Table of Contents
1) Setting Goals. I call it the view of the future. Most people, including kids, will pay the price if they can see the promise of the future. So we need to help our kids see a well-defined future, so they will be motivated to pay the price today to attain the rewards of tomorrow. Goals help them do this. 2) Personal Development. Simply making consistent investments in our self-education and knowledge banks pays major dividends throughout our lives. I suggest having a minimum amount of time set aside for reading books, listening to audiocassettes, attending seminars, keeping a journal and spending time with other successful people. Charlie “Tremendous’ Jones says you will be in five years the sum total of the books you read and the people you are around. 3) Financial Planning. I call it the 70/30 plan. After receiving your paycheck or paying yourself, simply setting aside 10% for saving, 10% for investing and 10% for giving, and over time this will guarantee financial independence for a teenager.
The board sent out an email ballot to find out what members thought about MABE paying for the member's portion of the holiday party fee. The tally so far...19 for, 1 against, 2 neutral.
At one time we had a process in place, the Buddy Lunch, that helped members get to know each other better. Nick would like to challenge members to contact a newer member. Reach out and get to know them and their business.
[directory/old/chilton.htm] Steve Chilton was today's main speaker... I am in MABE as a handyman. I have an employee, Warren, that handles most of that. Fortunately, because of the amount of work, leads and advise that has come from MABE, we have grown considerably. Having me up here is timely based on our discussion this morning. About 90% of what I have to say is the same ole' dribble. I have had businesses in several different countries. I have never had so many problems as I have had here in America. Perhaps this new book "UK to USA" will at least help with the language barrier. I was born in England. I lived there 16 years. My father was a factory worker. I didn't want to do that so I joined the forces. Joining the forces made me independent and gave me skills and options in life. I've done many things...worked with compressors, blown up bridges and rebuilt them, etc. I have started many companies on my own. My wife and I have been married 36 years. We met as school kids and married when I was 18 years of age. We have two kids. One is an attorney in England. Our second is a teacher here in Gilbert. I am one of the shy ones in MABE. I find it hard to integrate. That is one of the reasons I joined MABE. I am a workaholic by trade. I had to force myself to take a vacation to Spain while living in England. We enjoyed it so much that we returned to England, closed our business and started fresh in Spain. Our kids moved back to England. Being such a close family, we missed them terribly so we moved back too. I had a hard time finding a job. I was too old, over qualified, etc. I met an American. He invited us here to Mesa to holiday. We went back to England and found that the kids didn't need us so much anymore. We traveled back and forth between America and England for a while but it started to get expensive. We decided to stay here. My first job here was as a personal fitness trainer at LA Fitness. We didn't want to live in Mesa or as we call it "The Concrete Jungle". We were used to overlooking the ocean in Spain. We found a home in Gold Canyon with a beautiful view of the Superstition Mountains. There went all my money again. I then started my handyman service which, even then, was more than that. I also joined MABE which is helped my business grow. We have 10 full-time employees now. What we do...We flip houses (remodel), handyman services and most of the trades. I won't touch granite and carpets. I just can't get into that stuff I am trying to keep a cap on the business. I don't want a large company. And I don't want to be a glorified babysitter. We have a cabinet shop. We build cabinets and entertainment centers. We don't advertise it. We use it because it comes up in remodeling. I just took on a distributorship. We now put in hard surfaces. I will be perfectly honest...My love is not the business. My love is sports. I used to "rug" quite a bit in the Army. I played rugby to get rid of my aggression. I started marshal arts with my daughter thinking it would only last a couple of weeks. It has become a life long love. I am a black belt in several areas. My daughter actually went into the world championships. My biggest problem in business is employees. I just can't find any qualified people. The second problem is getting money. Everybody knows every reason not to pay. Or they just pay a little bit. The large jobs are not the problem. It is the small jobs. You literally have to have a contract with all the i's dotted and t's crossed. It is so impersonal. What happened to the handshake? It is a shame. | ||
