When I first started my journey in entrepreneurship, I was lost... I was lonely...I wasn't even sure that this is what God wanted me to do. I didn't understand why I was so fired up to be this "Robin Hood". I wanted to take everything that I learned through experience from credit & finances to how I learned how to maneuver through Corporate America and share it with people. I wanted to empower and inspire people. I wanted to encourage any individual that wasn't sure if they could make it to KEEP PUSHING and stay persistent. I dreamed it and I breathed it so I decided to go for it. Something about me.... I talk to God ALL DAY....EVERYDAY. Sometimes, I can be so all over the place so I decided to lean on him 100% for his guidance. I remember praying last year, "God if this is what you want me to do...please give me a sign....please surround me with people that will not distract me from what I am trying to accomplish". It wasn't even a week later that God opened my eyes and showed me that he was placing friends in my path to be on this journey with me! One friend has changed my journey, in so many ways. She has been willing to Walk With Me and help an any way that she can. That's what type of Friendpreneur I want! Although my friend was on her own path to success in this entrepreneur game (killing the game), she was willing to walk with me! She was even able to open my eyes to #WomanEmpowerment, #SupportingYourPeople, and #IgnoringTheHaters!
If you are scared and just need someone to bounce ideas off of, ask God to show you your friendprenuer! I am not saying that you have to share all of your ideas with them or even merge your businesses. I am saying, don't be an isolated entrepreneur! Your friendpreneur can help you in so many ways! Whether it is coming to your events, recommending you to their network, sharing your posts, trading services, and just being a shoulder to lean on when you are 5 seconds away from giving up! I definitely believe I can do it alone, but I wouldn't want to! I love my friendpreneurs! Being able to get advice and get educated on industries that I am clueless about has definitely helped me! YOU DO NOT HAVE TO DO THIS ALONE! Friendpreneurship! This blog is devoted to Breezy!
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2/27/2017 1 Comment Your 911 Fund"Why am I having the same financial problems year after year? What happened to all of that money I had last year? Why does it feel like every step I take forward, I take two back?"
These are the questions I asked myself year after year. I felt cursed throughout college and my first couple of years in my career, until I realized I was the problem. I was not retaining my income, because I was spending without care... I was spending without caution. Rather it was an income tax refund, bonus from work, scholarship from school, my windfall was gone within a few months. Normally, these funds would be spent on material items (expenses) and rarely ever invested in my growth (assets). I missed every single opportunity to invest in my future, because I was dazed by a materialistic mindset. This is not where the story ends, unfortunately. After this money was depleted, something unexpected would occur. My car would break down, an unexpected tax bill would show up in the mail, or a bill collector would catch up with me. As a result, I had to depend on scraping up the residuals of my paycheck to satisfy these unexpected financial responsibilities. Then BOOM! I was back to living paycheck to paycheck and waiting on the next windfall to fall out of the sky. This happened YEAR after YEAR! Now while TAX REFUNDS and BONUSES are in full effect... I encourage you to save for RAINY DAYS! According to statistics, 60% of Americans do not have an emergency fund to cover unexpected expenses. Let's not be apart of the 60%. Save money that you believe you can blow in order to cover yourself from the unintended consequences of unexpected expenses. As a result, you will GROW...your net worth! You will have less FINANCIAL STRESS, and by the time August rolls around you will be financially free. I know this seems simple, but I have countless examples where financial goals were not attainable simply from not having a 911 FUND! But the good news, you still have time to change your mindset (grow)! You can start adding assets to your balance sheet simply from creating a 911 fund. Once you have started this fund, I suggest you keep adding to it whenever you can. This is more important than you think, because this fund will eventually allow you to invest in your entrepreneurial goals. *Suggested amounts for building your 911 Fund: 1. Start your fund with at least $1,000 ($500, if $1,000 is not possible). 2. Next try growing it to 3 months and then 6 months worth of your expenses. 3. Eventually try 12 months. 4. Any extra funds after 12 months can definitely be invested. Invest in your own business or invest in capital investments (Stocks, Roth IRAs, Low Index funds, etc.). For my entrepreneurs....this applies to you as well. However, I will flip the focus from "911 Funds" to "Retained Earnings". According to Bloomberg, 8 out of 10 businesses fail within a 18 months. Reasons noted include customer interactions, marketing, and the lack of a profitable business model (Wagner). Contrary to your belief, an investment of capital is needed to be successful at all of these. If you are not setting money aside from our profits to roll into the next year (Retained Earnings), you could easily become one of the 8. Simply put, don't spend all profits from business activity. I know it can be difficult when you first start your journey because you still have bills.....as your profit may be your only source of income, but WALK WITH ME for a second! If you sell T-shirts, treat yourself like a manufacturing company. It cost $5 dollars to purchase the materials for your t-shirt, and you sold the T-shirt for $25. This is a $20 profit. Don't spend the entire profit on dinner...put away $10. Retain these earnings to be able to purchase a new T-shirt pressing machine in a couple of years. If your retained earnings fund grow, you will have more capital to invest in the growth of your business. Creative minds have creative ideas, but remember that your business may not grow at the same rate year over year. Why? The economy, supply & demand, etc. I could keep going, but this is a different conversation. Leaving you with "Manage your personal funds like you would manage your business funds, and manage your business as a billion dollar business from day one!" Join me tomorrow live on Periscope, March 1st at 9pm Est/8pm Cen, as I discuss why a 911 fund is your first step to financial freedom and why retaining profit can help you grow your business fast! |
AuthorI am Jasmine Collier, the founder of Walk With Me Financially and the CEO of Collier Professional Services. ArchivesCategories |