Posts by jsangl
SERIES: Wisdom From Dr. John C. Maxwell – Part Two
Over the past year, I have had the incredible honor and privilege to speak at several conferences where Dr. John C. Maxwell has been the keynote speaker. The conferences have been called Stewardship Challenge and they have been presented by Injoy Stewardship Solutions, a premier capital stewardship campaign company.
I thought I would take a few posts to write a few of the thoughts he shared that impacted me greatly. I trust they will be helpful to you as well.
Part Two Connectors find common ground.
If you hope to accomplish something great, it is going to take lots of people to accomplish it. If you are unable to find common ground where there is a win for everyone participating, you will limit the opportunity.
Don’t get me wrong, there are some things that simply are not negotiable. For example, I Was Broke. Now I’m Not. will not promote payday loan providers offering loans at the low-low annual interest rate of 378%. It is simply not an option.
As I work with our customers, our team, and our suppliers, I am constantly looking for better ways to maximize the win-win-win scenario for ALL parties involved – not just our team. This is ESSENTIAL to our success. We want our customers, team, and suppliers to all win. To do so means that we must find common ground.
Guess what? When you work to find common ground, it may seem like you are giving up something, but in the long run you gain way more than you feel that you have given up.
SERIES: Wisdom From Dr. John C. Maxwell – Part One
Over the past year, I have had the incredible honor and privilege to speak at several conferences where Dr. John C. Maxwell has been the keynote speaker. The conferences have been called Stewardship Challenge and they have been presented by Injoy Stewardship Solutions, a premier capital stewardship campaign company.
You might be surprised that for me the highlight of the conference was not the opportunity to speak (on a subject I am VERY PASSIONATE about). No – the highlight each time has been the opportunity to listen to, learn from, and observe Dr. Maxwell. This is a man who is living his calling. He has mentored and taught me via books since my early twenties. People have bought over 18,000,000 copies of his leadership books (a few more than my books).
I thought I would take a few posts to write a few of the thoughts he shared that impacted me greatly. I trust they will be helpful to you as well.
Part One Nothing in the world gives more HOPE to mankind than a dream and nothing has brought more DISAPPOINTMENT than not fulfilling a dream.
An amazing statement. We all have dreams – all of us – yet so many people fail to achieve their dreams. This is what drives our team to teach foundational financial principles – so many of life’s dreams take money.
You want to fund your dream? Here are two fundamental steps you can take today toward fulfilling it:
- Write down your plans, hopes and dreams on paper (you can use this form if you like – [download#7#nohits])
- Prepare a written spending plan that includes the money to begin funding the dream (use one of the free budgeting tools HERE)
Save For Emergencies
I heard on this evening’s news that a local factory in South Carolina is having to reduce the hours of its employees because of the volcano eruption in Iceland. This means reduced pay. I hope that the employees have saved money to cover this work slowdown.
This is why it is SO IMPORTANT to save money for emergencies. You never know when the emergency will happen.
Have you saved up money to prepare for a volcano eruption (or any other emergency that can happen)?
SERIES: Lessons Learned While Starting A Small Business – Part 4
Welcome to the latest series on JosephSangl.com – Lessons Learned While Starting A Small Business. Starting a small business can be tremendously exciting and frightening at the same time. One of the most common trends that we see among small business owners is that they are very good at providing their product or service, but they are not so skilled at the business side of doing business. This series will focus on some of the key lessons we have learned from meeting with many small business owners as well as truths we have learned as we have built a small business.
Part Four – Growing a business without debt requires great amounts of patience.
There are many costs associated with starting a small business, and it is very enticing to use debt to pay for them. I have made a commitment, however, to grow my business without any debt. I believe that I could certainly grow a business faster by using debt, but I also know that it can be harder to sleep at night when one has signed up for a tremendous amount of debt. In my personal budget, I have found that our commitment to live without incurring debt causes us to seek out better deals, save money more consistently, and simplifies our lives by reducing financial stress. I have discovered that this is also true with the business.
I must say that I have been tempted to obtain debt – on more than one occasion. But each time I consider doing so, something about my past experiences with debt causes me to pause and consider why I want to obtain debt. It forces me to ask myself this question, “Is this expense really necessary and is there another solution that would allow us to avoid debt?” To this point, we have always found a way to avoid debt. Sometimes it has meant that we have to press the “pause” button on a project (that stinks!). Other times, it has meant that we have discovered an amazingly better alternative solution!
One of our fundamental business principles we operate by is this: If we operate with cash in the bank and zero debt, we will have a sustainable business that will impact millions of people – and our team will be able to sleep at night without piles of debt hanging over us!
SERIES: Lessons Learned While Starting A Small Business – Part 3
Welcome to the latest series on JosephSangl.com – “Lessons Learned While Starting A Small Business”. Starting a small business can be tremendously exciting and frightening at the same time. One of the most common trends that we see among small business owners is that they are very good at providing their product or service, but they are not so skilled at the “business side” of doing business. This series will focus on some of the key lessons we have learned from meeting with many small business owners as well as truths we have learned as we have built a small business.
Part Three – Risk is part of the game.
It is risky to start a business. You could immerse yourself into the business spending unbelievable amounts of money and time, and the entire venture could still fail. You could leave a great career where income and job security seems to be a given. It is a risk. If you want to play it safe, have at it, but please do not start a business. It will lead to a bad case of fear, panic, and frustration.
When you start a business, you are putting your reputation on the line. People who have trusted you in your old business will put their trust in your new business, and you could risk a friendship if the quality of your product or service is low.
I have found that risk is inherent in anything I do. It is even risky to stand still and do nothing. It has required a great deal of effort, but I have learned to embrace risk and the unknown. Please note that I stated that I have “learned” to do this. It is not a natural thing for me to do. For example, I want to hold on to our cash instead of invest it in a new product or service we are thinking of offering – because the potential of that new product/service is unknown. But it is too risky to stand around and not generate our next new product. It will prevent us from growing and stagnate us from achieving our mission “to help others accomplish far more than they ever thought possible.”
Risk is part of the game. If we fail, we fail. We will do an autopsy on the failure, find out what went wrong, and then pick up the remnants start on the next project.
Bottom-Line: Risk is part of the deal. Learn to embrace it.