For all of my readers out there who are in business, entrepreneurs, or business owners, what is your biggest asset?  No, it is not your business, your real estate portfolio, or the twelve cars that you drive.  Rather it is something that is attached to your neck.  Can you guess?

Your head.  Specifically, your brain.

Now, you might not be able to assign a monetary value to your thoughts, but consider this:  where did you get the idea to get into business, or what product or service your business should offer?

Yes, it is your brain again.

Now, I don’t mean to beat a dead horse with this notion, but as entrepreneurs, we turn our thoughts into cash on a …

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I have been spending a good portion of my time lately networking and participating in many discussions about business.  I feel that this is a great way for me to learn and see different perspectives that may be able to give me an edge in my business.

There was a particularly stimulating conversation this week in one discussion regarding your competition.  Now, the discussion was relating to online businesses, but to be honest, it can apply to traditional brick and mortar businesses.

It basically comes down to this: you can look at your competition from two different perspectives. 

Perhaps the most common perspective is this: your competition is your enemy.  They take your business away from you, take your …

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I don’t want to start out sounding shallow, but looks are everything when it comes to a first impression.  Think of a restaurant – if you see dirty tables, get dirty cutlery, or see hair in your food, will you be coming back?

I sure wouldn’t.

It is the importance of how your business presents yourself that will either make or break your business.  You may have the best product, offer the best customer service, but if you make a bad impression, no one will care about your strengths.

This reminds me of a lesson that I was taught at my first job twelve years ago.  You see, I was working at a doughnut shop in town and I was …

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With the boom that Saskatoon has been experiencing over the past years, there have been some serious changes in the employees in town.  You see, the "good" employees have moved from the entry level jobs (such as fast food, retail sales, etc.) to higher paying jobs.  With their glowing resumes and references, they have had no problems getting new jobs.

The result of the good staff moving, has left a void to be filled by the mediocre or poor employees.  Taking a look at the help wanted signs down every street, the businesses are in a position where they need bodies to work, so they hire these people that don’t do a good job.

The result of this …

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Yesterday, while driving down the road, I came across an interesting sign.  It was a sign from a local commercial leasing company who was offering to build whatever building you needed, provided you leased it.  Now, you might wonder what was so interesting about this, but one of the items on the sign caught my eye:  rental.

Now, I may have read the sign wrong, as I would expect to see “retail” on the sign.  That aside though, it did give me a good idea – leasing rental properties.

I am not thinking of this in the traditional sense where you get your tenants to sign a lease for X amount of months.  Rather I am thinking of it from …

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I think the title of this article is self explanatory ? at some point your business or organization may need a joint venture partner.  Why?  Below are four common reasons why you might want a joint venture partner:

Lack of Expertise

You may have good skills but are lacking in certain areas.  In my case, I am good at seeing the big picture and designing websites, but I lack content creation skills.  So, I went out an found someone to partner with who excels at writing and complements my skill set.

Lack of Capital

Perhaps you have some inside information on where to get a screaming real estate investment deal but don?t have the money to take advantage of your good fortune.  If you …

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Now, this may seem a little weird for a business opportunity blog, but it is something I suffer from.  Fear of success?  Is that possible?  Yes it is.

What is the fear of success?

Some of the symptoms of the fear of success are:

• Fear that even if you accomplish all that you have set out to achieve that you will not achieve happiness, be content or be satisfied with the outcome.
• You feel undeserving of all your accomplishments and successes.
• Fear that your accomplishments can be destroyed at anytime.
• Fear that after you have achieved what you have set out to accomplish, your interest will wane and your success will fade
• Happiness will not come from your accomplishments …
  

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If any of you have played the board game Monopoly from Milton Bradley, you will understand the title of this post.  To give a simple explanation of this strategy, look at this list:

1. Buy some properties
2. Collect rent
3. Build houses
4. Collect more rent
5. Trade four houses for one red hotel
6. Repeat

This is a great analogy for life in business.  Start small, reinvest, and grow.  If you follow this simple strategy, you can and should excel in business and investing.  This can apply for online and offline businesses, and real estate investing.

This is also good motivation for those of you just starting out:  even if you are starting small, you can become …

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Groan.  I know some of you don’t really care for the whole reading thing, but make a point of reading what is below this introduction.

If you want to succeed and exceed the success of your peers, you need to learn something new everyday.  I am not talking about a large amount of time to invest, rather just be consistent.  Learning can also include listening to a book on tape, attending a seminar, or just reading a book.

Spending time each day learning may not seem to mean a lot but consider this: the days add up in a year.  For example consider that Jack and Jane are friends.  The difference between them is Jane spends time each day (about twenty …

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If you are a novice real estate investor, or an expert, there will come a time when your feelings get in the way of your logic.  You may fall in love with the yard, love the paint, or like the view of a certain property.  When you get these feelings you need to

STOP!

Investing in income properties needs to be a mechanical process.  You should consult and analyze the numbers to determine if a property is worth investing in.  Also use some common sense and do some research on the area you are going to invest your money.

If you do let feelings make your decisions, you may find yourself purchasing income properties that don’t perform well, or …

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