* Sixty five more days to make my dreams come true!

Inspiration is flowing through me like never before! I’m reading a book called “A Private Banker’s Wisdom for an Abundant Life” by Ken Honda （スイス人銀行家の教え、作者：本田健） and every single page I read has something amazing to learn.

I haven’t even been able to do much reading today because I keep having to stop and write out the thoughts that flow from the inspiration I’m getting. But this time, I feel that I have to share what I just read in a chapter about business.

The Six Requirements of a Successful Business

1. To bring happiness to people
2. To involve a great number of people
3. To create cash flow
4. To construct a business that makes everyone involved happy
5. To have the possibility of repetition
6. To bring about emotion, gratitude, and healing

In fact, it is more difficult to successfully do business in a way that does not encompass all of these guidelines.

It’s one of my goals to translate this book, but let me roughly translate the meaning for now.

1. To bring happiness to people

In order to succeed in business, it is imperative to bring happiness to people. Even if you were to temporarily create sales by threatening people or taking advantage of them, it will not bring about any long term benefits. It is the same concept that is found in the story of “The North Wind and the Sun” from Aesop’s fables.

If you are thinking of receving money from people, then you should plan receive it in a situation where people will gladly and willingly give it to you. If people will line up happily to bring their money to you, then success is simply a matter of fact.

2. To involve a great number of people

In order to succeed in business, it is important to involve as many people as possible. Even if you were able to successfully do business with a small number of people, it isn’t stable. Create a business where, even if the amount of money involved in each transaction is small, the business will support itself should there be enough transactions. In this sense, it is important to create a system that can involve a great number of people.

But to be said in a more concrete manner, create a system where your customers will bring new customers to you.

3. To create cash flow

Generally speaking, novice entreprenuers put everything they have into establishing their businesses, but then forget to create cash flow. The most important aspect is not the sales, but the cash flow. No matter how high the sales are, there is no meaning to it if it doesn’t generate a profit. That is simply no different from volunteering. And determining how to create a smooth cash flow is important as well. Those who are good at creating cash flow are people who are successful at anything they do.

4. To construct a business that makes everyone involved happy

Another very important point is whether or not you can construct a business that can make everyone involved happy. Economically, emotionally, and in all other aspects.

A business that is created on the concept of winning or losing is not a business that will last for a long time. In order to enjoy long term success, every single person involved must feel that things are going well.

5. To have the possibility of repetition

If a business provides a product or service that will be never needed again after one purchase, it will not succeed. The challenge is to create that generates repeat orders.

A dry cleaning or laundering business is an excellent example of this. If you can run a business where repeat business is a matter of fact and customers continue to come, then your business is a strong one.

6. To bring about emotion, gratitude, and healing

In all successful businesses, the elements of emotion, gratitude, and healing are always to be found In other words, feelings such as “Is it really this cheap?” or “Is it really alright for me to be accepting this service?”

Having expectations exceeded is directly linked to emotion. And the love that you show towards yoru customers also evokes emotion, and brings about healing. That is the same for the banks, dry cleaners, or doctors.

Naturally, it is impossible to emotionally move people through things that are ordinary. That’s why it’s absolutely necessary to choose a business that emotionally moves even yourself. A business into which you can pour every drop of your passion.

If you just work at a regular job, there is nothing that gets you excited, much less emotionally move you. By doing something like that, there isn’t even any reason that you would be happy.

The feelings of gratitude and emotion that are associated with a business are are much like gasoline that fuels success. And once the tank is filled with this energy, then the customers and staff will naturally bring in new clients, and the business will grow.

*

In the book, what follows this lecture is the author’s wild success in raising 100,000 Francs (he was in Switzerland) for a charity fund, involving the populations of two countries, getting publicized on television and in newspapers in each country, and even creating a new sister school relationship. All of this within a time period of four weeks. I wish I had the time right now to translate the entire book!

You can’t imagine how excited I am right now! I can do this! I will be reevaluating my business plan based on these requirements!

Categorized as Appendix, Storyline