By Hanniz Lam and Jessica Wee
In good and bad times, top tiered CEOs, executives and large shareholders of the “winners” make fortunes—on top of their existing fortunes. Most families don’t even possess an emergency fund of three months’ savings to get them through tough times. It’s been reported that people are unable to make their rent and mortgage payments, risking eviction.
I first came across the book “Rich Dad Poor Dad” by Robert Kiyosaki when I was just starting out my events business in the year 2009 after being employed for 8 years.
What I learned from the book was to not work myself to death to make the business depend on my physically being there for it to make money but for the business to make money even without me. Does this make sense?
Recently, Robert Kiyosaki shared the below:
There is one set of rules for the rich and another set for ordinary people.
The people who are most worried about money are those playing by the old set of rules. If you want to feel more secure about your future, you need to know the new set of rules—here’s the first new rule of money.
Old Rule #1: Save Money
After 1971(when the dollar was no longer backed by gold), the U.S. dollar was no longer money, but rather a currency. As a consequence, savers became losers. The U.S. government was allowed to print money faster than it could be saved.
When a banker raves about the power of compounding interest, what he or she fails to also tell you about is the power of compounding inflation.
Saving money is another way the government takes your money.
New Rule #1: Spend, Don’t Save
In the new rules, it is more important that you know how to spend your money, not just earn or save it.
In other words, people who spend their money wisely will always be more prosperous than those who save their money wisely.
Of course, by “spend wisely” we mean invest or convert your money into long-lasting value.
The rich understand that in today’s economy you cannot become wealthy by sticking your money under a mattress—or even worse, in a bank. They know that the key to wealth is investing in cash-flowing assets.
Today, you need to know how to spend your money on assets that retain their value, provide income, adjust for inflation, and go up in value—not down.
Humans are creatures of habit, and a lot of us creatures are in debt.
What habits got us there? How did we fall into a life of anxiety over credit card bills, paying off loans and avoiding calls from debt collectors?
It was largely a matter of habit. Thomas C. Corley spent five years studying millionaires. He wasn’t out to discover the investment strategies they shared. He wanted to find out general stuff, like how they lived, what TV shows they watched, what they ate. Those habits can be as crucial to building wealth as investing in the right stocks.
I won’t be talking too much about investing as that is Jessica’s forte. Instead I’ll be talking about how your business can grow even during tough times. If you’re not a business person, you can still apply these principals to your life.
As many businesses have been affected by Covid-19, the question you might be asking is “HOW do I grow my business”?
In July 2021, the Malaysian Minister of Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives (Medac) Datuk Seri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar said that up to 580,000 businesses — representing 49 % of the micro, small and medium enterprise (MSME) sector — are at risk of closing down by October. That’s next month.
Many businesses are now suffering “business fatigue” syndrome and declining confidence as a result of lockdown.
The situation may appear bleak, but if your business has been sustaining itself thusfar, congratulate yourself. Now let’s roll up our sleeves and see how we can increase your income.
1. Develop Your Personal Brand
Develop and be aware of your personal brand. Using this powerful tool to differentiate yourself in your business development and sales strategy will increase market exposure and client opportunities. Profitability grows substantially when your message resonates with your target audience and they choose to develop long-term relationships with both your business and your personal brand.
Elon Musk’s personal brand is as big as the company brands such as Tesla and Space X. To be like Elon Musk is like aiming for the stars, of course.
Realistically, look at how influencers build their brand. From unknown individuals becoming individuals that brands want to work with. What’s the magic formula? Get your face and voice out there, everyday, everywhere, on all platforms possible. Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, Clubhouse, you name it. Be the go-to person when it comes to solving the problem that you or your company solves.
2. Increase Your Qualified Lead Flow
Assuming you have a sales and delivery process that works, then it’s about scaling. Increase your qualified lead flow to put through your proven sales funnel. Consider referral programs, paid ads, organic reach, affiliates and more. Duplicate yourself through other people and partners.
Stop wasting time on potential clients that are dragging their feet. Find clients that want to solve their problem NOW. You can use tools like Lio for automate your business which will help you getting more customers.
3. Revisit Your Pricing Strategy
One of the best ways to boost your revenue and profits quickly is to revisit your pricing strategy. It’s an area where there are massive gains to be had, and you don’t need to change the product. You can increase your prices or offer a “try before you buy” risk reversal. You can also offer a split pay or a subscription model to improve your bottom line. Bundling your products together work too.
4. Audit Your Offers
When a business has been stagnant for a while, it’s time to do things differently. Doing more of what you’ve done won’t get you to the next level. It pays to take a deep dive into your offers and audit what works and what hasn’t worked for a while. Going deep before going wide is how to scale in the quickest way. When you know where and how you can make the biggest impact, your business will scale. TALK TO YOUR CUSTOMERS. What has been working for them, what can be better? WATCH YOUR COMPETITORS.
5. Clarify Your Messaging
When looking to boost your profits, look at your marketing and messaging. First, ensure that your message for your target audience is specific, clear and concise. Once you have the messaging down, increase your marketing budget and strategize to attract those target consumers.
You can grow without paid ads but it will take longer. As long as you are sharing a clear message consistently, you should get your results faster, without having to pay for ads.
Avoid selling drones one day and plants on another. It can be confusing to those around you unless you are an investor or a business person getting leads for your team and you have a good network of friends.
6. Eliminate What Is Not Working
Maximize what is working and eliminate what is not working. Create space for innovation and opportunity by analyzing your products, services, systems and processes. Identifying, stopping and removing the things that are no longer serving the mission, vision, values and goals of the company will inspire and build momentum, opening up opportunities for growth and profit. However, also don’t be too impulsive when testing new processes. Things don’t change overnight. You’ll confuse your team if you give them one strategy one day and ask them to change the strategy in the third week of its implementation as you’re not seeing results.
7. Treat The Issues, Not The Symptoms
You don’t have a sales, revenue or profit problem. You have a problem with vision, process, people, issues and data. It starts at the core of how you run your business. In order to break through to the next level, you need to ensure your leadership team is aligned, with eyes wide open. Results are attainable when you treat the issues, not the symptoms.
8. Closely Audit Your Expenses
It’s important to closely audit expenses. Nonessential expenses silently eat away at income. Regular review and forensic analysis of these metrics will contribute to overall profits. This may include a pricing review as well as a review of expenses. Don’t be tempted to buy the latest software that will make things easier if you don’t have the time to learn to use it. Trim away gmail business accounts you no longer use.
9. Foster Customer And Brand Loyalty
Increasing revenue comes down to customer loyalty. Assuming you already have a product or service that your customers value, focus more time and energy on the customer experience and developing genuine relationships with your customers. Foster customer and brand loyalty, and they’ll be more likely to come back as well as recommend your business to others, thus increasing your revenue stream.
10. Keep your eye out for opportunities
Entrepreneurs can sniff out opportunity in the bleakest of situations. Just don’t always be drawn to bright shiny objects that distract you from your main purpose that can result in you overstretching your capabilities and resources.
The inequalities in the way democracies function and the economic policies unfold will always favour the rich so you need to educate yourself to think and act like the rich do. Here are 7 habits to embark on:
- Plan and set clear goals
- Save and Invest
- Create Multiple Streams of Income
- Read and Educate Yourself by reading more biographies of successful business people
- Avoid toxic relationships
- Don’t engage in negative self talk
- Live a healthy lifestyle
What else can you add to the list?
Visit My Money Insights for free personal finance resources, learn to be in control and starts to earn, manage and save money now!
