Wisdom of Rich Dad

Karen E. Klein

I have a small company and want it to grow, but have no experience trusting employees to take care of the details I now look after myself. How do I start delegating tasks once I start hiring a larger staff? —K.G., Seattle

It sounds as if you’re hesitant to let go of some of the control you’ve established as a hands-on entrepreneur. This is a common early hurdle for companies moving to the next level of sophistication. But before you spend time and money building systems or hiring employees, you’ll need to sell yourself fully on this idea: If you don’t, even your best efforts to delegate tasks won’t work.

“The first person to convince that you can have a business that works without you is yourself. If you do not have a vision of what that looks like, then how can you expect someone else to have that vision for you?” asks Brian Blomgren, owner of business coaching and training firm ActionCOACH in Atlanta.

“Because an owner has already sacrificed so much to build the company, he or she may not be able to see their value to others outside of the role they play in their professional life. If you find yourself in this situation, take the time to create a new identity that you want to pursue and live up to,” Blomgren says.

Another stumbling block you may run across as you begin turning responsibilities over to your new employees is the feeling that you must constantly be busy—or even overwhelmed—with work during your day. As your employees begin taking over some of the detail work that you’ve always handled, you’ll need to step back and not indulge your tendency to micromanage.

Read the rest of this entry »

Robert Kiyosaki appears on Days With Zahrah.

The US Election is finally over!

During the end of the election campaign, Obama put forward a “small business emergency rescue plan”, which indicated some of the  principles of President Obama’s small business policy priorities.

If you have have doubts how the new Obama Administration will affect US Small businesses, an article in Businessweek will help to shed some light on Obama’s policies in assisting America getting back on track. 

In the article, Bill Rys, tax counsel for advocacy group National Federation of Independent Business; Jay Sumner, labor law attorney with the law firm of Littler Mendelson; and John Arensmeyer, executive director of advocacy group Small Business Majority,  commented on issues important to entrepreneurs, including taxes, labor policy, and health care.

The full article can be found at Business Week’s website.

~ Marcus De La O

There was something missing from the $700 billion taxpayer funded bailout that was signed into law. It seems impossible, I know. Congress spent several days making sure nothing was left out, including money for Puerto Rican rum makers, race track owners, wooden arrow manufacturers, and of course, the always under-funded wool researchers.

It was painful to see the very people who caused the mess taking charge of fixing it. If it made you mad, it should have. The bailout amounts to over $2,300 from every American’s pocket, and there are no guarantees that it will work. Most of us would have preferred to stick it to the man and let those greedy Wall Street villains go bankrupt.

If you watch TV or read the paper, you’ve heard that the problem was caused by our government loosening lending standards. This is a symptom of a larger problem, one that needs to be fixed now. The real cause of this disaster is not on Wall Street. It is much closer to home.

Imagine if our children were forced to take money management classes starting in the third grade. Forced! Forced to take classes in money management? Why not? They are forced to take algebra. How many of us use that in the average day? They are forced to take biology, foreign language, health, and geometry. Sex education may soon be forced upon our children as well. Money management, however, is not even an elective.

When offered an amazing loan to buy a house with little or none of your own money, a properly educated young adult might say “no thank you.” When tempted to run up the VISA debt to get that new plasma screen, the ghost from classroom past would say “No.” Every year a new batch high school graduates take to the street with no financial education. This is the real cause of the financial crisis.
Instead of a couple thousand regulators teaching banks how to lend, let’s teach a couple hundred million Americans how to borrow. Rather than showing us how to spend our money, our government should show us how to save it. Our children need to come out of high school knowing that managing their money is just as important as earning it.

Our government has let us down in this area for a long time and missed another chance. Financial education should be required in all public and private schools. Over the past few weeks, we did not hear one of our leaders speak about the importance of teaching money management to our children. Not Bush, Obama, McCain, Pelosi, Cox, Bernanke, Dodd, or Frank. None of them. Yet what is on every adult’s mind every day? How to manage your money.

For the government, a financially literate public is a dangerous thing. Americans would have no use for bailouts, and fewer of us would need welfare or Social Security. Unfortunately, our government prefers that we remain reliant on them for as much as possible. Unless we insist that our schools offer financial education, it will never happen.

Since this is not likely to happen, there are some fun and educational books you and your children can read. “The Richest Man in Babylon” by George Clason is fun and easy for kids to read. “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” by Robert T. Kiyosaki is great for teenagers and adults. Let’s teach our kids money management from an early age. This is how we can all “stick it to the man.”

You may have had to file for bankruptcy because of events that have affected your financial circumstances. Bankruptcy, however, is not the end. .

Deciding to file for bankruptcy is not easy. But many people have had to and are now able to care for their finances stably. You can dust yourself off and get back on your financial feet even after bankruptcy.

All damage done to your credit by the bankruptcy process can be healed. Chapter 7 bankruptcy eliminates all of your debts, and some of your assets. Afterwards, building up your credit again is dependent on you paying your bills in a timely fashion.

Be responsible with what you still have left. You still have your home. Make utility payments on time. Establishing a record of timely payments is one way to work towards fixing your credit.

After a few months, apply for a secured credit card. Secured cards require the cardholder to pay a deposit. This is the money that you will start with. Over time, you may qualify for an unsecured credit card.

Keep just one credit card. And don’t charge purchases on it needlessly. Simply having a credit card that can be used in emergencies is a way to build back your damaged credit.

Train yourself to pay for everything in cash. Unless you have cash to back up a purchase, don’t buy anything; this could be one reason bankruptcy was filed in the first place. Going back to using cash is a healthy way to build up a bank account and savings account balance.

Plan to succeed. Since you have already experienced bankruptcy, you know you don’t want to go through the process again. Establishing a good savings plan that includes an emergency fund will help you prevent any future need to file for bankruptcy. Credit card payments shouldn’t present any kind of problem after having had all of your debt eradicated.

When you do get a credit card again, you can expect to be bombarded with offers from credit card companies. They will do there best to get your business, but you can resist them if you are determined to stay out of debt.

Learn to live within your means. This requires that you be prepared for the unexpected. Credit counseling classes or meetings with a financial advisor can be helpful, since they will provide you with great tips on how to maximize your savings and care for your expenses responsibly.

A financial advisor can take the extra money that you put in a savings account and show you how to invest for the future. One day you will want to retire. Retirement could last as long as twenty to thirty years. Having enough money to live out that portion of your life is important. Concentrate on that part of your financial future as you wait with patience for your credit to be re-established.

Bankruptcy is not the end of the story. People can recover from it and develop a healthy financial picture. However, it takes time and patience.

-Robert Kiyosaki -

A few days ago, I spoke at a luncheon with approximately 500 local business leaders. I began with these words: “I have good news and bad news. The good news is you will have fewer competitors next year because many of your competitors will be out of business. The bad news is you might be one of those out of business.”

I then showed them my local newspaper, pointing to the headline “Businesses Are Struggling.” I opened the newspaper and said, “I can tell you who will be in business.” I pointed to a full-page ad for a local appliance store. “I’ll bet money that this business will be here next year. Why? Because this business is advertising more aggressively than its competition.”

In previous issues of Entrepreneur, I’ve written about the importance of advertising and promotion. I’ve shared my rich dad’s lesson that when business drops off, many entrepreneurs listen to their accountant’s advice and cut back on advertising and promotion. That’s the worst thing you can do. When times get tough, your job is to promote more, not less.

Promotion is a six-week cycle. That means if I promote today, business increases six weeks later. Many businesses violate the six-week cycle. They promote for, say, four weeks, and because nothing happens, they stop. Two weeks later, there’s a sudden increase in business. For four weeks, business remains strong. Then, just as suddenly, business drops off, because six weeks earlier, the entrepreneur had stopped promoting.

My rich dad’s lesson was to never stop promoting: Promote whether the economy is strong or weak; promote even when you may not have the money. If you have no money, stand on a street corner at lunchtime with a sign hanging around your neck promoting your product or service. Not only will you meet new customers, but you might also save money on lunch, lose some weight and get a suntan.

Obviously, it takes more than just promotion to do well. To be successful, a business also requires strong fundamentals and a desirable product or service. During tough economic times, though, even some good businesses fail; some businesses shrink and others grow. When a business closes, its customers migrate to the business that fights hard and stays open. Businesses that promote while others cut their ad budgets have a better chance of getting bigger . . . even if the economy is shrinking.