What makes a millionaire?

The Director’s Centre, which aims to help businesses become more profitable and fun to run, ran a survey called the ‘Magic Million Survey’ to try to get to the bottom of what makes one person able to become a millionaire and another not.

High achievers had a strong sense of self belief and a tendency to take responsibility for themselves and the factors around them. Whereas, those who got stuck in a rut and failed to progress and grow their businesses tended to blame external factors and have self-limiting beliefs.

They identified attributes, traits and characteristics of successful business people and discovered that the biggest difference between achievers and wannabes was the approach to success.

Fear is often the main factor in a lack of success, as people are afraid to risk losing what they have, are afraid of failure or are afraid to relinquish control of any aspects of their business (critical for a truly scalable business).

On the other hand, successful entrepreneurs are usually more self-aware, and know that they are often the bottle neck, holding the business back from even more success.

The successful business owners who took part in the survey all presented the following traits in one combination or another: charismatic leadership, a ‘can do’ attitude, a fast-moving, exciting business environment, motivational rewards systems for staff, a good body of staff… and luck.

You can read the original article here.

For more information about Chelsea Singh as an business investor, visit his website.

Industries of the future

Entrepreneurs are constantly thinking about the future and modern society is moving and developing faster than our human ancestors of the past could have ever imagined.

So what are the industries that show the most promise for transforming how the future looks?

Bioengineered renewable fuels

 

Energy is the word on everyone’s lips. We all know that the fossil fuels aren’t going to last forever, and renewable sources such as wind solar and geo-thermal and being developed, but not yet fast enough. There have been some complications to bio-fuel development – notably the impact on the food market, but algae and other bioforms seem like a good alternative if and when they can be developed efficiently in the future.

Medical advances

Spray on artificial skin for burn victims is already a reality – now it just has to pass all the safety regulations and it will change the lives of those with fire and other skin damage. Personalisation is the keyword for the future of medicines, with our personal physical make-ups being closely analysed and noted and medicines and therapies being tailor-made to suit our specific individual requirements.

Robots

Humans have been obsessed with robots for many decades, even centuries, and we’re now bringing the field of robotics into a phase that we can recognise from sci-fi movies and novels. There are bionic arms that can be attached to people who have lost limbs and controlled solely by the mind, and there are humanoid robots that can complete obstacle courses – with serious impact for military strategy.

Click here to read about Chelsea Singh.

Doctor Xpress Launches!

CS Investments is pleased to announce the launch of Chelsea Singh’s latest business: Doctor Xpress, providing medical services to your home, hotel or place of work.

Doctor Xpress is a new concept in medical care, aimed at providing convenience and efficiency that matches the needs of today’s demanding modern society.

When you’re feeling poorly, the last thing you want to be doing is traipsing over to your GP, and it’s probably one of the worst things you could be doing. Not only are you putting yourself at risk of the elements and exertion, but if you’re contagious, you’re putting others at risk as well. And once you get to the surgery, you’re exposing yourself to all kinds of other illnesses – whilst in your weakened state!

Doctor Xpress addresses these problems and offers a unique new service, where medical services and experts are mobile, travelling to where they’re needed most.

Services include flu vaccinations, travel clinics, sexual health consultations and private GPs. All our staff are professionally trained and registered with the General Medical Council.

The service is available 24/7, every day of the year, so emergency medical help can be with you as soon as possible, when you need it most.

Check out our new website to find out more about the service and what it can offer you.

Inspirational Quotes

“I don’t regret the things I’ve done, I regret the things I didn’t do when I had the chance.” – Unknown

“I want to be all used up when I die.” — George Bernard Shaw

“Challenges are what make life interesting and overcoming them is what makes life meaningful.” - Joshua J. Marine

“Good things come to those who wait… greater things come to those who get off their ass and do anything to make it happen.” – Unknown

“Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, ‘I will try again tomorrow.’” — Mary Anne Radmacher

“In order to succeed, your desire for success should be greater than your fear of failure.” – Bill Cosby

“If you’re going through hell, keep going.” — Winston Churchill

“It is never too late to be who you might have been.” — George Eliot

Dont be afraid to stand for what you believe in, even if that means standing alone.. - Unknown

“The best revenge is massive success.” – Frank Sinatra

“Life is like photography. You need the negatives to develop.” – Unknown

“That which does not kill us makes us stronger.” — Friedrich Nietzsche

 

Click here to read about Chelsea Singh.

Tips for getting investment for your new business – from Chelsea Singh

If you’re thinking of starting up a new business, there’s a good chance you’re going to need investment to get your venture off the ground – even if you are starting on a shoestring budget.

So how do you convince potential investors that you’ve got the goods?

Here are a few pointers to get you going in the right direction.

Do the sums

Any serious investor is going to start talking about numbers, and you’re not going to get anywhere if you’re afraid of them. It’s true that projections for start-ups are notoriously hard – and the real figures are often wildly different – but that doesn’t mean it’s not a worthwhile exercise that may highlight problem areas and determine whether the idea really has any merit to begin with.

Be realistic

You may think that everybody’s going to be beating down your door to purchase hundreds of Thingummywatsits from you, but until you’ve tested the market, you really can’t know. Yes, entrepreneurs need to believe in themselves and have passion and drive, but that doesn’t mean being blindly optimistic.

Do your research

Test the market and find your competitors. This might sound daunting if you’ve never done it before, but you will be in a much stronger position if you get it together enough to do this research. Search the internet on terms that you want people to search for your products on, and see what comes up. Then try a bunch more. You’ll be amazed how many ideas have already been thought of and implemented…

Chelsea Singh is always on the lookout for new investment ideas.

Find out more at CS Investments.

Business Basics – The Business Plan: Part Two

If you want to start a business and you’re looking for investment, either from  banks or from private investors, you’re going to need a business plan.

A business plan is a document that details various aspects of a proposed business, including the aims of the business, the background of the individuals starting the business, details of the products and services that are on offer, the market, competition, strengths and weaknesses, operations, pricing strategy and financial forecasts.

Click here to read part one.

Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats

The SWOT analysis is a really great way of getting a quick snapshot profile of a new business. Strengths may be people skills or a unique product, weaknesses may be a poor understanding of technology or lack of funds, opportunities could be new government legislation or globalisation, or those things could just as easily be threats.

Operations

Operations covers the logistics, the nitty gritty of how the business will run. It includes: production, delivery, payment, suppliers, premises, equipment, transport, legal; requirements, insurance requirements and management and staff.

Pricing strategy

Pricing strategy is absolutely key to the success and failure of any business, and is probably the aspect that has most entrepreneurs tearing their hair out. Price too high and you may drive customers away, but equally pricing too low can be a disaster as it gives the impression of poor quality and may mean margins are too tight.

Financial forecasts

There are two kinds of people in the world, - those who love financial forecasts, and those who hate them. Either way, your business needs them. If it’s a new business, especially with a new product, the numbers will largely be guesswork, but putting price of units against number sold against expenses should give you an idea of whether the business is in any way feasible. For example, if it turns out you have to shift 3000 units per week just to break even but you can only manufacture 1000 per week, you’ve got yourself a problem.

Click here to visit CS Investments

Business Basics – The Business Plan: Part One

If you want to start a business and you’re looking for investment, either from  banks or from private investors, you’re going to need a business plan.

A business plan is a document that details various aspects of a proposed business, including the aims of the business, the background of the individuals starting the business, details of the products and services that are on offer, the market, competition, strengths and weaknesses, operations, pricing strategy and financial forecasts.

Aims of the business

This will include a summary of the business, its aims and a brief financial summary. This section is called the executive summary, and although you have to spend hours, days, even weeks preparing your business plan, at the end of the day, this page may be the only part that the investors actually look at.

The background of the individuals starting the business

The business plan should set out why the individuals are the best people to start this business. They must demonstrate that they have the appropriate skills and experience required to make this business a success, including previous work experience, qualifications and education, hobbies and interests and anything else that’s relevant.

Details of the products and services that are on offer

Naturally a key part of the business plan is details of the products and or services that are going to be sold. There should be a single line description and also a more detailed description. Ideally there will be information about Unique Selling Points (USPs) that will give your company the edge over competitors.

The market,

A sign of a serious entrepreneur is one that knows the importance of knowing their market. It’s no good just assuming the market is there and will be beating down your door – you need market research and hard data to crunch. This should include a description of your typical customer, their profile (individuals or businesses, age, wealth levels etc), what their priorities are, whether you’ve sold them before, location and much more.

Competition

The better the devil you know, as they say. New businesses need to know exactly what they’re up against. That means how much competition there is and what it looks like. Who currently holds the market share, how big are they, how long have they been in business, how do they make a success of it? You can learn a lot from your competition, and you need to be very clear about exactly why your customers should buy from you and not them.

Click here to read part two.

Click here to visit CS Investments

Business Advice - What is a Unique Selling Point?

Once you get into business and start meeting other business people, you'll quickly find that you're asked about what you USP is.

USP stands for Unique Selling Point, or in other words, what is different about your business that will make people buy from you instead of your competitors.

The best businesses will really have a completely unique USP that their competitors can't imitate, meaning they corner a section of the market that simply can't go anywhere else.

However, it's more common that businesses will portray a unique selling point that isn't actually unique at all - but is perceived as so. The key to this is to be the first to do it, and / or to do it more convincingly than your competitors.

A genuine unique selling point may be a unique patented design, which nobody is allowed to copy for some time, or it maybe a family secret recipe or simply a particular location.

More common unique selling points might be price (though competing on price can be a dangerous game), quality or customer service - though obviously these are harder to prove and arguably not unique.

Some businesses come up with something completely original such as being the only ethical player in the industry, the only one to make the product completely out of soap or the only one to deliver a bunch of flowers with every order.

Read more about what it takes to be an entrepreneur on Chelsea Singh's site.

Chelsea Singh - the building of an empire

There are plenty of rags to riches stories in the movies and in books, and Chelsea Singh proves that it's not only in fiction. Chelsea grew up in a modest working class family in London, but when he saw the riches and wealth of the exclusive areas of the capital, he developed a hunger to build his own empire.

Starting by working his way up a photographic company, the young Chelsea identified opportunities around him and soon and soon invested in his own businesses which he built into leaders in their industry before moving on to other things.

If you'd like to read more about how his business empire developed over the years, then you can read Chelsea Singh's full profile here.

Chelsea Singh Invests in Stack Cup

Chelsea Singh is always looking out for new investments opportunities, and new inventions that change the landscape of insutries, so he was very excited when Stack Cup was brought to his attention.

Before Stack Cup came along, events such as rock concerts and sports agems had a problem - and that problem was cups. Thousands of people wanted to drink beer and water, but you couldn't possibly give them glass in that sort of situation, so the caterers had to resort to cheap plastic cups.

There are many problems wit thes,e including the fact that they are so flimsy means that the contents spill out everywhere, and being disposable they are bad for the environment and work out very expensive, for both supplier and customer.

But now Stack Cup is here! As well as being made from strong durable plastic, which means they are sturdy and reusable - which is good news for planet and money costs - they also have a brand new unique feature - they stack!

That's right - the special shape of the handle allows them to neatly slot into each other and form an elegant spiral, so a single hand can carry half a dozen full cups in one go.

You can find out more about Chelsea Singh's investments here.

Chelsea Singh Investments joins Facebook

That's right - Chelsea Singh Investments' latest social networking addition is a Facebook page for the company. The Facebook page will have details of all the latest investment and projects, and also the latest movements of our director - Chelsea Singh.

It will be a rouce of inspiration through quotes from some of the greatest thinkers and entrepreneurs of our time, as well as being a place for you to share your thouhts and experiences of CHelsea Singh Investments. We're always striving to do better each and every day, so all feedback and suggestions are welcome, even if we can't implement everything right away!

Come pay us a visit and say hello!

http://www.facebook.com/ChelseaSinghInvestments

Or you can visit the Chelsea Singh Investment website.