Blog Archives

How to Become a Millionaire Fast

Do you want to learn how to become a millionaire fast in 1 year or less without much hassles? Then read on.

It is the dream of most people to make a million dollars but unfortunately, they won’t because they don’t know how to. So in this article, i will be sharing with you strategies and ways to become a millionaire quick. This is a no-nonsense guide and straight to the bone talk, so I will suggest you grab a cup of tea, sit back and read carefully.

Now in the course of my years as an entrepreneur, i have met a lot of people with dreams and aspirations to become a multi-millionaire someday but they seem stuck simply because they don’t know how to go about actualizing their goal to become a millionaire. Some of the questions usually on the lips of these individuals are:

  • How can i become a millionaire fast?
  • What business can i start to become a millionaire overnight?
  • How do i become a self made millionaire fast?
  • What can I do to make a million dollars in a year?

“Anyone who has ever struggled with poverty knows how devilishly expensive it is to be poor.” – James Baldwin

Now to be sincere with you, becoming a millionaire is not a big deal anymore. The reason i say this is because anybody body can wake up tomorrow and be a millionaire. In fact, it is now easier to become a millionaire starting with nothing. Today, with just a laptop and an internet connection, you can make a million dollars in six months or less; if you have the right knowledge.

Secondly, there are now several easier ways you can become a millionaire. So it is up to you to choose the route that best suits you and you have no excuse to not to become a millionaire.

  8 Ways to Become a Millionaire Quick

  • Play the lottery and get lucky

If you are a gambler, you can play the lottery, get lucky and win a become a millionaire. The problem however is that if you lose the money, you need another bit of luck to repeat the process.

  • Marry a rich person

You can marry someone rich and become a millionaire. Yea, most people marry for money these days so it’s no big deal anymore. But it takes a great deal of heartache to live with somebody you have no affection for.

  • Being a celebrity or superstar

You can become a millionaire by being a super star. Maybe a footballer, musician, celebrity, etc. But it takes years of consistency, hard work, large number of fans and lots of media power to become a celebrity or superstar.

  • Be a crook

You can become a millionaire by being a crook. Maybe a drug dealer, gun runner, money launderer, public fund looter, etc. However, you may never enjoy your money in peace as you will be constantly hounded by the police, the government or your associates.

  • Savings

You can become a millionaire by being a good saver or better still, a penny pincher. If you start early and you have a good job, you can save your cash in the bank and become a millionaire. The only hitch is that you won’t know what to do with your million dollars other than to lavish it and even if you want to invest in something worthwhile, the fear of losing your money will never allow you.

  • By inheritance

You can become a millionaire by inheritance. Yea, a lot of kids were born with a silver spoon and left a large inheritance. The only hitch with becoming a millionaire this way is that if you lack the competence to run the system that generates the money for your inheritance or if you simply have poor financial control of your life, you will lose that inheritance in due time.

  • Be self employed or build a business

You Can become a millionaire by being an entrepreneur. Yea, you can make a million dollars by building a business or simply by being self employed like a forex trader, stock trader, craft man, etc. This was exactly how i made my money. To achieve this, you need initiative, skills and knowledge of the business you are venturing into.

  • Become an investor

You can become a millionaire by being an investor. However, your choice of investment vehicle may be stocks, real estate, IPOs, startups, etc. You can also choose to be an angel investor, Venture capitalist, etc. To do this, you need to be financially intelligent. You also need adequate knowledge, a good team, access to information, analytic skills and most importantly; Money.

How to Become a Millionaire Fast in a Year

 Before I proceed to explain my exact strategies and how i made my money, I want to clearly state that:

a)   This guide to becoming a millionaire in less than a year is for those who have the guts to take a little risk. Employees may not find this easy except they are willing to go beyond their comfort zone.

b)    This is an elaborate guide that needs to be read twice or thrice and applied systematically. So I will advice you bookmark it for future reference and usage. Having said all this, let’s proceed.

“A million dollars is the starting point.” – Rich Dad

Many individuals desire to get to the millionaire status but they don’t know what to do or how to go about it. I want to state categorically that there are many ways to become a millionaire but I will be restricting this article to achieving this goal by following the entrepreneurial process; the process of building a business from scratch. Below is my step by step guide to becoming a millionaire in less than a year.

“The principle of becoming a millionaire is the same everywhere, regardless of the currency.” – Anonymous

  How to Become a Millionaire Fast in Less than a Year

1.   Prepare your mind to become a millionaire

To become a millionaire in less than a year, you must see yourself a millionaire. You must believe it is achievable. Ultimately, you must prepare your mind to face the challenges associated with your dream of becoming a millionaire. You must also be prepared for disappointments and set backs along the way.

Preparing your mind also entails abandoning the employee mindset of working for a paycheck. It’s all about transiting or changing your mode of thinking; it’s all about thinking like an entrepreneur. In the process of preparing your mind to become a millionaire, you must also develop the necessary entrepreneurial skills needed.

“To be successful, you must act big, think big and talk big.” – Aristotle Onassis

One of such skills is that you must develop a tough skin towards rejection and criticism. You must not give up on your dream just because somebody said it’s impossible.

2.  Set a goal to become a millionaire in 1 a year

The next step is to set a goal to become a millionaire within a time frame of one year. After setting the one year goal, break it down into monthly, weekly and objectives. The goal and objectives must be written down. Writing it down will help you must make sure each new day is fully utilized to the realization of your goal.

3.  Look into yourself and list out your strengths

One of the easiest and fastest ways to make money and become a millionaire is to utilize your potential. Every human being is blessed with a gift or has a unique talent that needs to be discovered and harnessed. Even if you think you are not gifted, there’s definitely something that drives you crazy; something you are never tired of doing. Something you are very passionate about, something you can do and do excellently well.

It could be an acquired skill, an in-born talent, your hobby or just anything that thrills you; even if it’s the world’s craziest idea, it’s your strength. Debbi Fields took her passion for baking cookies and made a lot of money out of it with her company; Mrs. Field’s Cookies.

Bill Gates discovered at an early age that he loves tangling with computer programs and this passion evolved into Microsoft. Oprah Winfrey utilized her gift for speaking and became the richest black woman in the world; while Rachael Ray took her passion for cooking and became a famous millionaire.

No matter what your strengths are, you can make something out of it. All you need to do at this stage is list them out in written form. Now if you feel you don’t have any talent or skill to leverage upon, which I doubt; then you have to ask yourself the following questions:

  • What do I have around me that I can leverage upon to become a millionaire?
  • What drives me crazy?
  • What do I know that others don’t?

The answer to this question may be the skills or expertise of a friend, someone else product, an eBook or software (which you can find in abundance on the internet). Once you can figure this out, you are still on track to becoming a millionaire.

4.  Analyze your strengths or idea and figure out if it interests others

After listing out your strengths, you need to go to a quiet place and reflect on your strengths. Analyze each of them and tick the ones you are very strong at. After analyzing each one of them, you will need to carry out a preliminary research to know which of your strengths or ideas has potential for success in the market place.

This research might require you ask questions, read journals, magazines and books and even spend time on the internet. Any of the research vehicle you choose, just make sure it yields the desired result.

5.   Draw a plan on how you intend to profit from your strength or idea

If you can get to this stage, then you are half way down the road to becoming a millionaire. This is where you sit down to draw a plan of how you intend to leverage your strength or idea to make money. This is where you to convert the results of your feasibility study into a business plan. Your plan is going to contain tactics and strategies that will help you surmount business challenges and achieve your goals faster.

       How to Become a Millionaire Fast in a Year

6.  Make sure you are legally protected

Many budding entrepreneurs strive to pass through step one to five, only to bypass step six and proceed to seven. This single business mistake has resulted in the death or painful loss of brilliant ideas and opportunities. I have also seen smart entrepreneurs being launched into a world of tremendous wealth simply because they protected their ideas.

Never test run your idea or launch it without first protecting it using patents, trademarks, copyrights, non-disclosure agreement or conformity forms. If you are leveraging someone else idea or product, be sure to obtain a license, distributive rights or exclusive right from the owner. Legally protecting your idea will cost you money in the short run but it will be highly beneficial to you in the long run.

7.  Test run your idea and note down the result

After protecting your idea, you can now test run it to see its workability and identify flaws. Test running your idea might require you to; give out free samples of your product, grant access to experts to scrutinize your idea or join a focus group. The end point of your test running should be to gather feed back and improve or proceed with the idea. If the product is not yours, you will still need to test the market with it. Nobody wants to be stuck with a dying product.

8.  Assemble a team to help you expand your idea

If you are smart and open minded, you will assemble a team during the test running of your idea because few will see potential in your idea and will want to be part of it. If this happens, then you need to be selective of who you bring on board as team member. But if not, then you will need to find your own team. Whichever way it works, just make sure your selected team members sign an agreement highlighting their roles and stakes to avoid future dispute.

9.  Form strategic alliance with stronger external teams

After kicking off with your idea alongside your team, you will surely meet some business challenges and some progress. You may decide to maintain status quo and work strictly with your team but if you need accelerated growth and speedy achievement of your goal, then you need to seek out external assistance.

You need to form strategic alliance with stronger external teams; teams bigger than yours. This will reduce your overhead and help you grow faster while still running on a lean budget.

10.   Stick with the process until you become a millionaire

Finally, we are at it. What else do I have to say, what advice do I have to give at this point? If you have steadfastly gotten to step nine, I say congratulations but I’m still sorry to say that all your effort will be null and void if you ignore step ten; the most important step of all.

In the game of entrepreneurship and life in general, many start the race with enthusiasm but along the way, most lose their enthusiasm and others their focus. Only about ten percent will make it to the end of the race. Are you going to be among this ten percent? Only you can decide that.

As a final note, this is my ten step guide on how to become a millionaire fast in less than a year. Reading this article will never make you a millionaire, implementing the tactics or steps will. If you are determined and committed to the process, you will become a millionaire. At this point, I leave you with this quote:

“Anything the mind can conceive and believe; it can achieve.” – Anonymous

“Becoming a millionaire or billionaire is not the real challenge, maintaining that status is the real challenge.” – Ajaero Tony Martins

How I Plan to Achieve my Goal to Become a Billionaire

Do you want to learn how to become a billionaire? How does the idea of having a billion dollars to your name sounds? If you were to stumble on a classified blueprint for making a billion dollars, will you act on it? If your answer is yes, then here’s my personal plan to become a billionaire.

“We are self made or never made.” – Dr Sidney Newton

In the year 2010, I set a personal goal to become a billionaire in my lifetime and I wrote an exclusive article about it titled “How to become a billionaire.” Since writing that article, I have been bombarded with criticism, encouragement and questions. Two questions being asked frequently are:

  • “How do you intend to become a billionaire?
  • What are your plans?

Before I share my personal blueprint to becoming a billionaire with you, I want to point out some observations. I find it surprising that most people still live with the perception that money is scare and making a billion dollars is impossible. It’s also more surprising that most people hate aiming above average. Well, that’s for them; not me.

I believe in stretching my mind beyond my reality; I believe in going way beyond my comfort zone. More importantly, I am a stickler for thinking big and pursuing big goals. That’s why I have people like Donald Trump, Larry Ellison and Robert Kiyosaki as business mentors. I believe that with the right perception, making a billion dollars is achievable.

I never wrote this article to brag about my exploits, achievements or smartness. No! I simply wrote this article to show you my step by step plan to achieving my goal to become a billionaire in my lifetime. I wrote this article to open your eyes to the possibilities of the goal and the opportunities that abound in life. So if you are ready to learn and take action, then below is my blueprint to hitting my billion dollar goal.

 How I Plan to Achieve my Goal to Become a Billionaire

1.    Start and build businesses

This is the primary key to becoming a billionaire. Now if you are on a similar financial path, I hope you are not living with the illusion that you can achieve such a goal as an employee. The starting point to becoming a billionaire is to first become an entrepreneur. Before setting the goal to become a billionaire, I had already started some businesses. Some failed while some succeeded. But with this goal on ground, I have to strategically double my start-up and expansion rate.

If you look at the richest people in the world, they all have one thing in common. They became billionaires by building businesses. Bill Gates and Larry Ellison provided easy to use software for businesses and individuals. Larry Page provided an easy to use search engine for free (Google). More realistically, they are serving millions of people all over the world. This is exactly what I am doing; serving other people through my businesses in exchange for a nominal fee.

While my peers and age mates are out there looking for high paying jobs, I am critically thinking how to solve other people’s problem. I want to simply find a need and fill it. This is exactly how I intend to become a billionaire; by solving other people’s problem. It’s as simple as ABC. If you want to become a millionaire or billionaire, then start a business and serve other people.

2.    Invest in other businesses

No matter how smart I am, I can never know it all and I can never take advantage of every opportunity I come across. I am strapped for time; and I have limited man power to pursue every single opportunity. So what do I do? I simple put my money into other businesses or startup ideas that gets my nod. I invest in other businesses via the stock market. I also invest in businesses started by friends and other entrepreneurs who approach me for startup capital or partnerships. As at the time of writing this, I am working on investing in Private Placements or Pre-IPO’s.

3.     Invest massively in real estate

Investing massively in real estate is a yet to be executed plan. As at the time of writing this article, I am learning the ropes of investing in real estate and i hope to fully get involved with it when I hit my target cash flow and acquire enough knowledge. For now, i intend on playing in the real estate sector through partnerships so that I can concentrate on building my businesses and starting new businesses.

   More in-depth tips on how I intend to become a billionaire

a.     There’s no guarantee that I will hit the goal

The goal to become a billionaire is definitely not an easy one; yet, it is achievable. The fact I want to point out is that there’s no guarantee that I will hit the goal. The business terrain is unpredictable. I may lose it all tomorrow or I may surpass the goal. But no matter what happens, I am willing to stick to the entrepreneurial process till the end. I am not doing it for the money; I am doing it for something higher than money.

b.    I am not doing it alone

Now for those who might be challenged to take up a similar goal, I want you to note that I am not pursuing this goal as an employee. I am pursuing the goal as an entrepreneur and investor; and even at that, I am not a sole proprietor. The point I am trying to emphasize is that I am not a solo player; I am a team player. I have a business team behind me and I have struck strategic alliances with other business. Business is a team sport, so also is investing. As my business grows, I will need to keep expanding my business network and alliances; else I will be left behind.

c.     It’s a lifetime goal

The third point I want to make with respect to this goal of mine is that it’s not an overnight flight; it is a goal I am willing to stick with throughout my lifetime. Regardless of how many times I fail.

d.    I will need to use other people’s assets to achieve my goal

To achieve my goal to become a billionaire, I have to use other people’s assets to grow mine. When I mean other people’s assets; I am talking about other people’s money, time, effort, intelligence and so on. As an entrepreneur, you must know how to hire and work with people smarter than you. You must also know how to relate with people richer than you. The primary job of an entrepreneur is to raise capital for the business. To become a billionaire, i must know how to raise capital from family and friends, bankers, Venture Capitalists, Angel investors, Suppliers, employees and customers.

e.    I will need to keep my eyes open for opportunities

Lastly, my strategy to achieve my billionaire goal is to be prepared at all times. I must be on the watch for changes in economic trends and government policies because such changes are coming so fast but unfortunately, they cannot be seen with an untrained eyes.

My country Nigeria has a lot of potentials; and certain changes are coming that will make most people poor and others rich. I want to be prepared when such change comes. I want to exploit such opportunities to the fullest.

75 Impeccable Business Advice from 39 Billionaires

Are you an entrepreneur or a small business owner? Are you seeking business advice that will help you start a business? Do you want to become a billionaire in your lifetime? Do you want to build a successful business and become a successful entrepreneur? Do you want to learn what it takes to make a million dollars and become a millionaire in less than a year? If your answer to any of these questions is yes, then read on.

Today, I will be sharing with you some small business advice from the billionaires. Some of these billionaires are drop out billionaires but they have one thing in common, they all built successful businesses. So if you are ready to learn, then sit back and read on as I share with you 75 impeccable advice from 39 billionaires.

  75 Impeccable Small Business Advice from 39 Billionaires

  • Richard Branson    – Virgin Group

1.            “As much as you need a strong personality to build a business from scratch, you also must understand the art of delegation. I have to be good at helping people run the individual businesses, and I have to be willing to step back. The company must be set up so it can continue without me.” – Richard Branson

2.            “To be successful, you have to be out there, you have to hit the ground running, and if you have a good team around you and more than a fair share of luck, you might make something happen. But you certainly can’t guarantee it just by following someone else’s formula.” – Richard Branson

  • Ingvar Kamprad   – IKEA

3.            “Waste of resources is a mortal sin at IKEA.” – Ingvar Kamprad

4.            “Ten minutes are not just one-sixth of your hourly pay; ten minutes is a piece of yourself. Divide yourself into ten units and sacrifice as few of them as possible in meaningless activities. Most things still remain to be done.” – Ingvar Kamprad

  • Carlos Slim Helu   – Telmex Corporation

5.            “When there is a crisis, that’s when some are interested in getting out and that’s when we are interested in getting in.” – Carlos Slim Helu

  • Aliko Dangote    – Dangote Group

6.            “To succeed in business, you must build a brand and never destroy it. One competitive advantage I had when I ventured into manufacturing was my brand “Dangote,” which I diligently built in the course of my trading commodities.” – Aliko Dangote

7.            “Manufacture, don’t just trade. There is money in manufacturing even though it is capital intensive. To achieve a big breakthrough, I had to start manufacturing the same product I was trading on; which is commodities.” – Aliko Dangote

  • Oprah Winfrey – Harpo Studios Production

8.            “Think like a queen. A queen is not afraid to fail. Failure is another stepping stone to greatness.” – Oprah Winfrey

9.            “Follow your instincts, that’s where true wisdom manifest itself.” – Oprah Winfrey

  • Orji Uzor Kalu    – Slok Group

10.          “A good businessman must have nose for business the same way a journalist has nose for news. Once your eyes, ears, nose, heart and brain are trained on business, you sniff business opportunities everywhere” – Orji Uzor Kalu

11.          “A good businessman sees where others don’t see. What I see, you may not see. You cannot see because that is the secret of the business… the entire world is a big market waiting for anybody who knows the rules of the game.” – Orji Uzor Kalu

  • John D. Rockefeller    – Standard Oil

12.          “There’s no mystery in business success. If you do each day’s task successfully and stay faithfully within these natural operations of commercial laws which I talk so much about and keep your head clear, you will come out all right.” – John D. Rockefeller

13.          “The ability to deal with people is as purchasable as a commodity as sugar or coffee and I will pay more for that ability than for any other thing under the sun.” – John D. Rockefeller

  • Bill Gates   – Microsoft

14.          “The most meaningful way to differentiate your company from your competitors, the best way to put distance between you and the crowd is to do an outstanding job with information. How you gather, manage and use information will determine whether you win or lose.” – Bill Gates

15.          You’ve got to give great tools to small teams. Pick good people, use small teams and give them great tools so that they are very productive in terms of what they are doing.” – Bill Gates

  • Larry Ellison – Oracle

16.          “If your cash is about to run out, you have to cut your cash flow. CEOs have to make those decisions and live with them however painful they may be. You have to act and act now; and act in the best interest of the company as a whole, even if it means that some people in the company who are your best friends have to work somewhere else.” – Larry Ellison

17.          “When you innovate, you’ve got to be prepared for people telling you that you are nuts.” – Larry Ellison

  • J. Paul Getty    – Getty Oil

18.          “The man who comes up with a means of doing or producing almost anything better, faster or more economically has his future and his fortune at his finger tips.” – J. Paul Getty

19.          “In times of rapid change, experience could be your worst enemy.” – J. Paul Getty

  • Warren Buffett  – Berkshire Hathaway

20.          “In the business world, the rear view is always clearer than the wind shield.” – Warren Buffett

21.          “Somebody once said that in looking to hire people, look for three qualities; Integrity, intelligence and energy. If they don’t have the first, the other two will kill you. You think about it; it’s true. If you hire somebody without the first, you really want them to be dumb and lazy.” – Warren Buffett

75 Impeccable Small Business Advice from 39 Billionaires

  • Henry Ford   – Ford Motor Company

22.          “The competitor to be feared is one who never bothers about you at all but goes on making his own business better all the time.” – Henry Ford

23.          “A business absolutely devoted to service will have one worry about profits. They will be embarrassingly large.” – Henry Ford

  • Henry Ross Perot     – EDS

24.          “Business is not just doing deals; business is having great products, doing great engineering and providing tremendous service to customers. Finally, business is a cobweb of human relationship.” – Henry Ross Perot

25.          “If you see a snake, just kill it. Don’t appoint a committee on snakes.” – Henry Ross Perot

  • Ted Turner   – CNN

26.          “Do something. Either lead, follow or get out of the way.” – Ted Turner

27.          “Managing isn’t that difficult, you just have to score more runs than the other guy.” – Ted Turner

  • Michael Dell – Dell Inc

28.          “Don’t spend so much time trying to choose the perfect opportunity, that you miss the right opportunity.” – Michael Dell

29.          “Recognize that there will be failures, and acknowledge that there will be obstacles. But you will learn from your mistakes and the mistakes of others, for there is very little learning in success.” – Michael Dell

  • Steve Jobs   – Apple Inc

30.          “Innovation has nothing to do with how many R&D dollars you have. When Apple came up with the Mac, IBM was spending at least 100 times more on R&D. It’s not about money. It’s about the people you have, how you’re led, and how much you get it.” – Steve Jobs

31.          “To turn really interesting ideas and fledging ideas into a company that can continue to innovate for years, it requires a lot of disciplines.” – Steve Jobs

  • Donald Trump   – Trump Organization

32.          “Experience taught me a few things. One is to listen to your gut no matter how good something sounds on paper. The second is that you are generally better off sticking with what you know and the third is that sometimes, your best investments are the ones you don’t make.” – Donald Trump

33.          “It pays to trust your instinct.” – Donald Trump

  • Jeff Bezos - Amazon

34.          “If you’re not stubborn, you’ll give up on experiments too soon. And if you’re not flexible, you’ll pound your head against the wall and you won’t see a different solution to a problem you’re trying to solve.” – Jeff Bezos

35.          “Things never go smoothly.” – Jeff Bezos

  • Sam Walton   – Wal-Mart

36.          “The secret of successful retailing is to give your customers what they want. And really, if you think about it from the point of view of the customer, you want everything: a wide assortment of good quality merchandise; the lowest possible prices; guaranteed satisfaction with what you buy; friendly, knowledgeable service; convenient hours; free parking; a pleasant shopping experience.” – Sam Walton

37.          “Appreciate everything your associates do for the business. If people believe in themselves, it’s amazing what they can accomplish.” – Sam Walton

  • J. K. Rowling – Harry Potter Series

38.          “Never be ashamed! There’s some who will hold it against you, but they are not worth bothering with.” – J. K. Rowling

39.          “Anything is possible if you’ve got enough nerve.” – J. K. Rowling

  • Ray Kroc    – McDonald’s

40.          “If you’re not a risk taker, you should get the hell out of business.” – Ray Kroc

41.          “When you’re green, you’re growing. When you’re ripe, you rot. Are you green and growing or ripe and rotting?” – Ray Kroc

  75 Impeccable Small Business Advice from 39 Billionaires

  • Mark Cuban   – Broadcast.com

42.          “Do your homework and know your business better than anyone. Otherwise, someone who knows more and works harder will kick your ass.” – Mark Cuban

43.          “Make your product easier to buy than your competition, or you will find your customers buying from them, not you.” – Mark Cuban

  • Larry Page   – Google

44.          “But you don’t need a huge company, just a computer and a part-time person. So you don’t need to have a 100-person company to develop that idea. You can do it in your spare time, you can really work on ideas and see if they take off — rather than trying to raise tons of money, millions of dollars for an idea that may or may not work. And once you have the product and people are using it, it’s very easy to raise investment.” – Larry Page

  • John Johnson    – Johnson Publishing

45.          “My management style is based on the art of communication. For communication is an art, not a science. It is an emotion, not a statistic. And the best communicators know instinctively that to communicate effectively you must bypass intellectual centers and tap into the deepest fears, hopes and emotions of your audience.” – John Johnson

46.          “I’m convinced that the only way to get ahead in this world is to live and sell dangerously. You’ve got to live beyond your means. You’ve got to commit yourself to an act or vision that pulls you further than you want to go and forces you to use your hidden strengths.” – John Johnson

  • Li Ka Shing   – Hutchison Whampoa

47.          “Broaden your vision, and maintain stability while advancing forward. That is my philosophy.” – Li Ka Shing

48.          “Businessmen must move with the times…the correlation between knowledge and business as the key to success is closer than ever.” – Li Ka Shing

  • Mukesh Ambani    – Reliance Group

49.          “I think that our fundamental belief is that for us, growth is a way of life and we have to grow at all times.” – Mukesh Ambani

50.          “The organizational architecture is really that a centipede walks on a hundred legs and one or two don’t count. So if I lose one or two legs, the process will go on and the growth will go on.” – Mukesh Ambani

  • Philip Knight   – Nike

51.          “Good campaigns define who you are. We have to get consumers’ attention. We don’t have six months to check with focus groups.” – Philip Knight

52           “Our job is to wake up the consumers. If we become predictable, that’s not waking them up.” – Philip Knight

  • Pierre Omidyar      – E-Bay

53.          “Build a platform – prepare for the unexpected…you’ll know you’re successful when the platform you’ve built serves you in unexpected ways.” – Pierre Omidyar

54.          “Be an enzyme – a catalyst for change. As a slogan, I don’t know if that’s ever going to be right up there with Ich Bin Ein Berliner, or “I Have A Dream,” but there’s a lot of truth to it.” – Pierre Omidyar

  • Ralph Lauren      – Polo

55.          “Your vision is very important. You should know whom you’re selling to, what your marketing and advertising says about you, and whom it’s speaking to. Me personally, I don’t try to please everyone. I understand who I am selling to and I work towards that vision all the time.” – Ralph Lauren

56.          “It’s about broadening your scope through history and living your life. Tune in and pay attention.” – Ralph Lauren

  • Rupert Murdoch    – Fox Broadcasting Corporation

57.          “In motivating people, you’ve got to engage their minds and their hearts. I motivate people, I hope, by example – and perhaps by excitement, by having productive ideas to make others feel involved.” – Rupert Murdoch

58.          “The world is changing very fast. Big will not beat small anymore; it will be the fast beating the slow.” – Rupert Murdoch

  • Craig Newmark      – Craiglist

59.          “Sometimes you gotta be fast so you don’t waste the time of others.” – Craig Newmark

60.          “Follow through with basic values, and remember to provide good customer service.” – Craig Newmark

  • Dave Thomas – Wendy’s

61.          “What do you need to start a business? Three simple things: know your product better than anyone. Know your customer, and have a burning desire to succeed.” – Dave Thomas

62.          “Take care of your business and your business will take care of you.” – Dave Thomas

  75 Impeccable Small Business Advice from 39 Billionaires

  • Gerry Schwartz     – Onex Corporation

63.          “We’ve got customers. We’ve got suppliers. We’ve got employees. We’ve got unions. We’ve got communities. We’ve got all of these things that go into making up whether a business succeeds or fails.” – Gerry Schwartz

64.          “Investments are like trains, and if you miss one, don’t worry because another one will come down the line.” – Gerry Schwartz

  • Walt Disney   - Disney

65.          “You are dead if you aim only for kids. Adults are only kids grown up, anyway.” – Walt Disney

66.          “Tomorrow can be a wonderful age.” – Walt Disney

  • Barry Diller   – Expedia

67.          “The world is changing. Networks without a specific branding strategy will be killed. I envision a world of highly run companies without room for all the overhead the establishment networks carry.” – Barry Diller

  • Giorgio Armani  – Armani

68.          “Remember that, in the end, the customer doesn’t know, or care, if you are small or large as an organization – she or he only focuses on the garment hanging on the rail in the store.” – Giorgio Armani

69.          “In this business you can’t have a destination, an arrival point. Otherwise your competitors will overtake you, or you become complacent.” – Giorgio Armani

  • Craig McCaw      – McCaw Cellular

70.          “Changes occur because there’s a gap between what is and what should be.” – Craig McCaw

71.          “Filling a need that others aren’t addressing has always been a focus of the companies that I have been involved with.” – Craig McCaw

  • Leslie Wexner   – Limited Brands

72.          “We are poised for accelerated future growth and we need the depth and breadth of leadership to achieve it.” – Leslie Wexner

73.          “Express is well into the process of substantial transformation and is providing itself as a significant dual gender, high quality apparel brand. While much work needs to be done, we believe the opportunities for growth across our brand are significant.” – Leslie Wexner

  • Carl Icahn   – Billionaire Investor

74.          “In life and business, there are two cardinal sins. The first is to act without thought and the second is not to act at all.” – Carl Icahn

75.          “You learn in this business; if you want a friend, get a dog.” – Carl Icahn

How to Become an Investor – How to Start Investing as a Beginner

Are you an investing beginner? Do you want to become an investor? Do you want to learn how to start investing your money with minimal risk? Or you need the best small business ideas or investment opportunities? Then read on.

Congratulations on your decision to become an investor and welcome to the  No 1 source for Strategic investment Advice and Strategies. In this article, i will teach you how to start investing for beginners, provide you with information on the best investment ideas and help you find where to invest your money for maximum returns.

  How to Become an Investor and Start Investing

“Many people rush into the game of investing thinking they are predators. When they get to the middle of the game, they then realize they are the prey and try to escape but it will be too late. Only the preys with a well defined exit strategy will escape, the rest will be slaughtered by the real predators.” – Ajaero Tony Martins

What is the best business to start with my savings? What is the best investment opportunity with good return on investment? This is one of the questions i get asked frequently. A lot of individuals are also interested in investing their money for returns but they don’t seem to know where to begin or how to start. Some even start investing only to have their fingers burnt because they didn’t get it right from the start. So in this article, I will be sharing with you a step by step guide on how to start investing your money without getting your fingers burnt.

 How to Become an Investor – How to Start Investing for Beginners

1.   Prepare your mindset

“Getting rich begins with the right mindset, the right words and the right plan.” – Rich Dad

The first step I recommend for anyone wanting to become an investor is to first get in the right mindset. Most financial advisors often skip this basic investment advice without knowing that this single tip is the difference between the successful investors and the average investors. There’s lot of tips to share when it comes to getting yourself in the right mindset but I will keep things simple for now.

Before you start investing your money, whether in stocks, real estate, commodities, bonds or whatsoever; you must first answer an important question and this question is:

  • Why do you want to become an investor?

The answer to this question is the foundation on which you can begin preparing your investing mindset. Your reason for investing is a determining factor for success or failure, so it’s advisable to start investing for the right reasons. Don’t become an investor because you are interested in learning how to become a millionaire fast. Now aside your primary reason for investing, there are other questions you need to answer that can help prepare your mindset for the game of investing.

  • How do handle failure?
  • Are you prepared to risk your money?
  • Are you emotionally strong to handle the ups and downs of investing?

2.   Select your choice investment product

Successful investors that have mastered the game of investing can switch from one investment product to another with minimal risk but for you an investing beginner, it is advisable you first focus on one investment product and follow it through. Are you going to start investing in stocks, real estate, commodities, etc?

  • Do you want to become just an accredited investor or a sophisticated investor?
  • Do you want to become an angel investor?
  • Do you want yo become a property or real estate investor?
  • Do you want to become a private investor or stock investor?

The choice is yours but whatever choice you make, make sure that you are prepared to learn it through.

3.   Prepare a financial plan

Every business begins with a business plan, so also should every investment begin with a financial plan and an investment plan. Most people invest without a financial plan or investment goal; but I will advice you do otherwise. Why are you investing? What is your investment goal? Where do you want to be financially in the next ten years? Is your investment plan going to help you achieve your financial goal? These are the questions you must answer before you start investing your money.

To prepare a financial plan and set an investment goal, you must first know what your present financial status is; and where you intend to get to. You must also prepare your financial plan alongside your investment goal; because both must work together. At this stage, it’s advisable to consult a competent financial adviser to work with you on your financial plan.

4.    Get the basic training/education

This is another point where most investors get it wrong. Many investors today are investing without financial education and competent investment training. They are simply investing blindly or following the advice of financial advisors or brokers and that’s why most people lose their money.

  “People without financial knowledge, who take advice from financial experts are like lemmings simply following their leader. They race for the cliff and leap into the ocean of financial uncertainty, hoping to swim to the other side.” – Rich Dad

Before you start investing, I recommend you get the basic training with respect to the investment product of your choice. Whether you want to invest in stocks, real estate, small businesses, bonds or commodities, please first invest in yourself by getting the necessary education and training.

5.  Find a good broker/financial adviser

“Seek advice on risk from the wealthy who still take risks, not friends who dare nothing more than a football bet.” – Warren Buffett

Having a good broker is a very important requisite for achieving success as an investor; regardless of what your choice investment product is. Now how do you know a good broker? Well, I don’t have a definite answer to that. All I can say is that you should find a broker that will be willing to work with you. This is important because some brokers only work with high networth individuals and some will attend to the average income earners.

“Business is a team sport; so also is investing.” – Rich Dad

Secondly, I will advice you get a broker that will perform your mandate timely. You should also find a broker that will be ready to enlighten you about a particular product or offer you investment advice when you require it. And lastly, choose a broker that invests in what he preaches. Never work with a broker/financial adviser that don’t generate a bulk of income from investments; never work with a broker who lives off salary and commissions. Work with a broker/adviser who actively invests; you will learn a lot from such a person.

 How to Become an Investor – How to Start Investing for Beginners

6.  Start investing

“Business and financial intelligence are not picked up within the four walls of school. You pick them up on the streets. In school, you are taught how to manage other people’s money. On the streets, you are taught how to make money.” – Ajaero Tony Martins

This is the stage where you put your money to work; this is where you take your baby steps. Just as you cannot learn how to start a business by reading a book, the same goes with investing. You have to take action for you to see any real result. When you get to this point, you will definitely be filled with fear and excitement but don’t panic. Remember that you are not investing for only money at this stage; you are investing also for education and some real life experience.

7.    Get more in-depth training/education

After you have learned the basics of investing and have started building some experience by actively investing, I will advice you go for another round of training but this time; your training will be based on advanced investment strategies.

8.    Make mistakes and keep learning

Another important requisite for becoming a successful investor will be your ability to learn from your mistakes and failure. To become a successful investor, you must be able to go from failure to failure without losing your enthusiasm. You must see your mistakes and failures as learning opportunities; this is what makes you an experienced investor.

  “A mistake is a signal that it is time to learn something new, something you don’t know before.” – Rich Dad

As you make mistakes, take some losses and learn; you will now begin to know what works and what doesn’t. You will now begin to initiate your own investment strategy and thus, you will now be competent enough to give out investment advice to other investing beginners.

9.   Stick to the process

 “Experience taught me a few things. One is to listen to your gut no matter how good something sounds on paper. The second is that you are generally better off sticking with what you know and the third is that sometimes, your best investments are the ones you don’t make.” – Donald Trump

In business, not all startup business ideas become a winner; so also it is in investing. In the process of investing your money; you are going to contend with a lot of things; such as market volatility, trends, emotions, lack of capital, inability to access a bank loan, inability to find a good partner/investor, etc. But regardless of what you encounter, you have to stick to the process. You have to keep cool and follow your winning strategy. Investing is not a one hit affair; it’s a game that requires continuity.

10.  Count your wins/losses

  “Money was never a big motivation for me except as a way to keep score. The real excitement is playing the game.” – Donald Trump

Investing is a game and money is how we keep score of our successes or failures. Successful investors set a time frame in which they conduct a portfolio review to analyze their performance; you should do the same. Make it a rule to conduct a quarterly performance check on your portfolio and strategies; it is a crucial investing fundamental.

As a final note, this is my ten step process to starting your investing career. This is my ten step process to becoming a successful investor. Follow these steps diligently, and I will see you at the top.

Secret Rich Plan: How to Get Rich Fast without Money Insurance Loan

Do you have a secret rich plan? Do you want to learn how to get rich fast without money insurance or small business loans? What if you had the secret plan of the rich; will you get rich quick? If your answer to the questions above is yes, then read on.

In this article, I intend to be very blunt and that’s why I titled this article “How to get rich fast and quick using the secret plan of the rich.” No sentiment or resentment. It is strictly written for those who desire to be rich, without them applying for a small business loan or borrowing from their life insurance money. Follow this advice and you are on your way to becoming rich.

Now what makes me so sure of these steps and what proof do I have that the steps work? Well, I can confidently say this is the exact formula applied by the Ultra rich people. It was the exact formula that produced the school drop out billionaires of today.

People such as Bill Gates, Henry Ford, Steve Jobs, Warren Buffett, Larry Ellison, Oprah Winfrey, Debbi Fields, Mary Kay Ash, Robert Kiyosaki and Martha Stewart have become ultra rich by applying this same formula. It is this same formula I am also applying because it has been tested and proven by these successful entrepreneurs. So if you are ready to get rich quick, then read on.

Secret Rich Plan – How to Get Rich Fast without Money Insurance or Loan

1.            Make up your mind to be rich

“I intend to be the richest man in the world.” – Howard Hughes

This is the very first step to take if you want to get rich quick; it is one on the secrets of the rich. You must make up your mind to become rich first; you must envision it and see yourself achieving it. But it is also important you bear in mind that though getting rich shouldn’t be your primary aim. Now why do I emphasize you must make up your mind to be rich?

“I always knew I was going to be rich; I don’t think I ever doubted it for a minute.” – Warren Buffett

I am emphasizing this because getting rich begins with the right mindset. If you don’t believe you can get rich, you will never get rich. You must develop the mindset of the rich. You must think big and you must see life as a game which you must play to win. You must be willing to take risk with both your money and borrowed money. You must be willing to make mistakes and learn from those mistakes as fast as possible. In all, you must think like the rich.

“Money is just an idea.” – Robert Kiyosaki

“The biggest challenge you have is to challenge your own self doubt and your laziness. It is your self doubt and your laziness that defines and limit who you are.” – Rich Dad

2.            Discover your Passion

“Without passion, you don’t have energy. Without energy, you have nothing.” – Warren Buffett

After making up your mind to become rich; after you’ve worked on your mindset, the next thing you need to do is to discover your passion. What do you love doing? What interests you? What’s your hobby? Do you have any special skill or talent?

This is the time to do a little soul searching to find out your strengths. Take out a piece of paper and make a list of those things you love to do. I emphasize on finding your passion because you can never get bored doing something you love doing. If you don’t love it, it’s not your passion.

“It is not really work if you are having fun.” – Pierre Omidyar

“Passion is what keeps you going when the going gets tough.” – Warren Buffett

3.            Research and see if your passion can be of help to other people

The next step to getting rich quick is to carry out a preliminary research to see if there are other people who share the same interest with you. You will also have to find out if your passion can be of service to other people. If there are enthusiasts of your passion but they aren’t willing to pay for it, then you must abandon that passion and look for another. If a market exists for your passion, then it is time to go to the next step.

4.            Draw up a plan

“A plan is a bridge to your dreams. Your job is to make the plan or bridge real, so that your dreams will become real. If all you do is stand on the side of the bank and dream of the other side, your dreams will forever be just dreams. First make your plans real and then your dreams will come true.” – Rich Dad

Another secret of the rich is this; the rich operate on plans, the poor do not. This means that things do not just happen for the rich, they planned and worked for it. So at this stage, you have to draw up a plan of your life. Not just a plan to get rich but a plan of how you want to run your life. This is very important because a plan will help you identify opportunities and threats to your plan of getting rich. If you are really serious about getting rich, then create a secret rich plan and stick to the plan.

“In order to be a player on the fast track, you will need to have a plan on how to gain more and more control. On the fast track, it is control, more than money that counts.” – Rich Dad

Secret Rich Plan – How to Get Rich Fast without Money Insurance or Loan

5.            Build a business around your passion

“To build wealth today, you must be in your own business.” – J. Paul Getty

This is the real key to getting rich quick. It is one of the open secret plan of the rich. It is the same secret Bill Gates, Henry Ford, Steve Jobs and other extremely rich individuals used to get rich. This is the secret why some school drop outs became extremely rich and it is the same secret I am also applying.

After you have discovered your passion and drawn a plan; the next step is to build a business around that passion of yours. It has to be your passion so that you will never be bored doing it and you don’t need to take a business loan or borrow from your life insurance money to start a business. If you don’t build a business around your passion, skill or talent, then you are not going to get rich quick. As an illustration:

Bill Gates, Lawrence Ellison, Steve Jobs discovered they were fascinated about computers; they built a business around it and became one of the richest men in the world.

Oprah Winfrey discovered her passion for speaking and talk shows; she built a business around it and became the richest black woman in the world.

Aliko Dangote discovered his passion for trading and making deals and became the richest black man in the world.

Robert Kiyosaki discovered his passion for teaching and built a business around it.

Larry Page of Google and Jerry Yang of Yahoo were youths when they discovered their passion for the internet; they built a business around it and became billionaires.

Donald Trump took his passion for real estate development and investing; built a business around it and became a billionaire.

If these successful entrepreneurs can do this and become rich, why can’t you? You don’t need to re-invent the wheel, all you have to do is follow this proven strategy of getting rich and you will become rich.

“If you want to be rich, you need to be a business owner and an investor.” – Rich Dad

“The richest people in the world build networks; everyone else is trained to look for work.” -  Rich Dad

Secret Rich Plan – How to Get Rich Fast and Quick

6.            Serve more and more people

After building a business around your passion, you need to figure out a way to affect more lives with your business. You need to serve more and more people. The more people you serve, the more money you will make and the richer you become.

“The major difference between a big business and a small business is the number of customers the business can handle.” – Rich Dad

7.   Stick to the process

“Press on. Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.” – Ray Kroc

This is the most important secret of the rich. After going through the stages listed above and you fail to obey this one, everything you have done will be in vain.

To get rich fast, you must be willing to put in the required effort and commitment in building your business. It is not going to come easy but the reward is worth it. You are going to face business challenges, you are going to be on the verge of giving up but don’t.

“In the course of building a business, the process is more important than the goal.” – Rich Dad

“You can always quit so why quit now.” – Rich Dad

How to Find Your Passion in Life

How do you find your passion? Can I become a billionaire with my passion? How do I build a business around my passion? Why do I need to find my passion? Can I start a business and achieve success with my passion? How can my passion help me become a millionaire?

These are usually the questions thrown at me whenever I discussing the importance of finding your passion. If any of these questions is running through your mind at the moment; I will suggest you read on as I have provided the answers you need.

 “This is the reason why I stay up twenty hours a day.” – Sean Diddy Combs

Why do you need to find your passion?

I don’t really know the conventional answer to this question but I will express myself in my own way. Success coaches and experts recommend you find and follow your passion in life because following your passion increases your chances of success; whether in business, workplace or personal obligation.

“Work hard; have fun, Make history.” – Jeff Bezos

For me, I believe that sticking to your passion eliminates the boredom and stress associated with making your life a success. Now with respect to starting a business; I will say sticking with your passion will reduce your chances of business failure. I often advise my protégés to start or build a business around their passion because it’s a great way to start; provided the passion satisfies a demand and my reason is this: “it takes passion and determination to successfully go through the entrepreneurial process.”

“It’s not really work; if you are having fun.” – Pierre Omidyar

Following your passion brings out your personal power and awakens yourself to the beauty of the world. It leads you to the heart of spiritual journey as it changes your thoughts, perceptions, and feelings. Finding your passion does not promise an easy life; rather, it promises a rich life open to hopes and possibility.

“Without passion, you don’t have energy. Without energy, you have nothing.” – Warren Buffett

Are there individuals who have found success following their passion? My answer is a resounding yes. Tiger Woods starts playing golf at the age of 3 and turned pro at the age of 20. As at the time of this writing; he is the richest sports person, the first billionaire golfer and the greatest golfer of all time. Serena and Venus Williams also achieved success by sticking with their passion for Tennis.

“You are nuts and you should be proud of it. Stick with what you believe in.” – Trip Hawkins

Tupac Shakur, Michael Jackson and Celine Dion took their passion for music to the streets and became the greatest in Rap, Pop and blues respectively. Rachael Ray leveraged her passion for cooking and became a success; so also did Debbi Fields. J. K. Rowling leveraged her passion for writing and became a billionaire.

“You have to have passion when you’re finding a recipe for a career. If you love what you are doing, you’ll never work a day in your life.” – Debbi Fields

Warren Buffett, Sir John Templeton, Peter Lynch and George Soros became billionaires with their passion for stock investing while Donald Trump did his with real estate investing. Larry Ellison, Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg leveraged their passion for software programming and became the richest drop out billionaires. Oprah Winfrey became the richest black woman in the world with her passion for public speaking; so also did Martha Stewart.

“Passion is what drives me forward. Passion is what makes me go to bed at 2am and wake up at 6am.”  - Aliko Dangote

This list can go on and on but I believe the point is made that your passion can take you to the greatest heights; if only you can find it and harness it. Now how do you find your passion? In this article, I will restrict myself to helping you find your passion. I will explain in detail how to build a business around your passion in subsequent articles but we have to start from somewhere; which is how to find your passion. Below are six easy steps to finding your passion.

                How to Find Your Passion in Life – Six Easy Steps

1.            Speak your truths clearly

To find your passion, you must speak your truths and prepare yourself for new adventures. Finding your passion begins with you answering these questions.

What really matters to you?

  • What truly makes you happy?
  • What drives you crazy?
  • What do you do best?
  • And what makes you feel complete?

Once you begin challenging your mind with these questions, your mind will provide the answers and once you have figured out the answers, you are on your way to finding your passion.

“Whether you’ve found your calling, or if you’re still searching, passion should be the fire that drives your life’s work.” – Michael Dell

2.            Be open for support

You must also keep in mind that you are not an isolated being. Sometimes in life, it takes external influence and inspiration to find your passion. Therefore you need the support of family, friends and positive minded social circle that will help you reach your goals.

                “Be careful of the environment you choose for it will shape you. Be careful the friends you choose for you will become like them.” – W. Clement Stone

3.            Keep an open mind

You need to keep an open mind to find your passion. When you open up your senses, you tend to experience God’s blessings and you feel more peaceful and serene. This allows you to be more patient and be reminded the cycle of nature. When you experience this, you become more positive and calm.

Keeping an open mind allows you to observe your environment and how it relates to you. One thing you must note is this; you might not be the one to discover your passion. Someone else might and you need an open mind to take note of such. Observe the traits and talent you possess that your friends and family admire a lot.

“You are a product of your environment. So choose the environment that will best develop you toward your objective. Analyze your life in terms of its environment. Are the things around you helping you towards success? Or are they holding you back? – W. Clement Stone

For instance, Debbi Fields was constantly praised by her family and friends because of her ability to bake delicious cookies; and she was able to respond positively to those compliments by starting a business around that passion. If Debbi Fields hadn’t kept an open mind, I don’t think Mrs. Field’s Cookies will be in existence today.

“You know, all these years, all these years you’ve been eating my cookies. All these years you’ve been telling me how wonderful they are. Well, I’ve decided I’m going to go into the cookie business.” – Debbi Fields

4.            Give yourself a time for pleasure

How do you feel waking up in the morning away from busy schedules and having the freedom to do the things that bring you pleasure? Well, following your passion can put you in such state of mind and lifestyle.

“I get to do what I like to do every single day of the year.” – Warren Buffett

To find your passion, you must allow yourself a time for pleasure. For many people, allowing pleasures induces guilt as they tend to feel it is not productive and hinders you from getting important things accomplished. But this view of pleasure is actually a matter of opinion.

Gentle pleasures are good to your health and are productive. By allowing yourself time for pleasure, you become more focused and passionate in your job. Most importantly, you will have the right aura to decide what’s best for you and what your passion is.

5.            Liberate yourself

A person who finds his or her passion is a truly wise person. Doing a work that reflects your personality and values promises you a lifelong happiness and contentment. It is easier and liberating when we accept who we are and we allow other people to accept us too. The human psyche is a holistic system, to numb one part of our being is to numb the rest and create constant struggle.

“Remain true to yourself and your philosophy.” – Giorgio Armani

To be able to discover and harness your passion, you must accept and appreciate who you are. I have seen people with talents that seem weird to others; I have also seen people with gifts that are psychic in nature but they get rejected by the society.

While in high school, I recall meeting a little girl who could tell you private things about your life just by simply looking your palm. I can’t really tell how she came about such ability but all I can say is that she was regarded as an outcast by her peers; she was called a sorcerer.

I also noticed in high school that most gifted kids are usually lonely; kids with artistic abilities or computer geeks are usually the loneliest. But I have also seen such kids who stuck with their passion not minding the jeering and booing, rise to become successful individuals. So don’t be discouraged when others laugh at your ability; instead, be proud of yourself and vow to positively utilize such abilities to its fullest.

“Do you know that within your power lies every step you ever dreamed of stepping and within your power lies every joy you ever dreamed of seeing? Within yourself lies everything you ever dreamed of being. Become everything that God wants you to be. It is within your reach. Dare to grow into your dreams and claim this as your motto: Let it be me.” – Mary Kay Ash

6.            Feed yourself with affirmations

“Life and death are in the power of the tongue.” – Proverbs 18:21

“A man is what he thinks all day long.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Positive affirmations are important to finding your passion in life as it makes you feel secure and optimistic about reaching your goals. A lot of people don’t get to their destinations out of fear of failure. You should not allow yourself to get upset by some downturns in life; instead, pull yourself together and get on track again.

“There is little difference in people but that little difference makes big difference. The little difference is attitude. The big difference is whether it is positive or negative.” – W. Clement Stone

                “Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.” – Luke 6:45, Matthew 12:34

Some people might influence you into thinking negatively. I know it may not be so easy to shut them out of your life but it’s easier to practice blocking the negative energies that they bring into your life; it keeps your sanity. Never ever allow cynics and naysayers get the best of you. Remember, you are unique and you have a purpose or mission here on earth; so it’s up to you to find this purpose.

“Be careful of your thought, for they may break into words.” – Anonymous

“As a man thinketh in his heart; so he is.” – The Holy Bible

As a final note, I want you to know that finding your passion is an endless song; an ever going process. You don’t just find your passion and sit there; instead, you find your passion and make something worthwhile out of it.

“I had to make my own living and my own opportunity. But I made it! Don’t sit down and wait for the opportunities to come. Get up and make them.” – Madame C. J. Walker

When you do the things that you are passionate about, you allow your life to flourish. You let yourself connect to everything you are – in mind, in heart, and in spirit. When you find and follow your passion, you emerge a stronger person that can face challenges better; because you are reinforced by being able to do the things you love.

By finding your passion and sticking to it; you feel more alive, positive, self-respecting, and determined. You live your life with confidence and high morale and the best of it all is that you feel you are contributing goodness and positivism to the people in your life. So I challenge you to get up, find your passion and make it a reality. I will see you at the top.

Five Essential Skills you need to Be a Billionaire

It’s been quite a while since I set a personal goal to become a billionaire. If you are a regular reader of this business blog, then you should be aware of this goal of mine and how I intend to achieve it. If not, then let me give you a brief insight into my goal. In 2010, I set a personal goal to become a billionaire in my life time and I went on to explain in detail how to become a billionaire, why I want to become a billionaire and how I intend to achieve the goal.

“Most people think small because most people are afraid of success, afraid of making decisions, afraid of winning. And that gives people like me a great advantage.” – Donald Trump

Why you must think big and set big goals

Now for those of you who are big thinkers and are motivated to set big financial goals, I think it’s worthwhile I share with you some necessary skills you need to achieve your goal. Even if your goal is to retire with a million or billion dollars, you are definitely going to need these skills. Before I proceed into today’s subject, I want you to know the journey to achieving my goal has been a great learning experience. To be sincere with you, the journey hasn’t been easy and why I struggle to stay focused on my business and personal objectives; I try harder not to become obsessed with the goal.

“Money was never a big motivation for me except as a way to keep score. The real excitement is playing the game.” – Donald Trump

“Build wealth as a by-product of your business success. If wealth is your only objective in business, you will probably fail.” – J. Paul Getty

Now in the process of attaining great financial heights, you will definitely need a certain kind of mindset and skills. To develop the billionaire’s mindset, I will suggest you read the articles “how to develop your mindset and think like a billionaire” and “17 uncommon traits of billionaires.” After developing the right mindset, skill development comes next.

“Skills make you rich, not theories.” – Robert Kiyosaki

As I pursue my goals and build a business, I have also taken some proactive measures to enhance my skills. I have attended seminars, read books, listened to tapes and held one on one consultation with experts. I also receive mentorship advice from other entrepreneurs and investors who are ahead of me in the game. Now what exactly are the skills I am striving to develop? You will find your answers below.

“One of the most stupid things to do is to pretend you are smart. When you pretend to be smart, you are at the height of stupidity.” – Rich Dad

“Seek advice on risk from the wealthy who still take risks, not friends who dare nothing more than a football bet.” – J. Paul Getty

Five Essential Skills you need to Be a Billionaire

What is the most important business skill for an entrepreneur?

1.            Money Management Skills

“The philosophy of the rich and the poor is this: the rich invest their money and spend what is left. The poor spend their money and invest what is left.” – Rich Dad

The first and fundamental skill you need to achieve your financial goals is money management skills. Without money management skills, forget about becoming a millionaire or billionaire. Business and investing is a game and money is how we keep score of the game. To become successful financially, you must know how to manage your money; you must also know how to control your income and expenses.

“Your money should be a good bird dog. It helps you find a bird, catch the bird and then goes out to get another bird. Most people’s money acts like the bird that just flies away.” – Rich Dad

Another important element you must effective control over is your debt to equity ratio. To achieve big financial goals, you must know how to competently take on debt and use debt to your advantage. Debt, in the world of money is a form of leverage but you must possess money management skills to control and use debt to your advantage.

“Be careful when you take on debt. If you take on debt personally, make sure it is small. If you take on large debt, make sure someone else is paying for it.” – Rich Dad

“The most important word in the world of money is cash flow. The second most important word is leverage.” – Rich Dad

2.            Sales Skills

“The ability to sell is the number one skill in business. If you cannot sell, don’t bother thinking about becoming a business owner.” – Rich Dad

One of the most important jobs of an entrepreneur is to sell; but unfortunately, selling is a task most people hate. Why? The reason people hate selling is because they are afraid of rejection. If you want to become a successful entrepreneur, then you must hone your sales skill. Do you want to know why sales skill is the most important of all skills? Then read the article “Why you must develop your sales skills and learn how to sell.”

“I’ve never felt like I was in the cookie business. I’ve always been in a good feeling business. My job is to sell joy, my job is to sell happiness and my job is to sell an experience.” – Debbi Fields

3.            Leadership Skills

“Outstanding leaders go out of their way to boost the self esteem of their personnel. If people believe in themselves, it’s amazing what they can accomplish.” – Sam Walton

One challenge of being a big thinker and having big financial goals is that you have to be in charge; you must be at the forefront. People are naturally afraid to go beyond their comfort zone, so they are going to stand aside for you. Nobody is going to do the dirty work for you; since you set the goal, you must do the work. This puts you at the forefront of the quest.

“I have run engineering since day one at Oracle, and I still run engineering. I hold meetings every week with the database team, the middle ware team, the applications team. I run engineering and I will do that until the board throws me out of there.” – Larry Ellison

Secondly, if you are aiming to become a billionaire alone; then you can as well give up the goal now. Why? The reason is because business and investing are team sports; you can play alone to win but you can’t play alone to win big. Just as money management entails effective directing of cash; leadership entails effective directing of human resources. To be a billionaire, you must possess the ability to attract smart people and build great business teams.

4.            Accounting Skills

“Accounting is the language of business.” – Warren Buffett

Lack of accounting skill is the reason most successful people become poor again. To succeed in life and business, you must at least know the basics of accounting.  You must know the difference between asset and liability, gross profit and net profit. Most importantly, you must know when to spend more and as well know when to cut back on your spending.

“If your cash is about to run out, you have to cut your cash flow. CEOs have to make those decisions and live with them however painful they may be. You have to act and act now; and act in the best interest of the company as a whole, even if it means that some people in the company who are your best friends have to work somewhere else.” – Larry Ellison

“Managers thinking about accounting issues should never forget Abraham Lincoln’s favorite riddles: ‘How many legs does a dog have if you call its tail a leg. The answer is four because calling a tail a leg doesn’t make it a leg.” – Warren Buffett

5.            Investing Skills

“The rich invest in time, the poor invest in money.” – Warren Buffett

Regardless of how smart you are and regardless of how smart your team is; you can never take advantage of every opportunity that comes your way. So you just have to sometimes give your money to other entrepreneurs and investors; and hope they do a good job with your money. Now the challenge lies in identifying good investment opportunities?

“Never invest in a business you can’t understand.” – Warren Buffett

How can you tell a good investment opportunity from a bad one? How can you identify a competent management team from an incompetent one? How can you evaluate the risk to reward of an investment? Which investment vehicle is the best? When is the right time to buy and when is the right time to sell? How can you spot trends? This is where your need for investing skills come into play.

“Buy when everyone else is selling and hold when everyone else is buying. This is not merely a catchy slogan. It is the very essence of successful investments.” – J. Paul Getty

As a final note, these are not the only skills you need to become a billionaire. There are many other skills that will aid you in the pursuit of your goal but the five skills listed above are the most important. Without them, you won’t even come close to achieving your goal.

Are You Really Prepared to be an Entrepreneur?

So you want to become an entrepreneur? You want to start your own business and be your own boss? Well, I say congratulations but my concern is: are you really prepared to be an entrepreneur? Do you have what it takes to be an entrepreneur?

                Is starting a business risky?

“He that is prepare; has half won the battle.” – Sun Tzu

I have been an entrepreneur for over five years and I want to state that it has been a worthwhile adventure. Over these years, I have learned a lot of things that I wouldn’t have learned if I didn’t take the entrepreneurial route. As I reflect over my years as an entrepreneur, I have come to realize that there’s nothing glorious about being an entrepreneur. In fact, you are better off keeping your job than starting a business. Now for those wanting to become entrepreneur, let it be known to you that entrepreneurship is not a bed of roses; it’s a war zone.

                “Experience taught me a few things. One is to listen to your gut no matter how good something sounds on paper. The second is that you are generally better off sticking with what you know and the third is that sometimes, your best investments are the ones you don’t make.” – Donald Trump

Now don’t think I am trying to scare or discourage you from starting your own business. No. I just want to share with you the realistic truth about building a business, so that you can better prepare yourself. Just as a general must prepare adequately before a battle, so must an entrepreneur prepare before starting any business; and business is a series of unending battles. If you fail to prepare adequately, you are destined to fail; and nothing can save you.

Most people think entrepreneurship is all about raising capital and pursuing million dollar projects but it isn’t so. Entrepreneurship is a thing of the mind; it starts from the inside and reflects on the outside. Business idea creation, critical thinking, risk analysis and problem solving all occur on the inside; and this means that if your mindset is not right, you have failed from the start.

                “There are no bad business or investment opportunities. There are only bad entrepreneurs and investors.” – Rich Dad

Are you really prepared to be an entrepreneur? Well, you better be because the moment you decide to become an entrepreneur; you have just sounded the war drums. When I started my first business few years ago, I was very excited because I have taken a bold step. I was burning with enthusiasm and determination; but looking back now, I can see how naïve and unprepared I was back then. Even as at the time of writing this; I don’t think I am still prepared for the future challenges of building a business.

Are you really prepared to be an entrepreneur? Well, you better be because it is never going to be a smooth ride. Right from the day I decided to become an entrepreneur, it has been problems and challenges all the way. In fact, I have been dealing with challenges from day one and the more I solve them, the more the challenges get bigger. Don’t think money or success will shield you from the challenges of the business world; it won’t. In fact, the bigger your success and the more money you acquire, the bigger your problems will be. So you’ve got to be prepared.

                “Without the element of uncertainty, the bringing off of even, the greatest business triumph would be dull, routine and eminently unsatisfying.” – J Paul Getty

Are you really prepared to be an entrepreneur? Well, you might think you are prepared because you have spent quality time working on your business plan. You have thought everything through and plugged the loopholes; you have done your SWOT analysis and you are prepared to face the competition. Well, I give you thumbs up for your effort; but I want you to draw your attention to something.

Most people think the biggest challenges in business is either finding customers or fighting competition but I stand to tell you that it isn’t. The biggest challenge you will face in business sometimes come from the inside. It could be from your family, friends, employees or even you. In fact, the most deadliest challenges are usually unforeseen; I am talking about factors which are beyond your control. It could be an ailment or disease, a change in trend, it could be the loss of a loved one, it could be a natural disaster, it could be a change in government’s policy (Consider the Amazon associate business owners who were wiped out just because of a slight change in tax laws by some states); in fact, it could be anything. The question is: are you really prepared to face whatever comes?

One of the reasons why I have stayed true to the cause is because I am adequately prepared to face what comes; I have toughen my mind over the years, never to be shaken by surrounding circumstances. I have faced critical family challenges, i have been robbed at gun point, I have handled crucial business problems, I have been backstabbed by my closest friends, I have once lived with the fear of liquidation, etc. but the joyous part of it is that the more I encounter and solve these problems as they come; the bolder and tougher my mind becomes.

                “Prepare for bad times and you will only know good times.” – Rich Dad

As a final note, the point I am trying to emphasize is that business is not a bed of roses; never expect a smooth ride. Don’t be carried away by the hype, fallacies or stories of successful entrepreneurs. You have to be prepared for the worst; you must toughen your mind. The sad part is that I can’t really tell you how to prepare yourself because it’s a thing of the mind. But a good way to begin is to analyze your personal strengths, weaknesses and your risk bearing capacity. I rest my case.

                “In the end, you are measured not by how much you undertake but by what you finally accomplished.” – Donald Trump

How to Create innovative Million Dollar Unique Business ideas

The world is filled with brilliant unique business ideas; but the world lack seasoned entrepreneurs. Most people are crazy or excited about their new found innovative business idea. But million dollar business ideas don’t excite me and the reason is because a good idea does not guarantee success. It’s just a starting point in the entrepreneurial process; for there is more to starting a business than just the idea.

“A business idea is just another idea. But an idea backed by a strong feasibility study, a thorough business plan and a smart business management team is no longer an idea. It’s now a solid business opportunity worth pursuing.” – Ajaero Tony Martins

If you are an ardent reader of this business blog, you will note that I have covered virtually every aspect of building a business; from raising capital, finding a business team to buying or selling a business. But I have tactically stayed away from the subject of developing business ideas. Why? The reason is because it’s the least most important piece for building a business. Now I am not saying that a business idea is not important; all I am trying to stress is that it doesn’t hold the key for long term success and business sustainability.

Now back to the subject of developing million dollar business ideas. What does it take to develop or crank up a winning innovative business idea? What’s the process involved? Well, in response to these questions; I have decided to highlights six steps to creating a million dollar unique business ideas.

                How to Create innovative Million Dollar Unique Business Ideas

1.            Be creative – think outside the box

“Study conventional wisdom; then shun it.” – The Mafia Manager

Creativity is one of the keys to developing winning ideas. You must learn to think outside the box; you must learn to challenge your perception and reality. Creativity is all about seeing through the looking glass; it is all about bringing into reality what isn’t.

To be creative, you need to keep an open mind. You must always be on the edge, ever ready to learn. And ultimately; you must not believe in the word “impossible.” One enemy of creativity and innovation that you must be on the look out for is “conventional wisdom.”

Humans by nature are resistant to change or anything outside their reality. I have seen people discard their ideas just because it is against conventional wisdom. I have seen people hide their skill or ideas just because of the fear of what others will say. I have seen people ignore business opportunities just because someone said it’s impossible. To be sincere, I have actually done this a couple of times.

The key to fully unleashing your creative spirit is to ignore conventional wisdom and criticism. If the Wright brothers had listened to conventional wisdom; humans won’t be flying today in aircrafts. If Christopher Columbus had listen to conventional wisdom that the earth is flat; there will be nothing like international trade today. So learn to see beyond conventional wisdom.

“The most important aspect of my personality as far as determining my success goes; has been my questioning conventional wisdom, doubting experts and questioning authority. While that can be painful in your relationships with your parents and teachers, it’s enormously useful in life.” – Larry Ellison

2.            Be curious

You can come up with good innovative business ideas by simply researching and experimenting existing trends. I have seen people bump into ideas unexpectedly. Scientists and inventors use this technique a lot. A little positive curiosity can lead you to the next million dollar idea; if only you will recognize the opportunity.

3.            Re-invent the wheel

Most people are so busy, wasting time and energy on developing pioneer products and inventions because they believe that being the first is the key to becoming a successful entrepreneur. Most people don’t know that inventing or trying to be the first is the most risky of all business ventures. In fact, it has the highest failure rate in the business world. Do you know how much big corporations waste each year on research and development; all in a bid to be the first?

I will advice you save yourself the headache. Don’t stress yourself inventing the wheel; just re-invent the existing wheel and you are in business. Facebook wasn’t the first social networking platform; Google wasn’t the pioneer search engine. Thomas Edison didn’t pioneer the light bulb; he only made it better by commercializing it and he took credit for it. Michael Dell didn’t invent the personal computer; he just found a way to sell directly to consumers at a cheaper rate and he became a billionaire.

“We didn’t re-invent the wheel; we just painted it black.” – Robert L. Johnson

As a final tip, I want you to know that developing good, unique business ideas does not require any special skill or talent. Just possess the right mindset and your eyes will be opened to the opportunities that abound in this world.

How to Make Millions of Dollars Fast with your Ideas

The world is filled with brilliant business ideas; unfortunately, the world lack savvy entrepreneurs with the capacity to transform such ideas into profit. Do you have a good business idea but you lack the knowledge on how to take your ideas to the marketplace? Then read on as I share with you insider secrets on how to make millions of dollars fast with your business ideas.

I recently wrote an article titled how to become a billionaire, how to become a millionaire fast and “how to make a million dollars fast.” Now I want to cap it with a no-nonsense guide on how to make millions of dollars fast from your ideas without stress.

                What does it take to make a million dollars fast?

Sincerely speaking, it takes nothing special to make millions of dollars. All you need is a good business idea, the right mindset and a set of entrepreneurial skills. If you meet these three criteria, then I see nothing stopping you from achieving the feat.

                How to Make Millions of Dollars Fast with your Ideas

1.            What market value does your idea hold?

Most entrepreneurs usually get excited about their business ideas thinking it’s the next big thing. The sad news is that most ideas will not see the light of day. Do you know why? The reason is because most entrepreneurs develop business ideas or products based on what they think the market need; instead of what the market actually needs.

If your idea or product is going to breakthrough and generate your desired profits; then it must meet the market needs. Now how do you know if your idea has a high market value? Answering the following questions will help you determine the market value of your idea.

a.            Is your idea in line with the trend?

A fast idea is an idea that’s in line with the present and future trend. If you intend bringing an obsolete idea to the marketplace, think again because your idea may be dead on arrival.

b.            Is your idea a pioneer invention or innovation?

Now I know that a product being a pioneer invention is not a criterion for success in the marketplace but at least, it helps.

c.             Does your idea solve a problem or satisfy a need?

This is the most important factor to consider if you want to make millions of dollars with your ideas. Your proposed business idea must either solve a problem or satisfy a need; nothing more, nothing less. If it doesn’t, then it’s not worth a pinch of effort.

2.            How much is your idea worth?

After determining the market value of your product or idea, the next thing to do is to appraise its monetary value. No one is going to hand out millions of dollars to you for your idea when you don’t even know what your idea is worth. MsDos was sold by some programmers to Bill Gates for $50,000; and Bill Gates went on to become a billionaire with the same idea. Now how did Bill Gates achieve such a feat? How did he build a billion dollar company from a simple idea? The answer lies in intellectual property protection.

a.            You can increase the value of your idea by protecting it.

Before you even begin trying to make money with your ideas; it’s advisable you protect it. Legal protection is what made Bill Gates a billionaire; not the idea. Legally protecting your idea also increases its value. Trademarks, patents, licenses and copyrights are examples of legal vehicles you can use to protect your idea.

b.            Sharpen your sales skills

Sales skill is the most important business skill every entrepreneur needs. In fact, selling is the primary duty of an entrepreneur. Without it, nothing will be achieved. For your idea to break into the marketplace, you must know how to sell; so I will advice you sharpen your sales skills.

             How to Make Millions of Dollars Fast with your Ideas

3.            Build a business around your idea

The third step to making millions or billions of dollars from your business idea is to build a business around it. In fact, the best way to make millions of dollars with your idea is to build a business around the idea.

Most entrepreneurs allow lack of capital stand between them and their dreams; they forget that most mega enterprises were started from scratch. So what do you do when you lack the fund to start a business? The answer is start with what you have. The article below will help you out.

                How to start a catering business from home

How to Start a Small Business without Money

4.            Expand your business idea with franchising

Franchising is another way to expand your business idea and make millions of dollars out of it effortlessly.

5.            License your idea

6.            Sell your idea

Everyone has a brilliant idea up his/her sleeves but it is a known fact that not everyone can start a business. Most lack the guts to face the challenges and risk associated with building a business. If you are in this category of people, don’t fret. You can still make you millions of dollars with much reduced risk. All you have to do is to sell your ideas outright to companies or investors and walk away. But before you do that, make sure that you are legally protected and you have evaluated the value of your idea. If not, you will be ripped off.

How to Sell your Ideas

As a final note, I want to stress the fact that making millions of dollars is not a big deal. Keeping the millions of dollars is. So whatever approach you apply to exploit the potentials of your business idea, make sure you put your intelligence to use.