Networking doesn’t take much time overall but will give you some benefits like new clients. With my webhosting bizz for example, I get new hosting clients from webdesigners. In return I outsource my clients webdesign work to them, making them and me money from the same client while still focusing on our core business.

Another example is my hobby, snake keeping and breeding. I’m networking with an importer here, I buy “some” (wholesale) baby ballpythons from them for a nice price and to thank me for my business I get first picks. This allows me to pick out the “weird” ones, ie. those that are worth far more then a regular ballpython due to their genetics.

If you know who to network with, it can definitely help you grow your business. If you meet someone that could be usefull to your business, ask them for a favor. Ie. if you ever get clients that need …. can you forward them to me? The worst that can happen is that they say no. The best? A new connection and free new clients!

In business it’s normal to ask for business so do it anytime you get the opportunity, but only when appropriate. You don’t want to become the loser guy that desperately needs new clients . Overcome your fear to ask for business and start growing your business today!

Bad Debt

Bad debt is debt that doesn’t make you money. Creditcard debt for example. You probably pay around 17% interest a year on your creditcard debt, and you don’t earn a penny from it.

Good Debt

Good debt is any debt that makes you money. Say you take a $10,000 loan with a 5% interest rate, and you use that money for some investment that makes you a 10% return. You just earned $500 by using someone else’s money!

There are a few pitfalls though, your investment may go wrong and you may end up with a loss. Only do this if you know what you’re doing. If I use myself as an example, I could buy $10,000 worth of snakes at a good price and sell them retail within 2-3 months. I know what I’m doing and I’m sure I could make a nice profit.

Remember, nobody became wealthy without taking any risks. The above doesn’t neccasarily has to be something for you, but to become wealthy you will have to take some risks someday.

The problem with an unmotivated employee is that it’s natural to de-motivate the other employees as well, thus making your business less productive. So how do you give your employee his motivation back?

Employee Motivation Step one

Ask him what’s up. Maybe something happened at home or in the family.  If it’s something about the business and he doesn’t want to say what, tell him he can say it and that whatever he says has no consequences for his job.

Employee Motivation Step two

You now know what’s up with the employee. If something happened at home or in the family give him a few hours or a day off if you think he benefits from it. He’s not very productive anyway. If there’s something about the business see what you can do to improve it.

Employee Motivation Step three

If you’re business is okay and nothing happened at home your employee may just be unhappy with his job. Maybe he’s done the same thing for years, maybe there is no challenge for him anymore. See if you can use your employee in another way, ie. doing other things, that makes him happy but makes the business money as well.

Other employee motivation tips

A bonus system is generally a good motivator. Give your employees a basic salary and give them a bonus for certain goals met. They will be motivated, they will earn more, and if you’re doing it right you will earn more as well.

Another motivator is business gettogethers. Take your employees to dinner or something else they may like and have the business pay for it.

If you’re employee still isn’t motivated and he’s demotivating your other employees as well consider firing him. It sounds harsch but the reality is that your business comes first. You don’t want one person bringing down the business, do you?

Remember, it’s easier to improve your business environment for your employees than it is to find new, good employees and learn them all the tricks of the trade.

Why the big difference between start-up businesses and blogs? It generally takes more money to start a “real” business, there’s a large overhead compared to a blog or webshop and you can’t sell your stuff for a whole lote more than the selling price on the internet so it all boils down to the quantity of customers, and the quality of your products and customer service.

So if the internet is easier, why is only 5% successful?

The answer is right there in your question amigo! The internet is easier, and not to mention cheaper, to start with. Many people want to make a living off the internet, start-up costs are low, no overhead, what are you waiting for?

Most of those so-called entrepreneurs are very motivated when they start their blog or online business, but it takes dedication to make it successful. You need a plan as well to make your site successful and knowledge about searchengines, SEO, scripting languages etc. are a definite plus.

Once people notice that it takes more than a domainname and some (free) hosting to attract visitors they generally aren’t all that motivated anymore. One thing leads to another and there you have another unsuccessful blog/website.

In my opinion, although the fail rate is higher on the internet, I think it’s easier to build a successful website/webshop than it is to build a successful offline store. You can start your internet bizz with a few bucks and find all the information you need for free on the internet.  Whatever you do DON’T BUY EBOOKS. I’ve never read one that had any information I have not read at forums before so don’t buy them. They’re worthless.

You can start thousands of projects, based on good ideas, spending years on them and still not make a dime. How? Because none are finished, none are making money because at this moment they’re useless.

Another example, a new business selling some kind of physical product with a target audience; the world. Again no focus.You don’t want to know how many times I’ve heard new business owners say that their target market is anyone. Even if you sell toilet paper you’re target market is not the world. Focus!

It’s easier to market your product to a small group of people who are likely interested in your product, than to market your product to anyone who can afford it but probably won’t buy it. Not to mention, it’s cheaper and it gives better results.

It’s easier to build a successful web business if you focus on one site at a time. If your first site isn’t finished yet and you’re starting the next one they will both fail. If you finish one site and start the next, they will likely fail as well because you will be spending time on building the next site, instead of growing and promoting the first.

Focus on your projects, focus on your market, focus on your product. Don’t do many things at the same time and you have a better chance at success.

Becoming successful usually goes hand-in-hand with a mentality change. If you’re not successful right now and you don’t want to change a bit in your way of thinking, it’s unlikely that you’ll be successful anytime soon.

We all have different barriers, and it’s the way we deal with barriers that decide our success. Some people start a business and do great for a while, only to find themselves stuck later. Other people start a business and become successfull in a breath.

How?

The successful people aren’t controlled by barriers, they remove the barriers around them. Other people, those who get stuck, are controlled by their barriers. The biggest barrier is your ability to remove barriers. Once you can remove barriers around you, the road to success is wide open.

But…

Some barriers are easy to find and handle, other barriers may be harder to deal with. Basically there are two types of barriers; mental barriers and outside barriers. I don’t know if those are real terms but that is what I call it.

Outside barriers

Easier to deal with but just as important as the mental barriers are the outside barriers. These barriers, usally something in your surroundings, make you less motivated. Maybe it’s a messy desk, maybe it’s your computer, maybe it’s your chair or maybe something else. If you notice yourself getting demotivated, for example because your computer is too slow, it’s an easy fix; upgrade your computer.

Mental barriers

Mental barriers are those in your head. This is the toughest type to deal with but usually it can be traced back to self confidence. If you don’t believe you can do it, you can’t.

The only way to remove mental barriers is by finding out how they got there. Maybe you’re just demotived for today? Go out, do something fun and increase your self motivation. Maybe you think you can’t reach your goal anyway? Boost your self-confidence, think about all the things you did reach, the things you’re good at, the things you’re proud off and the goals you want to reach.

If you can find your barriers and remove them, there’s no stopping you.

He’s earning around 575 euros every month with begging, that’s money for doing nothing! Great entrepreneur skills *cough*.

DON’T

If you’re comparing yourself to others it’s time to stop it. It’s a bad habit and you will not reach your financial goals if you keep doing it long enough.

Say you have a friend who just bought a new car, has a bigscreen TV and travels a lot. Usually when you have these kind of friends you get the feeling that you got to spend more money as well. Why? Because you don’t want him to think he’s doing better than you or you’re doing not as good as he is.

This is when it becomes some kind of competition which is BAD. You only buy stuff or do things because of your friend, it are things you wouldn’t do or buy if you didn’t hang out with him. It’s costing you lots of money, especially over time, and creates a fake feeling of doing well.

To become wealthy or reach financial freedom you need to put money away, preferably in investment. Instead of a bigscreen plasma buy a cheaper TV, instead of a new car buy a (young) second-hand car and invest the difference.

Yes, it will seem like your friend is doing better. There’s nothing wrong with it. Over time it’s you who will do better because you were the smart one years earlier and decided to work on your future instead of throwing your money away.

I know a girl who compares herself to others, and now she’s over $7,000 in debt because she bought a lot of designer clothing, just because her friends did it as well. I told her straight up how stupid she was. Was it really worth it? $7,000 in debt is a lot.

If you can’t spend the money, than don’t. It’s really not that hard. Be honest about it and don’t let your ego get in the way. You’re friends really don’t mind if you can’t spend as much as they do and if they do, are they really friends?

When NOT to take risk

You should never, let me repeat that, NEVER take a risk when the potential reward is slim to none and the risk is high.  For example, you have saved $50,000 and decide to buy stocks even though you know nothing about stocks and the stock market. That’s a high risk - low reward scenario.

Another example, starting a business in a field you haven’t tested/explored yet. While it can turn out good, the risk is high and the potential reward is unknown. Explore the market first and make your decision based on your findings.

When to take risk

You should take risk when the risk is small, and the potential reward is big. Sounds easy but still many people fail to understand it.

For example, starting a website and making money with it. Start-up cost is maybe $10 to $20 and the potential reward is virtually unlimited, depending on the time and work you put into it.

Another example, starting a business in field that has been researched and has a need for your product. Again low risk, high potential rewards.

If you have a dayjob you can apply this as well. Say you earn $2,000 a month but you think about leaving because you’re paying too much for travelling to and from work. Instead of leaving, talk to your boss about it. The risk is very low, he can say no, the potential reward is high, he can say yes. The boss would be happy to keep you and you would be happy with the raise.

Even in day-to-day life you apply this principe. Maybe you have a crush on someone? Ask her (him) out! The only risk is that she can say no, the potential reward is a lifelong relationship with her.

The next time you have to make a big decision think about the potential rewards and the risk you have to take, and see if the reward is worth the risk.

What I do know is when you do need a financial advisor.

When googling for what is a financial advisor you get this definition:

a consultant to an issuer of municipal securities who provides the issuer with advice with respect to the timing, terms, structure, or other similar matters concerning a new issue of securities.

What the definition doesn’t say is that most financial advisors get paid a commission for every product they sell you but we’ll get to that later.

When you need a financial advisor

You need a financial advisor when your money management is getting too complex to handle by yourself or when you know you can save money (ie. on taxes) but don’t know how. It’s that simple.

Putting some money in mutual funds or a savings account is pretty basic stuff and you probably don’t need a financial advisor for that, especially not if you can spend a few hours reading about finance.

Choosing a financial advisor

When choosing a financial advisor it’s best to get a recommendation from someone you trust. But trust is not enough!

Remember, financial advisors need to make money too, and most of them get paid commissions for products they can sell to you. I would use a financial advisor who is paid by the hour but doesn’t earn commissions. Why? Because he doesn’t try to sell me products, he’s giving me genuine advice.

The paid-per-hour financial advisors are usually a bit more expensive, but a good financial advisor should earn his money back for you, just like a good accountant should.

I’m not saying that the commission earning financial advisors, or their products, are bad, I’m just saying you should be aware of it. I don’t have a good feeling about receiving  advice if there’s a financial advantage for the advisor but you may feel differently about it.