I just got back from a trip to Yosemite with my kids. The trip inspired a number of thoughts about business - specifically your business that I thought I'd share.
First I was quite humbled by the beauty of Yosemite valley. It's quite a remarkable place - one that I had taken for granted on previous trips.
Even more humbling was learning that Yosemite first became a protected wilderness area by Abraham Lincoln - over 150 years ago.
Kind of weird to think that he and I were both looking at the same amazing view. He is of course best known for freeing the slaves - a fitting thought for Independence day don't you think?
It was during this trip that I made a major news announcement about a new small business bailout program that I'm personally funding. If you haven't found your way to my newsletter through this program, you can learn more by visiting www.bailoutusa.com - and be sure to tell your friends about it.
I got a bit fed up with President Obama spending trillions bailout big businesses, with the little guy getting ignored. What I find fascinating about this is according to Obama's own Small Business Administration website, roughly 7 out of 10 new jobs are created by small businesses.
These are "net" new jobs - as in if a big company lays off one person, but hires a different person back that doesn't count.
This trend of 7 out of 10 truly new jobs being created by small business has been true for well over the past decade. It's especially true during a recession.
I really don't understand why as a country we invest so much in bailout out big companies that factually do not create new jobs (you know the kind of thing that would be useful in a recovery), when the source of new jobs is crystal clear - small businesses.
So I decided to launch my own bailout program for small business owners by giving away 1 million copies of my latest book The Recession Proof Business. ( www.bailoutusa.com )
When I launched this Independence Day bailout a few days ago, I was a bit surprised to see a few visitors from the Obama administration visiting this website.
I guess they keep track of those who are active in the small business world as I am… or those who are critical of the administration. A few are likely even reading this email.
After my heart skipped a beat, I realized I had nothing to worry about. I (very, very thankfully) live in the United States of America - a free country.
I had flashbacks to a story I heard on June 4th (not July 4th) which was the 20 year anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre in China.
I remember reading a letter that was posted online by one of the soldiers who participated in that event. At the time he was perhaps a 19 year old kid following orders to kill his fellow countrymen.
20 years later, with the wisdom of time and hindsight, he wrote that he regretted his involvement in that day–and has not slept well since.
As the June 4th incident anniversary came, this soldier with a conscious mysteriously disappeared — as commonly happens to those in China who are critical of the government there.
As many of you know or may have guessed, I am ethnically Chinese.
I find myself thinking that there is this guy (who is now missing) half way around the world who is genetically not all that different from me. We live separated by a few thousand miles.
He was critical of his government, as I am of mine (though clearly his argument is much more important than mine)… and here I am writing to you, and who knows where he is - alive, dead, or imprisoned somewhere.
So my July 4th, was clearly a lot better than his June 4th… and while I definitely find his disappearance awfully suspicious, I am reminded of my freedom especially in comparison to the lack of his.
And one of these freedoms in addition to being able to say what you want without fear of harm is the freedom to make your own life for you and your family.
The freedom to create, build, and prosper from your own business is very much a freedom… including the freedom to earn absurd profits.
This is a freedom that is not available to every person on this planet. It IS a point worth remembering.
And it is in this spirit of gratitude and appreciation for the freedom we all enjoy that I decided to create a new bailout program just for small businesses.
If you haven't already, visit www.bailoutusa.com and be sure to tell your friends who also enjoy the freedom to run their own business to do the same.
After waiting for President Obama to do more to help bail out small business, I'm officially fed up with waiting and have decided to do something about it.
In the spirit of the upcoming Fourth of July Holiday, I'm announcing an Independence Day "Bailout" Program for small business owners. As a part of this small business bailout program, I'll be bailing out up to 1 million business owners and entrepreneurs. The details are available at www.BailoutUSA.com.
Do your business owner friends a favor, and spread the word.
In today's episode of More Profits TV, I talk about one way you can tell if this recession is about to end. It's the concept of the sales pipeline forecast.
Here's how it works.
Consumer spending drives business profits. Business profits drive business spending. Business spending drives employment. Employment drives economic booms and recessions.
In this economic circle of life, one of the ways you can tell what's going on is to figure out if businesses are spending money. One of the metrics used to determine this that the mainstream press never reports, is called a sales pipeline vs. sales goal ratio.
Here's how it works.
Amongst corporate sales forces, sales people use the term sales pipeline to refer to deals they have in the works. So if they have $400k in deals in the works for this month, their sales pipeline is $400k.
You want to compare this pipeline number to the sales person's goal. If the target for the month is only $100k, this sales person is in good shape. Some deals fall through, some get delayed into the next month, etc…
Watch today's episode to see what the sales pipeline to goal ratio is across 10,900 companies in 19 industries RIGHT NOW. Keep in mind sales pipeline numbers improve BEFORE they ever appear in economic indicators. Watch today's episode to learn more.
The information from this post comes from Greg Alexander, CEO of Sales Benchmark Index who was a guest speaker at the Fortune Magazine Sales & Marketing Summit where I gave a keynote address recently.
A few months ago, I discovered Kiva.org the microlending website where you can lend money to entrepreneurs (usually in the 3rd world) to help them expand their businesses.
At the time, I made what I thought was a donation to this very worthwhile cause–after all there is nothing that inspires me more than someone who wants to make their life better and is eager to work to make it happen.
When it came time to do my taxes this year, I expected to be able to deduct the donation on my income tax return. BUT, the something interesting happened.
I checked my Kiva account and 80% of the money I thought I donated (but in reality had actually only lent) had been paid back!
So much to my simultaneous disappointment and delight, you can't deduce money given to someone who gives it back.
I have made loans to entrepreneurs in Cambodia, Senegal, Honduras, Moldova, Bosnia, Tanzania, Benin, Peru, El Salvador, Benin, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Ghana, Vietnam, and Togo.
I've been lending mainly to women entrepreneurs, a few single moms, located in countries I know little about. I've had a lot of fun getting out my old world map and trying to find where in the world some of these countries are located. I tend to lend to those with established businesses looking for additional working capital to expand.
The most common situation is someone in retail selling goats, used clothing, fish, or beverages, and wanting a loan to add additional products to sell to their existing customers.
It has been quite an interesting experience. In my work as a business coach, I am accustom to working with entrepreneurs in the US and Canada. It really impresses me to see that the entrepreneurial spirit is live and well in countries I didn't even know existed. And in many respects it is MORE alive elsewhere than here in the U.S.
I've been quite disappointed at the bailout addiction culture that seems to be developing here.
Amongst the big companies, the message seems to be the key to survival and success in this recession is to get really, really good at asking for bailout money.
What a shame.
Whatever happened to the old fashion approach to business, like earning it?
I'm all for helping others and one another with a hand up. I'm equally opposed to the pure handout and the handout/bailout addicts it creates.
Well I'm putting my time, money, and effort where my mouth is and am planning to do something big about it. Stay tuned for details.
Victor Cheng is a 
