One of the richest men in the world and the richest person of Pakistani origin in the world. An estimated net worth of over $3.8 billion which is more than Donald Trump who has a net worth of $3.5 billion and Oprah Winfrey who has an estimated net worth of $2.9 billion. Shahid Khan or Shad Khan as he likes to be known is ranked 122nd in the Forbes 400 list of the richest Americans and is the 490th richest person in the world.
Khan made his money from automobile parts manufacturer Flex-N-Gate based in Urbana, Illinois and also the owner of American Football side Jacksonville Jaguars and England Premier League Football Club Fulham. The charismatic billionaire works hard to make sure he is on top of his game but he has faced his fair share of adversity and had to overcome many challenges. It hasn't always been easy for Shad Khan.
Born in a middle class family in Lahore, Pakistan while his family were involved in the construction business and his mother a now retired professor of maths. Shahid Khan as a child was exceptionally motivated and wanted to do well for himself. He wanted to succeed. He would do anything to succeed. Shad Khan saw education as a way out of Pakistan saw it as a way he could bring success to himself. So when he was 16 he was looking for colleges to attend. One of the colleges that stood out to him was in Illinois. He set of to America with only $500 and a dream.
"I wanted to study engineering. We researched and applied to a couple of schools. The first letter that came was from the University of Illinois and admitted. So there I went. "
It was difficult for Shahid when he got into Illinois because he was in a foreign country with foreign people and he was only 16. By the time he made it to America, the soles of his shoes were torn. Khan came to America in 1967. He attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign while studying for a BSc in Industrial Engineering, he graduated in 1971. When he first came into the USA his first job was working as a dishwasher for $1.20/an hour. Khan was more than pleased with this wage because according to him this was more than what most people were earning in Pakistan. He also spent his first couple of nights in the local YMCA for $2 a night. It was pretty difficult for Shahid at first as he did have difficulty speaking the language but then again to be successful you have to be able to overcome any obstacles and challenges.
"That area had almost a centuries worst storm. A blizzard about 30 inches of snow. So the air traffic was shut for days. So when I got there I’d been travelling for several days. And they’d drop you off at night and you’d be looking at snow. And where do you go? So I went to a couple of places and finally winded up at the YMCA that night. And it was ‘Wow. This is really different.’ I kind of wasn’t expecting this. "
While at university he joined the Beta Theta Pi fraternity to mix in with as many different people as he could. Beta Theta Pi was a highly selective house that was compromised of largely white students and Khan was the first Pakistani student in the fraternity.
While he was studying at the University of Illinois, Khan was working at Flex-N-Gate, an automotive manufacturing company that specialised in making bumpers for cars and other car parts. This would be his first step in success. It was here he learned a lot of things about business and becoming a success. When he graduated he was hired as the engineering director for the company.
"Then I started engineering school which was hard, and then I’d be saying ‘I can make this kind of money without a degree why should I even be going to engineering school.’ But then you discover the good things of America, the social life. I pledged a fraternity and most of the guys had convertibles so I had to get a car which meant you need another job. You get on that American Dream very quickly. "
In 1978, he started his own company, Bumper Works which made car bumpers, he started the company from a $50,000 loan and the rest from his savings. This was the start of something big for Shad Khan. In 1980 he bought out Flex-N-Gate from his previous employers. He turned Flex-N-Gate into a massive company supplying most the big car manufacturers such as Toyota, Honda and Chrysler. Shad adopted some key philosophies into making Flex-N-Gate successful; continuous improvement and respect for people and employees. This is key to Khans success and one of his principles for a successful company.
Shad grew Flex-N-Gate to a billion dollar company, he employs over 12,500 employees and has over 48 plants in the US and other countries. Since his takeover he has grown the sales from $17 million to over $3 billion, which is truly spectacular and an outstanding result.
Taking over the NFL
After the success of his automotive company, Flex-N-Gate, Shad Khan wanted to expand his portfolio of companies and move into American Football. Khan was a big fan of the NFL. His first attempt to move into the NFL was in 2010, when he tried to acquire 60% of the St. Louis Rams however the minority shareholders, exercised a clause which matched any proposed big thus cancelling Khans' bid.
His second attempt at buying an NFL team came the next year in 2011, when he wanted to purchase the Jacksonville Jaguars from previous owner Wayne Weaver. Shad Khan purchased 100% of the share prices estimated to be worth $760 million, thus making Shad the first person of ethnic minority ever to purchase and own an NFL team.
At Jacksonville, Shahid is not just a typical owner and he doesn't just sit on the sidelines. He meets the fans, interacts with them and tries to 'sell' tickets. His charming and charismatic personality makes him a fan favourite at Jacksonville Jaguars.
Khan knows that the fans are the ones that make the team and even though Jacksonville are playing pretty disappointing but on a positive note there performance is improving and they are winning some games. Khan's philosophy on investing in his employees is still used in Jacksonville as he has invested vastly in his teams locker room. In the locker rooms he has put in TV screens, swimming pools and spa baths, everything in which the team can relax after a hard game.
Shad Khan acknowledges the support and loyalty that the fans give him and he thanks each and every one of them. He promises to invest into the team and make the fans proud.
Khan had his few fair racial remarks and racism from fans because of him being a Muslim but this never put him off or deterred him.
Making his Mark on the Premier League
With the purchase of his NFL team, Khan further added to his portfolio of companies with the purchase of English Premier League side Fulham. In July 2013, Khan agreed to purchase Fulham from previous owner Muhamed Al Fayed for an estimated £200-£250 million although an official price was not disclosed.
"There were two sides, business and football. Business I understand. It was pretty obvious to me what we had to do. But the football side was like the Holy Grail."
Shahid Khan with Former Fulham owner Muhamed Al Fayed
Fulham is a football club based in Southwest London and they are currently in their 13th consecutive season in the top flight Premier League season. Fulham FC's ground, Craven Cottage is very historic as they have been playing their since 1896.
Khan plans to grow the club through a long term consistency plan.
When asked why he chose to buy clubs such as Jacksonville Jaguars and Fulham he replied that it was fate and luck or 'kismet'.
Shahid Khan's Principles of Success
Shahid Khan has used many principles to bring success to himself and build a billion dollar empire. There are many key principles that Shad used to succeed in life and in business;
Persistence
He never gave up. In business you must have persistence, you will face challenges but like Shahid Khan you can overcome them and have to keep on going. Khan faced many adversities and challenges such as moving to a completely foreign country or not having enough money but he learned to overcome them and change them to success.
Believe In Yourself
He always had belief in himself even when times got hard, he never gave up believing. He realised that If your not going to believe in yourself then no-one is. To succeed you have to believe in yourself even when the going goes tough and people say you can't do it, you have to prove them wrong.
Continuously Improving
This is something Khan believed in a lot. He believed you had to continually improve yourself and your staff. He believed that without continually improving yourself or others that worked for you, you wouldn't become successful. This is something that was made famous by automotive manufacturer Toyota and their philosophy 'Kaizen' which is Japanese for improvement.
Invest in your Employees
Employees are key to any business. They are the backbone of any company so it is important to look after them and invest into them. Shahid Khan knew it was important to invest into his employees, that is one of the reasons he became so successful.
Khan gives back to charity and also back to the community. He has gave a lot of money to the university that expected him while also paying for a tennis center and donating to the entire athletics department. He also lends his plane to them for recruitment purposes. He has donated more than $1 million to the YMCA, the place that first sheltered him when he came to the United States.
Shahid Khan's success story is truly extraordinary and inspiring and is truly a motivating story for any entrepreneur. But if you really want something badly, then nothing is impossible to achieve.
This post is going to be slightly different. Because of the festive season, we wanted to write an article that is more Christmas-sy (if that's even a word). Many people do not know the story of Christmas and why it is even celebrated. In this article we will discuss why Christmas is celebrated and how it is celebrated in different parts of the world.
Why do we Celebrate Christmas?
Christmas is the celebration of Jesus Christ's birthday and literally means Christ's Mass. Christmas is celebrated all over the world by many people including non-Christians. While the birth of Jesus Christ is generally unknown, historians believe it to be around 7 and 2 BC. Many people are confused about the exact date of Jesus's birth. Around the time of the 4th century the Western Christian Church had Christmas on December 25.
Father Christmas/Santa Claus is always associated with Christmas, but why and where did he come from? It all started a very long time ago in the 4th century AD in a place called Myria (which is now Turkey). It started with a man called St. Nicolas who was a bishop, his parents died when he was young and left him all of their money therefore making him a rich man. He was known for his kindness and giving out gifts. One day there was a poor man who had three daughters, he wanted to get them married however he did not have enough money to pay for the dowry (a sum of money which is paid the the groom's parents). St. Nicolas dropped a bag of gold down the chimney during the night and it fell into a stocking that was being hung to dry. This is was enough money to get his daughter married and this is why we use stockings for Christmas.
There are many different stories about St. Nicolas some true and some false however he was a very extraordinary man with a very big heart. St. Nicolas died on 6 December 343 AD in Myra. Over the years St. Nicolas has been transformed into a jolly, over-weighted man with a white beard who wears a red suit giving out presents.
Christmas is usually celebrated in a spectacular fashion which includes a meal that depending on which country you are in, compromises of; Roast turkey, roast potatoes, mince pies and yule log. There is also gift-giving, caroling and Christmas music.
However many people have forgot the true meaning of Christmas and it has become very commercialized and many people just buy things for each other while forgetting why they are actually celebrating Christmas.
How is Christmas celebrated around the world?
The festive holiday is celebrated in different ways around the world. In South American countries like Argentina, Christmas begins very early in December and houses are decorated with bright lights and white flowers. On Christmas Eve at night, the skies are filled with 'Globos' (similar to Chinese Latterns). Some people spend all night on Christmas Eve chatting to friends and family and spend most of Christmas day sleeping. In Brazil it is normally celebrated in a fashion similar to the UK and USA.
In China since many people aren't Christian, only a small amount of the population celebrate Christmas but the number is increasing every year. Many people give Apples to each other on Christmas Eve and going to midnight mass service is becoming popular. In France a nativity crib is usually used to decorate the house while the main meal of Christmas is Reveillon and is eaten on Christmas Eve/Early Christmas morning after people come back from the midnight mass. Another great tradition in France is that 13 different deserts are eaten!
In the UK and USA it is normally celebrated in the same manner. People decorate their houses with a variety of different lights and some even use statues of Santa Claus and Snowmen to decorate their house. Like a lot of countries Nativity Plays and Carolling services are very common. The traditional meal is usually Turkey with cranberry sauce and Roast potato.
Boxing day is the day after Christmas which is on the 26th of December, it is only celebrated in a number of countries. It is a tradition that started in the UK over 800 years ago during the Middle Ages. On this day the alms boxes and collection boxes that are kept in churches for the poor are opened and distributed among the poor.
We hope this article has helped you learn more about Christmas. We should all remember that this should be a time to be grateful for what we have and spend time with our loved ones. We should also remember to help the less fortunate ones and help the poor.
Merry Christmas to everyone from The Marketing Guy and we hope you have a Happy and prosperous New Year. Remember to subscribe to our Mailing list for all the latest updates, offers, discounts and articles from us.
We have some great news to announce. Our first official book is now available on Amazon Kindle. You can read the book on any Smartphone, Tablet or Laptop/Computer and any other compatible device.
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Making money on the internet can be kinda difficult at times. Especially with no guidance or even worse following the wrong guidance. You will just waste a ton of money on bullshit. Its a good job that we're here. In this article you will learn how to make money on Amazon, specifically with the Amazon Kindle.
What is Amazon Kindle?
Amazon Kindle is an online eBook publishing platform from online book and retail giants Amazon. People visit the Amazon Kindle Store to purchase ebooks that they can read instantly on their tablet, laptop, e-reader or other platform.
Amazon Kindle is a very good platform to make tons of money on. Amazon Kindle market and distribute your book on their website and you receive money if your book sells. It could not be any simpler. It is very easy to get started on Amazon Kindle.
Getting Started
The first thing you would need to do is register an account on the Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) website, this would involving registering your personal details as well as entering in a bank account in which Amazon can pay you. Once you have your account set up you are good to go and you will be able to publish mind-blowing books.
There are many advantages to selling ebooks on the Amazon Kindle, the first one being it is very simple to use and its even easier to upload your content on. You get to keep full control of the book and just with one click you can publish your book globally and it will reach readers worldwide.
You choose between two options for royalty payments. The first option is you receiving a 70% royalty fee if your book is priced between $2.99 and $9.99. The second option is if your book is priced between $0.99 and $200 then you receive a 35% royalty fee. I would recommend using the 35% option at the start and price your book at $0.99. This is because your book is relatively new and it will bring people in as $0.99 is not much of a financial investment as a higher price such as $3.99. More people will buy your book and thus you will get more reviews and more profit. Once your book is more established you can raise your price up to $2.99 or higher to receive the 70% royalty fee.
Reviews are very important when it comes to establishing your book and making it successful. Reviews help a customer decide if they want to buy the book or not. A good way to receive good reviews is to enrol your book into the KDP Select programme. The KDP Select programme is an promotion that Amazon designed which is basically Amazon let users download your book for free for a selected period of time. If you enrol your book into the programme you will get more people to download your book. This means if your book is good, (which it will be) people will want to share it with their friends and recommend it. They will share it on social network websites like Facebook and Twitter. That means more positive words about your book and you receive free advertising. Enrolling your book in the programme will also mean more people will have the chance to post positive reviews about the book.
Check out the video below from our new YouTube channel which tells you how to make money on Amazon Kindle. In the video Annie explains how effectively make money on this platform. For more great videos from The Marketing Guy be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel
Finding a Profitable Niche
Ok, that's enough of our shameless self promotion, now back to business. You might be thinking what shall I write about? Write about your passion. Something you are passionate about helps because you will enjoy writing about it and you'll be knowledgeable about it (if not research about it on the internet). Your passion can be anything from cats and dogs to football or cars. You can teach people how to look after their dog properly or how to play golf properly. You can even write about fiction books and create the next Harry Potter. You could write children's books, romance novels, thrillers, anything that you want.
You also have to make sure the niche you have chosen is profitable, there is demand for it and it has low competition in the chosen niche. To see what is popular browse the Amazon Kindle Most Popular section or go on eZineArticles for some inspiration.
If you can't be bothered to write your book yourself then you can always hire someone to write it for you. You can find someone on freelancing websites such as Elance or Odesk and get them to write for around $30-$40 for a 60 page book. All you have to do is make an account and post a job, which are both free of charge. Make sure you specify all the details you would like to include in your instructions to your freelancer.
Make sure the book you write or get written for you is of high quality. This is very important as you do not want to receive a negative review for your book. Remember feedback and reviews are very important and you do not want to get bad ratings.
Next you will need a design a good looking front cover that will attract buyers. You could design it yourself if you have good skills on Photoshop or you could hire someone on Fiverr.Fiverr is a micro-jobs website and people charge only $5 to make an excellent looking front cover.
A good tip for making extra money from your book is to include affiliate links in your book. If you would like to learn more about Affiliate Marketing click here and here. Inserting affiliate links will make you extra money. Want more help with Affiliate Marketing? Read the review of the Online Affiliate Guide here. Don't overdo it and only put affiliate links in where you need to otherwise it will just look spammy. Also dedicate a page to writing down a copyrighted notice that protects your book like this.
Getting your book on Kindle
Once you have done this you can upload put your book and front cover together and convert it into PDF format. You can do this on Microsoft Word. After you have done that you can upload it onto Amazon Kindle. You also have to correctly format your book in the correct Kindle format. You can use AK Elite Bookmaker Software to correctly format your books in the correct method. You can also do it yourself by following the Amazon Kindle Formatting Guidelines Log into your Kindle account, click add title, set the price of your book and you are good to go. Make sure you make use of the description and the title. Write a good description as this is one of the main things that sells your book. Make sure you tell potential customers what the book is, what you will learn, why you should buy the book and any other information they need. The description word limit is up to 700 words so make sure you use all of them. Insert keywords into your title. So for example if your book is teaching people how to play golf then you could call your book:
Learn how to play Golf like a Pro - Step by step guide to play Golf
Play Golf like Tiger Woods - The Ultimate Guide to Playing Golf
Promoting your eBook
So you have now successfully published your book on Amazon Kindle. Well done. Now you need to promote it like crazy! Make social media pages for your book on Facebook, Twitter and Google Plus and also post content that promotes your book. Get people to share it on their Facebook, Twitter and Google Plus. Create a blog for it. Make a video that promotes your book and post it on Youtube. Get bloggers to review your book. Anything that spreads the word of your book.
You could also give it away for free to people. Post it on Facebook groups and fan pages about your niche. In our golf example you could post it on Facebook and Twitter pages that are similar to your niche. You can gift the book to chosen email addresses therefore getting people to give verified Amazon reviews.
Put a link to your website in the footer of your book on each page, this way people can visit your website. It will bring more traffic to your website or blog as well.
By following these steps and using a 'Repeat and Rinse' process you can create an eBook empire that brings you in thousands of dollars of passive income a month without you even doing anything. All you have to do is repeat this process and carry on publishing books.
If you always put limit on everything you do, physical or anything else. It will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them. - Bruce Lee
Bruce Lee was one of the most famous martial artists and movie stars in the world. He was a true pioneer of Martial Arts and was the founder of Jeet Kune Do. Mr Lee made many famous blockbusters like Fist of Fury and The Big Boss. Bruce Lee was very clear in what he wanted to do like many famous and successful people. He was a very focused and driven individual who would do anything to achieve his goals.
At the age of 28, Bruce Lee was a very driven and talented Martial Artist who already had two children by then. However at that age he was not a known martial arts actor. The only thing he had was the hunger for success and the belief in himself that he would make it. Bruce Lee is one of the greatest success stories.
He wrote a mission statement at 28 in the year of 1969. At the time he was a minor TV star in the USA. He featured in a small number of shows which included the short lived The Green Hornet TV series. He had no financial support or income and had his second child recently born. Bruce Lee wrote down exactly what he wanted to achieve (see the note he wrote below).
Bruce's success came from reading the book Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill. Check out the Review of the book from us. In the book Napoleon Hill writes you have to clearly visualize a goal to achieve it. Imagine you have already achieved your goal. This is what Bruce Lee did to achieve his goals of becoming such a powerful man. I encourage you to buy and read the book Think and Grow Rich, it will make your life better.
Transcript
My Definite Chief Aim
I, Bruce Lee, will be the first highest paid Oriental super star in the United States. In return I will give the most exciting performances and render the best of quality in the capacity of an actor. Starting 1970 I will achieve world fame and from then onward till the end of 1980 I will have in my possession $10,000,000. I will live the way I please and achieve inner harmony and happiness.
Bruce Lee
Jan. 1969
Bruce Lee sharing his wisdom
Thank you for reading this article. I hope this has helped you and you have enjoyed reading this article. If you follow Bruce Lee's techniques you will surely achieve success. Make sure you read the book Think and Grow Rich as this book will help you on your path to success.
If you have any questions or queries please put them in the comment section below. Please consider sharing this article if you enjoyed it.
A Marketing Strategy is very important for any business and it is imperative for any business to succeed. First of all you might want to know what a Marketing Strategy is and why you actually NEED one. Basically a Marketing Strategy defines the way you are going and to if your business/website is going in the right direction or not. It helps defines objectives and goals to keep your business on track. Many people think they do not need a Marketing Strategy but there are many reasons to why you need a Marketing Strategy. In this article we will look at the different types of strategies you can use and why you need a strategy.
Having a good Marketing Strategy in place helps your business go in the right direction. It also helps you focus on the correct thing. It helps you find out who your target audience are and therefore serve your customers/clients better. To succeed it helps to know who your target audience are. Knowing your audience helps you market better towards them.
To develop a great Marketing Strategy for your business it is necessary to answer these questions. These questions help you define your business. You should answer questions like:
Who is your target audience and How do you Market to them?
Do you post good content and What kind of Content do you post?
What Resources does your business use and What kind of resources do you have access to?
Set KPI's (Key Performance Indicators - A KPI helps you understand if your business is actually reaching your business objectives and monitors your performance)
Answering these questions will help you understand your business better and therefore market your products better and make higher profit.
Do not follow the normal rules, Break the Rules
Market Segmentation
Market Segmentation helps choose a broad target market audience for your business and helps you segment or narrow down it down into different groups who have mutual needs, so it is easier to market to the groups of customers. Market Segmentation is the process of splitting a larger target market into a smaller more focused target market.
There are many smaller target audience segments you can split them up to. For example you can split them up by Demographics, Geographic, Behavioural, etc. So for example you could market to all the people in a certain country like New Zealand. Or you could market to people of a certain age range like 18-25 year olds.
When choosing a Market Segmentation for your business there are some things you need to consider. You would need to consider some things like your target market being large enough to make profit from. It must be able to be consistent and something that your chosen market segmentation must be interested in and be responding well to.
Nelson Mandela, aged at 95 has died. Nelson Mandela was one of the greatest African leaders. He fought for racial equality and was a key figure in the South African apartheid. Mandela focused on tackling major issues such as poverty, inequality and racial issues. He also received countless amounts of awards and honors including the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize Award. Nelson Mandela was truly one of the greatest people to live and during his time he has said may inspiration and memorable quotes. This article will be a tribute to Nelson Mandela and will feature some of his most remarkable quotes and sayings.
Nelson Mandela on getting things and showing nothing is impossible
"It always seems impossible until its done."
A quote about freedom and how is not easy and the road is long and hard however with persistence and focus, anything is achievable.
"There is no easy walk to freedom anywhere, and many of us will have to pass through the valley of the shadow of death again and again before we reach the mountaintop of our desires."
Nelson Mandela hated racism, this is just one of the many things he stood up against.
"I detest racialism, because I regard it as a barbaric thing, whether it comes from a black man or a white man."
A great quote about success and how to achieve it.
"Money won't create success, the freedom to make it will."
Another thought provoking and inspirational quote.
"Does anybody really think that they didn't get what they had because they didn't have the talent or the strength or the endurance or the commitment?"
Mandela talking about freedom and how you should never give up.
"Let freedom reign. The sun never set on so glorious a human achievement."
You should never give up on your goal, like Nelson Mandela who wanted freedom for South Africa.
"If there are dreams about a beautiful South Africa, there are also roads that lead to their goal. Two of these roads could be named Goodness and Forgiveness."
Equality should be for everyone.
"Let there be work, bread, water and salt for all."
A message to the leaders of the world, less bloodshed and more peace.
"In countries where innocent people are dying, the leaders are following their blood rather than their brains."
Children should be growing up in a loving and peaceful environment, not one filled with diseases
"Give a child love, laughter and peace, not AIDS."
Nelson Mandela on how he has not fully experienced life. Nelson Mandela did spend a majority of his life in prison.
"Sometimes, I feel like one who is on the sidelines, who has missed life itself."
Mandela talking about the USA and how they should not just invade any country or nation they feel like.
"The United States has made serious mistakes in the conduct of its foreign affairs, which have had unfortunate repercussions long after the decisions were taken."
He was a born leader and was destined to be a great leader.
"By ancestry, I was born to rule."
Nelson Mandela was very passionate about his cause and was prepared to do anything for his cause and country, even die for his country.
"I started to make a study of the art of war and revolution and, whilst abroad, underwent a course in military training. If there was to be guerrilla warfare, I wanted to be able to stand and fight with my people and to share the hazards of war with them."
A memorable quote about failure and how every time we fail, we should just lift ourselves up and go for it again.
"The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall"
Nelson Mandela does not condone violence and expresses his outrage at oppression and exploitation.
"I do not deny that I planned sabotage. I did not plan it in a spirit of recklessness nor because I have any love of violence. I planned it as a result of a calm and sober assessment of the political situation that had arisen after many years of tyranny, exploitation and oppression of my people by the whites."
One of his best quotes on how to overcome fear and gain courage. Nelson Mandela was a very courageous man who fought for what he believed in.
"I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear."
One of his best quotes. He speaks the truth
"A good head and a good heart are always a formidable combination."
A quote about freedom and how it is necessary to have freedom and respect each other.
"For to be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others."
We should always strive for more and should always strive for excellence. Whatever we do we should be passionate about it.
"There is no passion to be found playing small - in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living."
We hope you enjoyed this tribute to Nelson Mandela and hope this article has inspired and made you think. What is your best and most memorable Nelson Mandela quote? Did we miss any out? Please include them in the comment section. Remember to share to this article if you enjoyed it.
Donald Trump is one of the most successful entrepreneurs of his generation and he has amassed a wealth that many people would only wish they could achieve. Donald Trump was born in mid 1930s and was born in Queens, New York in America. Mr Trump is one of the most well known business magnates, investors and TV personalities of his time. Among owning the most extravagant buildings and businesses in the world, he is also a renowned author and has many business books such as Trump University Real Estate 101 and Trump: How to Get Rich.
Donald has been on countless number of rich lists and his net worth is estimated to be around $10 billion. Here are some of his tips on how he got successful and how you can implement them into your business and life as well.
Keep Consistent and Never Give Up
Donald Trump never gives up when it comes to anything. Whether it comes to his business or personal life, he never gives in. He is the rich ultra successful guy because he never gives up and he always works towards his goal, one step at a time.
Ignore The Naysayers
You will always get people out there who say stuff like "You can't do it", "Why are you even trying" or "You're just going to fail".You have to ignore those people because those kind of people only say things like that because either they can't do it, or they want to see you fail. Donald Trump does not care what people say or think about him. He just does what he does, and this is the type of attitude you are going to have to develop
"Money was never a big motivation for me, except as a way to keep score. The real excitement is playing the game."- Donald Trump
Do What You Love
This is one of the things most successful people do. Following your passion and doing what you love is very important when it comes to business, or anything else. If you follow your passion, success will follow you. It is very important to follow your passion because you will enjoy what you do. Business and Real Estate was Donald's passion. Whats yours?
Be Optimistic
Whatever you do always keep a positive outlook on life. Never think negative and always try to keep negative thoughts as far out of your head as possible. The Donald always thinks positive, that is why he is so successful. For more information on optimism and developing the mindset, check out the Law of Attraction and The Secret.
It's Never Easy
The Road to success is never an easy path. You will get obstacles in the way, and you will face challenges and hardships. But if it was that easy everyone would be successful. Do whatever it takes to get successful and never stop. Donald Trump faced many challenges in his life such as getting bankrupt a numerous amounts of time. But he still turned his life around and is now a multi-billionaire.
Think and Dream BIG
Finally we would like to leave you with the final point of Trump's success; Always have BIG dreams and always think BIG. The bigger you think the better. Never place any limitations on yourself. Always be pushing yourself and never settle for any less.
Thank you for reading the article and we would like to wish you all the best in your journey to becoming successful. If you have any of your own tips, please include them in the comment section. Be sure to Follow us and Like us on Facebook.
Technology is everywhere we look nowadays. There’s technology in our smartphones, our
TV’s and even our doors. It has helped us achieve many things. However there
have been many issues regarding multinational technology companies falling out.
One of the major stories involving two of the biggest technology firms is South
Korean company Samsung and America Corporation Apple. There are many lawsuits that these two
companies have put against each other for the design of their respected phones
and tablets. The first lawsuit began in the spring of 2011 and by August 2011
Apple and Samsung were litigating 19 on-going cases, in nine countries. In July 2012 the two companies were involved
in a staggering 50 lawsuits between each other, with billions of dollars of
damages claimed against each other. While Apple won a ruling in its favor in
the U.S., Samsung won rulings in South Korea, Japan, and the UK. Apples first
lawsuit was because of the comparison between the Apple iPhone 3GS and the Samsung
Galaxy i9000 which Apple provided comparison photos. Later on these photos were
found to be tampered with to match dimensions and style.
Recently Taiwanese firm HTC and Apple had a very public dispute
between each other. Apple accused HTC of ‘cloning products’ and coping features
such as ‘pinch to zoom’. After a lengthy court case they reached a global
settlement that included the dismissal of all current lawsuits and a ten-year
license agreement. The license extends to current and future patents held by
both parties. According to the document, Apple main concern was the alleged
cloning of iPhone's slide-to-unlock prompt at the bottom of the screen as
something that "could qualify as a distinctive Apple user experience;
however, a different animation (for example, a bubble slider) or an animation
at another location ... would not be considered substantially similar and would
not consitute a cloned feature."
Apple sued Samsung over simlarlities over the iPhone 3GS and Samsung S i9000
The terms of the settlement are confidential. During a press
conference CEO of HTC, Peter Chou said “HTC is pleased to have resolved its
dispute with Apple, so HTC can focus on innovation instead of litigation.”
After the court case, CEO of Apple Tim Cook stated “We are glad to have reached
a settlement with HTC,” said Tim Cook, CEO of Apple. “We will continue to stay
laser focused on product innovation.”
Moving away from smartphones, Social Network giant Facebook
has also faced many lawsuits over privacy issues and what they do with personal
information of its users. Another one of Facebook’s company Instagram, has also
faced its fear share of court cases. In its Term of Services it stated
"may share User Content and your information (including but not limited
to, information from cookies, log files, device identifiers, location data, and
usage data)" with Facebook. This court case is going to keep on going and
who knows when it’ll stop.
People sue other people for the stupidest reasons nowadays
Technology companies seem to get into quite a few lawsuits.
They get into legal trouble over the silliest such as Google getting sued over
giving bad directions and a Dutch woman trying to sue Pentium over allegedly
being allergic to processer.
Do you have any unusual stories about lawsuits? We would love to hear about your experiences and views. Please consider leaving a comment. Did you enjoy this article? Please share it with your friends and let everyone know how great it was!
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In this
article we will look at the Corporate Social Responsibility and Ethics of
Northern Rock. Northern Rock was a bank based in the United Kingdom that fell
into a major financial crisis in 2007. Customers were worried they would lose
their money so they queued outside the bank and tried to protect the capital
that they had invested in the firm.
This
article will discuss and analyse the different ethical and moral theories of
Corporate Social Responsibility. The article will also provide an insight on
the importance of applying ethical concepts and strategies to a business as
well as discuss the future for CSR and make some reasonable predictions.
First you might want to know abit more about CSR and what it is. Corporate
Social Responsibility aims to ensure that businesses do everything in an
ethical manner. This means they should consider their social, environmental and
economic impact as well as their influence on human rights.
It is a view of the corporation and its role in society that assumes a
responsibility among firms to pursue goals in addition to profit maximisation
and a responsibility among firm’s stakeholders to hold the firm accountable for
its actions
CSR ensures
that businesses focus on what is ethically and morally correct for the business
and its employees while also maintaining a high level of social responsibility.
Ethics looks to examine what should and can be done. There is no guarantee that
ethical behaviour will be used in a business that uses CSR.
Customers queuing up to take their money out
Who to blame for the failure of the bank?
Over forty years’ ago an economist named Milton Friedman,
also winner of the Nobel Prize for his contribution to economics, argued that “there is one and only one social
responsibility of business – to use its resources and engage in activities
designed to increase its profits”. Many
individuals and companies share the ethos that Friedman had, as do Northern
Rock. The directors have been taking a large salary for themselves thus leaving
Northern Rock in a difficult situation. The large salaries of the directors are not
possible as the inflation rate at the time was 28%.
The huge salaries of the directors were one of the reasons
that the bank, Northern Rock had collapsed. This relates to egotism as the directors are
taking salaries for themselves and not thinking about the company. Egotism is
when an individual shows self-interest as a trait and does not think ethically
or about others. The major directors of Northern Rock thought that their
salaries were justifiable and they were using this salary and position of power
to fuel their ego. Many customers of Northern Rock had lost their money
invested in the bank and for many customers this was a substantial amount.
However the bank did not just collapse because of the salaries of the
directors, other factors which contributed towards the collapse were the
continuous rise of inflation, gross domestic product and the government
borrowing deficit reached 10% and the government had to go to the International
Monetary Fund for a loan to see it through the predicament.
Executive pay is the total amount of pay or financial
compensation an executive officer or director receives with a company.
Executive pay can include or be a mixtures salary, bonuses, shares of the
company stock, benefits, rewards and any other incentive paid out to the
executive officer.
During the mid-1990s to 2006, Northern Rock were providing
loans or mortgages to people who either because of their income, or lack of
assets could not obtain a loan or mortgage. This lead to a large amount of debt
being bought together for the individuals, another problem also occurred; they
could not pay back their loans. This is a classic example of deontology as the
banks did adhere to their obligations and duties when analysing a dilemma. This
means that someone will do what they have to because it is they are ethically
responsible to do so, in Northern Rock’s case they were giving out loans and
mortgages to everyone.
CSR diagram
Utilitarianism is a factor to consider as to why shareholders
should take into account the actions of the directors. Utilitarianism is when a
firm will do anything to do good regardless of the outcome or how many people
it will have a negative effect on. For example; someone who sacrifices their
life to save a train full of people is fulfilling an obligation to society. In
Northern Rock’s case they were giving loans to everyone regardless of their
situation.
Although the collapse of Northern Rock was not entirely the
director’s fault and a number of factors did contribute towards it such as the
large loan pay-outs to customers who could not afford to pay back their loans. On
the other hand because of the director’s large salary and the egoism from the
directors, the bank collapsed.
A shareholder is someone who has invested resources into a
particular company to receive equity in that specific firm. It is then up to
the company to issue dividends to the shareholders. Dividends are a sum of
money which is usually distributed by a company among its shareholders
regularly. This is typically paid out quarterly during the financial year.
Time for Northern Rock ran out
To stop the directors from receiving such a large salary,
shareholders could have intervened and either elected new directors or put a
limit to the directors salary. If they were to do this then Northern Rock,
would not be in as much financial trouble.
Maintaining Regulation for Northern Rock is very important
for the bank. Regulation is a law, order or rule which is prescribed by an
authority and especially to regulate conduct. It is important for banks to
follow regulations set by higher authority, banks have to comply with the laws
and regulations set.
Many firms have doubts about ethics and whether what they
are doing is correct. Business Ethics in terms of issues of right and wrong,
and quite naturally question whether there is any way difference from the law.
The words ethics and morality are often used interchangeably, although many
academic writers have proposed clear differences between the two terms (e.g.
Crane 2000). Ethics represents an attempt to systemize and rationalise
morality, typically into generalised rules that offer a solution to situations
of moral uncertainty.
Directors may have deserved to earn such a large salary
because they have worked themselves up over time. The Directors think they have
earned such a high salary because they do that a lot of work around Northern
Rock and this justifies it. They see the day to day running of the bank and
they represent the shareholders, who can just as easily elect new directors if
the currents ones are not performing to a good standard. On the other hand,
higher authorities should put a cap on their earning potential and limit how
much they can earn yearly. If the directors cannot justify such a high salary,
then it is pointless and a waste of money to allow them to earn that much.
Corporate Social Responsibility proposes to ensure companies
act on their business actions in a more ethical way. This means a company would
have to take account of social and economic impacts as well as consideration of
human rights.
There are many different opinions concerning the use of CSR.
Friedman claims it is the responsibility of the business to make as much money
as the business can without any regard for ethics. However Sternberg states that
business ethics is based on the result of the business selling their products
and services within the law and to behave ethically.
The shareholders for Northern Rock could take action against
the different directors because they are partially responsible for getting
Northern Rock into such financial trouble and their arrogance caused the bank
to go into a crisis. However the directors have also worked their way to their
position and deserve to earn however much they earn.
What about Northern Rock's customers?
Savers of Northern Rock should have their savings guaranteed
by the government because if they were not, savers would lose all their money.
This would be very unethical and unfair for the savers. There are various stakeholders involved with
Northern Rock and the bank. A
stakeholder is someone who is affected by the business in anyway. A major
stakeholder of Northern Rock were the shareholders as they would want the best
possible dividends paid out to them regularly so they would remain happy with
the company. The shareholders would want the share prices to increase, so they
can gain more capital. As the shareholders also invest money into the bank they
would want an increase in return capital.
Customers are one of the bank’s key stakeholders as they
have savings with Northern Rock and use their services such as taking a loan or
mortgage out. During the banking crisis savers were behaving very unethically
as they were just thinking of themselves, this is considered as egoism. In
2008, a major financial comparison site estimated 1 in 10 adults in the UK
spend more than they earn in a month. In a ten year gap between 1997 and 2007
the number of credit cards increased from 36 million to an astonishing 71
million. These statistics support the fact that customers just wanted money so
they could finance a certain lifestyle. In September 2007 many first time
buyers were borrowing more than 90% of the cost of the house they were
purchasing. Most of the customers could not afford to repay the loan payment
thus the reason for the bank’s collapse.
The Financial Services Authority would also play a
stakeholder for Northern Rock as they have to approve and authorise everything
that Northern Rock would have to do. Customers are also a key stakeholder in
the bank as they are the users. As the
bank was a pivotal part of the community, the customers would be affected as it
was a Northern bank and the community would be proud of Northern Rock. Shareholders could have capped the director’s
salary.
Employees are affected by the business and are one of the
main shareholders of Northern Rock. When the employee starts work with Northern
Rock they have a contract of Employment which states the employment conditions,
rights, responsibilities and duties. Employees follow the deontology theory
which states that people should follow and adhere to their obligations and
responsibilities. During the banking failure 1/3 of the banks employees lost
their jobs.
The local community is another stakeholder in Northern Rock
because they used to provide financial support and funding for the local
community. Without the support of the bank the local community would suffer in
terms of financial support.
The government is involved in the business and is a major
stakeholder. The government are affected by them as they fund the bank and
authorise some of the transactions that are made by the bank. Without the
authorisation of the government, Northern Rock would not be able to complete
their transactions with their customers and they would not be able to give out
loans and mortgages. Employees are affected by the bank because they work for
Northern Rock and without people working for them, Northern Rock would not be
able to run.
The Financial Services Authority is a stakeholder in
Northern Rock as they would want the fair treatment of customers. The Deposit
Guarantee Schemes Directive (DGSD), which was first adopted in 1994, governs
the operation of deposit guarantee schemes all over the European Economic Area.
This meant that if the bank was the
collapse customers would have their savings saved and they would not lose
everything.
The government displayed signs of justice when they
privatised Northern Rock to take them out of the banking crisis. They were
trying act ethically while maintaining fairness and interactional. They made
sure the investors in Northern Rock, including the customers, had compensation
for the banking failure.
Northern Rock were regulated and by the Financial Services
Authority (FSA). This means all of the loans and mortgages that Northern Rock
issue, had to go through the Financial Services Authority (FSA). The government protect up to £85,000 of the
customers money that is deposited within Northern Rock by customers. They are
being socially responsible and are applying CSR to their actions and they are
doing what is ethically correct. The government have implemented virtue ethics
and utilitarianism as they were trying to do the greater amount of good for the
greater amount of people. They protected some of the customer’s money and
behaved ethically and morally correct.
This video explains what CSR is
The bank collapsed in 2007 when Northern Rock ran into
trouble. There are many people that are responsible for the failure of the
bank. There are various stakeholders
involved in the bank. The Bank of England is one of the firm’s main
stakeholders. The Bank of England issues Northern Rock with all the monies
needed for financial transactions. The Bank of England could be responsible for
the failure of the bank as a problem could have occurred because the Bank of
England does not have enough money to support the transactions.
Moral Responsibility is when a person praises, punishes or
rewards for an act for which a person is morally responsible. In Northern
Rock’s case there are many people who are morally responsible for the failure
of the bank. One of the reasons for the failure of the bank is the government.
The government’s actions can be linked to Utilitarianism as they were issuing
out loans and mortgages to customers who could not afford to pay back their
loans.
Loans were provided to people, who, because of their job or
income and the lack of assets or the property that the customer wanted to
purchase, for this simple fact they could not obtain a loan or mortgage. Due to
the booming property market from the mid-1990s to 2006, banks including
Northern Rock, allowed much riskier lending to happen. This led to multiple
debt problems for the people that took these loans out and they were not able
to pay back their initial loan. It could also be seen as Deontology as they
followed the rules, irrespective of the outcome.
Shareholders are partially to blame for the banking crisis
as well. As shareholders could have capped the director’s salary or limited
their salary to make sure they were not earning above a certain amount. However
as they never did this, it lead to further predicaments and decline for
Northern Rock.
Customers are also morally responsible for the failure of
Northern Rock as they carried on taking out loans and mortgages regardless of
knowing they would not have enough money to pay them back. They were trying to
maintain and live a lifestyle that was out of their financial reach. This could
be seen as Egoism as the customer would be taking out loans for their own
personal self-interest regardless of the consequences.
Teleology is another ethical theory that can apply to both
Northern Rock and their customers, this is when someone suits themselves and
disregards any laws/behaviours and regulations which may prevent their
behaviour.
US Economist
Milton Friedman stated, "There is one and only one social responsibility
of business-to use its resources and engage in activities designed to increase
its profits so long as it stays within the rules of the game, which is to say,
engages in open and free competition without deception or fraud." Friedman
states how a business should use everything in its power including its
resources, to increase its profits as long as it is legal and not deception or
fraud. This is exactly what the shareholders job is to do within the company. This
could be seen as Egoism as the business would just want to maximize its profits
and have self-interest.
The directors of Northern Rock also contributed to the
banking failure. The directors were taking an astronomical salary for
themselves and not thinking about ethics or the bank itself, however the
directors were performing their job and trying their best to keep the bank
afloat. Egoism does contribute for the director’s high salary and teleology as
the directors did not think about any laws and regulations in place and just
did what they wanted. An ethical theory that applies to the directors in this
case is teleology as they suited themselves while disregarding any laws and
regulations in place which may prevent their behaviour.
Banks went ahead and allowed much riskier lending and did
not contemplate the economic down turn was distressing everyone; this could be
due to greed or not have proper control of finances.
They went ahead and started lending out loans which are they
could not afford to give out, this resulted in way more customers coming to
Northern Rock for a loan. Northern Rock were willing to lend customers up to
£180,000, for those whose income was only at £30,000 while most other banks
would not risk that much money.
Future of CSR and Northern Rock
Business Ethics is how companies manage the business
processes to produce an overall positive impact on society. The banking situation has not improved by
much over the years since Northern Rock’s collapse.
Corporate Social Responsibility has grown to the status of a
career and is being discussed on the world stage. Companies which plan to be,
or are, leaders in corporate social responsibility are faced by rising public
expectations, increasing innovation and increased social problems. They are
forced to chart their CSR course and document their actions.
Over the years the financial market has seen a massive
meltdown due to the simple fact of over lending, poor regulation and over
borrowing. Northern Rock is a prime example of how failing to act in accordance
with CSR can not only upset the business but it can also jeopardise the
relationship of the customers, shareholders and stakeholders. Due to their
irresponsible behaviour and their lack of concern of what may happen due to
their actions, Northern Rock faced their punishment in the mass financial
crisis in 2008.
There are many lessons to be learned from Northern Rock’s
mistake and their lack of acknowledgement for CSR. One of the main lessons to learn
from the failure of the firm is to not lend money to customers who cannot
afford to pay the payment back. Most Customers were just taking credit out to
finance their lifestyles rather than needs according to Standard Life bank.
This is also the case for the directors of Northern Rock as they were getting
paid huge amounts of money and not justifying the amount they were getting
paid. The massive salaries were another reason of the bank’s collapse;
directors were just trying to fund their lavishing lifestyle regardless of the
outcome.
Politically, there were always those people who wished the
bank was to fail. Massive salaries were being to business executives and this
lead to the view that things should be sorted out. Television pictures
portraying angry depositors and savers of Northern Rock instigated major
political problems for the government.
Firms have to think about their shareholders when they are
developing new strategies for their business. The stakeholder approach was
designed as a model for improving the efficiency of the firm.
Northern Rock were willing to provide customers with higher
loans while other mortgage lenders were not prepared to do this. The firm made
loans that were not valued much and an increase in repossessions followed
nationally.
In the future, CSR optimists predict that a number of
companies and firms will be convinced to implement a CSR strategy into their
operations. An increasing amount of businesses see CSR as increased
competitiveness and profitability. Corporate Social Responsibility is part of a
search for a new social contract between business and society. This new
contract will not necessarily make a new set of rules but a new set of norms
arrived through experimentation.
Conculsion
Many pessimists believe that CSR will not be clear
enough for firms to take it up, unless it is legislated or there are other
added incentives. They also believe that CSR will not be in the public eye and
there won’t be clarity to what CSR is and why it is so important for a business
to implement Corporate Social Responsibility and Ethics. It will become
labelled as surplus to requirements and increasing the costs of running the
business. Companies who once implemented and embraced CSR will lose interest
and pursue other interests and objectives.
Even though there is a major contrast in views of social
impact and whether corporate responsibility works, the majority of researchers
agree that in 5 – 10 years from now CSR will become much more main-stream with
businesses. CSR in the future will become part of a business’s basic model and
not an add-on. Most of the progress and commitment to CSR may be slow progress
but it would increase the over time within a 5 – 10 year time frame.
Careless loans and mortgages were given to people
who showed no means of paying the loan back; this showed how Northern Rock
neglected CSR. For this reason, firms try to do everything to make sure that
they do not suffer the same fate as Northern Rock, and they try to make their
business ethically correct. If businesses were to perform an analysis on how
they impacted and influenced society, it would lessen the problems for some
businesses. This article has been pretty long and if you have read the whole article I would like to thank you. I would appreciate you leaving a comment and if you could share this article I would be very grateful. Don't forget to sign up to the RSS Feed and like us on Facebook and Follow us on Twitter .
Khan knows that the fans are the ones that make the team and even though Jacksonville are playing pretty disappointing but on a positive note there performance is improving and they are winning some games. Khan's philosophy on investing in his employees is still used in Jacksonville as he has invested vastly in his teams locker room. In the locker rooms he has put in TV screens, swimming pools and spa baths, everything in which the team can relax after a hard game.
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