You probably didn’t notice but I was on vacation for the past 2 weeks and just came back to work this Monday. Those were real vacation as I left with my family for Virginia Beach. I did bring my laptop and BlackBerry but didn’t use them to work on my sites. I rarely do this but for 2 weeks, I barely answered my emails and comments on my blogs. Since I work with my brain all the time, I needed a time where I could shut it down completely and enjoy the small things of life such as a sand castle contest!

While I was getting some rest, I got stuck by a lightning: I’m making 2 terrible mistakes this year. I left my day-to-day tasks long enough to look at my online empire differently. I was shocked by the results of my reflexion. I’m sharing those 2 mistakes as you probably do them too. Regardless if you are doing it with your blog, your career, your sideline or simply in general, I’m sure you do at least one of those 2 major mistakes.

#1 I’m Getting Lazy

Don’t get me wrong, I work a lot. I work 4 days a week at my day job as a financial planner and 1 full day on my online empire. For the past 3 years, both my career and online are growing exponentially. I’ve managed to reach a 6 figure income at the age of 28 and I am now making 6 figure online too. The problem is exactly where my success is:  it is becoming too easy.

If you ever hustle very hard for a long time and you have a great structure in your business or throughout your career, you will eventually be successful. This is exactly where you need to be very careful. Closing new deals at work became easier since many clients trust me now and refer me their good friends. Making money online has become easier too as my blog network is growing and I have a few niche websites earning money too.

But when everything is running smoothly and the money is coming in, most human being will tend to surf the wave instead of looking for the next big one. So I just noticed that I have been working on keeping my routine instead of bursting out of my comfort bubble to do some serious creation. I have tons of projects on paper that I didn’t start yet and tons of todo’s that have not been even looked at. I’m getting lazy because I feel that my business can keep growing without me working. Well this ain’t gonna happen! There is a reason why you are standing where you are right now and it is the sum of what you have done to get there. If you only keep doing what you do in your routine, you won’t grow anymore. Even worst, you might slow down and get engulfed by the next wave instead of surfing on it. This is exactly what happened to RIM (manufacturer of the Black Berry) while they ignore Apple and their iPhone to surf their small wave.

#2 I’m Getting Cocky

Hum… maybe I should rephrase that: I’m cocky and I’ve always been. But while a bit of cockiness is acceptable, being over-confident creates a feeling of completeness and you don’t see the urge of working harder. Worst; you start overlooking what you do thinking that you are just too good at it.

This is what I did when I first created my niche websites and started to hire VA’s and outsource a part of my work. Since I was making a lot of money, I thought that I could run multiple projects with little to not input from myself and everything would run perfectly. While I didn’t do any critical mistakes by overlooking what I did in 2011, I have realized during my vacation that I could have been much further if I had taken the time to sit down and analyzed what need to be done. I used to check and double check my strategies and carefully implement each element myself. More recently, I’ve put everything on the shelf to concentrate on writing my eBook. I thought I could do both writing and managing without looking too much at was is going on. After all, I’m an online genius and I just can’t fail… I was so wrong!

This is how I ended-up with running cash flow negative for the very first month of my company’s history. It’s not too bad as I realize my mistakes fast enough but it could have been catastrophic if I didn’t take those vacations at a perfect timing!

Look at others to understand what you do wrong

This lightning that enlighten my cavern was provoked by the reading of a blog that I know for a while but I hadn’t had the time to read recently: Budgeting in the fun stuff. Crystal, who runs this blogs among many others, started only 18 months ago and racked-up more than $7,000 in July. So while I was having my worst month, she was having her best one.

Crystal and I have 2 very different business models and we don’t always agree on the method of making money online (mind you, we are still friends ). However, I can tell you that we share many things in common such as a strong spirit, a taste for entrepreneurship, good writing skills combined with an unlimited creativity. So I was surprised but very proud of Crystal when I noticed how far she went since she started her online venture. This is when I read a few posts on her blogs about her recent success that I have realized that I was getting both lazy and cocky at the same time.

What’s next

The good news is that I am in a perfect timing to take everything back under control: I’m back from vacation and I’m on fire. I’m about to launch my first eBook from a series of 4 books about escaping the rat race and I have a complete plan to hire another VA (my main VA is on maternity leave). This fall will be a huge turning point for my company and I will share each of my steps with you in this crazy adventure!

I wonder if you ever been lazy or getting cocky after being successful at work, online or with your company? How did you wake up? Do you think that you are currently in this situation?

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Entrepreneurs average 3.8 failures before final success. What sets the successful ones apart is their amazing persistence. – Lisa M. Amos

Are you thinking of quitting your job? Are you sick of your first job post-college?

Many young professionals will soon find out that life after college isn’t all about making lots of money and signing lucrative contracts with CEOs around the world. You might be stuck in a job that you can’t stand with co-workers that annoy you even more. As a result you’re feeling that being self-employed is the best option for the time being.

Are you sure you want to be self-employed? Let’s look at the key factors that you need to consider:

The odd hours that you’ll work.

When I wrote about jumping on the self-employed bandwagon, one reader responded by saying that as an entrepreneur you can work any hours during the day. That’s any 18 hours that you want. The reality is that you’re going to have work odd hours. This includes the middle of the night, weekends, and holidays. Are you ready to work completely weird hours? Some people prefer to have their free time and not have to worry about business all of the time.

The irregular income.

Without a salary, your income will be totally irregular. Can you handle life without a consistent income? Some months you can make lots of money. Other months you’ll be happy to have enough cash to pay the bills. The income is really irregular when you make your own money.

If you’re a single dude this might not be a problem at all. If you have an expensive lifestyle or other people to feed, you might want to build up an emergency fund before you take any career risks. You might have to dip into your savings on months that you don’t make enough money to cover all of the bills and new expenses.

Constant investments.

You’re going to have to spend money to grow your business over time. This requires constant investments of time and money. These investments can come in many different forms. Some will be something simple like a new business card. Other expenses will be complex and require you to spend thousands of dollars on consulting services just to solve a specific problem. Are you ready to make constant investments?

The time it takes to make real money.

Mike wrote about creating an overnight success the other week. The truth is that we often look at successful business owners and fall for the survivorship bias. We only see those that have made it. There are many aspiring entrepreneurs that just haven’t made it or realized that running a business is not for them.

The idea of waiting a long time to make some money doesn’t really cross our minds. We want to quit our jobs and start making our own money right away. What will you do if you have to wait much longer than anticipated to see some profits? Can you handle these down times?

Everything is on you.

You know when you leave your job at 5pm and forget about work by the time you arrive at home? That’s going to go away. You now have to care all of the time. You can’t really pass the buck or let someone else do it. Everything is on you now. No longer can you go away for two weeks and not think about anything work-related.

I hope that you consider the ideas mentioned above before you plan to quit your job.

Where do you stand? Are you tired of your current job? Are you looking to quit your job and push forward with your own projects?

(photo credit: alancleaver_2000)

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To tell or not to tell that is the question?  So you have a blog, or better, a small business on the side. Should you tell your boss about it? Most bloggers are anonymous for this reason; they don’t want their boss to make the link between the blog (or side business) and the individual working for him.

Why is that? Is it because we are afraid that our employer would spy on us because they think that we would work on our alternative source of income instead of concentrating on our day job?

Is it because we are afraid to be asked to stop our extracurricular activities?

Is it because we are afraid of being disciplined due to “inappropriate” statements found on our blogs?

All these reasons and many others are related to one simple thing: FEAR.

In all honesty, my boss knows about my online empire. She knows about the fact that I am making money online, that I blog about personal finance and that I am a shareholder of a small corporation. I’m sure you can find plenty of reasons to not declare that you have are making money on the side through your blog or any other kind of small venture. But you might have not considered the benefits you can get from telling your employer that you run a business. This is why I am going to give you a few benefits of telling your boss you have a small business.

Please note that in my case, due to legislation around my day job, I have to declare any participation in a corporation and all additional sources of income. In fact, even volunteer activities have to be reported in my field!

Being Job Independent

This is probably my biggest advantage: my boss knows that I could easily live from something else than my day job. She doesn’t know about all the details obviously, but she knows that my company is generating sufficient income to support my lifestyle. This makes a huge difference in the relationship you have with your employer. They know that you like your job (if not, you have the ability to quit) and they also know that they should take care of you (up to a certain point).  Being job independent doesn’t mean that you can be arrogant, far from it! However, it helps you to negotiate with your boss in order to get what you deserve. Corporate structure dictates that, sometimes your manager will have to “put you on the shelf” instead of giving you what you expect (promotion, salary raise, etc) right away. They do it because they don’t always have the choice (they still have to generate profits and manage their whole department) but they will pick someone else if they know that you are a little bit more independent financially…

Create a Wow

Having my own company helped me earn credibility from my boss, my peers and my clients. While most of them don’t know the details of what I do (I make sure to draw a clear line between my business and my day job), they are intrigued and impressed by the fact that I can manage everything at the same time. When people around you are impressed, it helps you shine (and obviously increases your chances of getting a promotion!).

The key point is not to brag about it and stay VERY HUMBLE. I don’t talk much about my company and I keep some mystery around it. Most people just know that I run websites and make money out from it. I tell everyone that I don’t get clients from my online business and that I don’t mix my financial planner job with my blogs even when I talk about personal finance. I actually do more than tell them… I don’t mix both in the real world either!

Get more Exposure

I am now known for being a great financial planner as well as an entrepreneur. The last time I had an interview (it was for the Canadian Business Magazine), I had the photographer to come to my branch and my boss was quite happy of having her branch shine at the same time!

Be honest

The last thing I want: is to create a bad surprise for my employer. I don’t want them to find my sites or my incorporation by chance. If it happened, I would be in serious trouble. Why did you hide it from us? What are you doing exactly? This is where you get tons of questions as if you were a criminal while you actually do everything by the rules. Being honest has always served me (even though I hate paying taxes ), so I applied the same guidelines with my employer.

Final thoughts on telling your boss

Since I first started The Financial Blogger, I didn’t know that I was going to make some serious money with the internet but I knew that someone I know could identify me. This is why I have decided to write only things that I feel comfortable with (or that I can defend if you turn it the other way around). Since I’m okay with what is being published, it means that I am also okay with people reading my stuff… including my employer!

I think that it is very important that you don’t bad mouth people you know on your blog because you do have a “louder” voice than most people through this medium. Therefore, you have to be careful with what you do with it. After all, with great powers, come great responsibilities!

What is your take on this? Are you comfortable telling your boss you make money online?

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Two weeks ago (sorry, I was sick last week and had a hard time keeping up with my posting schedule!), I discussed how I started my career in a bank. During the first 3 years of my career, I was able to jump from $30K to $56K (plus a bonus of $9K) so really $65K. From what I can see, the 50-70K range is a nice plateau that is pretty hard to break out of. Once you have made this kind of income, you enter a nice, comfortable, sheltered environment where you think you can establish your family and wait peacefully to retire in 30 years or so. But I am not this type of person. After getting 3 promotions in 3 years, I wanted more. Since I am young, my objective was to make a 6 figure income. While I made some great moves, the hardest part was yet to come…

Go into Sales / Fast Growing Department

Choosing the right type of job is important because you most likely be able to perform if you enjoy your job. Now that you know what you like to do, you need to find one of the following types of departments:

- Sales department

Why sales? Because in any kind of industry, the one bringing the money to the company is the one who puts more in his own pocket. It doesn’t have to be hard core sales per se (for example, I’m a financial planner, not a mutual fund salesman) but you need to work in a lucrative department. Cost centers (like an admin department for example) will never generate great bonuses and important income raises. Why? Because they are necessary for the business but don’t generate revenue. So if you have a clerical position, you are better off doing it in a sales dept than in an admin center. You will have a better salary or bonus while doing a very similar job…

- Fast growing department

If you are not in a money generating department, you need to seek out a fast growing department. Look for new departments or expansions of an existing company. Here again, if it’s new, you are starting on an equal step with everybody else on the floor. If you are ready to hustle and improve your working environment, promotions will follow much faster. I was lucky when I started my career as I joined both a money generating department that was recently opened. The result? I got promotions 3 years in a row.

Work on your Next Step

I told you already about my uncle who used to ask me questions about my future. He used to always ask me where I wanted to be in 5 years. Well this question should be answer at every level; personal, business, career. Once you know where you want to be in 5 years, you can work your goals into a 5 year plan. For each year, you need to have smart goals.

At the beginning of my career, I didn’t know how to do this. My boss helped me (because I asked him to!). After 2 years working for him, I knew that I wanted to continue my career in finance. This is when I started to look at all the possible positions higher than mine that were available in the finance industry. It took a while to see which type of career I wanted but I had finally decided to go… on to the management side!

Get some Accreditation

Before deciding to go on the management side, I was guided by my boss to get my financial planning title. The point at that time was to get some more accreditation while I was working. Once you master your job, you have more time and energy to concentrate on something else.  This is why I was studying on my lunch hour and at night while everybody was sleeping. Over 4 years, I earned my financial planning title (which is a university certificate degree + a professional exam) plus I did my MBA (in order to go into management).

During the same period of time, I have decided to move into the branch network and get a financial planner position. I really enjoyed it and put my management ambitions on the shelf to pursue what I really like; helping clients manage their money. However, the titles I earned help me in 2 ways:

a)      I have more credibility from my employer and clients

b)      I was able to negotiate more raises since my employer values education. Each diploma is worth a few thousands more in revenue increases!

Aim for 200%

Doing 100% is not enough if you want to reach 6 figures in 5 years. Aim for 200%. I was not always able to do it but I was always be close enough that my boss (and my boss’ boss) were pretty impressed. 200% results come with great bonuses and chances to have more promotions. The first year when I got my 200% as a financial planner, I hit the 6 figure income at the age of 28… so exactly 5 years after I entered in the firm. Since then, I have maintained this high level of performance… and this high level of income!

Compare and Ask

If you are continuously working on improving your department, that you get diplomas and your results are way above the average; it is time that you sit down at the table and start negotiating. I wrote an interesting piece a while back ago on how to get an income raise. By comparing my peers and asking for what they make (or more), I was able to get 3 raises in the same year (see the post for more details).

The key here is to build a file on your income raise with rational reasons. Write down your achievements, your diplomas and your success among your team. Don’t ask for a raise because you are good, ask for a raise because you have shown that you are able to deliver more than expected and your salary should also be more than expected.

Final Thoughts on Fast Growing Income

You know what? If you really work hard on growing your income, you will definitely achieve it as I did. However, I must put a big warning sticker on this article: you will never get enough. Making money is cool, making more money is cooler, so what about making more and more money every year? This is where the catch is. You need to slow down at one point and be happy with what you have. I have worked very hard during 5 years but now I just want to keep my 6 figures income for the moment. I really enjoy life with my wife and kids think that family is the most important thing.

If you have any other questions on how I reach the 6 figure level that fast, let me know, it will be my pleasure to answer back to you .

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Today, I want to share with you my professional story. While discussing with my partner the other day, I realized that we have both climbed the corporate ladder pretty fast. We are now both working in 2 completely different fields in finance but we started at the very same place back in 2003… I went from an admin clerk making 30K to a financial professional making over 100K in only 5 years. That’s the equivalent of getting annualized raises of 27% per year. How did I go from 30k to a 6 figure income in 5 years? Here’s my story:

Join a Big Firm

I finished my bachelor degree in finance-marketing back in May 2003. Prior to this date, I had already signed my contract with a big financial firm. The job was okay but it wasn’t exciting either. However, the point was to get hired by a company with thousands of divisions. My employer currently has more than 17,000 employees. This meant 2 things for a young wolf like me:

1)      There is a lot of potential for promotions

2)      I could try 5 different careers and still be working for the same employer for 25 years

When I started working, I was looking for these 2 things from my future employer and I didn’t mind my starting level. All I needed was an entry point. Because most of the good jobs in big firms are given to existing employees…

As an admin clerk, I was balancing trades all day long. The first 4 months were very interesting as I was learning about the stock market and how stock options work (I was in the derivative products department). However, after a while, you get tired of opening the same Excel spreadsheets and solving the same issues over and over again. This is when I quit my first job.

2 weeks after, I was hired by the same company but in a different department. This is where the real story started…

Get Your Manager’s Attention

Before you start thinking you need to be a brown-noser to get promotions, I’ll tell you upfront: brown noses don’t get the real jobs. One day or another, somebody detects their little game and they get stuck where they are.

When I write about getting your manager’s attention I mean about by bringing results to the table. I’m talking about asking your manager questions in order to improve the way you work and behave.

Do More Than Expected

If you do your job right, that’s expected. If you do your job better; it’s appreciated. What you need to do is to:

A)     Do your job better than most people around you

B)      Think about how you can improve your job or anything else in your department

Once I had mastered my new job (we were granting investment loans for high net worth clients), I was always thinking during the day (or after work!) about how I can improve the way I am work. I had setup a unique office organization and created many excel spreadsheets to help me improve my job. Each time I had an idea, I put it into place and then, I showed my boss the benefits of it.

By doing more than expected, I was always my boss’ radar and my name started to be heard in upper management. Some people told me that I was doing too much for what I was paid and that I should just do my job well and wait for my promotion. They were basically thinking that my extra work was just a freebie for my employer. I started this job at 37K in November 2003. In March 2004, I got my first raise of 5K… I was then making 42K. I guess my extra efforts paid pretty quickly after all.

Show Some Interest

On top of doing more than expected, I was also showing interest in getting a position higher than mine. I asked my manager how to get to my next promotion. Since he saw great potential with me, he guided me with what I needed to do in order to get the promotion I was looking for. At that time, all I needed to do was to follow his advice. This was because we had very open communication and I never hesitated to ask for his opinion.

A year later, in 2005, I got my first promotion and started taking care of bigger files. My salary went from 42K to 47K and my bonus was around 9K back then. I had now gone from 30K (with barely no bonuses) to a 56K job in not even 3 years.

Beware of the Water Cooler

I’ll continue this post next week with how I made the jump from 56K to more than 100K. But the last piece of advice I want to give you today is to beware of the water cooler. How many times have you heard an employee start bad mouthing the company he is working for, his department, his boss or even worse; another employee? This happens at the water cooler, in every cafeteria of every company. This is why you have to be very careful. You don’t want your name to come up as a trouble maker and certainly don’t want other employees to loath you because you are bad mouthing. During these conversations, always stay off the radar. You don’t need to be a fierce defender of everybody but you don’t have to participate either.

Next week, I’ll talk about how I made the big salary jumps to reach 100K. Cheers,

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