By David Malherbe – Published in Drakenstein Gazette – Friday 21 March 2014
“I never stop thinking like an entrepreneur,” says the owner of the company iFix that specialises in repairs of Apple and Samsung devices. And I believe this is vital to the success of any business. James Allen said, “As a man thinks, so he becomes.”
The poem It’s all in the state of the mind concludes with the following words of wisdom: “You’ve got to be sure of yourself before you can ever win a prize; Life’s battle doesn’t always go to the stronger or faster man; But sooner or later the man who wins is the fellow who thinks he can.” On the contrary “If you think you’ll lose, you’ve lost, for out in the world you’ll find success begins with a fellow’s will; it’s all in the state of the mind.”
Do you believe that you can be successful in business?
But it is not only the way you think that is important. There is also the important aspect of a disciplined lifestyle that leads to wealth. In a Reader’s Digest article How to live like a Millionaire Thomas Stanley shares the results of his study of wealthy people. He found that the average person with a net worth of a million rand or more is usually a businessman who has lived all his adult life in the same town. He owns a small factory, shop or service business, married once, and still married, lives in a middle class area, next to people with a fraction of his wealth. But he is a saver and investor.
Stanley believes that attitude is the greatest difference between millionaires and the rest of us. He found that the rich follow certain rules: 1. Live below your means, i.e. do not spend more than you earn, therefore avoid borrowing money. 2. Emphasise net worth and not income. If you have a large income but spend it all, you’ll never become wealthy. 3. Cultivate good advice, which means it is important to seek professional advice on financial matters, and 4. Develop a plan. You can only be successful if you know where you are heading. If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.
David Malherbe and Dewald Scholtz will discuss this topic in more detail Monday evening from 19:00 till 20:00 on Radio KC 107.7FM in the program “You the Entrepreneur”
(David Malherbe is a business- and career consultant and lives in Wellington. He can be contacted via his web page www.jedidiah.org.za or T/F 021-873 0262 or on Facebook at “Jy die Entrepreneur.”)
