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Educating Tomorrow's Franchisees
May, 2014
 

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Welcome to the May 2014 Insider Newsletter.

 

How do you get from point 'A' to point 'B' both personally and professionally?

 

There are a number of books on this subject. There are motivational speakers, there are audio files you can listen to in your car and there college courses on the subject. But what does it really take? Fact is, it all starts with you. The only way to move forward is to realize that you are both the problem and the opportunity. You are both the accelerator and the brake. It all starts, and ends with you. Scary? Yes, but also empowering.

   

Here are a few areas that you must embrace to improve your chances of evolving into the person you have always wanted to become.

 

1)    Approach life as a student. Learning cannot occur unless you admit that you don't know it all. You don't learn by talking. You learn by listening and by asking questions. Never be afraid to say 'I don't know'. We can all improve in this area - myself included. The most successful people I know are all great at asking questions.

 

2)    Find people who will be honest with you. Sounds easy but in reality this is very hard. Most folks will not provide honest feedback on areas for improvement. They are afraid to hurt your feelings or to lose your friendship. When you find a person who will be honest in a thoughtful way, treasure them.

 

3)     Be willing to try new ideas with the understanding that many of your ideas will not succeed. It is though error that we improve. It is by making mistakes that we learn. Nobody has ever achieved anything great on their first attempt. It is the result of consistent error, adaptation and improvement.

 

4)    Hold yourself accountable. There is a tendency to blame others for our misfortunes. As soon as you blame others, you disempowered yourself and all progress stops. Whatever happens, you must hold yourself responsible. You must believe that you are the master of your destiny. By doing this, you empower yourself to do what must be done to move the ball forward.

 

5)    Have a degree of urgency in your approach to life. You have to have a little motor inside that says - 'Time is passing. I need to make this happen now'. Remember, every day that passes is a day you will never see again. What you achieve each day is up to you. You need to make each day count.

 

6)    Understand that this is a hard process - both mentally and emotionally. We all like to think of ourselves as 'perfect'. We like to hear good things and be involved in 'successful' projects. Evolving means that you will hear things that you won't like. It means that you will have setbacks. It means that you will have to manage your ego and, on top of that, it is work.

 

 

Life is a journey. The great equalizer is that we all have a limited amount of time. What you do with that time is up to you. Make it count.

   

Hope you enjoy this month's articles.

 

Respectfully, 

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Rick Bisio
Founder of The Educated Franchisee
Why 'No' is the Most Important Word You'll Ever Say.

 

When I started The Protocol School of Palm Beach, I chased every opportunity that came my way. My company was brand new and I needed clients. To grow my business, I said yes to everything.

 

At first, it was great. My professional network grew and so did my client base. But then I hit a wall. I was exhausted and over committed. My calendar continued to fill up, but my bottom line was stagnating.

 

I was so busy chasing down every opportunity that I became unfocused. So I took a step back and started to measure what events and activities actually made my business grow. I changed my business model and agreed only to the opportunities that helped me scale my business and I learned to say no to everything else.....
 
Go to Entrepreneur, Click Here
Top Earners See Taxes Increase

The jump in federal tax rates that kicked in last year is causing sticker shock for many higher earners this tax season.

That, in turn, is rekindling a debate over a question likely to smolder for a long time: How much more could-or should-taxes go up on the well-to-do?

 

Higher earners' share of the overall federal tax burden has been climbing fairly steadily, even before lawmakers negotiated the fiscal-cliff deal at the end of 2012.

 

The latest tax-rate increases, passed at the start of 2013, have added to that burden, at least for the highest earners. Those changes included a bump in the top ordinary income rate to 39.6% from 35%, a limit on itemized deductions and an increase in the top rate on investment income....

 

    

Go to Wall Street Journal, Click Here 

4 Essential Elements to Include in a Business Plan  

As Silicon Valley's lean start-up method quickly gains popularity, many entrepreneurs are led to believe that the business plan is dead. While today a one size fits all solution hardly works as in years past, the business plan is certainly not a thing of the past.

The lean startup method's minimum viable product strategy has worked well for startups seeking venture capital funding, but Main Street business owners outside Silicon Valley need to approach things with a slightly different strategy....

 

Go to Entrepreneur.com, Click Here 

Senator Sees 'Moral Hazard' in SBA Program.

 

A Republican senator is questioning whether the Small Business Administration's flagship loan program puts taxpayer money at risk without enough oversight.

Earlier this month, Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama wrote to new SBA chief Maria Contreras-Sweet, to raise concerns that the agency "has not met the high standards required in providing loan guarantees." Specifically, the lawmaker says that the agency's 7(a) program, which backstops private lenders by guaranteeing up to 85 percent of the value of small business loans they make, allows banks to lend with little regard to whether the borrower will be able to pay.

 

Go to Bloomberg, Click Here
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Author - Rick Bisio,  rbisio@educatedfranchisee.com