Word of Advice
A goal without a plan is just a wish.
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (1900–1944)
French writer, poet, aristocrat, journalist, and pioneering aviator
The following should become part of your everyday personal and business life:
Stated differently:
• Always be aware of your business environment, including changing trends, competitors, pricing and accessibility to products and services, and your (and your business’s) ability to finance current business operations and possible future expansion.
• Consider what problems have occurred (or could occur), and strategize to immediately resolve all issues and concerns before they become serious impediments to the smooth running of your business.
• Then take immediate action to ensure that such issues have been resolved.
• Finally, ensure that actions are in place to keep such problems from reoccurring.
This book is designed to help you set up a solid business foundation and then to ensure that you continue to maintain that structure through well-planned strategies. You also need to be effective in your implementation of plans to achieve corporate objectives and goals. It is also pointless to achieve goals at the expense of financial stability.
After all, dozens of economic journals around the world in recent years have stated that entrepreneurship is the most prevalent source of global wealth, today and increasingly so in the future. It has been documented that entrepreneurs are found to accumulate wealth at a greater rate than in any previous decade. This highlights expert views that the growth of global wealth is now being driven by specifically small businesses.
In fact, wealth is being created twice as quickly in developing regions, such as Asia Pacific, Africa, South America, the former Eastern Bloc, and Middle East, where it takes such individuals an average of 12 years to accumulate wealth, compared to more developed markets such as the United States and Europe, where it takes an average of 28 years.
Starting a business is thus less risky than doomsayers proclaim, but the rate of success does increase exponentially when you have created an effective corporate structure to mirror international best-practice trends.
This comes with experience, skill, and dedication.