Light & Salt

John Mulinde's Prophetic message at IHOP 3/1/11

2011-12-27T22:12:00.003+01:00

Starting a Business – Realistic Things To Check

2008-03-22T02:32:00.003+01:00

After Tony’s discussion with Shina, the tycoon, he decides to adopt a more realistic approach to his plans to launch his own business. Tony has come to realise that leaving paid employment to go into self-employment should not be done simply out of enthusiasm. Starting a successful business that would stand the test of time has to be done systematically. Lots of brainstorming, planning, verification of facts and speculations have to be done.

The market
Tony gets a reputable consultant. He needs a realistic overview of the market for his products. He wants to know the extent of the local, national and international market for his product. Paying a consultant is eating into his savings. But paying a lifeguard is so much better than drowning in the unexplored waters of self-employment, he tells himself.
However, Shina’s advice is that he must not leave everything to the consultant to do. He says, “Some people fail in business because all the planning for the business they are to run was done for them by consultants. You are going to drive your business. The consultant should simply be a guide or instructor and not the person at the steering.”

Competitors
With the consulting firm’s assistance, Tony finds out the existing competitors in the field he wants to enter. He also has information on what each one is offering. He then asks, “What can I offer that they are not offering? Many of them are quite big; I could get partners and come into the market as a giant. On the other hand, I could come in as a small player. If so, being a small player also has certain advantages.” He decides to identify them and enter the market with such superior customer satisfaction.

Target/market size
Working with his consultant, they estimate the market size that he could realistically capture. They are able to do financial projections of the money needed especially at the take off point. Knowing the capital he needs gives Tony some measure of relief. He does not have that much but he is certain he can get enough to make up for the rest from his family members.
The consultant advises that if he does not get the remaining balance, then they could rework the plan. He can produce fewer quantities initially. The production costs would be a bit higher as they would not be taking advantage of economies of scale. But reinvesting the profits until his capital gets to the point they projected would bring in the benefits of economies of scale.

Location
A good location for production with proximity to the customers is good, he is told. Tony, in his usual exuberant manner wants to set up a superb office beside the factory. The cost of setting up the office is so huge. He believes he could get the funds.

Product quality
Shina tells him, “Even if the money is a gift and not a loan from someone, target it towards getting customers. Getting customers is more important than getting a superb office except the nature of the business is such that a superb office would attract customers. That is for those in service business that customers have to come to the office regularly.
But for someone producing goods, the quality of the goods mean more to the customer than your beautiful office. Someone said, ‘The experience of a bad product lasts longer with the customer than the satisfaction the producer deprives from making extra money producing sub-standard products. So much more resources should be channelled towards producing quality goods or services. Afterwards, you can invest in a superb office.” Tony tells the consultant what Shina told him about the office. She agrees.

Hitting the market
Shina also tells him, “No matter how great the products are, if they are not consistently demanded by customers, the business will sink. That also goes for those in service business. Quite often though, the risks in the service businesses are lower than in manufacturing.” Tony has to find out how he is going to reach his target(s) at the least possible costs.

Product type
Tony keeps paying visits to Shina. Thankfully, Shina is always willing to give free what he pays consultants for. For anyone who is interested, there are always successful people willing to share their knowledge.

Shina asks him about his product type. He says this is very important. This is because some products can saturate a market. He continues, “Some products make an entry into a market, their manufacturers and suppliers make huge sums of money but if new markets are not captured, demand reduces.

This is because the type of product is such that the demand is a one-off thing for most individuals. Even when the customer comes back for a repeat purchase, it might be several years later. Such products include heavy capital goods such as houses, personal computers; cookers etc.” He continues, “If you want to continue to operate in a particular market segment, then you have to have an accompanying product or service that would ensure your customers keep patronising you. For instance, phone companies do not just sell their lines; they sell recharge cards and provide other accompanying services.
Food business thrives because no matter the quantity of food consumed, people still need to continue feeding. So in making your business plan, you have to know if the products is such that will enable you to continue earning reasonable profits staying in the same market or if you need to constantly capture new markets. If you have to stay in the same market, is the product type such that will enable your firm to provide accompanying services? Find out.

Passion/Aptitude
Do a realistic appraisal of what you are good at in your current employment. Most times people want to launch a business so they would be able to do what they love doing. But running a business involves so much more. Know precisely the things you love doing. Plan your own job description to include the things you enjoy doing or have the aptitude for. If getting others to do those aspects you are not good at would incur so much cost, then acquire those skills before launching out. You may need to do them at the initial stages of the business.

Training
After having done a realistic appraisal of your aptitude for going into self-employment, you may still need to go for courses on entrepreneurship. You need training in business generally and in context of the line of business.

Buying an Existing Business
Find out if there is an existing business you can buy rather than starting one from scratch. You would therefore not be a new entrant into the market. You will enjoy the goodwill of that business, the loyal customers and so many other things.

But you need to do a lot of checks. These include the reason the owner(s) want to sell, if you can work with the present staff, if the business is in huge debts, its reputation in the market and with is publics etc. If all these things are all right, buying an existing business offering the same thing you want to offer is better. You could then build on the exceptional idea you have.

Family’s capacity to withstand lean periods
He takes Shina’s advice to inform his family of possible financial challenges at the early stages of his business. He tells his wife, “You will definitely become the wife of a multi-millionaire but you may have to make certain sacrifices before then.” Together, they make plans to reduce expenses.

·Juggling paid employment with self-employment
Shina has also advised him to consider the possibility of staying in self-employment in the initial stages of his business. He checks his current work schedule. This enables him to know if he can conduct his business within that time. But testing the water is so much better than drowning in unexplored waters, he tells himself.

8 Good Reasons to Have Sex Now

2008-03-21T12:28:00.000+01:00

Girl – I love him

I want him to be my first

He's waited long enough

I don't want to lose him

Guy— I love her

We've been going out for a long time

I have needs

It's time we took our relationship to the next level

Hey, why wait? Those are all some pretty good reasons to have sex. I mean, you could have said you want to have sex to use each other, or to give somebody else that lingering infection because you shouldn’t have to suffer alone, or even the old overused excuse, “everybody else is doing it!” But no, your reasons are pretty good, aren’t they? To go along with these carefully thought out reasons, here are some of the great “benefits” of getting sexually involved now, before you get married.

You’re going to get hurt

No matter how you look at it, even when you have good reasons to do it, premarital sex hurts…a lot. If you are a guy, you might think it’s just the girl who gets hurt, but you’re only partly right. The girl will get hurt, because she has this uncontrollable tendency to attach her heart to any guy she gives her body to, unless she’s already been made cold-hearted from the pain of offering her body to be used so many times that she doesn’t care anymore.

But as a guy, you will get hurt too. By indulging in non-committed sensual pleasures, you will be setting yourself up for a lifetime of comparisons that will hound your thoughts and make you unable to be content in your most valuable future earthly relationship—your marriage. The guilt you’ll have—and there is always guilt eventually—will eat you up so badly that you will be a target for addictions or avoidance that will prevent any true intimacy in this life.

Both you and your girl will be hurt in another way that you never anticipated. Someday, if you marry each other, she will likely have respect issues and resentment toward you for not valuing her body enough to protect her purity. How will this hurt you? Not only will you have to deal with a resentful wife, but sex will be the tool that she withholds from you. Then you will resent her and the vicious cycle begins.

Your future is going to get messed up

You already know that teens get pregnant, teens get abortions, and teens get STD’s. Those are all ways that your life can get messed up now and stay that way for a long time. But other long term effects are hard to measure. If you sleep together now and end up getting married, it’s likely from all the statistics that you won’t stay married. And let me tell you from experience, divorce is one of the hardest things you will ever try to survive on this earth. When you split the lives and history you’ve built together, it’s like your heart has been ripped in two. If you have kids together, double the pain. The Bible says that when you got married, you became ONE flesh. The only way to separate one flesh is to rip it in half, leaving gaping, bleeding wounds.

God is going to get pushed out of your life

There’s no way around it. When you are living to please yourself and ignoring God, He isn’t going to force Himself on you. That means that you aren’t going to have His help, His encouragement, His direction, or His awesome plans working out in your life. You might think you’re having fun for awhile, but eventually, living for yourself is going to hurt. You will end up lonely, depressed, hopeless, purposeless, and passionless. That’s because you can’t ignore God for long and enjoy your life. You can try, but you will never be peaceful or satisfied. It is impossible. The Bible says in Romans 8:7, 8, “If your sinful nature controls your mind, there is death. But if the Holy Spirit controls your mind, there is life and peace. For the sinful nature is always hostile to God. (NLT)”

Something better than “good”

Oh, oh…those good reasons to have sex don’t look so good anymore. Thank goodness that there are some even better reasons not to have sex. The better reasons are so much better for you and your future, that they reveal an amazing truth: Your “good” reasons to have sex now, instead of waiting until you are married, are actually bad reasons.

Remember that God loves you and only wants the best for you. His directions for you to stay pure are not to keep something from you, but to help you experience the very best He has to offer. He’s the one who created love and sex. Follow His directions for using it and it will be the best it can be.

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Source: CBN.com