*Jozzua

As I have previously posted, I am now quite motivated. Now, the question is how am I going to do it? I’ve read so many entrepreneural books and references that I now know most of the theory. I’ve had some stints with business that I have a little practical knowledge. Whats my plan so far?

I’ve a general notion of what to do. These are my ideas:

1. Monitor all my finances. It is important that I get real, factual information on my income and expenses. This would be my performance gauge. This would be just like adding analytics tracking to a website. It would be great if it could all be automated but it usually involves some manual work. Honestly, I’m a bit lazy keeping track of financial details. What I do now is I simplify the process by allocating budgets at the onset. I record it on a simple electronic post-it pad. I see on my desktop as I work - it’s a subtle reminder of what I need to achieve.
2. Restrict expenses. I don’t withdraw money from the ATM until the last minute. I don’t withdraw all my cash. My old mentor described this method as ‘giving yourself natural deterrents to unforseen expenses.’ The idea is to give oneself physical restrictions. If I don’t have extra cash with me, I won’t be tempted to buy that shirt you see as you pass by the mall. Right? As I have said, when there is motivation, we figure out ways.
3. Find Multiple Sources of Passive Income. This is the real business goal. If I could earn 2 dollars a day for a project, then I should set up 10 projects to get 20 dollars a day, right? My lawyer friend gets income from retainers. Say he gets US$100 monthly per client, he should target 10 clients to get US$1000. The idea of passive income is to set up a system that will allow the business to get income without too much work. The setup of the system may take some time, but once it’s running, it can be left alone - and still generate revenue.
4. Buy Low - Sell High. This is common sense. In relation to getting passive income, products and services can be taken from somewhere competitively priced and offered at a premium elsewhere. Here in the Philippines, the lifestyle expenses can be relatively cheap compared to that abroad. Products are much more affordable. If I could harness the power of the Internet to outsource labor work, or sell local products abroad, then there would be significant income there.
5. Provide Real Value. This is an integral aspect of whatever business we dive into. It should give value to customers/clients. If I sell products, I want to be sure the products are of high quality. If I provide a service, I want it to be reliable and customer-friendly. The key is to find out what people really want and how to give it to them.
6. Leverage. This is similar to buy-low, sell high. Say a business is good. I should find more ways to tap into that. Perhaps I was selling soap. What other products could be sold to soap buyers? My friend has an internet cafe business. He also makes an nice income from printing services, and on the sale of prepaid Gaming Cards - those required by Philippine Online Gamers.
7. Ready-Fire-Aim. This is one thing I’ve personally learned. I’ve made a number of business plans backed by theoretical research. On the implementation side, I’ve come to realize that there were a lot of things that weren’t originally covered in the business plan. There were unforseen problems, expenses, and details. Nowadays, I do the preliminary research then just start the business itself. I usually work with low-capital investments so I can test and find out which works or not. The Nike commercial best describes this…”Just Do It.” Quit thinking too much about it. Study first then just start the business. Learn while you’re at it. Tweak and adjust as you go along the way. Ready-Fire-Aim.
8. Be Not Afraid. Make a Lot of Mistakes. I’ve read somewhere that one trait of successful people is their perseverance. They tried and tried and made a whole lot of mistakes. Point is, they learned from it and was not afraid to make more mistakes. Granted, you may need to be careful what kind of mistakes you are willing to make. But when you are really motivated, you care little about the mistakes and move on to the next possible solution.

So, that’s it for now. Those are my general ideas.

By the way, Kiyosaki’s ‘Getting Out of the RatRace’ boardgame is a nice tool to make mistakes on and learn about getting wealthy. You should consider playing it sometime. If you are free on a Saturday/Sunday and are near Katipunan Quezon City Area (Philippines), we can play it. I’ve got the boardgame.