B-I Triangle: A lesson from Robert Kiyosaki

Have you ever heard of B-I triangle? This is a grahic created by "rich dad" of Mr Robert Kiyosaki as the key of sucessful business. Do not know who is Robert Kiyosaki? Feel free to visit his website. After reading his few books, I think the triangle is best used to illustrate the most important elements of one business (sorry that I do not have the copy of the triangle here). There are 7 major elements within the triangle:-

Outer elements surrounding the triangle which is the frame of the triangle (I would say is the basis of the creation of a business):-

1) Team - you must have a strong team members to complete different tasks in order to run a business.

2) Leadership - you must have good leader to drive the company to successful path. He/she is the who who responsible to communicate the goal to the team members, make correct decision for the company and know how to solve a problem / make instant decision when something happen.

3) Mission - it is the true purpose of a company, if you do not have a mission for a company, don't start the business.

Elements within the triangle (those are elements that determine whether a business is successful or not):-

1) Product - no need to say, this is what you intend to sell to your customer. It can bea tangible thing or intangible service. This element covers how you manufacture the product until the pricing of the product.

2) Legal - this element deals with with license to operate a business, trade mark, copy right, etc. Robert Kiyosaki described this as an important element. If you fail to notice or pay attention to this element, it may be an expensive experience to you. For example, your product may be copied by other companies OR you may have manufactured something prohibited by the law which causes the closure of your company . A lawyer can be employed to take care this element for a business.

3) System - this indicates how your company operates. All the system should be clearly defined and workable. It is recommended to have a office manuals for all the departments clearly define the responsibility and authority of each departments.

System can also means systems for pricing a product, invoicing, manufacturing, delivery, etc.

4) Communications - this refers to how ideas / decision / mission can be transmitted to others. This is the main role of leader of the company. For a successful business, a good communicator is a must.

5) Cash flow - the is important for a business as that determines whether or not a business can be continued. Financial statement should be produced and reviewed from time to time to identify any financial crisis for the company. An accountant is important to make sure the element is taken care of.

Wish to know more details? You can buy Robert Kiyosaki's books at his website.

Marketing - What are people buying?

People do not like to be sold; yet they love to buy.

Although it is wise to provide prospects with relevant information about your products and services, they want to be encouraged to make their own decisions, not have them jammed down their throats! Therefore, it's very important to understand customer psychology - that is why people buy - it's better to focus on conveying benefits, NOT features, i.e. you'll be better able to articulate your product's or service's most important benefits.

Your customers do not buy because they're being marketed to or sold to. Instead, they buy because you help them to realize the merits of owning what you offer.

• They buy promises you make. So make them care.
• They buy your credibility or don't buy it if you lack it.
• They buy solutions to their problems
• They buy wealth, safety, success, security, love and acceptance.
• They buy the consistency they've seen you exhibit.
• They buy value, which is not the same as price.
• They buy certainty. They buy your identity as conveyed by your marketing.
• They buy good taste and know it from bad taste.
• They buy the confidence you display in your own business.

When you do marketing, do you market the feature of your product or the benefits that the customer will gain? Are you in the correct way?

What you need to do for a successful business

What you need to do for a successful business? Here is a list that provides you insight for things that need to be done constantly:-

1) Seek out new information and use it to improve business skills.
2) Improve presentation skill for ideas (written, face-to-face, over the telephone).
3) Prioritize and maintain an effective schedule based on time and resources available.
4) Use an effective decision-making process for all key business issues.
5) Seek advice from business experts.
6) Find out what the biggest challenges to the business are, and work to fix them.
7) Write systems and processes in place that allow for delegation of some day-to-day duties.
8) Take responsibility for your own decisions.
9) Be passionate about the business.
10) Write a business and marketing plan and review it frequently.
11) Be committed to becoming a student of business and marketing.
12) Find out the greatest strengths and weaknesses of your self and the employees.
13) Be committed to investing time, effort and focus to learning better ways to improve sales, profits and performance.
14) Actively seek out strategic partners.
15) Be ready and prepared to invest the necessary resources (time, effort, money) to build the business.
16) Do not put off until tomorrow what need to be done today.
17) Seek and accept constructive feedback.
18) Gain respect from people in the industry, market and community.
19) Have a well-thought-out and communicated business vision.
20) Conducts weekly training sessions with employees.
21) Adjust, improve, or replace areas or activities whenever established performance levels are not met.
22) Find out where to locate information on the target market and do so regularly.
23) Write business personal and business goal and review it frequently.
24) Value the business coaches and/or mentors.
25) Do what need to be done today but maintain a long-term perspective on the business and personal life.
26) Promise only what can be done and delivered.
27) Understand no person is an island and no one can run business alone.
28) Understand the importance of sticking to a plan but remaining flexible.
29) Have work ethic which is consistent with the business goals.
30) Always try to find the good in situations and people.


Constantly do the above things and you will find your s business improving. Good luck!

Some Personal Opinions

Many folks, after creating their own business, may start facing all kinds of problem. These problems always make them feel worried and nervous. The followings are some occasions that may to those who want to run his/her own business: -



1) Is it a good idea to find your best friends to be your business partners?

That’s a lot of folks, when selecting his/her business partner, will first consider those who are familiar with. As both know each other very well, things will always be done emotionally without making any contract and establishing any system for the business. This kind of partnership will definitely make the business fails.

An unorganised and unsystematic partnership not only will prevent the business to develop, it may sometimes even lead the business to insolvency.

A friend of mine used to have firm with this kind of partnership. There were conflicts happened between them and finally resolved after bringing the issue to the court. The initial asset of the firm was USD12,500 and increased to USD37,500 when the firm was being closed. It’s obviously a profitable business! It failed simply due to contract was not made and proper system was not established. What a waste!


2) Is it wise to follow the trend and go for the hottest business?

Some folks when determining the direction of his/her business, which is yet to be created, may follow the trend blindly and choose to run the hottest business. However, when a business becomes hotter and hotter, it means “unhealthy competition” is coming. Company created for such hottest business will most probably be led to failure by this unhealthy and unsustainable environmental.

It’s important to have a thorough market survey and rational analysis before you create your own business. It’s similar to investment in stock market. It needs studies and analysis in order to know when to enter and when to exit the market.

A senior of my university, who has been running for his own business for years, just told me that two years ago he bought some shares of a company, which was doing a trendy business during that period. He joined the business without getting enough information as well as having proper analysis. He had started suffering loss after 2 months and quit the company another 2 months later. And now one leg of the company has already stepped into bankruptcy.


3) A short-sighted employer with have short life of business?

Many entrepreneurs and folks who just created their business are like hungry ghosts who are brought to a pastry shop. They eat whatever they have grabbed. They will never think to go to the pizza shop at next door and try some tastier pizza.

A business without a long term plan will not be able to last long. Chinese always say “A business will not be wealthy for more than three generation”. But indeed the businesses nowadays are rarely managed to last for one generation.

One of my cousins, with the financial support from a successful entrepreneur, bought shares of a factory producing stationary. The factory seems performing well, gaining about USD 60,000 of monthly gross income and having about 15 labours. My cousin felt that he was so lucky to join this established company. But later he realised that this factory in fact had been performing this well for five years, without any further development. Also, the management, system, plants and machines are all old and aging. Most importantly, the main reason why the factory was not developed was the managing director (another share holder) is short-sighted!

As my cousin still needs to pay back the money that he had borrowed to buy the shares, he suggested during the meetings several constructive strategies to reform the factory. Finally within three-year time, he managed to increase the factory gross income from USD 60,000 to USD 240,000. He always asks himself “How can I produce something with the best quality but the lowest price?” In other words, it is simply a “Quality vs. Price” policy.


4) Big business represents successful business?

During the process of running a business, the business creator should not always think to expand the size of his/her business. Without a strong and firm foundation, fast development can only lead the business to suffer higher risk.

“Small” represents sensitive, agile and flexible. Many business creators rather remain their business small in order to have higher “Reward/Risk” ratio.

My dad used to own a trading business which only comprised two partners. The size of the company was small and only concentrated on exporting goods to China. However the business managed to bring them a lowest monthly profit of USD30,000 as both of them were always holding the principle of “maximise the profit as well as minimise the expenses”.


5) Delegation means out of control?

No matter how brilliant and efficient the employer is, he/she must not be able to complete all the tasks in his/her business. To gain the highest benefit for the business, the employer should employ different people to work for different fields of the business and let them fully utilise their skill. Business creator must always remember “Do not use a person if you are doubting such person; Do not doubt a person if you are using such person”.

There were a few businesses created by one of my friends and he did almost every single work for those businesses. Finally he sold all the business within two year as he had already exhausted.


6) Good employee means efficient employee with low wages?

Employers are always dreaming of having “horses that can run and don’t need to eat grass”. However, it’s very rare to engage a good employ without offering good salary. If you need some good helpers, please plan some motivation and reward scheme in advance.

An employer must always be going for something that can create the highest benefit and cause lowest expense to the business. On the other hand the employees will always expect for the highest wages with the lowest volume of work load. Both parties’ expectations are always contradicting. Thus the employer should know how to balance such situation for most of the time employees are also one of the most important assets of a business.



Running a business a long and difficult journey. Business creator has to consider all kinds of factors and make sure always your own self is well prepared. Having enough experiences and relevant knowledge are also a must for all business creators. Good luck!

Failure?

"Majority of the companies will fail after the first year they are set up"

Do not be surprise by the above-mentioned fact and it is indeed a very true fact. Due to this, many people tend to work as an employee rather than an entrepreneur.

Do you get the point? If you really want to become an entrepreneur, you must not be afraid of failure. Or else, you will be as other normal people, working throughout our life for others. What should be the correct attitudes towards failure? Let me list out some:-

1) Treat failure as part of success

As what we normally heard – “failure is the key to success”. This is what most of the people know but yet not truly understand. This can be seen through the normal attitude of people trying to avoid risk. Risk is something frequently linked by people to the word “failure”. People will no do anything which is risky.

For entrepreneur, they will take “calculated risk”. No risk no gain or no pain no gain. If you are afraid of failure, you will never be successful. The more failure you encountered and subsequently learn a lesson, the more successful you will become.

2) Try to analyse why failure happens, confront it rather than run away from it

Most of the people will run away from failure or may be some of them do not realise that they are running away from failure. For an example, A has suffered loss due to the B company services. A subsequently spent huge amount of money in suing B company resulting A’s company suffered from closure. I would say, A should try to confront the failure, i.e. the loss suffered, and try to find a way out to solve the problem instead of using huge amount of money to sue B company causing his complany to close down.

To become a successful entrepreneur, you must be brave enough to confront the failure, try to learn a lesson from it and avoid making the same mistake again.

3) Count failure as part of planning

As a good planner and successful entrepreneur, failure should be taken consideration in any business planning. Do not be too optimistic towards your business plan and allow some part of the plan to fail. Try to figure out what steps can be taken if certain sub-plans are not working well. This will subsequently bring a success to the business.

I'm sure there are more ideas in relation to failure. Feel free to write down your comments.

Wrong Choice Made During My School Day?

After I completed my study for Junior Middle 3 during my secondary school days, like all my other classmates, I needed to make a choice for my Senior Middle session -- to study the subjects of science stream, art stream or commerce stream. Most of the adults, including teachers and my parents, would always advise that students who are good in science subjects should choose science stream. “Unfortunately” I scored A in all science subjects & thereafter I followed the majority of my classmates & chose science stream subjects for further study.

I enrolled myself to a course in a local university which only opened to science stream students. I learned technologies, mathematics & other technical and scientific subjects in this 3-year course.

After I graduated from the university and stepped into the real working environment, I realised that almost all the staff in management level have good knowledge in finance, account, business administration, etc., i.e. all commerce stream subjects. While most of the staff with science stream background remains in technical level, who are always led by commerce stream staff.

Not only the ability in managing and leading a company, people with commerce stream background can always create and run a successful business too. Hence I am thinking that people who wish to create and run a business should gain enough knowledge in finance, account, etc., like what I am now doing right now.

The above is just my personal experience and point of view. Feel free to give your view and correct me if there is anything wrong.

Do you have a goal?

Do you have a goal? Goal is the most important thing when you want to start any business. Without a goal, you might be at loss and at the end, you will suffer failure.

Yet, a goal must be a SMART goal. What is meant by SMART goal? This is what i read from some books. SMART is defined as the following:-

Specific: the goal must be specific enough. The goal must be able to guide you to the correct direction.

Measurable: it's good to have a measurable goal. For example, to earn $ xxx within x year will be considered a measurable goal.

Actionable: this is of course the most important element of a goal. If it's not actionable, why setting the goal?

Realistic: Do not try to guide yourself to a place which you do not think is achievable. Try to set a goal which is realistic to you.

Time-Based: Some people do not set a time-based goal. As a result of that, they start to procrastinate in doing anything. This is very normal for a human being. If something is not urgent, means they can do it LATER. Therefore, set a time limit for the goal. Try to determine what you want to achieve within a certain period of time.


Have some ideas how to set a goal? Is your goal SMART enough?

Share with me your idea for a better goal.