While personal reasons for going into business may vary, profit should be one of the goals for your new venture. What if it isn’t? Then it needs to quickly move up your list of reasons, or you may find it difficult, if not impossible, to succeed.
The late Jim Rohn, one of my favorite business mentors whose rags-to-riches story inspired millions, once said that success is a “numbers game,” and nowhere is this more true than in generating a profit.
So whether you’re uncomfortable with the idea of profit or you accept it as your company’s objective, here are three simple guidelines to establish a profit orientation both in your mindset and your operations:
1. Adopt a “for profit” mindset and accept the fact you need profit to survive.
This is easier said than done, but it can be achieved if you’re open to examining your beliefs about money, wealth and profit and committed to changing your point of view.
Jim Rohn also pointed out that while some religious teachings may promote the idea that it’s hard for a rich person to get into heaven, they don’t say it’s impossible. That’s an important distinction that may help shift your own perspective on wealth.
Also, consider that business is among the few games around that let anyone play regardless of social status, education or age, and that can produce substantial personal wealth in 10 years or less. Not a bad return if you look at business ownership as one of the best long-term investments you can make in yourself.
Recent studies show that start-up businesses fail at an alarmingly high rate. This is the foundation for the fear that paralyzes would-be entrepreneurs, keeping them behind their day-job desks. Robert Kiyosaki, successful entrepreneur, investor and co-author of Rich Dad Poor Dad, offers new strategies that can potentially turn the start-up failure rate on its head.
While there are many books that tell you how entrepreneurs built their companies, Kiyosaki—for the first time ever—provides the steps would-be entrepreneurs need to take before they quit their jobs. He believes that a start-up business is destined for success or failure even before the new entrepreneur leaves his 9-to-5 job. And, while many people are convinced that the entrepreneurial path is the way to go, the fear of failing keeps them from taking the first step.
In RICH DAD’S BEFORE YOU QUIT YOUR JOB: Ten Real-Life Lessons Every Entrepreneur Should Know About Building A Multimillion-Dollar Business (Warner Business Books Trade Paperback Original/$16.95/Publication Date: September 14, 2005), Robert Kiyosaki, with co-author Sharon Lechter, reveals the ups and downs of becoming an entrepreneur through first-hand accounts of his own start-up companies, and shows how his earlier struggles provided the foundation for his hard-won financial freedom. What sets this book apart from other books on entrepreneurialism is how Kiyosaki courageously reveals his business failures and uses them to illustrate the ten key lessons that made him and The Rich Dad Company a worldwide phenomenon.
In this speech, investor, businessman and author of the personal finance book series ‘Rich Dad Poor Dad’ Robert Kiyosaki discusses the number one skill an entrepreneur can have in today’s economy. He sees being able to raise steady cash flow as the most valuable and beneficial skill in business today.
Discussing the success of his own business, namely his book series and brand ‘Rich Dad Poor Dad,’ Robert Kiyosaki explains how to design a business that is capable of raising its money automatically, without any input from the entrepreneur behind a company or business. According to Robert Kiyosaki, sophisticated investors will only invest in well-designed businesses. Well-designed businesses will run on a model that boasts numerous sources of incomes and assets. It is necessary that a business have sources of income outside the entrepreneur who created the company in order to be successful and profitable.
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I have a new little passion. I invest small amounts in crowdfunding sites. Nothing major and no earth-shattering results so far. But it seems promising. I’ll give a summary of what I have found out so far.
What is Crowdfunding
It’s a way for the “crowd” to fund various projects where each contributes small amounts. As usual you can read more detailed definition on Wikipedia.
A large number of the current crowdfunding platforms that exist support various artistic projects – like new book or movie – and the backers get rewards in return. For example tickets for the movie, signed copies of the book etc. While this is good thing, it’s not really investing.
There are few types of crowdfunding sites that will be interesting for you as an investor:
Equity based – where you get equity, usually in a legal entity formed for all the backers of the given project or company
Profit based – where you “bet” on the success of a given project, usually by buying in bulk at discounted price, and make fixed profit when the product sells.
I could add “impact based” for investments you make solely for the purpose to make the world a better place. But this type works best when combined with the other two approaches.
Some time ago, I went to my mail box (yes, remember that old thing?) to collect the usual array of shopping catalogues, bills, and even the odd letter stuffed inside. I noticed a letter from my bank, of which I had been a customer for 15 years. My salary went into this account. I even had a home loan with them.
When I opened the letter, the contents were bewildering. I literally couldn’t understand a word of it. Not one. I studied every inch of it and I dipped back into the envelope to see if I had missed an all important page. But the result was the same. I could not understand a single sentence.
Was I going mad? Had I entered the Twilight Zone? Had I suddenly lost my capacity to read?
It was none of the above. I didn’t understand a word because the entire letter was written in Chinese characters.
Sitting at my kitchen table in Sydney, I turned the pages over and over, expecting to find the English translation somewhere. But there wasn’t a single word of English. This was confounding as the (Australian) bank had managed to write to me in English for the past 15 years.
If you’ve ever watched the TV show Extreme Couponing or read about a customer who got $200 worth of groceries for next to nothing, you’ve probably wondered what’s in it for the manufacturers and stores who offer these coupons. Are they actually making money in the process, or are customers getting away with legalized robbery?
The truth is that coupons create a win-win situation for both companies and consumers. Manufacturers and stores are benefiting from coupons. If they weren’t, they wouldn’t issue them or accept them. To find out how they benefit, let’s examine some of the reasons why companies offer coupons.
To Get Consumers’ Attention
According to the Food Marketing Institute, the average supermarket carried 38,718 items in 2010. Out of thousands of products, companies need a way to steer consumers toward their product instead of a competitor’s, and a coupon can help an item stand out. If you have a coupon for a specific brand of paper towels, for example, it will probably be the first brand you’ll check the price on among the ten different brands in the paper towel aisle.
To Advertise a New Product
Consumers need to be enticed to take a chance on a new product, especially price-sensitive, coupon-using shoppers. A company could advertise its new product by offering free samples, but instead of spending money both on the product itself and on getting the product into consumers’ homes, it could offer a tempting, high-value coupon and actually make a sale. If the consumer likes the new product enough, they may buy it at full price in the future when introductory coupons are no longer available.
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