It’s an Entrepreneur’s Life for Me

I came across this article recently that really hit home.

The gist of the article was how people who are driven, passionate and successful are often alone.

There have definitely been times over the last decade that I have been my own boss that I’ve felt alone.

However, most of the time I’m not alone. I have always worked hard to surrounded myself with people who get what it meas to be successful. Ones with a great work ethic, have a vision and possess integrity.

So when I read the article, which the above quote is a paraphrase of, I felt the need to share it and explain what it means to me.

“Not everyone is going to understand how you mind works.” This is 100% accurate. Most of the people in my life have a job. They don’t get what it means to want to work 100 hours a week so I don’t have to work 40. The freedom that comes with being self-employed makes it like most of the time I’m not even working. Teaching, training, going to meetings, conference calls, etc… they rarely feel like work. They feel like me living the life I was destined to live.

You’d think most people who think that is cool and it would inspire them as well. But it doesn’t.

Sometimes I’ve been able to impact people and move them forward towards being a successful business owner, but most of them thank me for my time and thoughts, and then go back to the life they know. “There are many people out there who are willing to settle for less.”

Now this is not a judgement by any means, its just a fact. I was like that for most of my life. I didn’t really think about doing my own thing until I was 40. I never saw it as settling, just doing what I thought was the best way to provide for my family. It wasn’t until I got to a level of expertise in my field (analytics) that I rediscovered my passion for teaching and found a way to merge the two.

Now as I do what I do, its with a great amount of “intense” passion. I live it. That scare people. It shouldn’t, but it does. People have so many forces working against them to keep them in place. It’s not easy to throw off the yoke, and break free into the world of entrepreneurship.

So this leads me back to the central theme of joining masterminds and surrounding yourself with leaders and doers and people of action.

It is the best way to meet the challenge of being alone.

Daniel Meyer heads Sonic Analytics, an analytics firm with offices in Manila, the San Francisco Bay Area and Ocala, FL. With over 20 years in Big Data, Dan is one of the most sought-after public speakers in Asia and offers big data coaching and analytics training seminars on both sides of the Pacific. Dan has also recently joined the Powerteam International family as a small business analytics resource speaker.

Sonic Analytics(www.sonicanalytics.com) brings big data analytics solutions like business intelligence, business dashboards and data storytelling to small and medium sized organizations looking to enhance their data-driven decision-making capabilities. We also advocate the use of analytics for civic responsibility through training, consulting and education.

As citizens of this great democracy, we need to look at the data (analytics), plan a course of action (strategy) and share our data-driven viewpoints (presentation). This approach to a data savvy work force starts in school. So, we started an internship program to empower our youth to use Analytics, plan Strategy and Present their insights… ASP!

When not training current and future analysts, you can find Dan championing the use of analytics to empower data-driven citizenship by volunteering his expertise with schools and non-profits dedicated to evidence-based social progress like Saint Leo University’s Women in STEAM 2020 Conference.

Can Analytics Help a Sari Sari Store?

I had this interesting conversation earlier about analytics while at a BNI meeting.

I started explaining to the person I was sitting next to what I do and he asked can analytics really help any business?

Of course I said yes.

He asked even a Sari Sari store?

For those of you who don’t know much about Sari Sari stores, let me tell you a bit about them.

By far the most common form of self-employment in the Philippines are small, family operated convenience stores. Called Sari-Sari stores, there are an estimated 1 million Sari Sari stores across the Philippines. Per wikipedia, this counts for an estimated 30% of all retail sales in the Philippines.

Sari-Sari, which is Tagalog for variety, are an important economic and social pieces of just about every Filipino community. Most are privately run, family owned and are operated from the front of the owners house.

Commodities are displayed behind a large mesh screen to both allow customers to see what is available and to prevent shoplifting. The most common goods sold are candy, snacks and other non-perishable food items. Cigarettes and mobile phone cards are also popular items for sale. Household needs like soap, detergent and cleaning supplies are also common. Some stores have small refrigerators to offer cold drinks like soda and beer.

Sari-sari stores generally have higher prices when compared to supermarkets which is a tradeoff for proximity to their customers. It is also common to buy single units of a product versus an entire package as paying more to meet a quick need is valued over planning and budgeting bulk purchase over the long term.

Some Sari Sari stores also offer credit to neighbors. Micro lending of this scale is wide spread and generally done under the rule that if the credit is not repaid, the store owner will report this to the local government officials.

Some Sari Sari stores barter goods and services with farmer, fishermen and other businesses.

Most Sari Sari store proprietors buy their goods at supermarkets then mark up the prices for resale (on the average 20%). In some areas, businessmen make act a middle man offering bulk products to the Sari Sari store.

It is my belief that most Sari Sari stores can benefit from a simple strategic business plan and some very basic analytics.

My understanding is that Sari Sari stores operate on a very tactical level with little long term planning and operate with little market awareness.

If I ever to consult with the owner of a Sari Sari store, my initial approach would be to develop a business strategy plan and build a basic analytics process to gather data and provide a proof of concept.

This approach would be broken into the following steps:

Business Strategy Assessment — How do they conduct business?
Competitive Landscape — Who do they compete with?
Demographic Profile — Who are their customers?
Market Assessment — How much upside is in their market?
Inventory Analysis — How to they optimize inventory?
Facilities Assessment — Are they getting the most of their location?
Risk & Security Assessment — What risks do they face?

I will flesh out each of these steps in upcoming blog posts.

Once I have complied data from these 7 steps, I can develop a business strategy plan unique to the individual Sari Sari store.

After my presentation of the business plan, I can make a determination if they Sari Sari store will enter Phase Two of the plan.

I would work with the proprietor store for a set period of time in a consulting role to determine viability of operations and if they meet our program standards (detailed later in this document).

In addition to offering a consulting solution, through my company, I can also offer additional services including cash management, accounting, marketing, inventory and fulfillment assistance, and other solutions as they arise.

Its my experience that the busiest Sari Sari stores offer something unique. Some might have an ice cream maker, or a special dish they prepare, or some have home baked goods. Regardless, they generally have something that sets them apart from a store that just offers traditional goods.

So, the final piece of my involvement would be cross selling our unique products to Sari Sari stores in need of a unique product to build their business around.

After that consultation, I would expect that three things would happen:

the Sari Sari store proprietor would have a better grasp of a strategic business strategy.
the Sari Sari store would increase profits and
the Sari Sari store would expand its customer base and build up loyalty with existing customers.

So, to get back to the question… how can analytics help a Sari Sari store?

By applying some lessons from the corporate world.

Analytics in the Philippines — The Philippines is at the center of the action when it comes to solutions to the global need for analytics. Blessed with a solid foundation of young, educated and English speaking workforce, companies around the world are look for Filipino analytics talent to fill analytics positions.

Keep Yourself Accountable

The best way to ensure you are focusing on results is to have accountability partners. One knowledgeable about your industry and your vision. A mastermind is the best way to surround your self with people who can help you stay on point. They should be like a board of advisors. This concept ad part of a Mastermind group, was formally introduced by Napoleon Hill.

In his book “Think and Grow Rich“, Hill described the Mastermind principle as, “The coordination of knowledge and effort between two or more people who work towards a definite purpose in a spirit of harmony…no two minds ever come together without thereby creating a third, invisible intangible force, which may be likened to a third mind”, also known as, the Mastermind.

You should be part of a mastermind where you are helping other business minded individuals level up their businesses. You should also be part of a mastermind where you are amongst your peers, other business people at your level facing similar challenges. And finally, you should be part of a virtual mastermind with other leaders in your niche.

If you own or are thinking of owning your own business, you need to learn specifically what it takes to build an even more successful company, connect with other like-minded business owners, and discover new ways to create revenue streams!

We will show you how to use the latest technology to build even more leads, sales & streams of income! If you aren’t already thinking about how to use things like chatbots, auto responders and artificial intelligence to grow a business, you are way behind the curve. We specialize in teaching great concepts on how to become an inspiring leader, utilize great systems and become 100% laser focused!

Check out this upcoming event sponsored by DMAIPH, Sonic Analytics, Mastermind PH in the Philippines:

Vision to Wealth – BGC Jan 15, 2020 Sign Up Here

Daniel Meyer heads Sonic Analytics, an analytics firm with offices in Manila, the San Francisco Bay Area and Ocala, Florida. With over 20 years in Big Data, Dan is one of the most sought-after public speakers in Asia and offers big data coaching and analytics training seminars on both sides of the Pacific. Dan has also recently joined the Powerteam International family as a small business analytics resource speaker.

Collaboration Is The Key To Massive Success!

This is key for being successful in today’s information age. We have an unprecedented number of collaboration tools like Trello, Monday and Calendy. We have access to a world of talent through UpWork, Fiverr & Sonic VA. We can talk with each other at any time, anywhere for free with iMessage, Skype and Zoom.

If you aren’t using these tools to build a mastermind, you are missing out. The concept of a Mastermind group was formally introduced by Napoleon Hill.

Check out this upcoming event sponsored by DMAIPH, Sonic Analytics, Mastermind PH in the Philippines:

Vision to Wealth – BGC Jan 15, 2020 Sign Up Here

You Are the Sum of the 5 People You Spend the Most Time With

This is key for being successful in today’s information age. We live in an increasingly interconnected world where people can share knowledge and experience in real time, from anywhere in the world at any time.

There has never never been a better time to widen your circle using online tools. A mastermind should be no exception.

The concept of a Mastermind group was formally introduced by Napoleon Hill.

Check out these upcoming events sponsored by DMAIPH, Sonic Analytics, Mastermind PH in the Philippines:

Vision to Wealth – Makati Jan 13, 2020 Sign Up Here
Vision to Wealth – BGC Jan 15, 2020 Sign Up Here

Making a Mastermind Successful — Part 2

At this point in my career, I’ve had enough experience with masterminds to know what makes them work and what doesn’t. As we launch Mastermind PH next week, I want to make sure everyone who signs up is signing up for the right reasons.

Having spent most of the past decade doing business in the Philippines, I’ve got volumes of experience to draw on.

Mastermind PH marks my 7th business venture in my adopted country since 2011. The first one failed spectacularly, the next two based on learning the ropes through hard knocks did ok. But by the 4th go around I got the formula right and enjoyed massive success.

So lucky #7 will have every reason to succeed. Why do I feel so confident? Because it’s a business mastermind forged out of everything that came before it and everyone that contributed (good & bad) to getting me to where I’m now at… the sweet spot.

I’m also in the right place at the right time. A lot of great ideas and business plans here in the Philippines misfire because of not being in the right place at the right time. Over the years spent here, having worked with the hundreds of businesses and the thousands of Filipinos in my circle, the biggest challenge to success I see is the broke brother in law concept. If you are Filipino, it’s a concept akin to the “crab mentality”.

If you are surrounded by people whose only goal is to keep everyone down in the miserable place they are, you will fail. Stop taking advice from people who are never gonna be as successful as you plan to be. You need to leave them behind and get signed up to be part of a business mastermind.

Now as a recap for those who hadn’t heard of the term business mastermind before, a mastermind group is a peer-to-peer mentoring concept used to help members solve their problems with input and advice from the other group members.

The concept was coined in 1925 by author Napoleon Hill described in more detail in his 1937 book, Think and Grow Rich. Find the book, the audiotape or do a google search. If you truly want to Think and Grow Rich, it all starts here!

So to help me build my first mastermind in the Philippines I’m looking for Filipinos from a certain mold. The goal is not just to sign them up to be in my mastermind, but to get each one to a point where they can run their own mastermind as well.

I’ve learned from two of the best in the business, Bill Walsh & Michael Silvers. I’ve set up a couple of masterminds in Central Florida. I know Napoleon Hills concept down. And I’m part of one of the biggest, baddest, most accomplished mastermind groups out there, Powerteam International’s Win Global Mastermind.

So to summarize my point… the 3 biggest reasons I know Mastermind PH will be a huge success; adaptability, market awareness and being surrounded by people who make me better.

You Should Be In 3 Masterminds

This is key for being successful in today’s information age. You need to part of not just one mastermind, but three.

The concept of a Mastermind group was formally introduced by Napoleon Hill.

Check out these upcoming events sponsored by DMAIPH, Sonic Analytics, Mastermind PH in the Philippines:

Vision to Wealth – Ortigas Jan 8, 2020 Sign Up Here
Vision to Wealth – Makati Jan 13, 2020 Sign Up Here
Vision to Wealth – BGC Jan 15, 2020 Sign Up Here

For a Lot of Entrepreneurs, Writing is Key

This is key for being successful in today’s information age. You have to tell you story and you have to build your credibility. Even in 2020, writing a book is still one of the best ways to accomplish both.

The quote speaks to a reality that every successful entrepreneur knows to be true, but every failed or struggling entrepreneur has not figured out.

Writing a book is something that only 2% of the world’s population does. Even with the massive move towards online content, writing a good old fashioned book is huge.

It’s also a huge boost to your credibility as an expert. If you wrote a book, then you must be really knowledgeable about your subject of expertise. At least that is the conventional wisdom.

Writing and publishing has never been easier with all the tools available nowadays. Plus you can get a virtual assistant to handle so much of the work that comes after your write the book and need to promote it.

Check out these upcoming events sponsored by DMAIPH, Sonic Analytics, Mastermind PH in the Philippines:

Vision to Wealth – Ortigas Jan 8, 2020 Sign Up Here
Vision to Wealth – Makati Jan 13, 2020 Sign Up Here
Vision to Wealth – BGC Jan 15, 2020 Sign Up Here

One Simple Skill

The funny thing about when I started at Wells Fargo, the skill that really got me started in my career with data, was simply being good with Microsoft Excel. That’s how it all started.

When I got to Wells Fargo and started working as a customer service supervisor, we had all the kinds of sales goals. Many of you have probably seen in the headlines the past few years, Wells Fargo was ultra-aggressive in it’s sales goals. To be able to effectively manage phone bankers and coaching them to meet goal was key to success. Ironically, I was the only one on my team that really knew how to use Microsoft Excel.

Before I knew it, I was being asked to create reports, do all kinds of analysis, to help us figure out how to optimize the salesforce. I also learned how to get better at managing teams using data and was often loaned out to HR to help develop people metrics around employee engagement. It was a fun time and managing all the data involved with all the transactions, sales, products, and everything we were doing in the customer service center at Wells Fargo really taught me how powerful data can be to a company’s success.

That first job at Wells Fargo really started down a path towards things like artificial intelligence, all because, I knew Excel.

Over the next several years I continued to level up my skills with Excel, and MS Access and different database tools like. Then they got into understanding data warehouses and seeing the data architecture underlying the enterprise. I moved from away customer service and got into project management and that led me to working on the bank’s websites and online channels.

Before I knew it, I had 15 years of the experience with Wells Fargo. Each stop along the way during my time with the bank, I kept taking more and more challenges that involved learning new technologies and new skills. It was fascinating for me during my time Wells Fargo to be able to move up the corporate ladder simply be learning new skills to add to my “data utility belt”. And with each move being more and more data centric job functions.

Which takes me back to the point I really want to emphasis, I am self-taught, I learned everything pretty much my own. I took a few classes here and there, like I took a class at HTML, which helped me figure out how to manage a mutual funds website. I took a class and Microsoft Access to help build a database for investment products. Whenever I got a new opportunity to learn any technology, I did. I went from Access and Excel to start to learn business intelligence tools like Tableau and IBM-Cognos to builds better reports and dashboards.

Towards the end I learned programming languages like SQL and I got into predictive modeling using R. I know it sounds like an alphabet soup of applications, programs and languages, but it all started with that one simple skill with Microsoft Excel.

Even today, Excel is still powerful tool for data analysis as it is used by just about every company. It has a lot of value as being a piece of the puzzle that you will need to solve as you prepare your business to use A.I. Excel is like the very first brick in the wall.

If you are not sure if you want to get started in working A.I., ask yourself this question. Does working with data and and to use data to manage your business interest you? That is really the first thing you should ask yourself. And if the answer is yes, start with mastering Excel. If you can do a pivot table, if you can do the basic things like pie charts, or line graphs. If you know a few formulas, then that is a great foundation to start.

Daniel Meyer heads Sonic Analytics, an analytics firm with offices in Manila, the San Francisco Bay Area and Ocala, FL. With over 20 years in Big Data, Dan is one of the most sought-after public speakers in Asia and offers big data coaching and analytics training seminarson both sides of the Pacific. Dan has also recently joined the Powerteam International family as a small business analytics resource speaker.

Do What You Do Best, And Do It Better Than The Rest!

This is key for being successful in today’s information age just as much as it was 100 years ago. You have to be the absolute best at what you do so you don’t have to worry much about those who are do what you do.

The quote speaks to a reality that every successful entrepreneur knows to be true, but every failed or struggling entrepreneur has not figured out.

Differentiate yourself by simply being the best in your niche. Quality is king. You are not walmart, you can’t compete on the lowest prices so compete on the best quality.

Check out these upcoming events sponsored by DMAIPH, Sonic Analytics, Mastermind PH in the Philippines:

Vision to Wealth – Ortigas Jan 8, 2020 Sign Up Here
Vision to Wealth – Makati Jan 13, 2020 Sign Up Here
Vision to Wealth – BGC Jan 15, 2020 Sign Up Here

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