The Unofficial MBA

An MBA is expensive, both in terms of tuition fees, expenses, and opportunity cost. This blog is the story of a wannabe MBA student who set out to learn all the top management and business skills of the worlds top CEOs by studying all the information that is available on the Internet. That’s why this site will have a leaning towards online marketing, and ecommerce.

Anyone can do it. Believe it or not you can retire in 16 years time and have the same level of income you are living on now, if not more. Let me show you how to prove this to yourself using Excel, and some simple formulas based on your income. The great thing about this model is that it doesn’t matter what level of income you are on. You don’t have to be a high earner, or rich - it works on the principle that it doesn’t matter how much you earn, it just matters how much you keep.

The model isn’t flawless, in fact it does make some assumptions, but you can work these out yourself, all I want to prove with this, is that it is possible to build wealth and essentially retire within 16 years. What are you waiting for? Read on… Read the rest of this entry »

This book is essential for all business travelers. First impressions count, and understanding different cultures gestures and body language is important if you want to get off to a flying start in business meetings with people from other parts of the world.

Do you know where you should avoid the OK sign, and why? Do you know the correct protocol for bowing in Japan? That’s just a few of the important gestures covered in this book. Common sense is not enough, as this book shows… understanding international gestures is more than just common sense.

Starting a new business is obviously a challenging task, but it can be a rewarding one just the same. Here are some sites you will find useful on your way. I didn’t just want to list the obvious sites that everyone knows about, so I’ve picked some you might not have thought about…

1. Social Networking - LinkedIn, Ecademy, Facebook: If you’re thinking of starting your own business, then you’ll need help. Many people have told me that the secret to starting a successful business is in the relationships you have. I’ve been told many times that Mentors made the difference. Social networking sites are a great tool in today’s connected world. As you network, and meet other professionals you will keep track of them, stay in contact with them, and even expand your network with sites like LinkedIn, Ecademy and Facebook. Other social networking sites for business include: Plaxo, Ryze, and Tribe.net,
2. Public Speaking - Toastmasters: Like it or not, starting a business is going to involve presenting to people. It might be presentations to potential partners, or sales presentations. Public speaking is an important skill to learn and it Toastmasters is a great place to practice. Find your nearest club on the Toastmasters site, and go along as a guest. Good public speaking skills will make all your presentations more powerful, and set you apart from the competition.
3. Real Life Networking - Upcoming, MeetUp: Upcoming and MeetUp are both great sources for finding events to attend. When you’re starting your business, as I mentioned before, it’s all about your network and relationships. Use Upcoming and MeetUp to find events to attend in your area of interest and network! Learning how to effectively network comes with time, and even if someone you meet doesn’t fit in with what you’re looking for now, keep in touch as they may be useful in the future, or you may be able to refer business to them in the future.
4. Online Applications - Google Docs, Zoho: Build the office of the future! Save costs of licensing expensive software, and switch to online documents. Now you can access your files wherever you may be, and you can collaborate easily with remote workers. You might loose some of the functionality, but those features are just expensive bloat anyway. You get the core functionality you need online, with the lower cost, and the availability anywhere. Of course, it is important, as with any business computer system, that you take security measures to protect your data, and you create backups regularly of important files.

I’m sure I will expand this article in the future, as I find more sites, and also more uses for the sites that are listed here.  Any recommendations are appreciated!

Think you have a handle on Supply and Demand theory? Well, you might think you do, but why not take this test to see if you really understand how changes affect Supply, Demand, and eventually Price and Quantity.

It’s useful to refresh on these principles now and again, as it gets your mind thinking about changes that happen inside, and outside of your organization, and how they will affect the market. When you’re making sense of a situation, if all else fails (if no other line of reasoning gets you an answer) then you can fall back to the basic principles of supply and demand. Ask, how does this affect the supply of the product? How does this affect the demand? Plotting these changes to the supply and demand curve then helps understand the movements.

It the big problem of today, isn’t it? Information Overload. As the connected world develops and we all become more networking, we become part of the network. This has massive benefits for our business, careers and personal lifes, but it brings with it problems. And the biggest of these problems is Information Overload…. Read the rest of this entry »

Hey, this isn’t a long post, I just wanted to  share this massive list of personal finance resources…

http://www.frugallawstudent.com/2007/05/29/massive-personal-finance-resource-list/

Some people love it, some people hate it. Many people dream of it. Working from home is either a joy or a terror, depending on how you approach it. Do you dream of the freedom, flexibility, and the relaxed atmosphere your home office could provide? Do you dream of working in your slippers and pajamas? But… Read the rest of this entry »

Take 20% of your gross income every month, invest it in a balanced index fund and leave it there, then retire 20 years later with enough for a lifetime.

If only I’d started earlier.

“Manage Smarter” have a great article (here) on personal branding.

The interesting thing they mention is that investing time in developing your personal brand can alleviate stress in public speaking situations. Now, we all know that public speaking is one of the most common fears worldwide, ranked even higher than the fear of death! So anything that can help in this area has got to be a good thing.

Personal branding defined: An individual’s total perceived value, relative to competitors, as viewed by their audience.

I’ve quoted their definition of personal branding above, and I think we can break this down into two main elements:

1. it’s about perceived value as viewed by the audience
2. it’s relative to the competition

The article on Manage Smarter breaks this down in a different way, but I would like to look at it from these two perspectives. First off, take a look at yourself, and what your “perceived value” is from the receivers perspective. Do you put across a message that effectively demonstrates your worth? You’ll notice that most people go one way or the other, and not many people get it right! They either promise too much and don’t deliver, or they have a lot to offer but don’t sell themselves. It’s important to get your personal brand just right, and effectively message exactly what you have to offer.

The other thing is relative to the competition. Now, you don’t want to get hung up comparing yourself to everyone else out there, but you should at least know how you compare. Look at where you outperform, and where your strengths are. You should also be aware of your weaknesses so you can preempt any questions about them.

Look at building your own personal branding, and developing your message. If you understand this, it can be a great confidence boost, because it removes any doubt about who you are and what you offer.

Dick at the Ask the Wizard blog has posted an interesting piece on Customer service. This is a subject I can particularly relate to at the moment due to a run of bad luck with flaky contractors, and poor customer service. Is it just be noticing a trend these days of poor customer service? I have a feeling it’s not just me, hence this little rant… Read the rest of this entry »