If there were any greater indication that the United Kingdom is in a gigantic mess look no further than our falling exchange rate. The £1 is simply dropping in value like a stone.
However, to paraphrase Napoleon Hill, 'In every adversity lie the seeds of opportunity'.
So, if I were in charge of this country, here's what I would be doing:
- Restore our manufacturing industry.
No, even with the exchange rate we may not be able to compete with China on price - but we could compete on QUALITY.
Anyone else sick of cheap imports that break within days or weeks?
Anyone else remember the days when things actually LASTED?
I would be reinstating the 'Made in Britain' tag with regulated standards and pride in British workmanship to re-establish our brand worldwide.
- Restore our farming industry.
All but lost, and now imports from Europe are incredibly expensive. Yet we have acres and acres of verdant fertile soil.
Let's use them - and at minimum become self-sufficient in inexpensive food for all.
- Encourage future growth industries.
There's a huge tide in entrepreneurial instinct in this country.
Let's use business incentives wisely to divert this talent and passion away from 'no hope sectors' and into future growth sectors - like renewable energy, bio tech science and alternative therapies/well being.
- Encourage tourism like mad.
Britain may not have the best weather but it is incredibly beautiful. The weak pound now makes us a very cheap destination.
- Encourage enterprise skills in schools with a passion. Soon the days of being 'an employee' will be gone forever.
What's needed right now is long term, joined up thinking.
Not short term fixes.
Let's look at what real value and competitive advantage we can create in this country - and then GO FOR IT !
With the decline in the financial services sector it's our only hope to re-establish ourselves as a worldwide 'power' economy.
Showing posts with label Napoleon Hill. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Napoleon Hill. Show all posts
Monday, 15 December 2008
Tuesday, 6 November 2007
Back in the Saddle
You often read about how 'back to work mums' suffer from a lack of confidence - well I never thought that would happen to me until last week, when after three months 'out of the spotlight' I returned to the Business World, firstly presenting the Franchisee of the Year Award at the StartUps Awards in London on Wednesday (which quite frankly I completely fluffed up!), and then speaking at the Business Start Up Show at Olympia on Saturday.
And the thought of public speaking again terrified me! All the old nerves and fears which I thought I had well and truly conquered, seemed to have returned.
The material for my 'Are You An Entrepreneur?' seminar at Business StartUp was all new and untested on an audience (which always adds to the nerves); it was based mainly on the research and learnings from my Entrepreneurial Profiling Test since its launch in April this year.
In my seminar, firstly I talked about the three key qualities of the successful entrepreneur - which in my view are Self Belief, Determination and Drive.
I then talked about how my Entrepreneurial Profiling Test works and the nine different entrepreneur types which result, and the ways they can ALL be successful in business.
I then ended by talking about my favourite three business books of all time, which are:
- Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill
- How to Get Rich by Felix Dennis, and
- Purple Cow by Seth Godin
Interestingly many of the emails I've had since the Show thanking me for my seminar also said that I was the ONLY speaker who talked about the other rewards of business (freedom, fulfillment, adventure) rather than being solely obsessed with monetary rewards - which is actually the underlying point of both Napoleon Hill and Felix Dennis's books.
Anyway, having faced my fears, I came away from the seminar feeling really inspired and energised myself, and it also reinforced my belief that I am in an incredibly priveliged position to be able to help entrepreneurs starting out in their journey in some way.
So thank you to everyone who came to the Show, and to my stand to see me afterwards (I'm sorry I couldn't spend time with you all) - as well as to everyone who has sent me such wonderful emails since Saturday. Your positivity has given me such a boost, I am no longer a 'nervous back to work mum' any more!
Next stop is the Entrepreneurs Forum Annual Conference in Newcastle this Thursday, where I will be talking about the highs and lows of my own entrepreneurial journey.
Hope to see you there!
Regards
Rachel
And the thought of public speaking again terrified me! All the old nerves and fears which I thought I had well and truly conquered, seemed to have returned.
The material for my 'Are You An Entrepreneur?' seminar at Business StartUp was all new and untested on an audience (which always adds to the nerves); it was based mainly on the research and learnings from my Entrepreneurial Profiling Test since its launch in April this year.
In my seminar, firstly I talked about the three key qualities of the successful entrepreneur - which in my view are Self Belief, Determination and Drive.
I then talked about how my Entrepreneurial Profiling Test works and the nine different entrepreneur types which result, and the ways they can ALL be successful in business.
I then ended by talking about my favourite three business books of all time, which are:
- Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill
- How to Get Rich by Felix Dennis, and
- Purple Cow by Seth Godin
Interestingly many of the emails I've had since the Show thanking me for my seminar also said that I was the ONLY speaker who talked about the other rewards of business (freedom, fulfillment, adventure) rather than being solely obsessed with monetary rewards - which is actually the underlying point of both Napoleon Hill and Felix Dennis's books.
Anyway, having faced my fears, I came away from the seminar feeling really inspired and energised myself, and it also reinforced my belief that I am in an incredibly priveliged position to be able to help entrepreneurs starting out in their journey in some way.
So thank you to everyone who came to the Show, and to my stand to see me afterwards (I'm sorry I couldn't spend time with you all) - as well as to everyone who has sent me such wonderful emails since Saturday. Your positivity has given me such a boost, I am no longer a 'nervous back to work mum' any more!
Next stop is the Entrepreneurs Forum Annual Conference in Newcastle this Thursday, where I will be talking about the highs and lows of my own entrepreneurial journey.
Hope to see you there!
Regards
Rachel
Saturday, 8 September 2007
I Can Make You Rich
I don't often buy a newspaper on a Saturday, but couldn't resist today's The Times as it carried the promotional headline 'How to Get Rich - Free CD inside'.
Not, of course because I am poor you understand :-) I am simply interested in all things entrepreneurial. And most of the 'Get Rich Quick' books and guides which are popping up at the moment seem to be riding on the wave of interest generated by the new wave of cult business shows - like The Apprentice and Dragons' Den.
Yes, these guides do often help someone get rich - and that is usually the author.
So I was a bit disappointed when I opened the paper that my free CD was in fact called 'Overcome Emotional Spending' by Paul McKenna. Yes, my husband will certainly vouch for the fact we would be an awful lot better off if my spending could in someway be psychologically curbed, but logically, spending less is not really a way to get rich - as its effect is of course limited to what you earn in the first place.
The only way to truly get rich is to earn (or find ways to generate) a shedload of cash.
Not spending it helps you get there faster of course - but then, if you're going to go down that route, why bother going to all that effort to earn it in the first place?
Anyway, I stuck with it and read the accompanying 'How to Get Rich' article, where McKenna points out that real riches really have nothing to do with money and that most of the things that give people true joy are actually available to all of us and are also completely free (spending time with the kids, love & sex, walks in the countryside etc. etc.). So what Paul is really encouraging us to do is identify the things that we believe would truly make us happy, and then to use NLP techniques to try to 'live' the feeling we believe those things will bring us, until they actually manifest in our lives.
Visualisation techniques are of course nothing new, and everyone from Napoleon Hill in his iconic 1937 book 'Think and Grow Rich' to the cult DVD 'The Secret' has talked about harnessing the power of the mind and using the 'Law of Attraction' to manifest everything you desire.
I am actually a great believer in all this - having also had experience of the negative side! Six months after my company Red Letter Days crashed into administration I was going through old papers in my study and found a 'life plan' I had written about a year earlier stating that, by 2006, I wanted to 'Get rid of Red Letter Days; spend more time with my family, with time to be creative, to write and to be myself.'
All of which came to pass in the most dramatic and unintended way (the Universe usually dishes up its solutions in the quickest most effective way). But I have to admit the Crash - as stressful as it was - did bring about my move to Bakewell in the Peak District, which is the most beautiful, inspirational place to live; the start of a new business which is based from my home, which brings me far more happiness than running Red Letter Days ever did and which is is much more 'me' - plus a publishing deal to write my first book, on entrepreneurship.
Personally, I think McKenna is absolutely right. Far too many of us chase money thinking it is the be all and end all of happiness. Far better to focus on the things that will truly make you happy - and then simply allow the Universe to find fabulously creative ways to allow those things to manifest in your life.
True riches are actually much more about giving rather than taking anyway - which is why some of the most successful, happiest and by the way most materially wealthy entrepreneurs I have met founded their businesses on things they had a real love or passion for, which they wanted to share with others.
And most people who are truly 'rich' in this way ultimately find that they have no use for the trappings of money anyway.
So relax, and enjoy your Sunday!
Rachel
Not, of course because I am poor you understand :-) I am simply interested in all things entrepreneurial. And most of the 'Get Rich Quick' books and guides which are popping up at the moment seem to be riding on the wave of interest generated by the new wave of cult business shows - like The Apprentice and Dragons' Den.
Yes, these guides do often help someone get rich - and that is usually the author.
So I was a bit disappointed when I opened the paper that my free CD was in fact called 'Overcome Emotional Spending' by Paul McKenna. Yes, my husband will certainly vouch for the fact we would be an awful lot better off if my spending could in someway be psychologically curbed, but logically, spending less is not really a way to get rich - as its effect is of course limited to what you earn in the first place.
The only way to truly get rich is to earn (or find ways to generate) a shedload of cash.
Not spending it helps you get there faster of course - but then, if you're going to go down that route, why bother going to all that effort to earn it in the first place?
Anyway, I stuck with it and read the accompanying 'How to Get Rich' article, where McKenna points out that real riches really have nothing to do with money and that most of the things that give people true joy are actually available to all of us and are also completely free (spending time with the kids, love & sex, walks in the countryside etc. etc.). So what Paul is really encouraging us to do is identify the things that we believe would truly make us happy, and then to use NLP techniques to try to 'live' the feeling we believe those things will bring us, until they actually manifest in our lives.
Visualisation techniques are of course nothing new, and everyone from Napoleon Hill in his iconic 1937 book 'Think and Grow Rich' to the cult DVD 'The Secret' has talked about harnessing the power of the mind and using the 'Law of Attraction' to manifest everything you desire.
I am actually a great believer in all this - having also had experience of the negative side! Six months after my company Red Letter Days crashed into administration I was going through old papers in my study and found a 'life plan' I had written about a year earlier stating that, by 2006, I wanted to 'Get rid of Red Letter Days; spend more time with my family, with time to be creative, to write and to be myself.'
All of which came to pass in the most dramatic and unintended way (the Universe usually dishes up its solutions in the quickest most effective way). But I have to admit the Crash - as stressful as it was - did bring about my move to Bakewell in the Peak District, which is the most beautiful, inspirational place to live; the start of a new business which is based from my home, which brings me far more happiness than running Red Letter Days ever did and which is is much more 'me' - plus a publishing deal to write my first book, on entrepreneurship.
Personally, I think McKenna is absolutely right. Far too many of us chase money thinking it is the be all and end all of happiness. Far better to focus on the things that will truly make you happy - and then simply allow the Universe to find fabulously creative ways to allow those things to manifest in your life.
True riches are actually much more about giving rather than taking anyway - which is why some of the most successful, happiest and by the way most materially wealthy entrepreneurs I have met founded their businesses on things they had a real love or passion for, which they wanted to share with others.
And most people who are truly 'rich' in this way ultimately find that they have no use for the trappings of money anyway.
So relax, and enjoy your Sunday!
Rachel
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