Tag: Money

Personal Goals that Inspire and Motivate

Personal Goals that Inspire and Motivate

Are you feeling motivated to set some strong goals for this year? Write down those New Year’s resolutions and get going, right? Most people write down lofty resolutions that they think they should want and rarely stick to them, losing motivation and focus within three weeks of their “good intentions.”

This is a brand-new year of limitless possibilities. Do you want to:

Increase your income?
Write a book?
Attract a relationship?
Start a new business?
Become a professional speaker?
Have more personal time?
Take a really great holiday?

I have a gut feeling it is going to be a GREAT year, a BIG SUCCESS year. So, forget writing down resolutions. They don’t work. In fact, the whole idea doesn’t

 really inspire action. So, lets change that.

Start thinking about 3-5 things you want, really want for yourself this year. Not what you should want, or what you think would please others. Dream a little. Think big. What are you passionate about? Entertain several ideas that make you smile, excite you, make you giggle, make you feel really good inside, no holds barred. Remove all mental barriers to holding these ideas clearly in your mind.

Now, put your attention fully on one of the things you want for yourself this year. Visualise and see yourself already there, living it! Creative visualisation is a powerful tool of attraction. Our minds cannot tell the difference between something real and something intensely imagined. Hold that picture in your mind. (Do this daily!)

Does this picture excite you – make you want to have it?

How would your life change if you got (achieved) this one thing you really want?

What would you have in your life that you don’t have now?

Now, the next step is very important. You must decide to go for it. Choose to have what you really want NOW, not someday or tomorrow. NOW. Say YES to yourself instead of saying no. Making the decision fuels your intent to take action.

3 Tips to Get on Track

1. On paper, clearly describe the 3-5 things you really want. I suggest using statements beginning with the phrase” I intend to”. Don’t use “I want”, “I hope for”, “I wish to”, “I’d like”, “I desire” etc. as these are too wishy-washy. Taking a stand with strong definitive statements reflects your commitment to succeed. (This first step is important in creating your road map to achieving your goals. If you don’t define the results you want, how do you know where you are going?). Feel like being creative? Make a collage or dream board for a visual aid in keeping your focus.

2. Moving forward, break down your action steps into smaller steps over a shorter time period like 30 days. For example: your goal is to increase your income, your first step may be to explore options to generate more money. Another step may be to look at your skills and talents for further ideas. A third step may be choosing something you have always wanted to do, something that you love that has the potential for additional income. Maybe it’s a total change of career. The first month may be devoted to doing research and personal exploration.

3. Identify potential obstacles and struggles that could prevent you from reaching your goals. Develop strategies to keep yourself motivated and focused such as reading and listening to positive materials, surrounding yourself with encouraging, uplifting people, joining a mastermind group. HIRE A COACH! Note: let go of using the “money excuse” that you can’t afford to get what you want. Invest in your success. It costs money to make money. How much do you think NO is costing you to stay where you are?

5 Tips to Stay on Track

1. Resolve unfinished business. Either clear the past (make apologies, speak your mind, forgive someone or yourself) and let it go.

2. Stay strong, if you are feeling FEAR. Bring your attention back to the present. Fear creates uncertainty, worrisome and anxiety producing thoughts. (“What if” thinking, Am I going to be okay?) Fear looks at the future and worse case scenarios. Focus on past successes for confidence.

3. Eliminate negativity. Notice the chatter in your head. How do your emotions speak to you inside? What you think affects how you view a situation. Ever heard the phrase self-fulfilling prophecy? Your viewpoint affects your decisions and actions; therefore, your attitude directly affects the outcome. Take a look at the people you associate with. Are they uplifting or do they bring you down? Be selective about who you are with, being around consistently negative or fearful people is draining and disheartening.

4. Keep up your self-care. Taking good care of yourself physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually is a key factor in staying strong and focused under pressure.

5. Celebrate along the way. Taking the time to recognise measurable successes motivates continual commitment to your goals.

“The big challenge is to become all that you have the possibility of becoming. You cannot believe what it does to the human spirit to maximise your human potential and stretch yourself to the limit.” Jim Rohn

Systems & Procedures

According to the Oxford English Dictionary a system is:

  1. A set of things working together as parts of a mechanism or an interconnecting network; a complex whole.
  2. A set of principles or procedures according to which something is done; an organized scheme or method.

Many people say that they have a system in place for their property business but when you ask questions about their systems and dig down it turns out what they really have are processes and tools that help them carry out things like analysis of an area or a deal, so it becomes a bit of a shock when you tell them that these are not systems. To understand this, here is a simple definition of a process and a system:

  • Taking an egg and converting it to an omelette is a process
  • A system is a series of processes where the output of one process becomes the input of the next process. An example of this is baking a cake, where you have equipment, correct ingredients, following an exact recipe, applying the method, utilisation of the equipment, transformation into a cake, adding value by adding a filling, presentation.

So why do we need systems?

Well if you want to be successful then you need systems and procedures as this will allow you to work on your business and not in your business. Some of you may be thinking that you got out of the corporate world because you were restricted by all of the red tape of systems; after all you are an entrepreneur. However the reality is whether you’re a one man/woman company or employ fifty people plus, you will need systems and procedures to free up your time and make you money.

Some of you may be thinking that you are just starting out and therefore until you get going you will just wing it for the moment. That would be a big mistake, it is in fact far easier to put systems and procedures in place at the start of your journey rather than leave it until later as it will take you a lot longer to do and in the meantime will have lost time, energy and potentially money, so take heed.

From a business point of you what do we mean by systems and procedures? The short version would be a step guide to perform any function within your business. Examples of this may include but is not limited to the following:

  1. What do you do/say when you are contacted by a vendor?
  2. What are the steps do you take when screening a potential tenant?
  3. What are the roles and responsibilities of your team?
  4. How do you get paid?
  5. How do you pay your suppliers?
  6. How do you run the back office? (Administration, Accounts, etc.)
  7. How do you draw up a contract with your suppliers? (Architect, planners, builders, etc.)
  8. What are your “Opening” and “Closed” hours and what happens when “Out of Hours” is required?
  9. What are your policy and procedures for joint ventures?
  10. What is your strategy and how do you communicate this to your team, joint venture partner, Angel investor etc.?
  11. What are your objectives?

As can be seen by the above examples systems and procedures are required to handle these sorts of questions. Do not be deterred by thinking that you need to write a massive manual documenting everything. Keep it simple and easy to follow, use pictures, diagrams, screenshots etc. if this helps to describe your processes. Where there are regulations that needs to be understood within a procedure e.g. HMO requirements, break it down and strip out all of the things that are not necessary and bullet point those that are needed so it is easy to read.

Advantages of Systems & Procedures

The advantages of having systems and procedures in place are as follows:

  1. Productivity will increase as you will not have to re-invent the wheel every time you do something.
  2. It can give you a perspective as now you can have an overview of your business, and the competition so now you can make informed decisions.
  3. There will be consistency in your work as things will be done exactly the same way each time.
  4. Reduced risks as you will have agreements etc. in place that spells out exactly what is expected.
  5. Quality will increase as you will have a framework in place to deal with builders, vendors, tenants etc.
  6. Growth can take place as you can use your systems and procedures to train people.
  7. You will have continuity because if someone is away on holiday, ill, or leaves then you are not reliant on that person as the systems and procedures will kick in.
  8. You will find freedom as now you can work on your business and not in your business, also it will allow you to be away from the business as it will run without you.

Take action now and put systems and procedures in place, once done these will just need to be kept updated as your business evolves.

 

Recommended Reading:

The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work and What to Do About It. By Michael E. Gerber

Scaling Up. By Verne Harnish

Right First Time Property Investing. By John A Foster

Creating a Strategy

On a scale of one to ten, having a good business strategy should rate at ten

No matter what kind of business you have — whether you sell products or a service, as the saying goes, “if you fail to plan, then you plan to fail.”

Creating a strategy can mean the difference between you working 60 to 80 hours a week all year long — and then breaking even, or worse, losing money.

On the other hand, many successful entrepreneurs who have a strategy work fewer hours and make lots of money — and they usually attribute their success to having a strategic plan and following it.

So what is strategic business management? Very simply, it’s the process of defining the goals and objectives for your business, creating an action plan so you can reach them and then follow the plan.

How do you create a strategic plan for your business?

1. First, know what your vision for your company is. If there were no barriers, nothing stopping you from taking your company as far as you could — what would that look like?

2. Next, what are your company’s core operating values? What are its guiding principles? In other words, why are you in business and how do you do business?

3. Now create a 3 to 5-year plan. Your long-term plan is based on the broad objectives that will help you get from where you are now, to where you want to be.

4. Develop a plan for this year. These are the specific objectives you plan to accomplish this year that will lead you closer to your long-term goals. Remember to be “SMART” when setting your annual goals (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Time-oriented). Include a list of the barriers that are stopping you from getting where you want to go. You need to figure out what resources you’ve already got, and what resources you need to get you past those barriers. Then create an action plan that clearly lays out how you will achieve your goals. Involve key employees in this part of the planning process.

5. Create a set of milestones or benchmarks. This is very important so that you can measure your progress.

6. Share the plan with your employees, and anyone else who will be involved in the process. Your annual strategy is the roadmap that will make sure everyone ends up at the same destination — but to be effective, everyone needs the same map!

7. Put the plan into action. Now that you have the roadmap, it’s time to begin the journey.

8. Check your progress. Just like any trip, you need to check the map every now and then; to be sure you are still on the right road. If something is not working, the sooner you figure it out and make the necessary adjustments, the sooner you’ll be back on track.

9. Follow the same cycle next year. (Dream, Plan,  Do, Check, Act).

Creating a business strategy and following it will ensure that you enjoy the journey as much as getting to your final destination.

Recommended Reading

Good Strategy/Bad Strategy: The difference and why it matters

 

Is your property investment area in a buyer’s or seller’s market?

How many people really understand their property investment area? Quite often they are told to go where the housing stock is cheap, offer below market value and build up their portfolio of buy to let houses. So off they go and put in offer after offer without understanding the local area and whether they’re in a buyer’s or seller’s market. So how can you find out if the property that you are interested in will potentially accept your offer especially if you are looking to put in a low offer? You can use easily obtained data to help you make an informed decision on your potential target property.

You start by looking at how many houses of the same type including the number of bedrooms that are within a ¼ mile radius of the property that you are interested in. This information can be found through the property search engine RightMove. Once you have this number write it down. Then within the same search engine, there is a tab called house prices, then from the drop-down menu select ’Sold House Prices’ then enter the postcode of your property. Then filter the information so that you are looking at property within a ¼ mile radius of your, and set the filter for sold in the last year. This will give you the number of houses sold, again make a note of this figure.

Now for some simple maths. Take the number of housing sold in the last year and divide it by 12 to give you an average. E.g. 36 houses sold in the last year, 36/12 = 3, then you take your current number of houses for sale and divide it by your average figure, e.g. 7 houses currently for sale, 7/3 = 2.33. This figure of 2.33 represents your current month’s supply of housing stock, if it is less than 6 then it is a seller’s market, so there is no point in you putting in low offers, because unless it is a stressed owner, the seller will know that their property will sell quickly at on or very close to the asking price. If the figure is 6 then it is a balanced market, so you have a 50-50 chance of having a below-market offer accepted. If the figure is above 6 then it is a buyer’s market, therefore you can put in a below-market offer with a good chance of having your offer accepted because the market has a lot more properties that are up for sale.

In summary, using data is the best way of making an informed decision that can make a big difference to finding the right area and property. You will not only save time but also money, therefore it is wise to spend a little time checking the data before adventuring out to put in offers.