Archive for the “Bo Sanchez” Category


It all started when my plane to Cebu was delayed by 5 hours.

While my fellow-passengers around were acting like enraged volcanoes spewing lava, cursing the catastrophe that befell upon us—I smiled and closed my eyes. Instantly, I felt peace. I whispered, “Lord, you have a special surprise in store for me.”

And in minutes, I discovered my gift.

That special surprise was Ray, a man who would bless me with his life. He also gave me key business ideas that would double my income.

He greeted me with a firm handshake and a friendly smile. “I watch you on TV,” he said, “and I text my family and friends to watch you.”

Like me, Ray’s flight to Mindanao was delayed for 8 hours. (All the flights that day were delayed. The airport looked like a refugee camp with people sitting on the floor and crowds begging for food from the airline personnel.)

I didn’t know why, but I sensed a connection with the man in front of me.

Later on, I discovered why.

As we found seats and ordered coffee, Ray shared with me the riveting story of his life. I was so swept away by his experience, I forgot all about my coffee.

“I went to Bible School and became a Pastor,” he said. “I pioneered a small church.” But after being a Pastor for 3 years, tragedy struck. His wife lost a baby boy in her pregnancy. The trial caused Ray to think about his family more.

“It’s lonely being a Pastor,” he explained. “The problems of my flock are all my problems. But my problems were only mine! So I asked my people to pastor their pastor too.” Slowly, he delegated his roles to his congregation as he felt a need to focus on his family—especially their financial needs.

His joined corporate life. For 6 years, he worked for a big company as their Regional Manager for the entire Mindanao (Southern region of the Philippines). He was earning P50,000 a month (US$1000+), a big sum during that time. But at the end of the day, he was still broke. In fact, he was in debt to the tune of P1.2 Million (US$26,000+)—including a warrant of arrest.

To survive and feed his children, the former Regional Manager became a Taxi Driver. It was an incredibly humbling experience. But he learned important lessons that would change his life forever.

Rey was now only earning P350 a day—a far cry from what he was earning before. But it was here where he learned how to manage his money.

It was here where he learned how to live within his means.

It was here where he learned how to save.

Ray said, “People like to manage what they don’t have. That’s why they’re poor. By borrowing for stuff they can’t afford. During that year as a Taxi Driver, I learned to manage what I had. And I was actually better off earning P350 a day than earning P50,000 a month! Because now, I learned to manage my money.”

After one year of being a Taxi driver, he borrowed enough money to buy cabs and became a Taxi Operator. But that was only a transitional step to learn how to run a business. His real goal was to be in the “money” business.

Ray wanted to own a bank.

So his first step was to work in a Rural Bank—without asking for a salary. He simply wanted to learn. And 3 years later, when he learned enough, Ray built his own Rural Bank.

Today, his Rural Bank is going strong. So far, after 7 years, the bank has given micro-loans to over a thousand people in his city, providing them with capital for their small businesses. And with 97% repayment efficiency! Because of this, his bank is transforming the lives of the poor. He teaches them the habits of saving, investing, and entrepreneurship.

Ray explained, “I ask people, ‘Do you want to prosper? What do you have? You may not have money. But you have time. Not just time, but time to learn. So use that! Join an insurance company and be an agent. Or join a company and sell their product. The important thing is to learn—and from there, branch out. Don’t get a job to earn money. Get a job to learn! And don’t start a business to earn money. Get into a business to learn! The money will follow.”

He continued, “Some people start a business and want to earn right away. But that’s not wise. Starting a business is like a slingshot. You have to pull back. That means clearing the way. Take time pulling back. Because when it’s time to release, you’ll be surprised that your business will rapidly shoot towards the target.”

Ray is a Serial Entrepreneur. At the back of his calling card is a list of his other businesses: a construction company, a property management company, salons, restaurants—plus a few more.

“I never manage my businesses,” he said, “I pass it on to people who can do a better job. I make them part owners. That’s why I can own many businesses.”

As Ray spoke, it was though I was hearing myself preach.

We both have the same beliefs about money.

We’re both Preachers that address the practical needs of people.

We’re both Serial Entrepreneurs.

And we both are fighting poverty by teaching three things to the Filipino: (1) a practical spirituality, (2) a more positive financial mindset, and (3) financial literacy.

Oh, one last thing: We both love our families.

At the airport, I met Ray’s lovely wife and beautiful daughter with him.

I sensed the happiness in his family. It was refreshing.

That day, my catastrophe turned out to be a rich blessing.

Not only for me, but everyone who’s reading this blog right now.

Talking to Ray made me realize more than ever before that we should never tell ourselves, “I’m stuck where I am. My life will never change.”

Keep dreaming my friend.

God has a wonderful plan for your life.

Pursue it with passion.

May your dreams come true,

Bo Sanchez

#1 Home Based Internet Business - [click here]

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Do You Want To Survive? Think Like An Entrepreneur

By: BO SANCHEZ

From now on, you have to think like an Entrepreneur.

I can hear you saying,  “But Bo, I’m an Employee!” 

And you’re right.  You may be an Employee in a bankor a call centeror the corner bakery down the street.  But your entire world is changing.  Even if you’re working for someone else, you still have to think like an Entrepreneur.

Think this way.  If your name is Rudolph Reyes, then you’re the Chairman of the Board of Rudolph Reyes Personal Services Inc.

Why the shift?

Because I’ve met so many people who are miserable in their jobs and all they do is complain the whole day about their crummy boss and their crummy salary and their crummy company.

                Listen.

                Complaining accomplishes nothing.

                Complaining is useless.

                In the time of Moses, the Complainers got stuck in the desert for 40 years.   They never set one foot on the Promised Land.

                Instead of complaining, take charge!

                God made you responsible for your career.

                Unless you take responsibility, nothing happens.

               

Times Are Changing—Adapt Or Die

 

                My Dad worked for the old San Miguel Corporation for 37 years. 

During his prehistoric era, companies were large benevolent, loyal, doting families.  The Owner was like Papa and all his employees were his kids for life.  And people coasted along.

Let me give you an example.  When Dad retired at the age of 65 as Assistant Vice President, the company gave him 100% health benefits until his dying breath.  Can you imagine?   Until he died at the age of 88, San Miguel paid for all of his medicines and hospital bills—which totaled to millions. 

Question: Do you think San Miguel still does that sort of thing?

                No way.  They threw that policy away in the 80’s.  In fact, no other company does that anymore.

                I’m not pontificating or telling you what is right or wrong.  I’m merely describing to you the very different world that you and I are living in today.

You live in a world where companies hire contractuals every 6 months and replace them again with a new batch.  (I repeat.  I’m not saying it’s right.  I personally don’t like it.  But that’s just how the world is operating right now.)

You live in a world where companies are shrinking via outsourcing.  Your entire department can be axed tomorrow and the work given to companies in China or India or Davao or Cebu.

You live in a world where companies are bought or merged with other companies the way your sister changes her shoes.  Every time it happens, you get (1) bumped up, (2) bumped down, or unfortunately, (3) bumped out.

               

In other words, you’re living in a world where only Entrepreneurs survive.

 

How Do You Think?

Like An Employee or An Entrepreneur?

 

Find out if you think like an Employee or an Entrepreneur.

If you think like an Entrepreneur, you just don’t understand what you do. 

You understand why you do what you do. 

Even if you’re just a messenger.  You’re thinking of how to increase profits and lower down costs.  You’re thinking of how to wow the customer and keep him for life.

Here are three examples of Employee Thinking:

 

“My salary is so small, its just enough for my daily transportation and lunch!  I’ve been stuck in my position since Lapu-Lapu killed Magellan.”

 

Then why are you still working there? 

Don’t say you have nowhere to go.  When you say that, it becomes a reality for you. 

Hey, I’m not asking you to resign.  I’m asking you to look for a solution.  Take responsibility.  Make things happen!

Let me introduce you to a few options of the Entrepreneurial Mind…

 

Option #1: Get more training and get promoted

Option #2: Look for another job within the company where there’s more growth

Option #3: Become a Supplier to your company (My favorite!  Look at what your company needs and create a business by supplying this product to them.)

Option #4: Keep your day job and start a business on the side

Option #5: Look for another job at another company

 

The choices are endless!

 

2. “My company is Prehistoric.  It hasn’t developed me.  I don’t receive any training!”

 

This is classic Employee thinking: They wait for their HR Department to tell them to attend seminars, arrange training programs, and supply them with books to read.

But Entrepreneurs take charge for their personal development.  They keep reading.  They keep learning.  They keep innovating.  They attend internet courses, correspondence courses, and night classes.  They get the best mentors they can find.  Because Entrepreneurs know that if they don’t innovate, they’ll become obsolete one day.

Question: This year, what have you been doing to develop yourself?

 

3. “Me, save?  Nah.  My company will give me a nice retirement package…”

 

Readers of my blog are young.  Average age is 30.  (Perhaps because the writer looks 30.  Haha!)  So talking about retirement seems strange, right?

        Wrong.

        Believe me, even if you’re 16, you should start building your retirement.

Here’s my harsh message: Don’t depend on your company to give you a retirement package.  Even if they will give you one, trust me, it won’t be enough.

As I told you, my father retired at 65 and died at 88.  That meant he lived for another 23 years.  Do you think your one or two or three million will last for 23 years?

Don’t count on it.   Perhaps three years.  Perhaps five, tops.  After that, you’ll be poor as a rat.

        I urge you to take charge for your financial future.  How?  Build a separate retirement package on your own!

        Here’s what you do.  Starting today, set aside 20% of your income every month.

Next: Invest it.  Don’t put it in the Bank.  Learn how to use Bonds, Mutual Funds, Equity Funds, and Stocks.  It’s not as difficult as you think it is.  Grow!

 

Friend, be an Entrepreneur.

                No matter what you do.

                Take charge.

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It’s One Of The Best Decisions We’ve Ever Made

We know. We’re nuts.

We don’t send our kids to school.

Let me tell you why.

When our baby was growing up, we watched how everyone did the schooling thing—and we didn’t like it.

This is what we saw:

Early morning, parents send off the kids to school while they both go to work. It’s rush, rush, rush. At 7am, everyone is out of the house, plowing through morning traffic.

At around 7 in the evening (if there’s no overtime), these exhausted parents arrive home like dried prunes. They have dinner with the kids but have no energy to talk to each other—so they put on the TV and watch telenovelas together. After dinner, Mommy helps Junior with homework.

Let’s say today, the kid’s got homework in Math, English, and Filipino. In Filipino, Junior’s project is to put the photos of 12 National Filipino Heroes on a cartolina. Because it’s already 10pm, Junior is now asleep. So Mommy is cutting photos of the heroes from old magazines, and Daddy is pasting them on the cartolina. The day ends at midnight. Another long day awaits…

We Wanted Another Kind Of Family Life

We asked ourselves. Is this the lifestyle we really want? Or do we want something else for our kids and our family?

We decided to do something radical: We won’t send our kids to school. Instead, we’ll teach them ourselves.

Result? We’ve been doing it for four years now and my son Bene is in 3rd Grade.

That means my wife and I are his teachers, our home is his classroom, our kitchen is his canteen, and our street is his school yard.

Poor kid, right? People tell me he’s missing a lot because we homeschool him.

Hey, I agree.

What My Son Is Missing

Let me give you a partial list of what he’s missing.

· He doesn’t have to wake up at 6:00am everyday to catch the school bus. He doesn’t have to experience being dressed-up and “toothbrushed” by his mother while asleep so he won’t be late for school. He doesn’t have to wolf down his breakfast while rushing out.

· He doesn’t have to ride a school bus. (Ow, shucks.) He doesn’t have to wade through traffic twice a day.

· He doesn’t have to fight with forty kids for the attention of a teacher.

· He doesn’t have to waste a lot of time waiting in school. (Which I feel consumes 30% of school time each day.) He doesn’t have to wait for everyone to line-up for the National Anthem. He doesn’t have to wait for everyone to quiet down before the teacher starts teaching. He doesn’t have to wait for the teacher to explain the lesson a second for those who weren’t listening…

· He doesn’t have to eat sugary snacks in the school canteen.

· He doesn’t get bullied. No jeers. No barbs. No meanness.

· He doesn’t have peer pressure to buy the latest rubber shoe, the newest cell phone, the coolest shirt. He doesn’t have to compare his daily allowance with his classmates.

· He doesn’t have homework when he arrives from school. Nada. None. Zilcho. Zero. He doesn’t have school projects that mommies end up doing anyway.

Should I go on?

That’s just the tip of the iceberg.

Gosh, my son is missing a lot of things.

Instead, Here’s What My Son Has…

So instead of these things, what does my son have to endure in homeschool? Let me see…

· He wakes up at 8:00am. If the entire family attended a prayer meeting the previous night, he wakes up at 9:00am. No problem.

· He has time to say his morning prayers in bed. He joins his mom reading the Bible together. He then takes a relaxing breakfast with his little brother Francis, reads his books, plays the guitar, and the two of them clown around the house.

· He starts class at 9:00am. Each morning, he sings the Philippine National Anthem, says the Panatang Makabayan, and prays his morning school prayer on his own.

· In every subject, he has the undivided attention of his devoted teacher. He can ask any question he wants, anytime he wants, and his teacher will answer him. When he doesn’t know the answer, he says, “Let’s research for the answer now.” And they log onto the internet, read a few books, and viola—the answer is found… together.

· He and his mother love talking about their faith. They also like singing together.

· He can tell his teacher, “Mommy, I want to know more about stars. Can we read about that tomorrow?” And his mother will say, “Let’s make that our science class for today!” And because it’s his interest, he needs no prodding to study. He wants to learn. He loves it.

· He can tell his teacher, “Mommy, I don’t understand this math problem. Can we slow it down a bit?” And his mother will say, “Sure thing. Let’s go through it one more time…” until he’s totally satisfied.

· Classes are only from Monday to Thursday. Because every Friday morning, he meets other homeschooled kids. They play together, do art work together, sing together, and just have enormous fun. (Yes, homeschooled kids have shown to be very sociable and confident, due to high self-esteem.)

· Every Tuesday afternoon, he attends a gymnastics class. Again, we don’t force him to do it. He loves tumbling, cartwheeling, and running around with the other kids.

· Each day, his class ends at 2pm or 3pm. But that’s because class was so exciting, both mother and son didn’t want to stop.

· After his class, my son goes out and rides the bike with his cousin or they play with the computer together. In the evening, since there’s no homework, he reads whatever books he likes to read. My suspicion? Because he’s interested in reading the books he chooses, he probably learns more in his free time than in his formal class time!

· When I’m free, I teach him how to compose songs and improve his guitar playing (That’s his Music Class), how to write short stories (That’s his English elective), and how to expand his bangus or milkfish business (That’s Entrepreneurship 101). Yes, he sells fish to our friends, and he divides his profits to tithes, alms, savings, and toy money! (Personal Finance 101). When my son hit 7 years old, I taught him how to read the Business section of the Newspaper. He loves asking about the stock market. He knows that we have to buy “low” and sell “high”.

· In all these, the greatest benefit is really having an incredible relationship with our kids.

We love homeschooling. Aside from all these benefits, we save a lot of money. We also don’t spend on daily allowance, school bus, etc. So we’re saving a bundle.

I know homeschooling is not for everyone. But it should at least be looked at.

I’ve trained myself that we shouldn’t live like everyone else if we believe that there’s a better way out there.

Explore. Search. Look at options.

You’ll be surprised at what you’ll discover.

(The article above is an excerpt from Bo Sanchez)

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“The number problem in today’s generation and economy is the lack of financial literacy.” -Alan Greenspan

Some people think buying a book related to financial education is expensive. I also give financial seminars and people think the price we charge is too high.

If you think financial wisdom is expensive, then try ignorance. You’ll realize it’s a million times more expensive. For example, in the past 10 years, I’ve lost a lot of money. Simply because I was stupid about money.

After getting married, I was able to scrape a decent amount of savings into our bank account every month. And with some very generous gifts from our godmother during our wedding, after a few of years, my savings reach P200,000 plus.

That was a friend asked me if I would like to put my money in the investment company she was working for. “You’ll earn two percent a month,” she said, “and you’ll help me earn a commission from your investment!”

And instantly, I invested our P200,000. After all, two percent a month came down to 24 percent a year - so much higher than the bank’s interest.

That was also the time when my wife finally got pregnant. The thought of becoming a father was an incredible feeling. But together with my excitement was the stark realization that the baby would now be totally dependent on my finances for the next 20 years of his life.

Sheesh. That thought sent chills down my spine. We borrowed a wooden crib from a cousin and prepared P20,000 for the birth of our baby. We are ready, or so I thought.

During the delivery, my wife suffered heart palpitations reaching 200 beats per minute and the doctor ordered an emergency Caesarian operation. Yes, I almost lost my wife and baby. That emergency operation saved their lives.

After three days of confinement, I received the bill from the hospital: P56,000. Gulp. Have you ever received a solid punch straight to your solar plexus? That was how I felt at that moment. So I called my friend and asked if I could get my investment back. Perhaps just P40,000 of my P200,000 to pay the hospital bill.

She said, I’ll try…”

“Try? Why try? Isn’t that my money?” I asked, “I need to pay the hospital.”

“It isn’t that simple,” she explained. “Your money is being used.”

“What do they use it for? Who owns this company anyway? How long have they been in this business?” (Do you see how wise I was? I was asking these questions after I invested my money.)

“We’re a small firm that lends money to tricycle drivers.”

“Wha…” Have you ever seen a cat staring at the headlights of a rushing truck? That’s how I looked.

“And collection hasn’t been very good,” my friend’s mutter was barely audible.

“So that means…”

“Uh, that means we’ll have to wait for another investors to come in before we can return a part of your money.”

In other words I waited for three years for nothing. After that the company closed, folded up, crashed, disintegrated, imploded, sunk to the depths of the earth, vanised into thin air. With my P200,000 with them.

Don’t you see? I was financially dumb!

Let me give you my credentials: My I.Q. is 132, I have above-average social skills, I finished Philosophy in college, I took post-graduate courses in Theology, I founded four organizations, and I’m a more or less over-all wholesome guy…But all these don’t take away the fact that I was a Financially Ignorant!

I was 100 percent financially illiterate!

Here’s what I found out…

You could be a doctor with three PhDs behind your name.
You could be an engineer building huge bridges in your spare time.
You could be a very holy person, praying three hours a day.
You could be a scientist inventing the first car that runs on a spit.
You could be 97 years old.
You could be extremely loving saint.
You could be a diva with the voice of Celine Dion.
But you could be FINANCIALLY ILLITERATE!

A world-renowned surgeon doesn’t open up a busted TV set and say, “I operate on people, I guess operating on machines would be a breeze.” No, it won’t be. It’s totally different world.

So it is with money.

Knowing money works is a totally different field of expertise.

Therefore, Financial Ignorance is EXPENSIVE.

(An excerpt from BO SANCHEZ - 8 Secrets of the Truly Rich)

Truly Rich Principle:
Knowing how money works is a totally different field of expertise.

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