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Smart business investments start with smart business education
By Melissa Norris
What are your chances of winning a game when you don’ t understand the rules?
Having watched investors jump into business without understanding the fundamentals and failing, award-winning wealth planner and entrepreneur Ron Malhotra is surprised by the number of people who are leaping blind.
Since completing his Master of Business Administration( MBA) in 2014, he’ s started three successful businesses and says that while there aren’ t any tricks to his success, understanding the basic principles of business should be an entrepreneur’ s first priority.
“ I always say to people that‘ The difference between knowing and understanding something is in the results,’ so if you’ re applying a principle to your business but not getting results, you don’ t understand it to begin with,” he said.
Ron had been seeking a structured, 360-degree understanding of business to help launch his entrepreneurial career, and after reviewing various curriculums, he chose the Australian Institute of Business( AIB) for its practical methodology.
“ I felt there was a shift happening away from traditional academia, and started to see this system as rigid and embedded in theory. With business, I knew there was no substitute for practical-based learning, and
what the Australian Institute of Business offered was a good blend of theoretical and practical-based skills, which I felt would maximise my success in business,” he said.“ I didn’ t want to go into my MBA just to memorise theory and pass an exam. I wanted to be the person who got results, and with AIB, I knew I would be asking with every subject‘ How do I now apply this to the business I am going to start?’”
Following the completion of his MBA, Ron started his first wealth advisory business, Maple Tree Wealth Management, followed its success with a corporate leadership training business, The MindGain Academy, and has most recently started a global company called The Successful Male.
He also wrote two books, both of them reaching number one bestseller status, and has been invited to speak on international stages to speak, including across Asia and the United States.
“ The MBA increased my competence, and in turn my confidence, and I started to reach out for things I previously didn’ t think were possible and gained all these opportunities to speak on international stages,” Ron said.
Asked for his advice for aspiring entrepreneurs, Ron gave the following suggestions:
• Understand your‘ why’. Work out why you’ re starting this business, and never start a business just for money. If you understand the‘ why’, the‘ how’ will take care of itself.
• Have a plan. It doesn’ t need to be long – just a one-page plan that outlines your business goals, strategies to acquire new customers, and roles you are going to play. Keep amending your business plan as you proceed.
• Don’ t put all your eggs in one basket. For example, don’ t get fixated with ideas of one or two types of customer, because if they leave your business, you’ ll have a large hole to fill to make up that income.
• Understand marketing. There is no skill more important in business than marketing and sales. Market when you don’ t need to, when you are doing really well, because that’ s when most people stop.
• Have the right business structure. It can help mitigate your risk in business, so get some professional advice, particularly in accounting. Don’ t try and do everything yourself.
• Save six months’ income before you start. Businesses take time to set up and reach a profit, and when the money runs out, you have to close the business down. Make sure you have at least six months’ worth of income before you start, so you have some cash reserves to fall back on as you grow the company from scratch.
• Become a learner. A lot of people are dabblers when it comes to learning, and just superficially learn things they can regurgitate. If you are not consciously, intentionally and proactively seeking education to develop yourself, you are going to be left behind.
“ Before I studied my MBA, I wasn’ t in the practice of committing to things, having organised thinking skills and completing goals, but the programme helped me to develop those skills,” Ron said.
“ The MBA forced me to think critically, to analyse and dissect information like I’ d never done before. It taught me to see opportunities and possibilities that I didn’ t know existed.
“ A lot of the time we don’ t feel confident about starting a business because we have this sense of insecurity that we don’ t know enough. So do something about it – go and learn.” ■
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