Skip to main content
Select Language:

Category Archives: Financial Freedom

Newer posts

What good is creating wealth if you’re going to kill yourself in the process?

Posted on by 42

Help!What’s the point of starting a business? To make more money, yes or yes? And what’s the point of that? So you can do more of whatever you want whenever you want.

If you haven’t experienced this for yourself, though, then you might have heard: that’s often not what happens, at least not at first. People get caught up in their business, a lot of the time working harder either out of necessity to make sure that it’s running, thriving and growing, or out of fear—sometimes over-reacting panic—that without their presence, the business will collapse.

In other words, the business—for one reason or another—takes them over. And that’s not unusual, at least not in the beginning stage of a business. However, if you find yourself in that same “supervisory” position after years and years, then I’d say you made things harder on yourself than you had to, and that’s because the freedom of accumulating wealth through business is directly related to how well you structured your business’ foundation.

What happens if you try to build a house on a weak foundation? It eventually cracks, caves in, or turns into the leaning Tower of Pisa. The business equivalent of building a solid foundation is creating a system, repeatable methods and procedures that produce profit. The idea is to systematize your business so that you can effectively and efficiently sell and support your product or service in bigger numbers as you grow.

So how do you create an effective business system?

Keep it simple. When it comes down to it, business should consist of only 3 parts:

  • Marketing—getting people to know about what you have to offer
  • Production—getting the products and/or services made, distributed, or performed
  • Administration—accounts payable/receivable, human resources, finance, assistants, etc.

Each part requires specific processes so they run smoothly. Aim for flawlessness, but be prepared to settle for “almost automatically.” The idea is to create a well-oiled machine—a money machine. And what do machines do best? They repeat the same functions over and over. Your system must be a repeatable process that can work without you!

Why?

If you want to gain wealth you can’t have a ceiling on your income. Your earnings must be unlimited. If you have to be physically present for your business to work, it can only grow to the extent that you can personally handle. It doesn’t matter how brilliant and energetic you are, you still only have but so much time in a day! You have to eat, sleep, relax, talk, think, meditate, spend time with family and friends …Tired young couple resting at the beach

In other words, all the things you’d rather be doing other than stressing. What good is creating wealth if you’re going to kill yourself in the process?

Work on the business, not in the business. Creating a system is what gives you freedom to do just that. With a strong system in place, you’ll two have options. You’ll have the flexibility to hand it over to competent managers and have an excellent source of passive income, or you can sell the business and become an instant millionaire. The more solid your business foundation, the quicker it can happen.

In both cases, because you created a system, you win. An effective system that works instead of you working is an absolute must in order to enjoy the ride.

 

You know the drill….it’s your turn!  I want to hear from you.  Make sure to leave a comment below and share your insights with all of us.  Have you had successes with growing your business in ways it can thrive even when you are not around?  If so, share your tips and strategies here.  If you have not gotten to this point (yet!) share your struggles and challenges—you might be surprised with the support and feedback from the others in our community.

Stand and Deliver: The Power of Product Creation

Posted on by 66
packages around the earth

Who wants to make more money? Better question: who doesn’t?

We’ve heard the phrase, “Money isn’t everything.” Of course it’s true, but … like it or not, money is a huge part of our lives. And a lot of people know it. Heck, they might think about it all the time, but they still don’t really understand it.

Quick: if I were to ask you to give me a definition of money, what would it be? “You buy stuff with it, Harv.” That’d be a fair enough answer, but technically, money measures the value of goods and services exchanged between people; the key word being value.

Value is what determines how much money you’ll make. You will be paid in direct proportion to the value you deliver according to the marketplace. And let’s be honest, folks: there are a lot of broke people out there because they don’t deliver a lot of value in the eyes of the current marketplace. That brings us to the other key word here; deliver.

There are so many good ideas out there, and so many “reasons” why we’ve never heard of them. It’s simple . . . if you don’t deliver value, you won’t get paid a lot. Before we get to the science part of making money, we have to deal with simple and basic understandings.

These 4 income factors determine how much you’ll earn:

  • DEMAND: Offer a hot product or service that a lot of people want.
  • SUPPLY: To increase your value in business, you must provide something few others have, or do something in a way that no one else does.
  • QUALITY: How good your products and services are — and just as important — how good you are at your business. The higher the quality, in relation to the price; the higher the value.
  • QUANTITY: how much of your product or service you deliver.

Of all four factors, most people have the greatest difficulty with this last one. You can have an excellent product or service, and you may even deliver it to the market, but you could also not do it in enough quantities to create wealth. If you want to get paid, you have to deliver your value to people. If you want to get rich, you must deliver your value to a lot of people!

Here’s the thing; no matter what business you’re in, you have to sell a product, or better yet, products. A product increases your ability to deliver huge quantities. When you have a product to sell, there are no limits on how much you can produce and deliver, therefore, no limit to how much money you can make!

This is where I challenge would-be entrepreneurs, businessmen and women, dreamers, and anybody with a great idea. Stand up! Take actionable steps to at least find out if your idea could be viable. Research usually doesn’t cost much, if anything at all.

What kind of demand is out there for your idea? Is there any competition? What further research do you need to do to make sure it’s a great product? Or are there someone else’s great products you could sell while negotiating a cut on that?

Demand, supply, quality and quantity are the cornerstones of value, and delivering massive value means being well on the way to wealth creation.

Now it’s your turn:  I want to hear from you.  Have you had great success with an idea you turned into a product?  Is so, share your success here so others can learn from your actions. If you don’t have a product, why not? What is stopping you from taking action?  Share it here and someone else just might have great feedback for you to help you move forward.

YOU in the Hot Seat, Purpose and Being Part 2

Posted on by 10

Hot SeatIn my last blog, we took a look at the idea of being—who you are is reflected in what you value the most, and how that will influence your actions. If you value courage, everything you do will reflect that, from being honest even though it may be hard, to taking steps toward your financial freedom.

Great. So you know what your principles are; those qualities that will inform everything you do, taking you from where you are to wherever you want to be. Awesome. Now … what do I do?

There’s nobody—and I mean nobody, ever—who hasn’t asked themselves the BIG question: what am I doing here? What’s my purpose? Some schools of thought say—I believe, correctly—that we’re born into this life with a purpose, a reason for being. Considering that just about everything in nature has a specific purpose for existing, and we are part of nature, it’s not a stretch to accept that every individual has a specific purpose as well.

A lot of people believe in purpose, but most have a hard time figuring out what that is for them. No doubt there have been a rare few individuals who have received or recognized within themselves a kind of unmistakable calling. Martin Luther King Jr. and Mother Teresa immediately come to mind.

But that’s usually not how it works for the rest of us. You can wait and wait for a sign that may or may not ever come. What would you rather do if you’re unsure of your purpose: let life pass by or choose your purpose yourself? The upside to these deeper questions is that we are the ones who get to decide how we are best suited to serve ourselves, others and life itself.

However random it may seem, though, finding our individual purpose is actually easier than one might think. We each have unique abilities, inherent talents and strengths. Different subjects and activities interest us and make us happy. We all have varying experiences and issues from which we’ve learned, and every one of us has a different way in which we can use these traits in ways that serve but also bring us abundance and fulfillment. It’s through these factors that we can all choose a purpose.

That doesn’t mean we’re locked into any one way of how to go about living our purpose. For example, if your purpose is to teach, you may literally teach in a school, or become a writer and speaker. The vehicle isn’t as important as recognizing yourself as a teacher no matter what you do.

Once you have purpose, you will have two essential elements for a truly happy life—money and meaning! You’ll do more of what you’re good at, attracting people who have a need or want for your particular talents. In this way, you will become ‘rich’ in every sense of the word.

EXERCISE:
List your unique abilities, talents, strengths, interests and passions. Then choose an overall purpose for your life. For some people, it may take hours to think it through; for others it may take days or longer. Once you’ve honestly assessed yourself, clarify your purpose by writing it down. Then choose an initial vehicle with which you can serve people that is in alignment with your purpose. Begin living your life with meaning today.

When “Staying Inside the Lines” Starts to Hold You Back (And How to Break Free)

Posted on by 12

CrayonsThere’s a spirit in our culture that prides itself on individuality and “being you.” That sense of satisfaction that comes with doing something your way and finding success.

Yet, as much as we say we value individuality, how much do we really live by that? How often are our decisions influenced by other people: family, friends, a mate, colleagues, neighbors? How often have you wanted to do something but thought twice about it because you were afraid of what so and so might think?

When you go against the grain, you stand out, and standing out can be nerve-wracking. Why is that?

It starts, like many behaviors, with early conditioning—like staying “inside the lines” in art class. Structure can be good, but if we dared draw outside the lines, watch out! We’d be “corrected” until we developed the habit of staying within artificial boundaries given to us.

That’s just one of many examples of conditioning that ends up placing limits on our creative potential. Those pressures could be cultural (Stay with your group!), economic (Rich people are why we’re poor!) … the list goes on and on. And most people end up living their lives “inside the lines” until it becomes comfortable, familiar and what others have taught as “appropriate”—even though it may not be appropriate for you!

In everyday life, anything or anyone that doesn’t fit the “norm” often pays the price of disapproval or scorn. It’s a strange paradox; it pays to be different—think of somebody like Madonna, who clearly marches to her own beat—but don’t be too different or else you’re weird, or something’s wrong with you.

Most people will do their best to fit into a recognizable and comfortable mold because security is addictive to the ego. As a matter of fact, it’s part of our evolution as people. Being accepted in a group meant survival and safety for our ancestors. And in some ways it still does.

However, at some point we’ve got to tell the ego that it’s okay to step into the unknown and dare to be different. Think of all the people throughout history that, if they hadn’t stepped “outside the lines,” we’d have never evolved as quickly as we did. We’d still think the world was flat, or that the universe revolves around us, or that “normal” people couldn’t do amazing things.

When you stop playing it safe, your spirit is free to grow, expand and create.  Individual, family and social “rules” don’t apply.

It takes guts to be different; to stand out from the crowd; to break free from the “clone drone” society and be a true individual.

When others criticize you for doing something “different” it’s usually because they’re scared. Inside, they’re secretly stoked that you’re breaking free. They’re just frustrated with themselves for lacking the courage to do the same. Be their inspiration!

Your focus for the next 30 days: This month, let go of worrying about what other people think of you. Do something unusual (just remember society does have laws!). Whatever business you are in, figure out a way to do it, package it, or market it differently than everyone else. “Zig” when the masses “zag.” You will not only feel a renewed sense of spirit and energy but will also dramatically increase your income and wealth.

Are you up for it?  Let me know your thoughts and ideas on how you can mix it up and start coloring outside the lines.  What would you do differently?  Can you find the courage? I want to hear from you!

Newer posts