Young Smart and Global

 

As a promoter of smart entrepreneurship as a primary vehicle to making a difference, I thought it absolutely necessary for me to mention a very fascinating movement that I came across recently, a movement which is gaining some serious momentum in Michigan.  It’s an association of entrepreneurs and innovators who are focused on building creative, enterprising communities, and is known as the YSG (Young, Smart, and Global) Organization. 

I find it fitting to mention their efforts here regardless of where their primary activities take place (They are out in Michigan, far from where I currently reside…Arizona) because of what they stand for and more importantly because of the ever growing relevance that their message carries for our Nation in the not so distant future. 

Essentially the YSG organization is a very forward thinking movement, one which is focused on revamping communities in the state of Michigan due to an outdated social an economic mindset that is pervading that region.  A mindset that stems from Michigan being at one time, an economic leader due to their Auto Industry, and being a hub of innovation and opportunity throughout America in the early 20^th Century…but ultimately losing focus when times were good.  Innovation slid and communities became comfortable…whereby, most people in the community got in the habit of working for big organizations, becoming dependent, and thus their creativity, entrepreneurial spirit, and economic potential ceased.   So…It is YSG’s intention to act as a catalyst, inspiring creativity, risk taking, and taking action in entrepreneurial endeavors amongst their population once again.  One of their biggest aims is to ultimately ensure that the old ideas of entitlement and the prolonged lack of involvement within their local communities disappear. 

From my point of view…it appears the YSG organization’s concerns are not just a local issue.  What seems at the moment a phenomena that is occurring exclusively throughout Michigan has the potential to appear as a much broader issue, especially when a little foresight is used with an increase of scale, meaning when we look into the future and substitute national trends for international trends.  This isn’t difficult to envision when future economic projections such as what I’ve listed below dominate the daily news:

* General Motors expecting to reduce its work force by 25 % in the next five years.

* AT&T will cut its payroll by 27,000.

* IBM will let go 10,000 workers.

* United Technologies will terminate 11,000 employees.

* Unisys (Burroughs /Sperry) will reduce its ranks by 10,000.

* IT outsourcing on the rise

And of course other statistics, like how in the 1980’s, twenty-five percent of middle management jobs were eliminated in the United States (Greenberg/Baron 582), or how in the 1990’s, one million managers of American corporations with salaries over $40,000 also lost their jobs (Greenberg/Baron 582), and how in total, Fortune 500 companies have eliminated 4.4 million positions since 1979 (Greenberg/Baron 627).

So…It appears YSG is combating a microcosm of what has a significant chance of occurring nationwide at some point in the future due to the loss of not only manufacturing jobs to outsourcing, but also IT jobs to outsourcing, and more dramatically, job losses due to the advancement of technology.   YSG has it right…..in order to compete and flourish as we have in the past, we need to get innovative, entrepreneurial…but most importantly, we need to get smart and we need to get global.

The $3,000 Giveaway

I am sure that you probably know by now how taxes work and how frustrating they can be, but I thought I’d still put this together and throw it out there to you to jog your memory, just in case you were in need if a refresher, becasue hey…everyone , or at least almost everyone likes money.

Now, I’ll bet that you have heard of how people can actually save money with taxes when they have a business, but do you know how they actually save the money?  Well if not, then read on because I am sure you have been at one time or another, that person who has said to themselves… ”Dang, my friend, sister, cousin, or whatever,  is so lucky..  he/she get’s to write everything off!  If only I could do that…yada, yada, yada”  So I thought I’d share with you how easy it is to save/make (depending upon how you look at it) $3,000 – $9,000 / year in taxes if you so choose to.

Keep in mind as you look at the breakdown that you can simply enter in your own figures to get an estimate of what you woud be able to write off if you had a home based business.  Don’t forget that most of the expenses you already have will fall into a type of business expense category once you have your business up and running (Disclaimer:  all figures are relevant to my expenses and will differ based on the type of business you set up).  Let’s begin!

Tax Deductions (untaxed income) for a Home Based Business

Cell Phone: Monthly Charge:  $ 100 x  12 months
= $ 1,200

Internet Service and Home Phone (Land Line… New Messages) Monthly Charge:  $ 67 x 12 months
= $ 804

Business Overhead
Signup $299.00 + Monthly Website fee $ 14.95 x 12 = 179.4
= $ 478.40

Education / Training (annually)
SuperSaturdays, Conventions, Audiobooks
=$ 1,000

Office/Business Supplies (annually)
Ink Cartridges
= $ 200
Computer Paper
= $ 60
Misc. Pens/Pencils/Staples/etc..
= $ 20
Business Cards
= $ 60
Internet Technology i.e. sites, myfax, etc.
=  $ 122
Gas Mileage (annually)
Total Mileage on Vehicles(s) this year:  15,000
Total Miles driven for other employment:  5000
Miles remaining:  10,000 so
15,000 – 5,000 = 10,000 x $.55
=  $ 5,500

Meals / Entertainment
(meetings with team, partners, prospects, leaders, or recruits)
50% of Monthly meals out or in home:  ($240 x .5 = $120) so
$ 120 x  12 months
= $ 1,440

Vacation (Intellectual Property) $ 1,200 x 2 (# of vacations)
= $2,400

Total Tax Deduction  = $ 13,284.4
Estimate your tax bracket (20 – 25% is good for this example)
= $ 13,284.4

x            .25

$ 3,321.10   =  TOTAL TAX SAVINGS …..Yippee!

I don’t know about you, but  having an extra $3,321 per year is a lot of money.  I am big on assests, so of course I will put the money back in the market and have it work hard for me.  I like to play with the numbers so I will show you what I will get when I invest this $3,321 give away into an average performing stock for oh…let’s say 20 yrs.

So that’s $3,321, with an annual addition of $3,321 for 20 yrs at 6% and I get, drum roll please…………………………. $140,145.74!
(Try For Yourself)

I know what you are thinking… Holy smokes that’s alot of money, and you’re right, it is.  So the question is, what would you do with a $3,000 giveaway? Go on vacation, pay off some debt, invest it, gamble with it?…what?  I am curious.

Okay, so you don’t have a home-based business I understand that, but if you are curious, and would like to know what is out there, I would highly recommend visiting npros.com  or entrepreneur.com.  These two sources  have an extremely extensive list of  fast start home-based businesses which you can choose from that will be most fitting to your personality, and of course you can always take a look into my side venture…The NaturalLee Network,  which would certainly qualify as one too.

So, are you going to take advantage of the $3,000 giveaway, or are you not going to do anything and  give away the $3,000?

[This is an estimate only.  Check with your CPA as tax laws periodically change.  Many other deductions are probable such as a percentage of all household costs for Home Office, i.e gas, electricity, water, HOA fees, landscaping, sewer repairs, etc…  The percentage is based on the square footage in the home used for the home based business.  Capital Expenses, i. e laptop computers, printers, flat screen TV’s used for presentations may also be depreciated/deductible.  June 2009.  For more Info on Tax Law for the Home Based Business, call for recorded info at 702-405-4438. or visit the Tax Reduction Institute]

Wages Vs. Profits

A mentor of mine, Jim Rohn, who I’ve been following for a couple of years now, uttered a phrase that caught my attention, more so than usual while studying  him recently.   He had such a strong and significant impact on me  on the day that I heard him say “profits are better than wages. Wages will make you a living, profits can make you a fortune.”

I found the phrase sage like.  I remember repeating what he said to myself  and then thinking about how truly difficult  it most likely is to get rich on just wages alone, and how readily profits can be made if we focus our efforts on accumulating them.  It was a pretty outstanding moment of clarity for me, and I still get the goose bumps whenever I think about it!

Following that phrase,   Jim Rohn went on to make a point about how profits  can actually change your whole attitude, even if you start part-time.  I really warmed up to his suggestion, and perhaps you will too, because he states that it doesn’t matter if it’s part-time on your entrepreneurial business,  your network marketing company, or your service business.

To Jim it didn’t matter.  To him it could be a real estate business, a website design business, a landscaping business in the summer, a consulting practice, tutoring, woodworking,or a hobby,  heck, he even goes so far as to mention a business of hanging Christmas lights in the winter.   The magic he says, comes from the moment you start investing effort part-time into your own business, because it is then, that you will find how much more exciting it is to get up in the morning, look in the mirror, and go to work on your fortune, even if it is only a small portion of your schedule,… something like 10 – 15 hours per week.

How empowering  would it be, to be able to go to work on your fortune every single day rather than going to work to just pay the rent or the bills?    So you don’t get me or Jim wrong I will quote you some words directly from him when he says ” Now – it is noble to go to work to pay the rent, but if you could also parcel out part of your time – go to work to make your fortune.  Your whole attitude changes; your spirit changes. It is in your voice.  It is in your face.  It is in your gestures.  And then you can say, “I am now working full-time on my job and part-time on my fortune because I found a way to make profits.” 

Wow….how amazing is that?  Slightly magical isn’t it?!!  What do you think on the idea of Wages Vs. Profits? 

YouPublish…Info for the Infopreneur

I watched a video of  Mark Victor Hansen Author of the Chicken Soup for The Soul Series yesterday and learned some pretty insightful info from him on the business of books.  Mark is a very animated fellow and spoke rather quickly and enthusiastically and so so hopefully I can convey some of his enthusiasm about book business.  Essentially, I’d like to relay some of his most poignant ideas about the business.  One of Mark’s primary ideas was that we all have a book inside us, a uniqueness unlike the world has ever seen…a masterpiece waiting to be produced, and of course I really agreed with this idea since the Educated Entrepreneur feels we all have an entrepreneur inside of us just waiting to be let out.   Another idea which Mark spoke of, was his belief , which again is very similar to mine, that there is much power in the written word and that the medium has much potential to create dynamic and significant changes to not only a person on all levels, be it…economic, social, personal, spiritual, but also potential to change the world.  

The most fascinating topic which Mark spoke about, was on the details of the book business.  He actually painted a very convincing picture of how writing a book can be one of the best ways to starting a business.  He propounds becoming influentiall with your ideas, works, and expertise by creating an influential book business empire, and then if you choose, you can splinter off  with success as your base in any direction you wish.  You can move into public speaking, training, coaching, managing, television, movies, you name it…  He even created a term for this type of person, he calls them infopreneurs.  So, I highly recommend you look into the guy and read one of his chicken soup books or check him out on his website or look him up on wikipedia.  He has a lot to teach if you are willing to learn.  Also if you are really curious about the possibility of becoming an infoprenuer,  be sure to check out his free self publishing website called youpublish.com.

The Art of Living Dangerously

I put together a lens on Squidoo the other day titled The Art of Living Dangerously.  Now, I built this lens for a couple of reasons.  First of all I have a slight fascination with the idea of Dangerous Living, Second, it embodies an idea which I have been striving to live by for quite some time, and finally, it’s a way of living which I think is necesarry for entrepreneurs to have…. especially if they are to  achieve any kind of extraordinary success.  So, for all of my already adventurous and enterprising readers I hope you enjoy the happy reminder of what you are, and for all my readers who are on the fence awaiting “that moment” to which you are to start making some big things happen in your own life, I wish it to be a catalystic experience for you.

Now  if you decide to leave this page before reading it…remember….that our biggest failures in life will be our failure to try, and our biggest risks in life will found in riskless living.  Take a risk today and go and enjoy The Art of Living Dangerously and please don’t hesitate to comment back.