GEM Report.

A bit dated but still valid:

"Any government committed to sustained economic progress must ensure that all aspects of its economic system are conducive to and supportive of increased levels of entrepreneurial activity. This includes minimizing taxation, ensuring access to labor, lowering non-wage labor costs, reducing the regulatory burden and making it easier to do business..."

GLOBAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP MONITOR - 2000

What Trevor Watkins said of Steve Jobs

On 6 October 2011 08:13, Trevor Watkins wrote:

I am greatly saddened to learn of the death of Steve Jobs, a distant
American who had a profound impact on my life and the lives of millions.

He is a shining example of what one man of vision can accomplish, of
the power of intellect and innovation to change the world for the
better.

He won the hearts and minds and pocket and ears and eyes of
billions, as no politician could ever hope to do, and he did it
without compromising his integrity, his principles, or even his
quirky personality.

No one had to die to make Steve Jobs great, not
even Steve Jobs.

He is a towering monument to how the free market system can and does work.

As an ardent Macintosh user, as a huge neXt admirer, as a wannabe
iPad owner, Steve Jobs I salute you and mourn your passing.

It will
be awhile before we see another like you.

Trevor Watkins

Here is a later addition:

Passive income.

There is no such thing as passive income.

All income needs some attention at some point. Making money from Google ads that you place on a web- or blogsite is often regarded as passive income. Yes, it is passive in the sense that the income that you derive is not dependent on the work that you do today, but make no mistake - if you wish to have an increasing income you do have to add to your content constantly. Doing that means being active and not passive!

Blacks getting wealthier.

Sunday Times - 2 Oct. 2011

Have you got some "blocks" preventing you to be successful?

The question may arise as to whether it is necessary to ask yourself why you are afraid or reluctant to become the person that you would like to be – what is holding you back? What has happened in your past that has set you up to be in the current usatisfactory position that you are finding yourself in. Again there may be more than one answer to this. You may want to go through the painful process of self-analysis, or you may just put it behind you and tak.e the actions you know will lead to success. I am a bit of a coward and have opted for the second route. But if – in three months time I am not progressing significantly towards my goal I will go and see someone and get some help in slaying the demons of my childhood!

Starting a project.

Starting a project.

Does one start with the big picture or with the minutia? What I mean by this is does one start with the vision of the preferred future or do you start with an action that will make you better off immediately. This really depends on your personal style – some people are activity oriented and some are more of a dreaming type. I guess the answer lies somewhere in between. One does not know what “better off really means if you do not define it some way, so some “bigger picture” thinking must be done early on in the improvement process, otherwise you may be expending energy in going the wrong way; likewise spending too much time on thinking which way to go without commensurate action may also be counter productive.

At this point you must have taken the decision to improve your financial situation – or to put it bluntly – to become wealthy. (personally I do not like the term “rich”, but lets be honest – you are reading this because you want to have a lot of money).
Another aspect of creating a good foundation when starting a project is to document (write down) all the resources that you have available to commit to the project.

Making Money

A country is not wealthy – only individuals are.

In some countries individuals can create and accumulate wealth easier and quicker than in other countries. These days it is also possible to earn money in other faster growing countries even though you do not live there. This book is about identifying and capitalising on opportunities to increase you net worth exponentially.

How does one create wealth? – Simply by producing goods and services that others value. There are however a few concepts that will help you accelerate the process, a few skills that if you use them you will greatly improve your ability to earn more.

Wealth creation is function of the relationship between income (I), expenditure (E) and savings (S) multiplied by the time (T) over which you have managed the relationship. This is compounded by the rate of return of your savings. All the books that one reads gives the advice that one should start with ones plan as early as possible…But if you are turning 62 in December 2011 and have not followed their advice, what do you do.

This book is a record of how it is done. As the Chinese adage goes “ The best time to have planted a tree is 40 years ago, the second best time is now”

I stood up and planted a tree.

In doing this I realised “Planting a tree is a project.” One cannot just plant a tree – there are a number of actions that need to be taken in a certain order to execute the project successfully – like “obtaining the tree”, “selecting a location”, “digging the hole” “preparing the hole – water and fertilizer” and so on.

Making money is also a project. One needs to also take a number of actions to complete the project successfully.

Making Money

A country is not wealthy – only individuals are.

In some countries individuals can create and accumulate wealth easier and quicker than in other countries. These days it is also possible to earn money in other faster growing countries even though you do not live there. This book is about identifying and capitalising on opportunities to increase you net worth exponentially.

How does one create wealth? – Simply by producing goods and services that others value. There are however a few concepts that will help you accelerate the process, a few skills that if you use them you will greatly improve your ability to earn more.

Wealth creation is function of the relationship between income (I), expenditure (E) and savings (S) multiplied by the time (T) over which you have managed the relationship. This is compounded by the rate of return of your savings. All the books that one reads gives the advice that one should start with ones plan as early as possible…But if you are turning 62 in December 2011 and have not followed their advice, what do you do.

This book is a record of how it is done. As the Chinese adage goes “ The best time to have planted a tree is 40 years ago, the second best time is now”

I stood up and planted a tree.

In doing this I realised “Planting a tree is a project.” One cannot just plant a tree – there are a number of actions that need to be taken in a certain order to execute the project successfully – like “obtaining the tree”, “selecting a location”, “digging the hole” “preparing the hole – water and fertilizer” and so on.

Making money is also a project. One needs to also take a number of actions to complete the project successfully.