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Introducing Setting Boundaries At Work Setting boundaries at work when you are in corporate land is hard. When you are an entrepreneur building your own business from scratch it is almost impossible. The reason being is mainly everything that comes your way could be the big opportunity that can take your ventures to the next level. The simple request to connect on Zoom from a complete stranger, might be the golden ticket to all your dreams coming true. But as you will hear in todays podcast setting boundaries at work is one of the most, if not the most important things that you can do to get success. Don't ever think that you are missing out if you say "No" to something. This is simply your mind being 100% set on a scarcity mode. Setting boundaries at work as an entrepreneur will give you the time you need to be proactive, instead of being reactive which makes all the difference. So if you are ready let's start breaking down the Join Up Dots Top Five Tips to Setting Boundaries At Work Tip One - Understand What The Business Needs To Give You We all want a business that delivers so much money that we don't ever have to worry again. However, most businesses take time to get to this stage of amazing freedom and financial success. That is why it is so important to understand what the business needs to give you at all stages of its growth. At the very beginning if its simply a side hustle, then it may not have to give you much income support so things are easy. Moving onwards, you may need staff, property, office space as other expenses start creeping into you. This is where setting boundaries at work starts to become an issue and people say "Yes" to everything to pay for these increasing expenses. Dont say "Yes" to everything, instead give yourself breathing space to really think and understand your own business and it's current requirements. Set free time to look at your path to this point, and of course your future trajectory. You will have started making the right decisions that leads to the business that you want, instead of creating a monster. Tip Two - Setting Boundaries At Work Means Delay Are you constantly chasing to respond to all those messages and emails that come into your inboxes everyday. Communication with customers and potential customers is one of the pains (but necessary pains) of most businesses. Set boundaries and start telling your customers not to expect a response back instantly. Can you respond within 3 days instead of as soon as the message comes to you? At Join Up Dots we spend a day responding to all emails and messages every two weeks, and it has never caused us any issue at all. Can you do the same, and advise your customers that they will get a response "On Friday this week"? You will be surprised at how easily customers will buy into the way that you are setting boundaries at work, and actually respect you for it too. Delay is the key to being in control, and you advise the other party of how you are going to respond and you will never look back. Tip Three Focus In On Parkinsons Law There is an amazing law that has been a big part of the Join Up Dots success story over the last few years. This is the discovery of Parkinsons Law, which simply states "The work you do will always expand to the amount of time you allow it" A perfect example of this would be looking back at school days and the homework that you were set. It didn't matter if you had six weeks to do the homework, you would leave it till the very last minute and have it hanging over you for the full time. Everyday you would be thinking "I must get that piece of homework done or I am in big trouble" The same applies in your own work life, and especially as an entrepreneur due to the amount of tasks you need to juggle each day. Setting boundaries at work means that you have to decide to only take a fixed amount of time to get that bit of work done, and no matter what get the work done in that time. You will of course say "But what if i dont deliver the quality that I want?" You will, that focus on the task and the time focus too gets you into the zone like nothing else you will experience. Parkinsons Law is the key to having a business that you love and one that is never ending. Don't make the mistake of being in the job all the time. Tip Four - Just Say No And Stick To It It doesn't make you a bad person to say No, to people when they are asking for something. Yes, i know we are all programmed basically to try not to upset people or let them down, but you are now a business owner. No matter what you do you will let people down if you don't make one of your key elements to setting boundaries at work saying No. And worst of all, the people you let down the most will be your family and loved ones. So when someone connects with you out of the blue, think to yourself "Would I have made this happen myself ?" If the answer is No, then guess what you do, come on it's really really easy, you just say No. It's up to you direct your ship where it's heading or you wont get anywhere, if you never leave the shore because you are just reacting to things you are stuck. Say No as much as possible, unless its something that you would have sought out, and then jump all over it. Tip Five - Pushing Back Is The Easiest Way Of Setting Boundaries At Work Everyday you will be asked to do things by people across the world, and more often than not its because its part of their plan not yours. We learnt this early in the game at Join Up Dots, where just because someone asks you to meet up, connect virtually or anything else you should always ask for a Why? Why do you think that this will benefit me like you are suggesting in your message? Could you provide more information about your request? Fine, we can meet up but it has to be at the time that is convenient for me? Once again, as you will have heard throughout this episode of Join Up Dots, its not being rude, or stand offish. Its simply making sure that you are in control of your time, your energies and the direction of your business in the time you have available each day. If you lose track of the control element, you will find that the work grows and grows until you are in the job 24 7. Make sure you start setting boundaries at work as the most important thing that you can do, and we promise you you will never look back.

What Is The Quickest Way To Make Money? "What is the quickest way to make money" is one of the questions that we get time and time again at Join Up Dots. Back in the day, we might have said "There isn't anyway that you can or should make money fast online". We were all about building things with proper foundations that build and build and build. A proper online business that provides for you and your family for years. Nowadays however we have a very different view on what is the quickest way to make money as you will hear in todays show.

Is It The Right Time To Start A Business is part of the discussion throughout todays podcast episode. During every week we get countless emails all asking about business ideas, content and business worries. As you will hear on todays show one of the major ones that we see time and time again is the "Is It The Right Time To Start A Business" one. But actually does this question ever need to be really asked if you do the work before you launch a business? If you sit and plan the business, find the traffic sources, develop your offer and then make it easy for the customer you are ahead of everyone long before you start a business. So as you will hear on the show, in our honest opinion there is no such thing as a bad time to start your own business with the right plan. Question One Dear David and everyone at Join Up Dots, Loving the podcast and all the different conversations you have everyday. What with everything going on at the moment with the pandemic, are you concerned about the future at all. Do you worry about what you have constructed failing? I keep on listening to shows like yours and would love to start my own venture, but i keep on thinking "Is this the right time what with everything going on?" Im not sure that you will put your mind at ease, but would at the minimum be excited to hear my name mentioned on your podcast. Gillian Salazar, Mykonos, Greece Question Two Good morning David, i have been going though your archives listening to your backdated content, and keep on hearing a theme appearing time and time again. Overwork, burnout and exhaustion. I work in corporate for a major pharmaceutical company and have never experienced anything like this, which makes me wonder wether you regret creating Join Up Dots and all it spin off? Wouldn't it be more sensible to leave it all at work each night and switch off, and from what I am hearing you struggled to do this. Best regards Conejito Sibilia, Mexico City Question Three Hello David, it would be wonderful if you got to see this email and respond, but i know how busy you are. I heard on a recent podcast episode that you have bought a shop. Why? Surely, what you wanted to create was enough for you...simply intrigued as to why you added more work when most people talk about walking on beaches, meditation and being free from life hassles. I used to own a brick and mortar business and it was nothing but trouble. John Baker, Perth Western Australia

Introducing Dalton Skach Dalton Skach is today's guest joining us on the Steve Jobs inspired Join Up Dots business podcast. He is a 26-year-old real estate globetrotter who is on a mission to disrupt the commercial real estate investing industry by providing investors the chance to invest in commercial real estate through digital security offerings. In 2017, Dalton started Gold Gate, a Commercial Real Estate Consulting Firm that sourced over $300M in off-market transactions and had an average deal size of $25M. To make Dalton's story even more unique, he brokered these deals while travelling to over 30 countries in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Central America, and South America. How The Dots Joined Up For Dalton Now this is the part of the story that intrigued us at Join Up Dots, how do you broker deals if your are nowhere near the properties? How do you know that the real estate you are interested in is reputable and ok to invest your cash into? Now, Dalton is on to his next big project. He has developed an investment portal where accredited investors can invest in commercial real estate just like they would a stock or a bond! You can start living a life on your own terms just like our guest today has. So when did the idea come to him, and what steps were required to get it off the ground? And where have been the obstacles that could well have derailed him without the right mindset and persistence? Well lets find out as we bring onto the show to start joining up dots with the one and only Dalton Skach Show Highlights During the show we touched on such weighty subjects with Dalton Skach such as: Dalton opens up about his time at Colorado University and why it gave him so much confidence to move forward into ventures unknown We share how Dalton took his idea, and then canvassed opinion to make sure it was an idea with legs. Great idea! And lastly.... Finding good people to work with you is so important to scale, and using Upwork is the gold resource for all of us. If you can find the gold.

How to respond when someone asks you how things are going is a problem that most entrepreneur have everyday. You see we all want to be in a position where we respond with "Yeah amazing, earning a squillion pound a second and only working an hour a day" But of course that isn't going to be the case for the majority of us. Most entrepreneurs will either be somewhere within "Things are going great, but I haven't got a clue what to do next" or "Ok, things arent going so great so how do i solve them" Our lives are one of pushing, developing and aiming for targets and goals that we have never achieved before. We have to exist in a world of confusion punctuated with moments and periods of success and fulfilment. These are the moments that put wind in our sails and allow us to recharge our batteries before the urge to go again hits us. But that of course isn't what someone wants to know when they ask "How things are going" They dont want the answer of "well actually i'm in a bit of confused state at the moment. The first quarters targets were going fine but we have now seen a 50% deduction on expected profits due to the increase in steel manufacturing costs in Iceland" Expect the blank stare and a touch of dribble to come out the side of their mouths When someone asks you anything about your business, the truth is except for one or two very special individuals they dont really care how things are going for you. They are just being polite and showing an interest in your progress as they feel that they should ask you, so it doesn't really matter what you answer. This leads onto the ego state of business, and the core message behind why we struggle to know how to respond when someone asks you how things are going. We dont want to be seen as someone who is making things up as they go along. We dont want to be seen as someone who hasn't got all the answers, so we respond with "Yeah couldn't be better, things are going amazingly well" Get over yourself. There is nothing wrong with saying to anyone "To be honest im in a bit of a funk at the moment with what i am trying to create" Or perhaps you simply say "Well, if i knew what i know now before i started then im sure i would be further ahead of the game. But hey it is what it is and i keep on moving forward" Being an entrepreneur is about being truthful with yourself, your situation, your time restraints, family commitments. It's about knowing what things you can do well and those things that you will always struggle with. Its about knowing when superman needs a break, and an afternoon watching Netflix with a pack of chocloate digestives is more important. The bottom line, is if you always come out with the stock response of "Brilliant times are being had by all. I should have done this years ago" then you will be walking a difficult path. You will be working in an environment where your expectations of progress are higher than your actual situation and attainment. You will find your mind tripping you up as the fake "present" shows it to yourself in its honest glory. Unshaven, smelly and not the groomed presentation of success you want for yourself. Now how do i know this? Well this is the life I lead everyday, through every business venture I operate. After they successful financially? Yes, no problem there. Do i have totally clarity of the next steps to be taken....no not at all. Do i wake every morning with passion flooding out of every pore of my body...definitely not. Do i sometimes feel like i should just quit and go and do something else......every now and again I do. That is the beauty of running a podcast and online business coaching platform for so many years, you learn what works and what doesnt. You understand the confusion that business owners are in everyday. And you know how to respond when someone asks you how things are going with a "Yeah great, but a ton of work still to do. But getting there little by little everyday" Go out and enjoy the process of building success and safety for you and your family, and just accept that your efforts will get you there. You just need to be honest with yourself.

Introducing Profit first Expert Rocky Lalvani Profit first expert Rocky Lalvani is todays guest joining us on the Join Up Dots podcast. He is a man who believes that the money issues that cause most businesses and people to struggle can be resolved with minimum fuss As he says "If you're wondering how any small business owner could possibly say they have leftover cash, you're not alone. Many small business owners see profit as an afterthought - it's whatever you see on your tax return after your accountant works their magic. But what if there was a way to turn a profit without completely changing how you run your business? How The Dots Joined Up For Rocky Lalvani As a Profit First Professional, I empower business owners like you to understand and systematize your numbers so that you can spend more time doing what you love. Rather than spending loads of money to hire someone to handle the financials, I help YOU to take control of your profit and your business in a way that makes sense. No financial jargon or advanced excel functions here! Together, we'll create processes that are simple. I'm not going to ask you to change your mission as a business or fire half of your employees – we're going to leverage the good habits you already have and put systems in place so it's easier for you to focus on the work that matters. So where can people start first, if they are in the pulling their hair out and screaming at the numbers phase? And of course, has he ever been in the situation that his clients are and now has seen the light? Well let's find out as we bring onto the show to start joining up dots with the one and only Rocky Lalvani Show Highlights During the show we discussed such deep subjects with Rocky Lalvani such as: Why it is so important to look at both the pounds and the penny's when building your businesses. Dont miss the small stuff. Rocky shares why it is so important to build your financial runway before you start to launch a new business. Be careful how the world perceive you, as if you are thinking too small, you will never gain the income that your talents deserve. And lastly........... If you make a hundred dollars, then you need to look at what you are left with after your costs are taken. How To Connect With Profit First Expert Rocky Lalvani Website Facebook Twitter Linkedin Return To The Top Of Rocky Lalvani If you enjoyed this episode of Rocky Lalvani why not listen to some of our favourite podcast episodes such as Nick Ruiz, Sarah Caltieri or the amazing Living The Dream Or if you prefer just pop over to our podcast archive for thousands of amazing episodes to choose from. Full Transcription Of Rocky Lalvani / Profit First Interview Intro 0:00 When we're young, we have an amazing positive outlook about how great life is going to be. But somewhere along the line we forget to dream and end up settling. Join Up Dots features amazing people who refuse to give up and chose to go after their dreams. This is your blueprint for greatness. So here's your host, live from the back of his garden in the UK. David Ralph. David Ralph 0:25 Yes, have a good morning to you. Good morning to you. Good morning to you and welcome to Join Up Dots. Thank you so much for being here. We're gonna have a good show today. And we're gonna get straight into it. Because this is something that is fundamental to business success. And it's not just fundamental to business success, it's fundamental to life success, money and money issues and how to make sure that you've got enough of it at the end of the month, so that you're not sort of screaming around saying I can't save, I can't save, I've got never got anything left. Well, today's guest is a man who believes that the money issues that cause most businesses and people to struggle can be resolved with minimum fuss. As he says, if you're wondering how any small business owner could possibly say they had leftover cash, you're not alone. Many small business owners see profit as an afterthought. It's whatever you see on your tax return RP, your accountant works their magic. But what if there was a way to turn a profit without completely changing how you run your business. Now, as a profit first professional, he empowers business owners, like you and me to understand and systematise their numbers so that you can spend more time doing what you love. Now, rather than spending loads of money to hire someone to handle the financials, he actually helps you take control of your profit and your business in a way that makes sense. No financial jargon or advanced Excel functions here. I love that advanced Excel function. Now together, we're create processes that are simple. And I'm not going to ask you to change your mission, he says, as a business or fire half of your employees, we're going to leverage the good habits you already have, and put systems in place. So it's easier for you to focus on the work that matters. So where can people start first if they pulling their hair out and screaming at the numbers phase? And of course, has he ever been in the situation that his clients are, and now has seen the light? Well, let's find out as we bring onto the show, to start joining up dots with the one and only Mr. Rocky Lalvani. Good morning, Rocky, how are you? Profit First Expert Rocky Lalvani 2:28 I am awesome. David, thank you so much for having me join you on the show today. David Ralph 2:33 I've got to get it out. It's a brain blister. How many people show Adrian Adrian at you have it must be three times a day is it? Profit First Expert Rocky Lalvani 2:41 It does, it happens a lot. Not as much these days as in the past, but it still does happen. David Ralph 2:47 I'll tell you why. I'm glad you don't work with me. I'd be doing it all the time, I just would not be able to stop myself. Now I'm gonna get straight into it. Because I was blown away when I was doing the research. And I put it in the intro. And I've highlighted it. So it can be my first question. But many small businesses and owners see profit as an art default. Why need Yeah. And they you know an idiot? I don't I don't get that. Tell me what's your thinking there because I run multiple businesses, some online, some brick and mortar and profits key to me, I just don't understand that thinking, tell me about it. Profit First Expert Rocky Lalvani 3:26 most business owners don't go into business to do the business of business. They're not accountants, and they don't want to be they have whatever it is that they love, that they want to bring into the world. And more often than not what they love to do, has nothing to do with accounting and the profit side. And so they struggle with it. On top of that. We're not taught money. I have a Bachelor of Science in economics and an MBA. We weren't taught how to build wealth. They don't, you know, you go to school for all these years for what to get a job. But do they teach you money in those years of school? I don't know what it's like in England, but in the United States, we don't teach money in school very often. And so I think that is the underlying problem. It's a taboo subject. David Ralph 4:16 But profit. It's key, isn't it? You look at your overheads you look at your expenses. You know, for example, I run a brick and mortar business, I bought it. It's been going about 40 years, and I bought it about a year and a half ago. And literally every day I look at it, and I'm paying business first. I'm taking profits out so that I can build up a nest egg. So when the taxman comes or the accountants or whatever, I know that I've got the tax return and stuff. And I look at it as a kind of a game where I think to myself like okay, I need to buy X amount of stock, can we get a different supplier so like, I can reduce the amount that I'm paying on there? can I increase that The profit margin of that 150% per item more you know it to me, it's like an amazing game of Monopoly, where you're looking at it. I've never been taught that the only business success or Money Advice I've been taught was what my mom said to me take care of the pennies and the pounds take care of themselves. And I think that's just isn't it. Profit First Expert Rocky Lalvani 5:24 It's true, you do have to take care of the pennies. And a lot of people don't have that attitude of being careful with the small stuff. At the same time, some people will be very good with the pennies, and they'll mess up the pounds. So you have to watch both ways that you're not making big mistakes. Because business big mistakes are what blow you up. You're a rarity. If I look at business owners, and I was shocked to learn this, when I learned this, I literally almost fell over 80% of business owners are not looking at their financials. 15% of business owners are looking at their financials, but they don't understand exactly what they're seeing. They've got some idea, but not a perfect idea. You're part of the 5% that know your numbers, look at your numbers, understand your numbers and make decisions on your numbers. And that's probably why you've had so much success. David Ralph 6:21 You know, I don't do the accountancy, I've got an accountant. And he's very good. I've had three accountants, the first one was more interested in showing me his new iPhone, that I was probably buying him. And then the second second one I just didn't trust. And then the last one is He's really good. So the accountancy side I don't get involved in he just tells me what the tax is. But the basic day to day is key. Now for somebody who's starting a business, let's take it right back to sort of basics. Somebody is thinking of starting a business and up to this point, they've been an employee, where at the end of each month, they get a wage, and it comes in, and they never query about their human resources have paid the right tax or whatever. It's just what they've got, before they even start. Is there something that I can do Aki, in your view, that can actually set out the foundations for both their personal life and their business life? But when they're sort of moving forward? What What can I actually do, which is a really good first step. Profit First Expert Rocky Lalvani 7:21 So a first step, I think, is to make sure you're on a strong financial foundation. So if you're looking to walk out of a job and start a business, I think the first thing you need to realise is that this is a long journey. And more often than not, it's probably going to take you three years. So my question to you is, how are you going to survive for three years? How are you going to get through that period of time. And if you can't, and you don't have a plan? Well, before you leap, make sure you have a plan. I mean, you can jump out of an aeroplane anytime you want without a parachute. But you can only do it once, right? If you have a parachute, you can do it many times. So before you leap and start, make sure you've got a parachute that's going to carry you for three years. As you build your business. The second thing is put pen to paper and figure out all of the numbers, right? Nobody creates a business plan that that creates a business that's destined for bankruptcy, everyone puts together a business plan that shows success. So put together your business plan. And then really pressure test all your numbers and your costs, and go to some other business owners and show it to them that are in the same industry and say, I'm looking to start a business. Here are what my numbers look like, what am I missing? Is this realistic? And how long do you think it's going to take me to achieve that? At the bottom is the financial foundation, you go into business to make a profit? And you should be up front with that. Is this doable? And is it realistic? Too often we go in with these big wide eyes, you know, Oh, look at that guy. He's got a seven figure business. He's blowing it out. He said he only works four hours a day. Most of those people are lying. Be honest with you, right? Yeah, they're they've got a seven figure business and they're spending seven figures on it, which means at the end of the day, they're barely making any money and who wants to work hard for nothing. David Ralph 9:25 One of the things that we do in our business coaching or where we create online businesses and one of the things that probably drags my clients down a bit because I they all seem to build I get the feeling that they want to steam into building websites and the sexy stuff. And I always say to them, what should keep the lights on bigger if you take away all the luxuries of Netflix and Amazon Prime and all the things that we think that we should add in a Starbucks coffee, just pay your bills. What is that bigger and then how many clients do we need to get to pay for that? Bigger. And it's one of those things that I think is kind of common sense starting a business by thinking, what do I need to survive? And I speak to some people and they go, yeah, 12 million a month, 12 million a month. And I go, No, you don't? You don't need 12 million a month. Yeah, that's what I'm aiming for. I said, great. I am Papa, I am for 12 million a month. But what do you need to keep the lights on? And that is something that people can start working on, isn't it, where they do their personal budget, and reduce memberships and gym things and stuff that we just waste on a monthly basis to bring that bigger down, so that they got that cut and dried? I need three clients a month to pay for this? Where are those clients and start working towards them? Do you agree Rocky? Profit First Expert Rocky Lalvani 10:47 I do agree. But I'm going to caution people. David Ralph 10:51 You say you agree, but there was I knew you weren't agree. I could see that. I've been married for 50 years. And there was that woman's vibe in your voice? Profit First Expert Rocky Lalvani 11:03 Here is my caution. Okay, most business owners look at top line revenue, and think that's what they're going to take home. So when you say how many clients? Do I need to cover my basics? It's not, it's not okay, I have three clients that pay $1,000 a month, I have $3,000 coming in. Yeah. And my monthly costs that I need to cover 3000 your revenue in is not your revenue that you can actually spend, you're going to have to spend money to get those $3,000. So what is your net number that's coming out of those clients? And how many do you need to where does that net come out so that you can cover your monthly not? It's not I tell business owners if you have a 5% profit margin, for every additional dollar you spend, you need $20 in revenue. And I don't think that sinks in that top line revenue is not equal to spendable dollars. So that's my only caution on that is how much revenue? How much is your top line going to generate bottom line that's going to allow you to survive at home. And that's my my only caveat to that. Well, I agree David Ralph 12:17 with your caveat, I hate to say that Rocky, because I like to argue with every every guest I have on. But I do totally agree. So this is going to be like a tennis match, I'm now going to bounce it back like Phaedra to net Tao is coming back across to you. Now when somebody starts, you don't know the expenses. You know, I'm still blown away by what came out of the woodwork. But I just didn't know I needed to do and pay for on a monthly basis because I've never done it. So how does somebody out there come up with that bigger of yes, I do need this to pay the bills at home. But I also need this to pay the bills for the business. Because I don't know what bills I'm going to have because I've never done this business before. Profit First Expert Rocky Lalvani 13:01 And that's why I said number one, come up with a business plan. And number two, go show your business plan to people who are doing the business you're doing. And ask them if it's realistic. And it's real, you know, in b2c, so business to consumer sales, prices are generally low. But if you go b2b, everything costs 10 times more. So be aware of that if you want somebody to build you a business website, they're probably going to charge you a lot of money. And go go shop around say how much does it cost to build a website, go look at all the software. These days, everyone is buying so much software, oh, I need an email programme, I need a CRM, I need all these different things that you can buy, all those things add up very, very quickly. And then credit card fees, you know, the credit card companies taking a cut off the top. If you've got an account on one of these selling platforms, what are their fees? So do the research in and then go ask people and you know, in today's world, we're so much more connected than ever before. There's online forums for business people, there's business coaches, sometimes it may just be worth it to go to a business coach upfront. And just pay them to review your plan to say is this realistic, but there's tonnes of information out there, you've got to you've got to put down your numbers. So don't just go to somebody and ask questions. Do your homework first. Create your plan and then go ask five people is my plan realistic and don't go ask your mother go as somebody doing the business that you want to do? Is this realistic? Now David Ralph 14:44 in classic Join Up Dots territory, we're gonna bounce back and move away from the content more tsl. So I was reading your about page. And one of the things that you mentioned on your about page and I do like about pages is the fact that The world changed and you didn't keep up with the changes of the world lesson learned you say, keep up with the world. Now. Tell us about the rocky before you started what you always you know, putting your hands in your pocket and bringing out mops and and shackles and trying to sort of barter your wife for services, you know, how did you actually operate? When did you actually get your money acumen. Profit First Expert Rocky Lalvani 15:28 So, I grew up in a in a slightly different situation. We're immigrants to the United States. And my parents came here a long time ago when I was a little kid. And they were starting over for their second time. And so they had $25, in a lot of their friends came over from India around the same time. And as I was growing up, I watched them quickly move up the financial ladder. But the parents would get together and they would talk about money, they would talk about how much they were making, how much they were spending. And so I had financial conversations as a kid, and I just whatever reason, I wanted to be a millionaire as a kid. And that was my goal. And I would read the Wall Street Journal, I would go get jobs as a kid, I was very entrepreneurial, in that I would go into New York City buy stuff, bring it back, mark it up 100% and sell it to my schoolmates. So I was always flush with cash, went to college, and then and then I fell into the trap of the enemy of greatest good. And so I kind of wanted to start a business, but I didn't know how. And so I got a job. And the job went pretty well. And so I followed that for quite a few years. And then I In the meantime, I started building my site businesses, and they It took years of side businesses before I went full time. So it was a process and I'm a slow learner, unfortunately. David Ralph 17:01 And did you do the thing? Did you reach out to other people and say to them, you know, this is what I'm thinking of doing? Is my plan, right? Or is this something you've learned from experience? Profit First Expert Rocky Lalvani 17:12 So it is, yeah, I The problem was, I was slow doing all of that, you know, looking backwards, had I done it faster, I would have had much faster success. But yeah, I did go and I would constantly read like I would get on the forums and read how other people were doing things. And when we started in our real estate business, a big part of what we did was to run the numbers down to the thing and actually do the math. But on top of doing the math, we built in risk tolerance. So we would add up and say, okay, we think it's gonna cost us $20,000. To do all of this, add another 10% to the budget, because we forgot something. So we're gonna budget for 22,000. when we'd go selling costs, we go, well, the realtor is going to take six, and it's going to be another percent. But something's going to come up. So let's make that number 10%. You know, I don't think we need to replace the roof. But let's go ahead and budget for the roof anyway, just in case we have to so we would kind of we would calculate for overspending. And then we would come in below budget. So we did do a lot of that stuff. And I did go. And that's the other problem, though. Because as you as you watch some of these things, as you listen to some people, they don't know their numbers. So when they're giving you numbers, they think they're giving you the right numbers, they don't even know they're around. So be careful who you listen to always look at who that person is, are they financially successful? Or do they look financially successful? Because that's two separate things. And and I think that's where sometimes we get caught off guard. So yeah, go pressure, test your numbers. It's a big part of it, I think. And then the other problem I had, especially in the beginning was underpricing, my services. I didn't realise how much people were willing to pay for good service. So I undervalued myself, and that is something else that I think we tend to do. David Ralph 19:16 I think everyone goes through that, you know, I know I certainly went through that. And what I offer now to people, they generally will come back later and say, gee, you know, somebody else is charging x y Zed. But, you know, it's it's one of those things that you have to grow into your own personal belief that the value that you are providing is worth the money. And I just don't think that we have that at the start. I certainly didn't. You know, I look back at some of the things that I did in the early days. I was basically bending over for $50. You know, it was it was like nothing really and the amount of value that I was providing for that. And what I found Rocky and I talk about this a lot is you get the sky customers, you get the terrible ones, the ones that just argue with you all the time, and they want more of a more of a more, when somebody actually pays you value, your life becomes easier, because they do the work, they listen to you. And they turn up on time. They just become better customers don't know. Profit First Expert Rocky Lalvani 20:20 They do. And you know, that's one of the surprising things. And I've heard speakers talk about this a lot. If you undercharge, people don't think you're good. So the price you pay signals, how good you are at something. And I've heard many times people say, you know, especially for like corporate speakers, they wouldn't get hired because they were charging too little. And the company thought, well, we want a $20,000 speaker, you're not a $20,000 speaker, because you're only charging 5000, you're not worth it. So be careful how you how the world perceives your value. And the people who are willing to pay you more are exactly what you talk about. They are better customers. And so the harder you work, the less you make, because you're in that grind, customer, you know, the less you work, the more value it's perceived, the easier life becomes. And I think that's a lesson learned. And we don't always believe that up front. But but it's very, very true, David Ralph 21:23 is true. But they don't know the answer of how to give people that personal belief. You know, I've grown into it. I've been through the journey. I've been doing this for nearly 20 years now on and off with different things. And so I understand the mechanism, I can provide the value somebody can come along, I will give them what they deserve. But I don't think I could have just done that. Unless I'd been through the struggle and learn how it all works. I don't think that you can just have that belief. right at the beginning. Do Profit First Expert Rocky Lalvani 21:58 you know what, again, there are certain people who do and they just go for it. And there are others who kind of have to work through the ladder. The question is, and again, I told you that I struggled with this was moving through that ladder faster. And until you break through those barriers, it's difficult. And that's why sometimes having coaches or trainers or mentors or reading books to help you break through your barriers, is the biggest thing I tell most people, the biggest obstacle you will face is the mirror. Because it's you that's holding you back. It's not no one else in the world is holding you back except yourself. You've got to overcome yourself. And when you do that, that's when greatness happens. David Ralph 22:48 That says some words that really helped me every day. We're here again, Jim Carrey, Jim Carrey 22:52 my father could have been a great comedian, but he didn't believe that that was possible for him. And so he made a conservative choice. Instead, he got a safe job as an accountant. And when I was 12 years old, he was let go from that safe job. And our family had to do whatever we could to survive. I learned many great lessons from my father, not the least of which was that you can fail at what you don't want. So you might as well take a chance on doing what you love. David Ralph 23:19 Now, what interests me with view Rocky, and it interests me with so many people, but a business only has to be a simple transaction of value to somebody else. You know, I always reference there's that lady on Netflix, Marie Kondo, I think her name is my wife was obsessed with her. And all she did was teach out of throw stuff away and tidy your drawers up. And she's made millions. And I used to think it's a business, you know, do people pay for that? And then there's this other group on Netflix that my wife's interested in, but just teach you how to put your clothes in varying colour schemes. And I think myself doing all right as well, with yourself when you started your business, did you feel that you had to throw the kitchen sink at it? Did you try to provide more value and actually the customer actually requires and in many ways, confusing the customer because they didn't really totally understand what you was offering. Profit First Expert Rocky Lalvani 24:21 That does happen, right? Because I think in the beginning, in the beginning, they'll partially you need to build raving fans. So in that sense, I think you need to deliver more value, especially up front so that you can get yourself established because your best advertising is a customer well served. They're going to go tell everyone how great their decision was to work with you or to buy from you. at the same point. The other struggle is being crystal clear on what you do in how you do it. I think too often we make our messages You too complex, you need to make your messages such that a five year old can understand what you do that grandma can understand what you do. So there's there's two nuances to that I feel between the two, by the way that Jim Carrey story, that was the driving factor behind me, from the time I was a kid, I used to read the Wall Street Journal. And I would every time we had a recession, you would see people in their 50s lose their job. They were at the height of their career. And they didn't know how to pivot, because they thought they had safety. And then they would struggle and things would go wrong for them. And I was always like, I want to be at that point, when I'm 50 years old, that I have enough financial wealth that I can tell the world go screw yourself, if you fire me, I can go do whatever I choose. And so that was actually kind of a motivating factor for me to build wealth over time, was knowing that I could get fired at the top and that I needed to make sure that I had a strong foundation under David Ralph 26:08 its I used to work with Phil Collins, the drummer from Genesis, he sister in law, Lynn, I used to work with her and I used to know his brother, remember Phil Collins in in the old days on you with me with this Rocky? Profit First Expert Rocky Lalvani 26:24 I am so I grew up my high school years were Phil Collins, I have all his albums, I listened to all his music. I have one of his concert CDs where it's he and Chester doing a drum duet. If David Ralph 26:40 you notice that, well, Lynne was working with me. And she was a lovely lady. She really was. And the owner of the company was really bad to a really bad. And then one day she came in and she said, Phil has given me my f off money as she called it. And she said from that moment, and she never told me how much Phil Collins gave them. But he must have given them a fair whack. Because she said from that moment, it was just liberation, I knew that no matter what happened, I could just say, screw you basically and be gone. And I always used to think about, oh, yeah, why do people not build to that, because I could never go back. If somebody offered me a job. Now I'm never going to take it Not in a million years. Because there's too much about being in control of your own destiny, which is, which is absorbing to me. It's powerful. It's It's intense, every single day. But the majority of people who are finding it out now because of the situation or we're going through, just haven't got that fpu money ever, not even a small is not even an F money. They haven't got either of it. Profit First Expert Rocky Lalvani 27:49 And and that's very true. People are not taught to build wealth. Even business owners are not taught to build wealth, they put all their eggs in that one basket. They don't they really struggle with the concept of remove money from your business, and use it to build wealth ou

Internet mastery is the discussion of the day with Ian Pribyl, who is todays guest joining us on the Steve Jobs inspired Join Up Dots podcast. He is a man who quite simply has mastered and can fully explain how to start cracking it online. The reason I know this? I have been reading his new book "From Nothing" how to start your online business for less than $100. This book is full of quick and useful tips and advice that take you all the way through finding your idea, to making your sales flow effortlessly. As he says "FIMP (which stands for the Free Internet Marketing Project) is a passion project of mine. How The Dots Joined Up For Ian It was born out of an industry full of scammers who were cleaning out consumers' life savings under the promise of "getting rich quick" I created FIMP to empower online business seekers and save them from having to purchase any more "make money online" products. FIMP teaches everything a person needs to know — from absolutely zero knowledge to building a successful, profitable internet business. Now with a history that started a a bartender, and meandered through a series of sales and customer service roles he has taken what works offline and detailed it brilliantly as an online resource. Get your idea, do your market research, define the product the list goes on and on. So does he have a history of online failures and successes throughout his life, or did he hit a home run straight away. And where does he see most people go wrong? Aiming for a bar that's too high, or one too narrow with no room to expand. Well let's find out as we bring onto the show to start joining up dots with the one and only Ian Pribyl Show Highlights During the show we discussed such deep subjects with Ian Pribyl such as: Why it is so important to understand the core essence of what makes any business such by value. Forget about metrics and financial goals and focus on goals that you can monitor and master. Why Ian feels the level of connection has increased online. People aren't sitting behind an automation. And lastly..... Why so many people miss the opportunities that their lives have given them which can be turned into a business opportunity.

How to make money online without paying anything was posed to us today via a question received by email. It said "Dear David and Join Up Dots, I have been listening to your show on my commute to work everyday and have a question. Is it possible to advise how to make money online without paying anything as I would love to start my own business but i dont have anything that i can invest into it. Do you think this is possible nowadays? Should I think of something else before I think of doing this? Kind Regards James, South Africa Well in todays podcast episode we start breaking down some of the things that you can do to start making online today, whilst not using much of your own. There are literally hundreds of ideas that you can utilise online to get the cash, but most of them do take a long time to make a fulltime living. You are much better to take things seriously and start building your own online business that can change your life forever. So lets start with the top five. How To Make Money Online Without Paying Anything Idea One Get offline and start working on the oldest form of business creation BEFORE you bring it online. Relationship building and word of mouth connection have been used for thousands of years to create commerce. Whilst there isnt anyway that you can really scale a business in the long term without investing into it, you can certainly start for nothing. Think about what you have in your current armoury which can be used to provide value to someone else. Or perhaps you could borrow something from somebody and share the profits with them. Lawn mowing, painting, cleaning are all service based industries that are almost free to start. Think of all the Uber drivers in the world at the momentum being paid to use their own cars to ferry customers around. It may not be what you want to do when you ask the question how to make money online without paying anything it gets you earning cash to invest back. Make Money Online Without Your Own Cash Idea Two Google has a great tool which we have used ourselves in the past, and that is BLOGGER Using this free tool you can create a website basically for nothing, to start gaining traffic into your business for free. Once you have done this, then literally the world is your oyster when it comes to building online wealth. We started an online business this way and made around $30,000 per month, linking to Ebay to gain our traffic. The key to everything online (and I guess offline) is how can you provide value to someone who would recognise that value and pay for it. If you start simply trying to make cash then you will struggle for sure...its Value all the way that really works. Do your market research to find your ideas and then build upon them to get the traffic flowing. You can use this method to add affiliate links, whereby other companies pay you for the traffic they get from you. Adsense used to amazing for this, but this method has fallen down the pecking order over the years for many different reasons. Be Careful With This One But It Works Idea Three This is one of these ideas that have been used for ages by people around the world to make free cash online. Its not something that we recommend, without a strong caveat: You have to be sure of who you are and how you operate. The idea is based around being offered free bets by gambling companies. Within the UK, you have the ability to play around with matched bets, whereby you are betting on both outcomes win or lose. The idea is you dont care what the result is, you just want to get your hands on the free cash that is on the table afterwards. As we say when you ask the question how to make money online without paying anything this maybe not what you should be doing if you cant trust yourself to stay in control. But it would have been wrong for us not to mention it at least. There is a very good guide that walks you through this step by step here Earning Free Money Online Idea Four It might sound amazing, but it is true. Nowadays companies are willing to pay you for searching on the internet. Yes, simply go over to Google (you wont be paid for this search and type in "paid for searching the web") and see the opportunities that appear for you. The idea is the companies are splitting the profits from the products that you buy, or using the data that you leave to market to other people. You are giving them access to your history and internet traces. Now this might not be everyone's cup of tea for sure, but it made us sit up and take notice as basically it is "freecash" in the simplest terms. Similar to this is the cashback sites for using when shopping online which are very popular in the UK Making Free Money Online Idea Five Ebay arbitrage is a great little thing to get into. Basically when you think about How To Make Money Online Without Paying Anything you dont really think of Ebay, but you can do it for sure. All around the world Ebay has different market places selling the same products at different prices based on the exchange rate of currency in that country. So you can do this two ways, either find some old stuff you have hanging around and then search for the sites for where your profit will be higher. Now you maybe thinking "ooh that sounds like a lot of hard work, but there are tools around that you can use to make this simpler You can try out this one here from Aribtrageinfo.com that will also help you out with the same idea on Amazon.

Tosca Reno is todays guest joining us on the Join Up Dots podcast. She is a lady who quite simply has powered her way to a level of success most people dream about. All the while, life was throwing at her personal and business tragedies that would have stopped most people in their tracks. She is the New York Times best-selling author of Your Best Body Now and the Eat-Clean Diet®series, and The Start Here Diet, selling more than two million copies globally. She is also the pioneer of the Eat-Clean Movement and one of North America's most renowned health and wellness experts leading the pack in the battle against obesity. But what fascinated me and is perfect for a show like Join Up Dots was this wasn't an obvious journey. Until almost touching her 40's, our guest life was as far away from where she is today How The Dots Joined Up For Tosca Tosca's passion for championing the Eat-Clean Lifestyle began when she took control of her life and transformed her body from overweight to strong and fit at age 40. Unfulfilled and down on herself, Tosca began a lifelong commitment to embracing a healthier, well-balanced life of Eating Clean and fitness. Driven by tenacity and fuelled by positive energy, Tosca gave herself permission to enjoy life and experience and accept a new version of herself. Since her spectacular transformation, Tosca has spent over a decade sharing her journey with others and helping them lose weight and get healthy. So throughout her journey, there was a strong lack of personal belief and understanding of what she could bring to the world. As she says "In my wildest dreams I could not have imagined this happening to me. I was just an ordinary housewife living an ordinary life." So what made her late husband see something in her, that she couldn't see herself at the time? And where do people start feeling great about themselves if they think that its going to be hard and expensive to get going? Well let's find out as we bring onto the show to start joining up dots with the one and only Tosca Reno Show Highlights During the show we discussed such deep subjects with Tosca Reno such as: Tosca shares how she had to find her "why" by tackling small challenges and overcoming the mindset issues that often stop progress. We discuss how the branding of "Eat-Clean" came about, and share the brilliance and clarity of the message she shares. Why it is so important to rest in between bouts of exercise to give yourself the greatest chance of peak fitness. And lastly........... The three easy steps that we can all take to make a difference in our fitness and mental health.

Things That Stop You From Achieving Your Goals? Things That Stop You From Achieving Your Goals is something that not many people talk about on a podcast. Most of the time its all about "Action taking, money making and success, success, success". But why is it that even when you want to change direction and make a difference in your life something inside stops you from getting there. Well in todays episode we try to break things down, so you can make a mental checklist of the ones that you might be struggling with. So that is the subject of todays episode of Join Up Dots and of course you can hear the full answer on todays episode. Things That Stop You From Achieving Your Goals Breakdown Goal Stopper 1: Seeing The Big Picture And Not The Dots Through Join Up Dots we speak to so many people who want to start their own businesses. You can see the fear in their eyes when they tell us about their dreams of what they want to achieve. The issue of course is we dont start at the dream. We start at the furthest part away from the dream, when everything is possible and nothing is achieved. If you find yourself frightened by what needs to be achieved, then write a list of the first five things that you need to do to get started. Dont even consider the end goal, just a few things to tick off to start building belief. Goal Stopper 2: Fear Of Failure One of the major things that stop you from achieving your goals is the fear of failure. It is so much easier to say "Things aren't possible" before you ever start, as of course you wont ever fail. The world is littered with the dreams of men who never ever started. What a shame, as nobody knows if they can make their dreams come true when they start. But they do start, and then keep on working towards their end goal. Dont be put off by the fear of failure as you will never ever know if you are right or not. Goal Stopper 3: Trying To Be Perfect Perfection never really occurs in life or in business. Even great works of art, revered by experts across the world are probably frowned upon by their makers. The Mona Lisa is probably not bang on what the painter wanted to achieve. I can promise you this, but no matter what you create it wont be finished. You will always look at it with longing eyes of "I need to do that, I wish I had done that" Dont get hung up on perfection. Do what you need to to get things out into the world and then polish as you go. Goal Stopper 4: Excuses Things That Stop You From Achieving Your Goals dont really exist. Or at least you dont know they exist until you come across them by doing the work. As you will hear on the episode, a lady friend threw up excuses before anything. She didnt even think, do, work, take action anything. The excuses kept on coming, to which David Ralph just smiled and walked away from them. Excuses are things that stop you from achieving your goals more than anything else. Goal Stopper 5: Expectations On of the truths in starting your own business, is it will always take twice as long as you expected. You also will spend more money than you expected too, before ever getting the results you expected. The key to success is simply "It is what it is" You will be exactly where your efforts have placed you, no matter what you are hoping and expecting. Get your head down, do the work, enjoy the celebrations that your achievements bring to you, but dont expect.