Small interventions with charity – big impact on society

If you follow my blog you would know I am a big fan of 80/20 – small causes which can create big impact. I am all about using leverage- in the positive sense.

I am also big into doing charity because it is good Karma.

But I think not all charity is created equal. In my opinion if you do charity to solve a problem at the grass root level then in the long run it can have a major impact on the society. Its all about prioritizing how your funds can have the biggest impact.

In India one of the big challenges we face is poverty. So poor people don’t send kids to school because they get additional hands to work, earn money and therefore feed the family.

Since the kids don’t go to school they also spend their life in poverty-stricken situations. This also leads to an increase in crime, drug abuse etc.

A simple solution that was found, was to feed kids in schools so that the kids get one good meal. Now the incentive for the parents to send the kid to the school is not educational but the lunch that the kid will get. On the other hand for the government and society the long term benefits are better, healthier citizens who may eventually come out of poverty and the crime rates will also be lower.

The challenge is how do you feed so many kids. That’s where NGOs come in. They take donations from people like us.

A lot of NGOs do good work. However I support these kind of charities because the small interventions of feeding say 25 kids for a full year, every year will ensure that 10 years from now I know there will be 25 less people who will be on the road living in poverty. The amount needed to feed one wholesome nutritious meal to say 25 kids for a year would be just USD 500 but the long term impact could be so amazing.

Mohnish Pabrai runs a similar program where he helps kids get trained for higher education and sponsors their education. The Grameen Bank founder and Nobel prize winner did a similar thing by giving micro loans to the poor people so they could do their own business.

While all charity is very good, give wherever and whenever you can, however if you can also do some focused charity it can have major long term benefits for society.

Till next time then.

Carpe Diem!!!

Debt versus liability

Debt, Leverage, Liabilities

I have written earlier that I have been reading this book, Killing Sacred Cows…… by Garrett Gunderson.

Based on my own life experiences , where I was in so much debt from all sides , I have come to a conclusion that I will not take any debt for consumption items, especially credit card debt. Wherever I do have to use my credit card, because of “single shot” payments, I ensure that I pay it out within the period of free credit.

Otherwise I am absolutely against borrowing money and taking leverage of any kind.

Garrett on the other hand has come up with a very interesting take between liability and debt.

He says you will always have to take a liability to get an asset. One cannot exist without the other. If the liabilities exceed the assets you have then its debt. You should get rid of this debt at the earliest.

On the other hand if you can service the liabilities with your cash flow and it helps increase your assets then you should borrow. Effectively if you are buying a productive asset rather than a consumption asset, then you should borrow. As per him if you have to leverage your ability to add more assets then you should borrow.

Now in some situations there can be a thin line between consumption and production.

I am right now thinking about how do you go about classifying expenses as being done for productive reasons. Some could be clearly identified such as having one car to improve mobility versus three cars for lifestyle. Even that could be debated by some though.

But how should I look at taking a holiday to get new experiences. The experiences help me de-stress and therefore make me more productive in the long run. Should I be willing to borrow to fund the experiences rather than directly fund with cash and liquidating some assets.

I need to get a wrap around this idea. It could actually be a game changer.

Will keep you posted.

Till next time then.

Carpe Diem!!!

Insurance to eliminate fear

Fear, Happiness, Health, Insurance, Leverage, Risks

I read an extremely interesting concept today. I have considerably got convinced about the idea, still digesting a few things, but thought of sharing to see what you think.

I have always been aware of insurance being necessary. As a matter of fact in my posts on advice to young women, I had layed great stress on both health and life insurance.

Quite frankly given the high inflation in healthcare costs, I would anyway recommend you to take the highest possible health insurance. On life insurance however I was generally of the view that you should take term insurance to cover the major risks that you envisage.

One of the key things in financial independence that I keep harping about is the ability to take decisions without the fear of having a job in the future.

One of the reasons that financial independence becomes a moving target is because as you grow in life, your finances improve, you get used to a better lifestyle. To be able to achieve that lifestyle if you leave your job, you need to have a much higher level of assets. So you again start saving and investing for the next higher level but by then your target amount has moved further.

This happens primarily because FEAR, the What if eventuality.

This is where if you have more than adequate insurance of different types, you transfer the risk to the insurance company and your fear can reduce. This is where I have to delve deeper on how you can leverage this ideato become more fearless.

I will keep you posted as I delve deeper into this subject.

Till next time then.

Carpe Diem!!!

Leverage

Leverage, Marketing, Marketing Ecosystem, relationships, Sales, Uncategorized

When you think of the word leverage it generally ends up with a negative image intended mind. It sounds like being in debt.

In financial terms, leverage can have some negative connotation but today I am going to talk about the positive effects of leverage.

Archimedes is supposed to have said “give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it and I shall move the world.” The biggest advantage of leverage that with very small effort you can achieve massive results. Little hinges swing large doors.

Moving in your car versus walking is leverage, automating a factory is leverage and all these help tremendously

In marketing (and sales also as part of marketing ) there are tremendous processes where we can leverage on things like automation etc.

But my favorite kind of leverage is relationships. These could be relationships with customers, relationships with vendors or your network. If you have enough good relationships in place, as Archimedes mentioned in a different context, you can grow your business dramatically.

However in any relationship is always better to give, before you get. That way the principle of reciprocity comes into play. Otherwise the person will feel exploited or used.

Other than relationships good sales people are tremendous leverage. A successful advertisement / message in one market can be leverage to get into other markets faster.

A CRM can help the new salesperson on speed faster to the accounts that she needs to target because all the historical information about the prospect is available.

A family of aspirational products and brands are also leverage for the company.

I would love to hear what is your favorite leverage in marketing or sales.

Till next time then.

Carpe Diem!!!