F.I.R.E. Gill's Practical Bookkeeping

F.I.R.E., Life Hacks, More experienced Investors, New To Finance

What does it take to build a business?

23rd Jun 2022 gjef2871

Brene Brown says ‘if you’re not in the arena, participating, don’t you dare stand on the sidelines and put me down’. Tough words—basically if you haven’t got any skin in the game you haven’t got any authority to criticize.

I just watched two speakers pitch their businesses through Sydney City Council. Both speakers had the drive and creativity to reach at least $2 million in revenue. Despite being at the beginning of their potential, both businesses had already raised as much revenue as the median Australian earns in 40 years of work.

So what does it take to build a business?

The median sole trader earns around $10 000 per year of income (abs.gov.au). Yet in Australia’s $2.5 trillion economy there are many small to medium businesses that earn much more than that.

So how do you get from averaging $10 000 to $2 million+?

I don’t know how. I’ve not been able to do that, yet.

But I do know some things that don’t work:

Law-of-Attraction or prayer—being a good person and living mindfully is one thing, but if you pray to win the lottery instead of putting the work into a business plan, you’re not going to get much out of it besides a gambling addiction.
Pessimism and deciding you’ve failed before you’ve begun. Again, great to take criticism and feedback on board, but despair and defeated-ness are definitely not winners.
Refusing to listen to feedback—ask your customers what they think of your product
Basing your product entirely on what other people ask for—Henry Ford said “if I had asked people what they wanted they would’ve told me to breed faster horses”.
Charging by the hour for your own work. It’s not scalable. Even if you earn $100 per hour, you will never make the return on investment that you would if you had a scalable product.

Let me know your thoughts in the comments below 🙂

References:

www.abs.gov.au

www.austrade.gov.au

https://www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/talks-courses-workshops/visiting-entrepreneur-program

https://www.haymarkethq.com/

https://brenebrown.com/

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By reading this blog, you agree that you read it under your own risk, and Gill’s Practical Bookkeeping is in no way responsible for any harm or prejudice to yourself, your business, or any fictional examples above.

I am not a financial advisor. I do not have an AFSL. I am a chick who likes to read, think, write, and has access to google. You should treat this blog with the same seriousness that you would treat anyone whose main qualification is access to google. This blog is for entertainment purposes only. It’s a little like watching The Good Place for nerds or artists.

Anything you take from this blog is your responsibility. Nothing in this blog, even if you are mentioned by name, address, and telephone number, pertains to your personal situation. Anything you agree with, or disagree with, you are welcome to comment on, but your opinions belong to you. You are responsible for your comments. If they are offensive, I will remove them.

F.I.R.E., Life Hacks, More experienced Investors, New To Finance, Review, Uncategorised

Three things I’ve learned from Paula Pant’s Afford Anything

3rd Mar 20226th Apr 2022 gjef2871

How do you take a philosophy, and a methodology of thinking, and turn it into a business?

Paula Pant has done it with Afford Anything.

She is a woman of colour, an entrepreneur, and a kick-ass lady. But her most important asset is that she likes to think, and she likes to learn.

www.affordanything.com

From Paula, I’ve learned

Small, repeated actions add up to big results. Listening to Afford Anything got me thinking about savings and investments. That got me searching for ways I can do that to fit my lifestyle. Paula says focus on the process rather than the outcome .

What I came up with is twice per month, once after my pay and once after my interest comes in, I make all the numbers in my savings accounts line up in a row. (Savings Account 1: $6222, Savings Account 2: $7222 etc). This has the effect of adding an extra $22.19 here, and an extra $7.54 there, which makes the total go up higher than it would by just adding $300 per month.

And my inner child loves seeing all the numbers add up in a row.

Relationships are more important than stuff. In this blog, Paula talks about how one of the best ways to heal trauma is to connect with other mammals and focus on building relationships.

That is one of the lessons of my life already. Friends, relationships, family, and caring about people has enriched my life inexpressibly. Having friends involves some simple repeated actions and being kind.

Something I do, is that my teacher buddies and I have coffee together during the school holidays. I initiate one text every school holidays, and if we’re free enough, we catch up.

And my social-self loves having stable, loving friendships.

Look at what other people are doing well, and do that. Paula speaks to people who are interesting and who also think. She’s a thinking person who talks to people who think. I love this so much.

My little brain just goes “Yaaaaaay” any time she has someone new on her podcast. I’ve bought so many books after listening to the people on her blog. Currently reading: Andrew Hallam, Millionaire Teacher because of listening to her show.

Something else she does really well is having a variety of reader cases (you can ask your questions) with regular guests, and completely new guests and ideas.

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F.I.R.E., Life Hacks, Review, Uncategorised

Review: Derek Dammers Youtube Channel from a Marketing Perspective

6th Feb 202220th Jun 2022 gjef2871

On Derek Dammers’ youtube channel, he’s fishing both for living humans and living fish. He’s a salary man, who fishes in his spare time, and is slowly turning his favourite hobby into a business. He has fished for forty years around the harbour, rivers, and lakes of Sydney. He’s an extremely technical person, and a bit of perfectionist. He’s also patient and quite gentle, which makes him a good teacher.

Here are some of the great things he’s done:

Visual acuity and slow motion. This channel is perfect for visual learners. Anyone who wants to watch again and again and again to perfect their casting technique can.

Beautiful settings and surrounds. Each of these videos is shot in areas of great beauty both formed by humans and natural.

Short Videos. The longest video is 40 seconds long. This succinctness means that there is no superfluous information and you never waste your time watching.

Thoughtfulness of shooting and subject. If you’re looking to improve your physical know-how, this is a great way to do it. He’s really thought about how to teach, and what to teach, and he’s done a good job.

Here are some of the things he could improve:

Not everyone is a visual learner. Some people need to hear a story, or might need words to understand what you’re doing.
Credentials. Derek is a teacher, trying to set up a business as a teacher, but he’s establishing his credentials as an expert, rather than a teacher.
Accesibility. If you’re trying to teach beginners, or less experienced fishermen, they’re not necessarily going to understand what you’re doing right, and what they’re doing wrong

Suggestions:

Add a couple of 2-minute videos explaining what’s happening in the short videos
Put up student testimonials, and videos of lesson before and afters
Do a beginners series for those going fishing for the first time
Embed a button in each video with a Call To Action leading to what you’re selling

Overall, a great channel for anyone who wants to learn fly fishing or anyone who wants to see some great photos and videos of Sydney Harbour.

Check it out: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEc6ld_-5SihhuXYn0o57wQ

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F.I.R.E., Life Hacks, Novels and Creative Writing, politics

Labour Day: Three poems about corporate life

30th Sep 202120th Jun 2022 gjef2871

Poem 1:

Late in the evening, I lean against the window of the train,

Warmed by the glancing bands of sunset.

The train is cold, full of suited prospectors on their phones

Panning for a better tomorrow.

The clean thought lines of my day stretch behind me.

This evening? Hungry managers have eaten my time,

I know I’ll be working.

I can taste the freedom that the gold I am earning will give me.

I can hear the music of my portfolio growing.

I can sense the shining nuggets hidden in the shallow stream,

The pyrite turning up in my pan just spurs me on.

Just one more step. Just one more push. Just one more day.

Tomorrow.

Poem 2:

I’m proud of my life. Hard work is a challenge

Accepted and met.

But my body, my creativity–the tiny joyfilled child my soul recognises,

My companions, my capacity for bliss,

Are waiting.

They live in an imaginary future.

Filled with time.

Sunday afternoon the sun slants across the surface of the desk.

Bound by duty, responsibilities call out to me.

I’m caught, trapped, in a net of obligations.

Time my most precious asset, spent devoted to financing

Someone else’s children.

Poem 3:

This night is deep and full of strange noises–

Bats crying out, the creak of a branch scraping

Against the balcony railing, soft murmers of sleep.

Spirit rises up within as my relaxed body awakens–

Joyfull, alert, alive, vibrating with life force,

Almost– not quite– time for my alarm.

Later, dressed and ready, coffeed, combed, and smoothed,

I trundle my body towards the 9am meeting,

Glad when my bosses look at me and say

That’s right, Gill. 40 hours per week.

A fair days work for a fair days pay.

Happy Labour Day Everyone

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F.I.R.E., Life Hacks, politics, Uncategorised

Free speech in Australia.

15th Sep 202120th Jun 2022 gjef2871

I was having a conversation with the adonis who I train with recently. He was talking about how we have freedom of the press and freedom of speech in Australia, and how that was great.

I was interested in this because I disagree that we currently have those freedoms.

Yes, I’m aware of the irony of sitting in a comfortable Sydney home, on the internet, writing that we don’t have freedom of speech or freedom of the press in Australia.

This week Australia’s High Court made a decision that means that any company in Australia that has an internet presence, is liable for the comments on their social media accounts or website.

One of the consequences of this is that ordinary people who do try to speak out about things going wrong may well be moderated out of the discourse.

Australia updated secrecy laws in 2018, making it illegal to talk about certain things, either in Australia or overseas (if you’re interested, read part 5.6 of the federal Criminal Code (1995)).

This year Australia appointed a High Court judge Justice Simon Steward who stated that freedom of speech and freedom of political communication are not “settled law”.

This is part of a long term trend in Australia to pass laws that punish or criminalize people for having opinions, exposing government wrongdoing, and speaking out in the public interest.

So? What can you do?

Here’s the problems, what are the solutions?

Write to your local member, asking for more political freedoms and asking them to uphold your right to political communication and freedom of speech
Write a blog post about your thoughts
Write something on social media about freedom of speech in Australia, tag your local member, the Attorney General’s Department and the federal parliament
Write to the editor of your favourite newspaper
Read and share blog posts like this one
Participate in public discourse– bring it up at dinner, bring it up at a public forum, talk about what’s going on
Start or sign a petition asking for change asking for the right to protest.
Start a T-shirt Campaign
Make Art about it
Write a story about it
Express yourself through poetry
Make some rocking music
Put your thoughts into photos
Meditate on healing the world
Send good wishes into the lives of other people
Connect with people in your community so that we can lift the cohort
Get a qualification or do a short course to keep yourself fresh and keep your brain working
Meditate on having love in your heart
Learn a language
Become F.I.R.E so you’re not a slave to a job any more.

It might not think that these will change things politically, but every time you lift yourself out of fatalistic, nihilistic depression, you remind yourself of the truth:

You have power. You have creativity. You can do something. Change is possible.

Remember: Always be kind.

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This blog is fiction. By reading this blog, you agree that you read it under your own risk, and Gill’s Practical Bookkeeping is in no way responsible for any harm or prejudice to yourself, your business, or any fictional examples above.