At least, that is what happened to me yesterday.

To be honest, I feel the economic pressure.  Too many of my shortterm insurance clients lost the financial battle and I battle to replace the lost income.  I feel depressed for my clients and I feel very despondent about myself working very hard just to keep my position.  In fact, yesterday morning I felt very sorry for myself.  Not a good place to be.

And then I got an email that reminded me that Bill Gates and Warren Buffett and Richard Branson (the last two definitely on my hero list) did not start out with a lot of money.  In fact, almost no billionaire did.  So I did not really relate to those guys, they are too far removed from me.

But I can relate to a couple of other guys that I know.  In fact, I know one or two who had to start fresh on the wrong side of zero.  I am far from that.  But once again, I also had to start from scratch, or almost scratch, before, and look where I am now.  And I am working on it.  I am learning. Tomorrow I attend a wealth seminar.  There are positives!

And that is when I told myself I should not allow the negative news and negativity surrounding me get to me.  I must just keep on doing what I am doing.  I get impatient, because I have not achieved my goals for 2011.  But I am still doing a lot better than the clients who lost their businesses!  I feel depressed, because I will not be financially free when I planned to be.  But, what the hell, I enjoy what I am doing!  I enjoy servicing my shortterm insurance clients.  And they appreciate it.  I love teaching people about property investments (I hope they appreciate it, too).  Why would I get depressed if I have to wait a year or two longer to be able to say:  I have reached my goal!  Its not as if I planned to stop working!

And, although I will not expand my property portfolio this year, I still have it and it is still working.

And I share this with you, in the hope that, if you also feel despondent and like throwing in the towel, like I did yesterday morning, this post will have the same effect on you as the reminder:  almost all billionaires started with nothing.  And the road to the top is never level or downhill.

Focus on the big picture and the positives! Have a very good day.

 We have seen that starting a business is a good way to create wealth. Not only do you create extra cash flow, you also create an asset that you can sell. Starting a business could cost very little and then selling a successful business can give you a very good return.

 But starting a business is not without danger. That is why I suggest you start it part-time – use your salary as a safety net.

 Some people like to sow, others like to tend the crop and harvest. The same way there are people who like to start a business, but is not interested in tending and growing it. I think it is important to know where you fit in.

 When you decide to start a business, I think it is important that you start something in a field that you know and are passionate about. If you are passionate about something, it just happens and you enjoy it. The money is secondary. Once again it is a bad example, but I quite often ask myself about blogging. Why do I do it? I don’t make money from it. Yet, I am always thinking about topics to write about. I am passionate about financial freedom and helping people achieve it!

 For a business to succeed, you need 3 skills: technical knowledge (know your product), sales skills (without sales the best product is worthless) and admin skills (you need to control). Learn to sell – it is something that you can learn. And selling itself is a business! You can always sell somebody else’s product! How difficult can it be to get a contract with a wine-farm to sell their wine on a commission basis? Especially if you are some what a wine fundi. But even if you are not, you can still sell the wine! Selling skills are, in my opinion, the most important business skill to develop. There are more than enough products out there.

 Lastly, beware of “big corporate thinking.” I have often experienced how people in top corporate positions think they will walk out and just start a business, and often, with their contacts, they do it successfully. Unfortunately, starting a new small business is totally different! Very seldom, if ever, do you have the big corporate resources to help you. When you start a small business (hopefully growing it to a big corporate), you do not have the finances and relationships with banks and big shareholders (you are the big shareholder!) and you do not have a staff of specialists. You are very much chief, cook and bottle washer! Nothing wrong with that – it can be very exciting and something to tell your grandchildren! But when you step down from a top position at a big corporate, please keep it in mind.

 Lastly, never put something that works at risk to try something new. That means: don’t put your financial security at risk in an effort to start something new that may or may not work. Be very careful before you burn your bridges!