Your Business Vision
Issue #2087
- WEALTHY: A bargain that can make your portfolio shine (Andrew Gordon)
- HEALTHY: Why you should stock up on berries (Jon Herring)
- WISE: Harold Geneen on running a business
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:
- The only way your business can carry out its primary mission (Michael Masterson)
- Feedback Friday: How ETR readers are getting their businesses to "the next level"
- It’s Good to Know… about another use for airline luggage tags (Lori Allen)
- Add "olio" to your vocabulary
Confidential Report: Disillusioned Trader Opens ‘Money-Floodgates’ to YOU…
Rob Banks Legally… With an Inside Job!”
Are You Ready for a “Smash and Grab” on The World’s “Hidden” Money-Mountain?
Great! The getaway car’s leaving…
How to Get Your Gold Fix
"Gold bugs" invest in three ways: They buy the yellow metal directly, they buy stock in gold-mining companies, or they put money into one of the gold exchange-traded funds (ETFs) like GLD. But because it’s so easy to invest in ETFs, they’ve been taking money away from the gold-mining sector.
As a result, gold-mining companies are now 15-20 percent cheaper than they’ve been recently - and this has happened despite gold’s passing the $600 mark over seven months ago. Last month, it almost reached $700 before slipping down to the $650s.
That makes gold-mining companies the biggest bargain for the precious metals portion of your portfolio. They won’t be this cheap again for a long time. This is the perfect time to invest.
[Ed. Note: Andrew Gordon, ETR’s Investment Director, has authored several books on energy markets, global countertrade practices, and the hot growth sectors of China and Russia. A former professor of marketing and finance, he is the editor of INCOME, a monthly financial advisory service that uncovers income-generating stocks that promise safety (first and foremost), along with much-higher-than-average profit potential.]
"You read a book from beginning to end. You run a business the opposite way. You start with the end, and then you do everything you must to reach it."
Harold S. Geneen
Your Business Vision
Do you know exactly where your business will be in five years? Can you tell me its size? Its status? Its production numbers and its profitability? Do you know what kind of good or evil it will be doing? And if you think you know, how can you be sure?
I’m guessing there are days when you feel like you can clearly see how your business will grow and what kind of shape and size it will have - and days when you’re not entirely sure what you should be doing.
From my own experience, I’m also guessing that when your vision for your business is 100 percent clear, you’re a much stronger leader. You can give more explicit directions, set more sensible goals, make keener judgments, and do a much better job of motivating the troops.
But if your vision for your business is somewhat blurry, what I’m going to say today may help.
Imagine that your ship is steaming off toward the horizon. You are busy making sure the furnaces are stoked, the engines are running, and the machinery is oiled. The crew is busy doing what they are accustomed to do, but nobody knows exactly where the ship is heading - except for you.
But do you?
If you don’t have a clear idea of the purpose of your business - its main purpose - you really don’t know.
Are you in business to:
- Make a profit for your shareholders?
- Provide something of value to the marketplace?
- Enrich yourself personally?
- Provide income and benefits to your employees?
These are all very common business purposes. And there are plenty more. For example, you could be in business to:
- dominate your industry
- further your career
- prove that you were right about something
I can honestly say that making money personally - for my own bank account - was never a motivation for me. The reason I started most of my businesses was because I wanted to prove a point.
Usually, it went like this: I’d come up with what I thought was a brilliant idea. The powers-that-were reacted coolly to it. I pressed it for a while, but they kept resisting. Finally, disgusted, I decided to do it myself. "I’ll show them!" I thought.
There were a few exceptions. Several times in my career, I’ve been asked to turn around a troubled business. To do that quickly, I usually created a product and a marketing campaign that had a primary purpose of simply bringing in the cash.
In looking back on those experiences, it’s clear to me that the better businesses were started because I wanted to prove a point, not because I wanted to create some cash flow.
I’m not saying that making a profit is bad. Far from it. Being profitable is the only way your business can effectively carry out its primary mission. And, in my opinion, that primary mission should be to do - and be - good.
If your business isn’t profitable, you can’t continue to improve the product, you can’t do a good job of responding to customer service requests, you can’t reward your great employees with great compensation packages, and you can’t add value to your community by hiring more employees and using more local services.
In concept, at least, a good business is good for everyone:
- the shareholders, whose investments appreciate at a good rate
- the officers, whose personal incomes and experience are enhanced
- the employees, whose income and benefits reflect the value of the business
- the community, whose citizens have more jobs
- and the customers, who benefit from a fair sales transaction in a free-market environment
What I’m getting around to is this: The best kind of business does not have profit as its primary purpose. It is fundamentally motivated by something else - some idea about how its product/service and/or its pricing and customer service is better/more attractive than that of the competition.
This idea - this "how-we-are-better" idea - should be the beacon that guides the ship of your business through the seas. It will help you decide how to present and package your products, and know what kind of language and graphics are appropriate for your marketing campaigns. It will also make it easier to select employees, to guide them, and to dismiss them if they want to follow a different beacon.
But, as I said, profits are important too. Very important. If your "how-we-are-better" idea is the beacon that guides your ship, your company’s P&L is the gauge that tells you if the engine is in red alert or the turbines are filling up with water.
If you see your business in this way, you will gradually become less interested in profits per se. You’ll take a glance at the gauge from time to time to make sure your ship isn’t splitting apart, but what will hold your interest and inspire your crew will be that beacon - your idea about how you can be even better.
I think it’s foolish to care about market share. I think it’s stupid to want to be number one. I think it’s wasteful to push all your best people to squeeze out an extra percentage of profit if you are losing sight of the primary course you’ve set.
One more thing…
Always keep in mind that your business - as a business - is based on a very fundamental relationship between you and your customers. That relationship is the foundation of your "how-we-are-better" idea. All other considerations - profits, dividends, employee bonuses, and even your own financial compensation - should be secondary.
And here’s the icing on the cake. If you do make those other considerations secondary, your chances of achieving them in abundance will be greater… because the business will last longer.
[Ed. Note: Are you ready to start your own business or power up your existing business? Michael Masterson and a team of business-building experts will be on hand to teach you how to grow a business at this fall’s Info-Marketing Bootcamp. Sign up today.]
Cross Training for Billionaires
What do Donald Bren, Steven Ross, Sam Zell, and George Akyros have in common? For starters they’re examples of the 33 billionaires on the most recent Forbes Richest 400 list who made their fortunes from real estate. For another, they’ve all made fortunes in more than one type of property investing. Find out how cross training in real estate-from commercial to apartments to flipping homes, tax liens and more-can help you achieve your wealth goals faster…
Finding "Berried" Treasure in the Hills of Tennessee
By Jon Herring
One of my favorite memories of growing up in Tennessee was walking in the woods picking blackberries during the summer. And I wasn’t disappointed on my recent trip back home. This past weekend, my fiancee Kelley and I grabbed a basket and went out to pick our fill from the prickly bushes.
In less than an hour, we had a basket full of berries, which we used to make a cobbler, top salads, add to a smoothie, and garnish an evening martini.
Delicious though they are, berries are a lot more than a sweet summer treat. They are low in calories and low on the glycemic index, and they are an excellent source of fiber, vitamins (particularly B, C, and E), minerals, ellagic acid (a potent cancer fighter), and antioxidants. In fact, according to the USDA, blackberries, raspberries, strawberries, and blueberries all rank in the top 10 in antioxidant capacity of over 100 common foods.
Some of the most potent antioxidants in berries are called anthocyanins. They are responsible for the purplish-black color of blackberries and blueberries, and have been shown to fight everything from heart disease and cancer to memory loss.
So, whether you pick ‘em in the woods or pick ‘em up at the store… whether you eat ‘em fresh or frozen… have some berries a few times a week. A handful makes a great snack.
Feedback Friday: Getting Your Business to the Next Level
In a recent article, Michael Masterson laid out what a business needs to move to "the next level" in a few short years.
If you’ve already done this with your own business, we’d love to hear about it. Write to us at ReaderFeedback@gmail.com with "Next Level" in the subject line. Include your name and hometown, and we may print your response in a future issue of Early to Rise.
Meanwhile, here’s what a few of your fellow ETR readers said after reading Michael’s article…
"You hit the nail on the head in describing our experience getting to the $1 million mark. We did it the ‘Company X’ way, hitting $1.1 million in revenues just shy of 5 years after we opened our doors. Like Company X, we started with very little start-up capital, about $20,000.
"My husband and I opened a medical career training school with one classroom, no phone, no computer, no employees other than the two of us, teaching a 2-week Certified Nurse Aide program.
"’Lucky’ for us, our product hit the market at the right time and in the right place. Entry-level medical careers are not new, so we weren’t pioneers. But, with the downturn of the automotive industry, people here in the Detroit area are looking for new careers, and the medical field is touted as the hot replacement.
"In our first 5 years, we went from that one-room school to three locations, 8 total classrooms, and 26 employees. We’ve grown from one program offering to nine, with more in development. We’re strategically poised to double our annual revenues as we enter your Phase 2, the Fast-Growth Stage.
"We entered the game as novices to the business world, and it’s felt like we’ve been on a whitewater raft much of the time. It’s clear to us that our lack of experience and limited capitalization was offset by our clear bull’s-eye with our product. We foresee fast growth as we enter this next phase of our business cycle.
"I so enjoy Early to Rise! Keep up the great work!"
Patrice Kaufman, VP
American Medical Careers
Flint, MI
"I’d tend to disagree with Michael on one point. I would prefer to introduce a new product over trying to market whatever others have already started marketing. Pioneers ain’t the only ones with arrows in their backs!
"It has always been difficult for me to sell anything when there are more sources available to purchase the same item. An example was my experience with Amway. Most products Amway offers can be bought cheaper at Wal-Mart. The only times I could sell something was if people didn’t feel like going to the store to get it.
"If there was some way to sell common products cheaper than Wal-Mart, that would be about the only way that I would have any interest in selling anything people can buy from there. I’d prefer selling that unique product that isn’t like anything that can be bought anywhere else! Let Wal-Mart try & catch up with me for a change. That would be some exhilarating selling instead of just a frustrating experience."
Lisa A Cate
Ava, MO
[Ed. Note: How has reading ETR helped you - maybe even changed your life? Send your comments to ReaderFeedback@gmail.com. Include your name and hometown… and we may print your e-mail in a future issue.]
It’s Good to Know: Another Use for Airline Luggage Tags
By Lori Allen
Those super-sticky, hard-to-tear luggage tags that airlines put on your checked bags have another use while you’re traveling: They can remove lint from your clothes if you haven’t packed a lint brush. Simply pull the two sticky sides apart and use them like a piece of tape.
This came in handy after camel riding in Dubai. Apparently, I brought some of the camel back to the hotel with me.
[For more travel tips, sign up for AWAI’s free e-letter, The Right Way to Travel, here.]
Turn YOUR Brain into an Idea-Generating Cash Machine
Want to know the same secrets that McDonald’s Ray Kroc, Microsoft’s Bill Gates, and Amazon.com’s Jeff Bezos use every day to keep their businesses at the top of their game?
It’s the most valuable money-making secret on the planet and the easiest to convert to cold, hard cash…
Take advantage of this unique method, made easy by a million-dollar idea superstar today!
Word to the Wise: Olio
An "olio" (OH-lee-oh) - from the Spanish for "pot" - is a heavily spiced stew with many ingredients. We use the word to describe a mixture of heterogeneous elements.
Example (as used by David Baker in his poem "Never-Ending Birds"): "There we are, pointing out the car windows, / October. Gray-blue-white olio of birds."
[Ed. Note: Become a more persuasive writer and speaker … build your self-confidence and intellect … increase your attractiveness to others … just by spending 10 VERY enjoyable minutes a day with ETR’s new Words to the Wise CD Library]
Michael Masterson
Copyright ETR, LLC, 2007