Anytime there is a new beginning, there are demands one of the demands of the New Year is the setting of vision& goals. What do you want to pursue this year?

Being sure of where you are going before embarking on a journey is a critical requirement for the success of the financial /Entrepreneurship journey. Without a clear definition of destination, stagnation is inevitable. Thinking is your most important work.

1. Have a Vision: what is your financial vision? Everything starts with an idea. Why is a vision important? Because if your heart cannot conceive it then your life can’t seize it. What you see, you seize what you don’t work at wont, workout.

• How you begin determine how you will end
• The quality of a foundation determines the integrity of the construction
• The force with which you start the year determines the speed at which you move in the rest of the year

What do you do with the vision? Hab. 2:1-3

Write it down;

 Make it plain by drawing a plan because what you can’t define you can’t find;

 Run with it.

We can also liken vision and goal setting to the process of childbirth.

It consists of 3 stages:

1. Conception: Seed fertilized/ begins as an idea conceived in your mind
2. Gestation: matures & muscle structure development / your mind goes to work visualizing the outcome, a plan gets developed and steps begin to be taken.
3. Delivery: Labour, baby arrives/labour pain comes through the form of hustle, discipline, hard work, focus, perseverance which all leads to you achieving your goals.

The question to ask is Are you Pregnant?

But there is a CRITICAL DIFFERENCE.

The day your baby is due is called EDD

Does every baby arrive on the EDD?

Does that mean EDD is not useful to have?

EDD is useful because:

• It determines the baby’s gestational age throughout pregnancy. so the baby’s growth can be tracked
• It provides a timeline for certain tests
• It gives you time to pick a name, plan a party, buy pampers, etc.

There is nothing you can do to speed up the EDD or slow it down. What will be will be.

However  when it gets to your vision & goals and giving birth to them, many people either take forever or never get to that stage——–Delivery.

The ability to deliver is your most important responsibility.

Many people remain in Gestation stage; they allow fear, procrastination, doubt, excuses to subjugate their goals and bury them. It is like being pregnant for 2, 5 10 years with the same vision, dreams and goals. The main reason that holds people back from achieving their goals is poor or non –existent execution. They do not want to deal with the labour pains.

Vision requires diligent labour.

There is no future without effort.

They want to arrive at and enjoy the abundant, delicious fruits of success without having to pay the price for it.

Life will only reward implementation and the better the implementation, the greater the rewards. So vision/ goals without action are meaningless.

While there is nothing you can do to expedite the childbirth, gestation process, there is so much you can do to accelerate your goal achievement process.

Your life becomes extraordinary only when you decide it will become extraordinary. Therefore decide it’s time to push, this is the only life you have got, and it’s in your best interest to get serious about upgrading your execution, skills and achieving your goals fast.

 

2. Financial Education: In this information age, financial education is essential. The greatest investment is investment in yourself. The average business person reads 60 books a year. That is average, how many books a year do you read? How many on money, business, etc.? You must understand words like cash flow, capital gains, etc. The true purpose of education is to give a person the power to take information and process it into knowledge. If you do not have financial education, you cannot process information. You do not know the difference between an asset or a liability, capital gains or cash flow, good investment from bad investment, good financial advice to bad one like the MMM Scheme. As the Bible says, My people perish from of a lack of knowledge.
3. Personal Development: This is very important in your journey of life. You must grow and be better  every day. Knowledge dignifies effort, and what will sustain the wealth you make is knowledge, so keep learning, keep working, keep networking.

There are answers in front. Don’t remain stagnant; anyone who will not be updated will be outdated. Knowledge fuels action.

You are not more than the worth of what you know.

The law of accumulation works with knowledge, it states that everything worthwhile in life is an accumulation nobody sees or appreciates .Everything accumulates overtime.

The law is important in the area of knowledge, money, and experience.

4. Mindset: Your mindset will determine your failure or success. As a man thinketh, so he is.

Develop a prosperity consciousness.

5. Timing: there is a time and a season for everything. If you miss an opportunity or a timing to do something, it is difficult to regain it so learn to seize opportunities.
6. SWOT Analysis: What are your strengths that you can earn from or partner with?

What Weaknesses do you need to work on?

What opportunities surround you which you can leverage on?

What threats do you need to eliminate or minimize.

7. Saving: Saving money is key to your greatness, it starts from there. Saving money is a discipline, and the law of attraction is activated by saved money, you will notice that the more you save, the more you will attract from sources that you cannot now predict. Once you begin to accumulate money, then it is time to invest the money. Know that money is seasonal, so learn to pay attention to your seasons of plenty. Adopt the 10% rule.
8. Learn to start small and grow big; don’t despise little beginnings.
9. Identify value chains and fit in: I started from lessons, Agriculture, Information Technology, Fashion, Education, and Telecommunications.
10. Hard work: There is no substitute for hard work. Be ready to work hard.
11. Spend less than you make
12. Learn to collaborate
13. Knowledge and Use of Technology: Technology is going to change all our lives so we must learn it. If you are 40 above, then you were not born in/with it, you must learn it. Used for payments, Business, Training, Preaching, etc.

Only ½ of the workforce will be required and used for full time because they will be knowledge workers, paid twice and expected to do 3 times the work. There will be no jobs but customers so brace up. We already have Uber, Amazon, Air B&B, Legal Ask Me, Health Ask me, MPOS, etc.

14. Use of Data Wisely and Be Current: The news and information you get daily, how do you use it, analyze it, break it down, etc. How many have read the 2018 budget?
15. Be Innovative: E.g. the NYSC guy that made a pack of Garri, Sugar and groundnut.

Find a gap, be a solution provider and it will make money for you.

16. Seek Out Mentors: It is cheaper and faster for you. There are those that have walked that path, learn from their experiences and do not reinvent the wheel.
17. Be Mindful of Your Inner Circle: Who you listen to determines how high you fly. Eagles flock with Eagles, Chicken with Chickens.
18. Kick Start Your Retirement Plans: Invest for the future (College Education, Retirement Home, etc.)Can you afford to retire now?
19. Build Giving Into Your Financial Plan: It is a powerful and effective way to change lives.

Make an impact through your giving.

Impact is greater than income

20. Put God First In Everything: Learn how to hear from him.

 

In Conclusion

There are 2 ways to make money

1. Business: This is anything you do that brings in income.
2. Investment: Anything that your money does that brings in income.

You can have both working for you because there are 3 things you get paid for in life

• What you do
• What you know
• What you become
• Always do an annual or regular review of your finances. This is necessary because your needs and goals change, family situation change, jobs change, children are born, some go to the University, etc. You must know where you stand financially.
• What is your net worth?

To determine your net worth, list and add up all your assets, i.e.  What you own, including cash, savings, home, Gold etc.

Subtract your liabilities or what you owe e.g. debts, mortgage, loans, car loans, etc. from your assets. If your debts exceed your asset, you need to make adjustments.

To set your financial Goals:

Divide them into Short / Midterm /Long Financial goals. In doing this, take car, don’t ignore your debts, getting out of them is key to taking control of your finances. It will take some sacrifice but is worth it. It will then free you to invest in or start a business.

The goal of investing is to put your money to work in one or more types of investment vehicles in the hopes of growing your money over time.

Investment is about working smarter not harder. It is a way to set aside money to work for you while you are busy with life so you can reap the rewards in the future.

There are different ways to invest; each has its advantages and disadvantages.

Understanding how each work is critical to success. Invest in what you know.

No one investing strategy fits everyone.

You must know yourself.

• What are your objectives?
• Why are you investing? End result?
• Know your risk tolerance
• And time horizon

Your investment decisions should be based on your comfort level and your willingness to devote time to researching your choices.

Portfolios/ Diversification:

Have an investment portfolio, i.e. a collection of investments. This is to help you achieve your goals and also provide a certain degree of diversification, so that you are not putting all your eggs in one basket. It could be Stocks, Real estate, Agriculture etc.

Different strategies work for different investors and different situations.

Have a plan and strategy in mind before investing your money, as some will do well when others might not.

Your journey is just beginning, however your challenge is to keep learning and stay informed.

Always ask yourself – Am I still pregnant, afraid of labour or I can do all things through God who strengthens me.

Top Business/Investment Opportunities include:

• Mutual Funds e.g. ARM , Cash craft
• Stocks and Bonds; Treasury Bills
• Real Estate
• Dry Cleaning/Laundry
• Food Business/Drinks/Small chops/Bakery
• Agriculture Value Chain: Virtual Farming; Commodity trading; Farming; Animal husbandry; Plantation; Rice ; Piggery;  Snailery, Cattle, Cassava etc.
• ICT/Telecoms Value Chain: Repair and Retail
• Education Value chain
• Transport; Haulage; Uber
• Manufacturing: Toothpick, Pencil, Paper bag
• Processing: Shea butter, Tomato, Cassava, Dried Fruit, etc.
• Packaging
• Warehousing e.g. Yams, Maize, etc.
• Garden/ Flowers/Nurseries
• Auto Mechanic/ Spare parts
• Fashion/Clothing/ Uniforms
• Pure/ Bottled Water production
• Oil and Gas
• Export of Agro –products e.g. Chili pepper, Ginger, Sesame seed, Bitter Kola, Garri, Cocoa, cashew nuts, palm oil, etc. you can start by selling locally
• Inland Waterway
• importation