While technically you don’t need an MBA to become an entrepreneur and maintain a successful business, the skills you learn in graduate school can in fact help you accelerate your business to profound heights—especially for those who lack foundational knowledge in basic accounting, marketing and leadership. But while some know that enrolling in graduate school ... ...
Persistence is an important trait. Every guru tells you that you need to stick with it until you succeed. Every expert tells you that success comes to those that stay in the game the longest. This is something that we all have experienced. I know that I personally look back with pride on the times ... ...
For years I’ve focused on learning the external self-help skills. How can I communicate better? How does my body language support my message? What does his body language tell me about his thoughts on my proposal? How can goal setting make me successful? I know, I know, all of the “gurus” tell you that you ... ...
For years I’ve been saying that smart businesses focus on growing sales, not on cutting expenses. “You can’t cut your way to profitability” is one of my favorite sayings. In business, a dollar earned is roughly equal to a dollar saved since taxes are based on your profits, not income. Essentially, you are taxed on your income (sales) minus expenses. Sales and expense control are roughly worth the same. The problem is that it is easier for most people to focus on expense control that on top end (sales) growth. And after you hit the obvious expenses, you spend more and more time on things that save you less and less money. It is the 80/20 rule in reverse, where you find 80% of your savings from the first 20% of expense cuts. Also, you...
A few weeks ago Tim Coffman asked me if I would publish an article he wrote. At first I was hesitant. Most of our posts at Wealth and Wisdom are focused on self help and entrepreneurship. The more I considered, the more I realized filled in an area that I don’t spend much time on….personal ... ...
Gratitude is at the core of all success. Yes, you need to have a vision of what you want, but unless you are grateful for what you already have, you will never achieve your goals. This is mainly because of three things: If you are not grateful for what you already have, why would anyone ... ...
Most people don’t know how to think for themselves. As as result, the masses are easily swayed. Oh, they think they know how to think, but in reality most people are just repackaging existing ideas that other people created. This isn’t always bad, but if the source isn’t good, then your thoughts aren’t good. In ... ...
Ok, maybe the title is a bit misleading. My family isn’t living in a van down by the river. We aren’t living in a cardboard box. No crashing on a friend’s couch for a few weeks or moving back in with Mom and Dad. We rented a nice apartment just down the street. Over the last year or two we became concerned with the real estate market in Houston. We saw that ~20% of our neighbors were in financial trouble and that we would have several foreclosures on our street. Our desire to relocate just added fuel to the fire. If the market crashed we were screwed. There would be no way to move without taking a significant hit when selling our house, assuming that we could sell it at all! Taking the fear out of a scary decision Going ag...
It is not easy to say, but sometimes I’m my own worst enemy. I insert myself into every crevice of our business and insist on doing it myself. While I’m pretty competent, I am definitely not fast. Also, since I can’t do everything at once, I often become a barrier to my own success. Part ... ...
Several months ago we did some soul searching. We looked at our business activities, the results we were achieving, and what direction we want to move. Most were moving in the right direction needing just a few minor modifications. Wealth and Wisdom was a different story. We started Wealth and Wisdom as a site to ... ...