Posts Tagged ‘Entrepreneur’

The 8 Traits Good Investors Share

There are eight traits that most good investors share. These traits make it easy for them to not only know how to invest, but when to invest, or in some cases, when not to. Not every one of us have all traits, but the most of these that you can learn or develop, the better off you will be.

1. The first trait a good investor should have is knowing when to say “I Don’t Know.” This trait will save you money time after time. Many investors are afraid of looking stupid, and so when they don’t know something they act like they do instead, and of course, it often has disastrous results. Don’t be afraid to let others know when you don’t know something. Treat everything as a learning opportunity, and be prepared to listen and learn.
2. The second trait of a professional investor is knowing when to ask for help. Asking for help is hard for many people because they do not want to show any weaknesses or are afraid to show that they don’t know something. Not all of is can be experts at everything all of the time. Know when to ask for help, and don’t be afraid of asking for help or advice. A mentor is the perfect person to learn from. A good mentor is someone who can provide education, and opportunities to learn from because they have done what you want to do already, and if they are still active so much the better because you’ll be able to observe what they, how they do it, and be able to explain the reasoning behind the actions. A good mentor is priceless.
3. The third trait an investment professional should develop is having a knack for shopping. Being able to spot a bargain is a necessary trait for an investor. If you like to shop, chances are you’ll be good at finding good deals, and you’ll have fun doing so. You’ll have an easier time waiting for just the right buy at the price that will make it a true bargain. It requires patience, stamina and did I mention, patience. Yes, I did. Twice.
4. The fourth trait of a good investor is doing your homework. Don’t mean to bring up childhood nightmares, but doing your homework when you are an investor means being prepared. Being prepared means you’ll be able to take advantage of opportunities as they present themselves. People call that luck, and being prepared seems to always bring about good luck.
5. The fifth trait of a good investor is being risk-averse. Seemingly this would not be a good trait to have if you are an investor, but fear is good. Fear keeps you on your toes. The key for an investor is in not being paralyzed by fear. You, an an investor, must still act, but being a little afraid will help you by making sure you do your homework first. It will also help to take advantage of your patience. Investing is not for the weak-of-heart, or the impatient. Yes, it’s good to be able to take your shot, just make sure you have all your ducks in a row when you do.
6. The sixth trait an investment professional should have is being able to keep the ego in check. Resist the urge to brag or speak before anything is resolved. Often things will not go as planned, and you’ll have already spilled the beans on something. Make sure you keep the proper perspective, and thus, reap the rewards, but don’t count your chickens before they hatch.
7. The seventh trait of a good investor is having the ability to care and love their investments, and the people involved in those investments. The personal relational aspects of investing are important to maintain. At the heart of it all, the investment business is a people business. Often you find that the best investment you can make is in another person, whether that person is a mentor, an employee or a customer.
8. The eight and final trait of a good investor is having the ability to learn. Learn from your mistakes, or better yet, learn from the mistakes of others. Those types of learning experiences won’t hurt as much. Find an investment club, find a mentor, find a good investment broker, or better yet, find a friend. having someone to learn from will all the difference in the world in your career as an investor.

These eight traits will serve you well time after time. In addition to these eight character traits, make sure your credit is at its best. Having a good credit score is always important if you are trying to do anything that is financially related. It all ties in together when it comes to financial matters, and will almost always be looked at with any application to open an investment account, or when applying for a loan to invest in a business or real estate venture.

Sky Blue Credit Repair offers an awesome program that includes everything you need to improve your credit for a single low monthly fee. The Sky Blue program includes credit bureau disputes, debt validation, and comprehensive counseling services. The Sky Blue Credit Repair program is ideal for anyone interested in real and lasting credit improvement that is performed in an ethical, efficient and professional manner.

How To Find A Good Broker

In a previous article, we recommended getting to know a good real estate, stock or business broker as a source for education and ideas. Some of our readers have asked us how to tell whether the broker is good or not? Sadly, as in everything else there are some very good brokers, and others that are not so good.

1. The first thing you need to do in order to make sure you find a good broker is to ask for referrals. Ask around, and talk to people that have worked with the broker before, and see what kind of experience they had with the broker.
2. Secondly, as far as real estate brokers go, make sure you find an investment broker, and not just a plain old residential real estate broker. Those kinds of brokers will just want to sell you a house, and generally have no better idea of how money works than you do.
3. Thirdly, find a broker who is an investor, as well. This type of broker will be familiar with what you are trying to do, and may even be willing to mentor you.

The education that a mentor can provide will be the most valuable type of education you can possibly get. You’ll not only be able to learn first-hand by someone who has actually done what you want to do, but continues to do it, and this will give you the opportunity to learn first-hand by example.

What Can I Do To Become Financially Independent?

The first step to becoming financially independent is to educate yourself. Learn as much as you can about how money works in the real world. Keep in mind that some of what you have been taught regarding money may not be as true as you've been led to believe.

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Who or What is ROI?

ROI is not the name of a person. ROI stands for Return on Investment. The ROI is the second thing you should look for when buying or creating assets. The first thing we needed to do was to make sure we knew what an asset was, and that it met the definition of an asset.

We further determined that the asset, in order to be truly an asset, must put money in your pocket. Now we learn that the more money this asset puts in your pocket the better. That is why we look for what the return on our cost, or investment will be. In other words how hard this asset is working for us.

The kind of asset we want is a hard-working asset that keeps on going and growing putting more money in our pocket each time. A lazy asset that put less money in our pocket as time goes by, or worse, starts taking money out of our pocket, is one that we would like to avoid.

Now there are many ways to calculate cash flow. The differences in how to calculate this cash flow comes from the fact that there are many different things that we could calculate for. These variables, for the most part can be ignored, and we should try to keep it simple.

In this case, anything that gives us a return on our money greater than what we could make if left it in the bank, is a good ROI. This means that our money works harder for us out in this investment, whatever it may be, than lying around in the bank doing nothing, or very little.

An example of this method of calculating ROI would be if we went out and bought a small condo for $100,000. Furthermore, let’s say all-in-all it cost us $20,000 in down payment, closing costs, etc., to get into this condo. Once we have it on our possession, we rent it out, and every month we have $200 left over each month. This $200 is our cash flow coming into our pocket each month. This $200 each month equals to a $2400 amount per year, and represents a 12% cash-on-cash ROI. You take your $2400 (monthly cash flow) and divide it by $20000 (the amount of cash you invested). The result is 12%. 12% is definitely better than whatever amount the bank is giving out nowadays. In fact, it is way better than anything the bank could ever do. SO in this case is my money working harder for me? It is indeed..

The formula is not complicated. There are only two things to look at: How much cash you are investing? How much cash are you’re getting in return for your investment? That’s it. It is that simple. Keeping it simple let you concentrate on gauging just one thing: How hard is your money working for you?

What’s really important when starting a business?

Two of the primary concerns that should be foremost in your planning right from the start include tax planning, and protecting assets. The way you go about setting up your business initially, will have a great effect on how well you are able to deal with tax issues that will come up as your business grows, and how well you protect your assets, both personal and business.

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What is a Corporation, Part 2

Corporations also exist to help business owners gather resources. It is hard to do business on a large scale without sufficient resources. The corporation allows people to gather resources, and pool them with the resources of others people, and manage those resources with a centralized system that allows for more efficient, and therefore more profitable, use of those collective resources.

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Premyier…for Women by Women

Premyier focuses on fashion, business and technology for women by women. Premyier is featuring a series on starting your own business. They have an excellent series of articles talking about the basics of doing business, setting up your business, and what are some of the things that new or prospective business owners should be focusing on. The articles are easy-to-read, which is great because I hate reading business stuff that’s full of jargon. They do a pretty good job of keeping it simple.

Even though the site is geared towards women, the content seems pretty helpful and useful to a general audience, as well.  I am looking forward to reading more on the subject of structuring and organizing a business, and do look forward to more articles on the subject, soon.