Category: Entrepreneurship

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Meet The Entrepreneur Behind The Cover Of The October 2021 Issue Of Global Millionaire: Guruji Shrii Arnav

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Guruji Shrii Arnav, considered the Father of Astro Gemology and a mentor to Statesmen and Millionaires, is an internationally acclaimed spiritual Guru who uses techniques based on spirituality, Astro Gemology, and modern management methods.

The author of the Magnum Opus” Secrets of Jyotish Gems”( translated in 6 languages), he is the mentor of the world’s largest E-commerce portal to buy natural Gemstones online (Gemstoneuniverse.com) that has a mind-boggling reach of 4 million monthly users and has been around since the early days of the internet since 1996.

We are quite certain our readers would love a no holds barred conversation with a major thought leader so they can benefit from Guruji Shrii Arnav’s insights about entrepreneurship and business in general. Global Millionaire magazine recently had the good fortune of meeting and interviewing Revered Guruji Shrii Arnav during the Gemstoneuniverse Founder’s Day and here’s what went down:

What are your standards for success? Is it a certain dollar figure?

For me personally, I was never into numbers. My singular philosophy since I believe in the theory of Karma is that every single person engaging with me should benefit from me or by my enterprise.

And that happens when customers vouch for you by word of mouth, give you referrals, and sometimes raise concerns as if they were family and they own the enterprise as their own.

And at Gemstoneuniverse we see that happening all the time. Since 1996 we have had such a loyal base of patrons (I do not like to call them customers) that till today we have not had the need for any kind of advertising of any sort.

Also to have industry leaders from Google, HP speaking about you on video is a huge takeaway and speaks of standards. Those are feedback and testimonials that money cannot buy.

What do you think made you successful in business?

Even though I am a spiritual person I like the word business which means transacting and all of us are business people since the world moves by give and take and by a transaction.

I think having clear-cut goals, delighting our patrons, and being attached to the greater cause of serving people and solving their problems by spirituality, gem therapy helped me in achieving a reasonable degree of success and recognition.

My life philosophy revolves around the Gemstoneuniverse Motto of – Deo Amabiles Et Hominibus which means Pleasing to God and To Men- and it’s in that order that has helped me.

What inspired you to develop your idea?

More than inspiration it was a necessity. In 1996 we reached around 11,000 people in a year and by 1997 it was 40,000.

I will be upfront and honest with you – no single patron ever asked me the price of any Gem. They would say you know better- please do what is best for me.

So five things here: Firstly, I was not in a humanly position to speak with every single person. Secondly, when customers were buying Gemstones without taking a look at the product just based on trust – that was creating a huge pressure on me. Thirdly, I wanted the patron to choose a Gemstone in the privacy of their own environment without any kind of pressure. Fourthly, the intention was to serve the people with the powerful science of gem therapy that delivers phenomenal results and fifthly, bring some kind of organization in a vastly unregulated market.

Real Natural Gemstones form only 2% of all world stock so you can understand the rarity and importance.

With Gemstoneuniverse the patron is assured that the best in the Gem world work assiduously to make them win and that we are on their side.

What were the main challenges you faced at the early stages of your business? And do you still encounter them to this day?

People, Problems, Possibilities, Potential, Product, Price are all words that start with P ( Smiles). There are three more P words that will solve the entire jigsaw but I would not like to mention them here.

Since the start of mankind, these 9P’s are responsible for all complications and solutions. If whatever information listed on the search engine is true then there should be no problems on the planet (Hey, another P word!).

If whatever has been written in the religious scriptures is interpreted correctly then any problem will cease to exist.

So as we continue to grow and evolve, problems will remain due to lack of quality information, incapacity for correct decision making, and resistance to change.

You can motivate and change these 3 core issues within yourself but you cannot do that for the people who work for you neither can you do it for the people interested in you with 100% quantitative compliance.

That is why I love to be in the Japanese philosophy of Kaizen and also motivate my team to be in the state of Kaizen at all possible times.

My own interpretation of Kaizen is that that there is nothing at any point in time that cannot be improved. So we are always striving to improve and be in the perfect state.

What keeps you going even in hard times?

The opportunity given by the almighty to serve and the appreciation we get for it. You will be amazed that during this COVID era both I and the organization attained personal bests.

There is an interesting parable from the life of Lord Shri Krishna. Once the great warrior Arjun asked the Lord- Krishna, write something on the wall that after reading will make a happy person – sad and a sad person -happy at the same time.

Krishna took a piece of chalk and wrote – “This Too Shall Pass”. I believe in this philosophy. What is in my hand is the right action, why worry about things that you cannot control.

What are your thoughts on entrepreneurship for young people especially in an economy where jobs are harder to find?

COVID and the currently prevailing circumstances have proven that what was conventional is not essentially the right path and in fact, some people shone brightly by using innovative ideas and proved that humans have a wonderful ability to adapt and improvise – these are the two qualities in humans that have made us the alpha species.

I think it will be wonderful to have young energetic people join the entrepreneurship bandwagon and they in turn will create new and fresh jobs.

However, I can suggest some things – always put a priority on niche specializing, always keep learning, don’t put yourself under pressure to be the next Elon Musk, work harder than anybody else and as you grow stay humble and have fun. No work is good enough if it does not give you joy!

What strategies did you first use to market your business?

To be honest with you I do not believe much in traditional marketing or advertising.

Your biggest marketing assets are your people and your product and nothing beats word of mouth.

To cut a long story short, I wrote articles about spirituality, gem therapy, astrology, and gemstones because I was appalled at the pedestrian impotent fare that was pedalled in names of these subjects which was causing more harm to people than benefiting them.

I think what has benefited us since the inception is sharing of good quality cutting edge information in form of quality articles, media resources in form of high-quality gem pictures and videos. Over a period of 26 years, there are 3500 articles on Gemstoneuniverse which are highly informative and give something to a user or solve a pain point. I think you can call it our marketing strategy if you will. Creating and sharing good quality content has been our only strategy.

I did my first Facebook live on the Gemstoneuniverse Facebook Page on 29th August 2021 and now it’s nearing 300K views already.

How have your priorities changed from when you first started?

More success comes with more responsibilities and there are other ramifications and responsibilities when you are touching lives on an epic scale. You need to be future-ready and beware of copycats that may be out to dupe people riding on the coattails of a successful enterprise.

Another thing to mull upon and work on is supply change management. The demands and numbers at Gemstoneuniverse are huge but the earth’s natural resources and the human resources we have in for of trained consultants and practitioners is limited and we have to do all this while ensuring that the Gemstones we use and supply are ethically mined, responsibly sourced, conflict-free and traceable.

Knowing what you know now, is there anything you would have done differently when you were first starting out?

Not a thing and I am just starting!

What two pieces of advice can you give to someone who wants to become an expert in their chosen field?

Another of my favourite P Word – Practice and Fail early and Fail Fast.

Failing gets you a PhD. in experience in record time provided that you learn from failure. If you are afraid of failure, to be honest, the chances of doing something noteworthy are very minuscule and at best, life would be normal, predictable, boring, and ordinary. That does sound SCARY to me at least.

What is the last ‘one word’ advice you will give to our readers when it comes to succeeding as an entrepreneur?

Niche, Niche, Niche – Do what you love and be the best at it. I wish all the readers health, happiness, and abundance.

You can follow Guruji Shrii Arnav and Gemstoneuniverse via their official social media pages:

Facebook: www.facebook.com/gemstoneuniverse
Instagram: @gemstoneuniverse
Website: www.gemstoneuniverse.com

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Meet The Man Behind The Cover Of The September 2021 Issue Of Global Millionaire: Deepak Chopra

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By Allison Kugel
 
Deepak Chopra has been a mentor of mine from the day of my first interview with him more than a decade ago. I will never forget the day in 2008 when I asked him to explain such existential concepts as the distinction between the brain, mind, and soul; the concepts of space and time, and how meditation benefits our physical and mental health. His answers then were clear and precise and without hesitation; on my end, it felt like waking up from a dream and setting about on a continuous path of discovery.
 
He and I sat down once again, this time to unpack the pressing issues of isolation, anxiety, and depression and the growing epidemic of suicidal ideation and suicide, which has taken a sharp incline over the past eighteen years. Deepak Chopra is now part of a team spearheading the Never Alone movement, a grassroots movement that aims to create community-led organizations around the world to help people in emotional distress who need community support. Never Alone is being funded through a GoFundMe campaign that has already surpassed its original goal.
 
In tandem, Deepak Chopra has released his latest book, Metahuman (Harmony Books/Random House), which delves into the true essence of our nature when we break free of societal constructs and embrace a higher level of consciousness and greater zest for living on this planet.
 
Allison Kugel: The subject matter we are about to discuss is an uncomfortable one, but one that needs to be addressed because we are losing too many people. I looked at some World Health Organization statistics that report there has been a 60% increase in suicides over the past 45 years, with a 30% increase since 2001. My first question for you is simply… why?
 
Deepak Chopra: We are living in a culture that aggrandizes narcissism and the whole idea of a separate self. People are constantly engaged in social media, and in general media as well. All of this leads to performance anxiety in a sense. Am I relevant if I’m not being noticed? On the one hand, social networks are supposed to increase our connectivity. In one sense they do because we can communicate more effectively. But it also increases our isolation if we don’t get noticed. Young adults, in particular, are at a very delicate stage of their life where they’re beginning to wonder about their identity. As young children, we never wonder about identity. We are just happy, without wondering about self-esteem and all those things. As we enter adolescence, identity becomes an issue and we are still forging our identities. Today our identity is all about, “Am I important? Am I relevant?” It’s not even about knowing who we are at a fundamental level. 
 
Allison Kugel: I remember seeing my son, up until about the age of three, exhibit this pure unadulterated confidence and joy that emanated from his being. I have a video of him at the age of 15 or 16 months, where he’s running through a field and cracking himself up for no reason; just happy to be running in the grass. Why do we lose that joy and that feeling of wholeness, of being enough just as we are, as we get older? 
 
Deepak Chopra: You are very right in your observation. The poet Rabindranath Tagore is quoted as having said that “every child that’s born is proof that God has not given up on human beings (paraphrased).” Children are naturally joyful and loving and have empathy and compassion and playfulness as their innate traits. The rest is the hypnosis of social conditioning. Unfortunately, it gets recycled through every generation and now it’s getting worse because of our ability to communicate our self-importance. Self-esteem is natural, in our natural state. We are confusing [self-esteem] with self-image, which is the ego-bound identity. Self-image constantly needs validation or else it feels very fearful.
 
Allison Kugel: I’ve noticed a pattern in the 21st century where we are being pushed to the brink in so many ways. We have extreme weather patterns, mass shootings, more chronic illness, more narcissism, and certainly more anxiety and depression. And we have more people who are medicated than ever before. What is all this pushing us towards?  And what is the spiritual reason for it all?
 
Deepak Chopra: A lot of what you are seeing is the mental health of a collective mind, or a collective humanity, that has created a world with all the things you mentioned. We’ve seen extinction in every other life form, but now we’re ready for our own extinction. The last extinction was sixty-five million years ago as a result of a meteorite hitting the earth when dinosaurs were wiped out. We learned as a result of that extinction. But now if we have our next extinction, it will be as a result of human behavior. If this is not collective insanity… If we don’t acknowledge it then we are decreeing our own insanity. We need to understand our personal role in this collective insanity. Suicide and depression are symptoms of our collective conditioned mind. We treat hate to be normal. We treat the psychopathology of our everyday existence as normal. So numb have we become. And so immune have we become to the cruelty that happens every day in the world. 
Allison Kugel: What if you’re an empath, and internalize everything, and you’re in a constant state of feeling the pain of everybody and everything?
 
Deepak Chopra: We can resign ourselves and say the human experiment has failed; that the human species was an interesting idea on behalf of nature’s evolutionary impulse, but it didn’t work. We can resign ourselves and wait for our collective extinction where we just go to the bar and get a drink, which will numb us even more, and which people are doing with drugs and alcohol and other addictions. This is mostly linked to this massive epidemic of suicide and depression. Or, we can do something about it and hope for the best. What I have discovered through careful observation and as a physician, is that when people support each other in anything, and it doesn’t matter what it is, it is healing. When we support each other, the outcome of whatever that condition is that a person is struggling with, it does improve. This is what has led me to the opportunity to create, both, online and real-time communities where people can support each other for a more peaceful, just, sustainable, healthier, and joyful existence. Ultimately, this is the purpose of life, to experience our innate joy. That comes automatically through empathy, which leads to compassion, which then leads to the desire to relieve another person’s suffering.
 
Allison Kugel: For all the empaths out there, including myself, the answer is to not just feel the pain of the world, but to take loving action towards solutions where and when you can.
 
Deepak Chopra: Right, because compassion leads to love, and it leads to love-in-action. Love-in-action leads to healing. Love without action is irrelevant. And action without love is also meaningless. This is an opportunity for us to create a self-sustaining ecosystem where people support each other and help each other. Helping each other is the best way to help ourselves.
 
Allison Kugel: You’re a part of creating the Never Alone movement to provide support communities around the world, which we hope will prevent suicide and help people feel connected to real support systems. How will the Never Alone platform work, and will it be accessible to people of all socioeconomic backgrounds and geographic locations? 
 
Deepak Chopra: Right now, the Never Alone platform will be run by GoFundMe. We are helping create an advisory board for the GoFundMe campaign. Our goal is to create self-sustaining grassroots movements across the world because even in very impoverished parts of the world, people now have access to wireless technology. In wisdom traditions, a healthy community has three things: people dedicated to serving the community; spiritual practice of reflective self-inquiry, and getting together with other people in the community. Today we can do that online, but we can also do that by creating our own localized communities and centers. This is not a Deepak Chopra campaign or anyone’s campaign. It should be a totally grassroots, self-sustaining campaign where we create an ecosystem for helping each other in [times of] distress.

 
Allison Kugel: With the film The Offering that you’ve recently raised funding for, this is not a documentary, correct? This is a work of fiction that is based on real stories about suicide? 
 
Deepak Chopra: The actress Gabriella Wright, her sister was a very accomplished musical artist in Europe who committed suicide at the age of 28 or 29. This is a film for awareness, in which actress Gabriella Wright is playing the role of a mother whose son commits suicide. We hope to use the film as a tool for bringing awareness to this cause, and to the Never Alone movement. When you give facts alone, some people are moved by the facts, like you were moved by the statistics. But by themselves, facts can be very dry. When they are linked to an emotional response, people feel compelled to look at the facts in a different way. We are hoping that The Offering will be a film that will bring some insight to the epidemic of loneliness. The film is only one aspect of this movement. After that, the goal of the Never Alone movement is to encourage other people to produce videos and films, and to share stories to increase awareness and create their own communities both offline and online.
 
Allison Kugel: I have a question that could be construed as controversial, but it’s been on my mind. Over the last 15 to 20 years the veil, so to speak, has been thinning in terms of more people becoming aware that our souls are eternal and that there is a spiritual dimension to which we go on; the concept that we were alive before we got here and we will be alive in spirit when we leave. Do you think this information can be a double-edged sword in the wrong hands, and that people might then see suicide as a viable option because of this? For example, the thought could be, “I don’t want to cease to exist. I just don’t want to be here.” I would hate for that to be the case…
 
Deepak Chopra: I hesitate to answer that because I don’t really know that that’s one of the reasons for the increasing epidemic of suicides. Many people do not have insight into the true nature of their soul. In the past, if you spoke about the soul or the spirit, a lot of people considered themselves scientists and secular, and they would roll their eyes and look away because you’re not talking science. Right now, there’s a big discussion among scientists about what fundamental reality is. Is fundamental reality physical, or is fundamental reality non-perceptual and in the realm of what you and I would call the soul? Scientists are now struggling with a good physical explanation for what we call “consciousness.” There’s no biological explanation for consciousness. Right now, as I’m speaking to you, all that’s going to your brain is an electrical current. You are experiencing the sound of my voice, and not only that, you are interpreting that into meaning. Where is that happening? Science has no idea. So, there are some cutting-edge scientists now that are addressing this. What we call the physical world is an interpretation of perceptual connectivity in our own consciousness. The only thing that is eternal is what you just referred to as the soul, which is not in space or time. It will take a long time for science to catch up to this idea. In the meantime, we have to deal with everyday reality. And some everyday realities, at this moment, are very depressing and it’s our own collective projection. We need to change it. 
Allison Kugel: For somebody who is having suicidal thoughts or feelings, what does it take to bring them back from the brink and to move their energy back into a space of embracing life once again?
 
Deepak Chopra: It takes a loving, compassionate, caring being to be present for them. And that’s all it takes. I think there’s no situation that is so desperate that love and compassion and presence and caring can’t alleviate it, with any kind of desperate situation. But we now need to create the platform for that.
 
Allison Kugel: Have you, yourself, at any point in your life had a suicidal thought or feeling, and if so, how did you work your way out of it? Or has a loved one of yours ever experienced something like that?
 
Deepak Chopra: I have personally never experienced this kind of extreme ideation. But when I was in active practice as an internist and an endocrinologist and emergency room physician, I saw it all the time, several times a day. And then I looked at my own family; cousins, nephews, nieces, uncles, aunts. And I don’t find a single family, including my own, where this type of extreme desperation has not resulted in a suicidal act. From my medical school days to my internship and residency, I have witnessed these kinds of ideations and this kind of outcome of extreme desperation, which we call suicide. It’s never been out of my awareness, not even a single day since I became a medical student. And I do remember also in my early growing up years, becoming aware of relatives in my extended family who have done that, so it’s a daily reminder that we need to do more to alleviate everyone’s suffering. Our own personal happiness is dependent on the happiness of others. In fact, all the data shows that the most effective way to be happy is to make someone else happy. The easiest way to make someone happy is to give them attention, which means to listen to them, not advise them, but listen to them. You don’t try to change another person. It’s hard enough to change yourself when you want to. But if you listen to them and you are there to support them, then they change, especially if you care.

 
Allison Kugel: Let’s touch on your new book, Metahuman. Does the book delve into teaching people to tap into the quantum field?
 
Deepak Chopra: The book is about what is fundamental as opposed to what is a social construct. War, terrorism, socio-economic circumstances, injustice, climate change are all because of false constructs. The falsest construct that human beings have created is that we are separate; the subject and object of experience are two different things. Right now, for example, I believe that I am the subject of this experience and you are the object of this experience. You think you are the subject of the experience and I am the object of the experience. This is an artificial divide. Unfortunately, our science is based on that, so we end up using science for diabolical purposes and ultimately risk our extinction. My book is saying that you should wake up from the dream which has now become a nightmare. And the dream is that we are separate beings. We are actually part of a holistic process and when we embrace that wholeness then we are holy, and we are healed. Wholeness, holy, health and healing go together. Everything you mentioned about mindfulness and meditation, these practices give us that experience of wholeness. When we go beyond our skin-encapsulated ego-identities, that is what the book is about.
  
Deepak Chopra’s book, Metahuman: Unleashing Your Infinite Potential (Harmony Books/Random House), is available wherever books are sold. Learn more about the Never Alone movement at GoFundMe.com/NeverAlone. Follow Deepak Chopra @DeepakChopra and tune in to his podcasts Infinite Potential and Daily Breath for your regular dose of Deepak, wherever podcasts stream.
 
Allison Kugel is a syndicated entertainment columnist, author of the memoir, Journaling Fame: A memoir of a life unhinged and on the record, and owner of communications firm, Full Scale Media. Follow her on Instagram @theallisonkugel and at AllisonKugel.com.
 
Photo Credits: Todd MacMillan, Jeremiah Sullivan, Harmony Books/Random Hous
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The Big Reason This Successful Crazy Rich Asians Star Still Lives With An “All I Need Is $500/Month” Mentality

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Last year, Awkwafina became the first Asian-American to win the Golden Globe for best actress for her lead role performance in the musical or comedy category in the 2019 drama “The Farewell” which solidified her status in Hollywood.

The talented rapper, comedian, and actress also appeared in two box office hits in 2018: “Ocean’s 8” and “Crazy Rich Asians.” Thanks to her big roles in these movies, she has an estimated net worth in the millions.

But even though she’s got money to burn these days, Awkwafina still plays it safe when it comes to handling her money. She told guest host Lisa Ling on an episode of “Death, Sex & Money” that she doesn’t “splurge on literally anything,” and that she’s quite frugal when it comes to buying clothes: “I’m literally wearing Target pants.”

She also still lives in the first apartment she moved into after college as per CNBC – which happens to be a railroad apartment in Brooklyn, New York, that she discovered through a friend.

CNBC further confirmed that her philosophy about money came from her grandmother, who helped raise her in Queens after her mother died when she was just four years old. Unfortunately, her grandmother’s restaurant went bankrupt, which forced her grandmother to work four jobs to generate income.

Awkwafina also told Ling that her grandmother used to constantly worry about money. She said, “she would lie awake sometimes, and we’d be next to each other, and I asked her, ‘What is your only wish, Grandma?’ And she was like, ‘Just being able to pay my bills this month.’ … It was something that ate at her and I remember as a kid thinking that we don’t have money.”

This is the big reason why Awkwafina still lives like she can go bankrupt anytime even though her career is now well and truly established. In fact, she told Wealthsimple that “if I get a big check, I try really hard to just put it in a savings account and not touch it.”

Editorial credit: Ovidiu Hrubaru / Shutterstock.com

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The Big Reason Former NBA Star Shaquille O’Neal Rejected A $40 Million Sneaker Deal

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Former NBA superstar Shaquille O’Neal has revealed how an old woman cursed him out which led to him walking away from a massive $40 million deal with Reebok.

According to the New York Post, Shaq recently appeared on the Full Send podcast, wherein he decided to share what he considers as his “best” business story.

The four-time NBA champion explained how he was approached and confronted by a foul-mouthed woman over his pending Reebok deal.

O’Neal said, “I’m leaving the arena one day, and this lady, she’s ripping me a new a – ‘You motherf***ers, charging these babies all this money for the shoes.'”

“So I had like, $2000 in my pocket, and I was like, ‘Ma’am, I don’t make the prices, here you go’ – and she smacked the money out of my hand.”

O’Neal then explained that the woman responded by angrily saying: “Why don’t you motherf***ers make a shoe that’s affordable?”

Somehow, this abrupt interaction with the woman made him question his decisions in life.

“I was like, ‘You know what, she’s right.’ So that day, I cut ties with Reebok and started my own brand,” he quipped. “I said, ‘Keep the money. This ain’t right. I’ll still wear the shoes I wear during the season, but I’ll be looking to do my own thing.’ So, I started the Shaq brand.”

O’Neal further said: “I went to my favourite store, Walmart, and we did a deal. I was in all stores and my price point for the shoes was $29-$19 and since then we sold over 400 million pairs… It’s not kids that don’t want to wear $20 shoes, they don’t want to wear shoes that look like they cost $20.”

Editorial credit: Ron Adar / Shutterstock.com

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Entrepreneur Spotlight: Get To Know Entrepreneur And Best-Selling Author William S. Matthews

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William S. Matthews is a passionate modern-day renaissance man with big dreams and even bigger ambitions. Being a best-selling author, world-recognized public speaker, and successful real estate investor, was never William’s goal. Ever since he was a young boy in his native Houston, Texas, William had one dream – to be successful and enjoy life to the fullest. Even if it meant stepping out of his comfort zone or going the extra mile.

Today, William is still actively pursuing his childhood dream every single day. From project management to workshop facilitation, and from keynote speaking, to fundraising millions, William’s detail-oriented, energetic, and dynamic personality allows him to lead and take part in multiple projects for both nonprofit and corporate entities. But that is not enough.

He is the author of two best-selling books “Everything I Need to Know about Life I Learned from an Event Planner” (On Demand Publishing, 2013), as well as “Everything I Need to Know about Money I Learned from My Broke @$$ Friends” (On Demand Publishing, 2015) that have touched and inspired thousands to change their mindsets.

People who have worked with William will describe him as a charismatic, charming, and energetic change maker with an impeccable sense of style, but in his mind, he is nothing more than a go-getter.

His background in real estate, event planning, and corporate community relations, has shaped his signature approach that combines his entrepreneurial alter-ego with his uncompromising personality and philanthropist mindset.

Global Millionaire magazine recently caught up with William to discuss his journey as an entrepreneur and here’s what went down:

Could you please tell our readers a brief background about yourself and how you started your business?

My name is William Matthews, and I am from Houston. I have spent over ten years working with many of Houston’s top social, corporate, and non-profit institutions, and my work has included community outreach, project management, workshop felicitation, fundraising, and keynote speaking. For the past five years, I have been a public and community affairs professional with a substantial knowledge base in the areas of corporate relations, civic engagement, and real estate development. Additionally, I have written guides to personal finance and event planning, and I just released my third book, “Everything I Needed to Know About Corporate America.”

When did your entrepreneurial flair first reveal itself?

Growing up in Houston with parents who were real estate brokers, I spent many hours surrounded by entrepreneurs of all types, which I think helped inspire me toward my future career. But my mother was always my biggest cheerleader inspiring me to pursue my career, follow my passion, and stay true to who I am. Starting from a very early age, I saw how she maneuvered all of her responsibilities- from managing a business, taking care of her family, to being a member or board member of a variety of organizations. My mom proved to me that as long as you have passion and drive, you can do everything that you aspire to do professionally and still be an amazing parent. One of her favorite quotes is “Quitters never win, and winners never quit,” which I still live by to this day.

How did your life look like before being an entrepreneur?

My background in real estate development, event planning, and fund development has shaped my signature approach that combines my entrepreneurial alter-ego with an uncompromising personality and philanthropist mindset. I strive to resonate with my audience at each speaking engagement with my sense of humor, wit, and descriptions of the challenges that I have faced. Growing up, I had a major chip on my shoulder after being kicked out of five schools and told by many I wouldn’t amount to anything. Since then, I have achieved two degrees, written three books, raised millions of dollars for organizations, and completed a leadership program at Harvard University.

As an entrepreneur, what is it that motivates and drives you?

The freedom to go at your own pace and work with your own team is one of the greatest benefits. I look at it as you are the director of your own movie so you get to select your supporting cast, your budget, your script, you get to do everything. It’s completely different when you are just hired to be an actor or an extra when you work for someone else. It gives you the freedom to be your own director.

In one word, describe your life as an entrepreneur and explain why.

Renaissance. That is the word that I use to describe myself because I think as an entrepreneur you’re not just in one field; I’m an author, public speaker, I’m in real estate, and more so I think it all goes back to my brand of being a renaissance man. I think that one word cultivates and says a lot about being an entrepreneur.

What were your top three motivations for starting your business?

My parents for one, because they were entrepreneurs so it was constantly instilled in me. That was a big motivating factor. Also, going back to a previous question, you get to go at your own pace. You get to decide who you work with, what projects to be a part of, you get to say no to someone, instead of someone just handing you something and saying go and do this. I can choose what I want to be a part of and make sure it aligns with my brand. Another motivating factor is just the freedom and flexibility it gives you, which is something that most entrepreneurs love. Especially this year and being able to work from home. You don’t have to go to the office and put yourself at risk in this pandemic. If I wanted to, I could go work in the Dominican Republic for an entire month and no one would even know.

What would you say are the key elements for starting and running a successful business?

Knowing your audience for one, whether you are selling a product or giving a service, or whatever case, you really need to know who your audience is. I think that is the first thing that you need to do. Secondly, you need to make sure that you have a strong sense of community around you to help guide you. One of those could be a financial advisor, another one could be an accountability partner or just a person you vent to when things aren’t going the correct way. They say it takes a village and I truly believe that, so you need to have your village lined up before you decide to embark on your entrepreneurial journey. Lastly, I think it’s important to have a mentor that is in your field, and a mentor that looks like you, as well as a mentor that isn’t in your field and doesn’t look like you to help guide you.

What are the three biggest challenges you have faced growing the business and how did you overcome them?

Getting the word out there is always the difficult part for a lot of entrepreneurs. It is also getting people to give you a chance and an opportunity as you are trying to build your portfolio, your brand, and your client base. Everyone has to start somewhere and what happens to new people is that no one really wants to give them a chance because they want to work with experienced people. Everyone needs a start, so just start with family and friends first, or reduce your price the first few times, or take a free gig until you build your portfolio, your reputation, and your brand. And then you can go out there and charge what you are worth. You know your worth, but competition is tough and for people to want to take a chance on you, sometimes you just have to play the game until you can really write your own rules.

What form of marketing has worked well for your business throughout the years?

Utilizing social media is a really great form of marketing. Also using word of mouth, reaching out to family, friends, and any other connections you have, is also extremely important. It really goes back to the old-school marketing methods. Sending out email blasts to family and friends or sending text messages to all of your contacts. It is so important to reach out and catch up with people, especially during this pandemic, and with that, you can also have a way to talk about your business and what you have been working on. They can support you by spreading the word even more. Posting about your services or your product on social media pages, or writing positive reviews is so helpful. It can be time-consuming, but if you just stick to it, it will pay off.

As you grew the business, what have been some of the most important leadership lessons you have learned?

There is nothing worse than a leader who does not listen and claims to know everything. The best leaders surround themselves with people who challenge them and add value to the overall team. I have been the most successful with supervisors who had an open-door policy, and who always greeted me with a warm smile and offered me constructive feedback. While my ideas were not always accepted, they were encouraged, and that is what gave me the confidence to continue sharing my thoughts and made me proud to be a part of the team.

Furthermore, any good leader should be comfortable with being uncomfortable, because that is when they are growing the most. Comfort and growth do not go together!

Finally, another component of great leadership is to refrain from compromising your morals or beliefs to fit into the “status quo.” One of the best pieces of advice a former boss shared with me was: “I’ll give you my opinion, but my beliefs are not up for debate.” In other words, don’t sacrifice who you are to get a seat at the table. Your beliefs and experiences are what make you valuable to a team, and as such, it is critical to retain these in everything that you do. I try to live each day by this quote, as it helps me remember who I am as I lead my team.

What is the best advice you have ever been given?

There has been so much advice that has been important to me. There is a quote that my mother had in her office that said “Quitters never win and winners never quit.” For the longest time, I didn’t even know what that meant. It wasn’t until being in high school, I understood what that meant. There was another one that my mom would always tell me and write down in letters and cards which was “Keep your eye on the prize.” Those are the two that I think are really beneficial for entrepreneurs. I also think if you go into anything with money as the motivating factor, you won’t get the results that you want. I know it’s hard to say and hard to do, but don’t go into it with a money mindset. I don’t write books or do speaking engagements or get up every day for money, that’s not a motivating factor for me, that’s not how I live my life. I think that has allowed me to be successful and most importantly, happy.

What advice would you give to a newbie Entrepreneur setting up their first business?

I’d recommend a few things! First, don’t let anybody tell you who you are. I always try to live by the phrase, “Know who you are as a person, and don’t do things to fit in.” Whether you’re in the music industry, politics, or the corporate world, these words are essential to live by. Many times, especially for people who are just starting with their first job, everyone around you will try to tell you who you are. While it may be difficult to live by these words at first, ultimately, doing things just to try to fit in does more harm than good. It’s important to find this for yourself and then stick with those values throughout your career. What type of leader are you? What values are important to you? Don’t sacrifice these important qualities for a seat at the table- other great opportunities will come.
Next, surround yourself with people who hold you accountable, and who don’t simply agree with everything you say. My top five friends are what I call my “Board of Directors,” and they make sure to both hold me responsible for my actions and also celebrate my wins!
Finally, make sure that you read a lot of books on entrepreneurship and leadership, and find a mentor in your chosen field. Also, remember comfort and growth do not go together. When you feel uncomfortable, that’s you growing as a person.

Elegant,Young,Handsome,Man

Reese Witherspoon Just Became The World’s Richest Actress

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Actress Reese Witherspoon has just sold her five-year-old media company Hello Sunshine for $900 million and according to the Wall Street Journal, the buyer is a media company backed by the private equity firm – Blackstone Group Inc.  This makes the Reese the richest actress in the world according to Forbes.

Witherspoon in a statement as per Complex, “today marks a tremendous moment for Hello Sunshine.” She further said, “I started this company to change the way all women are seen in media. Over the past few years, we have watched our mission thrive through books, TV, film, and social platforms. Today, we’re taking a huge step forward by partnering with Blackstone, which will enable us to tell even more entertaining, impactful, and illuminating stories about women’s lives globally.”

Hello Sunshine centers on stories by and for women. The company has produced films such as Gone Girl and Wild and TV shows including HBO’s Big Little Lies, Apple’s The Morning Show, and Hulu’s Little Fires Everywhere. “I’m going to double down on that mission to hire more female creators from all walks of life and showcase their experiences,” Witherspoon said in a statement as per Vanity Fair. “This is a meaningful move in the world because it really means that women’s stories matter.”

The yet-to-be-named media venture Blackstone will be run by former Walt Disney Co. executives Kevin Mayer and Tom Staggs. They said in a statement as per Complex, “We are thrilled to partner with Reese, Sarah, and the entire Hello Sunshine team.” They also said, “Hello Sunshine is a perfect fit for our vision of a new, next-generation entertainment, technology, and commerce company. We seek to empower creators with innovation, capital, and scale to inspire, entertain, and delight global audiences with engaging content, experiences, and products. Our platform will foster a uniquely creator-friendly culture that gives elite talent the resources they need to create and capitalize on their best, most inventive work. We look forward to backing Reese, Sarah, and their world-class team as they continue to produce and identify dynamic, engaging content for years to come.”

Editorial credit: Ga Fullner / Shutterstock.com

Elegant,Young,Handsome,Man

Meet The Entrepreneur Behind The Cover Of The August 2021 Issue Of Global Millionaire: Agus Dinata

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A hardworking entrepreneur, Agus Dinata specializes in cryptocurrency and the tech industry. Originally hailing from a humble background, Agus’ parents were strict and disciplined when it came to education. He was always taught to be independent and not to cause any trouble for others. His parents also taught him to live a disciplined life, regularly plan for the future, and always be punctual. He truly believes that he grew up different from other young people because of his parents’ guidance. He didn’t party nor did he play too much when his friends were having the time of their lives. Instead, at the age of 16, he was already business-minded; his entrepreneurial mindset has always been encouraged by his family, especially by his parents who always encouraged him to be an independent person. At the age of 20, he decided to join his parents and help out running their business. It was also at that point when he was also thinking about establishing his own business.

Agus has always been interested in starting a business within the technology space especially something that’s related to web and mobile applications. In 2010, he started getting into cryptocurrency which was very new at that time – most people still did not know what cryptocurrency was. Eventually, he decided to try running a business within the cryptocurrency industry. Without much preparation, he just jumped straight into the crypto world through various companies that at that time, launched crypto-based projects. Then finally in 2019, he initiated a fairly massive business in Indonesia with an established loyal community that consisted of thousands of people. The business was called “Smart Ecosystem,” Agus, along with a group of like-minded entrepreneurs created this smart contract-based ecosystem that in the future can disrupt the technology industry; specifically when it comes to creating utilities that can benefit many people in the long term.

Global Millionaire Magazine recently caught up with Agus to discuss his journey to entrepreneurship and here’s what went down:

What are you currently doing to maintain/grow your business?

Education and internalization of militancy or leadership values are my backbones when it comes to developing a cryptocurrency-based business that opens up opportunities for others to participate in the market and make profits through the affiliate system the I am currently working on, i.e., the “Smart Ecosystem.” The type of business with an underlying asset such as crypto is indeed unique because you could say that marketing or customer acquisition is not the most important part of the business. Similar to many other digital businesses, there are more crucial things to look into such as community management, community education, and project management. With good community management and education, we can create numerous loyal customers which we currently call the cool “Smart Army”, this is a community of people who are loyal to this smart ecosystem business. Besides marketing, we also provide education about crypto fundamentals, DeFi, as well as promote the spirit of leadership to the Smart Army.

Additionally, my team and I constantly develop the business by conducting seminars both online and offline in various cities in Indonesia since 2019. Even though we are currently facing a massive challenge due to the ongoing pandemic in Indonesia, we are still trying to continue to grow by investing in research and development, especially those related to smart contracts and AI (artificial intelligence). Finally, after a very long preparation, we are about to launch the latest sub-products and systems of the Smart Ecosystem, namely: Smart Academy, Smart Living, Smart Utilities, and Smart Wealth. Several sub-products of the Smart Ecosystem have contributed to each other to provide more benefits and income opportunities to the Smart Army.

What social media platforms do you usually use to increase your brand’s awareness?

Twitter and Youtube. They have become the favourite social media for cryptocurrency enthusiasts because on Twitter there are numerous tweets from influential people from all over the world who support the cryptocurrency existence and its development globally. We also frequently use YouTube as a medium for interaction with the community to increase community engagement.

What is your experience with paid advertising, like PPC or sponsored content campaigns? Does it work?

Talking about our experience in using paid advertising, we always do trial and error and various experiments before we determine a paid advertising channel that is suitable for a typical niche market business like ours. In the end, we decided on some of the most suitable paid advertising channels, i.e., advertising through social media such as Twitter, Youtube, and several websites specific to the crypto industry that are frequently visited such as Coinmarketcap, Coinecko, and so on. The impact of paid advertising is huge if we do the right analysis beforehand such as being attentive to the factors of traffic, visitor personality, good copywriting, and one more thing, an eye-catchy animation-based promotional video content, so that makes it easier to deliver marketing content more emotionally and ultimately convert visitors into buyers.

What is your main tactic when it comes to making more people aware of your brand and engaging your customers? How did your business stand out?

Brand awareness and customer engagement are the two most important elements of product management we created. We took several strategic steps to ensure that our brand continues to be the leader in the market even though we are dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic. We do cross-selling through the sub-products we launched, and provide additional benefits beyond the main benefits. So that our customers can continue to automatically engage with our business longer while providing them with a platform to gain income through a Smart Ecosystem called Smart Wealth. Smart Wealth is a decentralized platform that allows the Smart Army to contribute to smart token sales and Smart Army licenses. So, we can also make efficient customer acquisition costs due to the very large contribution from the Smart Army. Through these strategies, we firmly believe we can build and continue to maintain brand awareness of the Smart Ecosystem.

What form of marketing has worked well for your business throughout the years?

Marketing by influencers and the affiliate system which is a sub-product of the Smart Ecosystem, namely Smart Wealth, has become the main strategy of our marketing and sales division. Apart from it, we also carry out various marketing strategies such as digital marketing, paid advertising, copywriting, video marketing, and so on.

What is the toughest decision you had to make in the last few months?

The toughest decision I’ve ever made in the last few months was to lay off some staff due to the impact of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. It is very hard for us to do this because we have a corporate culture that emphasizes teamwork, collaboration, and mutual understanding on issues between divisions so that we can maintain a very close relationship between colleagues in the company like a family.

What money mistakes have you made along the way that others can learn from (or something you’d do differently)?

A money management mistake I made a few years back before I started my Smart Ecosystem business was that I didn’t realize the importance of portfolio diversification in multi-product financial management. I used to think that some products could be managed through centralized organization and financial management. However, it turns out that this has actually backfired because there is a conflict of interest between the interests of one product and another. It has really been my biggest lesson and I have now diversified a good portfolio of products from the Smart Ecosystem.

What new business would you love to start?

Financial products, such as E-Payment. In fact, I have prepared this for a long time and it is designed as a long-term goal that I can achieve together with the Smart Army community. We design e-wallets like Alipay and Google Pay, but it is backed up directly by one of our tokens, SMT cash. In the future, we will name it Smartpay, the one and only e-wallet with underlying crypto where the underlying SMT cash is designed as an absolute deflationary token or non-inflation-able token.

If you could go back in a time machine to the time when you were just getting started, what would you do differently?

I would have started a Smart Ecosystem business back in 2010! Unfortunately, this brilliant idea came to me in 2019 and it got further improved this year. If I worked on this idea even earlier, its value would be much bigger now.

What is the best advice you have ever been given?

In the past, when I first started a business, I was always thinking about how I can increase personal wealth through business. And it affected the business; the business was unable to develop properly and management fell apart. Until one time I got advice from a person (I can’t mention his name) and this person said “Don’t even think about starting a business so you can have a lot of money. Instead, start a business so you can make a difference in people’s lives.” I continue to take this advice to heart up to now so I can be in this position.

What advice would you give to a newbie Entrepreneur setting up their first business?

My advice for newbie entrepreneurs who are starting their business is to never have a mental block when it comes to starting a business and initiating a business based on trends. Expand your relationships, and learn about the industry you’re interested in deeply and seriously. Don’t invest in a business you don’t understand.

Elegant,Young,Handsome,Man

One On One With Jeremy Stewart – One Of The Co-Founders Of The Award-Winning Animism Studios

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Jeremy Stewart is an award-winning animator with over 20 years of experience in the film industry. Prior to Animism Studios, he was an animation supervisor at Double Negative, a 5x Oscar-winning Visual Effects Studio. He has also held Supervisor and lead roles at several other top studios. His long list of credits includes MarveL’s Ant-Man and the Wasp, Pacific Rim II, Jurassic World, Star Trek: Beyond, The Thing, X-men, Happy Feet, Charlotte’s Web, and many more.

With fellow founders Victor Barbosa and Stephen Kelloway, they have built a Visual Effects VFX company that creates stunning visuals and animation for movies, episodic series, commercials, and more. The company started as 5 artists and quickly grew to 30 prior to the pandemic slowdown. This boutique studio employs some of the world’s top VFX artists. The studio has won numerous awards and its clients include; Netflix, Apple TV, MGM, and Paramount.

Global Millionaire Magazine recently caught up with Jeremy to discuss his journey in the entertainment world and here’s what went down:

When did your entrepreneurial flair first reveal itself?

My parents are entrepreneurs, so I think I inherited their entrepreneurial spirit and work ethic. From when I was 11 years old I always had some little side jobs like mowing lawns, a paper route, or washing cars. Shortly after I started my career as an animator I realized that I was more like a sole proprietor than an employee. In this industry employment is project-based, artists like myself are offered contracts for anything from a few weeks to a few years. Most animators crave the security of full-time employment. However, I was always more interested in finding the next opportunity that would offer a new challenge where I could learn or improve.

How did your life look before being an entrepreneur?

As an employee, I was an intrapreneur and focused on my career goals. I’d take on extra responsibilities, learn new skills in my spare time, or take on side projects to build up my portfolio. Now as an owner my focus is totally on the company and the success of our
employees, not me or my career.

As an entrepreneur, what is it that motivates and drives you?

What motivates me is a desire to grow. Before co-founding Animism Studios I felt I was near the limit of how far I could go as an employee. So it was only natural that when I met the right people we would start a company together. Now we’re building something much bigger than what we could as individuals.

In one word, describe your life as an entrepreneur and explain why.

Rollercoaster. Because the ups and downs seem to happen when you least expect them which makes it an exciting ride.

What were your top three motivations for starting your business?

It seemed like a great opportunity. It was a chance to be much more than an animator, a chance to take my creative talents and leadership skills to the next level. As I mentioned I was raised by entrepreneurs who were always encouraging me to start my own business. However, it wasn’t till I connected with the right people who had the same ambitions that starting a VFX business seemed possible. Full credit goes to my fellow co-founders. So it was a combination of timing, ambition, and meeting the right people that motivated me to leave a good job and take the risk.

What would you say are the key elements for starting and running a successful business?

In our case, it all comes down to the people in our organization. Without my fellow founders, our employees, and our network of supporters we would not be in business, let alone successful.

What are the three biggest challenges you have faced growing the business and how did you overcome them?

The other founders and I are well established as VFX artists but not so much in business, so the formal side of building the business has been challenging at times. My personal challenge has been sales, but I seem to be getting the hang of it. Surviving the slowdown caused by COVID-19 has been our biggest challenge so far. We overcame all these challenges thanks to our great team, strong networks, and a lot of hard work.

What form of marketing has worked well for your business throughout the years?

We have a good presence on Linkedin and social media. However old fashioned word-of-mouth networking seems to be giving us the best results.

As you grew the business, what have been some of the most important leadership lessons you have learned?

Work with people based on their reputation, not their resumes. As a leader, you need to protect your team from external problems. So never make their lives (and yours) more difficult by bringing someone into your organization that is not a team player. We all make mistakes, so the moment you realize you’ve made a hiring mistake fix it right away.

What is the best advice you have ever been given?

The company comes first. I have plenty of personal goals and ambitions but they all come second to the success of the business and the team. This may sound a bit cliche but when the company succeeds we all succeed.

What advice would you give to a newbie Entrepreneur setting up their first business?

Figure out your “Why”. Why do you want to be an entrepreneur? Your “why” doesn’t need to be anything deep, you just need something more than money to motivate you to put in the long hours, push past the setbacks, deal with the frustrations, and all the not-so-nice stuff that comes with setting up a business. The other good bit of advice I got was “build your network before you need it”. I’m amazed and grateful for the help I’ve been given from the people in my network. In my opinion, the best way to get help is to give help. So if any of your readers could use my help please feel free to connect with me on Linkedin.

Elegant,Young,Handsome,Man

4 Surefire Ways To Become A Millionaire By Age 30

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In this free-market economy, all of us have the ability to create the amount of money that we want. Our daily salary should not limit us on the amount of money we can make – this notion can also be applied to people around the age of 20s. To help you reach the millionaire status before you get the age of 30, here are 4 simple pieces of advice from the experts who became millionaires before turning 30.

Focus on Your Current Earning

The economic uncertainty of today prevents anyone from saving to earn the millionaire status. The first step towards achieving this status is to focus first on increasing your current income and then repeating that process. Grant Cardone who achieved the status before the age of 30 started at $3,000/month, and after 9 years, he is already making $20,000/month.

Develop Various Sources of Income

Another way on how you can earn more is to boost the streams of your income. In one study by Thomas Corley, he found out that most of the self-made millionaire was able to develop multiple sources, of income; around 65% of them have at least 3 sources and 29% has 5 or more streams. The additional streams of income may come from part-ownership of the business, stock market, and rental properties.

Avoid Showing Off

Just because you managed to create tens of thousands of bucks, doesn’t mean you should waste your money buying luxury items. You should focus more on your ethics in your work and not about splashing out on luxurious things. In case you want to use it as your inspiration and motivation to be a millionaire, there are heaps of ways on how to stay motivated without spending your money. As an example, you should first wait for your business to have multiple cash flows before buying a luxury watch.

Save Then Invest

One of the main reasons why you are saving money should only be so that you can invest it and make your money work for you. The money that you saved should be kept secured into an account. You should never use this, not even for an emergency situation. If you’re young and not too concerned with buying a house just yet, you might want to invest in property. Investing in a property while you are still young can be a good way to build a solid financial foundation for the near future. Several first-time buyers these days choose to invest in a property rather than to live in it because when you apply for a loan as an investment, banks, and lenders will most likely increase your borrowing capacity since they will factor in the income you can potentially generate from rent, which is on top of your regular income. Another great way to invest your money wisely is by buying shares. For most people, buying shares is not about getting rich quickly, rather, it is about a long-term goal of choosing to buy shares of companies that look likely to do well over the long term and whose shares should, potentially, increase in value over time. That said, you need to do plenty of research before you start investing your money in either property or shares.

Elegant,Young,Handsome,Man

Meet The Man Behind The Cover Of The July 2021 Issue Of Global Millionaire: Kamran Karim

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Kamran Karim is a progressive and result-driven entrepreneur with 13 years of professional experience in mobile app development, software development, and deployment building strategic alliances, branding, product life cycle completion, digital marketing, and internet promotions. He’s an inspirational individual who has been a crucial part of brand development and click monetization projects of several Fortune 500 companies.

He has founded several companies such as Tech Whizards – a global company that provides innovative digital solutions for businesses. He was also the founder of Yacht Rental DXB – a luxury yacht rental company applying Uber’s digital business model for clients to rent yachts and spend time with their friends and their loved ones. On top of that, he is also the founder of Binary Geeks – a software house that provides innovative products for the global market.

Kamran has several exciting upcoming projects under his belt such as a YouTube channel named “She Inspires,” where they will be interviewing women who have gone through struggles and overcame all the obstacles life put them through. He’s also planning to launch another YouTube channel called DefiGeeks which is catered to the Pakistan market where they are planning to post weekly episodes about cryptocurrency and the hype surrounding it. Lastly, he’s also in the process of launching a private jet rental company called Jetify in UAE, where users will be able to follow the Uber business model and rent private jets, similar to their Yacht initiative.

Global Millionaire magazine recently caught up with Kamran to discuss his journey to entrepreneurship and here’s what went down:

Could you please tell our readers a brief background about yourself and how you started in business?

I actually had a humble start in my journey; I belong to a traditional middle-class family but I received good education though because my father was determined to give me a better future. I started working with startups at an early age but it wasn’t until I reached Dubai that I realized that the better future that my father had hoped I would have could be obtained by having my own business rather than by working in a 9 to 5 job.

When did your entrepreneurial flair first reveal itself?

The nascent seeds of entrepreneurship must have always been there for me because honestly, I hated those conventional jobs that I had. I did not think I had the ability to conform, and that problem led me to develop my own thing.

How did your life look like before being an entrepreneur?

Life before being an entrepreneur was “traditional”, “conventional” and in short “unchallenging”. It was simply something every other person could do and was doing, I was cut out for going with the crowd sort of thing.

As an entrepreneur, what is it that motivates and drives you?

Not knowing what is coming next, the challenges that every day throws at me, and also my passion for tech, is a major driving force.

In one word, describe your life as an entrepreneur and explain why.

“Majestic” – yes I will use the word majestic because I am the king of my own world, I make my decisions and I rule over myself (along with own my team).

What were your top three motivations for starting your business?

Well hmm.. let’s see, having your own business enables a person to implement what they always thought should be done, that is a great deal of independence one deals with. The biggest motivation is obviously that you can’t let your business fail, it is like your baby and you never want to fail your child. The third motivator is that having my own business enables me to actualize my vision.

What do you put your success down to?

Persistence, the only word I can use to define the reason for my success. You need to be persistent.

What would you say are the key elements for starting and running a successful business?

Know what you are doing, have a vision, stick to the vision, be persistent, and don’t give up, all big businesses were small once upon a time.

What are the three biggest challenges you have faced growing the business and how did you overcome them?

Finding good employees is a major problem when the business is in its initial stages, I was lucky to have my brother as my support in this regard.

Does the loneliness of the entrepreneur really exist?

Yes and no, if people around you understand and appreciate your vision, then you won’t be lonely but often that is not the case.

As you grew the business, what have been some of the most important leadership lessons you have learned?

Taking the hard decisions like firing someone or shelving an idea; these are the minuscule things that lead you to develop leadership skills. The most important thing I learned was that sometimes, you just can not be soft-hearted, people will take advantage of you and that is not good for your business.

What do you hope to see happen in the near future for small businesses all over the world?

I think the pandemic has made it clear that there is a great future for small businesses around the world, especially in the tech industry.

Elegant,Young,Handsome,Man

5 Small Business Success Tips For Emerging Young Entrepreneurs

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Establishing a company might be one of the hardest things that a young entrepreneur could ever do. And starting your business might also be a door to financial freedom however if it doesn’t work out based on your plans it might as well ruin personal finances.

As you build a business, it would be of great importance to have a smart plan to make sure that your personal wealth is being protected. Here are some tips that can help you when it comes to protecting personal finances due to business risks:

Put your eggs in many different baskets

There is a need for you to be prepared for every different situation therefore you should never invest all your money in your business. Allocate your money in different places like in assets, investment, cash, and emergency cash cushion. This emergency cash cushion would be needed for you to fall back on once you need it. Once bad things happen, you would already have money set aside to keep you afloat in tough times.

Hope only for the best and plan for the worst.

Once you are in the world of business, there is a need to hope for the best and plan for the worst. There is a need for you to be optimistic however when shits occur you just have to be prepared. Avoid taking all your money out of cheque accounts to fund all the operational business costs. So that even though one of your businesses fail, you will have other sources of income to continue the business.

You must consider separating your business and personal expenses

This is indeed a must once you are starting a business. With regards to tax reporting, the business expenses are simply deductible from the business income. And also the more deductions that you would have the lesser tax that you are to pay. Just simply open a separate bank account for the business and personal finances.

Learn to manage your cash flow

Running out of cash is one of the reasons why a company fails. Cash flow is considered as a king and so the queen is the documentation. The first financial planning lesson that you must consider once running a company is to have a manageable cash flow. You will be at risk if you don’t know where your money will go and comes from. Just simply create your budget and then stick to it.

Ask for help

Being new as an entrepreneur, you must not forget to track the business expenses and keeping the documentation as well. It would be very important to consider a simple accounting system in order to record as well as track the spending every month for you not to scramble for the information once you need it. Or you might as well use free financial tools once you don’t have the budget in investing in an accounting software. Freelance bookkeeper might be of great help as well.

Those are just some among the best tips about finances that you might consider once you are starting up with your business.

Elegant,Young,Handsome,Man

Entrepreneur Spotlight: Get To Know Grammy Award-Winning Producer Brian Malouf

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Brian Malouf is a multi-platinum American producer, engineer, and mixer who has worked with Michael Jackson, Queen, Madonna, Pearl Jam, Stevie Wonder, and other world-known artists. Also serving as an executive at several major record labels over the years, his work has amassed a total of 53 gold, platinum, and double platinum records to date. Brian is a senior judge and co-founder of Djooky and owns Cookie Jar Recording in Sherman Oaks, California, and runs his practice as an independent producer.

Andrew Dakhovskyy is attributed as one of the founding fathers of the music industry in Ukraine, having been a true champion in promoting licensed music consumption. For years, Andrew represented Universal Music in Ukraine, becoming the first global label’s licensee in the country. In 2017, Andrew became a co-founder of the world’s first community-based music label based on the blockchain technology Younk. Andrew is passionate about promoting the idea of the borderless and inclusive world of music.

The idea of Djooky was originally fostered by our founder Andrew Dakhovskyy who is a music lover and supporter of creative individuals, and specifically songwriters. His thought was to provide a gateway for talented individuals who were gifted at the art of songwriting but were having trouble getting their music heard. And in the world of technology, they could provide that gateway: design a website and create an infrastructure for people in the industry. So together with Andrew, they adopted this idea and they developed Djooky for people to demonstrate their talent and get others to listen to their music.

Global Millionaire Magazine recently caught up with Andrew and here’s what went down:

What are you currently doing to maintain/grow your business?

Djooky is a platform that is already helping thousands of artists around the world to reach out to new fans around the world.

We are constantly designing and adding new features to help emerging talent turn their passion for music into a professional career. The Djooky Music Awards presents an opportunity for artists and songwriters to showcase their original music to a global audience and to win great prizes that help to boost their careers. The demand for this sort of platform is tremendous. In less than a year we have managed to grow the competition from 55 countries in the first season to more than 100 countries today.

We are also working on developing engaging features for fans and music lovers. The HitHunter feature of the Djooky app allows users to prove their skills to identify potential hits by allocating virtual Hit Points to the songs which they believe will move up to the top in our song charts. .The top HitHunters in our Hithunter ranking are also being rewarded with cash prizes on a weekly basis.

Another important aspect of our growth strategy is to form strategic partnerships worldwide with local partners that will help artists to get exposure and support in developing their careers.

What social media platforms do you usually use to increase your brand’s awareness?

Social media platforms play a vital role in our communication with our audience. We use various platforms to make sure we are always connected to our audience. These include Instagram, Facebook, Twitter & YouTube. Most recently, we have also created an account on Clubhouse where we host rooms with independent musicians and hold Q&A sessions with artists.

What is your main tactic when it comes to making more people aware of your brand and engaging your customers? How did your business stand out?

Social Media Marketing has worked really well for us. We have managed to draw attention through our unique offering in times of pandemic. We have been very open and transparent with our followers and ensured that no query was left unanswered. After the first season of the Djooky Music Awards, we started looking out for Djooky brand ambassadors who were instrumental in reaching out throughout the world. We maintain and develop a global network of advocates who share our values and have a vested interest in bringing more artists to the platform from their country or region.

Testimonials from former winners and participants also worked well. This is the best sort of advertising one can get.

What form of marketing has worked well for your business throughout the years?

Being a start-up our marketing efforts are concentrated on building awareness using various mainly online media channels. We have partnerships globally that enable us to reach out to artists from around the world. At Djooky, we made it our priority to be authentic, value-driven, and artist-centric in our products and communication.

We also carefully listen to the users’ feedback and continuously improve our product and services, which has helped us in getting quite a few user endorsements on their social media channels.

What is the toughest decision you had to make in the last few months?

With the global pandemic raging across the globe, we have had to postpone inviting our winners to the Capitol Studios in LA which constituted the biggest part of their award. With a heavy heart, we have made a decision to wait until international travel resumes or becomes safer before our winners can take a trip to record a song with an all-star team.

What money mistakes have you made along the way that others can learn from (or something you’d do differently)?

Luckily, we can say we have managed to avoid any major mistakes and this is due to the very frugal approach to fiscal discipline which we have adopted since the inception of Djooky. One piece of advice we could give to other entrepreneurs is to stay really focused without deviating from your course of action. Temptations will come along the way but you must stay on your chosen path to deliver on your set goals and commitments.

What new business would you love to start?

Right now, there is no other business on our mind and I dare say it will occupy us for many years to come. Djooky as a platform in itself offers plenty of opportunities for spinoffs and ventures which complement the core business and add further value to our users.

If you could go back in a time machine to the time when you were just getting started, what would you do differently?

Nothing really. It’s been quite an exciting ride with Djooky and so far everything developed very well. We were also very fortunate to avoid the negative effects of the Covid crisis even though we were right at the peak of the first wave of Covid-19 when we launched Djooky with the start of our first season in April 2020 when many in the music industry all over the world were struggling enormously.

I suppose this is also due to the fact that Djooky´s vision to create a digital world of music with equal opportunities for all artists on this planet was also very timely, as it gave artists a unique opportunity to show their talent to a global audience, right at a time when many live events were being canceled thus offering excitement and hope to the artist and music lovers in otherwise very challenging times.

What is the best advice you have ever been given?

As trivial as it may sound, trust in your own ability is crucial for success, both in business and in music. I’ll give you a recent example. A couple of months ago I was talking to an artist who I invited to join the platform. His response was doubtful. He felt this was too high of a summit for him to reach. I insisted and he finally registered. He was completely blown off his feet when his song won in the weekly round climbing up the charts to bring him immediate cash rewards. The moral of this story is simple: sometimes just believing in yourself comprises 50% of success.

What advice would you give to a newbie Entrepreneur setting up their first business?

Start with an honest inventory identifying your strengths and weaknesses, what you can offer and what is missing to turn your idea into reality. Get experienced advisors and mentors to join you and learn from their mistakes. It is much cheaper than making your own.

Elegant,Young,Handsome,Man

5 Mistakes To Avoid If You Want To Be A Millionaire

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Becoming a millionaire seems like the perfect dream for most people. In order to make this dream come true, though, it takes a lot of determination and hard work. Although many of the people dreaming of becoming millionaires will end up settling for less, this does not have to be the case with you. If you are driven by the thirst to succeed, you need to build on solid ground and start making life changes.

However, there are a lot of misinterpretations that can get you off the right course towards success. Some things just are not necessary and in fact, can be proven extremely damaging to your goals. How to be rich does not depend on any of the following misconceptions. Read the following points below carefully and find out what you do not need to do:

• Work on conventional niches

This is a safe way towards failure. In other words, you do not want to engage in niches that have been regarded as a traditional money-making business. You cannot expect to get rich any time soon by practicing law or medicine or architecture. These professions require a lot of time, and you slowly build your income, up to a point.

• Assume that just by studying hard will bring in the cash

There is no guarantee that your studies will pay off in the future when it comes to your professional career and money boost. On the contrary, most of the times you will be expected to choose a different professional path, which has nothing to do with what you have studied.

• Depend on luck

Luck is definitely not the main factor that determines if you get rich or not. You should focus on taking advantage of any opportunity coming your way, rather than wait for luck to knock on your door.

• Indulge in scams

Nothing good has ever come long term from scams. Even if you are lured by short-term winnings, you will most likely learn the hard way that such money does not last. So it is not worth risking your career for something with dubious results.

• Maintain a rich social life

Unfortunately, when you set your mind on how to be a millionaire, there is no time to waste. This means that you must be considerate and schedule all your social plans according to your optimal benefits professionally.

Of course, these are just a few of the things you ought to avoid on your path to success. You need to set realistic goals and do not let go till you reach them.

Elegant,Young,Handsome,Man

Entrepreneur Spotlight: Get To Know Eric Siu, The Founder Of Content Intelligence Software ClickFlow

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Eric Siu is the founder of content intelligence software ClickFlow. He is also the Chairman of ad agency Single Grain and has worked with companies such as Amazon, Airbnb, Salesforce, and Uber to acquire more customers. He hosts two podcasts: “Marketing School with Neil Patel” and “Leveling Up”, which combined have over 43 million downloads to date. He also speaks frequently around the world on marketing and SaaS. In his youth, Eric was not academically or socially successful, but he was a serious high-level eSports and poker player. He ultimately found how to convert his focus and success in gaming into a very successful career in marketing. He also contributes to Entrepreneur Magazine, Business Insider, Forbes, Fast Company, Time magazine, and more.

Global Millionaire Magazine recently caught up with Eric and here’s what went down:

Could you please tell our readers a brief background about yourself and how you started your business?  

Sure, my name is Eric Siu and I’m an entrepreneur who helps other businesses grow. I have a marketing agency that has served companies like Amazon, Nordstrom, Salesforce, and Uber. I also run a marketing analytics company called ClickFlow.

But before all the business-y stuff, I was a hardcore gamer. I actually spent most of my youth playing World of Warcraft, EverQuest, Defense of the Ancients, Counter-Strike, Quake, Team Fortress, Warcraft III, Diablo, you name it.

My biggest challenge was always that I accomplished much more in games than I did in real life. I had to log off, In games, I won championships, played with the best teams, and accomplished really difficult goals. Not so much in real life. I was constantly written off and had little confidence in myself.

It was only when I figured out how to apply gaming concepts to real-life did things start to transform for the better. That’s why I wrote Leveling Up, to teach others how to do the same.

When did your entrepreneurial flair first reveal itself?

Back when I was still hardcore gaming. I picked up a lot of the foundational habits and skills I wound up using in business. When I think back to why I was able to win gaming championships despite the odds, it was because of consistent, hard, painstaking work. There’s no way I could have gotten there without progressing methodically and patiently.

I actually have a sense of pride when I think back to my gaming days because these accomplishments provided me with foundational confidence that allowed me to eventually succeed in real life and business. 

Thanks to that confidence, I was able to parlay my gaming experience into resurrecting two companies, taking over one, starting a software company, speaking internationally, hosting two podcasts with over thirty million listens (Marketing School and Leveling Up), hosting a reality video series (also called Leveling Up), and guest lecturing at universities on entrepreneurship and marketing.

How did your life look like before being an entrepreneur?

So actually growing up, I was a disappointment in the eyes of my parents. I never cared much for school and I was terrible at sports. In fact, I was almost always chosen last when it came to pickup games. School never made much sense to me because having to wake up, report to someone, and obey a regime based on what others thought I should learn didn’t sit well with me. I wanted to do things on my own terms.

I was always late to catch on to things. I’d always be chosen last for pickup basketball games. I was at the bottom of the food chain when I joined the high school drumline. I was picked on frequently because I was smaller and shy. I was told to “be cool” or to “stop trying to fit in.” I always had trouble summoning up the courage to ask out girls. In fact, I didn’t have my first real girlfriend until I was twenty-six. 

“You’re just not good enough to do that stuff,” I would constantly tell myself. I had an enormous chip on my shoulder growing up and was hell-bent on proving all the naysayers wrong. I tried all kinds of ways, but I just continued to fail over and over. People laughed at me and underestimated me, but I always had my escape: the world of gaming.

And now I play the game of business.

As an entrepreneur, what is it that motivates and drives you?

Honestly, my passion for entrepreneurship is driven mostly because I love it. I love the game of business. Every day I wake up and I’m excited about what I have planned, that’s why I see life as the ultimate game. 

In one word, describe your life as an entrepreneur and explain why.

Vision. With everything I do, I always think of the third and fourth-order consequences. I think being a successful entrepreneur is having a long-term vision, that’s something I try to live out and instill in all my employees. 

What were your top three motivations for starting your business?

Need – I overleveraged myself and had to make it work. 

Passion – I love marketing, SEO, PPC, you name it so starting Single Grain was a perfect fit.

Freedom – I was never a good 9 to 5 employee so I knew I had to start my own business someday.

What would you say are the key elements for starting and running a successful business?

There has to be a good product or service market fit. Otherwise, you’re going to be spinning your wheels for long and you might not know why. Next, make sure you’re thinking about the customer and product first. If you’re making decisions to improve your customers’ experience they will reward you with long-term business and referrals. Finally, I think entrepreneurs need to be willing to stomach some risk. Everything is not perfectly laid out step-by-step like being an employee, there will always be some risk involved, but not as much as what people might think.

What are the three biggest challenges you have faced growing the business and how did you overcome them?

So when I bought Single Grain for $2 and then turned it around there were a lot of challenges on my mind. For one, I was trying to do everything on my own. That’s a recipe for disaster and I quickly learned the importance of outsourcing. Second, I didn’t hire the right people at first. I made sure to level up my hiring processes to fix our talent pool. Third, was just struggling for many years to get the word out about my business and brand. The best way to overcome this last challenge is just perseverance. 

What form of marketing has worked well for your business throughout the years?

We’ve always thought of SEO as our specialty, even ranking #1 at times for Digital Marketing Agency and Los Angeles local terms. We put a heavy emphasis on creating quality content consistently, having a content machine works for us and gets us inbound leads.

As you grew the business, what have been some of the most important leadership lessons you have learned?

I’ve learned that the best quality for a leader to have is selflessness and clearly defining the core values you want your team to uphold. For example, our core values here at Single Grain are growth, long-term vision, integrity, accountability, creativity, and tenacity. We make sure we don’t hire anyone that doesn’t fit this vision and it keeps our mission in alignment. 

What is the best advice you have ever been given?

Done is better than perfect.

What advice would you give to a newbie Entrepreneur setting up their first business?

I’d say don’t put the cart before the horse. I see a lot of new entrepreneurs go out and try and sell ‘courses on how to run an agency’ without ever running an agency. Make sure you take things one step at a time and always think long-term.

Elegant,Young,Handsome,Man

Meet The Man Behind The Cover Of The June 2021 Issue Of Global Millionaire: Steven Harold Jorchen

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Steven Harold Jorchen alias “Jorchen Borjigit” is a 36th generation heir of the Borjigin dynasty – a dynasty that was started by Emperor Genghis Khan in the 13th century. He immigrated to the United States in the 90s and with more than 20 years of experience in the USA, he has learned the American way of life. He has been an active member of various American social activities. He is the Chairman of the World Peace Commission, he’s also the CEO of Asia-USA non-profit organization alliances as well as the deputy of the New York Chinese Chamber of Commerce. On September 24, 2015, he held an audience with H.E. President Xi Jinping and other top Chinese politicians and leaders.

Steven has established close cooperative relations with the United States, China, Latin America, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East, and he plans to deploy specific cooperation projects related to it. As a community leader and a world social diplomatic activist for many years, his image has long been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. The fruitful results of his nearly two decades of continuous hard work have given him special influence and appeal in the community. His power is increasingly valuable; along with his prestige, fame, and even his name. Hence the reason why he has such a good relationship with senior Chinese leaders and senior leaders in Russia, West Africa, North Africa, South Asia, and Southeast Asia. Furthermore, he has even participated in several banquets and galas held by President Bush, President Clinton, President Obama, as well as President Trump.

Global Millionaire magazine recently caught up with Steven to discuss his life as a 36th generation heir of the Borjigin dynasty and here’s what went down:

Tell us about a time in your life that you wanted something so badly that you were unstoppable in pursuing it. What obstacles did you overcome to get there?

My life was generally easy. I was brought up under the legacy of my family, so my earlier years were pretty much assured by some kind of political arrangement. My main obstacle was to start a life that’s decided on my own terms. You see, my dream was to be a world leader, not just confined by my birth in Kangba (SiChuan), the Chinese Tibetan autonomous region. I think that’s why I gave up my pre-destinated roles in China and came here to New York.

Tell us about a time you experienced what you perceive to be an injustice.

I have opened a museum in the 90s of the Tibetan culture here in New York with a partner. Later, due to the collection of a Tangka that is made of human skin, I was arrested. Tangka is a Tibetan religious relic often preserved to honor the Buddhist deities or Buddha. Often in ancient Tibet, people offer their bodies as a will after death. This is to show their confidence in the Dharma. You see, Tibetans, like the Indians (and unlike the Chinese) have a tradition of leaving human bodies out to be eaten by vultures. And they even hack the bodies to pieces; in some cases remove the skin.

However, the Americans have no understanding of such, and due to cross-cultural ignorance, I was arrested. I think people have to learn more about other people’s cultures. Particularly in the new world. I also think many of these countries have not grasped the old traditions. European cultures are very sophisticated, but the people of the new world have forgotten that, I am quite sure it is the same situation in Australia.

What is the toughest decision you had to make in the last few months?

That’s a good question. In the past few months, I was forced to decide if I still needed to carry on the noble mission of re-establishing the Borjigin legacy. You see, sometimes this can be a tricky endeavor. The DNA offspring of Genghis Khan has amounted to around 16 Million worldwide. But no one has seen this fact as a cultural asset. However, I see there’s a force behind these warrior people. Genghis Khan is known for war, but at the same time, his treatment of the captive women and children was very much mild and compassionate. I see the need of promoting global peace through both women’s and children’s welfare globally. I know there will be political obstacles in my work, in particular some fraction of different egos and interests. But I also know that someone has to do this in order to revive the inner spirit of Genghis Khan. The core of assuring world peace is actually to re-unite the Euro-Asian landscape.

Who is your role model, and why?

I put all my faith in Buddha, the enlightened one. What Buddha taught us was to maintain our own minds with peace and compassion. I mean, how else can we contribute to the world if our own minds are not tamed right?

I see life as a mirage of our own merits. There are certainly injustices and miseries of this world. But a lot of these are caused by our own wrong-doings. Cause and effect is the golden principle of life. In the popular sense, you can call it the law of attraction or whatsoever. You need to cultivate good deeds, so those good things will return to you.

What do you hope to see happen in the near future for small businesses all over the world?

With the rapid technological advances, our ways of life are also changed. The way how we run a business is transformed or you can say unrecognized sometimes for people of my generation. The material success of many nations has reminded us what is important for our future. I see more and more small businesses are now considering the social responsibilities. This means we are now more and more focused on our inner beings. In the new ventures in many places, I see there’s the trend of offering organic products, non-GMO to also assure healthy lifestyles that promote spiritualism. This is very good! I am sure we are entering into a new page of human evolution. That is also why I always stress the culture. We as humans, by the end of the day, need to deal with our inner-self. Culture forms that inner being in many ways.

Elegant,Young,Handsome,Man

Entrepreneur Spotlight: Get To Know International Bestselling Author Susanne Grant

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Susanne Grant is an Award-winning Work-Life Balance Integration Expert, Intuitive Business Coach & Consultant, and International Bestselling Author. She supports CEOs, Entrepreneurs, and Conscious Leaders to redefine success, so they have the impact they desire without sacrificing their health, relationships, or themselves.

After the birth of her child in 2015, she realised the collective lie “hard work equals success” wasn’t working for her and she did not want the next generation to grow up and think this was “normal”. So she made a powerful decision. She gave herself permission to break free of the old way of doing business and created a new business model – where holistic health and wealth are an integral part of the business and its success.

Today, she runs an award-winning coaching company and hosts sold-out masterminds and events. Her work has been featured in Authority Magazine, Billion Success, Brainz Magazine, and many more. In fact, thousands of people have benefited from her work who are now living life on their terms as they implement Susanne’s motto: “Work Smarter, Not Harder”. You can connect with Susanne on LinkedIn or visit the website here. 

Global Millionaire Magazine recently caught up with Susanne to discuss her journey as an entrepreneur and here’s what went down:

When did your entrepreneurial flair first reveal itself?

I think growing up there were several ways the entrepreneurial flair showed itself. I’ve always been a really fast thinker and I love taking the lead on projects. My passion and vision are what has driven me to go far as it allowed me to take it. I wasn’t afraid to change the “rules”, although I did on occasion drive my high-school principal crazy with my “new and improved” ideas. Luckily they were happy to allow me to make these suggestions – and implement them. Being in a space that allows you to bring these ideas to fruition really helps the entrepreneurial spirit. I don’t think it would come as a big surprise if I ever talk to them at a high-school reunion, that I do what I do! Looking back at these different skills that just came naturally to me are actually extremely valuable as an entrepreneur. 

How did your life look like before being an entrepreneur?

Before being an entrepreneur, I lived in a different country and I wasn’t a mother yet (which all changed within 12 months). Over the years, I worked as a data analyst for different international companies and I was a volunteer at a holocaust survivor research group and concentration camp in The Netherlands. As I have a background in (historical) research and a real knack for spotting patterns, these skills turned out to be extremely useful in a corporate environment when working with complex data, systems, and structures. 

As an entrepreneur, what is it that motivates and drives you?

By the time I reached my 30s, I was completely burned out. After I gave birth to my daughter in 2015, I realised the collective lie “hard work equals success” wasn’t working for me and I did not want my children growing up thinking this was normal or the only way to be successful for that matter. What drives me is the number of fellow entrepreneurs suffering from mental health, not to forget the shocking numbers the “me too movement” revealed to us for example. 

As a survivor of (sexual) abuse myself, I cannot stress enough how important it is to STOP these patterns in our generation, so our children and grandchildren do not have to deal with the deep-rooted “stuff” that is passed down to us generation by generation. That is why I am so passionate about supporting busy CEOs and entrepreneurs to create a new definition of success that serves them, their business, and families in the best way possible. Success can come without sacrifice and it is about time we embrace this new philosophy.

In one word, describe your life as an entrepreneur and explain why.

Phenomenal. It has been an absolute journey for sure and I’ve grown personally A LOT and I’ve achieved more than I ever thought was possible. From becoming an international best-selling author (a childhood dream coming true) to serving my clients globally, and the ripple effect this has on their families and communities. Thanks to the technology that is available nowadays, I’ve been able to make this happen and if you are talking about ending generational patterns and cycles, I truly believe many of my ancestors would be amazed how far one of their own has come. 

What were your top three motivations for starting your business?

After being diagnosed with Complex PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) at 17 and burnout at 25, I knew it was time for a drastic change. Even though I was told I was beyond help at 18 by my psychologist, I found a way to recover from the “unrecoverable” in the years to come. Understanding the importance of (mental) health and the impact it has on your daily life, performance and intimate relationships from my journey has given me great insights I am now honoured to give back to my community. Life can be a challenge, to say the least, especially when you are managing different hats such as business owner, partner, parent, and more! But the thing to ask ourselves: Is a business sustainable if the business owner is suffering mentally and/or within his/her relationships? Is that the kind of “wealth” we should aim for as a society?

Because of my own experiences, I became very passionate about creating real sustainable (mental) health and wealth by changing mindset, unhelpful beliefs and breaking the (generational) patterns, where we no longer accept outdated norms; where the hustle culture is promoted by many and being busy is seen as a badge of honour. I believe the time has come where we take a stand and say “it stops with me”. As we have seen and are currently seeing it with movements like Black Life Matters and Me Too. There is still a lot of important work to do. I believe we are ready for a humanitarian shift where the (generational) beliefs are ready for a big massive upgrade and we no longer accept inequality, abuse of any form, and suffering mentally as the norm!

These three motivations (1) ending the stigma on (mental) health, (2) breaking (generational) patterns, and (3) creating real long-term sustainable health and wealth for all is what makes me show up every single day because I know that it stops with you and me. We are here to break the cycle!

What would you say are the key elements for starting and running a successful business?

In my experience, I think mindset, alignment, and strategy are the key factors to running a successful business on top of a great idea, of course! The thing is with these 3 key elements is that they need to fit together in the right way to make it work. If you are working hard and giving it all you can (mindset) but you are working on the wrong thing (strategy) there is no use in putting in all that effort. You may have some success, maybe a little, maybe a lot, but it is not in alignment with the bigger picture. Find someone to support you or some way that is in alignment with who you are. Rome wasn’t built in a day and there isn’t one way to succeed. Redefine what true success means for your business, you as a person, and your family, and create an aligned strategy that fits your unique circumstances. The one-size-fits-all approach isn’t suitable if you want to run a successful business that works for you. 

What are the three biggest challenges you have faced growing the business and how did you overcome them?

For the longest time, I’ve felt extremely unsafe. As the PTSD, I mentioned before also tied in with being stalked and threatened on- and offline, it took me quite some time to be able to be the face of my business and share my own personal message. I’ve had to do a lot of soul-searching and coaching myself to feel safe enough to show up, be visible and speak my truth. It wasn’t easy, but it was definitely worth it!

What form of marketing has worked well for your business throughout the years?

My motto is “Work Smarter, Not Harder”, and there are different things you can do to effectively grow your business. Personally, I love to write and I am absolutely fascinated by the written word and its history! In 2019 I decided to join a book project, which became an international best-seller at the beginning of 2020. It made me realise that networking in the broadest sense of the word, is the way to get new leads quickly to help you grow your business. You can use other people’s networks via podcast appearances or write for popular magazines and websites. Or outsource this of course to your marketing person/team. Writing for several large media outlets has been proven to be the best marketing strategy for the company, and as an extra bonus, I love to write. Win-win!

As you grew the business, what have been some of the most important leadership lessons you have learned?

Communication is key and if you don’t learn to communicate your needs properly it becomes rather tricky to lead properly. Whether this is at home with your partner, or in the company with your assistant or manager, if you are not managing to get your message across – and listen to the people you work with – it becomes quite a struggle to grow the business smoothly. For example, I see this with my clients all the time, because they are busy people, they expect others to know what is going on inside their heads. This often results in freelancers being hired, not communicating their needs to complete the job properly which leads to constantly hiring new people and never getting the results they want. Slow down, listen and communicate clearly to get the best results. That is true leadership must include – clear communication. 

What is the best advice you have ever been given?

It is not advice I’ve received personally but I really like the quote from Robert Bennett, U.S. senator:

“Your life is the sum result of all the choices you make, both consciously and unconsciously. If you can control the process of choosing, you can take control of all aspects of your life. You can find the freedom that comes from being in charge of yourself.”

It has helped me realise that you can’t control what happened to you in the past, but what you can control is how you feel about these things and decide on how to move forward. That gave me hope, and that spark inside of me has allowed me to help me find a way out of the most difficult and dark periods of my life. Nowadays, this is allowing me to think and dream bigger beyond my wildest dreams and bring my vision to life!

What advice would you give to a newbie Entrepreneur setting up their first business?

Get yourself support! Whether you hire support for your business, work with a mentor, or get one of your friends to be your cheerleader, surround yourself with people who want you – and can see you – succeed. Especially if you hire someone who has experience in what you are trying to achieve or working towards, or helps you with tasks like admin or outreach, you don’t need to do it all by yourself. Don’t waste your time reinventing the wheel, you don’t have to struggle your way to the top. Success can come without sacrifice. 

 

Elegant,Young,Handsome,Man

Meet Bryan Legend: The Entrepreneur Behind The Cover Of The May 2021 Issue Of The Australian Millionaire

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Cryptocurrency veteran, Bryan Legend is an Australian self-made millionaire, entrepreneur, and the founder/CEO of Clever DeFi Pty Ltd.

For the 8 years that Bryan has been in Cryptocurrency, he’s mastered the art and craft to near perfection. An embodiment of strategic planning and execution, he has hit gold in this field with his innate Crypto-oriented mindset, the evidence of which can be seen from the successful start-up companies he has created from scratch, complemented by his estimated net worth of roughly 6.3 million dollars.

With widespread attention from interested parties scattered from around the globe, Bryan’s company, Clever DeFi Pty Ltd, is into Decentralised Finance, and it intends to shake things up in the financial industry. His Decentralised Finance concept though a relatively new concept, has been gradually gathering recognition from various financial institutions.

Broken down for the layman, Bryan’s Clever DeFi is a revolutionary Blockchain Defi Protocol that automatically distributes set interest payments of up to 11% per fortnight to all token holders of Clever Token (CLVA). Simply put, Bryan believes that Clever is the new way to store wealth with a guarantee of a greater interest rate, which apparently trumps the typical interest rates obtainable in the traditional banking system.

Speaking about his creation, Bryan said: “Clever Token (CLVA) is designed to primarily suit anybody who is looking for a safe, reliable place to store wealth at a high yielding interest rate instead of the comparative ‘store money in a general savings bank account’ with practically no interest accruing at all. CLVA also suits any investor looking to start or expand their investment portfolio or even looking to de-risk themselves into a fundamentally sound asset.”

Bryan has been in Cryptocurrency for the past 8 years, with his formative niche in Blockchain where he initially gathered an amazing wealth of experience, before branching to a more Decentralised approach. One of his most admirable qualities is the fact that he walks the talk. “I know full well that both delivery and execution are the two fundamental challenges any business will face. Many companies are promising the world but underdelivering and falling short by not meeting their goals or objectives. I make sure any company I build encompasses a brand image that speaks for itself”, he said.

For the Crypto-inclined, several mechanisms constitute the Clever Protocol; chief among them, the Decentralised Distribution Mechanism or DDM for short which works on a pre-programmed routine cycle schedule over 888 cycles – each cycle lasting 14 days with the very last cycle ending after 34 years. It appears to be an innovative architecture in the financial industry.

Clever DeFi is distinct from other Crypto projects with its CLVA minting starting at Zero supply. This implies that Bryan and his team hold no tokens at all – a relatively new concept in the industry. “CLVA is by far one of the safest tokens to hold as a store of wealth and due to a restricted total supply and forecasted increased demand, the token is sure to prove its worth,” remarked Bryan.

The Australian Millionaire magazine recently caught up with Bryan to discuss his journey to entrepreneurship and here’s what went down:

Why would you recommend Cryptocurrency to a potential investor?

Crypto in general is still in its infancy when looked at from the road ahead and brings with it a fairly new industry tied around Blockchain. For geeks, they love the tech and for investors, well, they love the ability to make money hand over fist during a bull market.

Timing is everything when investing and anyone can make money during a bull market and due to the inherent volatility within the Crypto market, it offers more upside versus traditional assets.

Which Cryptocurrency intrigues you the most?

There is an astonishing number of different Cryptocurrencies available to pick from, most of which being scams, unfortunately. The way to navigate the Crypto waters is to always do due diligence yourself and never just jump in blindly without knowing every nook of detail behind the project you’re investing in.

With any investment there are risks and the bigger the risk, the more potential there is for your investment to be returned to you multiple times over. One of the less risky but sustainable Cryptocurrencies right now in my opinion is Clever DeFi (CLVA) which delivers guaranteed interest payments every fortnight and is an easy choice for investors to watch their money grow without anything else needed.

What’s the biggest scam you’ve ever heard of in the Cryptocurrency World?

Probably the most well-known scam was released back in 2016 which was called Bitconnect that was an illegal financial Ponzi Pyramid Scheme that eventually collapsed and stole over 250 million from investors.

For anyone interested in Cryptocurrency – can you provide a checklist to follow?

Only invest what you are prepared to lose. The Cryptocurrency industry is unforgiving and most have to learn the hard way. Do not get drawn into FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) as this is a sure way of losing money by buying at the top of an already saturated asset. Only invest in solid projects with fundamentals that can be shown and proven. If it sounds too good to be true, 99.99% of the time it most certainly is.

What is Clever DeFi? Can you tell us more about it?

Clever DeFi is a Decentralized Finance Protocol that distributes automatic interest payments to all native CLVA Cryptocurrency holders on a pre-programmed routine cycle schedule over 888 fortnightly cycles taking exactly 34.15 years to complete.

The Clever protocol was designed, deployed, and implemented over many months in the making since its release last year in 2020, and as such it is the protocol itself which given Clever DeFi it’s underlying value. All an investor needs to do is buy and hold the CLVA asset to be paid interest payments guaranteed of up to 11% each fortnight.

What would you suggest to people interested in trading in Cryptocurrency but whose country does not support Cryptocurrency yet?

First of all, I do not condone illegal activities or in any way shape or form encourage people to go against their country’s restrictions or governmental policies. With this being said, people have been known to circumvent the system by using VPN software to conceal their IP location which allows them to use Cryptocurrency exchanges that do not require personal information about the individual.

This is probably the easiest way to go but on the other side of the coin, if you are using any Cryptocurrency exchange that does not require KYC information from you as a client, this in my eyes throws caution to the wind as a very risky play indeed.

What are some of the biggest challenges that lie ahead for the Cryptocurrency world?

Mass adoption and Regulation with both of these things being quite tied to each other. In order for mass adoption to be achieved on a global scale, there needs to be protection in place for the people and policies in place to prevent illegal market activities from taking place through regulative bodies in order for the large institutional money to enter into the space.

Where do you see yourself in five years?

That’s a tough one indeed. I am sure that most of us being asked that very question would have a vague idea at best although the best way to answer it would be from a directional perspective. The direction am I following is to capitalise on industry trends over the coming years ahead and of course this will mean staying part of the Cryptocurrency scene in a big way. My goal over the next 5 years is to make as many millionaires as possible within Crypto and I will be following the industry closely with the progress it makes in order to make my goal a reality.

Elegant,Young,Handsome,Man

Meet The Man Behind The Cover Of The May 2021 Issue Of Global Millionaire: The Incredible Bryan Legend

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Bryan Legend quit school at the age of 20. Yet today, at the age of 37, despite quitting school at an early age, he still ended up becoming an inspiring self-made millionaire. His against-the-odds persistence enabled him to make a name for himself in the Cryptocurrency sector and beyond. Starting with Blockchain, which he studied for years, learning the fundamentals of it, he was able to master the art and craft of Cryptocurrency to near perfection. This culminated in the versatile entrepreneur climbing the ladder up to becoming an expert in that niche – with the creation of Clever DeFi, showing the results of his hard work.

One of the potential benefits of a short-long term investment strategy is portfolio diversification. This is a concept that Bryan understands very well. His first stint in the entrepreneurial sector was back in his marketing days. Today, with this concept of short-long investment strategy, Bryan’s success can be seen through the number of tentacles his brand is spread to, among which are online marketing ventures, becoming a pioneer in SEO, SMM, and SEM. Not to mention there’s also TWILX; a digital advertising firm he created from scratch. Then, of course, there’s Clever DeFi, which he believes is the future of financial investment.

Bryan is also a firm believer in branding, a concept on which his business success is built upon. He believes that the way people perceive your company is a direct reflection of how they will engage with you.

The person without a purpose is like a ship without a rudder. According to Rick Warren, the greatest tragedy in life is not death but life without purpose. Bryan seemed to take this quote to heart, for, in his early twenties, he discovered he was a gifted negotiator. Right there and then, he realised that his purpose lies in the business world. He subsequently developed his skill set in business negotiations, which would later pave way for him as he reached his way to the apex of the business world.

Global Millionaire magazine recently caught up with the inspirational Bryan Legend to discuss his journey to entrepreneurship and here’s what went down:

Can you please tell us something about yourself and what your business is all about?

I am a born entrepreneur and I have a passion for making a difference in business, namely in the Cryptocurrency space by introducing fresh ideas and concepts to the market in order to help and evolve the industry as a whole.

Clever DeFi is a Fintech company primarily focused on delivering decentralized finance applications within the Cryptocurrency industry. It supports a second choice for those who do not trust traditional banks, nor like the fact that they are receiving a complete cop-out toward extremely low-interest payments on their capital. The versa is to hold CLVA Cryptocurrency which delivers a much higher competitive interest yield.

When did your entrepreneurial flair first reveal itself?

In my school years, I never found myself compelled to learn and instead saw myself just breezing aimlessly without care to study at all. After dropping out 3 years before year 12 graduation, I entered the labour workforce and then progressed into sales where it did not take me long to work out that the blue-collar lifestyle was not for me and that I needed to get out of the rat race.

This is where I began to take deeper interests into self-development and knew wholeheartedly that the only way to get ahead is to do things myself without relying on anyone else, nor working for anybody else. I chose to learn the basics of business and expand my skill set through a hands-on approach combined with true hunger and determination to break through the resistance barrier.

Through years of persistence and numerous successful small internet e-commerce business startups I founded, I gained more knowledge and learned from mistakes made. I turned this into a cocktail for success by always going one step up with every new business I headed up. The world of Cryptocurrency presented itself to me as a fantastic opportunity to be a part of as I recognised there to be a lot of untapped possibilities.

As an entrepreneur, what is it that motivates and drives you?

What motivates and drives me is the attainment of a new goal through my persistence, tenacity, and focus on what needs to be done to meet my objectives. I treat any startup business I have started as a new birth coming to life that needs to be nurtured until it is strong enough to work on its own. Just like Elon Musk, I don’t let one-second pass by where I am not thinking about ways to improve, and as such, I believe personal growth, as well as the growth of a company or business, is a continued effort. One word I would describe life as an entrepreneur is “freedom.”

What were your top three motivations for starting your business?

1) The desire to solve the problem of low-interest rates for consumers paid by traditional banks for savings accounts.

2) The knowledge of how Blockchain can be used in order to facilitate this.

3) Confidence in my own abilities to be able to deliver to market what is promised.

What do you put your success down to?

The ‘never give up and hard work’ angle may seem cliché but it holds true time and time again for all accomplished individuals in any industry of business. Nothing comes from nothing so what you get out of something is in direct proportion to what you put into it. The more time and energy you spend on improving your idea or business, the more success you will benefit from it in the long run. There is no secret to success other than completing the actions required in order to achieve your entrepreneurial vision or personal goal.

What would you say are the key elements for starting and running a successful business?

Solving an actual need though adds a unique value proposition that your business offers by focusing on your customers’ interests first and of course securing ongoing revenue streams with an effective cost structure and strong marketing initiatives and reward system.

What do you hope to see happen in the near future for Cryptocurrencies all over the world?

I personally believe we are nearing the tail end of a current bull market with the end more than likely aiming to take place at the end of the year. With this being said, there is much hype and foolish money entering the market from retail investors who really have no clue about what they are actually buying at all. They are new to Crypto and just go with the Fomo crowd. There can be money to made in the interim but for seasoned veterans that have been through these cycles, it will more than likely end in tears for most that are not smart enough to know when to get out before losing it all in over-hyped risky altcoins.

What I would like to see happen is the complete disbandment of all those scam projects and Cryptocurrencies with no use case or utility behind them to disappear and clear up the way for the actual legitimate ones to stand tall. There is way too much money being “invested” into Cryptocurrencies right now like Dogecoin which was created as just a meme without any fundamentals or development. We need to see useless Cryptocurrencies leave the space for good.

Elegant,Young,Handsome,Man

Entrepreneur Spotlight: Introducing Anjan Pathak, Co-Founder and CTO At Vantage Circle

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Anjan Pathak is a Co-founder and CTO at Vantage Circle – an Employee Engagement Platform. He is an HR technology enthusiast, very passionate about employee wellness, and actively participates in the growth of the corporate culture.

Global Millionaire magazine recently caught up with Anjan and here’s what went down:

1. Could you please tell our readers a brief background about yourself and how you started your business?

The foundation of Vantage Circle was set way back in 2011. Partha and I were two school friends who had a fledgling dream of starting our own company, and the manifestation of our efforts resulted in launching Vantage Circle.

With Partha and I, having worked in the IT and technology industry for almost two decades, we were confident that it was where we could benefit from utilizing our expertise while achieving the goals that we had set for ourselves. We were able to create, launch, and reach the success that Vantage Circle has today due to the right opportunities, guidance, and ideas implemented at the right time.

We started out as a deals and discounts program for employees at the start of our early days. However, as we progressed with time, we stumbled upon the concept of employee engagement programs which the Indian corporate culture was lacking. The main idea was to equip HR professionals with a channel through which they could manage the intricacies of providing a stellar employee experience.

We, at Vantage Circle, understand that managing human resources efficiently, satisfying their necessities, and surprising (not shocking!) them is a humongous task. To overcome any deviations in these tasks, we provide an integrated platform to the corporate community with a variety of options of unbeatable perks and engagement activities for their employees. Corporate discounts on exclusive and online deals and unique Vantage Points are the highlights of our platform.

2. When did your entrepreneurial flair first reveal itself?

It was back in 2003 when I came from the United Kingdom to India to set up a business. I recruited several software developers within a few days and also leased an office room. Sadly, though, things didn’t turn out as expected.

In the year 2011, I founded Vantage Circle along with my friend Partha, back in our hometown of Assam, over the years with more experience. I believe it is with time and practice that entrepreneurial skills are created. What stuck up for me was that, after my first loss, I didn’t give up.

3. How did your life look before being an entrepreneur?

I spent my initial 17 years of my career brainstorming, designing, and architecting multiple e-commerce applications. The knowledge, experience, and insights that I have gathered over the years have been invaluable in eventually doing what I really wanted to do in developing world-class HR technology solutions.

I have over two decades of experience in building and deploying cross-channel web applications.

I have spent a significant part of my career, 15 years to be precise, working in the United Kingdom and other parts of Europe.

As a fitness enthusiast, I am incredibly passionate about the need for corporate wellness. I believe that health & wellness at the workplace will be the primary differentiator companies will be ranked upon in the coming years.

In my spare time, I am always preparing for the next marathon or triathlon that comes my way. I have recently been introduced to two newer fields of wellness- meditation and yoga- and have been taking baby steps to improve every day.

4. As an entrepreneur, what is it that motivates and drives you?

A happy and content workforce builds up a healthy work environment. Seeing the employees happy doing their job are the best motivators for any employer and it is a peerless asset for an entrepreneur.

We have taken less than 1 Crores in external funding from like-minded people who believed in our goals. Witnessing the journey to becoming one of the top cloud-based employee engagement and benefits platforms in the world, encourages me to strive more. Vantage Circle has achieved over 1.5 million users’ support in the present day and is serving some of the world’s top MNCs. Surely a matter of pride and honour for a bootstrapped company like Vantage Circle.

5. In one word, describe your life as an entrepreneur and explain why it’s fulfilling.

I had 20 years of experience in the multinational technology industry before Vantage Circle. I have always had this dream to bring all my experience to my home country and give back. Today, we have managed to return through our business by establishing an employment channel. It is what drives us and keeps us motivated every day. So, yeah, it is a very fulfilling experience.

6. What were your top three motivations for starting your business?

1. Creating employment opportunities in my hometown
2. Health and wellness has always been my priority
3. Developing a product company in a service provider dominating sector

7. What would you say are the key elements for starting and running a successful business?

Let me answer this question in two parts. The key elements of starting a business are more or less the same for all. One needs to be very sure about the company that they want to start. In the beginning, your business’s passion and belief help you take risks and stay motivated. But it does not mean that you should not design a solid business strategy. That must be followed with the right marketing plan. The next important thing here is the experience. Every entrepreneur has some level of business acumen and lots and lots of experience. Use the experience in building your business.

For running a business, one must know the bits and pieces of people management. Or just say, have to understand the employees, to build a culture where people love to contribute happily. And it takes time and effort. If your workforce is not happy, you cannot sustain your business.

8. What are the three biggest challenges you have faced growing the business and how did you overcome them?

– Not choosing the right tools for mobile app development: Choosing the appropriate tool at the right time would have helped us be more user-friendly and accessible to a fast-paced audience.
– Ignoring the inception of the marketing team: It deprived us of reaching our core audience as efficiently as we could have through implementing the correct marketing tactics.
– Not streamlining the tasks of the sales team: The third big error was not to streamline the sales team’s tasks in a more strategic way and under a successful sales leader.

But I believe, making mistakes is an important part of how I have learned and ultimately accomplished a steady pace of continuous individual and professional growth.

9. What form of marketing has worked well for your business throughout the years?

A major part of our marketing strategy has been inbound marketing tactics and focusing on a more organic approach. I am happy to say that these measures have played a principal part in us getting over 1 million monthly users to the Vantage Circle blog.

10. As you grew the business, what have been some of the most important leadership lessons you have learned?

If you ask any entrepreneur or anybody in a leadership position, you would get more or less the same answer. People who are in a leadership position, do not control but lead. And leading your team means directing them throughout their journey. To understand their perspective by putting yourself in their shoes. It is a responsible job. You might be having a bad day or feeling low, but you cannot pass it on to them. Also, staying humble is so important. Humility may not be the forefront trait of leadership, but for me, it has always been a great trait. You must be willing to accept your mistakes, give credit, appreciate and learn from everyone in the room. Also, one must trust and be accountable when it comes to leadership. These are the few lessons that I have learned over the years.

11. What is the best advice you have ever been given?

A sleeping fox catches no poultry: Since childhood, my mother has always told me this quote that a sleeping fox catches no poultry. She likes to suggest that if I don’t take the gamble, someone else will. I won’t have anything if I don’t work for anything. I have been inspired by this proverb to wake up early and start my day early. I assume our bodies conform to the period of the sun. Synchronizing with the disciplined time to sleep and wake up helped me to find and use more time for my company. I don’t say that you need to compromise your sleep over this. To work properly, everyone needs to have enough sleep of a good 8 hours every day. I always believe that a healthy mind in a healthy body is a key to success.

12. What advice would you give to a newbie Entrepreneur setting up their first business?

Having experience of co-founding and operating three separate businesses, one in London and the other two in India, over a span of 10 years gave me the cognizance of how to make the most of the minimum resources that you have.

Another thing I have gradually discovered over the years is that if you do not plan the financial aspects on a priority basis, you don’t win in business (especially start-ups). Note that the sole emphasis should be on increasing (and sustaining) the company at the beginning of your entrepreneurial journey.

Elegant,Young,Handsome,Man

Entrepreneur Spotlight: Introducing Vid Lamonte’ Buggs Jr., The Founder Of VLB/VBJ Enterprises

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Vid Lamonte’ Buggs Jr. is the founder and owner of VLB/VBJ Enterprises, LLC, and 4-U-Nique Publishing. He is also a bestselling author, a speaker, and a consultant. A modern-day “Renaissance man.” Vid is a man of diverse interests who directs his many talents towards bringing people together, encouraging them to look past their differences to unite to make the world a better place.

VLB/VBJ Enterprises, LLC. was created as an umbrella or a series for companies like 4-U-Nique Publishing. Vid wanted to establish a company that ventured into real estate; Public Speaking; Investing, Building Businesses, and Consulting. He patterned VLB/VBJ Enterprises’ mission to building communities up while delivering positive messages and helping others reach their potential and accomplish their goals.

4-U-Nique Publishing, LLC is a publishing company whose focus is on providing authors with a quality publishing service and allowing them to keep their publishing rights and provide them with higher royalties than other publishing companies. Global Millionaire magazine recently caught up with Vid to discuss his journey in the industry and here’s what went down:

When did your entrepreneurial flair first reveal itself?

I was in 6th grade when my entrepreneurial flair first revealed itself. A friend and I decided to sell candy and gum before, during, and after school. We figured out pretty early that we could buy a bag of Blow Pops for 3 dollars. We could sell an individual Blow Pop for 25 cents. Out of one bag of Blow Pops, we make close to 20 dollars. A profit of 17 dollars off of one bag of candy wasn’t bad for a 6th grader.

How did your life look like before being an entrepreneur?

Before becoming an entrepreneur, I was a basketball player who played at a high level (pro and semi-pro leagues). My life wasn’t stable at all. Although I received multiple degrees in college, I knew I wasn’t a person that would “waste” my many talents behind a desk. So, between basketball, writing my first book, and figuring out what job would fit me best, I was bewildered about where my life was taking.

As an entrepreneur, what is it that motivates and drives you?

What motivates and drives me as an entrepreneur is that my businesses support others’ dreams and goals. My companies help give a voice to those who feel they are voiceless. I have to keep pushing because so many people are counting on me each day.

In one word, describe your life as an entrepreneur and explain why.

Blessed!

I’m a black man from Hampton, VA, who has been excluded countless times. However, each time others have counted me out and even myself, I have been blessed with a blessing. These blessings have come in the form of inspiration, a mentor, a business opportunity, a new client, a new service, an interview feature, finances, or a new staff member. Each of these blessings has helped me and my businesses to continue to grow.

What were your top three motivations for starting your business?

1). The Most High. God has directed me to start my businesses. Before I started my businesses, if you told me that I would create an enterprise or a publishing company, I would have said you were crazy. However, the spirit of God led me to do what I am doing now. I know a lot will relate to what I am saying. And a lot will think I’m crazy for saying this. However, Glory goes to The Most High.

2). Helping others reach their potential so they can accomplish their goals and dreams.

3). To give a voice to the voiceless and articulate their story. Everyone has a story to tell, and they need a platform to speak their truth

What would you say are the key elements for starting and running a successful business?

The key elements for running a successful business are patience, focus, determination, goal-oriented, caring for your customers, time management, and a positive attitude. You have to be a student in the industry and understand your weakness and strengths. You got to know your target customers and humble yourself to lesson to what you are doing right and wrong.

What are the three biggest challenges you have faced growing the business, and how did you overcome them?

1). One of the biggest challenges I have faced growing my businesses was getting the necessary capital to help fund my businesses’ growth. I have one thing that stood against me, and that is my race. Time and time again, it is proven that financial institutions discriminate against minorities when loaning money. I overcame my challenge of gaining capital by creating other income sources, and my best friend invested in my businesses.

2). Trusting others to help grow the businesses. Having a business is like having another child. You become protective of your business. Being protective over my businesses, I was hesitant to allow others to help me grow the companies. However, when I realized that I was being stubborn and selfish and that the ultimate goal was to help others, I allowed others to grow the businesses. Knowing my weaknesses and hiring others who had strengths in areas that I am weak in permitted growth.

3). Knowing when to say “No”. I’m a stern person, but it is no secret that I wouldn’t say I like to disappoint people. However, I had to learn when to say no. Saying no to some opportunities was a challenge to me, but I knew that to grow a business, I would have to say no to specific requests.

What form of marketing has worked well for your business throughout the years?

The best form of marketing that has worked well for me has been word of mouth; what better way to recommend service by those you trust and have dealt with a company firsthand. When you provide quality service or product, it will become personable with your clients and customers. Therefore it brings a higher value to the company.

As you grew the business, what have been some of the most important leadership lessons you have learned?

1). Understand my weaknesses and strengths.

2). Hire those who have strengths that complement your weakness. For example, selling and marketing isn’t my strong suit, so I hired a marketing manager and a sales expert.

3). Trust and have confidence in who you hire until proven otherwise. Do not micromanage; this is healthy for a business atmosphere and staff morale.

4). Ask for and let others help you. It’s common for new entrepreneurs to wearing several hats when they are starting their new business. However, as the business grows, it is essential to hire and seek help. A company will not succeed when its leader is running itself thin by wearing too many hats.

5). Time Management. As a business grows, more responsibilities will arise and call for attention. It is essential to prioritize your time.

What is the best advice you have ever been given?

The best advice that I have been given is “Fire Fast, Hire Slow.

What advice would you give to a newbie Entrepreneur setting up their first business?

You want to have a sound business plan, and you want to know how you target customers. Draw up a strong marketing plan to reach your targeted customers. Keep your finances in check by hiring a bookkeeper or accountant.

Please make sure the branding and trademark are on point and you want to make it stand out. Make sure you have a business lawyer on the dial. Once you set up everything, tell all your friends, family, and everyone you know to support your business and spread the word to everyone they know. Much success to you and your business.

Find out more about Vid via www.vidbuggs.com.