THE LAND IS GREEN WITH OPPORTUNITIES TO MAKE WEALTH

I would like to think that one of the reasons why countries like Nigeria are tagged as “developing’ is related to the fact that the ‘land is green,’ with many untapped resources and opportunities within its borders. In developed climes it is very easy to believe that there are very few vistas of opportunity available,as almost every avenue has been explored and exploited.

Truth be told, there are many gaps left here with opportunities lying fallow waiting to be converted to wealth by the discerning entrepreneur. One thing that cannot be said about Nigeria is that it is saturated,

with all opportunities completely taken over. If you need evidence that this is so just visit the International airport and see the number of foreign nationals trooping in. After all Nigeria is hardly a tourist destination. These people don’t come for fun rather they troop into Nigeria for business reasons.

Our land is definitely green but in case you are wondering where the opportunities are permit me to use the remainder of this article to point you in the right direction:

LIQUIDATE, DON’T CAPITULATE UNDER DEBT

The year was 2007 and Naira Debit Cards had just recently been introduced to Nigeria. I rushed to acquire one believing I could invest the money wisely and from my investment make enough to pay the bank with minimal interest. Alas my naïve plans were woeful failures and I lost all my initial capital.

Instead of working out ways and means to quickly repay the bank I capitulated by going into denial mode pretending my debt didn’t exist. The interest kept piling up until what I owed was more than double my initial loan. By this time the bank’s recovery team started calling and harassing me and I was forced to commence repayment measures until I completely liquidated it. I still remember the feeling of exhilaration I experienced when my debt was finally paid in full.

PREPARING FOR WEALTH

Wealth unfortunately is not some kind of intangible that one can just wish for and voila it arrives at your door! It is the outcome of obeying several laws, rules and principles one of which is preparation. Preparation is the key to attaining any heights of success and achievement and wealth. The adage is true that if you fail to prepare then be prepared to fail.

Dear reader, I know you desire great wealth, fame and fortune but have you prepared for it? The reason you do not control major resources is because you have not developed yourself to the level required to manage great wealth. The knowledge, passion, commitment and drive needed to control thousands is not the same as that required for controlling millions and billions. This is why our efforts to become wealthy ends in stress and frustration, we do not have what it takes and we seem not to bother about this fact, instead preferring to hope and pray that against all odds hopefully one day we will wake up wealthy. Sadly this day will never come.

Preparation is an on-going, never ending process of acquiring the necessary information, tips, skills and strategies required to progress in life. Life is a series of continuous tests and trials which we will have to overcome in order to get the desired outcomes. These tests cannot be overcome if we don’t prepare as many are wont to do; so they end up failing and retaking the tests thus remaining at the same level. Nobody wants this outcome so the onus is on us to prepare thoroughly so as to overcome.

In the case of wealth we must prepare by undertaking the following:

TALENTS & WEALTH

In Africa today many reasons can be adduced why most people live far below their financial potential. One of the most painful reasons is that people neglect to harness their talents – gifts and capabilities! They are sometimes so busy admiring or envying what others have they fail to see that what they have is equally good. Making the best use of your talents is extremely important if you want to be financially successful.

Talent, simply defined refers to those innate abilities that seem to have been inputted in you when you were born. It is a special, natural ability or aptitude for doing something exceptionally well. It was deposited in you by the Creator at birth and is synonymous with gifts, traits and attributes. The good news is that everybody on this earth is gifted and talented in one thing or the other.

Talents manifest themselves in things you love to do. These are the things you do easily, without stress where your abilities are easily expressed or demonstrated. Talents are like flags or signs pointing out where your wealth is lying fallow because it is meant to be exchanged for wealth and fortune. For example someone with a good voice can use his or her voice to produce wealth by waxing records, or producing radio jingles of which he or she can expect to be paid.

MANAGING DEBT LIKE THE WEALTHY

 Debts are not necessarily a bad thing. In fact, just as they say diamonds are a girl’s best friend I am convinced that debts are a rich man’s best friend. This is because every wealthy man has at one time or the other expanded or grown his business empire by leveraging on debt financing. It is virtually impossible to have enough capital to expand business at every level. This is even why banks were established – to provide access to capital to funnel growth.

The truth is that everybody owes and everybody will owe at one time or the other. When you consider that even companies and governments owe then no one is exempted from debt. However there is a marked difference between the rich and the poor’s attitude towards debt. The rich manage their debts while the poor mismanage theirs. Proper management of debts entails:

GBESENOMICS

Gbesenomics is a term I coined from two words, “Gbese” which is the Yoruba word for debt and “economics,” the study pertaining to the production, distribution, and use of income and wealth. Thus gbesenomics can be said to be the science of using debt to produce income and wealth.

I make bold to declare to you today that one cannot become extremely wealthy and successful financially without debt. In all my years of studying the success patterns of billionaires I have discovered that not one was able to invest in substantial business opportunities or to expand their businesses without debt. They are avid students of gbesenomics and have built great fortunes using it.

Sadly those living in poverty and lack, may also be  in debt but they have been unable to harness it to good use in their financial lives. There is a science to it. Here are ten key facts you should know about debt.

Firstly, debt is not a bad thing. What makes debt bad is when you get involved for the wrong reasons. For instance getting into debt to buy clothing for family events and investing in other frivolities is wrong. However there is nothing bad about getting into debt to purchase an asset that will yield more for you or appreciate, such as land. The major issue is what you are investing in. In fact debt is the rich man’s best friend for he uses it to attain his goals.

THINK WEALTH, THINK PROBLEM SOLVING

In Africa we have been indoctrinated to believe that problems are a bad thing. We all want to live a life whereby problems do not have proximity to us. We desire a state of utopia where everything is perfect  from start to finish in our lives. Unfortunately this state exists only in movies and literature. Life is made up of challenges which when surmounted add colour to one’s existence. Life would become shallow and uninspiring without problems to face.

Now problems are opportunities for you to take the bull by the horns and create wealth. Look for a problem to solve and not one to complain and fret about. Financial success belongs to the problem solver. You are guaranteed wealth if you can solve problems for the greatest amount of people.

Problems abound. In every sphere and strata of life problems continue to be created. It is almost as if the minute one is solved several others pop up to replace it. Sometimes even a solved problem gives rise to another myriad set of problems that also need solutions. it seems the Creator of the earth established this cycle of unending problems that need solving so mankind could continue to improve upon his environment.

Problems are an integral part of man’s existence. Every one of us will be known for the problems we created and the ones we solved. The onus is on us to intensify efforts into solving the problems of as many people as possible and through this route riches and wealth is guaranteed. Stop wishing for problems to just disappear, instead engage your mental faculties and come up with solutions.

AUDITING YOUR PERSONAL EXPENSES

Auditing, the process of inspecting, evaluating and verifying an organisation’s financial accounts is undertaken every accounting period to ascertain its financial standing.  At the end of this exercise a company’s true financial performance can be derived. The importance of auditing cannot be over emphasized because performance is used as a yardstick to measure whether the company is on track or not. No wonder the laws of most countries stipulate that organisations must be audited.

The benefits of auditing include getting a true picture of the financial status of the company, it ensures that the company sticks to what was agreed. The audit is also a kind of report card showcasing the management team’s astuteness and achievements in piloting the affairs of the company. It enables stakeholders like the government, shareholders, investors and partners to act when there are deviations from the expected norm.

It is imperative that the process of auditing be extended to your personal finances. This is because there are many similarities between organisations and individuals; both utilize financial resources and base their performance on the profitability or otherwise of their actions. Both also have similar desires to succeed or progress in their chosen fields of endeavor.

BATTLE IT OUT WITH POVERTY!

People who lived in the continent of Europe in the 1700s and prior to that had a vicious way of settling disputes whenever there were disagreements between parties on many issues, trivial or otherwise. The offended party would challenge the other to a duel, a pre-arranged combat using deadly weapons, such as swords or pistols based on an accepted code which could be the death of the loser without any repercussions to the winner. This method was popular for settling disputes among gentlemen.

In the 21^st century we must recourse back to dueling to combat and mortally finish off an enemy that all of us should detest totally. This enemy continues to assault and insult many of us like he did to our forebears who did little or nothing to eliminate it. That enemy is poverty.

FIFTY THOUSAND MILLIONAIRES BY 2025!

 Can our societies exist in the kind of utopia that makes it possible for everyone to be millionaires? Leaders in African societies are good at making promises of better life using slogans like Housing for All, Education for All, Prosperity for All by a certain date that I thought I should coin my own – Developing Fifty thousand Millionaires by 2025.

It is practically impossible for everyone to become millionaires in a society. It is however possible for a country like Nigeria to be able to nurture and groom an additional fifty thousand millionaires by 2025! Nurturing and grooming means the input and impetus of the government has to be felt  in making this goal possible.

Now government exists to provide it’s citizens with the enabling environment in order for them to grow wealth. Government is not an avenue to wealth, rather it is an enabler when it gives the people all the support, encouragement and tools that they need to be wealthy. This tends to benefit them in the long run because more jobs would be created, more taxes will be paid, there will be less crime amongst other things which leads to a better quality of life for Nigerians. Fifty thousand new millionaires can be achieved if we do the following:

FINANCIAL EXPECTATIONS

 Legend has it that nearly five thousand years ago a weary traveller met Bansir, a wise old man at the outskirts of Babylon. He said to him, ‘Sir, I have heard that the people of this city are unfriendly, wicked and inhospitable to strangers.” The old man replied, ‘That is correct. These are the kind of people you will meet here.’ The traveller continued on his journey.

Several hours later another traveller met Bansirat the same spot. He also enquired from him, ‘Old man, I am new to this city and I have heard that the people are caring and compassionate towards strangers.’ The wise old man replied, “Yes you are correct. These are the people you will meet here.”

Now Bansir’s response to both travellers was correct because this story highlights an extremely important aspect in our race to wealth and success, which is expectation. In the above story each person had a different expectation about Babylon’s citizens, and what they expected was definitely their experience…

MASTERING THE ART OF SPENDING MONEY

Money is the most sought after commodity in the world today. Everyone needs it for what they can exchange it for – be it goods, services, needs, wants or ideas. We live in an inter-dependent world where we rely on one other to provide what we cannot produce by ourselves. We therefore need to spend money by giving it in exchange for what we want.

Spending is an area where most people come up short on the road to wealth and fortune. They fail to understand that there is an art to it. The rich spend and still have plenty leftover, while the poor spend and have nothing left. Those who have mastered the art of spending normally base their spending decisions on one or more of the guidelines below:

Firstly most people believe money is meant to be spent. Rather money is meant to be multiplied. Those who have mastered the art of spending disburse a major chunk of their money on things that can be multiplied into more wealth while most others spend on what can’t produce further hence they lack as a result.

Those who have mastered the art of spending expend money on their needs, not wants. Needs are those things you cannot do without while wants are the opposite. They constantly ask themselves – Do I need it? Do I want it? Then they act to spend on what they need. This frees up funds that could have been frittered away on wants that could be diverted to better uses.