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4 Simple Steps to Make Better Financial Decisions

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If you want to make better financial decisions, give these four simple steps a shot;

# Take Responsibility

Before you can turn your financial life around, and start making better financial decisions, you first need to take responsibility for your financial situation.  Look back and reflect on the decisions you have made with your money. This is the time to assess your impulsive spending habits, your failure to save and invest, and any debt you have taken on. Also, if you have made any poor investments in the past, acknowledge them, and take responsibility.

# Live on a Strict Budget

This takes more time, but if you want to make better financial decisions, you need to know exactly where every penny you make is going. Anytime you set up a strict budget at the beginning of the month, you are creating a clear pathway for your money. And in case you find yourself straying from the plan, the budget is there to put you to check in and help you get back on-track.

# Set Goals that Are Inspiring For Yourself

Set financial goals that inspires you daily and be intentional about the steps you take with a positive mindset. Make sure you write down your goals, they must have a time-frame, they should be achievable and challenging.

# Run Away From Debt

If you decide to get out of debt, and never go back into it again, it will keep you from making all sorts of bad financial decisions in the future.

 

The bottom line is that if you truly desire to make better financial decisions, you just need to create a good financial plan and ensure to stick to it.

How to Dig Yourself Out of Debt and Save at the Same Time

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Paying down debt can be a difficult task. Yet, with a little self-control and some confidence in yourself, your monetary picture can improve in about a half year. Your key to progress will be to set up a debt reduction plan and stick to it.

The following three-part strategy may help you control your cash flow, pay off your debt, and encourage saving so you can handle the unexpected expenses that may have gotten you into debt in the first place. As time goes on, you’ll be ready to invest. But first you have to know what you owe and what you’re spending.

To begin with, you need to follow your monthly pay and expenses. When you have a record of your spending, contrast your month to month expenses and your month to month pay. The excess you have is the sum you can apply every month to squaring away debts and building reserve funds. In the event that you have a shortage, you’ll need to cut costs.

Secondly, you’ll need to set up great saving propensities. Every month, utilize your income  to initially pay expenses. Then, commit anything that remains to reserve funds or paying off your obligation.

Basically, you will be unable to tackle your debt problem overnight, however you can possibly settle it over the long haul. Not exclusively will a combined debt reduction and saving strategy start to alleviate the financial burden now, it might help you feel better about your future.

 

 

Why Investing In Sustainability Is The Key To Business Success In 2021

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Sustainability has never been so important for businesses. Reduced consumer demands and limited transportation in 2020 have created an increasing public awareness of the dangers of climate change and other pollution. Companies are now creating sustainable strategies to compete for the increased demand for sustainable brands.

Other sustainable practices are made with the intention of reducing costs and creating more profitable opportunities for businesses. They have numerous long-term financial advantages.

Below, Andrew Richardson looks at three reasons why businesses need to invest in sustainable practices if they want to prosper in 2021 and beyond.

Improve your brand value and reputation

It’s becoming increasingly clear that consumers are seeking alternative and more sustainable options when they shop. Consumers who believe that they have a personal responsibility to maintain global temperatures and reduce pollution and waste in the environment will seek out companies that promote their brand as a sustainable business.

While it’s not only important to employ a sustainable strategy to your business, aligning this plan with your brand image allows consumers to appreciate your organization’s strong and ethical values. Sustainability is of course essential in its own right, but potential customers are now forcing the issue when it comes to business practices.

survey by Nielsen found that 75% of millennials (aged 24 to 39) believe that they will change their purchasing habits to reduce their impact on the environment. Furthermore, 90% of this group said that they would spend more on products if they were made sustainably.

Research from NYU Stern Center for Sustainable Business found that between 2013 and 2018, 50% of consumer-packaged goods growth came from sustainably-marketed products. Companies have already begun to take advantage of the value placed behind sustainability. This trend is expected to continue.

Sustainability is an investment, but it can command high prices and drive more sales – particularly in key consumer markets. The social value of your brand is important to consumers and they want to participate in your sustainable processes by supporting businesses that share their values.

Staff retention and job attraction

Investing in sustainability is not just about the planet and your customers. Team members increasingly expect to work for a company that they think is making a difference in the world.

recent survey found that 56% of workers believe that “ignoring sustainability in the workplace is as bad as ignoring diversity and inclusion”. Even more, 40% said that they would seek alternative employment if their employers did not engage with sustainable business practices.

Employment is one of the biggest investments a company can make, with the cost of replacing one staff member in an SME estimated to be around £12,000. Investing in sustainability can help reduce the cost of recruiting new staff and retaining your best employees.

Of course, employees want to know that their work is making a positive contribution and is ethical but they also believe that if a company cares about the environment, the business is also likely to care about their wellbeing too. Therefore, boosting staff loyalty to the brand. Just think of the impact of your staff going home and boasting about the work they are doing to friends and family.

Preparing for the future with resource efficiency

Sustainable practices also help you to keep costs down through the preparation of sustainable resources and reducing waste. Did you know that waste disposal accounts for approximately 4-5% of the turnover of a business?

This can be identified as an unnecessary cost for businesses, particularly for those who do not practice sustainable recycling or aim to reduce their waste in production or purchasing. Instead, designing products where their excess materials can be reused in different products or by creating by-products in the process, you can dramatically increase your revenue with little additional costs.

One company making a push to zero waste are craft beer brewers Sierra Nevada. The company recycles all its waste ingredients, mainly barley and hops, by sending them to cattle farms to be used as feed for livestock. All their organic waste is also composted on-site to use for the growth of their future ingredients. The company declares that they have saved over $5 million since using this sustainable practice. Of course, the practices will differ from sector to sector, however, Sierra Nevada proves that the measures can be creative and uncomplicated.

Regenerating your own products and ingredients is also a significant sustainable practice. Many sectors, particularly those in manufacturing and energy, use finite sources in production. It is known that these products will run out eventually, and their prices will increase with their scarcity. Even regenerating products can become scarce and expensive in demand and do more damage to the environment. Though wood is regenerative, deforestation is a dangerous practice. Therefore, investing sustainably means investing in your future products, not just philanthropy.

Many toilet paper companies commit to planting trees for every product bought. While we recognise this as tied in with their marketing campaigns, it must be highlighted as a suitable investment for companies that will eventually rely on these trees as production materials. This can be considered for businesses in terms of green energy and conserving water.

Investing in sustainability is investing in the future of your company. Understanding the value of reducing waste and practising regeneration is not just for the prosperity of the planet, but also for your business.

The measures to make your business sustainable are as important for your future profitability as it is for ethical reasons. To save your business from company liquidation, you must adopt new strategies to move forward in the world. Business should always be a force for good and give back to the community through employment and positive consumer experiences. Investing in sustainability is just another step to improve your business and grow your authority and revenue.

 

Culled From: Financemonthly

How to Grow Rich Steadily with Wealth-Building Relationships (2)

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To build a steadily growing wealth from your close relationships you must first become valuable to them. Developing the confidence to talk to your close relationships with the right attitudes matters a lot in creating wealth through healthy relationships.

Read the few Tips below on How to Build a Growing Wealth from Close Relationships:

  • Focus on the Right Relationships: by focusing on the right relationships, you need to be able to identify the kind of people you need to become wealthy and grow your wealth steadily. Your must be able to become a person of value to them, understand what your value means to them. In your wealth-creating journey through close relationships you need to know who they are, what they want, what they need to support you and what they are willing to pay for.
  • Build Good Wealth-Building Rapport: you must be able to develop the ability to connect with, properly relate with and add value to your close relationships. One of the ways to achieve this is by engaging in meaningful conversations that aims to create value. Usually, conversations take the relationship further from just connection. You gradually build this rapport by getting to know the other person, fostering an alignment in perspective and value. Also by identify wealth-creating problems and proposing valuable solutions.
  • Create Great Value: you need to develop relevant skills and abilities that enables you to develop value. In creating value, you must be able to develop wealth building abilities like good character, attitude, good communication, confidence e.t.c. Creating wealth via trusted relationships with the right skills and abilities is a surefire way to unleash your wealth-building potential.

 

Good Luck!!!

How to End Income Uncertainty and Create Solid Wealth

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These simple plans will help you create wealth for yourself, ending income uncertainty.

The only thing constant for your survival besides life itself is income. Income is fuel for man’s survival and one of the basic needs for human dignity. But not all income can last for a lifetime. Certain incomes are fundamentally uncertain in nature. A typical example is a job income. A job income is uncertain because it is hard to predict when it will be interrupted or completely taken away. In every difficult economy, a job income is also one of the most impacted.

So how do you end income uncertainty when your only source of income comes from a job?

But before I show you the answer. Let me first show you the four approaches people use to try and shield themselves from income uncertainty. And the pros and cons of each of these approaches.

The first approach is to get a better job. The second approach is to start a Part-time Business. The Third approach is to supplement main income with a side hustle. And the fourth approach is to build an Emergency Fund. Below let’s look at each of these approaches in detail.

1. Get a better job

Getting a better job is a poor way to guarantee your income. This is because no organization is too big to fail. Today technology and the Pandemic is disrupting the business landscape so even the giants are falling. The only person with the power to secure your income is the Customer. Customers secure income when they patronize a business. So rather than look for a bigger organization look for organizations that customers love to buy from. And become indispensable in that organization.

The other thing is that not everyone within an organization has equal income security. A low-value person in a big organization can have zero income security. And a high-value person in a smaller organization can have high income security. Income security is thus a personal affair and not a matter of the company you work in.

So which people enjoy the most income security within an organization? They are called wealth creators.

In every organization, there are two kinds of people.

The first are the wealth creators.  And the second is the Wealth consumers.  Wealth creators are those people without which the company cannot survive. They are the revenue generators. The salespeople and the profit-making people. In addition to the leadership that drives them. No company can survive without its wealth creators. And the financial strength of a company is determined by the strength of its wealth creators.

The wealth Consumers are all the other people within the organization whose job activity involves the consumption of wealth. While these people are also valuable to an organization, they are the first to go when an organization is shrinking down. This is because in every bad economy people are looking to shrink down wealth consuming activities and increase wealth-creating activities.

However, just because you belong to the wealth-creating team does not automatically guarantee your income. Income security is highest for the top performers within the wealth-creating team.

So the key is not to look for a better job but to rise to a position of relevance that is indispensable within your organization.

2. Start a part-time business

A part-time business is a full-fledged business run by a CEO that cannot be present full time. No wonder they are no successful part-time businesses in the world. Employees begin a part-time business with the hope of transitioning into it someday. But this transition never really happens because most Part-time businesses are not profitable. In fact, they destroy the income and savings of their owners. It takes an enormous time investment and absolute focus to lift a business off the ground. So putting in only part of the time that is required and expecting profitable results is Naive. Starting a part-time business may be the popular thing in the corporate world but it is the fastest way to destroy all your savings. The best way is to start a side hustle business. And then launch a full-fledged business when you are ready to face it full time.

3. Start a side-hustle business

A Side hustle business is any business that depends on another full-fledged business to complete its sales transactions.  For example, Uber drivers depend on Uber Company to connect with commuting customers. Real Estate agents depend on real estate developers to complete their transactions and so do all other agents. Most Freelancers depend on other business platforms to connect with viable customers. Any business that depends on another business to complete a sales transaction is a side hustle business. The advantage of a side hustle business is that it can be run part-time. The full-fledged business does most of the heavy lifting for you. This is why it is advisable, to begin with, this kind of business before you establish a full-fledged business.

4. Build an emergency fund

One of the smart ways to shield yourself from the eventuality of an income loss is to build an emergency fund. Emergency funds are a great way of hedge against income loss. The only problem is only a few people have an Emergency fund or recognize its importance.  But if you want to enjoy lasting income security you must build emergency funds that can sustain you for at least 12-24months. This is because it takes an average of 12-24months for most people to get the same type of job they lost or a better job.

To build an emergency fund you must know that there are two types of emergency funds. The first is the Necessity emergency funds. And the second is the Lifestyle emergency Fund. Necessity emergency funds are funds that can sustain your living expenses for 12-24months. While the Lifestyle Emergency Funds are funds that can sustain your current lifestyle for 12-24months. Having a solid emergency fund that shields you from the shock of a job loss is your best defense against an unstable job income.

So now that you know the current approaches people use to protect themselves from income uncertainty. Let me now show you the best cure for income uncertainty.

To enjoy income certainty and make your income Economy-Proof you need what I call the “Recession-Proof Income Security system”.

This system is made up of three critical components.

The first component is High-income Problems. The second component is high-income skills. And the third component is a wealth creation system. Let’s look at each of these components in detail.

1. High-income problems

To enjoy income security in any economy you must solve high-income problems for successful business owners. High-income problems are problems that generate high income. And the fastest high-income problem to solve is the sales and revenue problem. This is because all companies want to sell and generate revenue. So there is an enormous amount of this opportunity out there. Also solving a high-income problem makes you a wealth creator and puts you in close proximity with wealthy business owners.

All wealthy business owners want to relate with wealth creators like themselves. And they pay wealth creators the highest amounts of money. To earn the most income from successful business owners you must choose to become an independent problem-solver rather than an employee or subordinate. Employees and Subordinates earn only a small amount of income. Independent problem-solvers earn the highest amounts of income. They earn the highest income because they solve high-income problems on a strict performance basis.

That is they only get paid when they solve a specific income-generating problem. So if you want to earn maximum income and enjoy all-weather income security. You must master the art of solving high-income problems on a strict performance basis. This is how all successful people make their money and they respect those who are confident enough to make money this way.

2. High-income skills

There are certain skills that give you the confidence to solve high-income problems on a strict performance basis. These skills are called the high-income skills or the Rich skills. And there are three of them.

The First skill is Creativity skills. To solve high-income problems you need creativity. Creativity is essential to understand customer needs, what they want and are willing to pay for. To increase your creativity you need to feed your mind with loads of relevant information. You also need to understand what customers are trying to achieve and why existing solutions are not working for them. Then you need to package and present your own unique solutions in ways customers can’t resist.

The second skill you need is the ability to build a Rich Relationship. All wealth is created in the context of a relationship. So the more meaningful relationships you can form. The easier it will be for you to create wealth. Unfortunately, most people hardly know how to build meaningful relationships or convert their close relationships into wealth-creating relationships. But if you want income security in any economy you must develop the ability to build meaningful relationships and make them wealth creating.

The Third Skill is marketing. Marketing is the skill that converts your creativity and relationships into cash. It is the ability to convince customers to choose you and buy from you over all the other options available in the market. If you fail at marketing you fail at everything. Marketing is thus one of the great skills to have if you want to have lasting income security.

When you develop the ability to create, build Rich relationships, and market your products and Services. You become the indispensable wealth creator everyone wants to work with.

3. The wealth-creating system

If you want lasting income security there is a way to structure your finances. This way is to create your own personal wealth-creating system. A great wealth-creating system comprises three main components. The first component is the performance-based income component. That is your ability to earn multiple incomes on a strict performance basis. The second component is the big portion savings Component. This is your ability to save a sizable chunk of your income each month. And the third component is the passive income investing Component. That is the ability to fund your life from a passive income.

This means that for your wealth-creating system to work your income, savings, and investing must be working all at the same time. To make your income work you need to develop high-income skills and add other sources of income to your main income. To make savings work you need to save more than you spend by doubling your income and standardizing your expenses. To make Investing work you need to focus on passive income investing. And there are only two ways to achieve this. All of which require you to first have solid cash reserves. The first way is the Risky way. This is where you use a high-risk investment vehicle that produces high returns in a short time. But has a high chance of destroying your invested capital. And the second way is the Safe way. This is where you use a Safe Investment vehicle that produces a very high return over the long-term. And have a slim chance of blowing your money up.

So if building lasting income security that will stand the test of time is important to you. The safe passive income investment option should be your option. But if losing your money and starting all over again is not a big deal for you then you can try the risky option.

About author

Grace Agada is The Senior Financial Happiness Director @ Create Solid Wealth. She is an Author and Column Contributor in Six National Newspaper. She is a contributor at BellaNaija, Nairametrics, and Proshare and she is on a mission to help working-class professionals and CEOs become more financially successful. To learn more about Grace and how she can help you send an email to info@createsolidwealth.com.

Source: Nairametrics

How to Grow Rich Steadily with Wealth-Building Relationships (1)

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According to Charlie “Tremendous” Jones, a one-time legendary speaker and author, you remain the same person year after year except for the people you meet and the books you read. Creating wealthy relationships is very crucial if becoming wealthy is important to you. To become wealthy, you need others. Others who have the appropriate skills or experience that you may not have, cash, resources, access, connections, influence or impact that you need to grow riches. Two or more people must agree to solve problems and create value for each other to create wealth.

One of the most important components of generating wealth through relationships is Trust. Trust is earned, not given and it takes time to build. Trust is very basic for wealth building through relationships. Teaming up to form a wealthy relationships with others must be bounded by mutual interests, mutual vision or goal, mutual source, mutual beliefs or loyalties. In building wealth through relationships, it is never advisable to team up with someone who doesn’t have the same interests or goals or beliefs as you do lest they become a liability that draws you back from reaching your goals.

To create wealth steadily, you must focus on close relationships that are primed for wealth creation. Wealth-building relationships are like business relationships. They entail relationships with your friends, colleagues, Neighbors, Estate Associations members, Customers, Professional associations, etc. This kind of relationship seeks to solve problems together, support each other, point each other in the right direction, connect each other to the right people, resources or opportunities that can help them achieve their common goals.

Tim Ferriss once said “Money is multiplied in practical value depending on the number of W’s you control in your life: what you do, when you do it, where you do it, and with whom you do it.”

 

To be continued….