Being an entrepreneur

I have been talking to a few people and it seems this recession has certainly put people in a different frame of mind. Thinking in new ways and definitely embracing the idea of being an entrepreneur.

For example one person I spoke to is considering branching out into being a consultant,another wants to start his business as a sole trader and yet another already started the process of registering her business. I myself, having lost my job but even before that my mind has been intrigued with having my own business and doing something that I like.

Funny enough,it is only as I am typing this, I realize how much I enjoy writing this blog(or typing,if we want to be literal) and researching ideas about what topic to write on. It's something I enjoy and I make the effort to write as often as possible because it gives me a purpose and a sense of enjoyment.

Hmmm....so much for that. In researching I found there there is an online website called Entrepreneur with lots of valuable information. Firstly, when starting a business, a Business Plan is imperative before going anywhere. It's not just good enough to have a business idea and run with it(well, maybe run with it yes, but following the process it needs to succeed).

There is also a local body here called NEDCO(National Entrepreneurship Development Company) Limited. It is a State Owned Company set up to assist any citizen over the age of 18 in the start up or expansion of a small and micro enterprise in Trinidad and Tobago. This is where one of my friends went for information and started her process.

Another source for me is my brother. I can always ask him as well, since he is also trying to get his business off the ground. So, my plan is to tackle the Business Plan process and probably enlist my hubbie in that since he knows about Business Plans from his previous studies.

They say a recession is the best time to start a business.......I hope to find out.....


Cheers,J......

Investing and Budgeting

Well, now that I am back to work, I face the challenge of my budget once again and seeing how I can make things happen. According to my aunt, just working for enough to pay the bills at the end of the month and still can't buy a car or buy a house. What's the point? Can't even take a nice vacation too or for the length of time i might want to.

That's what happens when you fail to make a plan. So, my plan is to save at least they say 10% of my salary(that is, pay yourself first) and then pay off bills etc. However, what if every last cent has to take care of living expenses and firm commitments such as loans etc....I thought of that and I believe I will have to adjust some of my living expenses(which would mean substituting and reducing all round) and try to save and invest in ways that if ever i am in a situation where i lose my job again i can have some form of income coming in and savings to pay my immediate bills if need be.

So, that's for starters. I will put aside the 10% and probably split it between a savings i cannot touch and another in which i can in the event of emergency purposes. From there I will work on the rest of my budget.

Sounds like a plan. I will update on how this goes. Keep myself always in touch with how my expenses are going and whether i am on the way to reaching my main goal in the small steps i am taking.

To remind myself....My main goals: Save for house,save for emergency,save to invest(stock market) and find another source of income.


Cheers,J.

Back to work

This is a short one. Long and short is, I am back to work although just for some training and it take plenty out of me already ! Whew! It was interesting though and although not entirely new the systems are different so it is something new to learn.

However, I am trying to combine it all with working,studying and pursuing my interest of entrepreneurship as well as investment and I am sure it's going to be a long road. Not to mention being a parent to two beautiful babes that can be quite a handful at times. So, with my plate getting increasingly full, I have to remember to take a breather for myself, nothing is perfect and my plans will not all work out"perfectly". There is no such thing, I will just be the best I can be(faults and all :) )

So here's to being back to work. For however long....this recession taught me that much at least......


Cheers,J.

Corporate Governance

What is Corporate Governance? Hmmm...it is about the way in which organisations are run and who should control them- the Chairman,the Chief Executive and the Board of Directors, Shareholders or other Stakeholders such as employees.

With the number of scandals set off by several large companies that are supposedly following ethical standards and with the leading people at the head of the company turning a blind eye, if not condoning it, it really makes investment harder for the small investor.

However, I am hoping with the increased regulations and accountability and the repercussions for people like Madoff and those who "Made off" with other people's money that company's financial statements and their Chairman and Board's utterances will be something we can place some kind of trust in. That might be long in coming but it's heartening to see that people(Directors,CEOs,etc) are not getting away with their shenanigans(a mild word in proportion to their deeds). I absolutely agreed with ths stance President Obama took on those shameless executives regarding the bailout.

It is nerve wracking when you think about investing money in the market and there is the possibility you might lose all. Then again, at home here, I have my Insurance with a huge conglomerate and they declared bankruptcy and the Government had to step in. Of course, it's the same mismanagement and greed that lead to the downfall and while the big guns get paid handsomely (for what, I don't exactly know), the rest of us are left reeling from their dishonesty and greed.

The trouble with all this, hope springs eternal and their are lessons to be learnt. When it sounds too good to be true, it usually is. I think I will still invest but naturally not everything will be going to the stock market and I will be cautious how I spend and I suppose that would be everybodys refrain now. However, for the economy to get that boost, it must come from us, by spending.

So, hopefully that thing called Corporate Governance and Ethics would all become part of the culture of organizations and those coming up the ladder of success will pay attention to the history of the financial market and these things won't be repeated.


So long,J

Meeting commitments

What a day! In trying to meet my commitments for the balance of the year I need to access my funds that I saved to do so but according to the folks that be I must wait a period of two to sixty days. Now, what sense does that make??? I mean the whole point of it is to be able to access it when you need it and on top of that I have to pay a fee too!! It is the craziest thing!

The good thing about it, is the inaccessibility of it allows you not to touch it for frivolous reasons. However, I don't expect to have a two month period to wait for access of my funds. Truth be told, there goes the credit union movement down the drain. I doubt very much I will want to continue with this account. I may withdraw everything and close my account and put my small change elsewhere. This is entirely disgusting!

Apart from the above my day was quite busy. I did not get to do all the things I needed to do but it was not entirely unproductive. Tomorrow is another busy day. I have to make sure things are all set for my son's first day of school(camera battery and camcorder charged among the other important things of course, such as uniform,shoes,socks,bag etc). Exciting days ahead. Good thing I thought ahead and organized these issues way before i lost my job. My husband is quite happy he doesn't even have to think about since we dealt with it earlier.The real challenge will be next year when I really would need to have some kind of steady job to meet commitments.

It's just a matter of seeing where things go from here but I am optimistic and the only way to look, is up(when you are down :)


Cheers...

Working with what you have

Talking to a friend who is in a similar position as myself(he has no job) i am reminded of how tough it is not having a source of income. It is really a point where anything, no matter how small it may be or cheap, if it is not an absolute need, you have to do without.

Not only that, i just finished reading an article on msn money, where they reminded me as well why the small investors like myself have a hard time participating in the stock market. The big guns it seems protect themselves with insider info and not to mention the blurring of fiduciary duties by those who hold office and probably know that some of the risks are bad anyway. It's a scary world, this investing market.......

The best thing I can do for myself is to keep informed and really push for minding my own business(the best investment is myself right?).....

In the meantime it's humbling not having a job and now i get to spend time pursuing my interests and thanking the good Lord for the support i have in my hubbie.......nothing bad is forever and nothing good is either, so it's just a matter of appreciating what you have now.....work will probably consume me soon enough anyway, i'll enjoy the free time...

Cheers....

Observing the Market and my portfolio

From my Title you would believe I was this filthy rich investor. The reality is I am quite the opposite and not even a real investor but I can pretend to be :)

Anyway, I keep track of how my stocks are doing and so far they are all in the red which is'nt good but that's to be expected. I am looking to see how it goes in the long run.It's a good opportunity to buy stocks if your house is in order.

So far my new picks are JNJ and Coca Cola.

I looked at Coca Cola's financials and they seem to have a high level of debt but their cash just about covers it. Their current ratio is 1.2 which is good but their Quick ratio is 0.39. I believe a Quick Ratio of 1 is usually the best. However, I still purchased because of the fact that Coca Cola has a patent for it's product and cannot be easily copied.

For that same reason I would look into pharmaceuticals as well for investing.

Hmmm.....still have some catching up to do with other Blogs....checking out Bloomberg channel too for stock info and investopedia tools to learn some more ......

Feeling like the market....up and then down

Things are a bit slow and I am not sure what I want to write about. I have not been able to study as much as I would like as my days are filled with doing a lot of other things like going to pay bills etc. So I think I may get with the program of paying for it online instead of hustling here and there to do it. Save plenty of time.

However, i am keeping a track of the market and how my stocks are doing on Investopedia. Doing some research on my ratios when I am finished here(related to my studies anyway). So, kill two birds with one stone.

There are a few blogs that i follow as well but just do not have the time to read them all, so i select those with topics interesting to me. For instance, Dividend Growth Investor write about different companies and their prospects. I also read Million Dollar Journey(i like this one more). She gives financial advice and takes questions from the general public and give financial advice.It's quite interesting.

The best blog however, is Ryan runs Europe. He is running through Europe for the Summer of 2009 and he has no place to stay and depends on the kindness of people he meets along the way to give him a place to sleep for the night. It is totally risky and daring and he always has interesting encounters. We all wish we could probably do this at some point in our lives(not necessarily running).Some people just take a year to visit Europe or wherever and live as they please and then it's back to the rat race of working,paying bills etc...I certainly don't have that luxury but i could dream....

Yeah, right....back to reality. I better start doing my list of things and really get this show on the road. See where my investing games and ratios take me back to the books...oh yes, and get some washing done too.....

I gone...

Playing the Investing Game

I have at least started back my Investopedia game but I am struggling to make time to follow the market and keep tabs on companies I like.Since I don't plan to buy and sell like crazy, I thought I would research a few companies I like(meaning those products I use eg Coca Cola and Johnson and Johnson) and see whether their financials look encouraging enough to purchase a few of their stocks.

It also means reviewing ratios and understanding their meanings and what it means for the company. I will be looking at the PE ratio,liquidity ratio,gearing ratio and Price Earnings to Growth ratio. I have my book with ratios reminding me of their calculations and what it means. I expect it will be easy once I get back into ratios. I will also look at other factors such as their Corporate Governance and their environmental and ethical stance.

The good thing is. Companies trading publicly have their financials available to the public as well as their Chairman's report and Corporate Governance stance.

There are a lot of things I don't know about the stock market but this is a great way to learn(through playing the game on Investopedia) and it should help me in the near future when I do start investing in the stock market.

New Week, so new things to look forward to

Monday morning and I was supposed to start a new job today, however, that has'nt panned out so that makes room for other things.

This morning I started back my studying and in earnest and I have some catching up to do tonight as well, so this is going to be short.

Tomorrow morning I will make the time to research a few companies I am interested in and start back following the market as I used to. Since I have no real money to participate I can pretend on Investopedia.

I had an interesting conversation with my brother tonight. He has always been entrepreneurial and he is in a great position to have that spirit. As he said, not being married and no children, some of the decisions he made(where he left jobs without anything else lined up) would only be suitable when living the single life. On the other hand there are people married and with children who decide they need to work for themselves or they are thrust in a position where they either do it on their own or simply starve.

So, maybe i have the entrepreneurial spirit like my brother and I can pick up and do things just as he did.

Hmm.....that's something for me to think about. However, I better call it a night. I have to cook in the morning for the little lady and young man will be going out for lunch. So much for that and I have some reading to catch up on.......

Busy Week

What a busy week!! I had an interview this week and I also have a job prospect starting next week(not too sure yet) which meant that I had to hurry and clear up as much of my schedule as possible this week. Left me very little time to study,write or do some research.

My last post was about the competition on Investopedia. For me to be serious about this as though it were my money, I plan to rise and shine earlier to get some research on companies and learn as much as I can about investing. I am hopefully going to try and make it real as well, try investing in real companies with real money(hmmm....). Also, I will review the Ratios that help to gauge a company's performance in certain areas.

Now, when you think about it, how will I have money to do it especially not having a job? The thing I've learnt(a little late though). Usually, when I get paid my salary I follow the principle of paying myself first, which is fine. However, it was simply saved in an ordinary account and I did not have my money working for me, rather i was just working hard for the money. So, my plan is, I can put aside a proportion of my money and of that proportion save towards a starting amount for investing.Makes it relatively safe in that I am not using the money allocated to living expenses. While this may mean I may not be able to take advantage of something now for now on the market that's okay, I am looking to invest for the long haul and hopefully gain something in the future. It's not about making quick returns in the shortest possible time for me.

There are so many tools out there to help with investing, I wish I had started earlier instead of shying away from it.

That's something to work towards and I look forward to it.

Monday Morning Blues

Who would think I could be having Monday morning blues! In August to boot. The roads are clear and it's simply camp time,nursery time and my time.

The morning started off late. The kids got up late and I had to get them moving and eating some breakfast. After dropping them off to their respective places, I thought I should go and drop off some documents I had for the blood bank(not really the blood bank, but close,the Tax ollectors :) ).
Unfortunatly, they had a bomb scare, so I will have to make another day for that. Time wasted.

It's good that I have some time on my hands. I got a whole lot of personal things sorted out(even my chest of drawers look better;).....)

Anyway, I am also looking at Investopedia's Simulator to practice investing. They give an imaginary amount of money for you to invest with and see what you can do. It's a competition actually and you research the companies you are interested in and you purchase stocks in those that meet certain criteria. For instance I look at the amount of debt and liquidity(cash) of a company. There is also the Price Earnings Ratio or Return on Equity.