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Day 6, Continuation... Unlike most entrepreneurs, Carson thinks entrepreneurship is not for everybody. He believes having the proper mindset and long-term vision is very important. He advises those looking for get-rich-quick schemes or one-shot deals to forget about doing business.
Nobody should get into business and think in the short term. Consider the concept and all the effort you've poured into the business. Think of the value indicators - if you put service, there's your added value already. There's also quality - that's another added value. Also promotion, etc. It's not the product or service alone; it's the intangibles people look for like prestige, quality, corporate social consciousness, environment friendly, customer relations, and after-sales support, etc.
Carson feels that those who have leadership qualities can become entrepreneurs, whether they are born into business or want to make themselves entrepreneurs. Whether the qualities of an entrepreneur are inherent in an individual, they still have to be developed and improved to be useful in business.
The best way to develop these entrepreneurial skills is to develoop one's character, Carson advises, as having a good character means being disciplined, trustworthy, hardworking, prudent, positive minded, honest, persevering - qualities that make up a person's total integrity. You then add your vision and you are set to becoming a succcessful entrepreneur. There are no shortcuts to success, he adds. Building one's character does not happen overnight.
Still he says business is not only about working hard, but also working smart. He advises those who want to get into business to learn ways of making their money work for them, instead of them working for their money. Instead of being businessmen who run the show, be investors and utilize other people's brains and brawns to make the business run.
It is important, too, to see business from different perspectives, Carson adds.
Perspective is a big word. It's how we see things and events. There was a time that I've completely lost perspective on the water business; I lost faith in it. One day, I bought a copy of Buy and Sell and saw the ads of one of my competitors in the water business. I was curious why it's still around and spending large sums on adds. I asked around and discovered that company had more outlets than ours at that time. Aquabest was in deep slumber; but still had potential. That's when we decided to wake up and rise from our slumber.
Marketing and branding are likewise important aspects of business, which Carson credits for Aquabest's endurance. He knows from experience that you can sway the market to your product or service depending on how you approach it with your marketing strategies and how it perceives your brand.
For Carson, the best thing about being an entrepreneur is having the fulfillment to achieve your vision and reach the financial goals you set for yourself. He suggests that employees save money so that they can eventually become their bosses or run their own businesses and retire as investors when they get old and not as pensioners.
If you are a nice-to-five employee, most employers will not pay you a marginal salary so you won't leave the company. You can easily earn up to P50, 000 a month. In a sense you have sold your soul. Because you are potentially more productive, can undertake work and your time exchanged for money from age twenty to fifty. Without time, you are not free to do the things that will give you the financial freedom you need.
Aside from financial freedom there is also the time freedom "aspect. I mean if you're making P1,000,000 a month, you can hire people to do much of the work already. This time freedom is very, very important. You can tell your kids with confidence that you'll be flying to Europe the next weekend because it's possible for you now.
That's time and financial freedom. But if you're employed, there are so many limitations.
However, success can have its downside, too. For Carson, he believes that it tends to get lonely as you go higher. Because people look up to you and respect you, you are not as free to do whatever you want. You are tasked to be a model, an inspiration for others.
This is why it is important to balance the drive for success with time for family and friends, spiritual needs, health. One can do this by learning to delegate to trusted employees.
When asked about who has greatly influenced his life, Carson immediately says Our Lord Jesus Christ, because His perfect example is a pattern for us to follow. Our Lord Jesus, standing in the position of a man is perfect in all His ways: a great friend, an obedient son, follower, citizen, brother, mediator, counselor, and name it, He is.
Carson believes that just like other people, he is there as God's presentative on earth, to become the expression of wh oGOD is.
It's like electricity inside a lamp. Well, of course we cannot see electricity but because of the lamp, the electricity has a way to express itself. In our life we can say that there is electricity when we receive God's divine transmission into us by His Spirit dwelling in our spirit, living out His attributes of love, light, peace, joy, etc. and becoming our human virtues. Thus, when people see us, they see God in our lives.
(To be continued...)
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