Working Towards Abundance

Success is a Choice

2010-09-20T11:35:00.001-07:00

Success is a choice as well as failure.
So choose which one do you want.

If you want success, join us in our journey to financial freedom.
Join us in our commitment to serve Filipinos and our country.

www.ca2020.net

Surprises

2010-09-15T20:27:00.001-07:00

Life is always full of surprises.
You never know when or where it came.
But one thing you know about it
It will change you from within.

Surprises make you smile.
Surprises make you think.
Surprises make you feel unusual.
Surprises make you different.

So what does surprises really brings?
Are they good or bad?
Maybe, it depends on the news that surprises bring.
Maybe, it depends on the people suprises were brought to.

But one thing I know.
Suprises may come instantly.
Response to this should not be.
Take time for the surprises that came to you.

-March 26, 2004

Due Diligence Checklists for Buying a Business

2010-09-07T20:50:00.000-07:00

When you're buying a business, meticulous due diligence is a must. The only problem is that when it comes to due diligence, details can easily fall through the cracks. That's why you need our due diligence checklists for buying a business.

Due diligence is at the heart of every business purchase.

If you fail to conduct adequate due diligence upfront there's a good chance it could come back to bite you later. Business brokers can help guide you through the diligence process, but ultimately it's you (the buyer's) responsibility to make sure there are no hidden surprises.

That could be a problem in more ways than one. Right out of the gate, you have to recognize that you're an entrepreneur–not a due diligence specialist. Although you may have a general sense about the kinds of things to look for, you're probably not equipped to singlehandedly organize a complete due diligence process.

When buying a business, you should create a due diligence checklist. Here are just some of the areas that your due diligence checklists should address.

* Financial statements. Due diligence typically begins with an inspection of financial records. A review of the last five years worth of audited financial statements is helpful, but also take a look at less obvious things like the general ledger and an up-to-date credit report.

* Assets. Asset appraisals are standard fare for due diligence. In addition to an inventory of assets, expand your search to include leases and UCC filings that could turn up liens on specific pieces of property or equipment.

* Legal status. Sellers should disclose any pending litigation or threats of pending litigation prior to sale. You'll want to work closely with your attorney to make sure you don't inherit any legal nightmares with the business, including unsatisfied judgments.

* Contracts. Once you own the business you may also own its contractual responsibilities. Request a statement that describes the nature and terms of current contracts. From large customer contracts to the contract for the office copier, you need to know which contracts have been written to survive a transfer of ownership.

* Employees. During due diligence, request a list of current employees that includes their positions, salaries, and years of service. You should also expect to be provided with the personnel handbook and information about all employee-related benefits.

* Other issues. There are a multitude of other issues that need to be included on a due diligence checklist including customer lists, environmental information, permits, licenses, marketing initiatives and more. Consult your broker and/or attorney to make sure you check list is complete.

http://www.gaebler.com/Due-Diligence-Checklists-for-Buying-a-Business.htm

Seven Alternative Sources of Capital for Setting up a Business

2010-08-30T12:00:00.001-07:00

Borrowing from banks is every small entrepreneur's nightmare. One gets turned down for bank loans for a variety of reasons, including lack of assets, collateral and business experience. Don't despair, however. There are several common types of alternative sources of capital for setting up a business available to young companies.

Savings and Investments
The first source you should consider is your own savings and investments. One disadvantage though of self-financing is that if things did not turn out the way you want them to be it will be your money that goes down with the ship.

Angel Investors
Angel investors are affluent individuals who provide capital for a business start-up, usually in exchange for ownership equity. These individuals are looking for a higher rate of return than would be given by more traditional investments (typically 25% or more). Angel investors are an excellent source of early stage financing and high-growth start-ups. They are often willing to tread where there is too much risk for banks and not enough profit potential for venture capitalists. And since angel investors are often retired business owners and executives, they can also provide valuable management advice and important contacts.

Peer to Peer Lending
Peer-to-peer lending is a means by which borrowers and lenders may transact business without the traditional intermediaries, such as banks. It can also be known as social Lending, ordinary people lending money. The process may include other intermediaries who package and resell the loans--examples are Prosper.com and Zopa-but the loans are ultimately sold to individuals or pools of individuals. Prosper.com, which is available in the US only, offers business loans for small companies.

An enabling technology for peer-to-peer lending has been the internet, which connects borrowers with lenders, for example through an auction-like process in which the lender willing to provide the lowest interest rate "wins" the borrower's loan. (wikipedia.com)

Money pool
Instead of a bank loan, borrow smaller sums from several family members, friends, or colleagues. The lenders have no legal ownership in the business, but can act as advisors and cheerleaders for your venture. Remember though that nothing causes tension in a family like lending money that is never paid back.

Credit Cards
Many business owners use their credit cards to fund their businesses. Credit cards offer the ability to make purchases or obtain cash advances and pay them at a later time. But as a long-term financing method, they can be expensive. Most credit cards will charge you 2% to 4% of the face value of a cash advance as a "fee" making this method of financing very risky.

Bootstrapping
Another source of capital for setting up a business is bootstrapping. It is a way to finance a business by saving rather than borrowing money. It's being as frugal as possible so your business can be started on as little cash as possible.

The use of private credit cards is the most known form of bootstrapping, but a wide variety of methods are available for entrepreneurs. Other forms of bootstrapping include owner financing, minimization of accounts receivable, joint utilization, delaying payment, minimizing inventory and subsidy finance.

While bootstrapping involves a risk for the founders, the absence of any other stakeholder gives the founders more freedom to develop the company. Many successful companies including Dell Computers were founded this way.

Venture Capital
Venture capital is not suitable for all entrepreneurs. It is an option for small companies that have a seasoned management team and very aggressive growth plans; however, venture capitalists will rarely invest in small businesses that have no intention of going public. If a company does have the qualities venture capitalists seek such as a solid business plan, a good management team, investment and passion from the founders, a good potential to exit the investment before the end of their funding cycle, and target minimum returns in excess of 40% per year, it will find it easier to raise venture capital.

The venture capitalist objective is to invest in a company for a short period of time say 5 years and then cash out of the business while making a significant return on their investment.

http://www.jobbankusa.com/CareerArticles/FinancialAspects/ca4607a.html

Philippines - Cooperatives (FAQ)

2010-08-25T21:02:00.000-07:00

4 Factors of Leadership

2010-08-20T04:09:00.001-07:00

4 Factors of Leadership

2010-08-18T06:41:00.001-07:00

Encouragement is like a premium gasoline - it helps to take knocks out of living.--Anonymous

http://bit.ly/dzyRHg

At 84, new high school graduate is volunteer teacher

2010-08-16T22:57:00.000-07:00

Let me share with you this article that continue to inspire my brother and me. Continue reading and be inspired!!!

CROSSING THE BOUNDARIES OF TIME

by: Ericson J. Eduardo & Sarah Jane R. Vergara

“ Ang ALS ay maikukumpara ko sa tatlong bagay na maaaring sumimbolo dito – ang parola, ang salbabida, at ang piko…” –such symbolism, a statement with depth enough to inspire us, words uttered by “Mang Totoy” also known as Sir Totoy to others.

Read More...

The Secret: 1st 20 minutes

2010-08-11T09:08:00.000-07:00

Robert Kiyosaki's Videos: Get a Job

2010-08-11T06:01:00.000-07:00

Robert Kiyosaki's Videos: Get a Job: "Get a Job from Rich Dad on Vimeo."

What Do You Want to Be When You Grow UP?

2010-08-04T22:02:00.001-07:00

We used to ask this question to children and the usual reply is: I want to be a doctor, a policeman, a teacher, an engineer, go abroad and become a domestic helper or factory worker, a bank employee, a small business owning a place in a supermarket, to be a businessman but usually managing the business themselves, and many more. This was also the kind of question and answer I used to have as child. It was already a big success if you graduated in college and found a good job in Metro Manila. This is because the people in the barrios had a hard time tilling the land, working in small groceries, have a backyard piggery, and those who are tambays most often playing cards (tong-its) and other kinds of small time gambling.

My mind and curiosity began to change when I read Robert Kiyosaki’s Rich Dad Poor Dad because it opened to me the kind of mindset I have had and why I have that kind of mindset. Honestly, I am happy with my job mainly because this is what I wanted to be when I was still a child to have a work in an office. That’s why it is normal for me to be far away from my family because I am the breadwinner and need to sacrifice in order to provide food on table of my family.

At least now, after reading the book, I know that I was just conditioned to be like this for a long time and I have a choice to recondition my mind to think like the rich. I am in the process and consistently working on to develop my mindset. I am once again dreaming and become a child again declaring to myself that I want to be financially free when I grow up.

Acceptance

2010-08-02T10:42:00.001-07:00

Things that happened
Things that are happening
Things that may happen
Things that need acceptance.

Past failures or mistakes
Our current situation
That might not go the way we planned it
And the future that holds no direction.

Learning from our failures and mistakes
Will help us to go thru the difficulties of today
And maybe we can mold the future
As we hope it may be.

Any failures or mistakes
Needs acceptance and courage
So that we can plan the future
And thus we can go on.

-June 2, 2004

RSA Animate - Drive: The surprising truth about what motivates us

2010-07-26T21:43:00.001-07:00

Go to School - Robert Kiyosaki

2010-07-22T08:58:00.001-07:00

Go to School from Rich Dad on Vimeo.

The Power of David's Leverage

2010-07-19T22:03:00.001-07:00

One of the meanings of this word leverage is this; doing more and more with less and less. I have experienced this thing not as a business owner but as an employee. I am a computer programmer and one of usual task is to process as many records as we can in a small amount of time. This means that it is better that we can process 1 million records in 1 hour than 50 thousand records in 2 hours. Or we used to process this manually; I think we can process only 10-20 records in 2 hours. This is the power of leverage and I know it is more rewarding for me if I can apply same thing for my own business right? :)

Yes, now I am working on to use the leverage of my mind to help me become financially free. If I can apply that kind of thinking for my employer, I should be responsible and committed enough to apply this on my own business.

For me, leverage also means using tools to achieve what we want. As Robert Kiyosaki’s Rich Dad said and what I have read from Bo Sanchez’s “How to Conquer Your Goliath”, David used a leverage called “slingshot” to beat goliath.

How about you, what is your tool to get your goal? What is your slingshot? What leverage is to you?

Dreaming Again...

2010-07-12T20:58:00.001-07:00

I am always dreaming of helping people and dreamt of building an orphanage when I retired. I donated from time to time to some of the orphanages such as Lakbay Diwa in Quezon City and Bahay ni San Jose (http://www.bnsjorphanage.org/) in San Antonio Nueva Ecija. I am not happy seeing the children there but I was always inspired seeing them fighting for a good life. Never before did I think that it is possible to live my dream now and not have to wait until I retired.

I am always thankful for my mother for raising us to be good person after my father died in 1986 when I was only 8 years old. This might be the reason why there is something in my heart that wanted to build an orphanage. I am always dreaming of building a foundation and name it after my mother because she’s really a caring one.

Now, I am committed to living this dream little by little. I’m started sourcing 200 pesos each monthly to 8 of my families in order for us to give 1 sack of rice to the orphanage near our place. It is I think is a small step but I will be making bigger steps by constantly doing these small steps. I am now happy knowing I am living my dream today and not tomorrow.

How about you, when do you want to start living for you dream?

Is it the money that motivates you to become rich?

2010-07-06T21:46:00.000-07:00

I always heard bad things about networking in the news and have attended few talks about it. I always heard people talked about money, that I can earn a lot of money on this business if I want to. That may also be the reason why I didn’t entertain this for a long period of time until I’ve read some Robert Kiyosaki’s Books such as Rich Dad Poor Dad, Cashflow Quadrant, Own Your Own Corporation, The ABCs of Building A Business Team That Wins, The Business School and many more.

These books opened my mind and heart that If I want to help more and more people which was always my dream, I need to build networks and not purely work. As Robert Kiyosaki’s Rich Dad said it, “Rich people build networks while poor people look for jobs”. And Bo Sanchez rephrased these words further and said, “Rich people build networks of trust.”. These became my motivation from then on to build my own network of trust in order for me to achieve my dream of helping more and more people.

How about you, what it your motivation why you want to be rich?

Let me illustrate this further help you decide.

If you have all the money in the world and you don’t have people to love, will you be happy?

Or you will be happy using your money as a tool or gift to help and bless more people?

Cashflow Quadrant - Robert Kiyosaki

2010-05-09T03:04:00.001-07:00

A Worthy Life - Happy Mother's Day!!!

2010-05-06T04:34:00.000-07:00

A Worthy Life

Nine months of bearing in her womb
Taking care of me every second
Hearing the heartbeat and the kick
With a smile on her face.

The time came for me to see the world
The happiest event she had ever told
The days and nights could not unfold
Every joy will never get old.

Every moment of the day after then
Patience, guidance, all she had given
Disobedience, arrogance, all she had forgiven
Showing love she had not forgotten.

Sacrifices and everything she will bear
Only to show that she cares
No matter how you dare
She will always be a mother.

But now on your day
Allow me to say to you
For the love you give me everyday
"Happy Mother's Day! MOTHER!!!".

Author: Edmon J. Eduardo
Created: March 30, 2004

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

2010-04-08T09:09:00.001-07:00

Rich Dad Poor Dad - Robert Kiyosaki

2010-04-01T09:45:00.000-07:00

I think it was almost 1.5 years ago when I first read Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki. It became an eye opener for me on for working smart rather than working hard. And how parents advice me such: Go to school, study hard and look for a better job. Eversince I read this book, I continue on reading and became a book addict on financial literacy matters.

Few lessons and realizations from this book.

1. Most of us are programmed to become employee.
2. There is such a Financial Intelligence and not only Mental Intelligence that I was used to.
3. Mind Your Own Business
-> No one will be responsible for our future but us. Not even the government and our employer.
4. The Rich Don't work for money.
5. Work to learn and not work to earn.
And Many more....
From this book, I realized that I should take an action to improve my financial intelligence.

Thus, until now I continue on improving this thru financial education.

Introduction

2010-04-01T07:37:00.000-07:00

Today, I commit myself on working towards abundance in life by joining Create Abundance 2020 Business Community. Join me on this journey and work for yourselves abundance as well! :)

Steve Jobs

2010-03-01T10:53:00.000-08:00

The Ten Rules For Being Human - Dr. Cherie Carter-Scott

2010-02-01T21:16:00.000-08:00

Dr. Cherie Carter-Scott's Rules of Life
http://www.drcherie.com/rules_for_being_human.php

Rule One - You will receive a body.

You may love it or hate it, but it will be yours for the duration of your life on Earth.

Rule Two - You will be presented with lessons.
You are enrolled in a full-time informal school called "life". Each day in this school you will have the opportunity to learn lessons. You may like the lessons or hate them, but you have designed them as part of your curriculum.

Rule Three - There are no mistakes, only lessons.
Growth is a process of experimentation, a series of trials, errors and occasional victories. The failed experiments are as much as a part of the process as the experiments that work.

Rule Four - The lesson is repeated until learned.
Lessons will be repeated to you in various forms until you have learned them. When you have learned them, you can go on to the next lesson.

Rule Five - Learning does not end.
There is no part of life that does not contain lessons. If you are alive, there are lessons to be learned.

Rule Six - "There" is no better than "here".
When your "there" has become "here" you will simply obtain another "there" that will look better to you than your present "here".

Rule Seven - Others are only mirrors of you.
You cannot love or hate something about another person unless it reflects something you love or hate about yourself.

Rule Eight - What you make of your life is up to you.
You have all the tools and resources you need. What you do with them is up to you.

Rule Nine - Your answers lie inside of you.
All you need to do is look, listen, and trust.

Rule Ten - You will forget all this at birth.
You can remember it if you want by unraveling the double helic of inner-knowing.

'If Life Is A Game, These Are The Rules' is essential reading if you are interested in behaviour, relationships, communications, and human personality. 'If Life Is A Game, These Are The Rules' is also commonly referenced book in the life-coaching industry. If you are interested in making the most of your life, and helping others do the same, buy 'If Life Is A Game, These Are The Rules'.

Bill Gates

2010-01-01T10:58:00.000-08:00