Most people think that retirement will be a reward after a lifetime of hard work. However, we must ask ourselves, will we really have the time to read, to potter about the garden, play golf, go fishing or travel the world? After all, we deserve it don’t we? We’ve worked our socks off, saved, and maybe even built up a nest egg. Then again, you may think, what about low-interest rates, the national economy, and rising inflation; will we really be able to live the life of ease that we envisioned, when we retire? Or, will we still just be slaving away, just trying to make some extra money to make ends meet?
It’s a well-known fact that all governments know, when people retire they stop paying taxes, and they’ll usually require more health care. Oh yes, and of course, they’ll also have to be paid a pension. So when we retire and stop contributing to the system, governments think that we’ll become a drain on their resources. So, in order to reduce that drain on the system, caused by us retirees, they have already started to raise retirement ages, and they will continue to do so.
They’ll implement any measures they see fit, in order to minimize the number of years that people like you and I can spend in a well-deserved, comfortable, worry free, pleasurable and happy, retirement. So, I’m afraid that we have to be pragmatic, and face facts here; we have to realise that it’s in the government’s interest for taxpayers to retire as late as possible. (maybe even to work until we die: and, for us to die as soon as possible?).
Years and years ago, those clever old actuaries, in the big insurance companies, worked out that most people actually do die within 10 years of retiring. Is that what you want for your life? If not, you must become financially independent; and, the only sure way to do that is by owning your own business. Don’t depend on others to take care of you when you retire because, believe me, it won’t happen!
Owning their own business, many people believe, is beyond them; but that’s just not true. Not if you faithfully follow a proven business model, a model that has worked for thousands of people, one that you can just ‘plug into’; a model that works for anyone. Anyone who is willing enough to invest in themselves and implement the correct systems and procedures. If you are one of these people, then you can achieve exactly the same success and security as all those other people who’ve already trodden that very same pathway toward financial independence, before you did.
This may sound like an over simplification, but it’s not. Because, if you think about it, building any successful business is really just like following a tried and tested baking recipe. To give you an example, if you take so many ounces of flour, butter, eggs, sugar and water, in the right proportions: mix them all together and pour the mix into a baking tin. Then pop the mix in the oven, for the prescribed length of time, and at the right temperature; you know, with absolute certainty, that by following that system, you are bound to get a tried and tested, proven, result, a successful cake.
Well, it’s just the same for any business; no matter what your age, educational background, race or religion; or whether you’re a man or a woman, you will succeed if you faithfully follow an already proven business model (Recipe)!
Think about businesses like McDonald’s, Starbucks, Subway; etc’, they all earn great profits for their owners; but, do you think that’s because the people who own these businesses are extremely intelligent, or especially gifted? If you do think that, then you’re wrong! The reason these businesses make lots of money is because they’re all based on previously tried and tested business models: models (recipes) that have been proven to work, time and time, and time again!
Every one of these successful businesses provide operating manuals for each of the new business owners, who buy a franchise. McDonald’s even have their own ‘Hamburger University’, and it’s these operating manuals that guide the new entrepreneurs, every step of the way. Remember the (Recipe Book) baking example; and, provided that the new business owners’ implement all of the steps in the already tried and tested systems, these new business owners make themselves a whole lot of money.
All of the above mentioned are examples of proven business models that have stood the test of time, they all brightly illuminate the pathway for their incoming franchisees. It’s the already proven training and the systems in their operational manuals that leads them to their financial successes. It’s not systems that fail; it is people who fail the systems.
We offer you two particularly good pieces of advice; the first is that you should always seek to take advice from people who are more successful than you are. The second is to learn from people who have already done it: only then can you really stand on the shoulders of giants. Also, and perhaps most importantly, you should never underestimate the greatness that lies within you. All you have to do is to believe in yourself, and release that greatness that’s within you, and you can fly high and fly far. If you really do wish to break free from the rat race, you can easily do so, but don’t just think about it, you have to take action: the choice is yours!