Archive for the ‘Success Tips’ Category

How to Fight Back Against Predatory Lenders!
Monday, July 5th, 2010

Are you stuck in your loan with excessive exit fees and high interest rates?

Did you have to pay excessive fees and prohibitive break costs to your lender when you discharged your loan?

Are you on your knees because of what your lender has done to you?

I have something very exciting to share with you. I have joined forces with Dominique Grubisa to bring you a very special webinar on Wednesday night. Please read this email right to the end as it could change your whole financial future.

Reserve your seat at Wednesday’s webinar to learn how you could:

1. Get paid for any loss or damage you have sustained as a result of your lender’s conduct;

2. Get your Loan written off or substantially reduced;

3. Have your interest rate halved;

4. Get back the excess interest you’ve been paying for the last few years;

5. Get your break costs waived (or if you’ve paid them, get them back).

Space is limited.
Reserve your Webinar seat now at:
https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/990848907

Dominique Grubisa has practised as a barrister for 14 years, is an entrepreneur, writer and speaker. She recently appeared on Channel 9’s ACA where she showcased her commercial and legal debt management skills in successfully reducing a viewer’s debt down from payments in excess of $20K per month to $642 per month. A frequent speaker and seminar leader, Dominique speaks nationwide on the topic of “Thriving, Not Just Surviving in the Recession”.

It has come to Dominique’s attention through working with clients having problems with lenders that a large majority of them have complaints.

Dominique has attempted to enter negotiations with lenders like these on behalf of various clients and has found them to be heavy handed, bloody minded, arrogant and offensive and basically very difficult to deal with.

They have engaged in conduct which would see them paying out big claims for damages if anyone ever took them on but they see themselves as bulletproof which they are because they have reduced all her clients to their knees by their conduct and they know that no-one has the funds to ever take them on because they have effectively put all their customers into a position whereby they have their backs to the wall.

Whilst ever we are in damage control mode over these lenders’ high interest rates, excessive fees and charges, prohibitive break costs and other unconscionable conduct, we are unable to launch an attack.

Well enough is enough, we have a good case and they must be stopped.

Space is limited.
Reserve your Webinar seat now at:
https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/990848907

Register now for Dominique’s webinar where she will show you:

1. What these lenders have done and why you have a good case against them;

2. How to make them do what you want instead of the other way around;

3. How to regain control of your assets and investments without your lender holding a gun to your head.

Interest rates are going up and these lenders are just going to jack them up even more and widen their profit margin further after feathering their nest during the last year or so of record low rates by maintaining higher rates than most other lenders charge for credit cards! They have already breached their contracts with brokers and abolished their trail commissions. This means they have more funds than ever before but are still going to hold us to ransom, because they can.

These lenders got you all in with big promises and by meeting the market and then rewrote the rules and are now holding you hostage.

The good news is that what they have done and are continuing to do is in breach of Federal laws in Australia. They are arguably liable, not only for what they have charged you, but the flow on effect of what this has cost you as they set the dominoes in motion.

This webinar is a f*r*ee online meeting where you can see Dominique’s screen and hear her voice as she talks you through the law and your rights. You can’t afford to miss this as it could change your whole financial future.

Go and register now and I’ll talk to you on Wednesday night.

Space is limited.
Reserve your Webinar seat now at:
https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/990848907

Regards

Lee Sutherland

P.S. You can’t afford to miss this as it could change your whole financial future.
Space is limited.
Reserve your Webinar seat now at:
https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/990848907

Filed under: Business, Real Estate, Success Tips, Updates & Announcements, finance — Lee Sutherland @ 3:35 pm
Do you hate what you are doing?
Thursday, February 26th, 2009

Do you want to get paid for doing what you like? Do you want to build your personal brand? I came across a great video that answers these questions and talks about Building Personal Brand Within the Social Media Landscape. Their is heaps more content on this subject and ones like it at www.wealthsecretsguild.com

Take advantage of our 21 day trial for just $1 to get full access to the site and content at www.wealthsecretsguild.com/testdrive

Watch the video now. Enjoy!

Have a sensational day!
Lee Sutherland
Founder
www.wealthsecretsguild.com

Filed under: Business, Personal Development, Success Tips — Lee Sutherland @ 11:15 am
Cash Flow Woes…
Monday, February 23rd, 2009

By Ben Fewtrell

Recently I was presenting to a group of business owners about understanding business financials, after I had stated that you can go broke making a profit, an audience member challenged me and asked how it is possible. So I thought it would be a good idea to cover the topic in this issue.

Firstly, we need to understand the basic fundamentals of business. You need to sell a product or service, and make a profit. A business is a ‘commercial, profitable enterprise that works without you’. You have probably heard the saying ‘Profit is king’ and also that ‘Cash flow is king’, so which one is true?

Well both are, here is a simple formula for business failure – No Profit x No Cash flow = No Business. To succeed in business you need to make sure you are making a profit and you also maintain a healthy, positive cash flow.

Secondly, we need to understand what going ‘broke’ means. In business being ‘broke’ is known as being ‘insolvent’. There are several definitions for this, here are some definitions I found after I Googled the term; ‘Not having sufficient financial resources to meet financial obligations’, ‘When liabilities are greater than assets’, ‘When a company cannot pay its debts when they are due’. Basically, when you can no longer pay your debts, you are insolvent!

Finally, you need to understand that some things you pay for end up on your ‘profit and loss’ statement and others end up on your ‘balance sheet’. An expense like rent will be entered as an expense on your profit and loss statement, but when you buy equipment that will last you several years, it gets entered as an ‘asset’ on your balance sheet, then each year you will claim depreciation as an expense, and if you took a loan out to buy the equipment, the loan will be entered as a ‘liability’ on your balance sheet. I’ll kick off with a simple example to make sure understand the concept.

Let’s say you own a coffee shop, and your fixed costs (rent, wages, electricity etc.) are $2000 per week, and you have a 50% gross profit margin (this is calculated by deducting your cost of sales from the sales amount). In this example you need $4000 in sales to ‘break even’, that is, pay your fixed costs of $2000 and the $2000 cost of getting the sales, your profit is zero. What if you were also repaying a loan for buying the business, the only part of this that will show on your profit and loss is the interest on the loan, the rest of the payment is reducing your liability on the balance sheet. All of a sudden, you are in a negative cash flow situation.

So how do you make sure you do not follow the many that have already mistakenly gone broke, whilst making a profit? The simplest way is to make sure you manage your money well, it is one of the resources you must have control of, or you may end up in trouble.

Here are some ways to make sure you manage to keep your cash flow positive…

1. You need to have a cash flow forecast for at least 3 months in advance, this way you can identify problems before they occur.

2. If you have customers that have ‘accounts’ with you, make sure you collect your money by the due date, don’t let customers drag out their payments to 60, 90 or even 120 days. You can even make special offers to customers that pay quickly. Sometimes it may be worthwhile considering ‘factoring’ your debts if your clients have a valid reason for taking a long time to pay.

3. If possible, get your clients to pay a deposit upfront.

4. Reduce your stock turn, this way you can make sure you are selling your stock before you have to pay your suppliers for it.

5. Negotiate longer payment terms with your suppliers.

6. Keep your costs to a minimum; avoid wasting money on things that are not necessary.
Set a budget, and stick to it!

7. Never borrow money just to ‘get out of trouble’, in most cases I have seen, this just makes the situation worse!

I would suggest that if numbers is not your strong point; get your bookkeeper or accountant to help you. Finally, if you do end up in situation where you cannot pay your bill(s), talk to your creditor(s) and make an arrangement, most people will understand and will let you pay it off, and if this fails you might need to get some professional help.

These are some great pointers from Ben.

Until next time, may you have all the cashflow you need!

Filed under: Business, Success Tips, finance — Lee Sutherland @ 9:11 am
My Dream Got an F?
Wednesday, January 7th, 2009

Have you ever heard of the book series “Chicken Soup for the Soul”?

Who am I kidding of course you have! Produced by Mark Victor Hansen and Jack Canfield, to date over 100 million “Chicken Soup” books have been sold putting them in the Guinness Book of Records, for the most amount of books sold in a Non-Fiction series.

Now there is an amazing story behind the success of that glamorous empire that we marvel at today, but I will leave that for another day and another blog post.

Right now though I’d love to share with you one of my favourite stories which comes out of one of the “Chick Soup”.

I hope that you like it as much as I do, and remember to refer back to it when you need a little lift of inspiration. Here goes…

________________________________________________

A high school senior Monty was asked to write a paper about what he wanted to become when he grew up.

He wrote a seven-page paper describing his goal that someday he would own a horse ranch. He wrote about his dream in great detail and he even drew a diagram of a 200-acre ranch, showing the location of all the buildings, the stables and the track. Then he drew a detailed floor plan for a 4,000 sq foot house that would sit on his 200-acre dream ranch.

He put a great deal of heart and soul into the paper and the next day he handed in his paper to his teacher. Two days later, Monty got his paper back. On the front page there was a large red F with a note that read ‘See me after class.’ Monty was shocked and went to see the teacher after class and asked ‘Why did I get an F?’

The teacher responded, ‘This is an unrealistic dream for a young boy like you. You have no money. You come from a poor family. You have no resources. Owning a horse ranch requires a lot of money. You have to buy the land. You have to pay for the original breeding stock and large stud fees. There is no way you could ever do it. Please go back and rewrite your paper with more a realistic goal. I will re-consider your grade’.

Monty went home and thought about it long and hard. He asked his father what he should do. His father said, ‘Look son, you have to make up your mind on this. I think it is a very important decision for you.’

After sitting with it for a week, Monty turned in the same paper and made no changes at all. He told his teacher, ‘You can keep the F and I will keep my dream’.

Monty still has that school paper now framed over his fireplace in his 4000 sq ft house in the middle of the 200-acre house ranch. A few years back, the same school teacher brought some kids to his ranch for a retreat. When the teacher was leaving, he said, ‘Monty, when I was your teacher, I was something of a dream-stealer. During those years I stole a lot of kids’ dreams. Fortunately you had enough guts not to give up yours.’

Don’t let everyone steal your dream. In your journey in finding your dream and achieving your goals, you will meet many people that will tell you it is not possible to achieve what you have set for yourself. Smile at them graciously and continue on. Find the right people to surround yourself with. You will soon become the next Monty.

________________________________________________

Are there any great stories that inspire you. Please send them to me.

Until next time
Happy Dreaming!
Lee Sutherland

Filed under: Inspirational Stories, Personal Development, Success Tips — Lee Sutherland @ 3:29 pm
What are the two greatest obstacles to learning?
Tuesday, December 16th, 2008

1. “I know that.”

2. “I disagree.”

The problem with “I know that…”

The instant your hear or read something you’ve heard, what is your first response? “I know that.” When I tell you, “You need to exercise more”, what is your response? “I know that.” Your brain filters “new” knowledge with “old” knowledge and your brain instantly shuts down when you detect something you’ve heard before. Especially when it’s something that could lead to behavioral change! Your mind is designed to protect you against all possible change - especially if it is change that involves leaving your comfort zone. As you go through this post, my success tips newsletters, your day, your conversations and interactions, the key to life is to keep your mind OPEN.

The problem with “I disagree.”

When you disagree, 80% of the time you are closing your mind to learning anything new. Today, when you disagree, ask yourself if what you’re learning can be useful or beneficial or has any value that you can receive or take to offer others.

Wealth Secrets Guild is bursting with success tips just like these. CLICK ON THIS LINK NOW to claim 5 FREE gifts valued at $147.

Filed under: Personal Development, Success Tips — Lee Sutherland @ 11:09 am
We don’t need no education: Truth or Myth?
Tuesday, September 30th, 2008

What is one thing that all successful entrepreneurs have in common? A high-value for self-education.

A new book titled: ‘Secrets of Male Entrepreneurs Exposed!’ takes people up-close and personal with sixteen of the country’s most successful entrepreneurs, including: Brad Sugars, Siimon Reynolds, Jim Penman, Phillip Mills, Justin Herald and others. In a surprisingly candid way each contributor shares their own unique wealth strategy and dozens of hints and tips from a culminated 250 years of business experience.

A high failure rate of new businesses can be explained by peoples’ intent to invest more in their business than themselves. Successful entrepreneurs understand the value of self-education and are willing to invest firstly in themselves before they do anything with a business. A major Australian financial institution conducted a study that concluded that business owners who attend just one seminar or training course every year would drastically improve their chances of business success. Findings indicated a 70% improvement is possible by attending a seminar or course in a twelve month period.

Books, CDs, tapes, and seminars are great sources for information and are channels used by entrepreneurs to further their success. In this book they tell their stories in an effort to put an end to the myths and fallacies that surround self-education. The truth is: self-education will help you.

The following five (5) points are the author’s perspective on how self-education can help you achieve success.

1. Invest in yourself

Successful entrepreneurs believe that the best investment in life is education. And it should start with you. They understand the importance of obtaining as much knowledge as you can before investing in your own business. One particular entrepreneur admits to reading more than 930 books and is still reading.

Action International founder, Brad Sugars, says that you should invest in yourself before you invest in a business. You are your business’ best asset.

2. Seek credible resources

The self-help movement has gained momentum in recent times and has seen an influx of material in the market. Some of these materials are more effective than others and will serve different purposes. Successful entrepreneurs are able to execute their gut instinct when seeking out credible resources that aim to inspire and ultimately motivate through the recount of various success stories.

3. Find out what you don’t know

It is impossible for entrepreneurs to be an expert in all areas of their business, especially when starting up. Successful entrepreneurs are aware of their weaknesses and will fill the knowledge gap by seeking out mentors through books, CDs, tapes and seminars.

When Phillip Mills started the Les Mills programs, he admits that he had no skills. His solution: read! He is an obsessive reader of both business and creative texts and will send copies of anything great he reads to the managers in all of his companies. All the information is out there.

4. Make effective decisions

By learning about the success and failure of successful entrepreneurs, you minimise the ‘trial and error’ phase of your business. As such, you can get ahead quicker without wasting as much time and money. Successful entrepreneurs are capable of drawing on information and knowledge in order to make effective decisions. By studying decisions made by other entrepreneurs you can ensure that the same mistake is not made.

Domenic Carosa, destra Corporation co-founder, says that he often makes decisions based on the failures and successes made by other companies. He emphasises the importance of reading and says that you will never know everything.

5. Fuel for instinct

Successful entrepreneurs surround themselves with self-educational resources and being around this information builds the right mentality for success. They access these materials to develop their gut instinct and provide drive - two essential qualities of a successful entrepreneur.

In Summary

Self education is critical to the success of any person. While entrepreneurs trust their instinct, the truth is, they also resort to educational material to ensure they have all the knowledge needed on a particular topic. Myths that dispel education as being irrelevant will lead to failure. For successful people, self-education is the ultimate investment.

_______________________________________________________

Dale Beaumont is a young entrepreneur and the creator of the ‘Secrets Exposed’ series. Having now released over 15 best-selling business books (available in bookstores across Australia or from www.SecretsExposed.com.au). Dale has been featured in all forms of the media and has become a sought-after speaker. To discover more about Dale’s books, read his blog or to download other free articles and resources, please visit; www.DaleBeaumont.com.

Filed under: Success Tips — Tags: , — Lee Sutherland @ 1:28 pm
Bring it on: How to embrace challenges
Wednesday, September 24th, 2008

Have you ever read a business success story and began comparing specific facts to isolated details of your own situation? His parents got divorce when he was young, so did mine… she changed her career three times before starting her own business, me to… we both have the same last name!

Sometimes we do this to marvel at the similarities, other times we do it to convince ourselves that we too have what it takes to be successful. To start a business or to continue on a path to success is a vulnerable act, which may result in failure. By seeking out similarities with successful people we are essentially seeking out a reason to embrace that vulnerability.

The thing is, successful entrepreneurs and business owners come from a range of backgrounds, with different experiences and a myriad of strengths and weaknesses, just like you. However, what distinguishes successful entrepreneurs from everyone else are their unique characteristics or qualities.

I started thinking about this after I published my first book in the ‘Secrets Exposed!’ Series. Flicking through the pages, I asked myself ‘what did I learn from this book?’ After interviewing over thirty of Australia’s successful entrepreneurs, the single biggest factor that stood out was the quality - resilience.

In other words, successful entrepreneurs have the ability to bounce back. They aren’t necessarily more knowledgeable or have more experience, but they do understand that every challenge they face has the purpose of helping them grow and develop.

For me, this is what the entrepreneur is all about. For them, it is about overcoming obstacles, beating setbacks, and moving forward. They have the attitude and the mindset to say: ‘Bring it on!’ whenever they are faced with a challenge.

Understand that even successful entrepreneurs need to overcome obstacles. Here are some examples:

¥ One year after Tim Pethick launched his business, 16,000 bottles of nudie fruit juice were being purchased everyday. However, his success was interrupted when, in 2004, Pethick’s manufacturing plant mysteriously burnt down. As he was forced to stand outside the factory and watch it burn, Pethick turned to his Marketing Director and said: “Well, tomorrow we’d better start looking for another factory.” Less than a year later, Pethick rebuilt the company bigger, stronger and more profitable than it was before.

¥ Trevor Choy, founder of Choy Lawyers, is an example of entrepreneurs demonstrating resilience. Choy had a partner, who was also a friend, who stole a large sum of money that sent the company into insolvency. Today, Choy Lawyers are regarded as Australia’s leading experts on advertising and branding law.

¥ Suzi Dafnis, owner of Pow Wow Events, lost $40,000 on her first venture, which put her into a hole that took two years to get out of. Today the company occupies more than 50 per cent of the market in the financial education and personal development segment.

¥ After a messy divorce, Sandy found herself $100,000 in debt, with two small children to support on a $15,000 a year government benefit. After founding her multi-million dollar business, Wildly Wealthy Women, Sandy now teaches tens of thousands of people from over 88 countries about the power of attracting wealth.

¥ For property investor, John Fitzgerald, owner of JLF Corporation, his challenges began at a very young age. His father died when he was eight, he was sent to a boarding school when he was ten (where the first two or three years were tough), and at seventeen he found himself on the Gold Coast, alone, with one knapsack and a couple of hundred dollars. Since then, he has bought, sold and developed more than 5,000 properties and his business consists of 22 companies and turns over $100 million per year.

For me, examples like these capture the true spirit of the entrepreneur. Not only are they resilient, but they embrace the challenges and obstacles placed before them. Entrepreneurs understand that obstacles will always be there, so to be successful you need to become accustomed to challenges. And if you can’t, you need to learn because problems and setbacks are as certain as taxes and death in the business environment.

One of the best ways to handle challenges and obstacles is to ask yourself questions. Some questions to help you adopt a more positive approach to challenges include:

¥ What can I learn from this?
¥ What’s great about this challenge?
¥ What am I willing to do to make it the way I want?
¥ How can I enjoy this process?

Understand that overwhelmed with frustration and a lack of options, we forget to ask these questions. You need to constantly ask these questions in order to change the way you perceive challenges. When you are able to view challenges positively, you will also be able to identify the opportunities and benefits that come from them.

In Summary

Next time you’re reading about the success of another person, be it about business or life in general, take notice of those unique qualities. If you want to compare yourself with these people, then look at qualities rather than circumstances. Are you motivated like them? Do you have a passion? Can you communicate well?

And perhaps more importantly: are you resilient? Know that smooth seas never made a skilled sailor, so learn to embrace challenges.

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Dale Beaumont is a young entrepreneur and the creator of the ‘Secrets Exposed’ series. Having now released over 15 best-selling business books (available in bookstores across Australia or from www.SecretsExposed.com.au). Dale has been featured in all forms of the media and has become a sought-after speaker. To discover more about Dale’s books, read his blog or to download other free articles and resources, please visit; www.DaleBeaumont.com.

Filed under: Success Tips — Tags: , — Lee Sutherland @ 5:17 pm