Why is wealth management so important? With good financial planning, you’ll be able to avoid possible financial troubles which can happen to you anytime and save more money for the future. 

Thanks to the rising cost of living and increasing life expectancy, the idea of retiring at 55 is now a fantasy. We work so hard most of our lives – only to retire broke?

Today, we live in a world where we want things instantly – with a click of a button! Money, however, is one thing that does not abide by that rule. 

So it would help if you manage your wealth wisely. Learn these 5 transformative tips you can use to get started – so you never have to worry about money again!

1. Think like a millionaire

Your beliefs become your thoughts. Your thoughts become your words. Your words become your actions. Your actions become your habits. Your habits become your values. Your values become destiny.   

– Mahatma Gandhi

Your mindset affects your financial status. 

For example: “Money is the root of evil”, “You have to have money to make more money”, “You have to work hard to make a lot of money.” 

These negative beliefs can influence you to make decisions that result in temporary satisfaction, rather than working towards long term goals.

Therefore, to unlock your potential for success, change your mindset by empowering yourself with positive affirmations about money. Tell yourself this twice, 5-10 minutes a day, so that you reset your mind, and change your beliefs to that of a millionaire.

Click here if you want to know how to build a healthy money mindset that will help you achieve more financial goals. 

2. Commit to a goal 

Getting rich doesn’t happen overnight. Set yourself a SMART goal that is attainable and realistic within a particular time, and do regular ‘checks and balances’ to make sure that you are on track to achieving your financial goals.

In order to focus on your financial goals, your ability to say no to any unnecessary expenses is a crucial skill. Improving your emotional intelligence will help you to stop buying something you don’t need.  

Over time, you’ll realise that every time you say yes to something you don’t really want, you are actually saying no to the things you do want – that is how you manage your wealth effectively. 

3. Be financially conscious

Put it down in black and white – your current assets and liabilities, and how you intend to grow your assets and decrease your liabilities. 

Set up a budget – ask yourself, do you really need a new car right now – or could the money be better invested? 

By setting up and following the budget, you will not overspend on unnecessary luxury items that require monthly instalment – in other words, debt. 

Remember the rich do not spend money on assets that generate negative cash flow. 

You may think that buying a house is an asset- but if you don’t rent it out and you have to pay multiple instalments over time – it is still generating debt.

Get out of debt and start investing. Save at least 10% of your income for you to accumulate capital for investments. This brings us to the next point.

4. Generate multiple sources of income 

You have limited time – so find more sources of income that works for you. As they say, investing is like paying your future self, and it is a good way to start. 

Whether it may be investing in stocks, shares or even cryptocurrency, having multiple sources of income ensures that your eggs are not all in one basket, so if one falls through, you have a plan B. 

Want some inspiration? Click here to creating multiple sources of income. 

5. Get educated

Before you start anything, you have to do your research first. Invest in getting the knowledge to start. 

This may be expensive, but as Warren Buffet once said, “there is one investment that supersedes all: investing in yourself. ” 

Learn from successful entrepreneurs like Warren Buffet, Robert Kiyosaki etc. Well, not just that. Learning from other people’s mistakes will help minimise your losses and maximise resources. 

Once you have these skills – who can stand in your way?

Now you’ve learned the 5 transformative tips on how to manage your wealth better in 2020, to achieve your financial goals. Do you want more guidance with real strategies that have changed over 130,000 of lives?

Join the Money Mastery Mentorship Programme to find out more information. 

This programme has not only changed thousands of people’s lives but also created a huge community of people who has various multiple sources of income’ interests and business opportunities. 

The graduates of this programme include:

• Ahyat Ishak – Founder Of Pejuang Hartanah Community. He started his property investment journey for more than a decade, and he became a property millionaire before the age of 30. 
• Jerome Tan – Founder of PIP Holdings Pte Ltd, Singapore’s leading property investor and owner of over 100 properties, also an author of ‘From Bankruptcy To Multi-Millions In 7 Years’.
• Dr Katalina – a Certified Aesthetic Doctor with the American Academy of Aesthetic Medicine, Model, Actress, Singer & Brand Ambassador. 

Click here if you want to be part of them. 

Recently, my boss, CEO of Quest MasteryAsia Group KC See shared a few handy tips for career development in our staff meeting. He gave us some career development advice and tips to further it.

This week, he shared “5 ways on how to climb the corporate ladder quickly”. I found it useful so I decided to share it with everyone today!

Tips 1: Learn how to become a leader even if you’re not a team leader yet.

Knowing how to work with other people, be it your colleagues, managers or clients is how you build your leadership skills.

Leadership is all about influence. If you can influence, motivate and inspire people to work with you towards a common goal or end result, you’re on the right track to be a good leader.

Another critical skill you can build when you work with others is your communication skills. People with fluent communication skills are able to convince others, a skill no less important when getting others to work with you.

Tips 2: Improve your EQ – interpersonal and intrapersonal skills.

When comes to leadership, EQ  Interpersonal skills are how you can work with others or work in a team while intrapersonal skills are knowing and managing your own emotions.

To be a leader, you need to know how to manage your emotions when working with others. Instead of complaining or bad-mouthing someone, you should focus on achieving the end result. Also, a side effect of the constant complains is an increase in negative emotions at the atmosphere.

Negative energy will, therefore, affect your reputation in an organisation, as you will be seen as a constant complainer and therefore a negative person. People will avoid you.

Mastering your internal world is also one of the key factors of becoming a successful entrepreneur.

Tips 3: Work with difficult people even you don’t like them.

If you can work with the most difficult person, then you can work with anyone.

In an anecdote, KC spoke of an ex-staff, a wise bookkeeper who dealt easily with what was the most difficult person in the company.

He advised that one will always meet people with “difficult” characters along our path. Take it as a challenge with a positive mindset, learn how to work better with others, even people with so-called “difficult” characters and you’ll be able to work with anyone.

Tips 4: You don’t need to know everything except know how to lead others.

If you want to climb your corporate ladder faster, or even be a business leader in future, you must understand that you will not know everything or possess excellent technical skills in every single role.

There will be many others who have more knowledge and better technical skills than you. However, the key to being a successful leader is not knowing more, but the ability to lead people to work together towards the common goal.

Remember, you can’t learn everything, but you can learn how to gather different people who possess diverse skills to work together.

You can also read: 5 Ways To Be A Successful Leader 

Tips 5: Willing to know what others are doing and help them when needed.

A company will not grow without a team of people who take not only the responsibilities of their own jobs but also, care about others.

If you can share your thoughts and advice or even extend help to others when needed, you own a crucial characteristic to being a good leader. (To be clear: This is not about mindlessly helping other people to do their work!)

Giving guidance and ideas will improve your reputation and increase your chances of a promotion.

So there you have it. To climb the corporate ladder faster than others, make the leap from employee to a leader, move from specialist to generalist, learn how to communicate with others, including “difficult” people.

I hope everyone learnt something from these tips. Leave your comment and share your thoughts with us!

This article credit to https://www.hootyowl.com/climb-the-corporate-ladder-faster-5-tips/

You never know when that income source may falter. Perhaps the company goes out of business, or they cut your pay, or you get fired. With a single source of income, you may find yourself without income. 

Simply put, more income streams equal more security. With multiple sources of income, you can avoid putting all your eggs in one basket and use several streams of cash to grow rich.

As the master trainer of Money Mastery Mentorship Programme, I’m a big believer in the concept of creating multiple streams of income. 

I strongly believe that when people create multiple streams of income, they will achieve the financial goals they have dreamed about as well as the quality of life they have always wanted. That’s why I develop the Money Mastery Mentorship Programme which has successfully changed over 130,000 of lives since 1997. 

In this article, I’m going to share with you the five benefits of creating multiple streams of income. 

• Get Rid Off All Financial Concerns

Personally, I define total wealth as the ability to survive in the future if your income comes to a halt unexpectedly. Possessing total wealth will get rid off all concerns like financial turmoil, political instability, sudden layoffs and retirement plans.

How to attain total wealth?

The best method is by having multiple sources of income credited to your account daily until your savings can support you for a lifetime.

• Control of Your Financial Situation 100%

If you only depend on one source of income, which is your full-time job, then you are putting your financial control and your future fate in the hands of your employer. 

Considering the changes that are happening, you want to be 100% ready for any possibilities just in case if anything happens, you still have other sources of income you can rely on to make a living.

• Build A Money Making Machine

The money-making machine, also known as passive income is a concept I’ve talked about that functions to continuously provide an income forever. 

Examples of money-making machines include properties that you collect rent from, shares that you get dividends from, the profit you earn from the goods you sell online or the fees paid from companies to advertise on your website.

However, how well your money-making machines operate to provide daily income depends on how much time, effort and resources you contribute to building it.

Moreover, if money-making machines could guarantee you total wealth, why are there people that never have bothered to build their own? The answer is simple; because they end up as someone else’s money-making machine. 

However, building a money-making machine doesn’t mean that you have to quit your job. Instead of resigning, you should still look for multiple sources of income by making investments in properties, stocks, internet, anything that can earn you passive income.

If you want to know how to build your own money-making machine which can help you generate more passive income, join our Money Mastery Community now!

• Multiple Streams of Income Increase Your Financial Security

Nothing’s better than the peace of mind you feel when you aren’t occupied with concerns regarding your income and not making ends meet. If emergencies happen to like a wiring problem in your house or your car’s engine needs a replacement, you won’t have to panic and agonize on where to look for money.

Money, if it does not bring you happiness, will at least help you be miserable in comfort.

– Helen Gurley Brown

You can also read: Why Everyone Needs To Build Multiple Sources Of Income

• Freedom of Life Choices

Creating money-making machines allow you to have more choices in what you want to do in life. Working under an employer comes with several restrictions like going for holidays or easily taking a day off just because you are mentally drained. 

Once you commit to a job, sometimes your hobbies and the things that make you happy needs to be put aside so that you can earn for a living which could have a negative toll on our mental and physical health.

According to a survey that I’ve done in the last 22 years, I gave out surveys across 14 cities in Asia to find out whether employees wish they’re doing something else than going to work. As expected, more than 50% of the employees agreed.

How To Create Multiple Streams of Income

Now, you know the importance and benefits of creating multiple sources of income. The next question is, how can you create multiple streams of income?

Join the Money Mastery Mentorship Programme to find out how. 

This programme has not only changed thousands of people’s lives but also created a huge community of people who has various multiple sources of income’ interests and business opportunities. 

The graduates of this programme include:

• Ahyat Ishak – Founder Of Pejuang Hartanah Community. He started his property investment journey for more than a decade, and he became a property millionaire before the age of 30. 
• Jerome Tan – Founder of PIP Holdings Pte Ltd, Singapore’s leading property investor and owner of over 100 properties, also an author of ‘From Bankruptcy To Multi-Millions In 7 Years’
• Dr Katalina – a Certified Aesthetic Doctor with the American Academy of Aesthetic Medicine, Model, Actress, Singer & Brand Ambassador. 

Click here if you want to be part of them. 

It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you’ll do things differently.

— Warren Buffett

YESTERDAY, a very interesting thing happened to us. A group of MasteryAsia staff members went out for lunch together at the nearby kopitiam. 

As everyone went on to buy or ordered their lunches from the various stalls dotting the shop, one of them decided to order char koay teow for lunch from an older man running a stall around the corner. 

Paying little attention during the rush hour, the stall owner promptly forgot about the order, causing one of us to wait for over half an hour before he remembered the order! 

This led to an unhappy staff member, hungry for their lunch and a general agreement between in the group over the lacklustre service. 

The stall owner, sensing that he had an unhappy customer at his hands and knowing that the fault was entirely his own, decided to offer humble apologies and even a small token discount for the meal in order to soften the mistake made. 

The apology and discount soothed angry tempers and made such impression upon the group that talk of that simple act went on for hours afterwards. More than that, as demonstrated by that incident, was the inspiration and catalyst for a new article about service and going beyond for your customers. 

As it stood, there is a threefold lesson to be had.

1. Are you providing good customer service to your customer every step of the way? 

Think back to the last time you received bad or subpar quality service from a business. Remember the times that you had that you, as the customer, felt when receiving said product or service. 

Perhaps your product is the best there is out in the market. It is perfectly tailored to your customer’s exact wants and needs and you know you have a winning product on your hands.

However, no one likes to be on the receiving end of bad service, and a business that provides said service points to a lack of customer-oriented focus. A business exists because they are here to fulfil a need, and customers can and will reject businesses that do not prioritise that need, as shown by a report from eMarketer. 

Great customer service can overcome terrible marketing, but it’s incredibly difficult to replace poor customer service when your customers are no longer there.

So many newer, smaller businesses can stand to remember the old adage that the customer is king, and tailor their business approach to fit their customers. Many, in an effort to discard older truisms and cut corners, forego the most important aspect of business – the customers’ needs and wants. 

Unconsciously or not, the char koay teow seller had done the following to perfection and created success for himself. 

1. Established a rapport with his base 
2. When he failed to understand their needs, via their need for speedy delivery of their lunch, he kept communicating with them after in order to understand their needs. 
3. He had observed an unhappy customer and decided to do something about it. This leads to the second point. 

Want to know how to run a business with excellent customer service? Find out how here

2. What steps are you taking to retain existing customers and attract new ones to you?

In the same example, the seller had made mistakes in his order, causing a long wait and an unhappy customer. Most businesses, when faced with an irate customer with genuine grievances and issues, would rather ignore the problem and hope it goes away. 

While that is one way, the result is the loss of future businesses. 

Rare is the customer that repeatedly returns for bad service, especially when competing businesses are within arms reach. After all, why would they return when there are businesses who will give them what they want with the appropriate service? 

An article by providesupport.com states that after receiving bad service, 56% of individuals will never use a company again and 25% of people will actually recommend their social circle to not use the business. 

That is a whopping 1 out 4 individuals, all over poor customer service! 

Fortunately, the seller had quickly identified the cause and made a genuine effort to engage his customer on their terms and provided additional value to make up for his shortcomings. 

The result is not only a happy customer, but a group of people that had seen firsthand of his excellent service. The net result is an increased likelihood of a returning customer and would-be customers as well. 

Third and most importantly, a business needs to think of the final question. 

You can also read: 9 tips to be a successful entrepreneur!

3. What additional values are you providing to your customers in addition to the product offered?

While we certainly don’t expect every business to adopt the same business model, they must provide additional value to their customers in order to retain them. In this case, the seller offered apologies and a small discount as appropriate to the situation, turning the situation around. 

This additional gesture is the additional value provided by a business and it works to great effect. All businesses need to stand out in the crowd and good service coupled with a personal apology certainly does go a long way in providing value to an ordinary plate of noodles. 

 So what has your business done for your customers lately? 

These are things that every business owner must think of when running a business, and like the char koay teow uncle, must be able to provide additional value to their customers in order to run their business successfully!

Be like the char koay teow uncle. 

Add value to your business.

As businesses adapt to newer ways of selling and retaining their customers, older and antiquated ways of running a business is no longer applicable. No one can know everything but sometimes, an outside perspective, an older mentor who has been through the entrepreneurial journey is an invaluable source of wisdom and knowledge to tap upon. 

KC See, serial entrepreneur of over 34 years, is one such person. Possessing a business acumen unmatched anywhere else, he runs a number of successful businesses across the region. He is most excited to help businesses redefine their business paradigm to meet the new breed of customers. 

Click here to find out how KC can help you grow and run a SMARTER business. 

But if reading a book can turn you into a millionaire, the streets would be full of them. 

Don’t get me wrong, I am not asking you not to read, but it is obvious that it’s just not enough.

Go to any hotel conference these days and you are bound to stumble across a money-making seminar of some sort, from FOREX trading to stock options to internet marketing. Yet, people, in general, are not getting richer. So what is the problem?

It would not be inaccurate to say that as much as 70% of the attendees that went to all these three-day seminars go home and do nothing. These events aren’t cheap, yet many are not applying what they learnt.

Why is that? 

It isn’t the fault of these seminars. I don’t mean that you shouldn’t go to these events. I believe that most of these seminars teach you things that do work if you put it into action. 

Take Action If You Want To Be A Millionaire

So what is the reason for nonaction? 

The answer is obvious. It’s easy to acquire the knowledge but if knowledge is all you need, then all the professors in the world will be very rich. It is only knowledge that we put into action that determines the results.

Unfortunately, changing your financial status requires more than just a three-day seminar. Certainly, more than just book acquired knowledge. It simply requires action, educated action. 

Without follow-through and support after attending these seminars, the information remains theoretical – a nice manual and lots of notes taken, but no ability or discipline to make a real transformation of beliefs, habits and results. 

Most seminars lack follow-ups such as regular coaching (telephone calls from thousands of miles away don’t count!) and support groups such as masterminding.

Join a community that will connect you with people who want to build a solid financial foundation for long-term success. Take action now!

Leave Your Comfort Zone 

Why won’t people take action to change their financial habits and therefore their results? 

The reason is quite obvious – most of us are still within our comfort zones. Humans by nature possess a strong resistance to change. 

We don’t get out of our comfort zone easily – our comfortable jobs that we really have no passion for, our work that some of us dread going to every day that isn’t giving us the results that we desire.

This resistance is so strong that it sometimes defies logical reasoning that we give ourselves reasons for not making the changes. We blame, we justify and we make excuses; no time, no money and know how. 

Why won’t we get out of our comfort zones and overcome our resistance to change? 

I believe it is because most of us have a fear of taking risks. 

Conquer Your Fears of Taking Risks

If we have something going on in our life that is okay, not great but reasonably good, some would not want to rock that boat and take the risk.

In fact, some people are so risk-averse to a point of having no ability to take any risk of any kind. But if we think about it, we have only one life. 

If we decide to make our life meaningful and fulfilling, why would anyone not do something that would make him or her happy? Why wouldn’t we take that risk? Of course, I am not asking you to take all kinds of risk. 

Any risk that we take must be calculated and educated. Learn before we jump in. Don’t take more risk than you can afford to lose. But you must take the risk. 

Every decision we make comes with some risk of some kind. Not taking any risk is like not making any decision at all. We end up procrastinating life’s decisions.

I like to say that to me, the biggest pain in life is the pain of regret – the regret of not making the decision to do something until it is too late.  In my years of helping people to achieve their financial goals, this remains my biggest challenge. 

As some might say, “No guts, no glory.” Think about this: “Are the rich a majority or minority?”

We all know the answer; the rich are a minority. 

So the question is if that is the case why people follow the majority? 

I learned a long time ago that successful people are people who would do things that ordinary people would not do. 

So it is really that simple… you cannot really be truly rich and successful doing what everyone else is doing. You have to do what most ordinary people won’t do; take action and take some risk. 

You can also read: Why Everyone Needs To Build Multiple Sources Of Income 

Not Luck Made You A Millionaire 

The common responses to the question “why isn’t everyone a millionaire “is the “no opportunity” or simply “no Luck”. It is an easy excuse and it is a SAD excuse. 

Denzel Washington, the actor echoed age-old wisdom when he said, “Luck is when an opportunity comes along and you are prepared for it. So if one is not prepared and when luck comes either you cannot keep it and maximise it or you simply can’t secure it.”

Indeed there are people who are “Lucky” and either secure some opportunities or simply a windfall of some kind. 

But time and again, we hear of people who made the money fast through chance and will also lose the money equally fast. They cannot retain their “lucky” wealth. 

So even if opportunity falls on you but if one is not “prepared” it will not be yours. I often say that opportunity is not seen with the eyes. It is seen with the mind.

Half a glass empty is also seen as half a glass full. We can all see the same thing but we will interpret it differently. Some of us will choose to see it full. Some will see it as half empty. 

So if your mind is “not prepared”, it will always be seen as empty and barren of opportunity. It could be right in front of our eyes and yet we won’t see. Some choose to buy luck. Buy the numbers and sit there to wait for money to fall down from the sky. Good luck to you.

So why isn’t everyone a millionaire, well, most people don’t take action to get out of their comfort zone and they don’t take risks. And when the opportunity does come they are not prepared.

Start your journey by joining a community – the Money Mastery community. 

Having mentored and coached over 120,000 people from all walks of life for over 20 years, there is nothing more I enjoy than helping my students achieve financial independence through a personalised wealth creation system designed according to an individual’s passion and strengths. 

I believe that everyone, regardless of income status, can achieve financial independence. Some of my past students, like Ahyat Ishak, a property investor and now a noted financial advocate, have gone on to achieve great things. Others, like Jerome Tan, have clawed their way from being bankrupt to a multimillionaire. 

Here are a few of my students’ portfolios;

• Ahyat Ishak – Founder Of Pejuang Hartanah Community. Having started his property investment journey more than a decade ago, he became a property millionaire before the age of 30. 
• Jerome Tan – Founder of PIP Holdings Pte Ltd, Singapore’s leading property investor and owner of over 100 properties, Jerome was famously known as the man who was a bankrupt before becoming a millionaire. He is also an author of ‘From Bankruptcy To Multi-Millions In 7 Years’.
• Dr Katalina – a Certified Aesthetic Doctor with the American Academy of Aesthetic Medicine, is also a famous model, actress, singer & brand ambassador. 

It is a matter of doing it. 

Click here if you want to be part of them. 

The number of trainers is increasing, primarily with the deception of many who call themselves professional trainers despite not being certified or not trained specifically for it.

It appears as if the capability to become a highly paid Certified Professional Trainer is only by having a fraction of knowledge on a subject matter. Therefore, it’s critical for you to aim to be the best in what you do. 

Listed down below are the 8 important traits to having what it takes to become an eminent guru:

1. Be Competent in Your Field

If you want to train a crowd of people on a subject matter or if you want to attract a greater number of people to sign up your coaching session at least, building up your credibility is the way to go. 

The way to attain your credibility is through enhancing your knowledge in the area of your expertise, or even showing others that you know what you are talking about. You want to be able to answer questions from your audiences, particularly the unanticipated ones. 

Nothing shows your credibility better than knowing more than what you are espousing at that moment. 

2. Strengthen Your Presentation Skills

It’s common for some audiences to sit through dull presentations while a trainer languidly paces through slides with minimal effort. Even if the audience were excited to learn at the beginning, bad training sessions can kill any enthusiasm they may have had as the audiences soon start zoning out.

Nonetheless, training doesn’t have to be boring. To keep things fresh and maximise the chances of gaining and holding your audience’s attention, try to improvise on your teaching style by strengthening your presentational skills. 

Be different and bold with your training material. Don’t regurgitate old formats; have fun with different formats of teaching. Your training skills will be one of the key criteria to determine whether you can be a highly paid Certified Professional Trainer.

Moreover, adopt good communication skills. A good facilitator encourages open communication by ensuring inclusion whereby each member can participate and feel involved. Also, scan for non-verbal cues through behavioural observations to ensure your audience are not bored and understand what you’re saying. At the end of the training, provide a conclusion and paraphrases for clarification of what you’ve taught.

Good communication skills also encompass the ability to be a good speaker to convey your message strategically. It’s normal to get some words wrong or stutter due to nervousness.

Take for instance, Dato’ Sri Dr KC Lee, founder and chairman of the Majestic Group of Companies who made his mark as an inbound travel provider and operator, with a focus on highlighting Malaysia on the international stage as the world’s premier travel destination. 

As his company grew, he found himself having to give speeches to his employees and audiences alike, locally and abroad. This presented a challenge for him as he could not articulate his thoughts well and found himself to be an unimpressive speaker.

In June 2018, he decided to join the Certified Professional Trainers (CPT) and enrolled in its mandarin intake. The programme managed to upgrade himself into becoming an international speaker.

3. Find Your Niche

Be selective in the topics of training that you offer, if you want to become a highly paid Certified Professional Trainer. 

Choose your field of expertise, then narrow down what is the niche that you want to be known for in the marketplace. Make it something unique that people have a demand for. There’s no use if your training is one in a million but nobody is interested in it.

One of the world’s foremost Hospitality speaker and trainer who started his journey by joining Certified Professional Trainers (CPT), Jonathan Low, used a niche of hospitality, an industry he specialised a lot in for the last 20 years. He started by focusing on developing a lot of sales, service and leadership within the hospitality space which is his expertise and from there, continue to grow into different industries.

Find a niche and think about where that niche is going to be for you and how it expands for you to master other niches, hence providing more training and more profit in return.

There’s no use in becoming a Jack of all trades but you’re not well grasped on a niche. These days, most people aren’t looking to learn about hospitality as a general topic. Instead, they would rather dive into the specifics of a field.

4. Learn Marketing

One of the problems trainers are facing nowadays is the inability to market themselves strategically. They have a challenge in selling their product, themselves as a resource and their solution to organisations with staff that need training.

Marketing yourself is as important as your skills and knowledge. Without marketing to help you boost your customers, you won’t be able to use your expertise to its full potential. Learn about marketing and be comfortable in seeing how other successful trainers are doing it as well. 

To be a highly paid Certified Professional Trainer, you must learn how to market yourself, in order to speak to a larger group of audience. You have a lot to offer that could be marketed. You just need the knowledge to start somewhere.

Click here to find out more if you want to know how to market yourself to become a highly paid Certified Professional Trainer. 

5. Measure and Deliver Results

When you attend training programmes, what do you hope to achieve? 

To thrive in your business you need to measure and deliver results. Highly-paid Certified Professional Trainers that are often getting invited to give training consistently are those that can help organisations measure and support it with the delivery of results. 

The more frequent you can measure and deliver results of your coaching to individuals or companies, the more demand people will have of you. Produce exceptional results that persuade organisations to constantly come back to you if they want someone to train their staff effectively.

Stay in touch with your trainees so that they can share with you their success and take that as an advantage to make them as your testimonials.

6. Keep Gaining New Knowledge

Being an expert in your chosen field doesn’t stop you from constantly gaining knowledge. 

Let’s say you are an expert in the hospitality field, venture out into sales or the customer service aspect of the industry you’re already an expert in. This way, you could have multiple niches and provide more training.

Jonathan Low, for instance, found his niche in the hospitality industry. However, he continued to equip himself with knowledge on sales, customer service, leadership and he makes sure to learn something new every day.

What’s more, many starters stop midway where they have learned an abundance, but they never step into the next stage; becoming a trainer. Learning is important but if you spend the whole time preparing for years, never implementing your training business, you will never come close to success eventually.

Don’t forget to keep a good attitude. You could have broad knowledge and amazing speaking skills, but that does not make you a successful guru if you are not passionate enough to wake up every day and impart new knowledge to people who are eager to learn and made the sacrifice to spend a huge amount of money to listen to what you have to say.

You can also read: 6 Benefits of Becoming a Certified Professional Trainer

7. Think, Act, and Go Global

The marketplace doesn’t have to be restricted to the country you’re residing in. Never reject offers coming from different countries and have the courage to offer your unique service to people from various countries where they might not have in their country yet.

For instance, Jonathan Low, one of the world’s foremost Hospitality speaker and trainer who joined Certified Professional Trainer (CPT) community from Malaysia who took the offer of giving training for Indonesian organisations in the hospitality industry.

Going global presents a golden opportunity for you to meet new people from all over the world which indirectly expands your international network. This will grant a huge opportunity to build relationships with big corporate figures and grow your business even further.

8. Serve it Forward

Serving it forward is a mindset that whatever you do, you do it without expecting to receive anything in return.

To have the mindset of serving it forward, it must be your ultimate goal to be genuine in helping people make productive changes. As long as you are making a difference in somebody’s life, you will become a respected trainer, someone that is going to be called upon by countless organisations.

Make it a mission statement in each of your training, speaking and coaching intervention to help your trainees improve their performance individually and as an organisation.

Once you’ve mastered these 8 keys, you’ll be at the top of the ladder in your field of expertise and become a highly paid Certified Professional Trainer. Be mindful, the most important step you need to execute first is discovering a niche from your area of expertise. From there, you will be able to plan on starting your training business.

If you’d like to join the success of Jonathan Low and KC Lee and generate more income, sign up now with CPT to get help in finding your niche and learn the do’s and don’ts in flourishing your business. 

The CPT course has also helped many done the following: 

1. Train and certify more than 1,200 professional trainers from over 20 different countries, from Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, all the way to the UAE.
2. Transformed their financial and personal lives, with many getting paid up to USD2,000 per training day.
3. Travel the world and conduct training for organisations, institutions, banks, multinational companies for CEOs and directors.
4. Getting paid handsomely over and over again doing what they love best.

CPT has assisted many people in achieving their dreams, and it’s time to chase yours.

Click here to find out more. 

As everyone is aware, every time the government announces the budget, that means there will be changes in policies as well as governmental directions as well as emphasis would be for the country

If you are an entrepreneur and business owner or you are intending to go into business, it is very important that you might want to be aware of what are some of the things in the budget that may affect you or provide you with opportunities.

The Budget 2020 emphasises on spurring growth and investments into the country, with a myriad of incentives for all levels of businesses, from MNCs to SMEs; employers to employees; women, youths and returning job seekers. 

A Very SME-focused Budget

This year’s budget further favours SMEs, startups and newer forms of entrepreneurship like social enterprises and digital entrepreneurs. What are the business opportunities that you can grab in the Budget 2020? 

Here are some ideas shared below by KC See, CEO of Quest MasteryAsia Group Sdn Bhd, a serial entrepreneur and business consultant for many businesses in Asia with over 35 years experience in the industry. 

For supporting the SMEs, the government looks to have 5 broad strategies: attracting foreign investments, growing local SMEs into global businesses, easy access for financing, lower tax rates and helps SMEs to digitise their operations to improve their business operations. 

They’re looking at how to boost SME contribution to the GDP from the present 38% to 50% by 2030.

Strategy 1:  Attracting foreign investments to support the local SMEs 

The government will make available up to RM1 billion worth of customised packaged investment incentives annually over 5 years, as part of the strategic push to attract targeted Fortune 500 companies and global unicorns in high technology, manufacturing, creative and new economic sectors. 

In order to qualify, companies must invest at least RM5bil each in Malaysia to generate additional economic activities. 

It would support small and medium enterprises (SMEs), create 150,000 high-quality jobs over the five years and strengthen manufacturing and service ecosystems.

Strategy 2: Growing local SMEs into global businesses to compete in the global export markets 

The government will allocate RM1bil in customised packaged investment incentives annually over 5 years to transform Malaysia’s best and most promising businesses into the most competitive enterprises in global export markets.

The government expects this measure to significantly strengthen our local supply chain ecosystem and create an additional 100,000 high-quality jobs for Malaysians over the next 5 years. 

Strategy 3:  Providing easier access for financing

Financing has always been a challenge for SMEs in Malaysia. Recognising this challenge, the government will facilitate access to financing for SMEs with these incentives:

• An allocation of an additional RM50 million to My Co-Investment Fund (MyCIF) under the Securities Commission Malaysia to leverage such platforms to help finance the underserved SMEs. MyCIF will co-invest in equity crowdfunding (ECF) and P2P (peer-to-peer) financing campaigns to help the SMEs to raise funds. 
• The Skim Jaminan Pinjaman Perniagaan (SJPP) will be enhanced to better facilitate access to financing for SMEs. The government guarantee will increase from 70% to 80% for Bumiputera SMEs, export-oriented SMEs, and SMEs investing in automation and digitalisation.

Also, to further encourage alternative sources of funding for startups companies and attract more foreign investment to Malaysia, tax incentives given to venture capital and angel investors will be extended until the year 2023.

Strategy 4: Lowering tax rates

For small-medium enterprises, the income tax rate for chargeable income up to the first RM500,000 was reduced by 1% to 17% in 2019. 

To further support the growth of SMEs, the chargeable income subjected to 17% rate will be increased to RM600,000, subject to the SME having a paid-up capital of not more than RM2.5 million and annual sales of not more than RM50 million.

Strategy 5: Helping SMEs digitise & automate their operations to improve their business operations

The Malaysian government is encouraging SMEs to adopt digitalisation measures for their business operations, including electronic Point Of Sale systems (e-POS), Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and electronic payroll system. 

They will provide a 50% matching grant of up to RM5,000 per company for the subscription of the above services. This matching grant will be worth RM500 million over 5 years, limited to the first 100,000 SMEs applying to upgrade their systems.

Also, the Government will allocate RM550 million to provide Smart Automation matching grants to 1,000 manufacturing and 1,000 services companies to automate their business processes. This grant will be given on a matching basis of up to RM2 million per company.

KC believed the purpose of these schemes is to push the SMEs to digitise & automate their operations. 

“As you know, if you are not doing that, you will be a dinosaur and be out of play very soon.”

“It’s quite important for you if you are an SME business owner to latch on to this to increase and fasten the adoption of productivity tools and automation process that can improve your business operations,” he added.

Today, many companies are still running operations the old way, for example, using paper to apply for leave. Many still struggle to pay payroll online. 

SMEs should act quickly to digitise and automate their businesses. They are intended to transform and bring businesses to a new way of doing businesses that most Malaysian companies are not. 

Now here is a very quick financial way for you to move into the digital age. 

This year is a great time for you to transform and bring your business to a new level and do things that the whole world is working towards.

If you want to meet KC, in order to know how to grab the opportunities from the latest Budget, click here to find more information. 

Increasing women participation in business

This year, there is a huge emphasis on women entrepreneurs with a lot of incentives to spur women participation in business. 

In Malaysia, women-owned businesses constitute 20.6% of the total 907,065 SMEs in Malaysia. This is significantly lower than their male counterparts and of this figure, 97.2% of women are in the service sector.

Some incentives provided by the government in Budget 2020 include: 

• Women entrepreneurs will receive RM500m in government guarantee facility which will be distributed by Skim Jaminan Pinjaman Perniagaan (SJPP). 
• SME Bank will introduce new funds of RM200mil dedicated to women entrepreneurs with the potential to become regional champions.

Incentives for startups and newer forms of enterprises

The government is also focused on startups and newer forms of enterprises like social enterprises and digital entrepreneurs, in order to tap into a growing global trend in an ever-connected digital marketplace and an eco-conscious new market segment. 

In this Budget 2020, the Government will provide RM20 million to Cradle Fund for the provision of training and grants to seed companies.

Other than that, the government also place a strong focus on social enterprises with these incentives: 

• The government will provide RM10 million to the Malaysian Global  Innovation & Creativity Centre (MaGIC) to support the growth of social enterprises, which help to improve the socio-economy of local communities. 
• Provide additional RM10 million to MyCIF specifically for social enterprises to fundraise via P2P Financing platforms.

Social enterprises are becoming a hot topic within the Malaysian startup scene. Social entrepreneurs leverage the use of entrepreneurial principles to plan, develop and manage a sustainable business to achieve social goals. 

Examples are like Kaki Seni, who advocate for the performing arts in Malaysia & PT Foundation, that advocates for HIV/AIDS education and support programs for communities in Malaysia. 

Digital enterprise is another key area that the government is very keen to grow in the near future. 

The government provides funds of RM10 million to MDEC to train micro-digital entrepreneurs and technologists to leverage on e-Marketplaces and social media platforms to sell their products. 

100 of these micro-digital entrepreneurs, a majority of whom are women and youth, were able to generate RM23 million in revenues over just 6 months, unleashing life-changing experiences.

KC said it’s very clear that the government is very keen to assist startups and youths to get into the business, especially in new areas like micro-digital and technology sector. 

“So many of you out there have some great ideas and are working on your online platforms, looking into digital businesses, this is a big opportunity for you.”

Surprise for employers in Budget 2020

Employers are also able to enjoy certain benefits with some attached conditions when they employ certain segments of the population. 

In this Budget 2020, the government proposes employers will receive a hiring incentive up to RM300 per month for 2 years if they hire:

1. graduates who have been unemployed for more than 12 months
2. returning women workers who have stopped working for a year or more & are between 30-50 years old

Besides that, employers will receive a hiring incentive up to RM250 per month for 2 years if they hire Malaysians to replace foreign workers within the business. 

However, the Government has enhanced the benefits given to employees with some additional costs to the business. 

• An increase in maternity leave from 60 days to 90 days effective 2021;
• Extending the eligibility to overtime from those earning less RM2,000 to those earning less than RM4,000 per month;
• The Government proposes to increase the minimum wage rate only in major cities to RM1,200 from RM1,100 per month, effective 2020.

Preparing Yourself To Grab The Opportunities From Budget 2020 

With the new budget benefits and incentives, how are you taking advantage of the new schemes offered? 

You need to study this and take proper advantage.

One of the things that KC talk about in his Building Smart Business Programme is to look into changes.

He says this very often:

The more changes there are, the more opportunities.

Some of these changes in the budget will provide an opening for something that you may not realise but if you study it closely, could open up a whole opportunity for you to look into and for you to grow your business or for you to get into the business sector.

With challenging times ahead of us, the budget will increase the contribution of businesses to the local economy. 

This budget is a very SME-focused budget. There’s a lot of things for SMEs.

A good business strategy backed with the new incentives offered will drive your business to higher levels.

So what are these important strategies that you need?

Now if you need more information, meet KC at the Building Smart Business seminar. 

He will share with you how to run your business the smarter way and how to take your business to a higher level.

The budget will provide the impetus, the rest is just doing things the smarter way.

For more information, click on this link: www.masteryasia.com/building-smart-business-seminar/?ls=2421 

With the rise of the Gen Y aka, the Millennials, becoming an entrepreneur is increasingly common amongst them as they seek new challenges and niches to better serve the market. 

Although the immense growth of entrepreneurship is evident, the fact is, not everyone can be an entrepreneur or a successful one at that.

Successful entrepreneurs may seem like a different breed altogether, but certain traits and beliefs are commonly held among them.

To be a successful entrepreneur, your personal mindset should be different.

Here are some tips on how to be a successful entrepreneur, as shared by Andrew Tan, venture capitalist and serial entrepreneur, who had successfully listed two companies, despite filing for bankruptcy twice.

He was the CEO of CrowdPlus.asia, ASEAN’s first equity crowdfunding platform and is the managing partner of TBV Capital Sdn Bhd.

1. Take Massive Action

Our actions, or inactions, determines the shape of our lives. Very often, fear stops us from taking concrete steps forward towards our goals. 

We fear criticism, rejection and the prospect of failure when we are uncertain with the results. 

This fear of taking massive action is also caused by the choice of words in our daily conversations.

Saying I hope, I wish or I want will not motivate you because it does not generate an emotional attachment to your goals. 

Saying I want merely shows a desire to obtain your goals superficially.

Look around you, notice how many of them have said “I want” and contrast it with the number of people that have achieved their goals.

Instead, try saying “I am committed to”.

This gives you cognitive inspiration and motivation because your emotional attachment is higher. The higher the emotional attachment, the higher the patience and risk confrontations. 

Do you doubt it? Why not give it a try.

As quoted by Albert Einstein, “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results”.

To be successful in business, taking bold actions distinguishes you from the rest because you possess a competitive edge that no one has.

2. Learn to Sell

Very often, many of us underestimate the power of selling.

The ability to build relationships with customers and generate repeat purchases all lie within selling.

Without effective sales strategies, you would not be able to persuade your consumers, vendors or suppliers to continue doing business with you.

You might wonder what is the best way to sell.

There is no cookie-cutter answer, but the highest level of selling suggested by Andrew Tan is emotion contagion.

Emotion contagion means transferring emotions. The basic components of emotion contagion include the vision, tone of voice and confidence level.

Transferring emotions provides a sense of certainty and reassurance because it taps into the emotions of your consumers, like happiness and sadness to evoke consumer responses as it builds more connections and strengthens brand loyalty. 

The role of selling should not be underestimated.

By mastering the art of selling, you will be surprised with the surefire sales growth of your company in the long run. 

Are you starting a business or running one? Click here to learn how to build your business kingdom successfully!

3. Competence Development 

Competence, one of the basic human psychological needs is defined as the capability to apply a set of skills and abilities required to perform a task. 

In psychology, competence development is divided into four stages:

1. Unconscious incompetence
2. Conscious incompetence
3. Conscious competence
4. Unconscious incompetence 

The four stages of competence involve the process of progressing from incompetence to competence in a skill.

i. Unconscious Incompetence

In the first stage of competence, unconscious incompetence shows that you are unaware of that the skill gap exists.

ii. Conscious Incompetence

In conscious incompetence, you are aware of your lack of skill, and understand the importance of acquiring the skill.

However, you are unsure of where to find the sources and information about the skill.

iii. Conscious Competence

After conquering the second stage, the third stage of competence is called conscious competence. 

At this stage, you are able to perform the task with the knowledge you have learned but the task still requires your concentration. 

Here are some examples. Can a six-year-old child tie a shoelace or ride a bicycle? The answer is probably yes, but it requires high concentration for them.

iv. Unconscious Competence

The difference between conscious and unconscious competence is you are able to perform a task without conscious attention. 

In the prior example, once the six-year-old is familiar with tying their shoelaces or riding a bicycle, they can easily tie shoelaces and ride bicycles without paying much attention at the age of 15 after countless repetitions in the tasks. 

How do you achieve unconscious competence? 

Practice. Practice, practice, and more practice.

When you are practising, not only you are familiarising with the task, but you are also receiving feedback and training your consistency during the progress. 

Once you are familiar with a task, your brain is wired to be accustomed to the specific skill set and is why you are able to perform without conscious attention.

Making a commitment to practice is uncomfortable. After all, practice is the only way to become proficient in a new skill.

As a leader, you should embrace discomfort to grow and improve continuously. 

4. Set Your Goals High

Setting your goals high can sound frightening. On the flip side, setting a goal too low will not help you grow. 

Change your mindset. Think big. Once you have mastered your new mindset, setting an extra inch above your comfort zone gives you the desire and motivation to work for it.

When you wake up motivated and excited for work, that’s when you know you have set the right goals.

After all, who are we, as human beings, if we do not have goals?

5. Having a vision 

What is the difference between a goal and a vision? 

A vision as the destination that you visualise, but the path to it is unknown. That is where your goals come into play. Goals set the path by acting as milestones that get you closer to your destination. 

So, vision is complemented with goals, and they come hand-in-hand. 

Ask yourself this question, how would you react if you were facing hundreds and hundreds of obstacles every day? 

If your first answer is to give up demotivated, you might not have the right vision. 

If you were equipped with vision, you would not be demotivated because you understand that cutting through obstacles get you closer to your vision, and that is truly where you want to be at.

Ask yourself, how do you craft the right vision. Also, how do you know it is the right vision? 

It is not as hard as you think. Rome wasn’t built in a day, neither is your vision. 

Andrew Tan suggests crafting your vision by jotting down your train of thoughts, point by point, words by words. It will not take minutes, hours or even days. It takes years to build. 

The moment you feel motivated and inspired by what you have written is the moment when the right vision is found. You feel the need to commit, to create and to change. That is your vision. 

Unfortunately, not everyone has a compelling vision; but the thirst for a vision appeals to everyone. Some do not possess a natural vision of their own and gravitate towards others who do. 

As a successful entrepreneur, having a clearly understood vision allows you to motivate and influence others without vision. You exert your enthusiasm and positivity to energise them to work for you. 

A win-win situation. 

You can also read: Starting a business? You Must Know These Challenges Waiting For You!

6. Be honest with yourself 

Telling extravagant stories about yourself does not improve you. It shows a sign of inadequacy.

If you are not being with yourself, you are not giving yourself a room for improvements. 

You could possess a billion-dollar idea, but not getting honest with your strengths and weaknesses could be fatal to your success. 

Be honest with yourself, ask yourself these three important questions if you want to be a successful entrepreneur.

• Where are you in the stage of life?
• Where do you want to go from here?
• How do you intend to go there?

By knowing where you stand in life, knowing where you want to go and knowing how to go will improve your mentality in achieving success. 

7. Master your internal world

What is the internal world? 

The internal world can be perceived as the emotional states, beliefs, and values within your mindset.

By mastering the internal world, you are able to exert control over different aspects, and also understand that everything takes longer than you think.

You need to understand that overnight success, is not exactly ‘overnight’. It takes years and years to build a kingdom or a legacy. 

Although the future is always uncertain, that does not mean we do not have control over what the future might hold. 

By controlling the emotional states, beliefs, and values, you will be able to think long-term, you could control and predict the outcomes more accurately than the rest.

First, master your internal world. Then, control and predict the future.

8. Try Your Hardest

Trying your hardest may sound like an easy task, that is because you often lower the threshold of what is ‘hardest’.

In fact, you might have never unleashed your full potential because you often find excuses to stop yourself from trying the hardest. 

Giving excuses makes you lose the power of wisdom and the power of execution. 

I am sure we all have given excuses. Here are some common ones.

• “I am tired.”
• “I am a beginner.”
• “I have no experience.”

Trying your best is about performing to the fullest, and failures do not affect you from trying again and again. 

Failures should be seen as a drive, a source of motivation for you to work harder. After all, failure is inevitable, but it isn’t eternal. 

• Without trying, Elon Musk would not develop the first all-electric car. 
• Without trying, light bulbs would not exist. 
• Without trying, personal computers would not be possible. 

So just remember, every day, little by little, you will get better at it.

9. Create your own destiny

Do you believe you are destined to be a failure? Do you believe life owes you? 

If your answers are no, congratulations, you will eventually be successful. 

There are some who love to blame. They blame the government, they blame the economy, they are always blaming.

They believe the outcomes of their lives are not within their grasp so they develop learned-helplessness which escalates blame into another level – justification. 

How to define justification in this context?

Justification is when they find reasons and excuses to solidify their beliefs. They try to prove their way of thinking is appropriate and believe life exceeds is out of their control. 

To express their thoughts and beliefs, they complain.

As defined by the Law of Attraction, the same energies are attracted together. The poor mindset they possess only attracts like-minded people.

The more you complain, the more you attract, the longer you stay in the loop.

Passion & Learning Drive Success

In the 21st century, the term entrepreneurship is not uncommon to hear. With the gradual elevation of competition, achieving success is hard.

Did you understand that? Let me repeat it again.

The road to becoming a successful entrepreneur is not easy. Many of them have tried countlessly, suffered under the dim light to become who they are today. 

What they all have in common is the passion that is driving them to succeed. It gives them a reason to keep learning and work towards mastery. 

But where do you learn? Learn from the master.

If you’d like to learn how to grow your business and position yourself at the forefront of the market,  join the Building Smart Business In Challenging Times seminar by KC See, the strategic business consultant and coach for many notable businesses in Aisa.

In this seminar, you’ll learn the opportunity to learn these 6 modules:

• Module 1: Smart Business Principles – How Not to End Up With Another Job
• Module 2: Your Smart Business Idea, Opportunity, Identification & Innovation
• Module 3: Marketing Mathematics – Proven Formula To Multiply Your Smart Business Profits
• Module 4: Smart Business Modelling The Key To Business Success
• Module 5: Marketing Physics Re-Engineer Your Marketing
• Module 6: Leverage Your Way To Grow Your Smart Business

Over the past decade, KC has trained, mentored and coached over 120,000 people from all walks of life, helping them achieve breakthrough results in their life, income and business goals. 

From professionals to CEOs, directors and business owners, KC has also worked with SMEs and multinational corporations to improve their performance, productivity and increase their organisation’s bottom line. 

Click here to know more.

In their first few years, small companies will come up against a myriad of different challenges. Some are harder than others to overcome and according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor. 

There is a truism that states 70% of all small businesses fail by the end of their first year. By the second, that number rises to 90%. It’s no wonder if one takes a look around their local shopping complexes and pasar borongs. 

So if you are planning to start a business, you should always prepare for any foreseeable challenges that might come up. 

KC See, serial entrepreneur, author of a number of business management books, corporate trainer and business coach for many businesses in Asia shares some of the most common business challenges he’s seen over the 35 years he has been in business. 

1. The higher cost of running a business

Many individuals with a dream and an entrepreneurial spirit set out to start their own business.  That dream can quickly turn into a nightmare if they don’t have the financial resources to keep the business running.

Underestimating the costs they will need to run the day to day business is a key contributor to business failures, so it’s important to plan for and understand exactly what it will take to be successful. 

Entrepreneurs should get educated about the costs that go into running a business. A good budget helps, but there are many hidden costs of running a business that can quickly run you into the red.

These overlooked items often include:

• Permits, licenses and dues
• Office, space and utilities
• Equipment, maintenance and upgrades
• Employees and benefits
• Insurance

2. More competition as more people venture into the same industry 

Competition in business arises whenever two businesses or more sell the same product or services, each wanting to not merely thrive, but become the leading business in the market, gaining the most profit. 

Business competition can be fierce, especially in markets with aggressive competitors and customer spending is slowing down.

Knowing and understanding the competition is a critical step in designing a successful marketing strategy.

If you are not aware of who the competition is and knowledgeable about their strengths and weaknesses, another firm would likely enter the picture with a competitive advantage, such as product offerings at lower prices or value-added benefits. 

Identifying your competition and staying well-informed about their products and services is the key to remaining competitive in the market and is crucial to the survival of any business.

3. Hard to recruit and retain talents in organisations

The issue of the nation’s high unemployment rate is not foreign to all of us. However, despite the high demand for jobs by the jobless, many companies still struggle to find the right talent with the right skills for their business.

It was fairly common for workers in the 20th century to work for the same company for most of their careers. Employee turnover wasn’t as big of an issue as it would be now. 

Millennial adults, ages 24 to 38 are now the largest generation in the US workforce.

A staggering 91% of millennials expect to only stay in a job for less than three years, according to the Future Workplace “Multiple Generations @ Work” survey.

Younger workers historically have lower tenure rates and are more willing to bounce from job to job. Most younger workers are more mobile with fewer obligations holding them down.

Many aren’t married, don’t have kids, and don’t own a house yet. This frees them up to try new things and live in new places. 

They are also looking for growth opportunities early in their careers to set them up for success in the future. Younger workers also tend to job-hop more than older workers as a means to quicker career advancement.

Now that they comprise the largest segment of the workforce, expect to see the overall tenure rate fall.

Are you starting a business or running one? FREE seminar for you to know how to build a smart business, especially in challenging times.

4. Old business models

At the intersection of new technology, market trends, and positive growth is the need for an innovative business model. Surviving the challenges of a rapidly changing world means traditional brands must learn how to incorporate trends and technologies into their current business plans. 

A new business in development has to have a business model if only to attract investment, help it recruit talent, and motivate management and staff.

Established businesses have to revisit and update their business plans often or they’ll fail to anticipate trends and challenges ahead. Investors need to review and evaluate the business plans of companies that interest them.

This is where some businesses may find themselves in need of assistance. The business may be running smoothly, but a paradigm has shifted and what has once worked is now faltering. 

Smart businesspeople might even consider joining seminars or even workshops like the Building Smart Business seminars for current and updated ways to continue their business operations.  

Periodic deconstruction of old models to make way for new ideas will clarify your overall vision, and the new approach will stimulate growth, open new markets, and help you endure inevitable industry disruptions.

Many of the top companies in the world are successfully adapting to change by harnessing technology, borrowing ideas from other industries and reimagining what was once unthinkable.

5. Speed of change in business is increasing 

The speed of change has accelerated significantly in the last years and affects all types of businesses, both local and global. The internet, technology development and globalization has made it easy for a new business to popup anywhere and affect/disrupt almost any type of business.

As KC says; today’s success could become tomorrow’s failure. Take a look at what happened to Kodak and Nokia.

Virtually every industry has been experiencing rapid, massive, and sometimes devastating change over the last couple of years.

Failure to adapt means losing out to your competition, and anyone can be your competitor. 

Just look at what Airbnb has done to the hospitality industry. Or what Uber and Lyft have done to the transportation industry. How Spotify prompted Apple Music to advance their iTunes platform which was itself a profound innovation to the music industry. 

You can also read: 5 Strategies To Build A Business During Challenging Times.

6. Harder to get funding for some sectors

You don’t have to search very far to find entrepreneurs who have had a tough time raising outside capital to grow their business.

More than two-thirds of 1,000 entrepreneurs polled in a survey recently released by Ernst and Young found it difficult to gain access to the capital they needed to grow.

There are two sources of funding for a growing business – lenders who loan you money for some time and look to get repaid with a return, and investors looking to buy a piece of your company in return for long-term capital gains when the price of your stock increases.

Challenges are only the difficult tasks you have to face, but starting a business also comes with possibilities of unforeseen disasters to occur due to mistakes that could have been prevented.

5 Common Mistakes When Starting A Business

With 35 years of experience in the business industry, KC shares the 5 common mistakes that most people who wish to start a business tend to do include:

• No implementation 

Many people have great ideas but when it comes to implementation it becomes a huge challenge they’re simply unable to see through. There are plenty of ideas but it is the execution and the ability to make it work that determines your success. 

• Lack of research done before starting a business

Starting a business without proper research and study is one of the most common mistakes out there. 

They just start a business depending on their gut feeling which might be a good input but its not something you can do based on the gut feeling alone.

There must be research and study to ensure all of the effort and money you are going to put in are not going to waste.

• No consideration of others’ ideas

Falling in love with an idea without considering other people’s ideas – you may only want your ideas to be implemented if market research has shown that your ideas do not work.

It is important to listen and be willing to make adjustments to ideas in order to cater to the needs of the market. 

• Insufficient funding

If you have insufficient funding, your overcommitment will lead to high inventory, high cost and overstaffing.

This will happen if you start your business being over-optimistic when you need to be more conservative to avoid issues.

• Being outdated

Being out of touch with the market requirements and what the market wants is a surefire way to lose your money in the business.

You are not going into that business serving only yourself, but the market. 

You may start your business great, but you need to understand that in today’s time and age, changes will happen very quickly and suddenly.

What Should You Do For Starting A Business? 

In summary, if you plan on starting a business, look back at all of the 6 main challenges and 5 common mistakes business owners often face to make sure that your business doesn’t go through unnecessary complications. 

If you’d like to position yourself at the forefront of the market,  join the Building Smart Business In Challenging Times seminar by KC See and earn the opportunity to learn these 6 modules:

• Module 1: Smart Business Principles – How Not to End Up With Another Job
• Module 2: Your Smart Business Idea, Opportunity, Identification & Innovation
• Module 3: Marketing Mathematics – Proven Formula To Multiply Your Smart Business Profits
• Module 4: Smart Business Modelling The Key To Business Success
• Module 5: Marketing Physics Re-Engineer Your Marketing
• Module 6: Leverage Your Way To Grow Your Smart Business

Over the past decade, KC has trained, mentored and coached over 120,000 people from all walks of life, helping them achieve breakthrough results in their life, income and business goals.    

From professionals to CEOs, directors and business owners, KC has also worked with SMEs and multinational corporations to improve their performance, productivity and increase their organisation’s bottom line. 

Click here to know more. 

Countries like Japan used to have what is known as a lifetime employment system.

This is how the system works: Japanese companies hire regular employees right out of school and keep them until retirement.

This benefits both parties; the company saves on training costs and the employee is secure in the knowledge that they will always have a job. 

In the 1990s, during a prolonged economic recession and with an ageing workforce, the lifetime employment system has begun to break down, and it seems like it’ll never make a comeback soon.

Today, no job is 100% stable because of the drastic changes in the world, so at this point in time, the thought of having only a single income started to seem risky.

Therefore, people came up with a conclusion; everyone should have more than one source of income. 

Why Having Multiple Sources Of Income Is Increasingly Important

You often see rich people having no concerns to spend money on everything, and you’d think “If only I can be rich like them.” 

Having multiple sources of income will help you to expand your wealth and life by achieving financial freedom. 

They can be where they are now only because they have multiple sources of income. 

Tom Corley, author of “Rich Habits”, did a 5-year study comparing the habits of millionaires and the poor and found 65% of self-made millionaires had three streams of income.

KC See is a big believer in the concept. 

As the founder of the Money Mastery Mentorship Programme, he has enabled thousands to enhance their lives, achieve the financial goals they have dreamed about as well as the quality of life they have always wanted. 

However, being wealthy is not the only reason why everyone needs to have multiple sources of income. 

Here are a few reasons why having multiple sources of income is important: 

• Layoffs Amid A Sluggish Economy 

Many experts and economists are already discussing the horrific economic crisis that will possibly dawn upon us soon.

Political uncertainties such as the ongoing trade war, political unrest and geopolitical risks have significant impacts on economic conditions and it isn’t going to let up anytime soon. 

It doesn’t matter who you are and where you are. Once the crisis finally arrives, nobody can run away from its brutality.

Thus it’s not surprising that many companies are taking steps to dismiss a significant number of their employees in the current economic situation to save their business. 

In this case, do you think your single income job is 100% secure?

There is no company out there that can promise you 100% security even if they’re well-established.

Click here to find out how to build your multiple sources of income.

• Confusion Rise Under Uncertainties 

Economic and political uncertainties can be volatile and confusing. Decisions will be hard to make because of the what-ifs you will start to overthink on. 

Questions will begin to come across your mind: 

• What if I start investing in properties, and the value suddenly goes down? 
• What if I waste money buying stocks and suddenly the economy improves? 

Crisis such as economic depression and international relation conflicts are quite unpredictable because of their volatile traits. Thus, it’ll be hard to run the risk at such times.

• New Technologies Threaten Job Security 

Job insecurity is also triggered by the invention of new technologies. Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies are invented to operate and manage certain jobs at full speed and little room for errors. 

Sooner or later, companies might not even need people with basic skills anymore. Your chances of getting laid off will then be increased.

For instance, advanced technology like a driverless car in Singapore had people talking about turning busses driverless. Eventually, there will be layoffs and retrenchments. It only comes down to whether you survive it or not. 

More importantly, AI not only will be taking over human jobs, but it also monitors employee productivity and fire a human worker that doesn’t reach its target KPI. 

• Fast-Changing Work Environments

Did you realise that the work environment has changed drastically over the last decade?

When you searching for jobs, employers will want to know that you have the ability to multitask successfully and use technologies to increase your productivity and efficiency. 

The working environment will continue to change as new technology emerges and companies tend to focus on high productivity and efficiency. 

Not only that, as too many changes are happening, many people won’t have the time to truly grasp on the new expertise, and if there’s no effort to do so, getting hired will be much harder. 

With the inventions of new technologies and job scopes, there’ll also be a demand for people with new skills and expertise. 

• Business Displacement Risks

There are displacements going on; you can’t rely on companies to look after you anymore because they are going through tough times to survive.

Take a look at the telecommunication industry. How many of us still own a Nokia phone? Asking this 10 years ago would’ve had high chances of people saying they do.  

Today, no one owns a Nokia anymore. 

In a short span of time, a perfectly robust, stable and successful company could be wiped out simply because of technological advancements. Unquestionably, once a company gets wiped out, jobs are laid off, and workers are displaced.

How To Create Multiple Sources of Income

Want to learn how to start your own multiple sources of income but don’t know how? 

The Money Mastery Mentorship programme would be a good place to start. 

KC’s programme has mentored and coached over 120,000 people from all walks of life, helping them achieve financial independence through a personalised wealth creation system designed according to an individual’s passion and strengths. 

He has coached over 120,000 people over 20 years, making it one of Malaysia’s longest lasting and most trusted wealth creation programme in the country.  The graduates include:

• Ahyat Ishak – Founder Of Pejuang Hartanah Community. Having started his property investment journey more than a decade ago, he became a property millionaire before the age of 30. 
• Jerome Tan – Founder of PIP Holdings Pte Ltd, Singapore’s leading property investor and owner of over 100 properties, Jerome was famously known as the man who was a bankrupt before becoming a millionaire. He is also an author of ‘From Bankruptcy To Multi-Millions In 7 Years’.
• Dr Katalina – a Certified Aesthetic Doctor with the American Academy of Aesthetic Medicine, is also a famous model, actress, singer & brand ambassador. 

Click here if you want to be part of them.