Latest Obsessions: 4HB And PB

This weekend I started reading The 4-Hour Body by Tim Ferriss. He also wrote The 4-Hour Workweek which has inspired both my husband and myself. The guy has caught my attention again, but I dare say he’s a crazy man. He has been using himself as a guinea pig for the last ten years in order to come up with his Slow Carb Diet.

The bad thing is that I now want to spend money on buying a kettlebell for example. I haven’t found a decent second-hand one yet. There are some good deals out there for new ones, though.

The good thing is that I am very motivated again to work on my body. Mr. Money Mustache is has become a fan of Mark Sisson who wrote the Primal Blueprint.

Comparing the two I think PB would suit me better, but I would make my own 4HB and PB mix I think.   I noticed that I am very interested in reading everything these type of life hackers have to say. I have made giant leaps when it comes to financial life hacking, now it’s time for the body to undergo the same transformation.

Are you familiar with 4HB or PB?

Love,

Mrs EconoWiser

Book Review: ReWork #3

ReWork #1
ReWork #2

GO

Make a dent in the universe – Do something that matters and make a difference, if you’re going to do anything.

Scratch your own itch – Create a product or service that you yourself would want to use.

Start making something – Turn your ideas into actually making something. Everybody has plenty of ideas. It’s about whether and how you apply your ideas.

No time is no excuse – There’s always an excuse not to start your business. Everybody can squeeze in a couple of hours a week.

Draw a line in the sand – Remember WHY you’re setting up your business and tell that story to the world.

Mission statement impossible – If you don’t believe and live what you stand for you shouldn’t pretend to. You need to be genuine.

Outside money is Plan Z – It’s not worth it to attract money from outsiders. Soon they will tell you what you need to do with your business.

You need less than you think – You don’t need all the fancy things, be frugal.

Start a business, not a startup – Startups are run by people who expect it to fail. Just start an actual business.

Building to flip is building to flop – Don’t be the guy who starts something and then quickly sells it off. You’ll regret it.

Less mass – Bigger is not better. Bigger costs a lot of time, money and headache. It makes your business less agile.

I did not apply some of the tips in this chapter. My side business does not really make a difference. Some other business ideas we have, do make a difference. I also didn’t scratch my own itch when starting my side business. I don’t use the stuff I sell. We did start making a website and sell things even we started off with a small stock. I’ll let you on in a little secret. I only ordered samples from my supplier the first time. It made the impression that I had a lot of stock, but there was only one piece of each item. This way my prospect customers were not disappointed by a small amount of goods to choose from and it made a rather professional impression right away. Time isn’t an excuses indeed. I started my side business while having a job and going to university. Instead of watching TV you could be out there creating a business and making money. I didn’t draw a line in the sand with this business, though. I am also sorry to say that I don’t really have a mission statement. I just sell stuff at competitive prices. Outside money was never an issue. I LOVE the frugal remark in this book and the authors will keep on telling to stay frugal. Music to our ears, right? I made some really frugal choices for my business. We use free software (OSCommerce) and I have the cheapest of cheap trays for my goods since customers won’t see those anyway. Also, I reuse things and keep track of things. I indeed started a business, and it’s fun! I certainly did not start the business in order to flip it. It has provided us with a solid income stream for over five years. I have no intention of trying to grow my business. I do not want to hire staff. It’s fine as it is. With our other business ideas we hope to do it the same way.

Love,

Mrs EconoWiser

Book Review: ReWork #2

The first part of this book review you can find here.

TAKEDOWNS

Ignore the real world – don’t think things won’t work in “the real world”. That is an illusion anyway and has nothing to do with your situation.

Learning from mistakes is overrated – build upon things that work and learn from your successes instead of failures.

Planning is guessing – just give it up and focus on this week. You’ll always screw-up your long-term plans anyway.

Why grow? – the size of your company should be right for your company and it should not grow for the mere purpose of growing because that could really harm your business.

Workaholism – working overtime is overrated. Workaholics will achieve lesser results. The smart person makes normal hours and works very effectively during those hours.

Enough with “entrepreneurs” – be a starter, not an entrepreneur.

Again, all of these things I have punt into practise with my side business. I totally ignored other businesses and focused on mine. I found out that a certain product was selling really well, so I specialised in that product instead of trying to come up with a plan to sell the other products. I do not have long-term plans for my business, only vague ideas of what I would like. After five years my husband and myself are still the only ones working for the side business and it’s great. I do not spend more time than necessary in the business and I have a part-time job (4 days). I make sure that I do not work overtime on both. The entrepreneur thing doesn’t bother me, actually. So that would be my only critique here.

Stay tuned for the next part of my book review!

Love,

Mrs EconoWiser

Book Review: ReWork #1

Okay, finally I am going to do this book review thing. Now, since I have a job and own a side business I do not have ample time to write huge posts. So what I’ll do with book reviews is that I’ll split them up into different posts. Mind you, my reviews are a combination of a summary divided per chapter and my personal opinion about the book in question. Ready, set, go!

ReWork – Change The Way You Work Forever, by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson

INTRODUCTION

It’s quite plain and simple. “They” say a lot of things about how to build a business. Whoever “they” are…”they” are wrong.

FIRST

The new reality – anyone can be in business since these days every tool you need is easily accessible. And the fun part is, you could start a business on the side working as little as 10 hours a week on it. According to the authors:

“It’s time to rework work”

I could not agree more with these first two chapters. I am living proof of the fact that you don’t have to have a business degree in order to set up a successful business. Also, I own a side business on which I spend about 10 to a maximum of 15 hours a week having FUN and making money.

Are you curious about the rest of ReWork? Stick around and I’ll give it a go! Just so you know: I wish this book was on the market when I started my side business back in 2007. Spoiler alert: yes, I am going to encourage you wannabe entrepreneurs to go to your local library and pick up this book. Or even worse: spend money buying it. It’s worth the investment!

Love,

Mrs EconoWiser