What You Need in Life -- Invest Like a "Middle Child"

 

Investing In Yourself – Using Pillars to Build Your Core	https://urbanomics.blogspot.com/2015/04/urbanomics-pillars-path-set-for.html
Setting Budgets + Saving for Black Swans	https://urbanomics.blogspot.com/2013/02/personal-finance-budget-101-free-credit.html
	https://urbanomics.blogspot.com/2019/11/hey-henry-high-earner-not-yet-rich.html
How to Open My First Brokerage Account	https://urbanomics.blogspot.com/2015/04/personal-finance-101-starting.html
Diversify your Life (Mind, Body, Soul, + Investments)	Search My Blog

The Pillars - The Miseducation

In my culture, lessons are taught by the elders to the community and especially to the young children. Ironically, one thing has not changed over time which is song is a form of communication used to narrate stories.  This is still on display today with the power of music artists sharing stories through song  If you have read my blog you know that I like a flashback and reference songs that were defining for a generation.  When I thought of this post, a song came to mind popped in my head that defines success.  Success for many could be summed up through the hit track "Money, Power, Respect".  Many will believe this song was a track by Lil Kim.  Simply, before there was a Nicki Minaj or Cardi B there was Lil Kim eviscerating hooks like she did for the L.O.X on this track.  No disrespect to The L.O.X or Lil Kim, but my generation and generations before that bought into the wrong message:

See I believe in money, power, and respect. 

First You get the money. 

Then you get the power. 

After you get the power, MF will respect you

Song: Money, Power, Respect; Artist(s): The L.O.X ft. Lil Kim,

While Lil Kim described one way to obtain respect, she forgot to tell you that this way is not sustainable for everyone.  So I challenge, what you need in life --- are the pillars.  We need to strengthen our mental fortitude through education.  Those are skills that can never be taken away from you.  We need to use our skills to invest in our own assets.  By being independent, no one can dictate the terms to how you live, especially if you live within your means.  I'm proud when I see people discussing the pillars in our community here a few recent examples:

I believe J. Cole's has unplugged from the Matrix and understands the Pillars. He's on the same mission, Check out his lyrics from the track "Middle Child":

What good is the bread if my brothas is broke?

What good is first class if my brothas can't sit?

That's my next mission

That's why I can't quit

Just like LeBron

Get my brothas more chips

I think Kanye read my post on Master P. Go back and read how I wrote that over 20 years ago he inspired me to be independent, black owned, and bout it bout! People are finally understanding the stakes. Yes, Kanye you are the talent, why don't you own your own masters sir. Don't be afraid brotha because as a producer, artist, businessman, and family man you owe it to yourself, family and community to negotiate your own terms as long as you know your worth. Thank you for seeking out Master P and as I've told many people, you will grind for years but you must flip the switch to negotiating own your own terms when the time is right. I look at all my business deals closer, eliminate the middle men, and because it's my business I can choose to keep the money in my community and invest in people who share my values.

For years I've been talking about living within your means and prioritizing ownership and investing in assets that appreciate.  I was pleased to see the rapper Plies make this comment:

Finally, I'm hopeful people are listening.  I read a great story and about a business man, named Young Bleu.  He talked about his goals of being an independent music artist and how he already owns a few assets: a house and a restaurant.  And the thing I love the most about his article was an example that he gave: Young Bleu Interview courtesy of HipHopDx:

"I’m going to put it like this. Just say as a rapper, you got $400,000 in your account. You don’t got a house, right? Now just say that your label say, “F&ck you.” You know what I’m saying? “F&ck you. We don’t want to do nothing with your shit right now. We don’t feel like we want to do shit with you right now.” All right. You got $400,000 right? Okay. A nigga come up to you and say, “Man, shit. I can get your record going. Shit, we can go and do radio 150,000, 200,000.” Okay, there’s always a chance that this shit might not go as planned. So now you only got $400,000 but nowhere to go besides what someone says they can do for you.

Now if you already had a house, you already had cars paid for, why would you spend the $400,000? You know what I’m saying? If all else fails, you have a home to go back to. But if you don’t you’ll be scared to spend that money if you felt like, “Damn. Shit. If I blow this shit, it’s over and I’m back at the bottom. Shit, I’ll probably be back staying with my mama. Goddamn.” You feel me? If you got your shit in order, you will be more comfortable spending money, you know what I’m saying?"

Sound familiar?? All I can say is well said young brotha. This young man understands the game.  If you dissect his statement, he says: "what is the point of having so much capital (or cash) in your account and you own nothing.  If you own a house and have assets to fall back on (especially if this house was paid off), then when someone approaches you about doing business you are more likely to take prudent risks and make more investments knowing that you have something to fall back on.  As he eloquently stated, if you don't own that house (or some asset that appreciates) you will be scared to spend that money. I have a 9-5 job and a side hustle for income; my assets range from: 2 homes, have a individual retirement account that I could live off of and I use my brokerage account as war chest and make numerous investments every day...I'm not scared because I approve every investment. I can't wait to invest with J Cole, Master P, Young Bleu, Kanye if they share my value (b/c I don't always see eye to eye with some folks). But if we can agree people of color need their contracts rewritten, need independence, and they need investment...then let's do business.

#pillars, #independent, #Master P, #Young Bleu, #MiddleChildInvesting, #J Cole #educationispower

A 21 Savage Look Into – Business Income, Risk, & Expenses

A Conclusion to Side Hustle 101 Series 

Income

Music has always played a big part in people’s life.  Reading through my blog over the years, you will see that it is always top of mind for me. So when I drop some knowledge on the subject of income I could reference:

·         21 Savage – A Lot

·         YG – Big Bank

·         Jay Z – Big Pimpin

But I’d rather hit you with a simple rule I learned I learned from Warren Buffett: “Never Lose Money”. His second rule: “Remember Rule #1”. J  This rule is so crucial I use it as a baseline for my other pillars now:

·         “Never Lose Faith”

·         “Never Stop Learning”

·         “Stay Healthy”

Make sure your business and investments make more money than they lose and life becomes a lot easier. Stress over risks to your business and try to get the best return on your investment when you have expenses.

Risk Management

I spend most of my time stressing over things that will derail my pillars in life and my investments. If I’m eating unhealthy, why not cut back on sugar (easier said than done). If I want to reduce stress, why not focus on prioritization, time management, prayer, and meditation. You get the picture, but many people don’t think about risks UNTIL well they hit them in the face. A few examples:

·         Boeing – Recent crashes that have taken hundreds of lives may possibly be linked to not updating airplane software and a lack of pilot training.

·         Equifax – How ironic is it that the company responsible for our credit scores, history, and maintaining so much of our personal data is hacked ( A close second: Ashley Madison’s website hack and they promote discreet relationships for married people)

·         Lululemon – How smart was it for an athleisure company executive to mock curvier women who wear their clothes when that is your primary customer base

·         Netflix – How about when you do nothing wrong like Netflix, but you have the new “risk” that Apple’s new TV streaming service is now dubbed the ‘Netflix killer’

Well I think you get the point…consider all risks and focus on the biggest ones…your company depends on it.

Expenses

This is no one’s favor subject so let’s make it fun by keeping it simple. There is a reason why so many businesses were started in garages…for the free rent J So stop trying to play the part until you actually have money rolling in. Can you work out of your home or garage and forgo that pricey co-working space.? Do you have expensive software when you have one customer? I saw a show where a small business was going to trade shows every year and losing money (why go?).  Don’t get me started on a company car!!. I constantly evaluate: Office Location vs Co-Working vs Home-based; Software vs Spreadsheet; and Personal Car vs Company Car. Grow your business and make sure that next expense helps increase your bottom-line in the future.   After two good years, I decided to pick up the fully loaded BMW X5 e40 company car (I still have my personal SUV because that's for personal use). In the words of J. Cole on 21 Savage’s “A Lot” à ‘How Many Faking They Streams…I Can See Behind the Smoke and Mirrors People ain’t as Big as They Seem”.   Don't fake your streams and get a car you and your business can't support. Stay humble and grow your business smartly. Peace

Pics of my Company Car (and yes I plug in to get roughly 600 mpg...call me cheap)

Side Hustle 101 - Own Your Business

I wanted to continue my Side Hustle series with a discussion on owning a business.  The series kicked off with a previous post on "Starting Your Business" which serves as a reminder take your time to find a business that is unique, fills a need, and can profitably grow over time.  If it's not unique, it could eventually be copied one day and you don't want to compete by having to lower your price. If it does not fill a need, customers may not see the value in repeatedly buying your product or service. If your business does not turn a profit in 2-3 years, then you may have a hobby (instead of a business) that is exciting but will also suck you dry over time.  Again my challenge to you is to spend an enormous amount of time developing a business plan then find people from all different backgrounds to poke holes in your ideas which will make you and your plan stronger.

I joke, if you can't explain to me what you do in one or two sentences THEN you may not even know exactly what your business is.  I didn't truly appreciate the value of a well-thought out mission statement until I listened to recently retired PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi on a podcast simply describe how she viewed and chose to run PepsiCo's various businesses. The company's products range from salty snacks and sugary sodas to juices, water and breakfast food.  On the podcast, I was memorized by how she artfully danced around the conflicting products by saying: "We make things that are Fun For You (salt and sugar), Better for You (Oatmeal, diet), and Good for You (water). In those few words, I could envision how they brought Doritos, Mountain Dew, Diet products, water, and breakfast foods all together under one umbrella.  The genius in this vision is they want you to have a Pepsi product in your hand NO matter the event NOR time of day.

Owning Your Business
Take calculated risks and get your business up and running without trying to spend tons of money. I can't believe how often I ask someone: "Why do you have a fancy business card, calendars, computers, and chairs if your business is not making money?" Our challenge is NOT to worry about looking the part, simply hustle until you are doing so well that the business forces you to become more efficient. This theme applies to many things in life: Spirituality, Sports, Volunteering, Business...just compete | just serve | just do work. 

I'll end with make sure you "Own Your Business". This is a crucial step in setting up your business, also called business formation.  You must determine what business structure fits best for you:

• Sole Proprietorship
• General Partnership
• Limited Liability Company (LLC) - Solo Member or Multi-Member
• Limited Liability Partnership (LLP) 
• Corporation structure - C Corp or S Corp

Invest in yourself and know the difference from a legal and tax perspective so that you can simply focus on your business.  Many people forget that you can change the business structure over time as your company grows. My personal example is I have a very simple business and was perfectly fine being a Sole Proprietor because finding work as a consultant wasn't difficult and I wasn't taking on lots of risk.  Well two years later, things are going well and talk of expansion and more growth means a different structure may be needed to manage the new risks I see on the horizon (bigger clients, more services, personal liability).

Why do I do this: Because a long time ago I told myself if I were to bet on anything, I would bet on myself. I know my strengths and weaknesses. Growing up not well off, I decided if I'm going to lose anything (especially money) I only want one person to blame: Me. This was reinforced over time through the greats like Warren Buffet, Oprah Winfrey, Michael Jordan, Jay Z, Dr. Dre, Sean Combs, Master P and now even J. Cole. They've talked about being independent, owning your own masters, negotiating your own deal, being bout it bout it. That what drives me because I've been working most of my life to get to a point where I can make deals on my own terms. Reducing debt, passing up on "wants" as much as possible, valuing every dollar, and investing in yourself will put you on the path that says: If I ever feel like my salary isn't right, my offer is too low, or I'm being disrespected, I'm gonna GO OUT AND NEGOTIATE A BETTER DEAL FOR MYSELF.  And if you can do it better: GO BUILD THAT NEXT BUSINESS AND YOU CALL THE SHOTS.  If the timing is not right, don't worry...be patient and improve your skills constantly until you're ready to take the next leap.