innovations, technological breakthroughs and outsourcing changing the economic landscape you better figure out a way to survive and thrive in the new economy other than depending on the paternal corporation.

Having said that I know you still have excuses that you advance for not starting your own hustle. 

Let me help you; here they are;

1. I am not an entrepreneur - not everyone is an entrepreneur

2. I don't have any money

3. I am too old to start my own business

4. I am too young to start my own business

5. I am secured in my current job

6. People will look down on me

7. I don't have the technical skills

8. I don't know too much about social media

9. I tried it once and I failed

10. I don't have the time

11. Who is going to be working for the corporation?

12. I have college loans to pay

13.I have a wife and kids

14. My friends will laugh at me

15. My family will not understand

16. I don't have the discipline

17. I am used to the corporate life-style

18. People will think I have lost my mind

19. I don't think that is my destiny

20. I know a lot of people who started their businesses and I did not work out

21. I have bills to pay

10 REASONS YOU DONT WANT TO BE IN THE RAT RACE

We have heard so much about the rat race in modern like. What is the rat race that you want to escape from? A rat race is the perpetual on-going quest for the utopia American dream - it is the continuous quest for materialism - the endless, mindless, pointless self-defeating pursuit for higher standard of living.

The concept has currently been transformed into the modern day pursuit of success. We wake up in the morning, hardly have time  for breakfast as we race to work in the early hours in the morning, stuck in our cars or commuter trains to work in the corporate environment or whatever for 40 hours or so and rush back home tired to our love ones. What a way to live!!

Here are the ten reasons you don't want to be in the rat race.

1. The Corporation don't care about you - corporations are there to make a profit and whatever they can do to squeeze from you they will do it even if it means terminating or firing you at random. Always remember that corporate  pay structure are designed to keep you glued to the corporate ladder. A leading business executive admitted that "corporate pay scales are delicate structures designed to keep workers, managers and officers of the corporation satisfied, happy, and striving for more, while the corporation remains profitable". According to him the aim of corporate profitability is to keep taking in younger people at the lowest level and moving them up and very gradually increasing their pay. The net result is to make the employee, at some  state of his or her career, a captive of the corporation.

2. Encourages you to go into debt - the illusion is that you have a good paying job so you apply for all the credit card in the world paying astronomical interest rate. Not only that, but we have a car note, a mortgage payment and other obligations. As a result of this you need the paternal corporation as your life-blood. As soon as the life blood is cut there you are unable to survive. Isn't it time you wean yourself from the all knowing corporation and starting living your life?

3. No Time For Yourself - The increased pace of modern life does not have room for any recreational activities. I am in the real estate industry and I drive around neighborhoods where I see million dollar homes unoccupied as the inhabitants leave for work and return late in the evenings with hardly any time for family and children. I think there is more in life than material possessions.

4. No time to think - The rat race does not allow time for reflective thinking. What distinguishes the human race from animals is our ability to think. Whatever you have came to us though our thinking. I believe we would be able to fare better if we allow some time just to think. I have a saying "A mind expanded would not return to its original state."

5. Become an Entrepreneur - I know you have a lot of reason why you don't want to consider starting your own business. And listen I am not asking you to quit your job tomorrow. All I am telling you is to start thinking and looking at things differently. Don't wait until the lovely corporation fires you before you start thinking about starting your own business. If you have a skill or a gift start developing it and start marketing it on the internet for potential customers. There is more to life than 9-5 jobs. There are a lot of undercurrents in the economy that would make it difficult to sustain a permanent job for life.

6. You have a limited time on this planet - Do you want to spend your whole life doing things that you don't enjoy. After you strive for success and all that comes with it  remember that nobody will remember you in 100 years.

7. Start living below your means - make it a habit to save at least 10% of your income and be thrifty. In these days of extravagant living any suggestion for people to live below their means is dismissed, but it is one of the ways you can escape from the rat race.

8. Learn time management - Learn to use your prime time efficiently -Prime Time - is the period between 6:00 pm - 10:00 pm - that is the time when the networks charges a lot to the advertisers because of viewership. I was thinking why don't we use the prime time to advance own interest - like read, learn new habits, exercise , take a course etc. we can increase our potential exponentially -use the prime time to advance your interests.

9. Network with people with the same aspirations - Get a network going or start one yourself to encourage one another . Nobody said it is going to be easy, but networking with people with similar aims would help in the journey.

10. Listen to motivation tapes and seminars - You have to start thinking differently and listen to motivational tapes will help you gain a whole new perspective in life and help you change the rat race mentality to an independent thinking ready to fulfill your life's mission and purpose.