Constant And Never Ending Improvement~C.A.N.E.I.

Top 20 Ways We Waste Money

20. Buying drinks from drive throughs and convience stores

19. Eating out and having alcoholic drinks

18. Speeding

17. Rush delivery on mail orders

16. Tickets for traffic violations and parking violations

15. Not using coupons at grocery stores

14. Not properly maintenancing our vehicles

13. Not making your kids a lunch for school

12. Buying cheap shampoo or cheap products period. They do not last as long

11. Buying snacks or sweets 

10. Not eating left overs

9. Leaving lights and T.V. on all day

8. Turning heaters and A/C's on and off instead of setting at a comfortable temperature

7. By not mending torn clothes

6. By not asking for a better price on goods and services

5. Buying everything name brand

4. Financing personal goods at 23% on store credit cards

3.Buying cigarettes, tobacco, alcohol, energy drinks, espressos

2.Atm fees for using a foreign atm not your bank

1.Late fees on credit cards and bills

The Upside To A Down Turn Economy

As you may or may not know, our economy needs to be corrected all the time. We are either going up or going down but it is impossible to stay the same. When we talk about correction, we are usually talking about a market correction. If the market only went up, we would have astronomical inflation and our money would be worth less. If the economy only went down, our money would be worth less as well. What always has to happen is that the economy has to correct itself. 

I do not believe in scarcity for the most part. What I do believe is that everything will only survive if you make it survive. The outcome is on your shoulders.We can keep building retail stores all day long but you must bring in the traffic to support them. What usually ends up happening though, is that business men and women do not follow the trends that are ahead and then one day it all comes crashing down on them. It is not because we can have only so many retail stores. It is because people's buying habits are changing and the Internet has taken over a lot of the retail world. What these businesses need to understand is that in order to capture and keep the market they have, they must do better. They must figure out that customer service will have to rise to a new level. Cost need to be cut in order to service better and give a better deal. Many have not learned this message and are paying for it right now in this downturn. 

As much as we may hate having the economy go soft, we need it to from time to time to make the necessary corrections. We need it to get rid of the bad, lower prices and make people better than what they are. Housing prices were getting out of control and were being made affordable to only the wealthy. This is a huge mistake and so it had to be corrected. 

There have been so many arrogant companies out there for the past 10 -12 years thinking they can be as they wish and not care about the consumer. They were simply playing a numbers game. Now the tables have been shifted and the customer is now playing a numbers game. If you are going to get the business then you had better dance for them. Mediocrity is not going to work anymore. People want the best bang for their buck. 

Another upside to the down turn economy is that people are starting to realize they need to be more mindful of their money and finances. There was a lot of waste being committed and no one had any liquidity. This is very dangerous for a society as once too many people become poor, the up rise. This has been the case for every great nation since the beginning of time. We need to reteach people economics and help them to be better managed with their finances. The trick to a rich society is education. We need to embrace the idea of getting people the information they need to thrive in a responsible manner. We can avoid false economies if we show people how easy it can be to create real wealth and how to manage it once they have it. We need to teach people to say no I can't afford that right now. Then teach them to say, "how can I afford that?" Good finances is about having the discipline and knowledge to make sound decisions. I hope that is what we are learning from this economic downturn. 

"I Am Not A Salesperson." The Young Women Says

"I work as a massage therapist in a day spa and I do not do any sales. They handle all of that at the counter. My job is just to do massages. I couldn't sell if my life depended on it!" This is a very real conversation I had with a young women one day and I have had this same conversation so many times. What i told this women may surprise you, but I hope you will understand the concept and the very real nature of the truth in it. My answer to her is very similar in nature to the employee who asks me,"what does your money have to do with my money?" Here is what I said to her, or how the conversation went.

I asked her," why do you say you are not in sales?" You are after all,  in a sales persons job.  She said," because I am not in a a sale persons job, I do massage therapy."So  I said, "then why do you think people come to the spa?" She said, "because they want a massage." Ok, well answer me this then. If I were a salesman selling massages, and I was brilliant in my sales persons job as a salesman, and the perspective customer likes me, then they will make a purchase, right? She said, yes. I told her people want to buy, but they do not want to be sold. Ok, then I pass them on to you and right from the beginning you are rude, rough and give a horrible massage. What happens to the sale? "What do you mean," asks the girl. Well, do I still have a sale? She did not know how to respond. I said to her that the sell is not complete until you work your magic and the most important part of the sale is, YOU!" I told her she is the sale and the very important part of the sale. There is no sale without her. She was silent as she thought about what I was saying. 

The simple fact is this; Everyone who works in a company is a salesperson in one form or another. You may not have a title as a salesperson but every single person in a company is in sales, like it or not. Even if you only interact with internal personnel, you are in sales. The question is, how good of a salesperson are you and do you know that you are in the position of being one? 

Internally, companies need to attract and retain employees and nothing will do this better than having internal sales people. These internal sales people need to be recruited and trained in order to help you keep your work force happy and thriving. They may have a secondary duty but having internal cheerleaders and employee retention specialist are paramount. Even if you were never directly hired to be such a salesperson, that does not mean you are not. Internal sales are just as important as external sales. Either way you are a salesperson so you need to do a great job.

If you interact with the general public at all, then you are also in sales. I do not care if you vacuum out the cars and the customer never sees you, or are the bookkeeper who sends out the invoices or are the message therapist, you are more in sales that what your primary function is. Sale people are in the most lucrative industry in the world. Do not fight it. Learn to master it and harness it. Sales does not have to be a dirty word.

When the word salesman or women is said, most people get some type of idea in their head and it is usually in a negative way. It is like I said what do you think of when I say hooker? The reality is though that a great salesperson is not hooker. He/She is a professional who understands the craft clearly and does not resort to cheap tactics or pressure sales. A long lasting customer is one who is completely your fan. They like you and your product or service because of the way you service them. They do not like you because you are pushy, or manipulative. They are a fan because you are good at what you do and your motive is to show up and help them. 

By the time we were finished with our conversation, I believe the massage therapist friend had a much different understanding. She said that she had never thought about it that way before. I know she is not alone. There is not enough being taught in these companies about this idea of company wide sales. She is one of their best salespeople and she doesn't even know it. 

The Problem With Our Government, Is Our Government!

As part of our goal for personal growth, I am always trying to teach you that you must become aware of your surroundings. This includes at home, at work and in your community. Today, I am going to take this one big step further and include our Federal government. The problem with our country right now is the Federal government we have in place. It has strayed from what the originators of our Constitution had in mind. 

I am not one to be an extremist, or yell fire when it is  just smoke, but my friends I believe that the time is coming when this current government will have a revolt on its hands unless we the people start coming together and fix what is broken. The government is just that, broken. I will try not to rant, but I am frustrated at where we are at and want to do something about it. I want to be a part of the solution and take massive action to help in our country's healing.

The problem today is that our entire Federal government system is run by lobbyist and is wholly influenced by the dollar and greed. Special interest runs your life not the elected officials we thought we elected. If we are ever going to start repairing our government, we must start with pushing out all special interest and make it a capitol crime to influence politics in any way. It must be punishable on both the interest group and the politician. We must say no to any sort of pressure or lobbying. There are plenty of ways to make a case but funding campaigns to get your agenda across in government should not be one of them. 

Next, the backwards thinking, good old boy network needs to leave. We need new people, new ideas, and new politicians. This old school way of doing things has slowed down progress and gummed up the system. I am gad we grew up a bit and threw away our bigotries and elected an African-American President, but beyond that I am afraid that is all we have done. I hope the time for change really has come but it just may have darker skin and is business as usual. We need for change to mean we are getting rid of the way we have been doing most things and start creating and developing new ways to dig us out of this mess we are in as a country. What can yo do to get involved and help? The question is easy to ask and difficult to answer. Like most things I talk about, I would suggest first start by becoming aware whet these people are doing in regards to your life and your country. Be aware of the who, what, when, and where of our government. 

The reason as a country, the common person hates politics is because it is full of bureaucracy and red tape. The idea of a politician in most people's mind is liar, cheater, con-artist. We say we are the greatest nation on earth, yet we view our politicians no different than we do a dictator or tyrant of a third world country. We need to be real and start reshaping the face of America. The world is not happy with us and it is mostly because of those we have in power running us. This affects you more than you think. 

I suggest that you start getting involved in our government. There are many groups out there that has local level and national involvement for people who want to get involved. Look on the Internet and see if you can locate one that is alignment with how you live and want to be. See what you can do to help in the fight. Maybe you are not a political brain, but I bet you could help send out emails, write letters, get others involved. We have to ban together and make our voices heard. "We the people" are three of the most powerful words ever written and spoken in the United States History. What do you think the founding fathers were saying? I believe they meant many things when they wrote this. We the people are more when we rise together. We the people are to be heard. we the people will no longer stand for anything less than right. We the people want to be represented in a manner that is ideal for who are. We the people have had enough and will stand up and fight.

Let today be a wake up call for all Americans that if we do not act, we will all loose our way of life as we know it. I am sorry if I sound extreme, but we are in a time when things have become very extreme. God Bless and God bless America.

So Why Is There No Such Thing As Scarcity ?

What is scarcity? Scarcity is the limited resources of a country, person or economy. What this means is that no matter what we are talking about like money, oil, etc, there is only so much so you have to grab as much as you can or just give up because you won't be able to get any. This is a defeatist mentality as it is an excuse to give up on chasing your dreams.

Let's take a look at at some resources and see if there is any truth to the idea of scarcity. Do you remember the 8-track tape? It used to be a million dollar industry. The 8 Track went away, all the while the vinyl record came about and was a billion dollar industry. In turn the cassette tape came about and then made way to the C.D. One day the C.D. will disappear to a micro chip or as what is currently going on is the mp3. Scarcity was never at play here as technology expands a product, money, land, resources, etc. The 8track is still alive today just in another form.

How about land? Do you think there is only so much land? The answer should be, no. Yes per SE there is what there is when it comes to land. No more land is being produced but what is happening is that we are advancing technology everyday. What this does is what used to take 100 acres to produce enough food per capita now only takes about 30 acres. We have expanded the resource of land by advancing technology so therefore scarcity does not come into play. We do more with less is the bottom line.

So what does all of this mean to you? What it means is that you do not need to be so uptight and worried. You can relax and concentrate on making some real money and not focus on worrying about there not being enough of resources. Focus on the important part and get your dreams.

Where Has The Money Gone? Simple Economics

Where do you suppose all the money has gone today, with all of the economic down turn that is  happening? Do you think that the money that was out there has disappeared and gone away? How do you get some of it, and why has it become scacre? Let's figure out where all the money has gone and get our hands on it.

This is a simple lesson in economics and how our economy works, so maybe we can get people to start calming down and start spending their money. The question was, where has the money gone? This is a simple question and a complicated on so I will start with the simple one. First of all, a dollar in your hand which you spend somewhere else is called the transfer of wealth. The dollar bill is simply passed along to someone else's pocket. The difference here I suppose is that whomever has it now, is so afraid to spend it that they are holding on to it. We are going through a time where the new message is save and be thrifty and smart. The problem is that is not why we have such a strong economy historically. We as Americans are spenders and not savers and we consume. What we need is to find out where the dollar is and go get it and get it moving. Economomics is as simple as that. If we keep the dollar moving, then it keeps creating wealth, products, services and jobs. If the dollar is stashed away in a drawer, then the cycle is slowed down. It is so important that the dollar keep on moving.

Now the complicated answer..... We used to be a country where all of our money was backed by gold and silver which means it wasn't just paper but it was worth something of value. as we have gotten away from that and have moved to a central banking system we have greatly devalued our currency. Also, since Bush has been in office he has greatly ran up the national debt which in turn devalues our economy as well. we are in very dangerous territory when it comes to our national debt but nothing that can not be fixed. The question is what is it going to take to fix it all?

What you can do on an individual basis is take the best of both worlds and combine them. You need to start saving some money and start spending the rest. We need as Americans a balanced way of living which is both a spending and a savings plan combined. We also need to start learning and understanding about personal finances. Make no doubt about it, one main reason we are currently in a bad state is because money Americans borrowed can not be repaid. We have over extended ourselves and we are killing national markets because of it. We need to start learning how to manage our debt as a country. That needs to start now. 

The money is still right here and ever present. All you have to do is go find it. I grew up with a depression era baby for a mother. Her parents taught her scarcity because of the great depression. I loved my mother but the mentality is not right. There is plenty out there, you just have to go and grab it. 

Why Small Businesses Fail – Pt.6

Why Small Businesses Fail – Pt.6      

The last part of why small businesses fail when it comes to employees is about the waste they commit and the bad publicity they will spread. Their poor attitudes can spread like cancer if gone unnoticed so we will take a brief look at what we need to do to protect our business. Also, watch who is in charge of ordering supplies, handling checks, and dealing with mail or your business will pay the price.

I once was going through a slump when one of my businesses was about to bust. I started looking at every aspect of my business. I found many things but what I found to be the most alarming was how much waste my employees were committing. I would watch individual employees for a span of 3-5 days. I would watch everything and not let them know I was watching them or tracking them. What I first looked at was in an 8-9 hour period, how much production were we really receiving as a company from that employee? After about 15 employees I discovered we were in trouble. The average employee was delivering about 5.6 hours a day of production. The rest was just wasted money down the drain. If you are paying eight hours then get your eight hours.

My office staff in particular would work more and more hours and still not be productive. They would have to work 11 hours a day to get close to 8 hours of production. I had to do something about it fast. Ultimately I ended up closing down the business because of what I am about to tell you next. It was the main reason I had such poor production from the staff.

A few years earlier I hire a friend of mine from softball and took him under my wing. There is a lot to this story but the moral of the story is the important part. As time had passed I made him an offer to become a partner in the business. In looking back it was a huge mistake of mine. One, he wasn’t mature enough. Two he wasn’t smart enough and three friends do not necessarily make good partners. Well, what I found out along the way was that he was breeding a culture in the business which contributed to the lack of production. He created chaos, confusion, friendships, and poor performance. Once you have this in your business and a culture gets bread like this, then it is next to impossible to remove. What you have to do is trace it back to its roots and cut it out. I should have done that a long time ago.

The next thing to be aware of is closely monitor who is authorized or allowed to order supplies. It is not the big money that gets you in trouble. It’s the nickel and dime stuff that will kill you. Monitor this close and remember these words…. Learn to say “no!” It will mean more profit later.

The last thing we will talk about is watch what is done with the mail. I would suggest, if it is possible, to have a separate person open the mail and enter it than your bookkeeper. This is a true story I had happen. I once had a bookkeeper who was horrible and would not open the mail and stuff it in a drawer. What this did was look like we had more money than we really did. When she was let go for poor performance we cleaned out her desk and found the mother load. Unfortunately it was not a good one. Heed my warning and set up a system of controls on your accounting.  Also, pay closer attention than I did and never get surprised.

Why small businesses fail is because business is complicated and it has so many moving parts. Being an entrepreneur is not for the weak at heart. Please leave a comment if you found this article helpful or if you had any other thoughts about it. Remember C.A.N.E.I. stands for constant and never ending improvement

Quotes by Franklin D. Roosevelt

It is common sense to take a method and try it. 
If it fails, admit it frankly and try another.
 But above all, try something.

Franklin D. Roosevelt

Why Small Businesses Fail - Pt. 5

In the last post we talked about employees and the affects they can have on your business. The topic in that post was more about attitudes and personalities and how they can affect the reputation or performance of your business. In this post we will be discussing the legal issue associated with having employees and suggestions on what you can do to effectively deal with them. I am not an attorney, nor am I giving legal advise. What I am going to tell you is my opinion and what I have experienced and learned. You should always seek the legal advise of a qualified attorney if you so desire.

As previously mentioned, employees are paramount to having a successful business and can be one of your biggest assets. The other side to that coin is they are also one of your biggest liabilities. In case you didn't know the law looks at you like a custodian when you have employees and therefore charges you with complete care, control and custody of those employees and holds you highly responsible to their safety and anything else associated to them. What this means for you is that you will be afforded no excuses when it comes to properly caring for your employees. This is very important to know right from the start.

If this is your first business or are just starting one or have been in business for awhile I would suggest that you find an attorney who specializes in employment law. Employment attorneys are generally more expensive but are usually cheaper in the end because you will not have to pay their hours for learning or research. Once you have chosen an employment attorney i would suggest creating a short, simple employee manual and make it subject to change. Have your new attorney check any type of literature that may deal with employees. If a document is in existence make sure it is lawful.

Document, document, document any troubles, reviews, promotions, etc that you deal with. Watch what you write as it may be used against you later. Remember that ultimately we want to be successful so we are not just doing this to protect the company. If we are going to retain employees long term we need to be thorough in all we do with them.

My next suggestion is a bit bold and you will need to make sure it is done right. i will give you a generic over view here but for the full report/e-book you will need to email me. What I am about to tell you is a great tool for you with your employees and can save you thousands each year. I have been challenged by it several times by many agencies and I have always come out clean on it. What I am talking about is putting your employees on a wage rate agreement where they are paid minimum wage and any additional money earned will be by work performance only. I can't tell you how many times this has saved me and the customer. Lower cost equals lower prices past on to the customer. It is 100% legal and keeps the employees who are a little dishonest in check. For a sample of the agreement and the accompanying e-book, email me at the link below my picture.

Make arbitration mandatory for your employees should they have any type of grievance. This process is much cleaner, healthier and less costly for all involved. Arbitration is about the issue at hand and not about all kinds of other money wasting tactics used in a regular lawsuit or miscellaneous grievance. If there is an issue between employer and employee, the goal should be to get it resolved and not prolong it.

Employees are a mouth piece or ambassadors for your company so make sure you are always listening to what they are saying to your customers. Monitor phone calls, emails, and any verbal & written communications they are involved in. Promising services or other such things to customers leaves you in the hot seat if they are false. It is your right to snoop around and keep your eyes and ears open.

Implement an intensive training program and stick to it. Employees who are left alone will cause the company real issues. Let your employees know you care and that you are aware of them at all times. Do not coddle them or baby them but do take the time to acknowledge them.

Lastly, employee safety is a much bigger deal than you may put on it. There are plenty of companies out there who will set up and run a safety program for you for minimal costs. They will even supply you with industry specific forms to have your employees fill out. Accidents can drive up the cost of doing business and also lowers employee moral. Keep your employees safe at all times.

What we have just discussed is not intended to scare you but make you very aware of what your responsibilities are as an employer. You can effectively run your company while properly caring for your employees.

Why Small Businesses Fail - Pt. 4

In part 4 of this series we are going to talk about the most frustrating and complicated part of your business. This part of your business is very important and needed but is also the biggest headache you have and that is employees. Why small businesses fail when it comes to employees is allot to do with the unpredictableness of human beings. In this post we will be discussing the problems associated with employees and a few suggestions to help combat those issues. We will be discussing employee issues in the next two posts as employment relations are huge. Quite frankly we could discuss employees in a hundred posts but for now we will stick to three posts.

Employees are necessary to achieving big things in your business. They are the ambassadors for your company. You can not be everything in your company so we need to saddle with the fact that we need employees. The question becomes however, how do we manage those employees and the risk that come with them. For this post we will be looking at the everyday challenges that you need to recognize and deal with in order to keep your business from failing. In the later posts we will be discussing the legal risks they impose and the financial risks.

Employees are the most selfish people you will come in contact with in your business. Most employees will only think about themselves first and maybe the company second. The system is almost designed that way. You need to recognize that the reason most employees are who they are is because they cannot see past themselves. Sure they will show up most days and work but ask most of them to go above and beyond and you will be in for a let down. Do not get frustrated by this. We just need to understand it so we do not put ourselves in a position to get hurt by it. If you keep in mind they are selfish then you will never be surprised when they look out for themselves first.

Next, employees generally always feel under appreciated and generally have a self entitlement personality especially the younger employees. This is particularily dangerous when you are putting them in charge of a project or client where they need to mind the store closely. If that attitude kicks in where they feel they are owed something then your company may end up on the losing side real quick.

On a few occasions I have had employees ask me, "what does your money have anything to do with my money?" You really need to understand what they are asking here. What they are saying is who cares if you collect your money as long as I get paid. Employees generally are short sided and lack real understanding of the bigger picture. This is particularly important when you are trying to role out a new program or system. If they do not absorb it right away they may just push it aside.

So what can we do about all of these problems in our business to keep us from going under? The first thing I will tell you is first be aware , then be vigilant. After that I would suggest finding a good writer and set down and develop a good employee manual and training program. I would also suggest a good employment attorney which I will cover more extensively in the later posts. You also need a clear expectation sheet when you are interviewing them and have them initial they read it and understand it. Nothing is bullet proof but you need to not leave anything up for chance.

Protect you and the company at all times. This does not mean deal your employees dirty in any way but remember if the company is protected the the employee is covered and protected. They may not understand this but you do.

Lastly, have regular counseling and coaching sessions with your employees so you can keep a pulse on them and understand them as much as possible. Always remember this too: you are not there to be there friend. Not now, not ever. you are there to be there leader, mentor and boss. If you ever become there friend you will pay for it in the long run some how. Keep a good relationship but do not ever get sucked in to the friend trap.

Keep an eye on the ball and keep those employees productive at all times and you will do just fine.

Why Small Businesses fail - Pt. 3

So far in our 2 previous posts in why small business fail we have talked about beginning with the end in mind and too much government. In part 3 we are going to take a look at another aspect of why small businesses fail. This reason is very important to fully understand why it is so important and crucial to your long term growth and longevity. What we are going to discuss today is being under capitalized or funded. So many small business fail because they do not have the proper funds to sustain business life. More bills come in the door than they can really support.

Did you know when you own a corporation that the government can come in and take over your company because you are not properly funded? That's right it is your duty and responsibility to make sure that you have the proper amount of funds in reserves to ensure that your business can keep afloat. The government taking over your business should not be the focus here. What you need to focus on is that if things are so bad the government could take over then you are in deep financial trouble and that is unacceptable.

In your personal financial life as well as your business financial life you need to do two things. One is you need to define what true wealth is. The answer to that should be: How many months can you go with out bringing in revenue and still be a float? The next question should then be: where are you at in this? If you are like most you can probably go about 3-7 days. This is very dangerous and needs to be corrected if this is the case. What we need to do is get some money in reserves.

What is reserves? This is the practice of having a rainy day fund to back the worthiness of your business. Essentially it is your safe money or savings. When you are first starting out a good rule of thumb should be to accumulate 60 days worth of reserves. You should try and accomplish this within 120 -160 days. Once you have accomplished this you should then work on 6 months worth then 12 months. I once knew this guy who had over a million in reserves and was so proud of that fact. I would bet today he is still working on building that number. This is huge as his monthly output was only about $45,000.00 a month. There is never too much in reserves but there is definitely such a thing as way to little.

There is nothing wrong with starting a business on a thin dime but there is definitely a problem with continuing to operate on one. Trust me I have been there a few times and it is not fun. There are many options for you to get funds to operate on or pull funds when you need them. The best back up is still save, save, save your own funds first. Carrying too much debt can also be a huge problem if you go through a down turn.

I cannot stress to you enough how important it is to give yourself some cushion or breathing room. Buy used furniture, hold off on that fancy copier and put some cash in the bank as one day you will be so glad you did. Small businesses fail everyday from being under-capitalized. Don't fall into that same trap.

No More Resolutions - Make Commitments This New Years

As 2008 comes to a close many people will start with their New Years resolutions. I say this year throw out your resolutions. They do not work and never have. What we need to do this year is have New Years Commitments! When we commitment to something, we then engage in it.

For a long time I have heard about so many New Years resolutions that people make. The gym is one of the biggest ones repeatedly made by so many. From January through February the gym is packed. By March it is eases up and by April it is back to normal. The problem with resolutions are they become like slogans to people. We do not need slogans, we need commitment.

Commitments are something we bind ourselves with. Yes, people break commitments all the time but you have a far better chance of keeping a commitment than a resolution. This year make at least 3 commitments to yourself that you will keep and make happen at all cost. We do not need 10 or 20 right now. we only need 3. Sit down, and write up a list of the top 20 things you want to change in your life. Then actually number them from 1-20. One being the most important and 20 being the least. Then take the top 3 off the list and devise a plan on how you are going to accomplish them. Once that is done make a solid commitment to making them happen

As a human being we are programmed to want change but in the end we fear change because we say it will never happen, so you figure what is the point? What I believe and know is that fear of change comes in when we do not work on changing enough. We get so used to keeping things as they were. The problem is that you will want to change something at some point in your life. How will you change if you fear changing?

Remember as Anthony Robins says, "repetition is the mother of all learning." You need to work on changing over and over again. The more you do it, the easier it becomes. If you do not like what comes about from the change then you can always change it back.

In 2009 do not make resolutions. Make 2009 your year of commitment and start getting all you want out of life. I wish you a happy New Year and I hope and pray you will seek out lasting change in your life. Life will not slow down just because you do not change. God Bless and be safe.

Why Small Businesses Fail- Pt. 2

Since small business creates so many jobs and brings in revenue for the government you would think they would be bending over backwards to try and be more helpful and supportive. If you think your government cares about your small business then you have been seriously fooled. From the IRS to workers comp to unemployment office, there is no one there to help you in the ways you need help.

Almost every government entity I know of has some pamphlets to hand out or some resource CD to give you but none of it was ever written by anyone who has owned a small business. They are all meager suggestions, and bunch of laws and rules  and nothing more. A list of the do's and don'ts are fine but what you really need are resources for funding, help in solving issues, helpful forms and more. These government agencies really do not get what the real issues are.

When times get tough these agencies will crank down on you. When they see you in trouble they just seem to add to your troubles and not help alleviate them. I am not suggesting they are all bad people or programs and I am not suggesting we do away with them either. What I am suggesting is however that these agencies get revamped and retooled to truly help small businesses grow and prosper long term. Why not have weekly classes with hands on instructors? Why not have advisor's readily available for you who are personable and that can help you with those hard to find answers?

Isn't it time these government agencies soften up and start becoming more inviting and friendlier? What are they worried about? Are they worried about someone cheating the system? There really is no downfall even if someone does cheat the system as economics are this simple. When people make money they spend it. They more they have the more they spend. No matter what more is going in not less. If these agencies only understood this we could be so much better off. I personally am all for a national sales tax. I hate income tax and other forms of this tax. As a small business I need to spend more time focusing on building my business not worrying about the government.

So what do we do in the mean time? Let me make this as clear as I can. Make sure you are keeping good books, use whatever resources you can get from your government agencies and get a good team of  an accountant and attorneys. It is not as expensive as you might think. You can have an attorney on retainer generally as low as $1500. I suggest finding general counsel and one for employment and one for taxes. Those who specialize are generally more expensive an hour but cheaper in the long run because they are already educated highly in that particular field.

Lastly, do not be afraid as there are plenty of normal everyday people working in these agencies. Never be rude even if they are and always be polite and nice. kill them with kindness. The last thing you will want is an upset agent for some government agency who is hell bent on ruining you. Stay tuned for my next installment on Pt. 3 under capitalized.

Why Small Businesses Fail- Pt.1

Understaffed, overworked, under-appreciated, under capitalized, and too much government is the reason small businesses fail. The system is almost set up for failure right from the beginning. These are just the start to your troubles if you own and operate a small business. There is taxes, employees, marketing, sales, operations and so much more. Small business fails because there is not enough resources that are affordable or accessible for a small business.

It was 12:30 a.m. on a Sunday night and there I was up late again doing paperwork. I do not feel sorry for myself, nor do I regret my choices to own small businesses. After all small business is the backbone of this country. What I was regretting however was the fact I wanted to run my business with the resources of a large company but with the flexibility and control of a small business. So I put down the paperwork and started searching for help on the Internet. Sure I found some resources but they were all bits and pieces. A volunteer group here and some Q&A there but nothing that was a complete resource to help me get to bed earlier at night. Then that is when it hit me all at once. Our country needs small business but does very little to support it.

Did you know that 50% of all small business fail within 3-5 years? Most do not even make it to year 2. How can that be when small business is so vital to our country? How can we let this tragedy prevail over and over again? No matter how hard I have searched I cannot find what I am looking for. It has become clear to me in the process that I am not alone. So I sat down with my computer and started getting answers so I could help others just like you.

So I have decided to start a series of blog entries on "why Do Small Businesses Fail" in the hopes it will help others out there and give a clearer picture of what it takes to run a successful small business. I hope you enjoy them and please leave me a comment as I always welcome them.

Part 1 - Begin with the end in mind! I can't tell you how many times people start a business without the proper vision. The meaning behind this saying is that at some point in your life in this new business you will do one of the following: 1. You will die (heaven forbid) 2. You will sell the business 3. you will fail 4. You will pass it on to your children 5. You will just close it down 6. You will build it up to a huge business and then sell it or keep it. I cannot express it enough how important it is to figure this out before you get going. I remember the first time I heard this I was very puzzled. I thought I am just beginning and already I am planning the end? It did not make sense to me. Today I totally get it and have for awhile now. How do you know where you are going if you do not have a plan to get there? This is as elementary as it gets yet so many do not even have a clue or understand this. Would you get on a plane without a destination? I doubt it unless you do not value your life so why do it with your business?

So how do we make a plan? Like I said above first lets figure out what you ultimately want to do with this business. Next let's set some realistic goals to achieve it and we must write them down. After that we will review our plan and last we will put it into motion. After we have done that now we can start to plan the actual business. In Part 2 we will talk about business plans and where to get one.

So what do you do if you have already started your business and did not do this? Well the best thing to do is stop what you are doing immediately and follow my steps above. It is never too late to correct your mistakes once you have made them even if your last business failed. By the way, failure is not the problem with small business, people are. We need to learn to persevere and push onward and do not let bumps in the road beat us down. "one more round" as Rocky puts it in his movies. Get up and keep going. You can do it.

Why do small businesses fail? You know the answer, because we fail to plan. begin with the end in mind and live a happier life. See you next time in space and go for it!

The Automatic Millionaire

I recently Have read the book by David Bach called The Automatic Millionaire. For those of you who have never read it I highly suggest you do so as you will be astounded how much you will learn from this easy to read book. I am not writing a book review on it as much as I am using what I have read to help you use a broader principle in the book. You have to automate everything in your life to get more than 24 hours a day. That's right I said it. You can actually have more hours in the day if you automate everything that you can. The facts are these in life that God only gave us 24 hours in a day. (or whomever you believe gave) I have tried it all and nothing else has worked except one thing. I need to duplicate myself a 100 times over.

In the book, Bach talks about automating your investing by means of on line auto payments, having your employer auto deduct for 401 k contributions and any way you can to set your investing on autopilot. What I suggest is let's take that one step further. Why not automate everything we can so we can spend our time doing what we want to do? We can set up our investing to be automatic. Why not set up our bills to be paid automatic on bill pay for instance? One of the banks I belong to is Bank of America. There may be one better but I have never seen a better on line than Bank of America's. You can perform a huge variety of tasks and in real time. I use their bill pay function amongst other things. I used to make late payments, waste a bunch of time writing out my bills, and a whole variety of other things including being grouchy. I hate paying my bills but I do not do it any more. I deposit my money and the bank does the rest at my direction.

For a complete tutorial on your banks bill pay ask your banker or go on to their website. It is safe, fast and free to highly affordable.

I automate as much as I can in life. I set auto responders on my emails and have automatic signatures. If there is a way to do something once and forget about it I do it. The question is why aren't you? Go ahead and give it a try. You will be amazed by how simple it is to cut down on chores and give yourself back more time in life. Even the skeptics will agree that if you take any suggestions and put them to use then you will gain so much.

The other book and idea I really love is the Four Hour Work Week. The general idea behind this book is that you outsource everything in your life you do not want to do thus giving yourself more freedom in life. What a fabulous idea this is if you understand it. If everyone who reads this thinks like this then your life will be changed forever. What I am about to say is worth billions but you have to believe in it. Even if you have never owned a business you can still do this. You need to start thinking like a high priced CEO of a huge company. What this means is this to you. CEOs do not change their own oil to save a dollar. Walmart or Jiffy Lube is cheap so take it there. They do not clean their own house or take out the garbage to the street. They do not mow lawns, do laundry or wash their own cars. They do not dust, go grocery shopping or run errands. CEOs outsource all of that to everyone else so they can either make money, recuperate their minds and bodies, or they enjoy what they have built. Doing a 10.00 an hour job when you can use your mind to make millions does not make sense so they do not do it. Now you may not want millions but I bet if you could have 5 free hours a week to do as you wish you would consider what I am saying. It's not as hard as you think and not as expensive as you think. Give it a try and see what it does for you.

I would read these books if you have an interest in something better in life. You can get them both on Amazon.com or at Barnes and Nobles. Do yourself a favor and take back your life!

If it sounds too good to be true – quit listening to people and go for it

How many times do we think something is too good to be true and then we share it with a friend or family member and become discouraged? Believe it or not there are plenty of great opportunities out there and they are waiting for someone like you to come along and grab them. Do not scare yourself out of something great and definitely do not listen to others who do not take opportunities and chances. You will never get rich playing safe and you will never find growth without risk.

 I know it may be hard for you if you have never had a lot of success at something to believe that something will work out if yuo stick with it. Be positive and keep your brain wide open. When an opportunity comes along, grab it. Do not hesitate, as you never know what can come out of it. Sure you have a good chance at failing but you also have a great chance at succeeding. You will never know until you take a step forward.

Practice makes perfect and the more you step out on opportunities, the better you will  get at recognizing opportunities when they come along. People aren’t so much lucky as they are always putting themselves in a place to succeed. Have some trust in yourself to be resilient and push through toughness. Nothing great will ever come easy, so go for it.

So where does the lies we tell ourselves come in? The lie for you I bet is that you tell yourself that it is safer to not take a chance, than to take a chance. What a lie to tell yourself? It is more dangerous to stay in your safe, protective comfort zone as it can change for the worse at any minute because you are not taking any action. Planted feet grow moss and roots. Get moving or become part of the weeds.

I am always posting great opportunities with only a moderate response. What this tells me is that either you see no value in my offers or you are not willing to take a chance. The question is what will it take? Get the answer for yourself and go for it. If you do not take my opportunities maybe then take someone else’s . There are plenty out there so you should waste no time.

Visit my website at : www.thecaneicorporation.com for more information on business and improving yourself. You can also view my meetup.com group at: http://www.meetup.com/springfield-friends/

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Defining wealth – How to live better

I have recently turned around a tough financial time in my life in a matter of about 3 weeks. As I now sit here I was thinking about why I got to where I did and why it is important to be where I am at now. In the book by Robert Kyosaki - Rich Dad Poor Dad, the author talks about how you define true wealth. He states that true wealth is how many days can you go without working? For most people the answer is simple and that is a week to two weeks. The average American household has about $1100.00 in liquid cash available to them and that’s it. Poverty is getting worse everyday. If you have $2200.00 in liquid cash in the bank, that puts you in the top bracket of wealth in this country. We are not saving anymore and the spread between the rich and the poor is growing daily. Do you know what happens when this number gets way out of reach? It’s called anarchy. Every great civilization  has fallen in time and it is usually do to an up roaring from the poor. Once anarchy and chaos set in then the collapse happens. Do not get paranoid, get smarter.

In the last three weeks I have paid off all my bills besides my house payment. I reduced $2800.00 a month from my monthly bills. In my business I reduced my monthly overhead by $55,000.00 a month. Think about that in terms of liquid cash. I had to get up everyday and keep paying on bills before I even put a dime in my pocket. It had gotten so bad I just about gave up before I realized I had all the power I needed to turn it all around. In the business I have a little more to do but in two weeks or less I will have it right where we need to be. Why is all of this important? Think about what Rich Dad said. Wealth is defined by how long you can go without working? We need to build in patience and pay for things with cash when we have it. I have done that for years until about last year when I took my eye off the ball. Maybe I may make more than you or she make more than me but our lives are all conducive. We tend to spend to the level we make. What we should be doing is save to the level we make. If we are going to reach our goal of real wealth then we will need to get rid of our bills and start putting liquid cash in the bank. We owe it to ourselves to become wealthy. It is our right and we have the power to make it occur. All we have to do is stay focused and vigilant. If tomorrow comes and I want to stay in bed, I can now stay in bed. We are the masters of our own universe if we set it up that way.

Now, what is your plan for getting started? Sit down and make a list of all the bills you have and what they are costing you a month. Then take one at a time and start paying off. If you need to make more money, then get going. Figure out how much and how long you will need to get a second job, or make extra income to get it all paid off. For more help on setting up a plan, go to my website and sign up for coaching. Good luck to you and start becoming wealthy!

Visit my website at : www.thecaneicorporation.com for more information on business and improving yourself. You can also view my meetup.com group at: http://self-improvement.meetup.com/219/

Learn to make money Blogging

Do you have a passion for writing? Is there a subject that you would really like to bring live to the internet? You can also make more money. You can make a second income or turn it into a full-time income. There are so many scams but blogs are a real medium. With over 300 visitors a day, my blog produces real income for a second stream of revenue. I am on my way to increasing it daily. For $19.95 I can give you a two page report that will walk you step by step on how to set up your own blog account and use it to make money. You do not need to be a webmaster to make your own blog. You also do not need to be a marketing major either. This is not a get rich quick scheme. It takes time and effort but the long term payoffs are big. You can start part-time and get it up and running and increase as much as you want. People do not trust news sources like they use to. From CNN to MSNBC to ABC, the news is delivered as those companies see fit. Blogs are exploding at a fast rate because they are real. I will not teach you to build a rant. No one is really interested in hearing you talk about your daily life or your complaining about needless things. People want real, factual and helpful based articles. They want to know recipes or financial tips and tricks. Maybe you are a great bargain hunter or a handyman with some helpful advice. Whatever your niche is, it will help you make money for you. If you want to get started right away, here is all you need to do. Click on my PayPal button below and pay for the build a blog for $19.95. Once your payment is received, I will send you the report via email where you will be able to take it and go step by step and get blogging. I am confident that this will be very helpful for you and you will be very satisfied. After all, it is such a small price compared to the hours and hours of research I had to do to get started. All sales are final so I only want serious people who are ready to get going.

Visit my website at : www.thecaneicorporation.com for more information on business and improving yourself. You can also view my meetup.com group at: http://self-improvement.meetup.com/219/

Car buying 102- Do not get emotional

Retail car dealerships want you to get emotional about the new car you want. That’s why they are so admit you drive it and sit in it and get the feel for it. They want you to love that car at all cost. Do not get emotional about it.

In my last post I told you to set a time limit and stick to it. This was for two very good reasons. One reason is because you need to remain in control as much as possible. If you give up any of your control in this situation then you will be done for .The second reason is because they want to keep you hanging around and wearing you down. This was made famous by police and investigators. It is called wearing you down so you will sign the confession, or in this case the contract. That’s why the first stage is to get you hooked and get you emotional. They want to build into you that you must have that car and you will not leave without it. They are praying on your emotions and the more they wear you down, the more likely you are to do what it takes. Have no emotion in front of them about the car. In fact, a lot of times I act like the vehicle is ok. I can take it or leave it. I do not show any tiring at all either. I act the same as when I got there. I stay at one level the whole time.

I also want to point this out to you too. The salesperson, the sales manager, and the finance person are all part of an act. The salesman acts either dopey or like a pro. The sales manager is the bad person. The Finance Manager is the numbers guy. They all work in tandem to dominate you and get you where they want to. They leave you in a room or at a table or booth for periods at a time. One comes in and then one leaves. They peer at you over the booth they are in and all of it to work you. They come in and talk to you out of both sides of their mouths so when they leave you say , “ huh?” Don’t let them rattle you. Stay calm and keep cool. Do not argue in front of them with your spouse or on the phone.

Lastly, do not take a bus to the dealership or act desperate in any way. Borrow a friend’s car if need be or have them go with you. I also suggest taking someone with you who sits there quietly, looking disapproving. Have a plan ahead of time for them to never talk while any dealership personnel are in there. This will cause uneasiness but is very effective. When I am talking about dealerships I am not talking about all dealerships nor am I talking about manufacturers like Ford, Toyota, Chevy, Mazda, etc. This practice has been changing a bit over the years but still is very prevalent in the industry. Stay tuned as I will give more opinions on how you can save time, money and your sanity. For more stories on Car buying you can also see specials on 60 minutes, Dateline and other news programs on line.

Visit my website at : www.thecaneicorporation.com for more information on business and improving yourself. You can also view my meetup.com group at: http://self-improvement.meetup.com/219/

Car buying 101 - what the car dealerships do not want you to know.

Do you dread car dealerships like the plague? Does the thought of buying a new car excite you and make you sick all in the same thought?  Have you ever thought about why? Well today we are going to help you out and save you money. We are going to give you the inside to winning when buying a car. These are my opinion and I have successfully bought approximately 10 cars doing it this way but you will need to figure out how to make your personality work for you with these tips. Keep in mind and I mean this sincerely, you are lame to car salesman. They believe you are stupid and do not know any better. There are some out there that are great salespeople and are genuine but the group as a hole is very wrong. So let’s get started and be ready as I will give it to you straight.

First of all, you need to get clear right now. This is a game we are playing here and you need to win. Losing means giving away your cold hard cash and that is not an option. My first suggestion is to deal with fleet sales. This is the non-retail side to buying a car. You can get their attention particularly well if you have some form of a business and act like you are going to but more cars in the future. I am not suggesting to you to lie but remember this is a game to them so know the rules. Besides, it’s probably true as you will probably buy more cars in the future particularly if this transaction goes well. Next, start with the price of their car. If they ask tell them you are paying with cash. This will prevent them from trying to focus on everything at once and get you turned upside down. Negotiate the cost of the car and not payments and especially not interest rates. This will be a tip you need to get financed. They love financing as they make money on getting you financed. Do not accept stupid add ons like under coatings or some widget not important. Take them down 5-10% of the listed price at a minimum. The nice thing is that fleet service usually is better about price and play less games but games they still do play.

Once you have gotten the price where you want it then talk about what they will give you for your trade in. Go on to kellybluebook.com and know what your car is worth. Then go on that dealership site and see if they have any used cars comparable to yours. Information is powerful if used right.  Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that when you first arrived there give them a deadline like 30 minutes. Tell them if we can’t get this done in 30 – 45 minutes then you will walk. When that time comes around if you are not almost done (like 5 minutes from completion) then say bye to them. You can always give them a second chance but do not let them string you out for 2-3 hours as this is how they will get you to sign to anything.

Next is financing. Tell them you decided that you want to finance the car instead. You tell them exactly what you are willing to put down on the deal. Be reasonable but whatever you say to them must be final. Do not get inched along.

Lastly, gap insurances and warranties are something to consider but just know that they are a huge profit center for them and you usually never get the value out of them. Make sure you really want them before you say yes. Also, a lot of times the price is negotiable even when they tell you that they are not. You do not need to be rude or a liar but you do need to be firm and cunning a bit. When you drive off in your new car, smile all the way to your savings account with the left over money you saved!

Making money flipping houses - Its curb appeal

Its the old adage, your first impression is the most important. How someone feels when they pull up to the house is very important. Most people buy on emotion or emotional attachment to something. If you are going to buy and flip houses you need to capture them before they hit the door. I do not know the percentages exactly but I will bet most people determine they will buy a house 75% of the time based upon how they felt driving up to the house for the first time. It has to reach out a grab them or forget they are done.

Do not go and spend a ton of money on the interior as you will not do yourself as well as throwing up a picket fence and slapping a fresh coat of paint and some shutters on the front. Pressure wash the roof and sweep and clean. Make the front sparkle and give it some character. I am so confident that this is the case, I do not hesitate to tell you it. You need to create a feeling, a mood, a sentiment and people will get wrapped up in it. They want to decorate the inside anyways but the outside needs to sing Brady bunch or whatever captures them. Make your first impression the best it can be and make your curb appeal the best it can be for the smallest dollars. If you would like help on your project with advice or having a contractor do the work visit www.phcpropertyservices.com. They will be glad to assist you no matter where you are located.

How to adjust to high gasoline prices

It may become a reality this summer for gas to hit $4.00 a gallon. This is incredible but it is not life ending. I do not agree with the greedy oil companies and what they are doing nor do I trust the President and the government in this crisis. What I do know is that life needs to continue on and we need to adjust to what is happening. Let’s break down what you can do to deal with the rising gas costs and where you can save some money. I will also look at the pros and cons to doing certain measures in regards to the high costs of gas. Remember, we are not here to complain. What we are here for is to find a solution to what is being dealt with us. That is all we can do right now. In the long run we can get active in the politics of it or protest or whatever you would like.

I hate to pick and poke at your daily life and spending habits but I will. Let’s assume that we are complaining about how expensive gas is and how it is bankrupting you and you do not know how you will deal with the increase. Once the complaining is off of your mind let’s get busy and start analyzing. Let’s say before the big increase it was costing you a $100.00 a month in gas. It has now doubled and you are paying $200.00 a month. I will not minimize that $100.00 is a lot of money but let’s look at where we can make up the shortfall of cash due to the increase. Lattes are an average of $4.00 each for a 16oz. How many of you are out there getting one to two a day of these? Even at one a day times thirty days that comes out to $120.00. We do not want to get rid of all of our pleasures so let’s cut these down 33% of our normal consumption. We would save $40.00 by doing this. We are already 40% towards making up the gas increase. Next, take and reduce your electricity use by 5%. This will save you an average of $30.00 month. What it takes to reduce your electricity output is remove a few light bulbs. Turn off and unplug all appliances when not in use, keep exterior lights off when not outside, and take shorter showers. You can also re-use your towels as much as possible. What about cable? Do you have the full package or extras? What about extra boxes and remotes? Remove those and save an average of $15.00 a month. How about smoking cigarettes? Cut out 5 a day or cut it out all together. Make a list before you go grocery shopping and stick to it. You would be surprise how much you can save by doing this. Pay all of your bills on time and do not get late fees. These add up quickly and have no value to you. Refinance your home and get a cheaper payment. Bring your lunch to work and do not eat out. When you dine out it is very costly. Ask for a raise at work to help offset the gas prices. This will only work if you are due for one or you have a generous boss.

Buying a new car to save on gas is not as good as you think. If you have to put down a down payment then that will take you awhile to recoup in gas. Remember we are trying to cover the increase in gas not spend more. This seems like a smart thing to do but only helps you long term.

Getting a debt consolidation loan is a good way to go if you can reduce your overall monthly expenses by a noticeable amount. I caution you though to not get yourself in even worse debt by racking up even more.

Staging a gas protest is tricky busy as getting everyone in the country to not get gas one day doesn’t make sense. The oil companies know you will just buy it the next day. They will lose no profits by this. What we should do is buy some lower brand of gas and choke out the larger companies so they will reconsider what they are doing. We can also cut down our consumptions. The biggest problem is that we love to be independent and drive ourselves wherever we want whenever we want. This is why they have us where they want us.

There are so many ways to make up the increase in gas prices. Do not let them become another excuse to hold you back in life. Find a solution to this problem and prosper during tough times. We will be just fine if we learn to adjust to constantly in life. Keep your eyes wide open and your brain thinking.

Visit my website at : www.thecaneicorporation.com for more information on business and improving yourself. You can also view my meetup.com group at: http://self-improvement.meetup.com/219/

What will you do?

One day life will punch you in the stomach with a situation that may be life threatening or a tough situation. This is a guarantee in life. The question will not be how will you avoid it? The question will be, “What will you do about it?” How will you respond to life’s challenges? I know that you have two choices. One will be that you can just lie down and the other is that you can rise up and face the challenge. The choice will always be yours. The outcome is depended on your attitude.

What will it do for you to give up? I was talking to one of my attorneys one day and he told me about one of his clients. He had walked by the client in the parking lot one day (they had offices in the same complex) . He asked his client how he was doing and his client said, “Well I have just found out I have prostate cancer and I am closing down by business. I will probably not see you next year as I will more than likely be dead!” He would die three months later as he had already decided he would die! The brain is a powerful tool and when you tell your brain what is going to happen, it makes it happen. Now I am not God or a doctor but I am pretty sure that his client could have made it a long time if he could change his mind. I mean think about what he did. He prepared his store for closing as he had already lost. He was willing to accept his sentence and take the death sentence. In the book by Lance Armstrong called It’s not about the Bike; Lance shows a spirit that said to the world that he will not lie down and die. His mother and his wife had the same spirit. His friends and family all were resolved to beat this cancer he had. He had testicular cancer which is very fast moving. He decided that he had no choice but to beat it and he did. He also went on to have a career that has been even more victorious than before the cancer. Lance showed me that I decide how the show ends by the way I think. Giving up is never an option for me. I have never had cancer and I hope I never do but if I do, I will not lay down and die. What will you do if you had cancer? What do you do if you are bankrupt? What do you do when your kids act up? How about when you are fighting with your spouse or if your business is failing? Do you lay down and take it?

I know that when harsh situations and bad circumstances present themselves in life you go into survival mode. This is very normal and you are not alone but consider this if you will. What would happen if you decided not to survive but instead you decided to thrive instead? Think about that idea. Instead of just getting through the situation, you actually came out ahead. How amazing would that feel to you? Wouldn’t that just empower you forever? Wouldn’t you just continually be able to take every bad situation and turn it around as once you learn the secret to success, it changes the whole way you approach situations. Life will never change. You will always be presented with these unavoidable realities and you will always have a choice how you deal with them. No, life will not always come out exactly how you want, but you will have a much better chance at making it the way you want it. Do not lie down or go into survival mode. Rise up and take a stance on the outcome. Be brave and face down adversity and give yourself a fighting chance. If I am wrong, then you will still die of cancer. If I am right, then you will be in permanent remission and living a full life. Call me on your one year reunion of your remission. I would love to add you to my success stories.

Visit my website at : www.thecaneicorporation.com for more information on business and improving yourself. You can also view my meetup.com group at: http://self-improvement.meetup.com/219/

Get out of debt: A step by step guide

Like many things in life that you want to be successful in, you need to make a plan on getting out of debt. There is no one way to do it but I have comprised a step by step guide to give you an idea of how I went about it. It was 100% effective for me but your results may vary. Keep in mind that you need discipline to execute these steps and methods. The problem with that is probably what you lacked to get in debt to begin with. You do not need to worry though as we can start today disciplining ourselves to a debt free or a more debt free life.

My philosophies on what I consider bad debt is debt that is non-productive or that makes no sense paying off. Paying off your house makes no sense unless you want to. At today’s interest rates and with the tax advantages having the debt of your home is OK. Debt that you have used for business purpose is OK for the short haul. Do not have guilt over this debt. Car payments under 8-10% are not bad either. Everything else should probably go. I call this bad debt and we want to eliminate it so we can use our money more effectively. The following is my step by step guide to getting out of debt:

1. Cut up your retail credit cards. They have too high of an interest rate and they are designed to keep you coming back for more. Buy from those stores with cash. Do not get sucked in by getting 10% off today if you open a card because they will get it right back in interest rates.

2. Take one bill at a time and pay more on it. Pay the minimum on the rest. Pay those bills of one at a time until they are all gone. Do not look at the other bills while you are doing this or it may discourage you. Focus only on the one you want to pay off. Send in the minimums on the rest.

3. If you have a medical bill you are paying off you can negotiate a cheaper rate with the hospital. A lot of times they will reduce the debt to a reasonable amount for you. You may also qualify for state help if you are really poor. Check with the hospital billing office for details.

4. If you are behind with your utilities call them up and get put on a payment plan. If you stick to it they will work with you. You can also do this to help you pay off high interest credit cards faster. I like to call it the float. I float bills all the time when I want to pay off something else faster.

5. Go to the grocery store and take a list and a budget. Groceries can blow a budget out of the water quicker than anything. Do not go over your limit.

6. You can pay your credit cards, house payment and car payments twice a month to your creditors. You still pay the same price but it stops the interest once the first payment is received. For instance if you pay $1,000.00 a month on your house, send in $500.00 on the first and $500.00 on the fifteenth. This will reduce your debt quicker. Do not take no for an answer as the credit companies do not want you doing this.

7. Do not pay late fees. get your payments in on time. Do not give away money to needless things.

8. Work off a budget and stick to it. If you over spend one month then you will need to make up for it in the months to come so you can balance out at the end of the year.

9. Lower the interest rate on any debt you can. Use lower credit cards to wipe out debt from higher cards, etc. The higher the rate the more you will pay.

10. Take out spending money ahead of time at the beginning of the week and stick to it. also brown bag it as much as possible. Bringing lunch is way cheaper than buying it.

Control your spending and pay off your debt quickly. Get great satisfaction in every debt you wipe away

Visit my website at : www.thecaneicorporation.com for more information on business and improving yourself. You can also view my meetup.com group at: http://self-improvement.meetup.com/219/

10 businesses you can start for under $3,000.00

The following is a list of 10 businees you can start for under $3,000.00. If you are interested in finding out further how you can start these businesses'. I will put a link at the bottom for you. Here is the list:

1. Pooper scooper business. This job is crap and people will pay you to come to their house weekly to do it. The approx. start up price is $800.00 to $3,000.00 depending on how much you want to start with.

2. Handyman business - Start out of your home for as little as $3,000.00.

3. Gutter and roof cleaning - Some people should not be up on a ladder and that is where you can come in. The approx. cost is as little as a truck or van and approx. $1,500.00

4. Freelance marketing and research firm - Research and marketing is expensive and people will outsource to you because it is cheaper. You can start this up for as little as $2,500.00

5. Referral service - you can set up a referral business in many areas to refer service professionals to customers. You can start this up for as little as $2,000.00.

6. Sell on Ebay or craigslist. - There are a number of items that sell well so why not get on board - You can start this for as little as $1,000.00 up to $3,000.00.

7. Honey do lists - There are plenty of people who need to get things done and will pay you to do it. You can start this up for as little as $1,000.00

8. Courier Business - start a mom and pop delivery service that is local. Keep your prices cheap and people will use you all day long. Start this with a vehicle and approx. $1800.00.

9. Lawn service - Start this business with our love for out doors and hard work. Approx cost will be up to $3,000.00 and a truck.

10. Gift Baskets - Start a business form home selling gift baskets. This is a growing trend that can be started for as little as $2,500.00.

If you are interested in buying the how to on these ideas please email me at: robert.k@thecaneicorporation.com. The cost of these ebooks is $19.99. This is a small investment for what you can make. I guarantee that these businesses are a real viable way to make money right away.

Visit my website at : www.thecaneicorporation.com for more information on business and improving yourself. You can also view my meetup.com group at: http://self-improvement.meetup.com/219/

HOW To Use Time Sensitive Offers To Turbocharge Your Sales

My friend had not had a bath in over three days, there where pizza boxes littered across his apartment, and a funky odor filled the room.

As I walked into his apartment, I quickly became disorientated and started to feel myself losing consciousness. I felt my eyes starting to roll back into my head, and staggered to the window to get a breath of fresh air.

"John," I mumbled to my usually hygienic friend, "what happened to you?"

He then gave me a wry smile and his eyes became as large as Bill Gate's bank account.

My friend led me over to the TV where he had on "The Home Shopping Network".

John needed to take some time off work to relax, but within three short days, had become a 'Home Shopping junkie'.

My normal, levelheaded friend, had become hypnotized by one of marketing's most powerful techniques: Time sensitive offers.

If he didn't order "Peppi the singing fish" within the next 15 minutes, the offer would be gone forever.

The Yoda phone that exclaimed, "May the force be with you" when it rang would disappear into a galaxy far far away if he didn't act now. They only had 100 left in stock!

As I sat there watching my zombified friend order useless items he would never use, I decided I needed to apply this same technique to my own business.

I care deeply about all of my customers, so I wanted to make sure of two things:

- My offers would only be for useful products and services.

- The offers had to truly be time sensitive.

The results where astounding.

The first time sensitive offer I brought to my customers almost tripled my sales. I was immediately hooked.

Now I almost never make an offer unless it is time sensitive.

For my offers I use a customized script that keeps track of my orders or counts down the time left until the offer expires. When my product is sold out, or the offer has expired, the script then removes the order page.

I rarely make exceptions and extend the offer, unless someone had a problem ordering the product.

So how can you implement this strategy into your business?

To have a successful offer you should generally follow these two simple rules:

- Make the offer truly special (give a discount, extra bonuses, etc.)

- Make sure the offer is pulled when you say it will be.

I have tested 72, 48 and even 24-hour offers with impressive results.

These kinds of offers usually pull much better than if I limit the offer to 20-30 packages.

However, each list is different. So don't be afraid to test various offers until you find the right formula for maximum sales.

The kiss of death, and quickest way to lose credibility with your customers, is to make an offer that insults their intelligence.

Don't make a 48-hour offer, then run it for a week, just to make extra sales.

Your customers will quickly catch on to this, and you will see your response rates fall drastically.

Treat your customers with respect, and they will return the favor by making your bank account balloon to new levels.

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HOW To Use Fear To Catapult Yourself To Success

The invisible force surrounded him, squeezing tightly around his chest. His eyes became wide and bewildered. Suddenly his mind raced with dark thoughts, his stomach churned, and he became engulfed with a sense of hopelessness.

This man had just come face to face with FEAR. Now he had a life altering choice to make, one that we all must face: Fight it off, or let it destroy his dreams.

You will never face a more worthy adversary than your own fear. It knows all of your weaknesses, and it will try to use them against you.

The thing about fear, is that it preys on your innermost demons. You can't hide these thoughts, because this dark force lives inside you. It hides in the shadows of your mind, eagerly awaiting the opportunity to pounce and create self-doubt.

Fear will manifest itself in many ways, and the more you feed it, the more control it has over your life.

To become a successful online marketer, you must prepare yourself mentally to wage a personal battle against your inner demons and self-doubt. In fact, it is almost a requirement that you think in a positive way. You must visualize your own success, even before it happens. Your family and friends can only offer you so much support and encouragement, but in the end, you must fight this battle alone.

If you are serious about making money online, you must strive to become a professional marketer. In a nutshell, a professional is someone who does their job, no matter what the circumstances are. They have fear just like you, but they don't let it control them. In fact, many professionals use it as a motivating factor to achieve their goals (I.e. fear of failure). Learning how to control your fear won't happen overnight, but with practice, it can be done.

Becoming self-confident isn't something that just happens. It is a state of mind you must put yourself into. You must teach your mind how to react to negative thoughts, and push these thoughts away with positive thinking.

Fear is simply a negative thought about a future event, which often times is something you have total control over.

Remember, if you allow fear to control your life, you will have something much worse to live with:

Regret.

Sadly, you can't control regret, because it is an emotion based on a past event. It is no longer something you can change.

I can think of nothing worse than waking up one day and saying to myself "What if..."

Looking for quality resale rights products? Michael Rasmussen and Jason Tarasi own and operate one of the Net's premiere resell rights membership sites. To claim your free resell rights package, visit this site now -
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The basics of financial planning

One of the worse things I ever heard in financial planning came about 8 years ago. I had a personal financial consultant come over to my house and sit down with me to discuss my plans. He asked me how much would me and my wife was making now. Let's say I said $5,000.00 a month. He then asked me the stupidest thing I have ever heard when it comes to retirement. He said, “how much money will you need when you retire?" I asked him "what do you mean?" He then proceeded to say this; “well you are making $5,000.00 a month now, how would $3500.00 a month work when you are retired? You won't have the expenses of going to work and it will be money from investments. Does this sound like an ok figure?" How stupid does that sound? I mean does that make sense at all? I want to work all my life to finally have free time and I now get less money to do it on? I don't want less money when I have free time, I want more money. Doesn't this seem logical to you? Well for me it is a no brainer. I need to plan ahead to be able to do all the things I have no time for now and unfortunately they all cost money.

This is just a starting point to plan your financial planning. Like most things I talk about, you must begin with the end in mind. What is it we want to accomplish? What will it look like when we reach our goal? Are you planning for retirement or for a sound financial life period. Know where you are going so planning the rest is easy. Keep in mind that it is called planning for a reason. Do not plan on the fly. Sit down and come up with your plan ahead of time and then execute it.

If you are lacking a sound financial plan, start simple. Do not try to be complicated or sophisticated. Start small and build up to more. Do not pay attention to someone else when you are starting out. Focus on your own planning and build in the new discipline.

Make it a game and make it fun. I love watching my assets grow. If it bores you or is daunting, then you will fizzle. See how fast you can make your investments grow and prosper.

Lastly, do not ever get discouraged. Stay the course and keep on trucking as eventually you will start to see real growth and solidarity in your finances. Remember we have a plan now so we can feel secure in the fact we are actually getting somewhere and that with direction. I do suggest you get a mentor or a financial planner. There is nothing wrong with saying I need help. You should just make sure that you get someone who is knowledgeable and has the same mindset that you need. Interview several until you connect with the right one. Pick others minds for methods and advice but be careful not get bad advice. Make sure if they talk a good story that it seems they are also walking strong. So many people get led down a bum path because their expert cousin gave them advice when all the while his electricity is being shutoff and they foreclosed on his house. Do your homework and come up with a plan and get moving.

Visit my website at : www.thecaneicorporation.com for more information on business and improving yourself. You can also view my meetup.com group at: http://self-improvement.meetup.com/219/

Would you rather be born rich or intelligent?

Having been poor I will tell you that all I thought about growing up was becoming rich. Money was on my mind constantly. When you are born with no money it is hard to appreciate intelligence yet as the years have passed and I have realized my potential. I definitely would have to say that I would rather be born intelligent than rich. I am not saying that the rich are dumb but I will say that when you are poor yet intelligent, it allows a sense of creativity and freedom. I am not being closed off to the idea just because I was born poor but I understand what being poor and intelligent has done for me. I would not classify myself now as rich but I am pretty close. I have now lived on the other side of the coin and I can say that I defiantly know a different side of life because of it.

When I was poor I was always imaging what I would do with money. I first had the thought that working hard was the key to achieving the green but soon learned that wasn’t it. Eventually I learned that intelligence was the key as it would help get me rich and keep me rich. I went on a quest for 20 years stuffing my head with a wealth of knowledge. I said a wealth of knowledge because that is what it has done for me. My intelligence has created wealth and has taught me what to do with it. I had to train my brain to think rich and live like I was poor. I had created a sense of both worlds. Being born rich I do not believe allows you to know what it is like to be poor. By being poor I was resourceful. I had to be as I had no other options. I learned the value of money and what it takes to get it. I had to seek out role models of varied sorts who had money. I do not believe you would do this if you were already wealthy as your parents probably would provide all you desired. Being poor I was always hungry for more and would let that drive me daily. I would never settle on good enough. I spent my days dreaming of all I could accomplish once I was rich. The drive of being poor is endless as I was smart enough to know that I didn’t want to end up poor. Living the life I did I had many luxuries afforded to me that I would have missed if I was born rich instead.

Being born rich does have some good advantages. When you are born rich you live around other rich people. You get to see firsthand what it takes to be rich. Rich know money secrets that are foreign to the poor called financial intelligence. Being born rich leaves you not wanting much but affords most. Being born rich usually gets you a private education. Being born rich allows financial freedom and gives you more choices in life. Usually when you are born rich your parents are business minded and like to pass that down. You get the benefit of understanding business at a young age. This obviously gives you advantages later on in life. I was not born rich so I do not know firsthand. What I know is what I have seen. Most of my friends growing up were born rich. What I seen from them I did not want as most of them seemed crippled but the money. There was an arrogance that stopped them from a higher calling. Ten years after high school some were still at home or no where special in life.

I would have loved to be born rich but yet I would still want to be intelligent. If I had a choice between the two I still take intelligence all day long as I can always get rich. What would you choose? Would you go for the money or would you take a life time of smarts and go after the money? This is a tough question to answer but I hope you would choose as I did. We need more intelligence in this world that money cannot buy.

Visit my website at : www.thecaneicorporation.com for more information on business and improving yourself. You can also view my meetup.com group at: http://self-improvement.meetup.com/219/

The link between money and happiness

Money is no different than anything else in life. You decide how money makes you feel. Tying emotion to it is decided by the individual. I do not think money buys you happiness unless you decide it does. I also do not believe that money is the root of all evil unless that is your mindset. I will explore the difference to both of these attitudes and what we can do to decide how we will feel about money.

Money since the beginning of time has come in many forms for many countries. Gold always seems to be the king of currency since forever. If you want the best example to figure out about the link to money and happiness this would be it. Gold is shiny and is heavy. It is a mysterious metal that is not just laying around everywhere. It is hard to get but makes many smile. We are emotional about gold as currency or as jewelry. The flip side is some people have no opinion about gold at all except that it is a necessary evil. As human beings we stimulate our brain to decide what money means to us. When we have it, we send a chemical response to our brain that excites us. When we are lacking it, we generally send a negative response to our brain. Either way the choice is ours. What would stop you from sending a negative reaction to your brain if you are lacking funds? Think about it, you have the option of that being negative or positive. You get to decide. Do not fool yourself about this. You have the power, not me, or the bill collector, or government. You are the one in charge of this.

When we have enough money, we say to yourself, “I am happy, I feel safe and secure and I can spend extra money!" When you are broke you say to yourself, “I am uptight, I am frustrated, and I feel insecure!" I am not suggesting that you ever jump for joy about being broke but you can have a much different attitude about it. You also have the right to attach negative thoughts and have negative attitude towards money. The choice is all yours. Money is not an object that has any more power than what you assign to it. Do not give up any power than you do not want to money. What needs to happen is that you first discover how you feel about money and then determine how you want to feel about it. Then you need to live it.

I am often surprised how people feel so controlled by money and come up with so many urban legends or mottos about money. These are usually passed down from generation to generation. You probably feel about money how your parents did. If your thoughts are healthy then you should keep them. If they are unhealthy then maybe you should reevaluate them and change them.

Visit my website at : www.thecaneicorporation.com for more information on business and improving yourself. You can also view my meetup.com group at: http://self-improvement.meetup.com/219/

Teaching kids about money management

I grew up in the 70's and 80's where money talk at the dinner table was definitely taboo. Financial education in our house was done in a very peculiar way. I would say, "can I have a new baseball glove?" My parents reply would be, " do we look like qwe are made of money?" I then proceeded to get slapped as I said, "no, you aren't green but a pale shade of pink!" That was about the top lesson in money management I ever received at home. I knew two things clearly. One is that I wanted things. Two, was we didn't have the money for those things. Money management is a weird thing as to have money, you need to know how to manage it. To not have money, is hard to manage. All joking aside, my mother taught me to pay my bills, balance my check book, and never pay anything late. I loved my mother dearly, but in retrospect this should have been just one small lesson in a succession of lessons. If we are ever going to have a great society we need to turn things around in educating our children about money management.

My perspective comes from being poor growing up. I was blessed to have a spirit of wanting so it pushed me to find a way to earn money. That was the easy part. The hard part was I never learned money management until about 8 years ago. I wonder the possibilities had I actually been taught it as a child? Oh well, no looking back in regret but I will learn from it. We defiantly talk about money at the dinner table often n my house. I work on keeping my children innocent but not naive. I will not spout out one liners like, "pay your bills, and credit cards are bad." This doesn't tell them anything useful and what it would seem to be is a scare tactic by me. This will only lead to rebellion on their parts and when they find out what I mean, it will be too late. We talk about business, and loans, and how wealthy we are. We talk about struggles, what is a check book, why you need credit. There is not much we will not discuss even with the six year old. Children are like sponges when they are real young so do not be afraid. You will be surprised what they will learn. My children live a pretty good life where they go without very little but mostly everything is earned. I do not believe in allowances but paying for their keep and giving bonuses. They have chores and special tasks to try and teach them what it takes to live in this world. Waiting until eighteen is a recipe for disaster. Tell them and teach them now when they will not be hurt by learning.

I have noticed today that the twenty somethings want everything now and do not want to earn it. They want to be CEO without any training and their goal setting is at an all time low for the past several generations. I would suspect that even with the Internet around, they have been given so little in money management or financial planning period. It is not too late but it is going to be hard to correct. What we should do is make sure if you have children that you take the time to have a talk about money. If you are money illiterate then seek out help. There are many out there who can help you in the education of your kids in money management. Do not fear the unknown as once you start you will be so happy by what gets achieved very quickly. There is so much ignorance in the world when it comes to money management. Is it any coincidence that 10% of the people hold 90% of the money? Wait, it is actually now 9% or so. We need to turn this around before we collapse as a society. The poor will uprise one day and over throw because of lack of money. This isn't bizarre as it has happened several times in history. The best investment we can make is to teach our children. Help us all out by giving them good lessons in money management. Don't make the mistakes my parents made. I know they loved me but they didn't know better. After you have read this article though, you have no excuse!

Why can't I be rich?

This is probably a really simple answer that may be hard to correct for you. Everyone who lives in this country has the same opportunity to become rich. A very select few are actually born into real riches and don't have to work. For the rest of us we will have to go out and make it happen. There is no age limit. I have seen it happen at 16 years old and it has happened at 65 years old. The reason you may not be able to be rich is because you may have never been taught how to be rich. You were probably taught by your mom and dad, who in turn were taught by there mom and dad. Being rich is a state of mind. In the book by Robert Kyosaki called Rich Dad Poor Dad, he writes a simple story about two kids. One has the rich dad, who is a business man. The other kid's dad is poor dad who is highly educated and has a good job. The book tells the tale about the American dream and how two people set out in life trying to make a life for themselves and their family. What you end up discovering in the story is that one works for money(the poor dad) and one has money work for him(the rich dad)In order to be rich, you have to think rich.

If you are to become rich, you must start with this question. How much money do I need to become rich? Can you imagine such a large number in your bank account? What would 5 million dollars look like? How big of a stack of one hundred dollar bills would it be? My definition of rich is, how many days can I go without working? I am still getting up and going to work so I need to think bigger and work less. Think about this thought I am about to pose to you. Have you ever know someone with money? Getting real riches start out hard but as you begin to build wealth, you discover you need to do less. Rich people figure out a way to make more money and do less getting it! Wait a minute. You are sitting there dead on your feet after your 12 hour day, exhausted. Were you not told to work hard and save and you can have a rich life? Do the right thing, obey the law, love what you do and everything will work out? You went to college and got a degree. This was supposed to be what I needed to make big money. What happened to all my riches? The answer is you got what you worked for. You work hard, you got a hard life. You went to college; you got a good job and a gold watch after 30 years. Does any of this make sense to you?

Think about how money works. You can work for one year and put $40,000.00 in the bank but you can spend $40,000.00 in about 2 seconds with one key stroke. If you kill yourself day in and day out to make money, it will never match up to how money works. Money needs to work for you and not against you. Spread that money out and get it working. Learn new ways of investing and compounding it. Figure out every way you can to put money away so it will grow. I do not believe in the Millionaire next door theory. The idea is to live a frugal life so at the end you can have a short life with riches. I do not want to work until 65 and then have some money to retire on, and find out 6 months later I have cancer and then die. I want to enjoy my daily life, living great, all the while I am building wealth. I will have a good life now and a even better one in 10 years when I retire.

Dream big and reach high should be your motto. Start following a game plan to get your riches. You need to have an investment strategy. Implement your goals, and then chase your dreams. Remember the biggest part to you reaching your riches is education about money. You will need to start all over and learn how to make money work for you. Learn investment strategies of the rich. Get a financial adviser who understands the same. Turn your financial world upside down and become rich. If you are asking yourself why can't I be rich, then you are in trouble. Ask yourself instead, why can't I be rich? This will motivate you to get the answer. You can be rich, just start moving.

Visit my website at : www.thecaneicorporation.com for more information on business and improving yourself. You can also view my meetup.com group at: http://self-improvement.meetup.com/219/

Never give up: How to keep your dreams alive

Dreams are a lot like chopping fire wood. If you keep looking at every piece you chop it will seem like a life time until you are warm. Know your goal upfront, have a plan and keep chopping looking back occasionally. After a while, you will have enough wood for the winter. I use wood chopping to point out many things in life. I always struggled with chopping the wood, but always enjoyed a nice warm fire when it was 20 degrees outside and snowing. Can you imagine what would happen if you gave up chopping fire wood because it was hard or tiresome? If that is your only heat, you will freeze to death. This is not an option and neither is giving up on your dreams.

There are many ideas and techniques out there that people use to keep on track. The best thing I do in my daily life is envision what it will be like when my dreams come true. I cannot imagine my life before I had dreams and the drive to pursue them. It must have been horrible as I would have had no hope. I love chasing my dreams every day. They seem impossible but I know that if I just keep chopping, I will get there. I stay convicted that I will achieve them. I am certain and no one can tell me different. I must guard them continually so that no one will talk me out of them or sway me. A couple of weeks ago, I was talking to a young girl in a store. I go in there all the time and we had started to talk more. She told me she was working 3 jobs on one accassion. I was impressed. She also told me she was going to school to be a wedding planner. Again, I was impressed with her drive and determination. She then proceeded to tell me she wants to plan and run weddings of $100,000.00 plus. I laughed a bit and quickly caught myself. I was laughing as I could tell this girl was hardworking but unrealistic and shooting way high out of the gate. Yet I know I shouldn't try to knock her down with my insensitiveness about her dreams. After all she was determined, and had very specific goals. Who am I to give a chuckle at her adolescence or immaturity? Luckily she did not pick up on what I had done. I knew better and had guilt on my heart for days after.

What would you do if you didn't keep your dreams alive? Will you be able to get out of bed with the same conviction every morning? What would your thoughts be about? I would not know what I would do as every day I am excited to keep marching towards my dreams and goals. I love the excitement of living my dreams. Recently, I had a thought about great people in history of all countries. What would our world look like today if these people had never dreamed? Would there be space exploration? Would we have civilized government? Who would be the rich and who would be the poor? Would the internet even be a reality? I know life would exist but what kind of life? I got all tense and uptight so I stop thinking about such travesties. I like living in my dreams and I have hope so does everyone else. Dreams give strength to the poor and disadvantaged. They help a proper man act like a kid. Dreams built Disney Land and inspired the Beetles.

Maybe you are sitting there defeated right now as your dreams seem hopeless. Maybe you even feel like a failure, but the only failure will be is if you don't keep your dreams alive. There is an answer, keep on going. Talk yourself into one more round. Find what it will take and see if something new will get you back on track. Seek out someone who has been there and get their advice and expertise. Do not just sit there with pity on your mind. Stand up and seek out your dreams. No one could knock me off course with a ton of bricks and a Mack Truck! I am resolved in my quests. I will achieve my dreams one way or another and I am thankful for the fighting spirit I have. You can do it as I believe in you. You must also believe in yourself first! Remember; do not give up on your dreams as you may be one moment away from achieving them!

The difference between bad debt and good debt

I like to think that I have two kinds of debt. Bad debt, which I put on my retail credit card, and good debt which is a visa card I used to invest in a start up business. A long time ago, I had to claim bankruptcy, or at least that is what I thought at the time. In looking back on that situation I discovered three things. One is that I didn't have one good piece of debt on the Bankruptcy form. The second thing I learned is that I really didn't need to claim bankruptcy. The last thing I learned is very important is that if I had managed my debt to begin with I would have never got to the point that I did. Let's focus first on what I mean by bad debt.

Bad debt is debt that generally drags you down. It is a self prison that you put yourself into. The scenario goes like this, “wow that is a great deal! I really do not have the money though. Oh, I can put it on my retail credit card! I can make payments on the camera. It is the latest and greatest camera, I just have to have it. The best part is that I only have to make payments of $15.00 a month on it.” The problem is that by the time you pay off that camera, not only is it no longer on sale(by way of all the interest you paid- probably 23%) there is also a good chance you will no longer have the camera. Either way you have to get up and go to work to pay for it. You have no choices to make at that point! Bad debt usually comes with buyer’s remorse as it was a whole lot of fun for a day or two then all the romance goes away. What was once new is now old and it doesn't derive the same feelings for you anymore. Also, you suddenly see Bill and he has the latest and greatest camera now and it does twice the cool stuff yours does. How can he afford that? I remember my brother bought some really cool tires and rims when I was younger for his four by four. Six months into them, the truck was stolen. His insurance did not cover them but he still had to pay his debt! I thought at 14 how ridiculous this was! What I should have thought was, how ridiculous this was my brother did this to himself! He was a smart guy but today I know he made a poor debt decision! Bad debt is not productive. For instance, charging a new computer for your home use is not necessarily productive. Charging a new computer for your business is. Debt used for consumption is a luxury. Debt used for business is a necessity! You are building something and enjoying the write off. Let's look more at good debt.

Good debt is still stressful but if you are smarter about it, you are managing it. Good debt allows you some freedoms that bad debt will never allow. If debt is used to increase your productivity at the office or invest in something with a large potential return, then you may be on the beach somewhere reaping the rewards. Good debt usually provides tax relief or can allow tax relief. Good debt usually comes with a sense of satisfaction and the joy of it can return a thousand fold. The newness can wear down but you smile every time you think about what it is doing for you or your business. Good debt rarely comes with buyer's remorse after the purchase. Good debt will increase your net worth in what you are trying to achieve. Good debt is usually tied to production of a business or personal finances.

For your home uses that are consumer product driven, I suggest paying cash. Once you have bought it you own it. For business or financial purposes, it is ok to use debt to make money. Using other people's money at a small price is smart. Why tie up your own cash if you don't have to. Do not get sucked in by retailers who make it so attractive to open up a charge card and even give you a discount on that first purchase. Research has shown that once they get you started on charging, you will continue. Be stronger and be smarter in how you deal with your debt as the rewards are great. I hate charging anything I will eat, sit on, sleep on, or watch that is located in my home. I do not mind charging or financing anything for my business if it is a necessity for making more money. Your dollars will actually go further if you pay cash for bad debt items and charge or finance good debt items. Have a visa and a million dollar idea? Why not take a chance and put your card to work?

Stop making excuses!

Thank goodness someone has finally said this out loud, even if it is me. Stop making excuses is what I am always telling people and thinking daily. You know what I am talking about don't you? You know the people who always have a great laundry list of reasons why this is not right, and that is not right, because people are always taking advantage of me. I can never get anywhere because of the government and the red tape, or my family was poor growing up. I never had a chance because I had a bad child life or my father abandoned me. Hold on, stop right there with al of that. My real father was horrible and my step father was an alcoholic but I still had the choice to choose my path. Are these people trying to sell to the rest of us that their life was predetermined from birth? This is like believing in Astrological signs that determine who you are by the date you were born. I would find this extremely depressing and helpless to know no matter what I do, my life has already been seen in the stars or because we were poor. What a hope less life you would have with no right of correction. Stop making excuses is the first place to start.

If you haven't realized it, excuses are just an OK for you not to do well or follow through on things. They are a 300lb weight of a reason in your 100 pound world. If you realize that you are excusing your life away then maybe you will stop making excuses. Excuses stop you from working. They stop you from thinking and trying. Excuses fill your head with impossibilities instead of possibilities. Will you at least consider that for every excuse you have that you have 3 reasons why you will not achieve or do something.This is powerful to realize as it can set you free. Will not understand that you are giving yourself permission to be OK with where things are at because there is a reason or excuse for it. I grew up poor and I found a way to make great money. My parents had polar opposite mindsets than me about business and money yet I found a way to make my own thoughts and have several profitable businesses. My excuse used to be we were poor and I was never taught anything different. I would have been OK with that excuse for self pity but I chose different. It fueled my fire. I wanted to be more than my parents were so i started reading about successful people and how they succeeded. I a=gave myself a chance by listening to other points of view. I now hope my children will be more than me. I hope that whatever crutch we are giving them they will choose not to use it. Do not OK your excuses ever. Put an end to excepting the status quo in this area of your life. Misery loves company and there are plenty of people out there who will join you in misery. The world is full of excuses.

So what can we do about the excuses in our life. What I know is this: Don't make excuses. Instead understand why you are where you are. Second, figure out a way to change your situation. Come up with a game plan and fight any urges to rely on any reasons. Lastly, do not allow yourself to blame anyone. Even if your situation is as horrible as rape or mugging or death of someone close to you, do not use that as a reason for anything. I know it is hard and you may be very traumatized by your situation. You will need to heal but when you do find a way out of this problem from occurring again and again. You can still have a very great life in spite of the horrific experience.

Please now join me in my way of life and stop the excuses from happening in your life as I have done in mine. If I meet you in life and I here a woe is me story from your mouth, just know I feel sorry for you. I will be thinking in my head that if this person only know what a sorry excuse that is they'd feel ridiculous.

Visit my website at : www.thecaneicorporation.com for more information on business and improving yourself. You can also view my meetup.com group at: http://self-improvement.meetup.com/219/

How to save time and money on your remodeling project

When it comes to saving money on your remodeling project, there is good money to pay your contractor, and there is bad money to pay your contractor. By referring to bad money I am not insinuating that the contractor is ripping you off, nor am I suggesting that it is a waste of money. When you are paying a contractor, there are things they are skilled at and there is somethings anyone can do. Pay your contractor well for what he is skilled at and take care of those things that you can do yourself. Good money is areas you do not even want to attempt to take on yourself. It is not even worth it to try. The contractor is a professional that does his/her job everyday and it takes time to acquire the skills that are needed. Unless you plan on being a contractor, do not invest your time in doing more than you are.

The following is a suggestive list on how to save a minimum of $300.00 to $500.00 on your remodeling project:

1. Take care of ordering and acquiring all of the materials for your job. Contractors can not  and will not do anything for free. When they deal with the materials for your job, they charge you for ordering your materials and they also charge a mark up. Most mark ups are anywhere from 14% to 40% above the cost. Order your own materials. Negotiate better material costs with suppliers and have it all delivered to your site.
2. Take care of all of the tear out on the job site that you can do. Tear out is not brain surgery but is time consuming and back breaking. Don't pay big dollars for labor work. If you are willing to do it, have fun. I love to tear things out.
3. Go out and get 3 bids. Choose the contractor that you like the most and seems the most confident and knowledgeable. Then go to two of there other bids and see how low you can get them to go. Once they send you a revision, take it to the contractor you like and see if he/she will lower their bid. The worst they will tell you is no. Good contractors will not sell on price so be prepared.
4. Take care of all of the clean up on the job site. Negotiate this up front with the contractor. Make sure you do a good job and you will also keep accidents down.
5. Do all the leg work on getting permits and calling in inspections. Have a designer do your drawings and you submit them. Paying labor costs of $70.00 plus dollars and hour for this is insane if you have the time to do it and want to save money. It is a process, so be prepared to have patience.
6. Give your contractor an incentive to get the job done quicker. I know this seems counterproductive to you, trying to save money, but it has been provened that the longer a job goes on, the more change orders can come up. Get them in and get them out.
7. Do your own priming and painting. Priming is easy as it is just a sealer. Painting is difficult because the homeowner is usually picky. If you are doing the painting, the contractor doesn't have to worry.
8. Have refreshments and snacks on the job site. This will keep them more productive and on your job site as much as possible. Hence your job will get done quicker.
9. Take care of hauling all the debris off of the job site as this too will get a mark up in price from the contractor.
10. Be cooperative as much as possible so you can help accommodate getting the job done efficiently with your contractor.

From the moment you meet with the perspective contractors, set their minds at ease about you. Contractors aren't dumb as they build in pain in the butt charges for difficult customers. Be humble and sensitive to this. Realize the contractor is on your team. Good contractors choose their clients and will generally raise their prices or not do the work at all if you even have a hint of unreasonable. Also, try negotiating shorter warranty periods so they will lower their costs. Most break downs or deficient work happens in the first six months or less. Don't make them worry about a year or longer. Have a consultant work with you on the project to inspect the work as it goes to protect your interest. This will also build trust with the contractor.

Most contractors are worried about frivolous lawsuits. Agree upfront to mandatory arbitration as the sole means for settling any discrepencies. This process is much cleaner, more efficient and less cumbersome. This will allow the contractor to release some funds your way to cut costs for you. Remember if you don't ask, you will not get it. Enjoy the experience and start figuring out what you will do with all the money you will be saving.

Depression Era Mentality

My Grandmother and grandfather were alive during the Great Depression. They had 7 children after marriage. This seems like a lot for today but back then it was common place to have a large family. I always thought this a little odd as they were so thrifty with money yet they had so many mouths to feed. Anyways, I then am a by-product of one of their children. As a family, they were pretty typical from what I could tell. They had a stay at home mother (unlike today) a hard working father and they were all healthy children. Grandmother and grandfather were good people. If there was something unhealthy it was never realized by them. They were all Depression Era children with a mindset that never recovered from that way of life. Depression Era Mentality is about worrying. People with depression era mentality think generally there is only so much. They were about not leaving the lights on because they did not own stock in the power company. They are generally about security and safety and working hard long hours. You really shouldn’t blame them as once you have lived through a great depression; it is hard to think about anything else. Times were tough and work was hard to come by. Consequently, so was money, so as times got better, the mind didn’t necessarily change. Paranoia set in and it would take a couple of generations for it to go away. The biggest problem I see with that time period was that people had and have narrow thinking. They truly didn’t understand how money could work for them or our economy. They had to stretch and scrimp and do whatever was necessary to get through this tough time. The question now is, are you still living the past for them?

How do you look at a job. Do you think working longer and harder is the answer to getting ahead? Do you get up during dinner and turn off the lights instead of focusing on the time you have with the family? Do you believe there is only so much money in the world? Do you take risks? Do you have worries everyday that something bad will happen soon? Do you think land is running scarce? What you need to understand about money is that it is unlimited to a certain degree. So are resources. Competition is healthy and is not a way to dwindle down the supply of money or customers. How about coupons or sales? Do you rely on them? Do you run all around town to save a penny while you burn a dollar in gas and a hundred dollars in productive earning potential? Our economy is based upon what we want and not what we need. We fuel our own economy daily and because of that the possibilities are endless. Working harder and longer is not the key to wealth or quality of time. Working smarter and efficient is the key. Something bad will always happen but be ready for it. Have a back up for your back up. Learn to roll with the punches. Depression Era children and mentality was and is a syndrome that can be overcome. I have done it. We grew up with a mother that is very much everything I have described and so were here siblings. Learn to build in security in a better way. Save for a rainy day. Use your time to make money not save it, and realize life is abundant with resources for you. Go out and grab all you want.

The last thing I want to point out is this. I grew up in Los Angeles and all I ever heard was that the illegal aliens were coming over here and taking our jobs and ruining our economy. I bought into that for a long time out of ignorance until one day it became clear to me. Those people come over here and work hard at jobs most Americans won’t do. They then go out and buy things to live with. When they do that, our economy grows even more. They don’t take away they add to it. Think about it, that is how you can understand our economy of today. It is constantly fueled by consumers and it is endless. We have one T.V., then you want two T.V.’s. You have one car, one day, and then you buy a second car. We buy on wants, so what do you want from life? Life will pay you what you ask of it.

Visit my website at : www.thecaneicorporation.com for more information on business and improving yourself. You can also view my meetup.com group at: http://self-improvement.meetup.com/219/