Learn Basic Accounting

Robert Kiyosaki says the four most important business skills an entrepreneur must have are:

*Sales
*Investing
*Leadership
*Accounting

His Rich Dad taught him, “If an entrepreneur is struggling, it is often because he is weak in one or more of these business skills.”

So why are these skills not part of a standard high school scope and sequence?

More important than that, how can we get the right type of education to become proficient in these skills whether we're in high school or not?

Well, my answer is “learn it by doing it.”

Sales

To get experience in sales, sell something.

Affiliate marketing is the easiest way to learn how to make online sales.

Sites with affiliate programs have already done the market research and the search engine optimization for you.

They have suffered through the product creation process.

All you have to do is put your affiliate link out to folks who want what the site offers.

Investing

To get experience in investing, take a course or find a mentor before you jump in. If you don’t, you could and probably will quickly lose your shirt.

You’ve heard stories about your neighbor’s brother’s friend who had a cousin who lost his life’s savings in the stock market a year ago, right?

Well those stories come from novices who wake up with a great idea one morning and decide they are going to jump into the deep end of the investing world’s swimming pool when they haven’t learned how to put their face in the water in the shallow end.

They are an accident waiting to happen.

And “stock market investing” in general gets the blame.

Bottom line: get educated first.

Leadership

To get experience in leadership, get involved in a group that is going somewhere. Then watch what the leader does and copy what he or she does that works.

Start your own group and go somewhere.

But here’s the biggest pitfall to small business that I see.

Accounting

To get experience in accounting, you have to have a business in place or work with someone who does.

But somewhere during those early years when we were getting that foundational education, somebody forgot to include basic accounting as a requirement for living a successful life.

I personally think the reason why April 15 is the most dreaded day on the calendar is because most of us haven’t been taught how to keep track of our personal finances.

Employees don’t have many options, but small business owners don’t have any choice.

Keeping track of your business’ accounting can become a nightmare when you don’t know what you’re doing.

And then as soon as you think you have figured it out, the IRS changes the rules!

Yes, we’re also lazy and busy and unorganized… but this isn’t an elective.

Uncle Sam expects an account for the year and if he doesn’t think you got it right, he can send his auditors to make your life miserable.

So I personally think that in order to be truly “educated,” you have to understand basic accounting.

If you have a bookkeeper or an accountant, that’s fine! But if you could read their language, you could ensure their accuracy and know they aren’t taking advantage of you.

Tiger Woods went to college to study business and accounting. From the beginning, he planned to be a professional golfer. But his dad encouraged him to get his degree in accounting so he could communicate with and keep an intelligent eye on his bookkeepers.

Smart boy! Smart dad!

So if you don’t have a clue about where to start getting the proper education and encouragement about one of the very basics of operating a small business – accounting – join me Tuesday night, Oct. 30 at 9 PM Eastern to meet accountant and homeschool dad of 8, Darrel Hawes.

We have a solution.

The number for the call is 1-605-475-4150.

The passcode for the call is 42037#.

I’ll talk to you then!

So many books, so little time…

Rhea!
who is dedicated to bringing very cool experts to your family!

P.S. Oh and by the way, until midnight Nov. 4, you can still get a copy of our 3 ebooks and the 2-hour Audio Interview with John Taylor Gatto at

http://www.EducatingforSuccess.com/ebooks