All of us have heard the saying – ‘Nothing is certain but Death and Taxes’.

So how much ever we do not like to deal with taxes, we have to manage them. Similarly, though death is not a pleasant topic to think or talk about, we have to understand that it is an eventuality. It is important that we plan our estate such that our near and dear ones do not have to run from pillar to post for the wealth that we have left behind for their welfare. Many people think that they can nominate someone for their investments and assets and they have finished the task. That is not enough! The concept of legal heir In law, an heir is a person who is entitled to receive a share of the deceased’s property, subject to the rules of inheritance.

The inheritance may be either under the terms of

• A Will (testamentary succession)

• By succession laws if the deceased had not prepared a Will (intestate succession) In case of a valid Will, succession is as per Will itself. In absence of a Will, the law on intestate succession (determination of legal heir) for different communities in India is different which is be explained below:

The concept of nomination :-

The concept of nomination is very common in respect to various assets. Nomination is the right conferred upon the holder of an asset to appoint one or more persons who will be entitled to receive assets upon the death of the holder. Provisions with respect to nomination are found in many statutes including those concerning with banking, insurance, provident funds, co-operative societies, companies and so on.

Nominee to hold but Legal heir to own.

On a holistic interpretation of judicial precedents over the years and the position of law on this point now, it can be settled that Legal heir is the ultimate, rightful owner of the assets of a deceased individual (either through intestate or testamentary succession); A person who is named nominee of the assets of the deceased, shall actually receive and hold the assets of the deceased (till the matter of inheritance or succession is decided) immediately upon the demise of the individual. However, there are exceptions to this.

The position of nomination for various asset classes is explained below :-

Takeaway

Accumulating assets/wealth is important, but it is equally important to ensure that your inheritance is passed on smoothly to your heirs. A Will is a ‘supreme’ document that specifies the exact intentions of the testator with respect to the succession of his assets. A Will wields the power to override or supersede any arrangements or nominations made during an individual’s lifetime. It is, therefore, critical to ensure that an individual, despite making nominations, also creates a Will. Many people defer preparing their Will for a variety of reasons and ultimately it might be too late. It is also prudent from a practical perspective, to ensure that contents of the Will are harmonised, that is the nominees and legal heirs under the Will should be the same persons to avoid any legal dispute.

Disclaimer: The write-up is based on our interpretation of various prevailing laws, rules and regulations as on date. The information contained in this write up is to provide a general guidance to the intended user. The information should not be used as a substitute for specific consultations. We recommend that professional advice is sought before taking any action on specific issues. No part of this document should be distributed or copied by anyone without express written permission of the publisher.

Do you know these key financial ratios to become a sophisticated business owner?

Whether you’re investing in a business, the owner of one or thinking about starting one – “The numbers tell the story.”

In school, your report card is the marker for success. In business, your financial statements are. If you want to be successful in business, you must know how to read a financial statement and how to draw fact-based conclusions about the health and potential of a business to decide the future course of action.

When it comes to reading a financial statement, there are various levels of sophistication. As a baseline, you should be able to understand income, expenses, assets, and liabilities, as well as the relationship between these and your cash flow.

But to become a sophisticated business owner and investor, you need to grow your knowledge base and understand even more advanced financial concepts to know the health of either your business or one you’re planning on investing in.

These key ratios are not difficult to calculate, but many people don’t know them. Just by reading this post, you put yourself well above most investors in your ability to evaluate the health of a business. Giving you a simple explanation for your reference.

The following are eight key financial ratios you need to know.

Key financial ratio #1:

• Gross margin percentage

Calculation: Gross margin percentage = Gross margin / sales

Gross margin is sales minus the cost of goods sold. So, if you sell INR 100 in bananas and they cost you INR 75, your gross margin is INR 25.

Gross margin percentage is the gross margin divided by sales, which tells you what percentage of sales is left after deducting the cost of the goods sold. In this example, it would be 25/100, which equals a gross margin percentage of .25 or 25%.

• What is the gross margin percentage important?

“If the gross isn’t there, there’ll be no net.” If, for instance, you’re investing in a business that has a high gross margin percentage but isn’t making money, you can look to see if it is simply being mismanaged. Cleaning up the operations could mean a highly profitable business once fixed.

How high the gross margin percentage needs to depend on how a business is organized and the other costs it has to support. For instance, after calculating gross margin percentage, a business owner of a convenience store still had to pay the clerks, the utilities, the taxes, rent, and a list of other expenses. They also had to have enough left over to give a good return on his original investment.

Today, if you own an internet business, the potential for high overhead is lowered, so it’s quite possible that you can afford to sell and make a profit with a lower gross margin percentage. But in all businesses, the higher the gross margin, the better.

Key financial ratio #2:

• Net operating margin percentage

Calculation: net operating margin percentage = EBIT / sales

This ratio tells you the net profitability of the operations of a business before you factor in your taxes and the cost of money, which are out of the business owner’s control.

Earnings Before Interest and Taxes (EBIT) is your sales minus all the costs of being in business, not including capital costs (interest, taxes, and dividends).

It factors in the costs of a business that can be controlled and gives you a sense of how well a business is being managed. A highly variable EBIT can indicate a risky business. A stable one could indicate a well-managed and predictable one.

• Why is the net operating margin important?

The ratio of EBIT to sales is called the net operating margin percentage. Businesses with high net operating margin percentages are typically stronger than those with a low percentage. The higher the better!

Key financial ratio #3:

• Operating leverage

Calculation: operating leverage = contribution / fixed costs

Every business has fixed costs that must be accounted for in the overall cost structure. The percentage of fixed costs relative to all costs is called operating leverage and is calculated by dividing contribution, which is the gross margin (sales minus cost of goods sold) minus variable costs (all costs that are not fixed costs that fluctuate with sales), by fixed costs.

Examples of fixed costs are labor related to full-time employees and most costs related to your facilities. This is what most people call overhead.

• Why is operating leverage important?

A business that has operating leverage of 1 is generating just enough revenue to pay for its fixed costs. This would mean that there is no return for the owners. Anything over 1 is an indication of profit. Again, the higher the better.

If a business has low operating leverage, it may be worth seeing if another lever like operating margin is being underleveraged. Increasing gross margin through things like price increases could lead to higher operating leverage.

Key financial ratio #4:

• Financial leverage

Calculation: financial leverage = total capital employed / shareholder’s equity

Almost every business needs to borrow money in order to operate.

Financial leverage is a key financial ratio that refers to the degree a business uses borrowed money. Total capital employed is the accounting value of all interest-bearing debt plus all owners’ equity.

So, if you have INR 50,000 in debt and INR 50,000 of shareholder’s equity, your financial leverage would be 2 (or INR 100,000 divided by INR 50,000).

• What is financial leverage important?

As in life, you don’t want a business to be over-leveraged. The higher a business’s financial leverage, the risky it is because there is more debt to be repaid.

That being said, each business type has different standards for what healthy financial leverage is. Other factors, such as cash flow and cost of debt, play a big part in the overall picture of financial health.

Key financial ratio #5:

• Total leverage

Calculation: total leverage = operating leverage x financial leverage

Total leverage is calculated by multiplying the operating leverage (key ratio #3) by the financial leverage (key ratio #4). If you are the business owner, and therefore on the inside, you have at least partial control of your company’s total leverage.

• Why is total leverage important?

Total leverage represents the total risk that a company carries in its present business. Total leverage tells you the total effect a given change in the business should have on the equity owners.

If you are looking at the stock market, total leverage will help you decide whether or not to invest in a company. A well-run, conservatively managed company usually keeps the total-leverage under 5.

Key financial ratio #6:

• Debt-to-equity ratio

Calculation: debt-to-equity ratio = total liabilities / total equity

This one is pretty self-explanatory. It’s the measure of the portion of the whole enterprise (total liabilities) financed by outsiders in proportion to the part-financed by insiders (total equity). Most businesses try to stay at a ratio of one-to-one or below.

• Why is the debt-to-equity ratio important?

Generally speaking, the lower the debt-to-equity ratio, the more conservative the financial structure of the company. The more conservative the financial structure of a company, the less risk there is. Now, less risk isn’t always what an investor is looking for, so you’ll have to determine your own level of risk. This key ratio will help you know if a potential investment is meeting or exceeding that level of acceptable risk.

Key financial ratio #7:

• Quick and current ratios

Calculation: quick ratio = liquid assets / current liabilities

Calculation: current ratio = current assets / current liabilities

Quick and current ratios are both designed to tell you whether or not the company has enough liquid assets to pay its liabilities for the coming year.

A quick ratio takes liquid assets into account only. This means things like cash, receivables, and securities. Unlike the current ratio, it doesn’t take into account things like inventory, which may take time to liquidate in the event of a need to pay off liabilities. Depending on what type of business you’re looking at will determine which of the ratios are best to use. For instance, a business with a history of high inventory turnover might be better suited for a current ratio while one that moves its inventory slowly is better served by the quick ratio.

• Why are quick and current ratios important?

If a company doesn’t have enough current assets to cover its current liabilities, it is usually a sign of impending trouble. On the other hand, a current ratio and a quick ratio of 2 to 1 or higher is more appropriate.

Key financial ratio #8:

• Return on equity

Calculation: net income / average shareholder’s equity

Return on equity is often considered one of the most important key financial ratios. It allows you to compare the return a company is making on its shareholders’ investments compared to alternative investments.

• Why is a return on equity important?

The whole point of investing in and owning a business is to make money. If a business has a low return on equity, it’s not worth your time. A lot of factors go into return on equity, however, so it’s important to utilize all these ratios to see if there are hidden areas of opportunity in a business. For instance, a mismanaged business could have lots of seemingly bad numbers, but in the right hands, it could be a goldmine.

• What do these key financial ratios tell me?

It’s Important to always consider at least three years of these figures. The direction and trends can tell you a lot about a company and its management, and even its competitors.

Many published company reports do not include these ratios and indicators. A sophisticated investor learns to calculate them when they aren’t provided. However, these cannot be used in a vacuum. They are indicators, but they must be considered in conjunction with the analysis of the overall business and industry. By comparing three-years’ worth of data with that of other companies in the same industry, you can quickly determine the relative strength of a company.

While the ratios may appear complicated at first, you will be amazed at how quickly you can learn to analyze a company. One fun exercise is to download the financial statements of public companies and run these ratios yourself. Learn how to find the information you need and see what you can learn.

Remember, these ratios are the language of a sophisticated investor. By educating yourself and becoming financially literate, you too can learn to “speak in ratios.”

In 1983 , a talented young guitarist was kicked out of his band in a worst possible way . The band had just been signed to a record deal, and they were about to record their first album. But a couple of days before recording began , the band showed the guitarist the door – no warning , no discussion , no dramatic blowout ; they literally woke him up one day by handing him a bus ticket home.
As he sat on the bus back to los Angeles from New York , the guitarist kept asking himself : How did this happen ? What did i do wrong ? What will i do now ?
But by the time the bus Hit LA , the guitarist had gotten over his self-pity and had vowed to start a new band . He decided that this new band would be so successful
that his old band would forever regret their decision.
He would become so famous that they would be subjected to decades of seeing him on TV , hearing him on radio , seeing posters of him in the streets and pictures of him in magazines.

They’d be flipping burgers somewhere , loading vans from their shitty club gigs, fat and drunk with their ugly wives and he’d be rocking out in front of stadium crowds live on television.

And so the guitarist worked as if possessed by a musical demon . He spent months recruiting the best musicians he could find – far better musicians than his previous band mates.
He wrote dozens of songs and practiced religiously . His seething anger fuelled his ambition : revenge became his muse. within a couple of years his new band had signed a record deal of their own, and year after that , their first record go Gold.
The guitarist name was Dave Mustaine and the new band he formed was the legendary heavy-metal band “Megadeth”. Megadeth would go on to sell over 25 million albums and tour the world many times over.
Today , Mustaine is considered one of the most brilliant and influential musicians in the history of heavy – metal music.

This real writeup didn’t end here but infact lesson starts from here..

Unfortunately, the band he was kicked out of was “Metallica” , which sold much more albums than Megadeth & went on the record 180 million albums worldwide.
Metallica is considered by many to be one of the greatest rock bands of all time.

And because of this, in rare intimate interview in 2003 , a tearful Mustaine admitted that he couldn’t help but still consider himself failure. Despite all accolades, wealth, fame that he had accomplished , in his mind he would always be the guy who got kicked out of Metallica .

We’re apes. We think we’re all sophisticated with our toaster ovens and designer footwear , but we’re just a bunch of finely ornamental apes. And because we are apes , we instinctually measure ourselves against others and vie for status.

Dave Mustaine , whether he realised it or not , chose to measure himself by whether he was more successful and popular than Metallica.
The experience of getting thrown out of his former band was so painful for him that he adopted “success relative to Metallica” as the metric by which to measure himself and his music career.

Despite taking a horrible event in his life and making something positive out of it , as Mustaine did with Megadeth his choice to hold on to Metallicas success as his life-defining metric continued to hurt him decades later.

Despite all the money and the fans and the accolades , he still considered himself a failure.

Now , you and I may look at Dave Mustaine’s situation and laugh. Here’s this guy with millions of dollars , hundreds of thousands of adoring fans , a career doing the things he loves best , and still he’s getting all weepy-eyed that his rock star buddies from twenty years ago are way more famous than he is.

This is because You & I have different values than Mustaine does, and we measure ourselves by different metrics.
Our metrics are probably like ” I dont want to work a Job for a boss I hate” or “I’d like to earn enough money to sent my kid to a good school”.
So our values determine the metrics by which we measure ourselves and everyone else. Mustaine’s metric of being better than metallica likely helped him launch an incredibly successful music career. But that same metric later tortured him in spite of his success.
If you want to change how you see your problems , you have to change what you value and/or how you measure failure / success.
Values & metric that you hold dear leads to good problems that are easily and regularly solved but it also leads to bad problems that are not easily solved.

Watch-out your value – system for solving your professional & personal problems.

If you are thinking about taking the plunge and becoming an entrepreneur or already one, for the first few weeks and months of your entrepreneurial journey, the prospect of being your own boss and investing in your own enterprise is exhilarating. You read stories about overnight successes and other business leaders finally feeling fulfilled in their work and think that you’ll experience the same level of success or fulfillment as soon as you get started.
While these positive and exciting elements of entrepreneurship are certainly true and make the job worthwhile, you have to remember there’s also a dark side to entrepreneurship. It isn’t all fun and games, and those “overnight successes” are almost invariably the product of exhausting behind-the-scenes work and years of practice and failure.
Below are some of the Truths about being an entrepreneur.

1. You won’t make money right -away.

Raising capital for your business is tough, and usually serves as a financial eye-opener to hopeful young entrepreneurs who think business ownership leads to quick profits. The truth is, for most businesses, the first few years of operations are spent getting your infrastructure up and running. You’ll spend more than you’ll generate in revenue, and as a result, you probably won’t receive a check for several months. You’ll have to rely on your personal savings or reserves for basic living expenses and hope things pan out in the future.

2. Your personal life will suffer.

No matter how optimistically you charge into the role or how committed you are to prioritizing your personal relationships, they are going to suffer as you continue building your business. You’ll be working long hours, sometimes at home, and you’ll be on call for resolving business problems on nights, weekends and holidays. You’ll be distracted almost constantly, thinking about the problems your business is facing, and the financial stress you’ll bear will take its toll on your relationships.

3. Trying to juggle everything will take its toll on you.

As CEO of your own business, you’ll wear many hats. You’ll do some of the work you love to do, but you’ll also be an administrator, a supervisor, a technician, an HR manager and a marketer all at the same time. No matter how excited you are to take on these responsibilities at the beginning of your time as an entrepreneur, this constant gear shifting will inevitably wear you down.

4. Your emotions will get the better of you.

There will be times where your emotions well up and get the better of you, even if you try to suppress them or find a healthy outlet for them. You’re too invested in your own enterprise for this not to happen. You may feel depressed and discouraged about your progress, or fearful that you won’t make a profit in a reasonable amount of time. When your emotions get the better of you, you’ll feel miserable and you’ll make worse decisions.

5. Nothing will happen the way you think it will.

Your business plan might carefully detail out every step you envision for the first few years of your company, but no matter how much research you’ve done, you won’t be able to predict everything. Even the things you can predict won’t happen exactly how you envisioned. As an entrepreneur, you’ll be forced to adapt, sometimes in ways you don’t want to adapt.

6. You’ll make decisions that will haunt you.

As an entrepreneur, you’ll serve as the primary decision-maker for your company and you’ll have to make hard, stress-inducing decisions throughout your tenure. Some of those decisions will stick with you, even if you make the logically correct one. You’ll have to change company direction. You’ll have to part ways with partners. You’ll have to sacrifice part of your vision for the company. You’ll have to fire people.

7. You are going to fail.

Your entire company might go under. If it doesn’t, there will be some other failure, massive or minor, that will interfere with your plans and compromise your vision. Failure is an inevitable, and essential, part of entrepreneurship, though realizing this rarely makes it easier to accept. The obstacle of failure is ever present and always daunting when you’re leading a business, and working through that failure is too much for some. However, the ability to recover from failure is what separates super successes from the rest.

I’m not trying to talk you out of becoming an entrepreneur. Entrepreneurship is, and should be, an exciting and rewarding endeavor for anyone who chooses to pursue it. Instead, my intention is to help a new generation of self-starters prepare for the sometimes harsh realities of business ownership so they can better understand the obstacles ahead of them and realistically prepare for the journey.

No matter what your individual definition of success may be, finding it can often be a challenge. Whether its career success, monetary success or something in between, most people have a certain level of accomplishment that they want to reach in their lives. However, many fail to reach that magical level of success and have no idea why. The good news is, there are a few things that every person can do differently to change their current course of action and find the success that they deserve.

Below are five:

1. Stop looking for a perfect strategy

For the many people who take their quest for success seriously, they can get caught up in looking for a “perfect” strategy in reaching their goals. The truth is, there is never a perfect time to do anything, and there is no such thing as a perfect strategy. Many people fail to start “doing” the things they need to do, because they spend so much time planning. The only way to start a strategy is to get out there and take the first step. You can tweak and improve along the way but getting out and doing will be much more beneficial than spending all of your time trying to find the ideal strategy.

2. Stop seeing problems, start seeing opportunities

If you start looking at hurdles that come up as problems, you can put yourself in a negative mindset that will prevent you from finding success. If you instead start looking at these obstacles as opportunities, you can start finding more success. Take the challenge of approaching every problem and instantly calling it an opportunity. It can be hard to find opportunities in some problems, but if you look hard enough, there are positives even in the most overwhelming of issues.

3. Stop the information overload

Some people unfortunately find they spend too much time gathering information on how to succeed. When people do this too much, they can struggle with what is known as information overload. When you have too much information, you can suffer from paralysis by analysis and all of the research you have done can actually hurt instead of help. Nothing is as powerful as taking action and getting started.

4. Stop focusing so much on entertainment

While all people love to be entertained in a certain manner, society spends far too much time focusing on entertainment, instead of education. While you should always have you personal time outside of your professional life, many people spend too much time watching television, gossiping, playing video games and reading celebrity news. Doing this too much can prevent you from staying focused on your goals and your success. Spend your personal time entertaining yourself by consuming educational materials for personal growth. It will pay off in the long run and help you enjoy your personal time in a way that is still beneficial to your overall success.

5. Stop looking at the short term

Focusing on short-term accomplishments can actually get in your way when it comes to finding the substantial success you seek in life. This is something that many people struggle with, as there is nothing wrong with fulfilling short-term accomplishments but this shouldn’t be your focus. You should always be focusing on laying down a strong foundation for long-term growth. You can do this in a number of ways. Start looking at everything you do as a long -erm investment. Invest in your education, the future and do your best to ignore the appeal of instant gratification. This can take practice, but you can condition yourself to no longer find the same appeal in instant gratification.

The one person that we all talk to throughout the day is ourselves. We hold conversations with, ask questions to and make observations to ourselves all day long.

Here are the four ways that you could very well be self-sabotaging or self destroying your business :

1. Poor affirmations.

Since you all are doing job or engaged in your other businesses you often use these poor affirmation self talk , ” I have nothing to lose even if I fail , I have my job/business for backup ,” as if you are preparing yourself to lose it all.
Whenever you are thinking such, the universe will give you exactly what you expected.
Instead think there is no option for losing. & you have a winning mindset and affirmations to go with it.

2. Not being there now.

The mindset of “I will” rather than “I am” can be equally self-sabotaging. For example, a dialogue that goes, “I will be the owner of the largest e-commerce business ” is different from one that affirms, “I own the largest e-commerce business .”
I have found that telling myself I will do something is the same as telling myself that I’m not doing that now.
So today I live as if I have already accomplished my goal. When your subconscious already believes that you’re the person you wish to be, goals are accomplished in double time.

3. Killer words.

Have you ever found yourself uttering self-defeating statements? The word goes like – “Not to be negative but” or “I can’t” or “I need.”
If you start a sentence with “not to be negative but,” you are indeed being negative. So stop.
Lastly, saying “I need” is as bad as “I can’t.” When you need, your mindset is not rooted in a place of abundance.
I use to tell myself, “I need more great agents to join my company.”
When you have a mindset of need, you create more need. Instead, I now live in a mindset of plenty with outlooks like this:
“I am a magnet. I have more than I need but I am always happy to find a spot on our team for more great agents.”

4. Negativity.

Simply put, negativity destroys businesses. Entrepreneurship requires you to see the silver lining because there always is one.
Even when competition, employees or just daily work knocks you down, find the lesson in it and count your blessings. Every great business leader and entrepreneur is a by-product of the failures they have overcome. Get over it. Rise with a smile on. It’s your job.

If you’re a new entrepreneur, or an aspiring one, read on to see which phase of entrepreneurship you’re at right now, and how to prepare for what’s next.

Phase 1: I Wish

As with any 12-step program, the first step is admitting you have a problem. In this case, your problem is that you want to be an entrepreneur, but you’re not. Yet.
Many people live in the “I wish” zone for years before they make a move. Watching from the sidelines can be a good way to learn, but there’s only so much you can soak up as a spectator.
When you’re ready to get in the game, talk to people about your desire. Say it out loud. It takes the edge off. “My name is __________, and I want to start my own business.”
Now you’ve put it out into the universe. It’s a small but important first step.

Phase 2: I Will

Starting a business takes more than just talk. This is where you actually do something about it. Have no idea where to start? Join the club. That’s where all entrepreneurs begin. You’re in good company.
There’s no need to abruptly quit your job or immediately sink your life savings into product development. Take it slow. Slow is good. Slow gives you time to learn.
Take a class. Hire a coach. Join a mastermind group. Attend a conference. Write a business plan. These are wonderful ways to invest your time and money when you’re just dipping your toe into entrepreneurial waters.

Phase 3: Plan, Plan, Plan

You will need to do a lot of planning when you’ve committed to starting your own business. This includes a formal business plan. Do one even if you’re a simple one-man-show and you don’t need a cent of funding. Why? It will force you to consider everything, so you’re really prepared for launch. There are a ton of business planning tools out there. Find one that works for you.
A word to the wise: You may be tempted to stay in planning mode indefinitely, especially if you’re a details person. But you will never know everything there is to know. At some point you have to jump. Much of entrepreneurship involves tweaking along the way, so when you have your ducks in a row it’s time to launch.

Phase 4: Ta-da!

Your launch is when you introduce your baby to the world. This is an exciting step for a new entrepreneur.
When you hang up that OPEN sign, enjoy it. Be proud. You’ll be exhausted from the work it took to get there, and there are sure to be hiccups, but take a moment. Pop some wine and drink it all in.

Phase 5: Crickets

Maybe there wasn’t a line-up around the corner on launch day. Or maybe there was, but the launch rush has now subsided. You may wonder, where did everybody go? Do. Not. Panic.
The post-launch lull is when you take a deep breath and regroup. Go back to your business plan. Are you following it? Is there something you missed? What adjustments need to be made? If you did not create a business plan, get some help and create one! Seek feedback from clients, industry veterans, successful sophomores, anyone who will give it to you straight. Ask them to tell you what isn’t working.
“The truth will set you free, but first it will piss you off.” Listen to the (potentially frustrating) feedback and make your adjustments.

Phase 6: Impostor Syndrome

Imposter syndrome is a psychological phenomenon associated with the fear of being discovered as stupid or unworthy. It happens to all entrepreneurs at some point.
You will occasionally (or often) feel like you are out of your league. You will feel like you don’t speak the language. Venture capital or equity funding? And what does “bootstrapping” mean, anyway? Everyone else seems to know more than you do. The learning curve for entrepreneurs is steep, and you will feel incompetent at times. This is normal. Breathe.
Aristotle said, “The more you know, the more you know you don’t know.” As you learn more about running your own business, you will also identify your knowledge gaps. Notice them, and find a way to learn. Don’t compare yourself as a newbie to the guy who’s 20 years in. You will learn in due time.

Phase 7: Sponge

This is where you soak up information to fill your knowledge gaps. Note: I did not say this is where you learn everything about everything. That isn’t remotely possible, so don’t try, lest you burn yourself out or feel the urge to throw yourself off a cliff.
Decide what’s important for you to learn during this stage of your business. To avoid entrepreneur overwhelm, pick one or two things to learn about. What’s one thing you can do this week to help you get there?
You will return to the sponge phase again and again as your business evolves. There will always be something new to learn. Embrace it as a part of the process.

Phase 8: Everything is Awesome!

You’re doing exactly what you dreamed of and you’re getting paid for it! These moments are why you became an entrepreneur. You’re most likely to experience the “everything is awesome!” high when you first quit your job to become an entrepreneur, at launch, after an especially lucrative month of business, when you work with a dream client or when you take a random Friday off work just because you can.
Enjoy these moments. They don’t happen all of the time, but they’re damn satisfying when they do.

Phase 9: Panic!

You may encounter entrepreneur “bag lady” fears. They go something like this: I have no idea what I’m doing and I will never make money doing this. I never should have left the security of my job. Soon, I will be forced to live out of a shopping cart on the street corner. My old colleagues will point and laugh at me on their way to work.
Fine. Allow yourself to indulge in this ridiculous dystopian fantasy for exactly two minutes. Do you feel better? I didn’t think so. Feel the fear, then do something about it. What’s one small action you can take to help your business today? Do it.
As an entrepreneur you will likely vacillate between “everything is awesome” and panic. Try not to spend too much time here. Panic breeds paralysis. Keep moving.

Phase 10: Buddy up

By now, you’ve realized that you can’t do it all by yourself. If you try, you’ll burn out. It’s time to focus on your forte and outsource the other bits to strategic partners. Hire a designer, a distributor, tech support, admin support, an accountant, a social media partner. Getting stuff off your plate frees up more time and energy for you to do your best work.

Phase 11: Switcheroo

You’ve learned enough about your business to realize that you need to make some changes. Perhaps you need to refine your offering to two core services instead of ten. Or maybe you need to make a radical shift in the direction of your business.
Face-saving entrepreneurs will call this a “pivot,” which basically means, “I was doing this one thing, and now I realize I should be doing this other thing instead.” You might feel like a fool for not getting it right the first time around, but I challenge you to find any entrepreneur who got everything right from the get-go.
A switcheroo of some sort happens to many entrepreneurs over time. You can think of it as a rite of passage.

Phase 12: Business as Usual

Business as usual for an entrepreneur means juggling a little bit of everything. As you’ve learned, the only constant is change. There will be ups and downs, celebration and panic and LOTS of learning. You’re ready for all of it. You’re a bona fide entrepreneur now.

Welcome to the club.

Humans are great at coming up with excuses—you don’t have the time, you don’t have the skills (yet), you’re short on cash….Bla Bla..
These are all great reasons on the path to entrepreneurship.
If you dream of owning your own business, it’s going to take a lot of work, sweat, tears and cash to make it happen, but if you give more weight to your excuses than your dreams, they might hold you back for good.
Are you carrying entrepreneurial baggage that’s killing your dreams?
If so, there are ways to address it, overcome it and get one step closer to being an entrepreneur.

Here are some of the most common things holding back future small business owners:

1. You don’t want to lose the stability of your current job

It’s natural to cling to security and a steady salary, either putting off your own business or working on it (very) part-time.
Once you’ve done the prep work, entrepreneurial pursuits are more than full-time jobs. You can’t succeed with another job getting in the way.
“Get prepared, make a plan and put in your notice”
Most investors won’t invest in you if you haven’t taken this important step. It’s scary, but if you don’t believe in yourself why should anyone else?

2. You don’t have enough capital

Remember this: Nobody had enough capital when they first started their business and only a very few lucked into angel investors.
When you make a plan of attack to quit your current job, it should include scrimping and saving as much as possible.
You may need to downsize into a smaller space, seriously work on your budget and remember that you have to invest your own money before you can expect anyone else to invest their money.
There’s money out there, if you’re committed to finding it.
I know I don’t have enough money to make this company big, but it doesn’t mean that I won’t start it and push it as hard as I can. Noting will stop a true entrepreneur.

3. You want to wait until (fill in the blank)

The kids are off to college, your partner secures that promotion, you finish that degree —
there are endless things you can “wait for” so this is the excuse that keeps on indefinitely. There’s no perfect time to start a business, just like there’s no perfect time to start a family.
However, the longer you wait, the fewer quality years you have to build a successful enterprise.
Work entrepreneurship into your life (complete with sacrifices), not around it.

4. You’re scared of failure

Well over 90 percent of startups fail. If you’re still reading, then you have what it takes to face fear of failure and keep moving forward.
You’re not necessarily going to succeed in your first pursuit, but you might on your second (or fifth).
Have backup plans in place, learn from those mistakes and don’t be afraid of the learning curve.

1) Let your bark bigger than bite –

Successful entrepreneurs don’t sit back and talk about what they are going to do. They plan, follow through and conquer. Nothing is going to get accomplished just by talking about it, and nobody is going to be impressed with words alone.

2) Wake up without a plan –

Time management is a crucial part of being an entrepreneur. There are only so many hours in a day, so to be efficient you need to know what your goals are and what tasks you need to get done prior to starting your day.

3) Look back –

You are going to face hard times, difficult decisions and possibly even failure at some point. Don’t let small bumps in the road stop your forward progress. Find ways to manoeuvre around obstacles and continue to push forward, never looking back.

4) Stop learning –

Your age, years of experience or level of success should never prevent you from learning. There isn’t a single person on this planet who knows everything. We can all continue to learn and be inspired from other entrepreneurs, whether they are billionaire household names or those just starting his or her entrepreneurial journey.

5) Be jealous or envious –

Seeing other people around you succeed should motivate you, even if they are your competitors. You should understand that every single person has the ability to become successful, and wasting time focusing on other people’s success or achievements will just sidetrack your own progress.

6) Make excuses –

If you make a bad decision and screw up, own it. If something doesn’t work out as planned, don’t look for excuses. Search for the cause of the problem and chalk it up to a valuable business lesson. If you identify and own the problem you will not make the same mistake again. If you are constantly making excuses for your mistakes, you will continue to make them because you haven’t properly identified the root of the problem.

7) Be scared to make changes and adapt

8) Let failure stop you
9) Focus solely on Money –

Instead of chasing the money, focus on creating products and services that make a difference and provide value. If you do this, the money will come. I would be lying if I said the goal of mine is not to make money, but focusing on providing a great service paves the path for the money to follow.

10) Associate with negative individuals / thoughts –

People who constantly make excuses, complain and have a negative outlook should be avoided like the plague. We all know people like this. No matter what you say or what the situation is, they always chime in with negativity. People like this are a cancer and their negative aura can rub off on you. Surround yourself with like-minded individuals that are as focused and determined as you are.

Mindset is probably the major determinant of success in pretty much every walk of life. In other words, the thinking patterns you habitually adopt largely govern the results you achieve.
But different circumstances and situations require different mindsets, something that anyone looking to leave paid employment and strike out on their own, must be aware of. Unfortunately, not all would-be entrepreneurs understand the dramatic mindset shifts required, without which business success is unlikely.
So how, as a one-time employee, will you have to think differently to succeed ?

1. You’re responsible for all decisions – good and bad.

Entrepreneurs have an incredible opportunity to create something from nothing, in a way that’s not possible working for someone else. But this means making big decisions about what must be done, when and how. You can’t wait for things to happen, or for someone to tell you what to do, you must make them happen. Successful entrepreneurs also understand that opportunities may be short-lived, and so develop a sense of urgency that helps them achieve their goals.

2. You need to hold both short and long-term visions simultaneously.

Work for others and you are mainly responsible for ensuring that what needs to be done now, is done. As an entrepreneur, you have to project your mind forward, thinking about the potential pitfalls and opportunities that lie around the corner, and making decisions based on uncertainty. This requires you to come to terms with the fact that what you do, or don’t do, today, will have an impact on your business three months, even five years down the line.

3. Feeling uncomfortable is your new ‘comfort zone.’

As an employee, you’re used to thinking ‘inside the box’ rather than outside it. As an entrepreneur, there is no box. You see what others don’t, test new ideas, seize new territory, take risks. This requires courage, a thick skin and the ability to keep going despite rejection and skepticism.

4. Learning is a continuous journey.

As an employee, you have a job description, requiring a specific skill-set. Being an entrepreneur involves learning many new skills, unless you have the funds to outsource what you’re not good at or don’t want to do. That could be learning to set up a spreadsheet, getting investors on board, marketing your ideas, crafting your perfect pitch, or using unfamiliar technology. What needs to be done, has to be done – there is no room for excuses.

5. Numbers don’t lie.

Where numbers are concerned, it’s enough for most employees to know what’s coming in and what’s going out. As an entrepreneur, you’d better learn to love numbers fast, because your cash flow is what will keep you in – or out of – business. Ultimately, it’s your sales, costs, profit and loss that will either give you sleepless nights or an enviable lifestyle. But without the guiding light of numbers, your business will be continually heading for the rocks.
Your earnings will vary largely w.r.t your predictions & there will be no set pattern of revenue numbers as comparable to fixed salary.

6. Love your business, but be objective.

As an employee, you can go on doing something you dislike just for the salary. As an entrepreneur, you will need to love your business because of the effort and long hours required. But you mustn’t fall into the trap of thinking and acting like an employee in your own company, working ‘in’ rather than ‘on’ the business, a ‘technician’ rather than the person who steers it forward.

7. Enjoy breaking rules.

As an employee, breaking the rules could mean dismissal. Entrepreneurs on the other hand, aren’t interested in the status quo – they’re always looking for ways to do things differently. That means acquiring a new perspective, always peering over the horizon, or at least towards it, to where the next big thing is waiting.

8. Time isn’t linear.

As an employee, you have a timetable to work to. As an entrepreneur, while you might not be tied to a desk or computer 24/7, you will always be thinking about your business, what it’s doing well and what it could be doing better. There will be no respite – you will live and breathe it.

9. Start now.

Most people under-estimate the time it takes to make the transition to entrepreneur, so it’s sensible to start shifting your mindset while you’re still employed, perhaps even setting up a business to run alongside. This could give you the opportunity to develop skills and build experience while still enjoying the safety-net of a salary, something that at some point you will almost certainly need to give up if you want to grow your business.
So, employee or entrepreneur? Is it time to switch? The choice is yours.

More and more entrepreneurs are working remotely. Working from Home – full-time / part-time or in co-working space or even at nearby coffeeshop has its own advantages yet challenges.
When I started my business , after working for a large company, I had grown accustomed to being surrounded by people each day.
Working from home provided peace and solitude, yet I was lonely.
I had no one to interact with except my yellow Labrador. No humans were around for sharing ideas. I worked long hours, many in my pajamas.
No one was there to hold me accountable for my work and I had to force myself to rise at a reasonable hour each morning and develop self-discipline.
But after a while, I set up a regular routine, and adopted some best practices.
Here are some tips to keep in mind to stay focused on your work throughout the day if you are working from Home :-

1. Set and keep regular office hours.

Most people who work from home find they work too much rather than too little. Other remote workers struggle to keep a regular schedule — working a few hours one day and pulling an all-nighter the next.
Some interruptions can’t be avoided. Client deadlines may unexpectedly require extra hours.
Family obligations can interfere as well, especially if children are home during the day.
Do your best to set work hours and stick to them. Then try your best to leave work in that time and turn your phone on silent and enjoy the rest of your day.
Give yourself some time to recharge so you can be as productive as possible.

2. Plan and structure your workday.

Structure your workday to maximize efficiency. Take advantage of your body’s natural rhythms and plan your work around your most productive hours.
If you know you focus best in the morning, resist the temptation to check email until 10 a.m. or later.
Make a list of your most important tasks before you move on to less urgent business.
If possible, shut your office door (if you have one) to signal to others that you’re working and don’t wish to be disturbed.

3. Dress to impress (even if it’s just for your wooden furniture).

As enticing as it is to stay in pajamas all day, this is not the best work habit. The way you dress affects you psychologically.
Taking the time to shower, have breakfast, brush the teeth and dress can make someone feel more confident.

4. Set aside a designated work area.

Consistency is an important aspect to working from home. Try to work at the same spot every day.
It could be a spare bedroom that you’ve turned into a home office, a desk located in the corner of the living room or even the dining room table.
Surround yourself with things that inspire you and make you happy including flowers, music and pictures.
Make your home workspace a place you enjoy going to each day, an area where you can focus and do your best work.

5. Take breaks.

Schedule time for frequent breaks throughout the day. Rise from your desk, stretch or walk around the house or down the street.
Take a lunch break and enjoy a midday meal.
If you need a little socializing, go out to lunch with friends or clients.
A major advantage to working from home is having flexibility.
If fitness is important to you, a quick trip to the gym can reinvigorate you and make for a productive afternoon.

6. Avoid distractions.

One challenge of working from home is accountability. With no colleagues or partners nearby, it’s easy to become distracted.
There are always some work at home to do. Do your best to put off household tasks, like laundry and dishes, until you’ve gone “home” mentally for the evening just like if you are employee.

Don’t waste time or money on meetings or activities that are counterproductive to your success.