The Serial Entrepreneur - Prakash Chand

If you haven’t turned profit in 30 days, move on. Simple...

Wed, 22 May 2013 07:58:00 -0400

If you haven’t turned profit in 30 days, move on. Simple reason as to why I am successful in business ventures I undertake

The title of this article pretty much says it all. For me personally as an entrepreneur I will walk away from a business that has not made money after 30 days. It’s a simple rule that I live by whether it is a dot com business, traditional business or whatever.

The reason I decided to write this article is because over the last few months I have come into contact with people coming to me for favors, advice, and even investment money for their business.

I met someone recently who told me they have been at their online product for 4 years now and that is all they have been doing. He has put every penny he has into the business and lives a pretty penny pinching lifestyle so he can keep funneling money into his business. He asked me for a favor to get him a meeting with a very well known person in the industry he is in. I pretty much asked him a simple question…How much PROFIT have you made to date? The answer was $0 because I am still building my business he said. That’s when I had to give him the sad truth..If you haven’t made a penny in 30 days from the day you started working on your business, it means you are either not committed and working hard enough on it, or your idea doesn’t work and it’s time to move on.

Remember, no f’ing emotional attachments in business. Just because you think an idea is going to make money, doesn’t mean it’s going to make money. The proof is in the pudding. Business is such a simple thing, either you make money or you don’t make money. There is no grey area. If you ever come to me or go to anyone to ask them for a favor or investment money, make for hell sure that your business is making money already…and lots of it.

If you stick with the 30 day rule and learn to move onto the next idea when one doesn’t work, you will master a key rule in the art of making money. Also never get emotionally attached to an idea…It’s okay if it didn’t work and you have to try something else.

Money Comes And Money Goes But Don’t Miss The Important...

Sat, 02 Mar 2013 23:08:00 -0500

Money Comes And Money Goes But Don’t Miss The Important Things In Life

Trust me there is no end to the amount you can work and build your business. You could submerse yourself 7 days a week, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year in your work or business just to make the green and make lots of the green.

To all of you young kids out there take this from my experience and experience I have heard from my elders.. MEMORIES ARE MORE IMPORTANT THAN MONEY

Example 1: You are about to have your first child but you are not able to be there for the birth because you are in another city trying to make money and build your business. You can make money anytime but being there for your wife and seeing your child as they enter this world, no amount of money you ever make can replace that.

Example 2: It’s a loved ones high school or university graduation. This moment only comes once for that person, are you going to miss it so you can close a business deal? The whole point of business is to gain freedom to be there for the things that matter in life.

Example 3: Your good friends wedding. Not going because you have prioritized work over it? Seriously? These are the moments we live for in life.

Example 4: Not going to a loved ones funeral because of business/work. Being there at others time of need is the most important thing one can do. Work and that business deal can wait. You never get a second chance to say goodbye but you have thousands of chances to make money.

All I am trying to prove in this post is that if you are missing out on the important moments in life that matter just because of money, I’m sorry to say but you have got it all wrong. When our own time comes to leave this world, you aren’t going to look back at how much money is in your bank account, the size of your house, expensive jewellery you own, fancy cars you have etc. You are going to think back at all the great memories you created with your friends and family and that’s what they are going to remember you for.

Memories #1, Money #2.

A quick look at my journey overseas and some important lessons I...

Fri, 28 Dec 2012 02:49:20 -0500

A quick look at my journey overseas and some important lessons I learned as an entrepreneur.

Presentation is everything? - Entrepreneurs need to make sure...

Wed, 26 Dec 2012 17:24:00 -0500

Presentation is everything? - Entrepreneurs need to make sure they are always on the right side of the fence

Over the last couple weeks that I have been in India, I have had some very interesting experiences that have got my entrepreneurial side thinking quite a bit.

For the last few days I have been in the city of Hyderabad staying at the Westin Mindscape hotel. Every morning I have been going downstairs to the lobby to purchase a cup of coffee at a price of 270 rupees (approx $5 USD). The coffee is great and they put it in one of the fanciest plastic cups I have ever drank out of with the Westin Hotels logo on it. Now this morning I decided to go for a little fresh air literally just outside of the hotel, not even 500 meters away. I bought a cup of coffee that tasted almost identical for 10 rupees (0.18 cents USD). Now this coffee shop looked like a shit hole on the side of the street and they served it in a flimsy plastic cup. The funniest thing is living in North America my whole life I am conditioned to think that the $5 cup of coffee is better but it’s not. The presentation of it is better and that is all. So thinking as a businessman and about money, next time I go for that cup of coffee I’m obviously going to the 0.18 cent shop as long as it doesn’t affect my time. That’s $4.22 still in my pocket.

Now let me tell you another story. A while back I was quoted for a certain job I needed from a team in the United States. The guys in the USA met me at their fancy office in Manhattan and impressed me with a killer presentation with all these fancy videos, slides, charts, fancy words, etc. They even took me out for a nice steak dinner with a very expensive bottle of wine. They really impressed me but the guys also quoted me a rate of approximately $120,000 USD for the job I needed done. Let me put it to you this way, I got the exact same job done here in India for approximately $9000. I’m not even joking, I saved $111,000. The guys here in India didn’t have that fancy office like they do in Manhattan, all the bells and whistles of professional video presentations etc, but I could see that they had the ability to deliver an end product that was identical to the guys charging a $120,000. The guys delivered and I couldn’t be happier.

Now at the end of the day the Westin Hotel is brilliant for being able to sucker people in for $5 for a cup of coffee. The USA guys are also brilliant because they have had people willing to pay them the $120,000 for similar jobs. Heck if I owned those two businesses, I would charge the same high amounts. Heck I do it with the maid services I own.

To all of you young entrepreneurs, the point I am trying to make in this story is to make sure you always choose the right side of the fence. This is a very very important lesson in business. When you are the buyer, don’t get impressed with all the fancy presentation. However when you are the seller, make sure you impress others with that fancy presentation. There is enough suckers out there willing to pay, but business people aren’t them and they always know when to be on which side of the fence.

THE SERIAL ENTREPRENEUR VISITS NEW DELHI - ENDLESS OPPORTUNITIES...

Tue, 25 Dec 2012 20:57:10 -0500

THE SERIAL ENTREPRENEUR VISITS NEW DELHI - ENDLESS OPPORTUNITIES AHEAD

Its been about 7 years since my last visit to the capital city here in India and I can honestly say I was shocked with the amount of wealth being created. I can see it among all of my own relatives as they are all thriving here. Things are definitely not like they used to be. Not even close. I know it may sound like a cliche but the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer.

Yesterday was very interesting as I learned lots about the real estate market here in New Delhi and it gave me a sense of the amount of money being created here. Now for all my North American followers before I go any further, I am going to breakdown how the currency works in India and its terminology. I will relate everything back to dollars after just so you can get a clear picture. It may get a bit confusing so I recommend reading over how the currency works a couple times over.

Indian currency name: Rupee
current exchange rate: $1 USD = 55 Rupees

100,000 rupees is known as 1 Lakh

10, 000, 000 (10 million) rupees is known as 1 crore

100 Lakh is known as 1 crore

To give you an idea of the culture here in India, someone who is worth 1 crore is considered a somewhat wealthy individual. Just like we have the show here in North America called who wants to be a millionaire..they have a show called who wants to be a crorepaty.

Now let me put stuff to you in terms of how a North American businessman thinks. The first thing I always do no matter what when thinking is do a conversion to dollars:

So 10 million rupees (also known as 1 crore) divided by the exchange rate of 55 = $181, 818 USD

If you moved here to India from North America with that amount of money, you would be considered a crorepathy in India (i.e. getting the same quote on quote so called status as a millionaire does in North America).

Now let me tell you about some real stories I heard from some people about the real estate market in New Delhi that really got my mind thinking and really opened up my eyes.

In New Delhi they call condominium units FLATS. Since New Delhi is a large metropolitan city most of the housing just like Toronto is constructed straight up into the air.

Now back in 2006 if you purchased a flat here in Delhi for 20 lakhs (i.e. $36, 363 USD) you could sell it here today with your eyes closed for 100 lakhs (i.e. 1 crore = $181, 818 USD)

Now in 6 years thats 5x the amount of money initially invested. To me that is insane for honestly doing nothing with very minimal maintenance costs. Some people have just bought multiple units and done nothing with them except the minimal maintenance required.

Forget back to 2006, lets talk more recently as close to 2010. Someone I spoke to was able to find something for 40 lakhs ($72, 726 USD), he sold that place just recently (i.e. 2 years later) for 90 lakhs ($163, 636 USD). This means the guy made a cool $90, 910 USD in 2 years for honestly doing nothing. Now here is the kicker, he bought 4 of those units. So in 2 years the man walked away with $363, 640 USD in just profit. Effort required was zero. That’s what I call a smart businessman.

Now the story gets even better. You must be going well the government of India must have their hands down these guys pockets like mad. It must be too good to be true and these guys must lose most of their profit to the taxman. Well the system here is so corrupt that these guys walk away with most of the money right in their pocket. Let me tell you how. When purchasing a place these guys show on paper the value of the flat to be 50-60% less than the actual value. Lets say you are buying a place for 90 lakhs, on paper the transaction will show only 30-40 lakhs. The funniest part is that the country is so corrupt that everyone knows whats going on but heck when members of your own parliament are doing it on a day to day basis, its considered okay here.

It’s funny that the value of the rupee is getting less and less, yet people here are becoming wealthier. It defies common sense to me. All the BLACK money floating around is ridiculous. The poor are suffering more because the costs of things are increasing. To put into perspective, people here have so much money that they are dropping close to 10 crores (approx $2 million USD) on just weddings alone yet people that live a few blocks down from them can barely afford to eat. The mattresses and vaults in this country are overflowing with money for the rich. Let me tell you that a crore is becoming nothing here for the rich, the business guys here are having hundreds of crores.

Let me give you my prediction, its not going to be like this for long. It can’t be. Everything will eventually have to balance out but heck if you want to make money now, this is the place to learn the inside and outs of real estate. I know I will be heavily investing here in real estate. The key will be not being too greedy and knowing when to get out before it levels off or sinks.

Part of being an entrepreneur is being able to recognize where the most amount of money is for the least amount of effort. TIMING IN BUSINESS IS EVERYTHING (ie. knowing when to get in and when to get out) and if you can master that art of capitalizing on opportunities and taking the calculated risk, you will be a very successful entrepreneur.

CLOSER OR FURTHER - A LESSON I APPLY TO SPORTS AND BUSINESSI...

Thu, 13 Dec 2012 22:29:00 -0500

CLOSER OR FURTHER - A LESSON I APPLY TO SPORTS AND BUSINESS

I remember many years ago back to 1996 when the former Canadian National Team Badminton Coach Billy Gilliland (also a former All England Champion) told me “Prakash, you don’t have to like everything you do as long as you know it is getting you closer to your end goal.”

I remember he said this after I complained about having to take a ice cold shower after a practice he had just run. He went you may hate the ice cold shower but it’s going to help your muscles recover quicker for badminton. To this day, I hate the ice cold shower but I always take them after my workouts.

The lesson I learned from Billy was that every thing you do in life you must answer with a simple question, “Is this getting me closer to or further from my end goal?”

Being an athlete it is so easy to grab that slice of pizza after practice or go out and even have that one beer with the boys. The question is though is even that one beer you are having..is it actually helping you get closer to your goal?

Every time I do anything in business, I always ask myself is this going to make my end user/customer have a better experience or worse? By staying open on a saturday/sunday for business am I making things more or less convenient for my customers?

There is no end to the number of questions you can ask yourself on wether it is getting you closer to or further from your goal.

Just the other saturday night I had to ask myself, is going out to a house party for 4 hours going to get me closer to my goal of getting my knee healed and fixed or would that time be better spent resting at home so I am very fresh for my workout the next day?

Would I have loved to go to the house party yes…but to me personally healing myself is more of a priority and my end goal at the moment.

The lesson here in all this is that whatever you are doing in life, wether you are an athlete, businessman, etc. just know what the end goal is of what you are trying to accomplish and make sure to always do the things that get you closer to your goal. It may not always be the most fun thing, but nothing beats the feeling you get when you achieve that end goal that is in your mind.

SIMPLE ENTREPRENEUR FORMULA: HARD WORK + TIME AT THE START =...

Wed, 12 Dec 2012 12:33:00 -0500

SIMPLE ENTREPRENEUR FORMULA: HARD WORK + TIME AT THE START = FREEDOM

The reason I encourage young people to go into business is not only just for the money, it’s for the time freedom as well. Nothing on this planet gives you freedom like being an entrepreneur does. I could never imagine having to answer to anyone and being locked down to a timed schedule or location on a day in and day out basis just because I have to earn money to pay bills.

Now being an entrepreneur is not easy. I would say it personally took 6-7 years of my life to get the freedom that I wanted. I busted my balls as an entrepreneur working 20 hour days, sleeping a total of 4 non-consecutive hours daily, not knowing if I would have money to cover my credit card bill, sacrificing time with friends, etc. Looking back it was lots of hard work with no guarantee of anything.

Was it worth it in the end..hell ya. I’ve somehow managed to create a steady stream of income with minimal work on a weekly/monthly basis. The money comes in while I sleep, workout, travel, etc. I am living the retired persons life which I wouldn’t trade in for anything else in this world. For example just today, I went and bought a guitar and have been spending the last couple hours learning to play this instrument using an online instructor. Not bad for a wednesday afternoon eh?

Lots of parents and kids these days are conditioned to think that you must have an education and a degree to become successful and considered smart. Quite honestly, call me cocky for saying this but I think I am much smarter than lots of these people. Figuring out how to make money for doing nothing is what I call smart. Trading your time in for cash, what’s the point when you don’t need to these days. Call me bias, but I think entrepreneurs are the true meaning of the word smart.

Any of you kids out there trying to decide what to do you with your life, I strongly suggest giving being an entrepreneur a shot. You will have to do the hard work, put in the time and sacrifice…but you will be rewarded with not only money, but that time freedom to use that money as well.

PLANNING A WEBSITE - THE MANY THINGS TO CONSIDER AND KNOWING...

Tue, 11 Dec 2012 22:31:00 -0500

PLANNING A WEBSITE - THE MANY THINGS TO CONSIDER AND KNOWING WHEN TO TRUST THE EXPERTS

As you may have seen in my previous posts, I have been giving lots of flack to people who think just by opening up a website and getting a few pages up that they actually have a business.

Over the past month I have had the pleasure of spending some time with Toronto’s leading User Interface (UI) team Jet Cooper and their co-founder Satish Kanwar. I can say the one thing I have learned from them is just how little I actually know.

I thought it would be a good idea just to give you a very small taste of some of the steps that go into the planning of a proper website that I have learned from the experts at Jet Cooper.

1. User Strategy

2. Information Architecture

3. Creative Strategy

4. Interface Design

5. Actual Production Rounds

6. System Design

7. Quality Assurance

Now each of these topics above are broken down into complete detail. For example in the Quality Assurance phase you do things such as browser testing and device testing. To do this you need to know who your users are and what type of devices they are using, etc. Many people who go out and try to open up a website don’t even think of something which is that basic and all the little things you need to do to be compatible with all these browsers and devices out there today.

My suggestion to all of you out there that want to be internet entrepreneurs is to get out there and start learning about all the areas above so you at least have some sort of knowledge.

The only other piece of advice I am going to leave to all of you out there is to know when to trust the experts. This is very important. One of the reasons I feel my businesses have flourished over the last couple of years is because I know what I am good at and what I suck at. I may think in my head I am good at UI but I am nowhere near people that do it for a living. Not even 1% close to them. If you want to be a big league business learn to find the right people to do the right jobs for you. That is the reason I have trusted a company such as Jet Cooper here in Toronto to handle some of my work because the bottom line is they know more than I do about the design aspect of the business.

If you truly are serious about becoming a internet entrepreneur, just be ready to put in the time, effort and your own hard earned money and belief into the business. You have lots of work ahead of you my friend. Getting your dot com successful doesn’t happen overnight. It’s not a get rich overnight thing. Just like doctors put in thousands upon thousands of hours to have the ability to practice medicine, athletes put in thousands upon thousands of hours to make the olympics….creating a successful internet business is no different. You have many thousands of hours of work and years ahead of you.

STEPS TO CREATE A VIRTUAL OFFICE - BE THE NEW AGE...

Tue, 04 Dec 2012 20:51:18 -0500

STEPS TO CREATE A VIRTUAL OFFICE - BE THE NEW AGE ENTREPRENEUR

With the internet these days the possibilities are endless. Gone are the days of having to wake up to meet staff, sit in an office to take calls, have office hours, the list goes on and on.

I am proud to say that I don’t even have an office anymore here in Toronto. Anytime I do need to meet staff or conduct interviews I just rent space where my old office used to be located.

The beauty of not having an office is that you don’t need to be physically tied down to a location which is the biggest freedom one can have. I feel this is more important than the amount of income you generate.

Today I am going to share some of my secrets on how you create that virtual office.

STEP 1: If you have an office, dump it. The amount you are paying for rent and lease is useless. You can use that money to put back into your business or pay your staff more…trust me they will appreciate it.

STEP 2: Get a cell phone/laptop if you don’t have one and sign up for a virtual PBX system such as grasshopper. What this allows you to do is route your business number to any cell phone or landline anywhere in the world and your customers have no idea where you are as they are dialing your local number. Imagine sitting on a beach or a ski chalet as your office making money. That is what I have the capability to do and what I do. Before I could afford office staff, I would have to take sales calls while sitting on a beach in Mexico….it was quite enjoyable making money while sipping on a corona on a beach (take a look at the picture above in this post..that is my laptop open while sitting on a beach)

STEP 3: Make your business fully online. This is easier said in done but it is the reason I only get involved in online businesses for the most part now. I once thought about opening a restaurant up but then quickly gave myself a big slap across the face to wake up.

example: If you have a clothing shop, shut it down and figure out a way to fully have it online….check out shopify.com ….they make creating an online store seamless.

STEP 4: Sign up for Do.com. If you do have employees, this is a great way to keep on top of them while they are at home working. You can keep delegating tasks to them and they have to check them off and you are updated in real time. I also suggest setting them all up with a webcam at home and you have access to speak to them when needed.

STEP 5: Build a large email list. This is one of the most important things you can do as you can use programs to send out specials to your customers that make you money. I suggest using any of the following: mailchimp, constant contact or aweber

If you follow these basic 5 steps above, you will be location free in no time. Imagine not being tied down to a location ever. I don’t know if I could ever have it any other way. The world is changing and so is entrepreneurship. Things from payroll have become automated that you can pay your employees using simple services such as ADP or Ceridian. You can become a millionaire these days without ever leaving your home. With cell phones and internet, the world is seriously your oyster.

I hope some of these tips I have given you above help you on your journey as an entrepreneur. These things have definitely changed my life in a big way.

LAST TIP: If you want freedom, don’t open up a brick and mortar business. With the power of cell phones and the internet these days, online businesses are the best way to go in my opinion.

Stop worrying about raising money and worry about making...

Tue, 04 Dec 2012 19:48:00 -0500

Stop worrying about raising money and worry about making money

One of the biggest mistakes I see new entrepreneurs make is they spend hours of their lifetime trying to figure out how to raise money for their business. They come to me with these absurd figures showing it will cost them x-amount of dollars to get the business going and they need all this money for marketing, etc. They get so consumed in trying to write up business plans and meet with investors that they forget the most fundamental part of business….MAKING MONEY.

Until your venture makes money, it is not a business yet. The day you make that single penny with 0 debt, is the day you actually have a business.

I created a multi-million dollar company in Canada Maid Service with a $15-$20 investment. I re-invested money I made from my own business to grow the business even more. That is how you do it.

With AskTheDoctor.com, I had the opportunity to take millions of dollars from investors to rapidly grow the business. I declined because I know in my heart I can take the money I have created from scratch with the business and keep re-investing it in the business.

I personally don’t agree with the philosophy that you have to be the first one out there. There is room for many companies in any space and like anything in life, good things take time to build. There is no point in speeding and rushing things.

If you really have a business that has potential, you don’t ever need anyone else’s money except your own. If your business idea is as good as you think it is, it will grow over time with sweat and handwork. Use that money you have created with your own sweat and hardwork and you will appreciate your business even more.

To all of you young entrepreneurs out there. Go worry about making money. Every single day you wake up, your business should have made more money than the previous day. That is called a business and being an entrepreneur.

Registering a dot com doesn’t make you an entrepreneur -...

Mon, 03 Dec 2012 23:37:00 -0500

Registering a dot com doesn’t make you an entrepreneur - Don’t take what being an entrepreneur is lightly because you are only hurting yourself

Over the last few years I have had hundreds of people come to me for business advice. Most of these people start off by going Prakash, I have an incredible idea for a website… It’s going to make millions! After they tell me what it is, I usually can show them another website that has done what they are thinking already. They come to me with just an idea, they have done no ground work, research, testing, etc. to see if the idea can even work. The best part is they are working for someone else still and they think they can make a successful business with that mind frame. Here is a reality check,

ENTREPRENEURS DON’T WORK FOR ANYBODY….EVER

If you really think you have what it takes to be an entrepreneur, I suggest answering these 5 basic questions first…

1. You are willing to quit your day job tomorrow and spend 20 hours a day working on your business idea and barely sleeping until you are established

2. You are willing to give up going to friends parties, socializing, other stuff because they are taking valuable time away from your business

3. You are willing to go into debt on your credit card and not knowing if you will be able to pay it back just to make sure you are able to keep investing in the business

4. You are willing to sleep in your car when you go on a business trip because you need that extra cash to pay for things related to your business

5. You believe in your business idea so much that you are willing to invest all of your own money in it and live off of macaroni and cheese for a little while.

The above are just some basic things all entrepreneurs including myself have done in some shape or form. Just because you don’t like where you are working and you have registered a dot com and have an idea doesn’t make you an entrepreneur. It’s like me saying if I go out and buy a stethoscope tomorrow and wear it around my neck, that makes me a doctor.

I’m just being very blunt and straight to the point in this post. There is no need to sugar coat anything…it is what it is.

Remember if you want to make it in business, there is lots of work to be done….years of sweat, tears and hard work.

Are you honestly prepared to do that?

If you are still at your job after reading this post, I suggest you keep your day job because you don’t have the risk taking abilities necessary to make a business succeed.

If you are trying to open up a business because you can’t find a job, I suggest you keep looking for a job because you won’t be able to handle the grinds of entrepreneurship.

Kids, bottom line here is only become an entrepreneur because you love it.

It’s about more than just the water - Others won’t...

Sun, 02 Dec 2012 07:56:32 -0500

It’s about more than just the water - Others won’t get it and they don’t need to - How I apply this to sports, business and life

Prakash, you have gone off the deep end. You are being specific as to what kind of water you are drinking now?

Prakash, this is all hogwash. All this organic eating crap, society is just making up things, etc.

Prakash, you drove 1 hour each way from Toronto to Newmarket to just buy water. You should maybe go see a psychiatrist.

Prakash, It’s just f***ing water….the stuff from the tap is exactly the same thing.

———-

Between yesterday and today, the above are four comments I heard from some friends, family members, colleagues, etc…Heck you reading this must think Prakash should be in a psychiatry ward, not sitting here blogging.

Some of these people think I am missing a screw in my head because I was willing to spend 3 hours of my life just to get a specific type of water to drink.

It took me 1 hour to drive to Nature’s Emporium in Newmarket, Canada from Toronto, I spent about an hour there and took me another hour to get home. It was the only place in all of Toronto and the GTA that sells Goccia di Carnia spring water.

Why was I willing to do this? Because the team of people who I have put all my trust in to help heal my knee told me that this is the best type of water I could put into my system. Now does it work… honestly, I have no idea. But……Am I willing to listen to a successful 45 year old who played professional sports for 21 years, came back from a broken neck when doctors told him he would never play again..a man who has helped many young players become the top player in their sport in the entire world?…..There is the answer…YES. There are times in sports, business and life where you don’t ask why and you just DO.

Now I’ve had some serious injuries in my lifetime and I have made a commitment to do whatever it takes to heal them. That means blocking out those negative noises that people who have no idea what they are talking about say to you. I have always preached listen and learn from people that have accomplished success in their field. You want to learn to build a business, don’t go sit in a classroom listening to a professor talking about business who makes 100k a year. Go learn from Warren Buffet who knows how to build a business and make that 100k while he sneezes.

Believing and buying into a system is one of the most important things you can learn to do in anything from sports, business to life. Maybe 9 out of the 10 things you do which you can control won’t do anything, but that 1 little thing might make that difference in you accomplishing whatever you are out there trying to accomplish.

In business, if I had listened to everyone that told me all the things I was doing was not going to make a difference than I wouldn’t be where I am as a successful entrepreneur today. Maybe half the things I did didn’t make a difference but I will never know…I just know I got to the end goal I had in mind as an entrepreneur by doing all those things I could control.

Remember as an entrepreneur, you are not NORMAL. It’s okay to be different and do things differently. Many people will think you have lost your marbles and let them. You are an entrepreneur because you don’t give a flying f*** as to what anyone else thinks.

You don’t need to have an explanation for people for why you do the things you do. If you believe something is going to work and it’s something that you can control, then just do it.

Always remember….it’s about much more than just the water. If I had to fly to Italy to get it, I wouldn’t think twice about doing it.

CLICK HERE TO READ WHY WE USE GOCCIA WATER

Yes, money does grow on trees - It’s all about freedom and...

Tue, 13 Nov 2012 13:20:00 -0500

Yes, money does grow on trees - It’s all about freedom and passive income

Here is a quick look inside of my brain:

1. For some reason when I was a little kid I always wanted to be a millionaire. When I got older and realized that a million dollars wasn’t much anymore, I wanted to be a billionaire.

2. When i was a little kid all I ever wanted was to one day own a honda prelude. After getting one at age 21 and driving it for a few weeks all I ever wanted was a BMW. Soon as I had the beemer all I could think about was getting something more expensive. I now have a Bentley and almost 2 weeks into owning it I was like I need to get a Rolls Royce next.

3. I always wanted a yacht growing up. When I was able to get one, all I started to think about is wanting a longer, bigger more extravagant yacht.

I could go on and on and on with more materialistic items but I will stop now and get to the point I am making. When I started this blog take a look at the writing I put on the homepage of the website about myself:

“Follow me through my journey as a serial entrepreneur on the path to becoming a self-made billionaire. I use the lessons I was taught as an athlete and apply them to my life as an entrepreneur.

I have no idea on exactly how many officially registered companies I own and they are all in different sectors. I also operate over 200 registered websites. I hope to inspire any young entrepreneurs or anybody that has ever thought about opening up their own business.”

——

So above I talk about how I want to be a billionaire. I recently had to ask myself a very important question. That question is why do I want to be a billionaire?

I could honestly not answer that question. The only reason for me to be a billionaire was to what, get more materialistic items? I don’t need anything else and as you can see in my list above that there is no end to the amount of materialistic items you can buy. Is it worth it to sacrifice balance to get to that elusive billion dollars?

My next question to myself was do I want freedom? Yes I want freedom to do whatever I want and when I want from wherever I want to. It clicked to me and I realized I already have that and am living the dream.

I have lately taken a large step back in my direct involvement in my businesses to focus more on the other areas of my life such as mind, body and soul. I can honestly say that over the couple months that I have focused more on these areas that I feel more balanced and happier.

I wake up every morning these days with such a big smile on my face which is incredible and realize how much freedom I have. I realize I need to chase nothing as I am living the dream already doing everything I ever wanted to do. Being content is something very hard to come by. The main reason I am able to do this is because I get money in my bank account everyday now without having to do any work. This is the dream part about owning a business (yes you still have to look after things once in a while).

Everyday I get people coming to me asking me to do consulting so I can make more money. My answer to them is I don’t trade my time for dollars. Every business I have other people are running them or they are self sustaining businesses. The reason I got to this point was because of my philosophy of passive income. I have come to realize that money does grow on trees on its own if you plant it properly and take care of it once in a while.

My new philosophy is not to be a billionaire but to keep on living the dream of having FREEDOM like I currently do while increasing the amount of passive income I generate. If I get there creating passive income like I do, then so be it. If I don’t, I’m still doing everything I ever wanted to do and god do I ever love my freedom.

——

If you like this post I wrote, I strongly suggest reading the following article I shave posted on my blog: The Mexican Fisherman

Can’t have it both ways - Either take the paycheck or...

Mon, 12 Nov 2012 00:04:00 -0500

Can’t have it both ways - Either take the paycheck or actually commit to your business

I hate to be the bearer of bad news but I’ve been around business long enough to tell you that you can’t have it both ways. You can’t expect to do anything at all with your business idea while working full time for someone else and collecting a paycheck.

The biggest battle in starting a company is having the balls to actually quit your fucking day job. If you can’t commit to quitting your day job and working on your business full time, it shows that you don’t have the guts to take the risks needed when push comes to shove in your business. I hate to tell you this but you don’t have what it takes to succeed as an entrepreneur because you like to play it safe. You are stuck in that guaranteed paycheck mentality.

If you really are serious about opening up that business idea of yours, you will walk into your bosses office after reading this post and hand in your 2 weeks notice and will go and work on your business idea morning and night. You will work out of desperation because you know you need to now make money on your own.

The worst thing I see people do is lie to themselves. They tell me they have this business idea and its worth millions and is a great idea, blah blah. Trust me I have heard it all and have had hundreds of people come to me to pitch their idea and that’s all it is, just an idea.

Do you really honestly want to make it as an entrepreneur? Ask yourself that question in the mirror. If you can’t commit to not receiving a paycheck immediately please do yourself a favor and stick with your day job.

Being an entrepreneur is not a part time easy thing. Its a big commitment and harder than any other profession out there from being a doctor all the way to being a lawyer. It takes guts, hard work and dedication to succeed at it. It takes the ability to know you may fail a million times over but you just don’t give a flying fuck.

Don’t belittle what being an entrepreneur is. It’s like me saying I can go to med school part time and become a great doctor. Sorry kids, doesn’t work like that.

Really wanna be an entrepreneur? Than I dare you to go hand in that resignation letter to your boss today.

askthedr: OBAMA VS. ROMNEY - THE MAIN DIFFERENCES ON...

Sun, 04 Nov 2012 11:30:31 -0500

askthedr:

OBAMA VS. ROMNEY - THE MAIN DIFFERENCES ON HEALTHCARE

ask your own healthcare question by clicking here

Ask A Doctor

"People spend a lifetime searching for happiness; looking for peace. They chase idle dreams,..."

Fri, 02 Nov 2012 13:11:00 -0400

““People spend a lifetime searching for happiness; looking for peace. They chase idle dreams, addictions, religions, even other people, hoping to fill the emptiness that plagues them. The irony is the only place they ever needed to search was within””

- Romana L. Anderson

Beer And Wings? - You are never too old or down and out to start...

Thu, 01 Nov 2012 19:57:00 -0400

Beer And Wings? - You are never too old or down and out to start a new business/career

Last week I had a one hour meeting with former professional hockey player and fitness guru Gary Roberts at his training centre here in Toronto, Canada. He was going through my progress over the last month that I have started my workout regime with him and his team. These are monthly one to one, 1 hour meet up sessions Gary holds with you to evaluate your improvements and it keeps you accountable.

For those of you that don’t know Gary Roberts story, he was a hockey player for the Calgary Flames that went through some serious injuries throughout his career. At age 30 he officially retired from professional sports due to bone spurs in his neck which caused severe nerve damage and numbing in his arms. He told me he was out in the playoffs one year and could barely hold a stick with one hand and every time he would come to the bench he would start shaking and trembling and had to wait to go back out for a shift until the trembling stopped. Doctors said he was lucky because if he got hit the wrong way while playing he could have lost permanent feeling and use of his arms. They would have to operate on him and told him he had to give up playing forever.

The sad part he told me was that after the operation and retiring and knowing he had some money saved up he said he let himself go and started on a diet of BEER AND CHICKEN WINGS. I really loved this story as I had my own battle with over excess drinking at the age of 25 after being depressed when I had my second full ACL, MCL and medial meniscus tear. I myself started turning to the bottle and unhealthy food for comfort. Listening to Gary was really inspiring when he told me he went through the exact same thing but one day looked in the mirror and really had to say to himself to snap out of it otherwise he would be dead by age 40. All this he said struck a cord with me personally and I became very emotional and motivated listening to it. Gary said that after looking in the mirror he said he was going to prove to himself he could play again and went on to learning lots about strength/conditioning and nutrition. Something many athletes in his sport didn’t pay attention to back then. He went on to educate himself from experts as much as he could. He came back 1.5/2 years later to playing professionally and played at that high level until the age of 43. Gary is 45 now and would probably still kick 90% of professional hockey players asses when it came to a fitness test. It’s not a joke being able to compete at that level at age 43, it defies many odds and so called standards people put out there on age.

That 1 hour eye opening conversation I had with Gary last week made me realize many things. Here is what I took out of that meeting with Gary that I apply to my own personal self for business and sports.

1. It’s okay to have a setback and make a mistake. Gary had a setback of massive nerve damage and then he went onto the mistake of turning to beer and chicken wings. Not doing anything and going out like that would have showed weakness. Being able to look at yourself in the mirror and having the courage to defy odds that the so called doctor experts put on you shows character.

How this applies to business: Your business failed, you went bankrupt. You decided to go feel sorry for yourself and started to go on a path of self destructive behaviour. Not doing anything shows weakness but getting up, opening up a new business and working hard to pay off all your creditors and bad debt shows character.

2. Never too old to start something again. Gary retired for the first time at age 30. He was led to believe he was too old and too hurt to ever be able to play again. He not only played again, he gave a silent F U to all those coaches and doctors that told him he is down and out forever by playing until age 43. I hear the excuse from people that you are too old to play sports when you hit a certain age, blah blah.

How this applies to business: Age means nothing in business. Your past means nothing in business. People tell me they are too old to start a business or that they have all this education now and it would be a waste to start a business, etc. The bottom line is those are all just excuses. If there is a desire to do it, you will do it and you can be 13 years old or 70 years old, doesn’t matter one bit. I look at my own father who is 68 years old and took a new job in Philadelphia last year after living in Winnipeg and with Manitoba Hydro for 37 years as a professional engineer with a PhD. Once again even my father shows you are never too old to start something new and I have never seen him happier in my life. Its cool to see how much respect all the people under him and junior to him give. Shows my fathers character and once again how you are never too old for anything.

3. Go learn from the experts and redefine a sport or business. Gary went and learned about nutrition and strength and conditioning from many of the experts out there. He went and learned things about things he knew nothing of from people who are very knowledgeable. He then went and applied these new techniques to his own sport and showed success.

How this applies to business: When you want to learn a new business go and learn about that business from other people who have done something similar and have been successful at it. Be creative and put these new things you have learned from everyone and apply what you think works best for your own business. Don’t ever be afraid to change an industry.

I hope you can take this post I have written as inspiration. Gary’s story has personally motivated and inspired me on a personal level and he is honestly a very inspiring person with a magnetic personality. I am very honoured and proud to be learning from him and his team everyday as I strive to be a better person day in and day out. Remember for me its all about MMBS (mind, money, body and soul). I try to do something to be better at those 4 areas of my life everyday.

****Be sure to follow Gary’s new tumblr blog at: http://garyrobertshpt.tumblr.com****

Live your life with integrity and run your business with...

Wed, 24 Oct 2012 18:22:00 -0400

Live your life with integrity and run your business with integrity - A lesson we can all learn from Obama

Success is not defined by how many billions of dollars you have in your bank account. I have said that before and I will say it again. Yes money is a very important part of life that allows you the ability to do things and I am a strong supporter of people going out there and chasing the money and the big dreams.

More importantly though living your life with integrity is one of the most important things you can do even in business. If you run your business in an honest and transparent way only good things will happen and you will be able to sleep properly at night. Don’t ever take any shortcuts on the path to success in business. If you think something is very morally wrong, just don’t do it. Trust me you will sleep a lot better at night.

Don’t ever give anybody any reason to say anything bad about you or your business. Of course there will always be people out there that don’t like you or your business but let them talk. If they have nothing on you because you have ran everything with integrity, then they will look like morons as in the case of Donald Trump trying to make smear of Obama’s name. The guy is trying his hardest and is just making himself look like even a bigger idiot.

It’s funny when I started my businesses and was younger, I would look up to Donald because I thought wow, look at this guy he became a billionaire. Now I look at him lately and think wow, he’s probably one of the biggest losers I have met in my life, someone who is attention deprived and very insecure about himself.

It’s funny because I will make it a personal point to never give any of my hard earned dollars to any business he is affiliated with. I went from being undecided to who I would want as the leader of the USA to after lots of listening realizing what kind of person Obama really is.

Kids, if you want to be successful at not just business but in every other area of your life, trust me when I say look up to a man like Obama as he is more of a definition of someone with MMBS (mind, money, body and soul)….my personal definition of success.

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT: SPECIAL SOURCES CONFIRM OBAMA’s NET...

Wed, 24 Oct 2012 12:33:00 -0400

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT: SPECIAL SOURCES CONFIRM OBAMA’s NET WORTH MORE THAN DONALD TRUMP.

I have a very credible source that has verified that Donald doesn’t have the money to even pay the $5 million to charity. It will be borrowed from the bank or from one of his friends. The reason for his tweet today was to try and gain interest on himself so he can come out of this hole that he is in.

Can we please see all of your latest bank transactions Mr. Trump?

On another note, followers of my blog…don’t try and be a loser like the Donald. Success is about more than just money. For me its a combo of mind, money, body and soul…..Trumps only got 1 out of 4 on the score…and it definitely ain’t mind, body or soul ;)

NONE OF THE ABOVE ABOUT DONALDS NET WORTH IS TRUE..HONESTLY I DON’T KNOW WHAT IT IS OR DO I CARE…I’M JUST SHOWING YOU HOW STUPID THESE STUNTS ARE THAT DONALD PULLS. WOULD YOU RESPECT HIM OR SOMEONE WITH CLASS AND CHARACTER LIKE GATES AND BUFFETT.

The rat race

Tue, 23 Oct 2012 18:45:41 -0400

The rat race