5 Steps to Achieving Any Goal in Life

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Are you willing to do whatever it takes to be successful?

Let’s face it; most of us dream of being successful in our chosen fields but for a majority of us that’s pretty much it – just dreaming about being successful and not doing anything about it.

How do you expect to be successful if you’re not even prepared to take any actionable steps to achieving your goal?

Instead of sitting around daydreaming, why don’t you stand up, dust your pants and actually do something about it? The longer you sit there daydreaming about possibilities the harder it is to stand up and make something of yourself.

So where should you start?

Here’s a five-step process to creating an effective action plan that should push your drive for success to another level.

Discover your motivation

Before you decide to come up with some actionable steps to help you achieve your goals, first you need to ask yourself – what’s your motivation?

Do you want to be famous?

Do you want to be rich beyond your wildest dreams?

Do you want to be successful so you can provide for your family?

Think about what’s going to motivate you on this journey to success and then look at the big picture. Once you’ve pinned down your motivator then that’ll serve as a reminder whenever you feel lazy or experience failure.

Devise your plan

Once you’ve discovered your main motivator it’s time to actually sit down and devise a plan. To do this you need to ask yourself four questions:

What do I really want to do with my life?

What’s the actual reason behind my goal?

Am I willing to do whatever it takes to achieve my goal?

What steps can I take to achieve my goal?

Start your journey

Now that you’ve created an action plan, it’s time to put your plan into action.

You need to really manage your time effectively if you want to be successful in your chosen field. You need to figure out what sort of research you need to take on in order for you to be successful, fix your schedule to make sure that you have a balance between doing the research and taking mini steps towards achieving your goal and phase out interruptions or steer clear of things that can hinder your progress. If you really want to achieve your goals, you need to surround yourself with things and people that will help you achieve them.

Sticking to your action plan may just be the hardest step in working towards achieving your dreams, but once you’ve found a way to stick to the plan and remain motivated – I guarantee that you’ll feel that you are finally on your way to becoming successful.

Track your progress

Having an action plan without a way to measure how much you are advancing towards your main goal will most definitely leave a big hole in your journey to success.

You need to figure out a way to measure whether or not you’re progressing at all. Unless you can find a way to track your progress, you won’t really know if you’re on the right path.

Keep in mind that if you’re doing the best you possibly can already – don’t think that you should be doing a lot more. This type of mentality can burn you out. Just do the very best you can and make sure you’re tracking your progress, as long as you’re consistent and working as hard as you possibly can, that should be enough.

Don’t be discouraged by failure

If you’re not failing at all then that means you’re not working hard enough.

If at some point in your journey you’re experiencing failure, keep in mind that this is normal. Everyone experiences failure even the best of the best.

Former president Robert F. Kennedy once said: “Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.”

Successful TV host Ellen DeGeneres also said: “It’s failure that gives you the proper perspective on success.” She was even quoted saying “When you take risks you learn that there will be times when you succeed and there will be times when you fail and both are equally important.”

Don’t be that person who decides to quit when the battle has just started. If you stumble upon a roadblock just stick to your main motivator and focus on your action plan again. Remember that failure is merely a stepping stone to success.

Take time out to enjoy your journey

Once you’ve got your motivation and action plan in place and you’re finally on your journey to success, take time out to

enjoy the journey on a constant basis.

Make sure that you celebrate even the smallest successes. Go shopping for a nice outfit or get a full body massage and

relax – enjoying the journey is equally as important as doing the journey itself because these are the moments that one day

you’ll look back on and cherish.

In conclusion

Success is not for everyone because not everyone is willing to do whatever it takes to make it happen.

Once you’ve determined what you want in life, you’re 100% motivated and you’re willing to do whatever it takes to be successful – then it’s only a matter of time that your dreams become a reality.

Some people just like to dream big and not do anything about, some people like to procrastinate way too much and eventually end up in a rut, while some are dedicated to really pushing ahead in life and making a difference in the world.

Which one are you?

3 Basic Financial Tips Every Entrepreneur Needs To Know Before Launching A New Business

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A startup without a proper plan and pre-analysis of different risks you may encounter during your business venture could lead to problems and waste of money. One of the things you need to protect when building a business is your investment. Therefore, it is critical to learning how to manage your finances to guarantee a sustainable business.

Track your finances

Make sure you track all your funds to know where your money goes. Keeping the record of your expenses up-to-date allows you to review your financial status. If you can monitor your cash flow, you can point out which part of your business areas are spending a lot so you can allocate the excessive amount to a more critical business plan you want to implement.

Proper cash flow management also enables you to limit excessive expenses for less essential business needs. Control spending at your startup since you are not yet able to generate your profit. It is still very early for you to reward yourself with fancy things without yet generating your net income.

Ensure you organize every record of expense such as marketing costs, mortgage loan or rental fee of your office, water and electric utilities, employee’s payroll, taxes, and many other aspects where money is involved. Organizing these expenses helps you do the proper computation easily.

Hiring professional help

Not all entrepreneurs possess an accurate computation skill. Hiring a professional can help you do the complex computations and get accounting done efficiently. Through his/her help, you can also allocate a specific amount specially intended for the tax contribution. Monthly reconciliation with your bank also enables you to verify if there are accounting errors done or unusual transactions without your knowledge.

Save some money for a rainy day

It is also essential to reserve some portion of your money to be used for your personal or household finances. Aside from this, you also need to allocate an amount intended for emergency use in case your business needs it. Since you are still in the start-up stage, avoid using the money from your company, so you can compare your profit versus your expenses.

Having savings will also allow you get prepared in case worse things may happen while your business is running. This will help you avoid the risk of running out of money which may be a cause of its loss or failure to operate.

Every step you have to make involves finances. Therefore, time is another thing you have to value. You do not have to rush things to achieve success. However, you still need to make sure you can appropriately schedule your day to day activities.

Once you have already mastered all these things mentioned, you can now be ready for a smart investment. This could be for your retirement, insurance, or another business expansion. These are just some of the financial goals most entrepreneurs dream to achieve. Aiming and achieving these things are the rewarding gifts you got from your effort and self-discipline.

5 Basic Things Every Newbie Entrepreneur Needs To Know About Starting A New Business

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Starting your own business is never easy, it takes time, money, effort and most of all – perseverance! Now if you are currently considering starting your own business at the moment, here’s the top 5 things you need to look into before taking the big dive.

1. Put together a business plan

The sad fact is that most businesses don’t actually make it past the first year because they have poor cash planning, inadequate market research and most of all, they don’t have a proper business plan. The very first thing you should do before starting a business is create a business plan. That business plan should highlight where you want to be in the next 5-10 years and should also highlight your goals as well as provide details on how you will achieve these goals. Nobody else has to see it; this is your own personal guide on how you will grow your business.

2. Will you be providing a product or service?

Of course, if you’re planning to start a business you should already know if you will be offering a service or selling a product to the consumer. Most budding entrepreneurs start a business based on their knowledge and expertise on a specific industry sector, others start a business based on something they’ve always been passionate about and some start a business because they can see a ‘hole’ in the market which they want to infiltrate. Keep in mind that once you’ve decided on what business you’ll be starting you then have to determine what would make your business different? Will you be offering a cheaper product or a faster service? What would make your product or service better than the competition? What’s unique about your business that others would pay attention?

3. What will be your business structure?

There are actually a number of choices to choose from when it comes to business structure, the most common ones though are sole trader, partnership and limited company. The typical choice by most people is the sole trader business structure because it’s the structure with the least hassle. However, this business structure can affect your personal security. If you’re wondering what the better choice is, well here’s a brief description on the 3 business structures: As a sole trader you carry all the risk – which means that if something goes wrong in your business then you are personally liable for all the costs. If you are thinking of entering a partnership structure with a bunch of friends, keep in mind that this could all change at some point due to the demand in the business. Now if you are thinking of setting up a limited company, yes you may lessen your individual liability, however, it’s not cheap to maintain a limited company structure because you’d have to pay a yearly government fee – and this will be tough on you especially if you won’t be making any money yet in the next 3 years. If you are seriously thinking of setting up a company for the first time, it’s probably best to obtain professional advice from either a solicitor or accountant so that they can explain the risks and costs involved.

4. What will you name your business?

Finding a name may sound like the easiest part of the process – but think again! Some companies take years before they can come up with a suitable name for their business. Think about it this way, the name of your business will be its brand for life, whatever name you come up with is what you’ll be working with for the duration of the business. Here are some questions you should ask yourself: Does the name suit the product or service you are offering? Is the name original? Can you trademark the name? Is the name available online? It’s always good practice to register the name of your business to the Fair Trading office to make sure that no one else has the exact same business name as what you have.

5. How are you going to market the new business?

Marketing is a crucial part of any business, without proper marketing your business is as good as dead. The big question is: what approach will you take to reach your specific target market? Do you need to look into magazine ads, billboards, social media or maybe direct mail to reach your target market? Your marketing approach will of course depend on what your product or service is, it’s basically trial and error at the start. Just take the plunge and start your marketing efforts and whichever one works for your business is what you should stick on. If you don’t know where to start it may be a good idea to check out what you’re competition is doing, you can always do the same thing but just give it a twist to make it more favourable for your business.

The Dark Side Of Entrepreneurship: 3 Sacrifices Every Entrepreneur Must Make to Be Successful

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Let’s face it; the concept of being an entrepreneur is exciting for a lot of people. The notion that you’re the boss and you run your own business sounds quite appealing to a lot of people but unfortunately, there is a downside to entrepreneurship that most people don’t see.

As an entrepreneur, you need to go through a number of sacrifices otherwise you won’t eventually get to where you want to be. Now here are the 3 most common sacrifices every entrepreneur must face when they’re just starting out:

Work/Life Blur

Once you decide to become an entrepreneur then you need to be prepared for your private life and your work life to cross over all the time. If you’re just starting a new business then say goodbye to your private time for a while because you’ll be working 24/7 even when you’re not in your place of business. You’ll be thinking of new strategies, marketing techniques and ways of improving your business wherever you are and that’s just the tip of the iceberg because you’ll have dozens of phone calls and emails to attend to. At some point, when you’re business has finally stabilised then you’ll find a healthy balance between your business and your private time.

Unstable take-home pay

It’s common knowledge for entrepreneurs that you’ll probably lose money or at best break-even on the first five years of your business before you eventually start making money. If you’re starting a new business then you need to be in it for the long haul! If you want to make a profit in about a year or two then you need to create a powerful marketing plan that can penetrate the industry in a big way and earn you some much needed profits.

Sleep deprivation

Most people need at least 6 hours sleep, but as an entrepreneur, you may need to have a lot less. There will be a number of times when you’d have to sacrifice sleep so that you can look after your business properly. There will be some days when you need to stay up all night to work on urgent projects and there will be a number of nights when you’ll be lying awake thinking about your action plan the next day. When you start a new business – expect to sleep a lot less for the next couple of years!

On the brighter side of things, even though you need to make these sacrifices don’t be discouraged though, you’ve got to start somewhere to get somewhere right? Look at these sacrifices as a form of investment. Just sacrifice for now but as long as you stay committed to the overall picture then you’ll eventually reap the rewards.

5 Simple Reasons Why E-Commerce Could Actually Be Your Ticket To Financial Freedom

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Recent studies show that by 2017, retail e-commerce by mobile is expected to increase by 35% while online selling is predicted to surpass the profitability of brick and mortar stores for the next five years. Sound interesting? Globally, the number of households with internet access is continuously growing. This could mean that ecommerce sales could skyrocket as the figure rises. Currently, 40% of the global population have bought an item online which explains why some of the traditional stores in your locals may be closing up and moving to internet operation.

Of course, retail ecommerce is far from what your rose-tinted lenses have revealed to you. It involves hard work and patience as competitors continue to grow and categories such as jewellery, accessories, clothing, and electronics are turned into some of the oversaturated markets. Despite the challenge, this new economy brought about by the advent of internet technology has undeniably altered the way people do their shopping. It has changed the consumers’ buying behaviour, and will continue to do so as more innovations are discovered.

What does this mean to you? If you are one of those people who have been whining at work and wanting to regain your lost freedom, the accessibility of ecommerce platform could be your gateway towards the elusive financial freedom. Here’s why…

1. Save time while earning profits.

Once you have established strong followers that patronise your services and products, you can forget about spending seemingly endless sleepless nights for brand exposure. When you have set up your site, you can take advantage of full automation as internet efficiency and inexpensive virtual assistants can reduce the amount of time you spend on the internet. Further, this will allow you to divert your attention into other aspects of your business such as continued innovation and other bigger projects.

2. Win zealous buyers through your professional online presence.

Do not underestimate the power of word-of-mouth. Cliché as it may sound but this old marketing technique still holds true when it comes to internet selling. When you dream of exponential growth for your ecommerce, building brand loyalty should be at the zenith of your goal as zealous buyers would rave about your products and services on their social media pages. This could eventually direct their friends, relatives, and acquaintances to your page.

3. Internet holds the perfect formula for scalability.

With more than 40% of the global population resorting to online shopping, the internet could be the ideal haven for scalable companies. Not only does it allow entrepreneurs to operate at a dramatically reduced amount of capital, it also permits social media integration, free access to most marketing platforms, and fills the gap between buyers and sellers through real-time customer feedback that lets the latter identify the customer needs.

4. Who needs pricey marketing strategies when you have social media that brings guaranteed sales?

Based on the 2015 Social Media Report conducted by Internet Retailer, social networks brought $3.30 billion worth of sales in 2014 while ecommerce traffic rose by 7%. As more and more household engages into social media platforms, this figure is expected to increase which could drastically alter the way marketers view social media.

5. Use internet productively!

Most of the people today stay connected majority of the time. Whether they are on their phone or laptop, the chances of them scrolling through Facebook feeds and jumping from one tab to another are high. Why idle around when you can make use of those times earning money? Don’t just be online shoppers. Cross the line and start your own ecommerce site to secure your financial freedom. Remember, success doesn’t happen overnight so why not start now?!

4 Simple Yet Effective Tips On How To Make Your Online Business A Smashing Success

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For the last 10 years, world population multiplied more rapidly than ever, hence the reason why people find it hard to look for a job suited to their credentials because so many people are also looking for a job.

Good thing, there are other alternatives. Thanks to the advent of technology, people can now make it easy to carry out day-to-day tasks – from shopping and purchasing online to playing online games to making money online. Quite sure, you’re already familiar with some of the best methods you can use to generate good income over the internet. The next concern is the best practices you need to keep in mind and implement to ensure future success.

What are these top practices?

Be unique

Being unique plays an integral part in the success of any online business. Copying other people or company is not the right thing to do. Sure, you can easily copy the website blog post or advertisement campaign of someone else, but do you think this will eventually help you to make money online? The best thing to do is create unique campaigns and content to generate more customers. More customers can be result to more income!

Add value

If you will notice, many people who try to make money over the internet don’t provide value to the items they offer. The result? Low income. Thus, you should add value first when planning to set up an ad campaign or create a website. Adding value must always be your top priority; the money you will earn is just a bonus. By doing so, you can expect more sales and establish a solid customer base.

Be consistent

In everything you do, being consistent is highly important. The same applies when doing business and making money online. Create your own plan and you’ll find that later on being consistent is just a simple thing. For instance, if you own a blog, build links slowly and post consistently. The results will blow your mind.

Invest in equipment and tools

Technologies have been invented to help people and businesses make their daily activities and transactions a lot easier. Almost all businesses today are investing in advanced tools and equipment, so why not do the same to make your online activity a real success? If you’re really serious on making money online, invest in a keyword tool or software such as premium WordPress theme to improve your website.

What are the opportunities on making money online?

There are several opportunities you can try to help you generate income, which includes paid surveys, Google AdSense, tutoring, testing websites, teaching English online, getting paid to test apps, working as a social media administrator, etc. The only challenge you will face is the risk of being scammed. But this is not a big problem, though. You need conduct a thorough, comprehensive research about the company or product and check its reviews.

Ready to make money online? Check out the best practices below to make the process simple and eventually, help you succeed in your niche.

3 Destructive Habits Holding An Entrepreneur Back From Success

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Ask any entrepreneurship expert and they would tell you that the core principle that dictates a bankruptcy is poor cash flow. Even if a business is in a lot of debt but follows a solid system of positive cash flow, and a close monitoring of returns and payables, bankruptcy is less likely to happen. If you are a rookie entrepreneur, you may want to watch out for seemingly simple things that can potentially hurt your business, and lead to its insolvency.

Small, Unnecessary Purchases

So you’ve just opened your business and you start buying all these interior design accent pieces that can’t really promise an influx of customers. In some cases, some owners get too obsessed with “cheap” buys not realizing that these small amounts pile up too. Think of the few hundred dollars spent on décor and a nice coffee table that could have been used to pay your power bills. Remember, the goal is to have a fast return on your investment, so you may want to stop spending on unnecessary, inexpensive buys because those “discounted” prices add up too.

Hiring too Many Staff too soon

The success of your business is extremely proportionate to the amount of work that you put into it. At the onset of your venture, try to minimize your expenses, including employee salary. If you can do away with just one or two helpers, then by all means, hire less. Most successful startups have owners who went through sleepless nights, survived on home-cooked meals, and some even had to be their own store’s painter, janitor, and handyman. Salaries are part of overhead expenses and if you can cut cost on overhead, you can direct your funds on better channels such as marketing and lead creation. The last thing you want is to overlay your employees because you can’t afford to pay their wages any longer.

Poor Accounting

There is a misconception that small businesses do not need painstaking accounting work. You raise a capital, earn, and that’s about it… Wrong!

The fact is, small businesses need more accounting work in tracking how the money spent on rent, stocks, supplies, and contingencies compared to big, stable corporations who already have a system in place. Other miscellaneous expenses should also be listed and itemized so you can check if you’re spending too much on minor things. This will also help you decide on expenses where you can cut down and save. Ideally, your operational expenses should not exceed your average daily or monthly income. If you lose sight of where your money is going, it may be too late for you to realize that your business is slowly losing money, and everything can be gone at your own expense.

If you’re frugal and prudent enough, you’ll know the things that deserve a chunk of your startup capital, and those that can wait for later. Maintaining healthy cash flow can be tricky, and there WILL always be lean months where you’re almost just break even. Regardless of these challenges, resilience and the ability to adapt and redesign your business strategies can draw the line between bankruptcy and brand endurance.

5 Tips for Starting and Succeeding in Your Own Business

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Let’s face it; people these days are constantly trying to find ways to take themselves out from the rat race of employment. More and more people now are seriously considering opening a business rather than staying employed all their lives – and I bet you are one of them.

Here’s the thing though, wanting to start a business is completely different from actually starting one. So to help you get started in your journey to entrepreneurship, here are five simple yet clever tips to help you thrive in your own business:

Know your prospective customers’ needs

In identifying which business to put up, you have to ask the question “what do they need that I can offer?” By asking this, you automatically know if you have possible clients who will take advantage of your products or services. Let your hobby make money. Do you have an exceptional knack for crocheting? Do you bake the best cookies in the neighbourhood? Are you remarkably skilled in Taekwondo and can teach children? If it’s a yes, then you might have just found the perfect business venture for you.

Finding the right business for you is crucial to its success

Just like choosing the best prom dress, a business investment must be a perfect fit. You will need to have the skills, knowledge and the motivation to grow and develop it. When you do something that personally involves you, you will give it your best, and almost always, the result will be positive. Examine yourself and assess what talents and skills you have which will aid you in choosing the business of your dreams.

Start small

Most people engage in business in order to improve their way of life, and maybe keep a million dollars in their savings account. And though the idea of making a lot of money maybe tempting, zeroing your certificate of deposit to fund your wonderfully crafted idea of a business may not be the best move. Like anything else in life, business is still a gamble. There are a lot of factors at play, and making huge investments in something you are not 200% sure off is not the way to go. So, start small. If you are planning to set up a boutique, it might be better to set up an online shop first (which is really a trend right now). You can cut some of the cost from starting an actual store and also build a line of loyal customers.

Do your research

What is the age bracket of your target customers? Are there a lot of them in the area where you plan to set up your small company? How many competitors will you have in your chosen location? How accessible is your business site?

These are just a few of the things that you will need to look into so you can project how well your prospect business will fare. Distinguishing these things will help you devise ways to sell your products and services. It will also help you decide if your business is worth investing in or not.

Draft a business plan

With so many things to consider, putting up a business can be confusing and nerve-wracking. That is why it is critical to draft a business plan so you can clearly see where you are going in your investment.

Think of your business goals as a treasure, and the business plan is the map to help you get to it. You will have a better picture of the things that you need to do to get to where you want your business to be.