Have you ever made a new year resolution and forgotten all about it by the second month? If you're a mere mortal like most of the population, you probably have.
Recently, I completed a short course on how to set and achieve goals. The course is "Simpleology 101: The Simple Science of Getting What You Want". There are 20 lessons and the course is structured in such a way that you need to spend only 5 - 10 minutes a day on it. And then you spend another 5 minutes on your daily targets. So that's a total of 15 minutes a day. Pretty cool, eh?
One of the useful things I learn from this course is how to set my daily tasks according to my goal. Most of us have daily to do list. Simpleology taught me how to make a daily list that helps me achieve my goals. Prioritize and throw away time-consuming tasks that get you nowhere.
How much does this course cost, I hear you ask. This is the coolest part. It's free! Zero dollars and zero cents. And they even give you free software to help you keep track of your progress.
Okay, so now you're probably thinking that if it's free it can't be good. Not at all. The course is REALLY good. I swear. I use it myself. I still use the software every day.
If you don't believe me, check out Simpleology 101 yourself.
Sunday 23 March 2008
Sunday 16 March 2008
How To Build & Grow A Business
Currently, I'm reading "Ready, Fire, Aim" by Michael Masterson. This book is about building and growing a business. Masterson divides business growth into 4 phases: infancy, childhood, adolescence, and adulthood.
The first phase has an annual revenue form zero to $1 million. The second phase has a revenue of $1 million to $10 million. The third phase generates a revenue of $10 million to $50 million phase. The final phase is when you take your business form $50 million to $100 million $200 million and more.
Each phase is characterized by a set of challenges. Understanding these challenges and knowing how to deal with them is vital to your business success.
If your business is in the first phase (like yours truly), the priorities and sequence of activities are:
The main activity is generating sales. Too many new entrepreneurs make the mistake of concentrating on secondary and tertiary activities and too little time on selling. Activities such as finding a good location for an office, buying office furniture, tinkering with the product to make it better, selecting the accounting software etc. None of these activities lead to generating sales. You can work from home at this stage to reduce your overhead cost. At the end of the day, if you don't have any sales, what good is the accounting software?
At this stage, the mission is to discover the optimum selling strategy (OSS) - one that pulls in customers and sells your product like crazy.
Right now I'm on Chapter 9 of the book. It's full of useful advice and tips. My head is spinning from trying to figure out how to implement them in my business.
So if you haven't read this book, get a copy NOW (not tomorrow)!
The first phase has an annual revenue form zero to $1 million. The second phase has a revenue of $1 million to $10 million. The third phase generates a revenue of $10 million to $50 million phase. The final phase is when you take your business form $50 million to $100 million $200 million and more.
Each phase is characterized by a set of challenges. Understanding these challenges and knowing how to deal with them is vital to your business success.
If your business is in the first phase (like yours truly), the priorities and sequence of activities are:
- Get the product ready enough to sell it, but it does not have to be perfect.
- Sell it.
- If it sells, make it better.
The main activity is generating sales. Too many new entrepreneurs make the mistake of concentrating on secondary and tertiary activities and too little time on selling. Activities such as finding a good location for an office, buying office furniture, tinkering with the product to make it better, selecting the accounting software etc. None of these activities lead to generating sales. You can work from home at this stage to reduce your overhead cost. At the end of the day, if you don't have any sales, what good is the accounting software?
At this stage, the mission is to discover the optimum selling strategy (OSS) - one that pulls in customers and sells your product like crazy.
Right now I'm on Chapter 9 of the book. It's full of useful advice and tips. My head is spinning from trying to figure out how to implement them in my business.
So if you haven't read this book, get a copy NOW (not tomorrow)!
Sunday 9 March 2008
Light At The End Of The Tunnel
I've been trying to make money from my online business for over a year. All my hard work is finally bearing fruit. I've been steadily increasing the number of sales since December. It feels really great.
Set a goal, work towards it, persevere. Eventually, it will pay off.
If this month I made $350 (I know it's not impressive), there's no reason why I can't later make $500, and then $1000 and later $5000. The sky's the limit.
Seeing the money in my bank account is enough to keep me pushing forward to make my dream a reality.
Apart from that good news, there's something else I would like to share with you. A friend shared this with me and it sure puts things into perspective. Check it out: How Big Are You?.
Set a goal, work towards it, persevere. Eventually, it will pay off.
If this month I made $350 (I know it's not impressive), there's no reason why I can't later make $500, and then $1000 and later $5000. The sky's the limit.
Seeing the money in my bank account is enough to keep me pushing forward to make my dream a reality.
Apart from that good news, there's something else I would like to share with you. A friend shared this with me and it sure puts things into perspective. Check it out: How Big Are You?.
Sunday 2 March 2008
Cultivate The Correct Mindset
One of the most important turning points in my life was reading "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" by Robert Kiyosaki. This book changed the way I look at life, money, and what is possible for me.
The most important thing I learnt in this book is that rich people have a different mindset. They think differently, and they teach their children to think differently too. It is this one factor that makes all the difference in our financial success.
We need the correct mindset and knowledge in order to succeed financially. This mindset and knowledge is something that can be learnt - in the same way we can learn to tie our shoe laces, ride a bicycle, drive, juggle etc.
One of the things taught in this book is that the rich do not work for money. I was puzzled. Seriously?!
When I started reading the book, I promised myself to keep an open mind. Life has also taught me that just because I do not understand something now doesn't mean it's incorrect. It simply means I do not yet have the knowledge, wisdom or insight to understand it.
3 years passed by since I first read this book. I have learnt a lot since then that have made it possible to understand much of what I didn't then. How did I learnt all that? From books, seminar, talking to people who run their own businesses etc.
If you haven't read "Rich Dad, Poor Dad", I recommend that you do now. For me, this was the basis that changed everything.
The most important thing I learnt in this book is that rich people have a different mindset. They think differently, and they teach their children to think differently too. It is this one factor that makes all the difference in our financial success.
We need the correct mindset and knowledge in order to succeed financially. This mindset and knowledge is something that can be learnt - in the same way we can learn to tie our shoe laces, ride a bicycle, drive, juggle etc.
One of the things taught in this book is that the rich do not work for money. I was puzzled. Seriously?!
When I started reading the book, I promised myself to keep an open mind. Life has also taught me that just because I do not understand something now doesn't mean it's incorrect. It simply means I do not yet have the knowledge, wisdom or insight to understand it.
3 years passed by since I first read this book. I have learnt a lot since then that have made it possible to understand much of what I didn't then. How did I learnt all that? From books, seminar, talking to people who run their own businesses etc.
If you haven't read "Rich Dad, Poor Dad", I recommend that you do now. For me, this was the basis that changed everything.
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