When you reach level 4, you're now an Investor. Your interests now extend above profits. You now want to know your Return on Investment or ROI. At this level, your ROI comes from buying businesses, building them up and selling them. Ideally, you should be buying a business performing to 25% of capacity and you sell when they are performing to 70% capacity. If you want to know *7 Rules to Buying a Business,* just email me at

You've now reached pinnacle - Level 5. A true Entrepreneur is more interested in how much capital they can raise for their next enterprise. An Entrepreneur is recognized by number of zeros in his/her annual income. Don't be type of person I call *looking good, going nowhere.* You've all seen them. The type of person that buys latest autos, flashest clothes.

The path to true entrepreneurship is hard, but anyone can reach top. Remember, knowledge and wealth go together, not time and wealth! Time is irrelevent. It doesn't matter whether you're 17 or 70. Gain knowledge you need to get there - and you will! Wealth is dependant on 2 things - Cashflow and Assets. You use a business to create cashflow and then obtain assets. Bill Gates is a prime example. Did Bill Gates become richest businessman in world by selling software? Some of you are nodding your head and saying yes. Wrong! He sold software to create a cashflow. He became richest man in world of business by selling his company - or more precisely, by selling stock in his company. He obtained assets. Remember, cashflow + assets = wealth.

Don't be alarmed if at some point vendor asks you what your budget is for project. If you are working with a reputable firm, they are using this question as a means of establishing whether or not they can offer you a viable solution within your price range. Good consultants will refer you in another direction if they are unable to meet your needs.

Implementation Timeline: A successful implementation is dependent on a realistic timeline. After having established your timeline, determine whether or not you have capacity to meet your timeline and then determine whether or not consulting firm has capacity to meet your timeline.

Good clients are working proactively so that they can enjoy luxury of making good decisions. Good consultants are managing client expectations so that projects are managed and completed according to a mutually agreed upon and well communicated schedule.

Research Product and Vendor: Your decisions goes beyond that of product selection. It is equally important to research vendor. Have a list of questions you ask each vendor. Start with following list of questions.

-> How long has vendor been in business? -> Historically, what has their commitment been to end user? -> How have they managed to keep up with changing technologies? -> What is guarantee? -> Is there a guaranteed response time? -> Is product supported locally? -> Can you view working product at a local business?

Selecting a Consulting Firm: Successful software implementation can only happen if both you and consultants are equally committed to project. When you have identified two or three plausible software solutions, your final decision will be made based on which consulting firm you feel can best help you achieve your goals. Pay attention to details, and ask a series of questions of each firm.

-> Throughout sales process consulting firm is courting you--it doesn't get any better than this. Are they readily answering your questions or are you waiting 2-3 days before your calls are returned? -> How long have they been working with this product? -> How and why did they choose to represent this particular product? -> What is their professional background? -> Were they end-users? -> What is their implementation process? Is it tangible? Can you see materials? -> Who are their clients? -> Ask for references for whom a project has gone smoothly and also ask for references for whom project went less smoothly. The idea here is to find out how consultants handle things when going gets tough.

Remember, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is and when people tell you who they are, listen.