OK to Laugh!

If I can't get the girl, at least give me more money. -Alan Alda

The thing I really love is when people tell me how they laughed at something or were moved by something. I'm getting that a lot from people, and that's one of the reasons that this is one of the happiest times for me professionally. This is the culmination of a boyhood dream come true.

Every young man would do well to remember that all successful business stands on the foundation of morality. (Henry Ward Beecher)

By being moral and honest in your business dealings you build a strong foundation from the bottom floor upwards and will be able to continue doing business completely out in the open with no fear of reprisals.

All great achievements require time. Maya Angelou

History never looks like history when you are living through it. John W. Gardner

Neither does life! So today everyone smile and know that you just added something to the history books.

Satisfied

Look at a day when you are supremely satisfied at the end. It's not a day when you lounge around doing nothing; it's when you've had everything to do, and you've done it. (Lord Acton)

At times you don't accomplish everything you set out to do but by putting a little dent in everything you have that much less to go towards success.

Journey

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. (Confucious)

By taking that first step you will be entering an exciting, groundbreaking world as you continue your journey.

Neglect

At times during the beginning stages of a startup company an entrepreneur tends to neglect the family because of the long hours worked and sacrifices made. By spending one day devoted to the family (In particular the spouse) an entrepreneur can reconnect and reaffirm why it is so important to succeed in the startup endeavor. Entrepreneurs need to have a selfless attitude because of the responsibility of thousands of livelihoods they will be in charge of when the company is operational. By entrepreneurs spending time with their families it should serve as a reminder that those who work for entrepreneurs have families to take care of also.

Giving

An entrepreneur does not horde all of his money to him/herself. An entrepreneur gives of himself, his time and his money with no strings attached. An entrepreneur is blessed with the position he/she has been placed in and so by giving he/she is bettering the surrounding community.

THE "COMMAS" IN OUR LIVES

A comma in a sentence indicates a pause before continuing. It also gives the sentence more meaning and better structure. A comma in life gives us a cause to pause. Although we often consider commas as annoying little interruptions in our lives, the commas are there for a purpose, to make us think about what has gone on before and what will come after. It gives us time to reflect, review, refresh, rest, evaluate, plan and change direction. The next time a comma appears in your life, what will you do?

Teaching

Children should be taught entrepreneurial lessons as they are growing up. Teaching them how to harness and keep their creativity when they become adults will give them a huge advantage as they navigate throughout the entrepreneurial landscape. Raising children to become successful entrepreneurs ensures a stable, highly stimulated economy for years to come.

Sleepless

As I have mentioned before, starting a company is hard work and should not be romanticized. In the first couple of years in a startup company an entrepreneur will work long hours, overcome obstacles and at times endure many sleepless nights. However, those long hours worked will become time well spent after the company becomes fully operational and successful. Working hard to ensure you are financially free later on is not a waste of time rather it is time that is used wisely.

Pleasing

Many people make the mistake of trying to please everyone. However, it is impossible to be pleasing to everybody because someone will always wind up being dissatisfied. Something to be learned when attempting to please everyone is that this is a definite lesson in futility. As a corporate owner you should not fall into this trap and if you still want to attempt this than change your vocation from owner to politician and run for office.

Jumping Ship

How many times have you heard of the phrase “Like rats jumping ship” referring to people who do not have the intestinal fortitude to stick things out and remain when the going gets tough. Well that phrase exactly describes the weak minded individuals who cannot foresee the long picture and are only looking out for themselves during the startup phase of a company. When creating a company be prepared to start dealing with those individuals especially when they are unsophisticated investors who are ignorant and unwilling to think out of the box.

Stick To Your Guns

Doing business is very exciting and closing a deal is highly satisfying to say the least. One thing to remember is to always “stick to your guns” because after a deal is struck and finalized you will always find the person who will try and change the spirit of the agreement. Never change the original intentions that were stated on the contract unless it benefits both parties because to do so can render the contract null and void. If the agreement is changed to the benefit of both parties than the contract can be amended to do so.

Something New

Corporate business has always had connections with governments and they have almost always been for the well connected and well to do. What we are striving to accomplish at “The buck stops here live! Radio show” and Entity Professionals is to help the common person to try something new for him/herself and begin doing business on the corporate level. The populace needs to be aware of this simple fact tax laws favor corporate America and no one else period! Laws and Acts have historically favored business and continue to do so. Now with that being said to not take advantage of these laws and acts in order to ensure a prosperous lifestyle and not become destitute should be every person’s primary focus. To not do anything at all but sit back and hope you win the Lottery would be disastrous.

Which "Tent" are you?

A marquee read "There are two tents, content and discontent". "Which tent are you"?

Why Balance?

Balance is about how you live your life and manage your business and people.Finding the right balance in your body, your mind, your life, and your business will help you refine your goals and hasten you towards them. It will lead you on a journey to improved health, spirit, and well-being. Effective managerial leadership demands a delicate balance between sensitivity and authority, between the whole and the parts, between a loose and tight leadership style, between functional expertise (depth of knowledge) and cross-functional excellence (width of knowledge), between internal (creating value for organization and employees) and external (creating value for investors, customers, and society as a whole).

Dreams

Imagine if Eli Whitney never dreamed about inventing the cotton gin. Imagine if Christopher Columbus never dreamed about finding a short cut to India by crossing the Atlantic Ocean. Imagine if Thomas Edison never dreamed about creating the light bulb. Imagine if William Potts never dreamed of creating the four-way, three-color traffic light. Imagine if Bill Gates never dreamed of the idea for Microsoft. America has continually been fueled by people’s dreams which they grasped and through application and sheer force of will converted to reality. Never give up on your dreams and always work towards them because you can become the next Edison, Potts or Gates.

Continual Movement

Entrepreneurs essentially are movers and shakers. They are in continual movement always pressing forward and taking advantage of whatever opportunities they encounter traveling throughout the marketplace. The perpetual motion displayed by entrepreneurs is definitely needed to stimulate today’s economy.

Effects of Thought

According to James Allen, the human body is the servant of the mind. It obeys the operations of the mind, whether they be deliberately chosen or automatically expressed. At the bidding of unlawful thoughts the body sinks rapidly into disease and decay; at the command of glad and beautiful thoughts it becomes clothed with youthfulness and beauty. Strong, pure, and happy thoughts build up the body in vigor and grace. The body is a delicate and plastic instrument, which responds readily to the thoughts by which it is impressed, and habits of thought will produce their own effects, good or bad, upon it.

James then said, change of diet will not help a man or woman who will not change his thoughts. When a man or woman makes his thoughts pure, he no longer desires impure food. Clean thoughts make clean habits. The so-called saint who does not wash his body is not a saint. He who has strengthened and purified his thoughts does not need to consider the malevolent microbe. So here is my question can you change and willingly remove the negative thoughts in your life and introduce positive, blissful thoughts within yourself to produce an abundance of joy?

Wasteful

For a company to run efficiently it must not frivolously waste resources. Companies that are habitually wasteful wind up having a hard time running smoothly when their resources are low and have a higher rate of failure during those trying situations. By always being mindful on how their resources are being spent companies can enjoy years of smoothly flowing operations with a minimal risk of ever depleting their resources.

Desire

Never discount a person’s desire and what they want to get accomplished. You can tell when someone has a real desire for something when that person just won’t quit. That person will continue to strive and move towards his targeted goal no matter what circumstances or obstacles stand in his way. It is this extreme level of focus that constitutes and/or creates a successful entrepreneur.

The First Thing To Do Is Listen

If you truly want to learn and understand life's lessons then you must first be willing to listen. It is imperative that you keep an open mind with everyone and everything you do. You have to know when to speak and know when to zip your lip and just listen. God blessed us with two ears and one mouth, so listen twice as much as you talk and grow from what was just shared with you.

To See Clearly

Work quickly, keep the tools unlocked, work whenever. Know when to work alone and when to work together. Share - tools, ideas. Trust your colleagues. No politics. No bureaucracy. (These are ridiculous in a garage.) The customer defines a job well done. Radical ideas are not bad ideas. Invent different ways of working. Make a contribution every day. If it doesn't contribute, it doesn't leave the garage. Believe that together we can do anything. Invent. (Hewlett Packard advert.)

Sometimes it takes a quote or maybe even a punch from someone like Hewlett Packard to see clearly. What are we creating today to solve the problems that our current economy is facing? It is not easy when all you do is sit back and watch everyone else get ahead and you get farther and farther behind because you are not willing to take a step up. Consistent movement is required to see life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Risk Takers

Entrepreneurs are labeled by many as risk takers which is the farthest thing from the truth. What entrepreneurs have done is to harness their imagination to envision how a company will be created and than proceed to creatively take steps to ensure their vision comes true. The problem nowadays is that the majority of society has been trained not to use their imagination. Entrepreneurs on the other hand combine a vast amount of imagination, faith and creativity and proceed to act upon it thereby achieving their goals.

Comfort Zone

Many startup businesses wind up spinning their wheels because of inaction on the owners part. Business owners have taken the first step by creating their own business however, they are now afraid of doing something new that they have never had experience in. Consequently, excuses are made that are more befitting an employee than a company owner. What these inexperienced company owners fail to realize is that they have their own destiny in their hands so failure or success depend entirely upon them and not their excuses for inactivity.

Giving Up

One of the reasons why businesses will fail is because the owners just give up. By giving up you not only stop any forward momentum that the company has moved toward it can and will have an effect on your business partners also. One of the behaviors displayed is just sitting behind your desk and not doing anything at all. People must remember that in order to move a company forward the company owners must continually be in movement. By not giving up a person can gather for oneself a wealth of experiences that will be invaluable and can be drawn upon for a lifetime.

Taking Care

As a person ventures out in the economy for business opportunities at times the person is unaware of the time and consequently does not take care of oneself in regards to the proper rest and nutrition. Taking care of oneself is extremely important because if that is not done an individual will inevitably be running him or herself into the ground. And if an individual keeps abusing their health it will cause one type of illness after another to ravage the body which is not a very good thing at all.

Teaching Children Financial Responsbility

“I want candy shouted the young boy”, as he and his mother approached the checkout counter.” “Not today,” said the mother, “no candy today.” “Money does not grow on trees,” said the mother. Does this scene sound familiar to you? Teaching children the purpose of money, where it comes from and how it is accumulated can be a challenge. With so many other things to teach our children, financial literacy is often neglected. When do we start teaching children about money? Financial literacy should start as early as possible. When we give children the money to pay for an item at the store or we pay for it ourselves, children have no “stake” or attachment to that money. Start by taking your child to the bank with you, introduce him/her to the bank’s president and staff, and show him how you add and subtract money from your account and how you write checks to pay bills. (The same principle can be applied if you bank online and/or use your debt card to pay for purchases).

Let your child know that you get money out of the bank because you put money in the bank. Money received from chores, birthdays, and allowance is an excellent time to start teaching money management. Have your child label three containers (banks) short term, long term and church and/or donations or save (invest), spend and give. Help him determine how much to put in each bank. Short term money can be used to pay for items they want to buy. When an agreed amount of money is in the long term account, you can help them start investing. When one bank is empty explain that money will not be taken out of the other bank to cover the “shortfall.”

Starting money management early can help develop discipline, patience and establish ownership and responsibility of money usage. As you teach and observe your child, your child will also observe how you manage your money.

Want Something?

As I was speaking with one of my mentors this week he shared something with me that was very simple yet right on the money. He said "If you want something you never had, do something you have never done. Get out of your comfort zone and believe in yourself." I can honestly say that I have been out of my comfort zone all year. I have taken steps that most people would call me crazy for doing, and believe me I hear it all the time. However, I do not let them bother me. I am on a mission and nothing is going to keep me from achieving success.

The Six Men I Need In My Life

“I keep six honest serving-men (They taught me all I knew); Their names are What and Why and When And How and Where and Who.” – Rudyard Kipling

Know Why
Start a business when you have a passion for something and want to create something that you can be proud of. Inspire your people with a clear vision. Define shared values and let those values rule. Build your distinctive corporate capabilities to achieve competitive advantage.

Know What
Finding the right balance in your business will help you refine your goals and hasten you towards them. Organizations prosper by achieving strategy through balancing the four major factors or perspectives: Financial; Customer; Process; and Growth.

Know Where
Remember the old joke about the car mechanic who’s called in after every other mechanic failed? He listens to the engine for a few minutes, then hauls off and gives it a big swift kick in a certain strategic spot. Lo and behold, the engine starts humming like a kitten. The mechanic turns around, gives the car owner his bill for $400 and the price breakdown: '$1 for my time, and $399 for knowing where to kick.’

Know When
Timing is everything. You have to know not only how to make a move, but when. “The value of actions lies in their timing,” said Lao Tzu. Customer value derives from timely delivery. Change is unavoidable, but if you can anticipate it and understand business cycles, you can ride with change instead of being run over.

Know Who
"In the end, all management can be reduced to three words: people, product, and profits. People come first," said Lee Iacocca your corporate vision is worthless, strategies powerless and shared values are corrupt without the right people to execute.

Know How
Manage processes, not people. Focus not on what they do, but on how they do it. Establish a synergistic enterprise-wide and an end-to-end (cross-departmental, and often, cross-company) coordination of work activities that create and deliver ultimate value to customers.

Time and Sacrifice

The time and sacrifice it takes to help build a company from the ground floor up cannot be romanticized. A person has to be willing to go out there and just do the tasks that are assigned them. Many times people will get out of their comfort zone and do things that they will not ordinarily do in a fully operational company. Co-owners will consequently be wearing several hats in order to get the job done until all the pieces of the company’s infrastructure is completed. By willing to do this owners are able to continue to push a start up company forward and not let it spin on its wheels. However be of good cheer, co-owners will only have to do multiple jobs the first couple of years and than afterwards they will only be required to do what is needed to successfully maintain a fully operational, successful business. By continually tasking one or two individuals to do the work while others are sitting on their heels will not work. There must be a concerted effort by all to get things done and afterwards the rewards will be seen and appreciated by all.

Lessons

Lessons can be learned in many different ways but some people never learn because they are not willing to admit that they even did anything wrong. It’s easy to not accept responsibility for your actions and instead act as if your actions did not affect other people around you. It’s also easy to talk around a subject and never admit that you were wrong but deep down inside the person knows full well what they did and unfortunately does not care how it affects other people. Those type of people just care to have their agenda fulfilled no matter what it takes to the detriment of everyone around them.

Doing The Right Thing Because It Is The Right Thing To Do

How many of us have felt the need to “do unto others as they have done unto us ”rather than “do unto others as we would have them do unto us”? Often the need to retaliate is so strong that we often disregard the still small voice that tells us not to do it. The satisfaction that we thought we would get from our action somehow escapes us and we actually feel badly about “getting even”. Perhaps our need to “get even” tells us more about ourselves and our maturity level than it does about the other person. Making the choice to do the right thing because it is the right thing to do is often a difficult choice to make but it is the only choice that will mature us because it does not place any demands or expectations on the other person..... only on ourselves!

Life

It’s amazing how no matter how well you plan things out the one thing that you can never plan for is life. Life has a tendency of getting in the way of just about everything and can cause you to lose your mind if you let it. Take for example the simple pleasure of enjoying yourself in an amusement park; I was riding a rollercoaster ride called “The Batwing” where the seats recline so that your back is parallel to the ground and when starting the ride sends you forward head first so that it gives you the unique experience of either looking at the sky or the ground during the ride. Because of this, “The Batwing” at times gives you the impression that you’re actually flying. Well needless to say I enjoyed my ride with a family member that I had signed out for the day from his stint in AIT at the Aberdeen Proving Grounds in Aberdeen, Maryland, when all of a sudden life got involved and the ride was closed down due to technical difficulties. We were stuck on “The Batwing” for thirty minutes and because of this instead of leaving the park at 9:30 PM as I intended we wound up leaving at closing time when the traffic there is the most heavily congested. I had signed the family member out with the intentions of getting him back to post in time for the 11 PM formation and instead got him there at just before 12 midnight. Right after we were pulled out of the ride (due to the reclined position) I talked to the maintenance person and he wrote a letter and signed it explaining the circumstances involved that caused the family member to become late. The maintenance person also provided the Six Flags telephone # that gives a report of what rides were not working and the times they broke down. Hopefully the letter was enough to offset any possible trouble that my family member would experience due to being late for formation. Thinking back on the circumstances that caused us to be late is just one of many examples of how life can never be included into a plan of action.

Time

When people spend their time clock watching it just slows time down for them and days wind up becoming longer and longer by their perception. In contrast when there is plenty to do and you keep yourself occupied in proactive endeavors the time always goes by quickly. As for myself, the days of the week and weekend fly by me like a blur and it seems that there is never enough time to accomplish everything that I want to get done. When life is like this you must remember to appreciate everything that God has given you for things could be exactly the opposite of what you are experiencing now and you could wind up being unemployed. Remember that being busy is a good thing and watching the clock is detrimental to your well being because nothing is getting accomplished while you’re watching a clock.

Workaholics

People are labeled as lazy or workaholics but never between or “normal.” What some people do not know is that the saying “all work and no play” really does make Jack a dull boy. It is essential for workaholics to play hard in order to have some much needed stress relief. Not taking the time out to play hard can lead to a heart attack, stroke, high blood pressure or any number of stress related illnesses. Last Sunday we went to Six Flags in Southern Maryland and we shared the experience with some local Hampton Roads teenagers. It’s always good to give freely of your time to youth, spend time with them and share in their exuberance because by looking at the world through their eyes everything is new and exciting again.

Emotional Responses

Every experience in life strengthens us as individuals. It is what we take from the experience that helps define who we will become. If you doubt this look back in your life and remember a situation that ran high with emotions and how you reacted. Now look at your present day reaction to a similar situation. There is a big difference isn’t there? Your response today is based on how you dealt with the experience and what you learned from previous situations. You can say we are who we are today by the way we have dealt with life in the past. When people say that they had a life defining moment it is very powerful. This is when everything we have ever dealt with in our life comes to us in a clear understanding and answers the questions we have been asking. It is not one experience that defines our lives it is every experience that leads up to that defining moment in peoples lives that gives us clarity. I truly believe that there is a positive aspect in every one of life’s experiences. It is that positive that will help better ourselves and achieve our goals. I know how tough it is to find a positive in difficult situations. Many times we will not be able to see the positive until we take a step back. We must keep an open mind and focus on being positive. This will allow us to grow personally, professionally and spiritually. With this type of outlook life will be welcome and we will be on the right track in becoming the person we want to be."

Freedom To Fail and Have Fun

"Making mistakes is essential to innovation and organizational growth, as long as systems are developed to avoid making the same mistake twice." - Jonathan Keese, Sr.

Do you really want to learn innovation and know what is deep inside, at the core of successful innovation? "The truth is ... it's a ball! Hard work combined with hard play - at every level, from executive down to worker bee and back up again." People don't only work hard, but they also play hard at the same time. And people are not just having fun, but planning it and making it part of their culture. As adults we forget how to dream and have an imagination. We must look at things differently or with different view points that allow us to use our imagination in a field that is called traditional business. That way we can achieve accomplishment and satisfaction at every level of relationship building throughout our companies. To find a better creative solution to the current practice, force yourself to reframe the problem, in order to break down its components and assemble them in a different way that will cause us to use our imagination and answer this question without the fear of someone telling you that is not possible!

Cycles

There are always good and bad cycles in every aspect of business. An experienced entrepreneur will diversify his assets to the point where these cycles will not affect him/her. A major aspect of how long these cycles will last is public panic. By controlling the behavior through creative business dealings business owners can calm the panic experienced by the general populace, shorten the bad cycles and turn them into good cycles again.

ERASE BAD CREDIT

"Erase bad credit," that is what the credit repair ad said, but is it true? The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) says something quite different . . ."Don't be misled by credit repair ads ... Promises to repair or clean up a bad credit file can almost never be kept. "Is there such a thing as legitimate credit repair? Yes there is, but it takes time and financial discipline. It means repairing your credit report: correcting wrongful entries, adding legitimate entries, and careful credit management that complies with the law.

Asset

In business assets are probable future economic benefits controlled by an entity as a result of past transactions or events and from which future economic benefits may be obtained. Assets have three essential characteristics:

1)They embody a future benefit that involves a capacity, singly or in combination with other assets, in the case of profit oriented enterprises, to contribute directly or indirectly to future net cash flows and in the case of not-for-profit organizations, to provide services;
2)The entity can control access to the benefit; and
3)The transaction or event giving rise to the entity's right to, or control of, the benefit has already occurred.

Contrary to what many people believe, owning a house is not an asset because of the lack of positive cash flow whenever someone decides to become a homeowner. In addition to this, homeowners have to pay repair costs on top of their mortgage payments out of their own pockets. On the other hand, if you owned the note on the house and someone was paying you monthly mortgage payments directly than that is what you would call a true asset.

Reality

As an entrepreneur navigates through the corporate environment there are potential deals out there that are just waiting to happen. One of the ways that you can separate the people that will truly do business with you from the ones that are only paying you lip service is to create a proposal and have prospective business partners sign it. If companies are honestly interested in a joint business arrangement than they will sign an agreement to that effect. When businesses are not interested in partnering up they will not sign. By creating a proposal you separate fiction from reality and find out who has the sincere intentions.

Actions

Actions speak louder than words and talk is cheap. People will say whatever they can to placate other people but their true intentions are known by what they do during hard times. It takes strong minded individuals to stay focused on their objective during trials and tribulations. But whenever you want to see true motivations from people observe what they do during a trial by fire.

Reinvesting

The best way to ensure that people will be actively involved and proactive in a company is to encourage reinvesting behavior from the co-owners. The more that a co-owner has invested into a company, the more that he becomes actively involved in order to get the most for his/her buck. The only exception to this is when co-owners have ulterior motives and wind up down the road showing their true colors and eventually becoming leeches and vultures. In that case the best thing to do is to get rid of those co-owners as soon as possible.

Wait and See

People are categorized as either wait and see or see and solve individuals. The wait and see individuals are akin to sports spectators, they look, cheer, make complaints and always have an opinion on what should have been done. The see and solve individuals on the other hand will proactively take care of problems by using application and working towards a solution. The reason why wait and see individuals just sit back and watch is because they are cowards at heart and have no desire to ever mature and add experience to their limited repertoire. Consequently, wait and see individuals wind up being crippled by their immaturity and begin to prey on other people that they perceive are at a disadvantage. They become the most untrustworthy type of people who by some fortunate circumstance on their behalf are allowed to wander society always taking and never giving back. I would much rather be a see and solve person because these are the type of people who are assets to society.

The Richest Man In The World

Carlos Slim Helú was born on the 28th of January 1940 in Mexico City, Mexico and is a highly successful Mexican businessman who is currently the richest man in the world. Slim has a substantial influence over the telecommunications industry in Mexico and much of Latin America as well. He controls Teléfonos de México (Telmex), Telcel and America Movil companies. Though he maintains an active involvement in his companies, his three sons Carlos Slim Domit, Marco Antonio Slim Domit and Patrick Slim Domit are in charge of company operations on a day-to-day basis. Carlos’s father Youssef Salim, a Maronite Christian moved to Mexico City, Mexico from Lebanon at the age of 14. Julián established a dry goods store called La Estrella del Oriente (Star of the Orient) in 1911 and purchased real estate in downtown Mexico City. He and his wife had six children, of whom Carlos was the youngest boy. Slim is the surname of Carlos's father Julián, who as stated previously was originally, called Youssef Salim before moving to Mexico, upon which he changed his first name to Julián and altered his surname to Slim. He officially became Julián Slim Haddad by adding Haddad, his mother's surname, according to the Spanish-language naming customs. In Western, non-Iberian naming conventions, Carlos Slim Helú's name would be Carlos Slim. Carlos studied engineering at the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico. He married his wife, Soumaya Domit, in 1967; they had six children and were married for 32 years until Domit died of a kidney ailment in 1999. Since there is no way to accurately estimate the wealth of Bill Gates since he also owns the privately traded company “Cascade Investment Group” the possibility exists that Carlos and Bill will actually see saw on who is the richest person in the world throughout the remainder of 2007.

Fair Weather Minded

The same way that you can have fair weather friends that are only with you during good times; you can also have fair weather business partners that will only do business with you when you are affluent or have access to money. These fair weather minded individuals are usually looking for a quick pay off and have no concept whatsoever of the long outlook or term in business. By concentrating on “now money” they are looking for instant gratification regardless of who they hurt because the inner being of these individuals are selfish to the core. Fair weather minded individuals are very dangerous people who have no conscience whatsoever and only care about wringing as much money as they possibly can from the unfortunate soul who has the misfortune of being tied to them in some way or form.

Low Profile

Contrary to popular belief the average millionaire does not flaunt the money that he has. The average millionaire likes to keep a low profile and drive ordinary vehicles, lives in an ordinary house and lives for all intents and purposes an ordinary life. He keeps his spending habits under control and does not throw away his money frivolously. He also will shun the limelight knowing full well the repercussions that can ensue by opening his life to the public. When you think about the reasoning behind the average millionaires’ actions it all makes sense. Why would you subject yourself to public scrutiny, loss of privacy and have the paparazzi hounding every step that you take when you have the choice not to give away your privacy. That is why the average millionaire is pretty smart in more ways than one.

Vultures

Another reason why people creating a company have to be very careful and wary in screening prospective investors is that they can become human vultures. A dictionary definition of human vultures with an example of what they do is: A person who profits from the suffering of others. Within ten minutes of the accident, the vultures appeared and were organizing lawsuits. Human vultures are alive and well in today’s marketplace and will always strike at the most inopportune moment. Whenever you encounter these human vultures do anything in your power to disassociate yourself from them because they are akin to a plague on humanity and the business world.

Short Window

When wheeling and dealing in the business world it is important to get to your meetings on time. You don’t want to give a false impression to the party you are meeting with that the meeting is unimportant by arriving late. Once you have met and agreed upon a subsequent meeting to finalize the deal you can’t let your guard down and put off that future meeting for a later time. There is an extremely short window of opportunity to close any business transaction and business deals can and will be lost by placing them on the backburner.

Company

A company is defined in a legal context, as an entity that manufactures or sells products (also known as goods), or provides services as a commercial venture or a corporation. The etymology behind company comes from old Spanish compañero, old French compaignie and is derived from the Latin companio which means "the person you share your bread with" which is very interesting. Companies when it is on the corporate side has a distinguishing feature because that is when people share common assets and reap the benefits of those assets together. In other words greed and looking out for nobody else but yourself does not belong within the confines of a legitimate business.

Members

Many businesses are started with people taking out a small business loan. When loans like that are taken out you immediately begin the dangerous practice of starting a business with debt payments. It is easier to create a business via the corporate path where a group of members each chip in money to completely fund a business venture. Just stop and think about it, if you have thirty five members that invest a thousand dollars each than you have thirty-five thousand dollars capital for the company. Now if those same thirty-five members invest two thousand dollars each than you have seventy thousand dollars for the company. By using this method of everyone investing their money into a common account you not only lesson the burden of financing the company through one individual, you also get to the target money amount the company needs to become fully operational. It is a lot easier to “get rich together” than to try to do it all on your own plus tax laws have always favored corporate America, not single individuals.

Value Investing

The term “value investing” is a style or type of investment strategy from the so-called "Graham & Dodd" School. Followers of this style, known as value investors, generally buy companies whose shares or economic units appear under-priced by some forms of fundamental analysis; these may include stocks that trade at, for example, a discount to book value or tangible book value, have a high dividend yields, low price-to-earning multiple or low price-to-book ratio. The main proponents/participants of value investing, such as Benjamin Graham and Warren Buffett, have argued that the essence of value investing is buying stocks at less than their intrinsic value. The discount of the market price to the intrinsic value is what Benjamin Graham called the "margin of safety". The intrinsic value is the discounted value of all future distributions.
However, the future distributions and the appropriate discount rate can only be projected and based on assumptions. Warren Buffett has taken the value investing concept even further as his thinking has evolved to where for the last 25 years or so his focus has been on "finding an outstanding company at a sensible price" rather than generic companies at a bargain price, this concept is important as you are actually buying into a business.

History of ERISA

The beginning or history of ERISA is said to have begun in 1961 when President John F. Kennedy created the President's Committee on Corporate Pension Plans. Shortly afterwards, the movement for pension reform gained some momentum when the Studebaker Corporation, an automobile manufacturer, closed its plant in 1963; the pension plan was so poorly funded that former employees received only 15% of the pensions they had been promised. Consequently, in 1967, Senator Jacob Javits proposed legislation that would address the funding, vesting, reporting, and disclosure issues identified by the presidential committee. His bill was opposed by business groups and labor unions, both of whom sought to retain the flexibility they enjoyed under pre-ERISA law. A turning point in the history of ERISA came in 1970, when the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) broadcast Pensions: The Broken Promise, an hour-long television special that showed millions of Americans the consequences of poorly funded pension plans and onerous vesting requirements. In the following years, Congress held a series of public hearings on pension issues and public support for pension reform grew significantly due to public fears of retiring with little or no retirement money. Eventually, President Gerald Ford passed ERISA on September 2, 1974.