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Lifestyle, Tips

Thinking of Going From Employee to Entrepreneur? Read This First

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Have you ever thought about leaving employment to start your own company? Whether you want to take what you’re already doing and start your own firm or do something entirely different, this could be an ideal that appeals to you. In fact, it’s not an uncommon desire to want to work for yourself, be your own boss, and create a business from scratch. But before you take the leap, you have to know what it takes. So to help you, in this blog post, we’re going to run through everything you need to consider before leaving life in employment to become an entrepreneur.

Your Financial Position

One of the most significant factors to consider before becoming an entrepreneur is your financial situation. Starting a business may require an upfront investment. This could be for a location, equipment, marketing, staff, and more. Right now, as a salaried employee, your income is stable, and your expenses are predictable. But as an entrepreneur, your income can be unpredictable and you can be faced with unexpected expenses. So before leaving your corporate job, make sure you have enough money in savings to support yourself and your family for a minimum of six to twelve months without a steady income.

Your Business Idea

Next, you need to make sure that you have a concrete business idea. Ask yourself — Is your business idea unique? Is there a demand for it? Is it sustainable for the long term? You can also conduct market research and look at competitors to validate your business concept. And if you really want to be able to take your business idea to the next level, you can also work with a mentor or a business coach to hone your product or service offering.

Your Business Acumen

From here, you’re really going to want to make sure that you’re ready to step into the business world. Are you au fait with business life and what it takes? Do you understand how to pull together business finances and secure funding? Will you know how to create a dental logo or what you need to do to launch a website? Could you bootstrap and do everything by yourself to begin with? It’s important to be real with yourself here.

Your Work-Life Balance

Also, when you work for yourself, it can be challenging to balance work and personal life. You may have to work more than your usual eight hours a day — and it can often be seven days a week in the beginning! That being said, you will also get to enjoy the freedom to dictate your schedule and work on your own terms. But that can come over time. So you need to be prepared to dedicate the time early on.

Your Support System

Finally, entrepreneurship can be a lonely journey so having a strong support system is crucial. Your family and friends will be your cheerleaders and sounding boards throughout, as well as your shoulders to cry on. It’s important that you have strong support around you, particularly in the initial stages. Where you can, also have your own network around you too. As this can also offer professional support and allow you to access potential opportunities too.

Lifestyle, Tips

5 Wise Financial Expenses For Your Future Well-being

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When it comes to your health, there are many things you can control. But, there are also several factors out of your hands. So, where do you begin? Well, one important place to start is with your finances. If you can control your finances, you can manage your stress levels, and if you spend money wisely on factors that impact your health, you can improve your health and well-being in the long run.  In this article, we will discuss six major financial decisions that are essential if you want to improve your health and longevity.

Contribute to your retirement

You should contribute to your retirement even if you have a low-paying job. Your employer may match your contributions, so you can accelerate your savings significantly.  There are many ways you can financially boost your retirement savings, and if you contribute to your retirement savings now, this will dramatically improve your future life.  You won’t have to worry about how to financially support yourself after leaving your job, and you will be able to spend time on the things that matter.  

Spend money on good food and fitness

This is an obvious one, but it’s an important one to keep in mind. Make sure you’re putting some money into your diet and fitness. This doesn’t have to be too expensive, but it does have to be consistent. Ensure you’re eating various healthy foods throughout the day and that you’re spending money on nutritious ingredients that you can use to make hearty meals. It’s essential to spend some money on your physical health in this way if it motivates you to take care of yourself.  For example, if you find it more motivating to go to the gym than to go for a walk, you should invest in a gym membership as this will push you to keep fit.

Spend money on things that alleviate stress

In today’s society, it’s prevalent to be stressed out, whether at work, in your studies, or in your social life. It’s essential to keep your stress levels low and to maintain a healthy balance in your life. While there are some free stress relief strategies you can try yourself to alleviate general stress, you can also spend money on things that will ease a specific cause of your stress.  For example, if you find it stressful to keep your house clean all the time, you could invest in a house cleaning service until you have enough time to manage it yourself.  

Invest in insurance

Insurance can be a lifesaver if something bad happens to you. There are several types of insurance, such as home and auto insurance, that you may not think about until something happens. This can give you peace of mind knowing that if something bad happens, you’re covered. While insurance isn’t an investment in the traditional sense, it can be an incredibly effective financial decision that protects your most important assets.

Take precautions in case of injury

If you’ve been injured in an accident or had surgery, you’ll want to ensure that your finances are protected and that you have money to fall back on in the first place. You can do this in a variety of ways. One essential method is to spend money on good health insurance that can cover you in case of an accident.  You may also look to invest in a good lawyer if the injury wasn’t your fault – for example, a car accident lawyer if you’ve been involved in a car accident caused by another driver.  This will improve your future well-being as you will have compensation that can go toward any injury you might have from the accident.

Summing up

Health is one of the most important things in life, and it is essential to live a long and happy life. One of the ways to boost your sense of well-being and improve your health is to make wise financial decisions.  The decisions outlined above are some of the critical financial decisions you should make to improve your physical and mental health, both now and in the future.

Lifestyle, Tips

The Essentials Of A Successful Financial Advisory Firm

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If you consider yourself to be something of a dab hand at investing, then you might even think about turning it into a business. However, managing your own money is one thing. Managing others’ money is a whole different thing and it takes more than a little prep to ensure you’re ready to handle that responsibility. Here are a few of the steps that help you on the way.

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Get the training that you need

Having managed a few investments of your own is not going to be enough to manage others’ investments effectively. You need to look at the investment industry courses that you need to take, whether to supplement your own skills or to ensure that you’re able to legally offer investment advice to your clients. All the money savvy in the world will do you no good unless you have the training to go with it and to win the trust of the clients who come to you.

Build the team that you need

Of course, you’re not likely to do it all alone. Providing you get enough clients, you’re going to need more financial advisors to help manage your clients, as well. Hiring the right advisors is all about making sure the recruitment process is sharpened to the point that you get the people that you need. You can work with recruitment agencies to narrow your scope but, otherwise, you need to be specific about the kind of experience and expertise you need in the firm to supplement your own and to provide excellent advice to your clients.

Make sure that your clients can trust you

There is nothing more important in the world of investing and financial advice than knowing that your clients can trust you. Ensuring GIPS compliance and that all the other red tape is in line is one of the most effective ways you can demonstrate that trust. Of course, over time, you’re going to build a portfolio of happy clients that can do a lot of the speaking for you, but you should always make sure that clients know you’re compliant, insured, and taking all of the steps necessary to protect their investments when they work with you.

Ensure you can tolerate the risk

Starting your own firm is far from easy. Aside from the fact that you have to manage risk for your clients, you also have to be ready to tolerate a high degree of risk, yourself. After all, you’re getting into a competitive market that you have to stand out within, and you have to win the trust of clients who haven’t heard of your firm before. Your track record, qualifications, and safety precautions can help with that, but you still have to take on a serious degree of risk.

Running an investment firm is a lot more complex than the tips here are going to cover alone but hopefully, you’ve gotten an idea of just the beginning of the kinds of prep you need to invest time in.