Throughout my years as an entrepreneur and businessman (there are differences), I have noticed two things that can easily make your life as an entrepreneur easier. If you are just starting your career as an entrepreneur, follow these two tips and your life will be much easier. If you have been an entrepreneur for a while and still do not abide by these tips, don’t fret. You can change. You have the ability. I know you do simply because that is one things entrepreneurs do. They enact change. The more hardened may just take a little longer.

The first one is to cover your personal expenses. I know that this may sound like an obvious point. But, truly many entrepreneurs do not follow this. You will hear other experts tell you to “pay yourself first.” That if you pay yourself first that you will somehow be able to pay all others. Or to pay yourself first because you are the most important person in the equation. I am not disputing either of these or the “pay yourself first” mentality. I find it to be valid. My perception of it is to cover your personal monthly expenses first. If you allocate enough revenue to you personally to cover your personal basic necessities, you will have a big load withdrawn from your shoulders. When you are worrying about paying your own bills, you do not perform at 100%. This only compounds your problem. You are short on covering your own bills and your stress causes you to under-perform at a time when you need to perform at your best. This is a recipe for a melt down. Simply add your monthly expenses up plus 10% and adjust your business to be able to perform at a level to generate this level of revenue for you. The 10% is for you to enjoy. Working all the time without taking time to enjoy life will lead to you hating your business. Do not give yourself pay raises until your expenses are covered and all long term debt is paid off.

The second tip is to only chase one rabbit. I am sure you have heard this phrase many different ways: too many irons in the fire, concentrate on one thing at a time, etc. But my preferred version is borrowed from a friend of mine (Dan Vega from Blue Star Business Institute). He says, “if you chase two rabbits you won’t catch any.” This is so true. Take it from a rabbit chaser extraordinaire. Chasing multiple rabbits normally comes in one of two forms. Either you try to add as many products and/or services as you can to your business or you strive after multiple opportunities at once (more than one venture). First of all, adding every service and/or product to your list of offerings will not generally bring you in more revenue. You are competing with too many other businesses that offer the same or similar product. Also, once you start down that path you begin to have product or service creep.

For example, let’s say that you own an automotive repair shop. You repair the mechanical parts of cars. You may be tempted to begin offering radios and cd players for sale. Then you will offer the installation. After that you will begin to offer repair of sound systems. People may ask you to begin to sell their music. Now you have an automotive repair, car stereo installation, sales and repair, music store. You are now competing with everyone from the other automotive repair places to anyone who sells car radios, repairs car radios, installs car radios, and sells music. Instead, you should have gone the other way. Rather than run an automotive repair shop, narrow the focus to what you are best at performing quickly. Hopefully this will translate into your highest profit item or service. Instead of repairing the whole car, specialize in brakes and exhaust. You just narrowed your competition tremendously. Just don’t take it overboard and only repair the front brakes on 1960 Ford Galaxies. Unless that is the only car in your town, that is too narrow.

It takes a certain talent to be able to juggle multiple entities or manage multiple, unrelated ventures at once. You may have a business with a tight focus, your personal expenses are covered and you are whacking away at your long term debt. Others will see your success and the opportunities will begin to flood in. You will be offered to be partners in this business or that business or a network marketing opportunity or some other business venture. Do not proceed unless your current business is on auto-pilot. This means you can walk away anytime you want and the business will maintain the same or higher revenue stream and profitability level. If you can’t do this, do not venture. I learned this the hard way. I was partners in seven different startups and involved in 4 other unrelated ventures. I was mediocre at them all at best. I was spread too thin. So, I made the hard decision that most entrepreneurs don’t want to make. I turned down all of the ventures, sold off my portion in some of the companies, put others in an inactive state and actively worked on one because one was already on auto-pilot. You see, most entrepreneurs don’t want to turn down an opportunity for fear of missing out our not having opportunity return. The fear is unfounded. If your ship does not come in, swim out to it. You can make your own opportunity and you can do it in your own company. I am not advocating not being involved in other ventures, just make sure the one you are working on is on auto-pilot before you do.

That’s it. It is truly that simple of a concept. They are easy to write, easy to understand and easy to do if you have not already been set in your ways. If you have been set in your ways, some of you are probably thinking, “that’s impossible” or “he doesn’t know me and what I can do.” It is possible and I know human nature. No matter how set in your ways you are or what habits you have formed, you can change your entrepreneurial life dramatically by following these two simple tips. If you need assistance, contact me. I’ll help you correct your course.

Typically I write about specific entrepreneurial insights, lessons and other knowledge that I have gained and find valuable enough to share. However, on occasion I take the time to write about a topic or effort that I believe in and can affect us both at home and in the professional world. I would like to take this opportunity to spotlight the efforts of Dan Vega and Jeff Frahm in creating The Slim Down Challenge.

The Slim Down Challenge was created by Dan Vega, entrepreneur and nationally known speaker, and Jeff Frahm, entrepreneur and development agent of Subway, to raise awareness of healthier choices and combat obesity in the family and the workforce.

The Slim Down Challenge is a contest where everyone who loses, wins! With the collaboration of nationally recognized celebrities and health experts, such as Jared Fogle and his Club 245 Charity, The Slim Down Challenge rewards Americans who lose 25 pounds with various prizes worth thousands, as well as encouraging America to do their part in creating a better and healthier future for our children.

With obesity at an all time high, people eating unhealthy and health issues going through the roof…when is enough going to be enough? Many people do not start their path to a healthier life because they do not have proper incentive, adequate support or the needed knowledge and information to initiate the change. Dan Vega and Jeff Frahm recognized this and they developed The Slim Down Challenge. They will be producing nationwide events with all day education about the proper motivation and making healthy choices. The proper tools, knowledge and support can be found at these events and continued support via membership will be offered as well. The real incentive should be living a healthier lifestyle, trimming the fat and being able to enjoy life more. But, Dan and Jeff realize that some people need added incentive and they are offering individual prizes worth thousands of dollars each to every person that loses the required 25 pounds and keeps it off!

To keep up to date and know when The Slim Down Challenge is coming to a city near you, become a fan on their Facebook Fan Page. You can also subscribe to their Twitter feed.

Once again, I would like to commend Dan Vega, Jeff Frahm and The Slim Down Challenge for all of their efforts. I wish every person who takes the challenge success. And to the rest of you, regardless of whether you are in the US or another country, quit eating all of that processed food, get proper sleep and adequate exercise. The longer and healthier you live the more you can contribute and make a difference in the world. And all entrepreneurs have some level of desire to make a difference or you wouldn’t be an entrepreneur. Here is to better choices and a healthier lifestyle.

I was recently pondering why you hear so many stories about people that were dirt poor right before they became rich monetarily. I’m sure you hear the stories because they make good stories. But some of the greatest people in business were flat broke before they became wealthy.

Dan Vega was driving a car where he had to climb in through the passenger door without A/C or heat. He had no real assets and came from meager beginnings. One day he had enough and now drives a BMW, closes 7 figure deals and consults on business plans that are structured to produce tens of billions of dollars. Bill Bartmann was living with family, a million dollars in debt and filed bankruptcy. He started with a computer on the kitchen table and, in a short time, became a billionaire. Robert Kiyosaki had grown up poor, went through the military and started a business that amassed him millions which reversed and brought him millions in debt. He was living in a car and used his last money to go out to eat (burgers) with Kim (his wife). In short order, he became a multi-millionaire. Donald Trump built a slow and steady real estate empire that reversed on him and left him millions of dollars in debt.  He said that “the vagrant on the street had more money than him.” In less than a year, he turned it all around and is now a billionaire. Bill Gates started off without the ability to pay his employees. He was broke and sold “vision” to him employees. When vision didn’t work he paid them in stock. Now he is the richest man on earth.

Over and over and over you read about people that were broke and/or deep in debt that flipped it all around and became super wealthy. I was discussing this with a business partner of mine (who also happens to be my best friend and wife) as I pondered “must you be poor or deep in debt to become rich?” As the discussion grew I came to a few realizations that I hold to be true.

I believed that each and every one of these individuals had reached a point where they said, “enough is enough!” They had hit rock bottom and just resolved to not allow that to happen to them anymore. They made a conscience decision that they would not be broke anymore and that they would do whatever it took to change their situation. They all found that “gear” that would only allow them to drive forward and not allow for a reverse. They found their drive which pushed them forward when the world was trying to push them backwards. This made them efficient and focused earners which added fuel to their skills to make money.

It is also my personal opinion that you must appreciate what you have and have a healthy respect for money which leads to better money management skills. If you do not appreciate what you have, you take it for granted. If you cannot appreciate and respect the smaller things in life it is impossible to appreciate and respect the bigger things in life. Disrespect shows a lack of care. No respect for money or what you have means that you don’t care about it. If you do not care about it, then it is unimportant and consequently you do not hold onto it. People who have lost it all and bounce back as wealthy business people definitely learned to respect what they had and relegated to appreciate all that they were able to acquire. This made them more efficient and focused managers which added fuel to their skills to keep money.

And that is what it boils down to. Just as it takes one set of skills to make money and another set of skills to keep money. It also takes a trained and intentional frame of mind to make money and a learned mindset to keep it. That is what all of the people above had in common. They all achieved that mental station where they had their backs against the wall and their choice was to fight or flight. When they chose to fight, they also chose to never flight again. They also relegated to never let themselves get to the place where their backs were against that proverbial wall again. That place was o uncomfortable that they would do whatever it took to never return. The loss and then lack of everything in their lives made them driven and appreciative people.

So, do you have to be poor before you become rich? My final answer on this is “no.” However, all of those who became flat broke before they became wealthy, have the ability to do it all over again. If you took every penny and every possession away from each and every individual listed. They would be back on top of the world in less than a year. In order to become rich and stay rich, you need to hone your skills on making money and keeping money. They are equally important skills. You also need to find that gear that only pushes you forward no matter what and appreciate each and everything you have in your life. Hopefully, you can do all of this without becoming poor. But, in order to accomplish this, you must be mindful and find your “why” before life takes everything and your “why” is forced upon you as survival.

Start your 2010 off right. This is a must attend. Regardless of your geographic location, you need to find a way to make it to this event.

To those of you who didn’t make it to the last one, you missed the opportunity to talk to the people from Razor Financial and learn how to make a 60% ROI on your money and your investment is insured by Lloyds of London.

Mr. Vega’s one day events are packed with complete, end to end, practical application, actionable education that you can immediately implement upon leaving. The impact that it will have on you, your relationships and your business is so tremendous that you will actually want to pay for the event. However, Mr. Vega insists that your tuition is only a can of non-perishable food. There will be no arguments if you would like to bring more.

You will literally learn thousands of dollars worth of personal and business education in one day…all for the price of a can of food.

Mr. Vega has continually broken records in raising pounds of food for the Ozarks Food Harvest and he wants to continue. This time we want to set a new record of bringing in over 350 pounds of food in one day. So, it is allowable for you to bring a friend or colleague.

Do not miss this event. It promises to be an unforgettable one. Mr. Vega never disappoints. You always leave better than you came. So join us on January the 12th and don’t forget your can of food.

The event will be at the Doubletree Hotel: 2431 N. Glenstone Ave., Springfield, MO. Directions to the venue.

There will be special guest speakers as well at this event. If you have a goal that you want to accomplish, a change you want to make in your life, a business you need help with or you simply want to network with positive “can do” people, do not miss this event.

Organizations may tout that they have different goals. All for-profit companies should have one over-reaching goal that all other stem from – To Maximize Profits. It is not greedy or selfish to set your goal to maximize profits. It is your responsibility as the entrepreneur, founder, team leader, chief executive or president to enforce this ideal and build a culture that propagates the support of profit maximization.

The goal of an organization to maximize profits is not to maximize differentiation but to provide elements of differentiation that a client will pay for and not provide those that a client will not pay for. You are not doing your clients a favor by building in unwanted differentiation and costs into your product or service. When you do this, you increase costs which simultaneously increases price. You actually do your clients a disservice by taking such actions.

Do not be deterred, most people are trained to add differentiation. But few are trained to eliminate costly elements of differentiation that clients will not pay for. To be clear, it is perfectly acceptable to brand your product or service as different or build in differentiation that your clients want. What I continue to refer to is unwanted differentiation that the clients do not use or appreciate, but you provide so that you can increase your list of features. Incidentally, more features does not equate to more sales. In order for more features to assist in more sales, you have to do what is called FAB selling (a technique I learned from Dan Vega that I will cover in another post).

Create a culture in your business of “what is the client willing to pay for.” If you consistently reinforce this through your own actions, your team will follow suit. Continually concentrating on “what will the client pay for” will make yourself and your team more keenly aware to comments your clients make so that adjustments can be made quicker and less profit is wasted. Separating what clients are willing to pay for from the “it’s nice but clients won’t pay” is best for you, your clients and your all important bottom line. Become a profit maximizing company instead of a profit wasting one.