The N#1 in circulation magazine in Cyprus “MAN” in its November 2007 issue published an article about our community. Among other issues been covered in the article were: 1) An introduction to the CASHFLOW game and its principles. In particular the article was explaining how the game has changed the way people think about money and investing. Moreover, people can play it now in Cyprus as well. 2) The global phenomenon of Rich Dad– An overview of the book “Rich Dad, Poor Dad”, the book in which the CASHFLOW game it is based. The book explains what the rich people teach their kids about money–that the poor and the middle class do not. 3) How the CASHFLOW game has been introduced in the Greek higher education 4) The mission and the activities of the community of the HELLENIC Cashflow Club Association.

It was an excellent article and we hope  that the Cypriot readers will want to learn more on how to become financially literate. Just to to remind to the people from Cyprus that they can join the CASHFLOW game meetings of the Nicosia Cashflow Club or the Pafos Cashflow Club. Joining the CASHFLOW game meetings is free! For more informtion please contact us.

 You can read the entire article exactly as it has appeared in the magazine by downloading it. Please go to the HCCA FILES BOX in the sidebar of our blog and click the file “MAN_Magazine”

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On 12nd of October 2007 Robert Kiyosaki (author of the New York Times bestseller “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” & creator of the CASHFLOW game) together with his wife Kim (author of the bestselling book “Rich Women”) visited Stockholm in Sweden. They were invited by the company which is representing Rich Dad in Sweden (www.richdad.se). However, the organizer of the Greek Cashflow Club in Sweden, Vassilis Mavroudis was also there and had the opportunity to talk with Robert & Kim about the Global Community of the HELLENIC Cashflow Club Association. In particular Vassilis had the opportunity to explain to Robert & Kim the mission of the HCCA which is linking and uniting all the Greek Cashflow Clubs from all over the world and spreading the word about the rich dad philosophy in Greece as well as in a level of Global Greek community. Vassilis underlined to Robert the specific efforts which are being made by our community in Greece in order to introduce the CASHFLOW game in the Greek Higher Education as well as the CASHFLOW game for Kids in Greek Kids’ Schools.

Robert & Kim were delighted to hear about all these. In particular Robert said: “I really like the whole idea of the Global Community of the HELLENIC Cashflow Club Association. We really love Greece and we’re visiting it for vacations whenever we can. Actually, last summer (2007) we were in Santorini. Its beauties are extraordinary” .

Unfortunatelly, Robert & Kim didn’t have time to give a full interview to Vassilis due to their full programme (next they were visiting Italy & Israel) but after hearing about the activities of the HCCA in a global level, they said they would like to visit Greece in order to talk about rich dad. 

Vassilis also met the assistant of Robert & Kim whom she’s happens to be Swedish and also informed her in more details about the mission of our community. Vasillis has done an excellent PR job regarding the image of the Global Community of the HCCA (He also talked with the Swedish journalists who were present there).

Vassilis Mavroudis with Kim & Robert Kiyosaki. Kim is holding the logo of the HELLENIC Cashflow Club Association

In order to see the photos from Stockholm in higher resolution click here

“One out of two Greeks wish to start their own business according to a survey of the eurobarometer which took place in all countries-members.

According to the results of the survey, 47% of the questioned Greeks aged 15-39 expressed their wish to form their own business within the next 5 years. It is the highest percentage in the Eurozone and the fourth highest among the 25 countries of the European Union, after the Latvians (50%), Polish (48%) and Lithuanians (48%). The lowest percentages have the Germans (19%), Belgians(18%) and the Austrians (16%)… In general, in the Europe of 25, the average of people who are living with the dream of starting their own business it’s not higher than 30% against 42% in USA. The 49% of the Europeans have never thought something like this, while in USA the percentage is not higher than 27%.

In accordance with an intermediate report of the European Commission, the average cost for starting a small & medium business is at 554 Euro against 813 Euro in 2002. Also,the time has been reduced almost at half, in about 12 days against 24 days in 2002.

This positive progress has been achieved due to the measures which the Commision forwards against bureaucracy, the improvement of accessing markets and the encouragement of doing business.

Small & medium businesses employ less than 250 employees, but the 23 millions S&M business of the European Union represent as a whole approximatelly 99% of the overall number of the Union’s businesses and the 57% of the aggregate economic added-value.

Furthermore, the Commision announced the creation of a programme which will help the S&M businesses to apply the european enviromental legislation. It is the “supporting programme for the enviromental compliance” which is an innitiative of the commisioner Stavros Dimas. The financing of the measures of the programme will come from the financial resources of the LIFE+ (5 millions euro for 2007-13).”

The above results of the eurobarometer’s survey  means for us  an awakening in the entrepreneurial instincts of Greeks. However this must be an awakening in qualitive entrepreneurship. We’re saying this because there are many people  who can’t find a job and instead they’re starting a business. The problem is that they’re lacking not only the proper business education but more importantly they’re lacking  the proper entrepreneurial mind-set which is necessary for starting a business.  Absence of “qualitive entrepreneurship” leads to people starting a business with the purpose of making money “fast & easy”. Of course this is not entrepreneurship.  True entrepreneurship means building a sustainable business with a long-term vision, at view. Our community, as supporters of the rich dad philosophy we’re making efforts for educating people regarding proper business education, particulary focusing on schools because as Robert Kiyosaki says:  “Schools teach students to become employees not entrepreneurs”. Indeed, we strongly believe that only by  having proper business education and proper entrepreneurial mind-set, this awakening in the entrepreneurial genes of Greeks will ultimatelly lead to the development of entrepreneurship in our country.

On the 2nd of October 2007 at 7 p.m, the community of the HELLENIC Cashflow Club Association had the opportunity to present itself on the Athens Open Coffee Club (The movement of the Greek internet StartUps) which took place at the multi-room of Bacaro ( 1 Sofokleous Str.- city center-across Athens Stock of Exchange). The meeting consisted of 4 different presentations (ours included).

The audience was the tech community of Athens (geeks, bloggers, entrepreneurs, investors, etc.) and it was consisted of approximatelly 70 people but through live broadcasting from the internet, the whole Greece as well as many Greek people from all around the world were watching us at the same time from their homes.

It was an excellent presentation. Despite the fact that the speakers had only 5 minutes to present themselves we have managed to explain the basic principles of Rich Dad, the CASHFLOW game as well as we had the opportunity to speak about the mission of the global community of the HELLENIC Cashflow Club Association and our plans for the future. At the end of our presentation we’ve answered to questions from the audience. The responses were very good. In fact most people didn’t even knew that something like that existed. They were really impressed. In future posts we will talk more about these responses. At the end of the presntations we had the opportunity to meet other people and explain them more things about our community.

You can find the report of our presentation (in greek) here. Below is the link of the video of the 4 presentations ( our presentation included). You can also find the photos of the meeting here.

Watch the video of the four presentations (ours included) here!

The HELLENIC Cashflow Club Association (aka the Global Greek Rich Dad’s Community) is getting bigger and bigger. Right now there are: 8 Cashflow Clubs in Greece, 2 in Cyprus, as well as 1 Greek Cashflow Club in U.S.A, Australia, Sweden and in South Africa very soon. You can find details of these clubs at our Greek Cashflow Clubs List. Furthermore,there are individual Greek Rich Dad’s fans in U.K, Belgium, Canada, Holland and Germany. All these individuals are making efforts to form Greek Cashflow Clubs in the above countries.

All these Greek Cashflow Clubs and individuals from all around the world are interconnnected and through an internet platform that we’re now developing this interconnection will become much more easier.

Apart from this global Greek Rich Dad’s network of people, specific eforts are made by the HCCA in order to spread the word about the rich dad philosophy in Greece and Cyprus. Our target  is the Greek higher education and the kids’ schools. After the introduction of Rich Dad and the CASHFLOW game at the Technological Educational Institute of Heraklion in Crete we’re in discussions with some other Universities and T.E.I’s for the introduction of the game into their curriculum as well. We insist in the higher education because we strongly believe that our traditional educational system although it’s very important, it’s not enough anymore. We must all understand money and its principles.

Furthermore we’re trying to approach kids’ schools in Greece for the introduction of the CASHFLOW game for kids on these schools because as Robert Kiyosaki says, giving kids an educational head start at this early age can have long-term financial results in their lives.

More over, in the coming months the HCCA will make an effort to inform the Greek and the Cypriot Media about our community.

As you can see, our community indeed is getting bigger and we’ll do our best to continue our efforts. The HCCA would like to thanks its community for their support, because without this support much of the above could not have been accomplished.

In the North of Greece lies the beautiful town of Veria. Most foreign people probably know Veria  from the bible, from Apostle Paul. He walked in the streets of Veria and talked here almost 1950 years ago.

In the modern days Veria is an an agricultural and industrial (in agricultural products) centre of North Greece. But 3 months ago, in the summer of 2007  the VERIA Cashflow Club was created here.  The organizer of the club Christos Bakalidis, entrepreneur, says: ” I’m excited about our town’s newly formed cashflow club. I’m a big rich dad fan, the principles of whom have transformed my life. We are looking forward to get more organized as time passes by and more importantly we’ll do our best to attract more people to our club from Veria and the regions around the town. I’m also excited about the idea of the HCCA (Global Greek Rich Dad’s Community). It was something that we as Greeks were needed”.

For people who want to join the CASHFLOW game meetings of the Veria Cashflow Club, please contact us in order to re-direct you to the club.

Seventh Shot Success For Entrepreneur

In our series of posts entitled “Greek Business Success Stories” we are presenting business success stories from Greece as well as from Greek enrepreneurs who are living and thriving abroad.

Why we are presenting these stories? Because as Robert Kiyosaki says: ” If nothing comes to your mind on how you can get rich by working for free, keep pushing your reality or begin investing some time and education into studying the lives of people who became successful and rich in the “B” and “I” quadrants.

Indeed, by studying the success stories of the other people we are increasing our own drive for starting our own businesses, begin investing, etc. That drive is even bigger when the success stories comes from Greek people. That’s the main reason on why we present Greek Business Success Stories.

Below is the business success story of Jason Pappas from EntreQuest. His story is interesting becauce he made it only in his seventh business endeavor. This affirms rich dad’s statement that: ” Failure is part of the winning”.

“Jason Pappas, 39, is co-founder/CEO of EntreQuest, a Baltimore-based sales consulting company. He grew up in North Baltimore, went to Gilman School, Yale University and the University of Maryland School of Law.

However, Pappas decided he wasn’t a lawyer but rather a “serial entrepreneur.” In his own quest to create a successful business, Pappas tried his hand at real estate investment, property management, owning a driving range and starting a golf apparel company, among other things. EntreQuest was “one-for-seven.”

Q: What made No. 7 work?

A: Honestly? A phenomenal partner. [Joe Mechlinski] is 10 years younger than I am. … We’re very similar from a core standpoint, but our tactical strengths are different. He’s much more detail-oriented compared to me. The other thing is – we know how to fight really well. … [We] never make it personal.

Q: You describe yourself as a “serial entrepreneur.” What do you think it is about you that drives you that direction?

A: It’s clearly a control issue. I need to control. I’m totally comfortable with the uncertainty and the risk. But, I’ve gotta be the one holding the dice.

Source: Baltimore Sun

One of the best Greek blogs on business, marketing and management is the Bizwriter by Sakis Rizos. We found the subjects covered on the blog particulary interesting and right on the topic. For instance, a post entitled “The Greek Entrepreneurship: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow” explains the challenges which the Greek Entrepreneurship currently faces. Other subjects being covered are: E-business, e-marketing, Human Resources, Branding, Advertising, Public Relations. He highly recomend this blog for people who wish to be informed about the latest trends on the above topics in Greece and internationally. Join this blog here 

Brainstorming sessions can help you explore new ideas, discover solutions and reach your goals.

       One of the activities of the Greek Cashflow Clubs all over the world are the brainstorming sessions. Brainstorming is very important because as Robert Kioyosaki said in his book “Retire Young, Retire Rich” p. 314: ” So the last tip is, with your loved one or friends who are on the journey with you, spend time together brainstorming  how you can take an idea and turn that idea into millions of dollars, starting with no money or very little money. This process is like going to the gym for muscles. This regular exercise strengthens your brain and gets it ready for the moment you make your move.

The following article from Entrepreneur will show you how to take the most out of your participation in brainstorming sessions.  

I regularly attend marketing brainstorming sessions with a group of colleagues. Our purpose is to gather as many new ideas as possible. Everyone shares a variety of interesting insights, strategies and thoughts, and we each walk away with great new ways to improve our businesses.Recently, the owner of a clothing store joined our group session. Instead of taking in the spirit of everyone’s suggestions, he found fault with each idea. It was too expensive, would take too long to implement or was something he had already tried. It seemed as if he hadn’t come to obtain new ideas–he’d come to debate any strategy presented to him. As a result, he left our session feeling frustrated. To effectively move your business forward, you need to engage in fluid, fruitful dialogues. The clothing store owner could have discovered unique methods for improving his sales if he would have asked for help in refining the suggestions presented to him instead of just dismissing them.Creating dialogues that solicit varied viewpoints is essential to your long-term success. Whether you engage in group discussions or have direct conversations, commit to being more open.1. Seek discovery, not answers. Set up “success dialogues” with other entrepreneurs for the purpose of discovering new options for innovation rather than obtaining specific solutions. The goal of these encounters is a free exchange of ideas, not to convince anyone that one viewpoint is better than another. Don’t expend all your energy constantly evaluating people’s suggestions–work on finding nuggets of information that you can use to both broaden your thinking and reach new breakthroughs.2. Have purposeful conversations. At the beginning of each conversation, silently remind yourself of the goal for the meeting. This provides clarity as you begin a conversation and will help you maintain focus thereafter. If the discussion begins to stray from the main topic, redirect it by reminding the group of the focal point for the discussion. The trust and camaraderie established during effective dialogues activates everyone’s creativity. Your purpose is to solve a business problem with imaginative thinking.3. Ask questions to deepen your knowledge. Demonstrate that you have an appreciation for others’ knowledge and experience by listening to what they have to share. Then create a two-way dialogue by asking questions that dig deeper into their suggestions. If you’re unsure about a response, make your questions more pointed. Explore ideas to the fullest with hard questions. The more specific the discussion becomes, the greater the benefit for all participants.

4. Commit to investigating the whole picture. Consider how ideas affect all aspects of your business by creating honest, respectful dialogues that connect differing opinions. Be innovative and discover how the methods that have worked for others can relate to your business without deterring you from your ultimate goal. Be as inquisitive as possible, and you will continue to evolve and improve your business.

Think of yourself as a composer. For centuries, composers have worked with the same building blocks: a static set of notes. Yet time after time, they astound us with new arrangements by developing fresh combinations and rhythms. Your communication skills are your instrument and are essential for your success. Like a composer, find new ways to use your building blocks and arrange them to propel your business to greater heights.

Speaker and consultant Romanus Wolter, aka “The Kick Start Guy,” is author of Kick Start Your Success and Kick Start Your Dream Business

Source: Entrepreneur

Business-Marketing & Advertising 

Internet Marketing Strategies is a purely Greek social networking Group which aims at networking, discussions about current trends in the field, as well as answers to problems regarding internet marketing.

Since many members of the community of the HELLENIC Cashflow Club Association are thinking to launch business StartUps on the internet we highly recommend joining this group. By joining this group you can socialize with other Greek people and talk about subjects in the field of internet marketing.

You can join the group here

Open Coffee Athens meetings are now upgraded. Starting from September, on the first Tuesday of each month, 6 people get 5 minutes to show up something cool to the tech community of Athens (geeks, bloggers, entrepreneurs, investors, etc). All these after, in between of and before coffees, drinks and pure, real-world, social networking.

The next meeting is to be hosted on Tuesday of October 2nd, at 6 p.m at Bacaro Athens, Sofokleous Str.1 (across the Greek Stock Exchange). Applications for presentations may be mailed to opencoffee.grATgmail.com. More info here (in greek).

Βy  Chris Palmeri        

           Robert Kiyosaki says he called the housing bust as far back as two years ago. “I was saying get out,” he says…

           Kiyosaki became a very, very rich man thanks to his 1997 book, “Rich Dad, Poor Dad,” in which he argued that Americans needed to take more risks. In the book he says he made his pile in real estate and small company stocks. It’s has been on best-seller lists for years, selling 27 million copies, and spawning 12 sequels, Kiyosaki thinks. “I stopped counting,” he says.

          “I thought the real estate boom was a dot-com all over again,” he says. “It was hard in 2003 to 2006 to make a deal.” Now Kiyosaki is advising that investors plunge in again, selectively. ‘It‘s the same fundamental problem, an overheated market. We’re coming upon it right now. This is the best time to invest. The people who are losing money are flippers, developers who came late to the party, every time there are cranes in the sky, I am strictly cash.”

          So what exactly does Rich Dad suggest? “The people getting hammered right now are capital gains folks. I’m a cash flow guy. If it doesn’t make me money today, forget about it. When you find someone who just wants to unload something you can make a deal. It’s really the best time for a professional investor.” Kiyosaki does say he expects another recession, a “ripple effect” from the construction industry slowdown and consumers burdened with debt. Sounds like it’s also time for another book.

          Over the years, I’ve seen entrepreneurs make three mistakes during boom-and-bust cycles. The first mistake is…

…made when times are good: Entrepreneurs begin to spend. With increased confidence, they expand their businesses, hire more people, buy bigger houses, lease new cars or have more kids.

          The second mistake occurs when the economy shifts and business slows down. Suddenly, confidence is shaken, and entrepreneurs begin to save. Cutting back only causes the business to fall faster.

          One of the best secrets my rich dad taught me was to save when times are good, and spend when times are bad. In other words, do the exact opposite of what everyone else is doing.

          When times are good, save money by paying off bills and improving income-to-expense and asset-to-liability ratios. Make the business financially stronger. Be careful about taking on more debt, especially ego debt, like bigger offices.

          When times are bad, don’t cut back on sales-generating activities like advertising and promotion. Instead, increase your sales, promotion and marketing budgets. Hire more salespeople and increase sales training. An aggressive outbound sales campaign reverses your fears–it gets energy flowing out and then flowing back to you in the form of sales.

          When the economy recovers, a business that has saved money often emerges smaller and weaker. A business that has spent money emerges bigger and stronger, able to expand rapidly.

          The third mistake is failing to understand the sales and promotion cycle. My rich dad taught me that it is a six-week cycle, meaning if I do some promotion today, my sales will increase in six weeks. One reason entrepreneurs fail: They’re impatient. They do some promotion, but when nothing happens immediately, they think advertising is a waste of money.

Never stop promoting, advertising and selling, whether business is good or bad.

John-Paul Pigeon started reading the Rich Dad books at just 7 years old when he found Rich Dad Poor Dad. Now at a very mature 11 years old, he is one of the most business-aware young investors in Texas.

Robert Kiyosaki was so impressed with John-Paul that he personally interviewed him at a recent Real Estate Wealth Expo. Naturally, John-Paul was there to learn more and brought his mother to learn with him.

John-Paul’s dedication to building his financial expertise has richly benefited his family, too. Here’s the whole interview

Dr Heinz M. Kabutz (PhD CompSci), author of “The Java(tm) Specialists’ Newsletter”
(Sun Java Champion) was a member of the Rich Geeks Cashflow Club located in South Africa. Together with his wife Helen (her father is Greek) and their two children decided to move in Akrotiri-Chania in Crete and they have formed a new Rich Geeks Cashflow Club there. The HELLENIC Cashflow Club Association interviewed Dr Heinz M. Kabutz and as you will see he gives some great insight about the business and investing enviroment in South Africa, he also makes some comparisons between Greece and South Africa, he talks about how people are playing CASHFLOW in South Africa, as well as he talks about the Greek people living in South Africa and other important issues. It is really a very interesting interview which is worth taking your time in order to read it.

HCCA: First of all we would like to ask you, what prompt you to make that decision to move from South Africa in Akrotiri Chania in Crete? What was that which has attracted you in Greece?

H.K.:  South Africa has become a dangerous place to live.  You can still make a lot of money there, if that is the only thing that interests you.  However, the quality of life was getting to the stage where it was not nice any more.

My wife and children are Greek citizens and we thought it would be a good place to come and live.  So far, I have not actively looked for opportunities, but I know that you can find them here as well as in any country.

Living here in Greece is beautiful and we are thoroughly enjoying the summer months!

HCCA:  As far as we know you’re a world famous  java specialist. Could you please tell us what exactly you’re doing and what exactly is the Java’s specialist newsletter.

H.K.:  World famous, but only in cyberworld.  You will not see my face on any Newsweek or Time magazine.  However, I regularly get the opportunity to speak at international Java conferences.

I started a programming newsletter in 2001 focusing on topics that would interest a Java expert.  This is not a beginner’s newsletter.  It was, and still is, a hobby, something that I do because I love it.  I know that Kiyosaki says we should not do things primarily because they are “fun”, but rather to get to the end point.  Well, the long-term benefit is that I have thousands of regular readers working for important companies.  They help promote my courses on Java and enable me to get interesting work. 

HCCA: a) When and how did you first came in contact with the rich dad philosophy and what was the thing that attracted you to it?

H.K.:  Another newsletter author, Peter Carruthers, shares a lot of wisdom for small business owners in South Africa (www.petesweekly.com).  He mentioned the book “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” in one of his articles, many years ago.  I went to the bookshop the same day, but because they did not have that particular book, I bought “Cashflow Quadrant” instead.  That has remained my favourite book of the series.

Prior to being exposed to Kiyosaki, I taught a couple of courses of how Christians ought to be managing their finances.  It struck a chord with me, when I heard people telling me that they bought a brand-new car with cash.  It was something that I could never imagine was possible.  The course entitled “How to Manage Your Money” takes the Bible and applies it to how we should be living today.  There are lots of examples that I could tell you of people who got free from financial worry by just following the principles in that course.

However, the course on “How to Manage Your Money” stopped short of telling you how to invest the money that you were accumulating.  I had gotten to the stage where my house was paid off, my car was paid off, and I did not owe anything on my credit cards.  I was financially free and could work when I felt like it, because our monthly expenses were minimal.

Kiyosaki was a good next step – to start investing wisely instead of just saving.  

HCCA: b) ”Rich Geeks” are a Cashflow club in South Africa. Could you please tell us some things about the activities of the club in South Africa and how well organized are the cashflow clubs in South Africa?

H.K.:  We are not nearly as well organised as the Greeks.  We used to get together occasionally to play Cashflow 101 and 202 with friends.  I used to try to get real investors to join us and show us the ropes.  One of my friends, Mark Eiserman (http://www.ig.co.za), who is the best real investor that I know, sat with us once and played the game.  It was the first time he played, but within thirty minutes, he was out of the rat race.  He would pick up deals that we would reject and show us how he could benefit from them.  He then started playing again and was out of the rat race in about another twenty minutes.

HCCA: Could you please tell us some things about the business and investing enviroment in South Africa and how well prepared is South Africa to adapt in the fast moving global business enviroment caused by technological changes?

H.K.:   South Africa is in some ways more advanced than Greece.  This is partly due to the isolation that we suffered during the apartheid years, when the world instituted sanctions against our country.  As a result of this, we had to work doubly hard to innovate and keep up with the rest of the world.  Once we joined the world market again, we were surprised at how similar some of our inventions were to the rest of the world.

Unfortunately the new South Africa is full of corruption and bad laws.  The corruption is a bit worse than in Greece (from what I’ve seen and heard here), but the laws are dreadful.  Similarly to anti-Jew Nazi Germany, the laws that are drafted today are anti-white.  Your skin colour will determine whether you can get a permanent job or not.  If you are white, you will probably get a temporary job, as a contractor.  But it is very difficult, almost impossible, to get a permanent job with a big company.

Similarly, if you have a business, you are forced to give away 25.1% of your business to non-white partners.  If you resist this, then the bigger companies are under pressure to stop buying from you.  Without turnover, you can quickly close your doors.

I would predict that in the short term, you can become a millionaire in South Africa.  One of the reasons is the high gold price.  Another is that the skills exodus us leaving behind a vacuum that you could fill.

Once the gold price starts dropping again, then there will be very little that South Africa will be able to offer the world.  Within the next 20 years, I expect to see famine in South Africa, the way that we are now seeing in Zimbabwe.

I think it is important for Europeans to educate themselves about the true nature of Africa.  Perhaps go and live there for a couple of years?  A short two week holiday will not tell you the truth at all.

HCCA: We know that you have two little kids (boy and girl) which are experts in the cashflow game for kids. Robert Kiyosaki said that the cashflow game for kids could be the family’s educational head start his rich dad gave to him. He also said that a parent’s influence at an early age can have long term financial results. In his book Rich Kid, Smart Kid deals on how parents can teach their kids financial literacy. Could you please tell us how you and your wife teach the subject of money to your children?

H.K.:  We never liked the cashflow for kids game that much, since it is so awkward to play.  I would rather recommend to start as early as possible playing Cashflow 101 and Monopoly.

One thing that I did from a young age is to play the real stock market with my kids.  They never got pocket money from me – instead – they had to invest the money that they had.  A few years ago, my son got a present of 8 EUR from an aunt.  Instead of buying a toy, we started buying shares and trading in currency.  I would lend my son money (with interest), he would then buy a share, watch it go up, sell it, cash in.  Sometimes he lost money, other times he made a good profit.  From the 8 EUR, he is now sitting with 350 EUR.  Another thing I do is often talk to them about real life, when we are driving to the beach or to church.  I tell them stories of investments, rental properties, the difference between gross and nett profit.  We talk about greed and the love of money, and how they can really mess up your life.  Maxi (my son) knows exactly what a doodad is.

Other parents try to teach their children to get into the E quadrant.  They pay them pocket money (although that’s pushing them towards social welfare) or make them to odd jobs around the house for money.  So far, I have not once given them money for any work that they have done for me.  I believe this is an important principle.  Scrap pocket money.  Teach your child to invest the money.

And of course, what I indicated already, speak to your child about money.

  HCCA: Robert Kiyosaki wrote an article entitled “ Employee Vs Entrerpreneur-What’s the Difference?”  He conducted a study group on the book  The World is Flat by Thomas L. Frieman, and they concluded (Robert Kiyosaki & the study group) that the World Wide Web has created new opportunities  for those who can think and operate as entrepreneurs. Robert contends that the rich the get richer and the poor stay poor is due to fundamental differences between  the mindset of an entrepreneur and the mindset of an employee. Heinz, since you are a tech-savvy we would like to ask you how helpful is for someone the studying of the Rich Dad philosophy in order to be able for him or her to take advantage of the new opportunities that the World Wide Web has created?

H.K.: There are a lot of opportunities to create passive income.  However, in my opinion, the passive income from the World Wide Web should go straight into buying real estate, it should not be used to support your lifestyle.

The market changes incredibly quickly in cyberspace.  What was hip a month ago, might be old hat today.  I know someone who lives in Crete and who used to make a ton of money through advertising on his website.  However, when Google started GoogleAds, they changed the model from PayPerView to PayPerClick.  All of a sudden, all of his customers wanted to change models, thus severely affecting his passive income.

If I have a rental property and I look after it, then for the next twenty years (at least) I can enjoy the fruits.  This is not the same with opportunities in the World Wide Web.  You have to be quick, make your money and invest it in something of real value.

   HCCA:   A new head start for “Rich Geeks” Cashflow Club in Akrotiri-Chania in Crete. Who’s can come to your cashflow game meetings?

H.K.:  I am supposed to say: “Anyone.”  However, I would like to restrict it a bit, due to my experiences in South Africa.

First of all, do not come if your motivation is to find suckers for your multi-level marketing scheme.

Secondly, do not come if you do not have spare time.  People who are too busy will not get out of the rat race.  You need to first free up your time.

Please do come if you have at least one rental property or if you are keen on buying one in the short term.

We welcome people eager to learn and even more, those eager to share from their real-world experience.

HCCA: Are there any Greek people living in South Africa?

H.K.:  Oh yes, there is a huge Greek community in South Africa.  Almost every corner grocery shop used to be owned and run by Greeks.  My father-in-law used to own a shop as well.  Unfortunately these shops are targets for criminals and so it has become a life threatening job to own a shop.  A lot of Greeks have packed up their belongings and either moved back here, or gone to explore other countries.

In general Greeks are hard working, intelligent and smart.  They are incredibly successful wherever they go.  A lot of the best real estate in Cape Town is owned by Greeks.  The same is probably true for other countries as well.  

HCCA: That’s great.We  then hope that we will soon see a Greek Cashflow Club to be formed in South Africa.

H.K.:  I think it might be equally likely to see a South African Cashflow club formed right here in Greece   There are hundreds, maybe thousands of South Africans living here in Greece nowadays.

Thank you very much for your interest in our club and I hope that we can help a few rats escape the ever-turning wheel of life !

——-

For more information about the Rich Geeks Cashflow Club and Dr Heinz M. Kabutz you can visit his personal web-site at: www.javaspecialists.eu

The HELLENIC Cashflow Club Association is publishing this article in order to express its support to the mission of the newly formed Open Coffee Club Greece (Greek StartUps Movement).  The Open Coffee Club Greece is part of the International Open Coffee Club and the mission of the Greek movement is the following:

• create a network of people with common interests to support relationships building and collaboration
• cultivate a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship
• spread new technologies with an emphasis on the web

Below is the Founding Declaration of the movement as it has been published in the movement’s blog under the post named The Greek StartUps are here

We are endorsing the declaration and we are glad to know that there are other people who have the same goals and objectives as we do. The community of the HELLENIC Cashflow Club Association is joining its forces with the newly formed movement towards our common goal.

Open Coffee Club Greece- FOUNDING DECLARATION

“The new Greek generation possesses abilities and knowledge, values and self-confidence, ideas and visions for their realization. We witness and celebrate the achievements of our days, the open information society, the collective character of the web, the global golden era of entrepreneurship. We consider ourselves bright, ambitious, with rosy prospects.

However, the latent period has been long enough. We are yet too mature to be just dreaming and – more importantly – realistically optimistic to start operating. From now on, we will view difficulties as challenges and the non-cultivated ground as source of opportunities. Let actions follow.

The document at hand represents the founding declaration of the Open Coffee Club Greece, the movement for (and by) Greek start-ups. By definition and nature, the movement is essentially characterized by openness and participation. Furthermore, we hope that it will act as support for, as well as trigger, all following actions:

* create a network of people with common interests to support relationship building and collaboration

* cultivate a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship

* spread new technologies with an emphasis on the web

The movement took form during the two open meetings which realized on the 7 June and 10 July under the initiative of the Confederation of Junior Enterprises Jade Hellas.

From today onwards, the OpenCoffee.gr blog will be the voice of the movement, as long as it will host all developments in the area of start-ups and the Greek web in general.

I, George Tziralis, support this effort.”

Source: Open Coffee Club Greece

Mastic Fantastic

     Springwise

There’s a new premium commodity in town, and its name is mastiha. Those of you with no ties to the Eastern Mediterranean or the Middle-East are forgiven for not knowing exactly what mastiha, or mastic gum, is. It’s a product of the mastic tree, which is mainly cultivated on Chios, a Greek island in the Aegean Sea. Small cuts are made in the bark of the tree, the sap seeps out and congeals into ‘tears’ of resin, which are harvested and cleaned by hand. (more…)

Find out all you can about patents, trademarks and copyrights now–your business will thank you later.

         Entrepreneur

You wouldn’t open your office for business but then go home without locking up, right? That’s essentially what you’re doing if you don’t secure your business ideas. By taking the proper steps, you can protect your trademarks, trade secrets and product design and packaging with intellectual property laws.

In fact, the Legal section is a very important section of the Rich Dad’s B-I Triangle. As Robert Kiyosaki says: ” I know that my number one asset is my mind and the ideas that come from my mind. I now know how to repsect my ideas and protect them. I believe that each and every one of us has an idea that has the potential to make you and your family wealthier beyond your wildest dreams. But before that wealth can happen, you must protect your idea. As rich dad said to me, I now say to you, ‘Your fortunes will come from your ideas. So, protect your number one asset. Protect your ideas.’ ” (more…)

By Robert Kiyosaki

A well-known entrepreneur some months ago said: “Sometimes when I’m looking for ideas, I read books of quotations or scan quotation websites”. Because every-one can use some inspiration every now and then, we thought we would share some of our favourite quotes with you. These quotes come from Robert Kiyosaki, they have inspired us and they are  continuing to inspire us. So, enjoy the following video! (Quotes are combined by beautiful pictures and music).

                                                                                   George Lipordezis, 28;  Leon Yohai, 32; & Predrag Djokic, 35

Entrepreneur

Working in the family’s optometry business in his home country of Greece, Leon Yohai felt his future was going nowhere. That is, until the internet came along—and suddenly, Yohai knew where to look. “It was the biggest discovery, even bigger than the wheel,” Yohai laughs. He taught himself how to write computer code and, in 1999, started his own business, InternetQ. The company started out building websites but eventually switched to the telecom industry. By 2003, InternetQ had become the largest mobile content pro-vider in Greece.

Coming to America: That same year, Yohai sold InternetQ and decided he should introduce the technology overseas. Living and working out of a friend’s home in Virginia, Yohai started Qmobile with two friends from Greece, Predrag Djokic and George Lipordezis, who were also former InternetQ employees. Together, the trio secured $6 million in venture funding and was able to negotiate a deal with their first client, T-Mobile. “We were lucky enough that our billing platform was made by the same manufacturer as their billing platform, so it was easy to connect,” Yohai says. By 2004, the company had moved into a proper office in Reston, Virginia, and has since grown to 25 employees.

The Next Big Thing: With all the capabilities mobile phones have today, wireless content may not seem that original, but Qmobile was one of the first to introduce the possibilities of SMS text messaging technology to the U.S. Qmobile, the parent company of Qtones.com, provides content such as games and ringtones to customers from all major carriers, including Sprint and Verizon. Customers order content via SMS text messaging or online and are billed through their phone service.

Follow Their Lead: Follow your passion wherever it takes you—even if that means relocating with good friends by your side for support.

QMobile
Reston, Virginia
2006 Sales: $24 million
Description: Mobile phone content provider

What gets you out of the bed each day? Do you have goals and plans, both short and long term, or is the fact that you will be out on the streets if you don’t make next months rent or mortgage payment what motivates you? Some people are pleasure motivated and some people are pain motivated. It’s important to find out which you are. If you are pain motivated It is suggest that you find something to get excited about. Even if your goal is not for you but for a family member it can still motivate you. Setting goals are very simple. It can be done by anyone. Are you ready? Read the entire article in REIClub.

The editors of Business 2.0 Magazine have identified the Best business ideas in the world. One of them is the following: Export the planet’s next great wines-from Greece. Learn more about this business idea by reading the following article.

Shipping cabernet from Peloponnese

Forget about that jet-fuel ouzo. Greek wineries are finally getting props from sommeliers, but they need U.S. reps. to market their product.

Investment level: <$100K

Risk level: Medium

When new wines poured out of Argentina, Australia, Chile, and New Zealand 20 years ago, most weren’t fit to strip old paint from your siding. But as winemakers refined their methods, savvy marketers who tasted the improvements quickly signed on to export the brands to global markets – and made a killing. Wines from these four countries now account for nearly a third of the $3.7 billion imported-wine market in the United States.

So where is the new crop of hidden vines that will turn hundreds of prescient exporters into millionaires?

The answer whispered these days among sommeliers is Greece. Long dismissed as a producer of turgid retsina table wine, Greece has a new generation of winemakers, with pedigrees from France and Napa Valley, who are turning out award-winning wines from exotic grapes like moschofilero (akin to a pinot grigio) and agiorgitiko (more like a cab). Exports to the United States jumped by almost a third in 2005, and industry pros say they will double again by 2008.

The heart of the market is Peloponnese, the peninsula making up southern Greece. Its 150-plus boutique wineries produce 2 million cases a year, well over the 500,000 cases industry pros say an appellation needs to sustain an export market. They sell everything from table wines that retail for less than $10 to luxury reds that go for upwards of $40.

“They have the volume, the variety, and the quality,” says Rajat Parr, wine director for celebrity chef Michael Mina’s six restaurants. “If someone can market them, it’ll be huge.” One star winemaker, George Skouras, has a Chicago-based representative but says his peers lack representation. “We want to go beyond the ethnic market and get into mainstream restaurants,” he says.

The first step to breaking into the business is obvious: Travel through Peloponnese, tasting wines to find ones likely to earn high scores from wine magazines. Then ask to be a winemaker’s exclusive U.S. rep.

Set-up costs for exporting one or two labels will run between $25,000 and $100,000. About $10,000 goes toward legal fees to get a U.S. import license. Then, plan on buying a few thousand cases at $5 or so per bottle.

Another $6,000 gets them on a containership. American exporters charge a markup of as much as 50 percent to distributors, who can get up to another 50 percent from stores and restaurants. After paying import duties and warehouse rental, you can raise a glass to double-digit profit margins.

Source: Business 2.0 Magazine

Understanding your cash flow statement is key to tracking your business’s financial health.

In his book Rich Dad’s Guide to Investing Robert Kiyosaki says:” Having control over financial statements allows me to operate multiple businesses without being in the business physically. Truly understanding financial statements is one of the key still necessary for an S quadrant person to move to the B quadrant”.

Rich Dad used to say:” The ability to run a company from financial statements is one of the primary differences between a small business-owner and a big business-owner”.

 That is why Robert said:” For over 30 years, Rich Dad had me review financial statements. Today, I think automatically in financial statements”.

Indeed, the ability to understand financial statements enables you to read the story of the numbers and learn the truth about your business -and everyone else’s. If you can do that, you can quickly and easily spot possible trouble spots in your business before it’s too late.

The following article shows the Ins and Outs of Cash Flow Statements and how understanding your cash flow statement is key to tracking your business’s financial health.

Cash is what keeps your business functioning. You obviously need profit, but equally as critical is your cash flow.It’s important to know the financial health of your business, which is why you need to understand the purposes of your different financial statements. Your traditional financial statements include a balance sheet, profit and loss statement, and cash flow statement. What does the cash flow statement tell you that the others don’t?  There’s a difference between profitability and cash flow. You may be profitable and still have a negative cash flow, which is a difficult concept to understand for most business owners. Why? There are things that take cash out of the business that don’t classify as expenses and therefore don’t appear on your profit and loss statement. These include:

• Payment of loan principal
• Payment of credit card principal
• Owner’s draws

These transactions take cash out of the business and therefore show up on your cash flow statement, but not on your profit and loss statement. When you borrow money from a lender or credit card vendor, you don’t count it as income. Therefore, when you pay it back, you don’t count it as an expense. The interest or finance charges you incur on borrowing that money are an expense and will appear as an expense and use of cash. Similarly, when you invest money in your own business as an owner’s investment, it’s not counted as income. So when you take money out as an owner’s draw, it doesn’t count as an expense. Owner’s transactions affect your equity, not your revenue or expense accounts.

Click here for a sample cash flow statement.

When looking at a cash flow statement, you have three main breakdowns that show where cash is coming from and going to:

• Operations
• Investing
• Financing

Operating activities include your day-to-day operations. Increases and decreases in receivables and payables are accounted for on your cash flow statement, as are other activities from operating your business and selling your products and services. The operating section is where your main cash flow should be generated. Long-term business health comes from having a good net profit and positive cash flow from your operating activities.

Investing activities include the purchase and sale of your long-term fixed assets, such as property, plant and equipment.

Financing activities include the borrowing and repayment of long-term liabilities.

Understanding what your cash flow statement is telling you about your business is critical. All three of your main financial statements–balance sheet, profit and loss statement, and cash flow statement–relay a different view of your business, and each is critical to the overall health of your business.

Source: Entrepreneur Magazine

Maggie Vasilyadis from New York knew all about makeovers. Working in the cosmetics industry for nine years, she noticed a distinct trend toward more natural beauty products. “I saw this big change coming, with a lot of demand for natural products, and wanted to start right away,” she explains.So she downloaded a website builder from Yahoo! and created her website in less than a month, launching in January 2006 and sourcing products by turning to trade magazines and attending trade shows.

The Challenge: Essenceology.com is run on a very small budget, and Vasilyadis works on it part time while holding her day job. She wasn’t thrilled with the design limitations of the site builder she chose and felt her site could be cleaner and easier to navigate.

According to ProStores business advisor Richard Lawrence, the online beauty products space is very crowded, and Essenceology.com needs some basics to survive. “Essenceology must have a sophisticated web design that will allow it to compete with the major beauty product sites,” he says. “The company is focusing on a fast-growing niche in the beauty products industry: natural and organic products. Unlike her competitors, [Vasilyadis’] products are very reasonably priced. [She] has a good eye for the types of beauty products that are in demand, as she shops the world looking for the best values.”

The Solution: The key word in the redesign seems to be clarity. The new site, says Vasilyadis, keeps the clean look of her previous endeavor but adds many new features for consumers’ convenience, including clear descriptions of each product and its use, along with better organization of products by category. The site also captures more customer and sales information for future marketing efforts. Checkout is seamless, using ProStores’ interface with PayPal, and Vasilyadis can easily add products as she finds more that fit her mix.

“I learned that I don’t have to do everything myself,” Vasilyadis says. “My expertise is in the beauty industry, not in building and designing a site. With help from ProStores, I was able to have control over the design and administrative options to build a site exactly as I pictured it. With more professional design, more consumers will trust the site, and there will be [fewer] abandoned carts.”

Maggie Vasilyadis, 27
The Business: Essenceology.com, New York city

2006 Sales: $25,000

Source: Entrepreneur Magazine

Think big, and muscle your way into success on a grand scale

By Robert Kiyosaki

While preparing to go to Vietnam in the early ’70s, I received some of my best business training. In war, management of fear is constantly the issue. In actual combat, I noticed that fear created cowards out of some, and heroes out of others. Fear made some Marines smarter, while others became fools.

The same is true in business. Whenever I realize I did something stupid in business, it is either because I was too fearful, or not fearful enough. I was either acting too much like Pee-wee Herman or too much like Rambo.

One of the reasons many entrepreneurs stay small is because they act more like Pee-wee Herman. Looking back on my own career as an entrepreneur, I know I would have been far more successful if I were more like Rambo–if I had dreamed bigger dreams, taken on more impossible tasks and had a bigger vision of the possibilities. Too much of the time, I played it too safe.

My rich dad often said, “You cannot see the size of a person by looking at the person. You need to look at their reflection… what surrounds them.”

Last November I was in New York City for a meeting with Donald Trump. Walking into his office building took my breath away. His reflection in his building is very big.

Later that day, I was on my way to the CNBC studios. Suddenly, off to my right, I noticed several tall, brand-new buildings with the name “Trump” on them. “Holy Cow!” was all I could say. I could only begin to guess how much work it had taken to clear so much land and erect so many buildings in Manhattan. Just dealing with the unions, city bureaucrats, environmentalists, the media and neighborhood committees would slay mere mortals. As the limo passed the rows of Trump Condominiums, I said to the driver, “Can you believe what Trump has done here?”

The driver smirked and said, “So what? You know he went broke once, so he’s not that smart.” I realized I was riding with Pee-wee, looking at the work of Rambo… and I was somewhere between the two of them.

As a Marine, I learned that fear, when it takes the form of self-doubt, kills more men than the enemy. The same is true in business–especially in entrepreneurship. Given the choice, I would rather be Rambo.

Robert Kiyosaki, author of the Rich Dad series of books (www.richdad.com), is an investor, entrepreneur and educator whose perspectives have changed the way people think about money and investing.

Source: Entrepreneur Magazine

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The main reason people struggle financially is because they have spent years in school but learned nothing about money. The result is that people learn to work for money…but never learn to have money work for them.

Money is not taught in schools. Schools focus on scholastic and professional skills not on financial skills. This explains how smart bankers, doctors and accountants who earned excellent grades in school may still sruggle financially all of their lives.

This gap in our educational system comes to fill, Rich Dad and the CASHFLOW game. Particularly the CASHFLOW was created in order to teach the game of money, here before only known by the rich.

In this context, learn how Rich Dad and the CASHFLOW games 101 & 202 are part of the curriculum which students are being taught at the Technological Educational Institute of Heraklion in Crete.

Also, 30 students of the Technological Educational Institute of Heraklion participated in the Cashflow Game Tournament which took place at their Institute between May 30 -June 7, 2007.

CASHFLOW T.E.I HERAKLION CRETE

Five years ago Labs’ Professor Kosmas Paxinos of the Technological Educational Institute of Heraklion in Crete having first personally get involved with the Rich Dad’s teachings decided to make these teachings part of the curriculum and the things he learned decided to teach them to his students. The truth is that in the beginning things were not easy. Kosmas in his subject was giving grades to the students according to the CASHFLOW game’s scoring. Some considered it as a joke and laugh at it and they were just going to take their grades. However, some others were listening carefully to his teachings and gradually started to read Robert Kiyosaki’s books and started to love more and more something that now has become to them something more than a game.

Today things are completely different. All students want to learn the teachings of Rich Dad and all are now able to understand the differences between assets & liabilities, passive income & earned income. Now the commonly subject being discussed in the “headquarters” or in other words in the office of Kosmas are real estate, businesses, paper assets(stocks,bonds, etc.) D2U and all kinds assets generating cashflow. Moreover, he is not alone anymore because some students are helping him (students from the Mechanical Engineering Department who have been taught by him some years ago and are now almost undergraduates) because these days there are many more students willing to learn the Rich Dad’s teachings. Furthermore, the students who are interested in are not only from the Mechanical Engineering Department but from other departments as well who on a daily basis are keep asking what this game is about and at the same time expressing their desire to also start playing the game.

At this point we must point out the role of Mr. Kosmas Paxinos who with patience and sheer persistence suceeded in making the CASHFLOW game part of the things that we are being taught. Having his dream as a guide and the change in one person’s mind-set as his sword, he managed to do the Technological Educational Institute of Heraklion in Crete the basis of the CASHFLOW.

We are all now have been taught the way to financial freedom and what it is left by our side is to follow this way in real life.

Thank You Teacher

Students of the Technological Educational Institute of Heraklion in Crete

In the context of the Rich Dad’s teachings we have decided to organize the first CASHFLOW 101 Game Tournament played on PC. It is truth that we were afraid of not having enough participants. Finally, 30 people participated and everything went well. In the beginning the participants were divided in teams of 4 people and started playing 3 games from which the 2 first people of each team (according to PC’s scoring) were passing to the next round 12 people. These 12 people again were divided in 3 teams of 4 people from which the 5 best scoring were passing on the final. A this point we must point out that the final was very exciting and the agony was high not only among players but also for people who came to watch it. For the history, the winner was Dakanali Irini.

The initiative for the organization of the tournament came from the student who is doing his intern with Kosmas, Manolis Sandalakis. The truth is that his efforts have borne fruit and he organized the tournament with the condition that the next tournament will be bigger with more participants.

A Winners’ Memorial Photo ……..(in order)

PROTAGONISTS’ STATEMENTS

Rahmanidis Costas

” The CASHFLOW game and its principles are the most useful things I have ever learned. One thing that is impressing me is that I have discussed the things I have learned from the CASHFLOW game with business-owners and to my biggest surprise I realized that they didn’t even knew about them. I now think differently after having played the game and read Robert Kiyosaki’s books. I feel lucky that cashflow came into my way.”

Mihelakis Nikos

” CASHFLOW is a strategic thinking and luck game which is helping you to change your mind-set as well as teaching you how to become financially free. I am now ready to apply these principles in real life.”

Giannias Antonis

“Robert Kiyosaki and the CASHFLOW game taught me and continue to being teaching me how to change my mind-set in order to become financially free. Get out of the rat race!”

Anninos Panagiotis

” I would like to tell you that the CASHFLOW game initially didn’t make any kind of impression to me. However, after playing for the first time I completely changed my mind. I now believe that the game is perfectly mirroring the mind-set of a sophisticated investor. So, my point is that when you are investing wisely in stocks and real estate you are actually managing risk without having to be a risky investor.”

Kalonomou Maria

(3rd Winnner)

” I believe that I’m really very lucky for the opportunity which has been given to me to found out the CASHFLOW game and learn from it. Through this game you are not only learning how to beat your fellow players but you are also learning how to become a winner in real life. I would like to give thanks to Mr. Kosmas Paxinos who through his efforts succeeded in conveying to us this precious knowledge. I would also like to congratulate the organizer who has done all his best to organize the tournament.”

Haidemenakis Dimitris

(2nd Winner)

“CASHFLOW is a game which its principles and rules are offering to the players the chance to know what the world of business and the free market are about. The tournament was excellent and my congratulations to its organizer.”

Dakanali Irini

(1st Winner of the CASHFLOW Game Tournament)

“CASHFLOW gave me an important overview of how accounting, real estate, paper assets and in general the market works. It also taught me how to gain control over my personal finance. Although this is only the beginning, the foundation, it is very important for me because prior to that I was completely ignorant about financial issues.”

Sandalakis Manolis

(CASHFLOW Tournament’s Organizer)

” CASHFLOW teaches you the basics of investing in real estate, paper assets and many more… When I first found out the cashflow 4 years ago I thought it was a simple game like monopoly. However, gradually I realized that it was something more than a game. It was real life. I think that here in Heraklion in Crete we have practiced ourselves a lot by playing the game and now we are ready to apply it in real life. The game teaches us that we are the creators of our own destiny and nobody else. With the right mind-set, knowledge and proper financial education everyone can have as much free time as he/she wants or in other words everyone can become financially free. You have two choices, either be in the 5% of the world’s population which means having money working for you and using other people’s time or either working for money, get stuck in the so-called rat race and having limited free time. The Rich Dad message is clear: What ever your profession is keep growing your assets column (i.e you can save 30% of your paycheck on a monthly basis in order to invest it). If you have financial education you can manage risk and all you can see around you is an abundance of opportunities. I feel really very lucky for gaining this knowledge and I’m ready to play CASHFLOW in real life because this is the reason for doing all these.

I’ve decided to organize the tournament for two reasons. First, it is because I believed that the tournament will be an excellent opportunity for all of the Institute students to hear what this is all about. Second, we wanted to do something on our own in order to please Mr.Kosmas for all the things he has offered to us. We’ve succeeded in both goals. Now, all the Institute knows what we are doing and students keep asking us for more information about Rich Dad and the CASHFLOW game. I think that Mr. Kosmas is very much pleased with the tournament and I believe after that he will continue his efforts with much more drive. My goal and my hope is that this tournament will be the begining and the next one will have more participants and it will be better organized.”

Kosmas Paxinos

Labs Professor

“We are the Industrial Management Sector of the Mechanical Engineering Department of the Technological Educational Institute of Heraklion in Crete. In other words we are teaching economical applications to engineers. Furthermore, in 1993 we were European Champions in Management (KPMG).

We have included the CASHFLOW game in our labs’ curriculum and in the Laboratory of Production & Quality Control because it constitutes an experiential education to a big part of our sector’s curriculum while at the same time it is perfectly mirroring real life in the era of globalization and it is also prophetic to us as Greeks, so we can be able to change “some” behaviors in time and effectively. The CASHFLOW game not only teaches you how to change your mind-set but it also teaches you in an experiential way subjects such as accounting, casflow management, investing, businesses, charity and many many more.

A few words about the CASHFLOW game tournament now: Under the pressure of the student who is doing his intern Manolis Sandalakis and some other students I have accepted their proposal for the organization of the first CASHFLOW 101 Game Tournament been held in our laboratory (and maybe the first in whole Greece). I have to admit that I didn’t expect so much interest and so many participants from my students. In order to reward them I’ve instituted winning awards for the first 3 winners. The initiative for the organization of the tournament came from Manolis Sandalakis and 2-3 undergraduate students of the sector without having themselves the right to participate (veterans). The tournament has been held in three rounds in three days…Details elsewhere… Thus we now have the obligation to continue to do the same in the future… For the beginning a CASHFLOW 202 tournament in the near future!!!”

For more photos of the CASHFLOW Game Tournament as well as photos on how students are practicing by playing the cashflow boardgames click here

Real Life Success Stories from Real Life Greek people who Followed the Rich Dad Lessons     

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     Lazaros Lazaros Grekos from Australia attended a 2-days seminar conducted by the Rich Dad’s Advisor on Sales & Communications and author of two books of the Rich Dad’s Advisors series (SalesDogs & Building a Business Team that Wins–Blair Singer) and the following week raised $35 million from investors for his deal!!! Learn how Lazaros got out of the rat race. 

Lazaros Grekos’ success story has been published in the book “Rich Dad’s Success Stories”(Australian Version). The following story of Lazaros is an excerpt from the book.

From Trucking to Taking Control

Lazaros Grekos, Melbourne Australia

“By the age of 24 I thought I was experienced at investment. Unlike most of my peers and family I had owned a business, so I understood the concepts of risk and uncertainty. I had a property portfolio. My investments seemed to indicate I was on the right track, yet my tax bill said another thing altogether. I had also racked up a good-sized debt. Challenges lay ahead and I knew I lacked the skills to meet them, so I began educating myself about financial investment. I didn’t seem to be getting very far. Then I read Rich Dad Poor Dad.

Where It All Began

The only boy of four children born to migrant parents, I was raised in Northcote, Melbourne. My father was a building construction worker. My teachers said I had potential if only I would apply myself. Studying was not one of my strengths and I was made to repeat Year 9 in high school. That was a humbling experience for a cocky 14 year-old. Leaving school at 16  I started work as a stonemason, then decided to become a blacksmith. I enrolled at night school to obtain the required qualifications but it didn’t really appeal enough for me to finish the required two years of night study.

I began working with my uncle, who ran a profitable earthmoving business. Although I did well, family and friends put my success down to luck more than hard work. The perception began to grate until, after a year and at age 20 I walked away with nothing but a determination to make my own way in business. Having recently purchased a new home I knew I could succeed. But no one believed in me, mainly due to my lack of a high school diploma.

I arranged the financing of a new business myself, obtaining contracts to set up a dump truck run. My truck was valued at $30,000 and its purchase was secured against my property. The business went well. It paid for itself as well as a complete home renovation. As the business grew I upgraded to a bigger vehicle with new trailers. My $120,000 truck would make more money, I thought, because I could do jobs quicker and it would be more fuel-efficient.

I was wrong. My expenses were increasing but my revenue was not. I also had higher loan repayments. Realizing things were not working, I put my business on the market. A year passed before I was able to sell everything and look for another job.

At 21 I was married and in debt: I had to roll over an $80,000 debt from my business onto our home loan. Although I had found work as a truck driver, I endured 4am starts and 100-hour work weeks. Still, I had a passion to own my own business. I was determined not to repeat my mistakes even though I wasn’t sure where I had gone wrong.

I turned to educating myself about business. An investment group introduced me to negatively geared property investment. Negative gearing – making a loss on property and claiming that loss back on tax – is a common investment strategy for thousands of Australians. I was earning good money from driving trucks and a third of my total income of around $65,000 was going to paying tax. This seemed to be the solution I’d been seeking. What I didn’t realize at the time was that I would be giving the government one dollar in return for just 30 cents.

Moving On

My breakthrough came when I was about 25 and my accountant recommended Rich Dad Poor Dad. I decided to attend a Rich Dad seminar and the impact was immediate: it changed my life. As the seminar progressed, I realized the problem with my truck business had not been my management skills. It was more that the importance of cash-flow was something I had never really understood. Applying the Rich Dad principles, I saw I was not paying attention to the fundamentals. I wasn’t putting money in my pocket.

My wife and I had lost a business. Now we had properties that were negatively geared with allowable tax deductions such as depreciation. Owning property was great, but I was paying more money out than I was getting back on my annual tax return. I started to question everything my wife and I had done to that point. What if I lost my job? Who would pay for the properties? What if the market turned sour? What is a good investment? What isn’t? As I left the seminar, I realized changes had to be made, and not just to our property portfolio. The feeling of liberation was overwhelming.

My wife Michelle had not been able to attend the seminar with me. A qualified teacher, she had been a corporate trainer at Telstra for 10 years. When I told her of our new, albeit sudden change of direction, her response was understandable: “What do you mean? What have they done to you?” Michelle had to appreciate the value of the Rich Dad message for herself and she did, once she had played four or five games of CASHFLOW 101. The realization was there for her too and we were able to plan new goals together.

Here’s How We Did It

Before my accountant gave me Rich Dad Poor Dad, I had never read a book in my life. Yet Robert’s message left such an impression that I quickly devoured all seven books in no time, learning everything I could from them. I came to see my truck as a mobile office where I was being paid for an education that would transform our lives. Plenty of hours on the road gave me a lot of time for reading and listening to tapes. I saw that two things were the cause of my problem: unwise expenditure and negatively geared assets.

With my new education in financial literacy, I gained more control over my expenditure. This is the main lesson from the CASHFLOW 101 game. Before each purchasing decision, I learned to ask: “What do I have to do to get this item?” Consider a transaction to buy a car worth $30,000. I don’t borrow to make such purchases anymore. Fees and charges hidden in fine print can inflate the price of finance beyond the advertised interest rate. Now I am able to see these hidden charges. Now I ask: “What asset will finance this item?” In this case, the profit on the sale of an asset such as a business or property might finance the acquisition of the car.

Michelle and I decided that negative gearing would no longer be part of our strategy. The decision stemmed from the realization that changes in tax laws could affect our cash-flow at any time. Our immediate plan was to liquidate our entire negatively geared property portfolio. This was completed and achieved with profits intact. We then moved into the business of looking for investments that put money in our pockets, rather than taking it out. Our strategy, using Rich Dad’s fundamentals, was simple: buy and hold real estate. Whether a property generates a 1% or 50% return, is of no real consequence. This, of course, runs counter to popular theory in Australia.

Now when we buy a property, the primary consideration is positive cashflow. Although I prefer to negotiate the best terms possible, we will put in as many bids as it takes. Mostly the bids are low and we continue bidding until a motivated seller is found. The example below shows how sound this strategy is. Our only requirement was that the money the property generated was cash-flow positive without us putting any money down.

Example:

Purchase Location Purchase Price             Kangaroo Point, Brisbane $120,000

Cash put into Property Deposit                                                                             $Nil

Costs paid by us Repairs/renovations paid by us Total cash

 in property                                                                                                           $Nil/$Nil

Monthly Cashflow analysis Rental Income                                                            $3300

    Less Other income/expenses ie Vacancy Loss Total                                       $264

     Income                                                                                                                       $3036

Monthly Expenses     

-Taxes (property)                                                                   $54

-Insurance (rental, buildings,)                                              $22

–Repairs/maintenance                                                       $540

-Body Corporate (Home Owners) Fee                              $100

–Loan Repayments

– Total Expenses                                                                $1421  

Net Cash-flow                                                                      $1615

Cash-on-Cash Return Annual Cashflow                       $19,380   

Cash put into property Cash-on-Cash return          $Nil  Infinite                     

Financial literacy has brought other opportunities. Business and franchise prospectuses are sent to me regularly so I now find myself considering deals. Often the first question a business broker puts to me is: “How much do you want to spend?” For me this is not the issue. The product itself determines the price I will be prepared to pay. Numbers – the financial statements – tell the story.

For example, I recently evaluated a panel-beating (motor vehicle body shop) business offered for sale. Realizing the financials didn’t add up, I inspected its operations. Questioning the owner on the turnover of cars that were spray-painted each week, I suggested to him that he was earning around $100,000 worth of income in cash payments. He was confused: “How did you know? That is not in the figures!” It was obvious to me. His paint expenses did not tell the story of his business when compared with the figures about turnover of cars.

Out of the Rat Race

Michelle and I now work full time at our business along with another business partner. Although according to the Rich Dad philosophy we are primarily in the B and I quadrants, I feel that if you want to succeed in business and investing, you need to work in all four at once. You need to be an employee and self-employed too. I will do anything from buying multimillion-dollar properties to washing dishes – whatever a project requires of me.

My business partner and I have discovered a valuable niche in developing environmentally related sites. We developed expertise in adding environmental value to properties where others do not see it. We created the largest solar power generation site in the Southern Hemisphere. This led to the creation of a business that installs solar power systems for companies. The operation makes its money as a percentage of the savings generated by the client.

A big potential deal in the works is to install the system at 750 sites across Australia for a multinational corporation. We have approached all the parties concerned. If this deal succeeds, we will be able to take the company public. We recently met with the private lenders from the wholesale market who are backing one of our businesses. The strong environmental aspect of the project was highlighted as the most appealing factor during the meeting.

I have no problem admitting this is all still very new to me. For a person who once drove a truck for a living, it is also very exciting! Coming to realize that I don’t have to know everything is the biggest thing I have learned from the Rich Dad books and seminars. Other people will know things that I do not. All I have to do is find these people and get them on my team. People will not always fall over themselves to join a project with me. They are most open to joining me when the deal is so good they want part of it.

My sacrifices have been numerous but I have maintained the course I set for myself. Until three months ago I drove a car valued at $1,000. Sacrificing holidays over four years was also difficult. I have seen Christmas, New Year and Easter periods through the windshield of my truck. But from where I’m sitting now it seems worth all the hardship. Our niche property portfolio and other business interests are worth $35-40 million. I now live on $9,000 per month net in passive income, most of which I reinvest. Other business interests include a painting company and a property investment service where my partner and I invest on behalf of others.

Setting an Example

The Rich Dad system does not work by magic. You still have to get off your behind and do the work. But it taught me a lot about the importance of cash-flow and a good team of advisors. It also helped me set goals, define them clearly and work backwards in quantifiable steps. Only then I was able to make my goals a reality. I’m 28 now and I have hit every goal I set since ading Rich Dad Poor Dad. Yet it doesn’t stop here. I still need new goals, a plan, and sub-goals more than ever. But they need to be quantifiable.

For a long time, my goals were very broad. They lacked flexibility and definition. Seeing buildings being erected as a boy, I thought I wanted to own one some day. Michelle and I had goals too: what type of car did we want? We wanted to own our home and we achieved that. We owned a business so we wanted that to succeed. We kept pushing it to achieve these things. Ultimately, my life revolved around becoming a millionaire by the time I was 30, a goal I set when I left school. Yet at 25 I still didn’t know how I was going to reach my goal. Then came Rich Dad Poor Dad.

My new goal is to take a company public by the time I am 40. Having set the goal, I have to define the business, know which people I have to approach and understand the stages I have to go through. With so many variables in play, I don’t know if it will happen. It may be another company that I take public instead. For some companies the process has taken 12 years, so that tells me not to expect anything too soon. I may only travel 50% of the way towards my goal and fail. That’s OK. Progress of 50% towards a goal is better than no progress at all.

I don’t know everything I need to know to reach my goal. That’s OK too. Rich Dad taught me that I don’t need to. That’s where advisors come in. It’s impossible to know everything about finance, law and accounting but I can surround myself with plenty of people who do. All I have to do is find the people with the skills and capabilities I need to achieve my goal. For example, deals can involve complex issues such as patents, property or the environment and this determines the type of lawyer I may need.

With the composition of my team of advisors settled, I bring them together, sit back and watch them thrash out a deal or solution – perhaps over lunch. If one advisor feels something can’t be done, I want to know why. I will always want them to explain why a goal cannot be achieved. Their job is not to worry about expenses, regardless of the amount of money involved. Their job is to provide me with the best information. It’s my decision to make. The buck stops with me. After all, I now have an education in financial literacy!

That education has paid off in other ways.Engaging and working with my team of lawyers, bankers and accountants means I need to be able to present financial statements. Often my banker will prefer to see my numbers in a format different to that of an accountant. Being able, to accommodate them in this small way makes getting what I want, with their help, far easier.

Taking Control of Your Life is Possible

The Rich Dad strategy revolves around answering one question: What do you want from life? I wanted a lifestyle I can enjoy. The changes my wife and I made have given us a family life where financial pressure is non-existent. With bills taken care of, we hardly ever argue. I still work hard but only when I need to. Sometimes when I tell my four-year-old daughter I have to work she says, “Daddy, you don’t have a job!” That I am able to give her the attention she deserves is a great comfort. If she wants to play in the park, I have time to spend with her, be it 10 minutes or an hour.

Despite all I have achieved since I attended my first Rich Dad seminar in 2000, I still listen to the tapes in my office and my car. I have around 2,000 hours of audiotapes in my home-based office. I’m also happy to hand them out to anyone who’s interested, although some are returned by people who admit, “I don’t get it”. My walls are covered with helpful quotes and reminders to help me remain focused on my goals.

I like to keep my hand in with the truck driving. There’s no better way to build a business network, keep your finger on the pulse of the economy and spot opportunities than being on the road. My business is driven by passion. My objective is to push the boundaries of my abilities to find out what I am capable of.

New experiences such as attending charity functions have expanded my horizons. I never knew such things existed let alone the fact that meeting people in such an environment would be so enjoyable. I continue to purchase products and attend Rich Dad seminars. Although I don’t need to, I enjoy coming into contact with the positive energy that comes from networking with like-minded people.

The thought of failure or of losing what I have does not bother me. Of course, while I hope that never happens, I have enough confidence in my skills and knowledge to know I can recover my ground.”

In addition to the above success story the HELLENIC Cashflow Club Association have contacted Lazaros Grekos and asked him the following questions:

HCCA: After reading your success story, we have concluded that your story
is in some ways identical with the rich dad’s story. For instance you
left school at the age of 16 and started your own business at the age
20. Rich dad dropped out of school at the age of 13 and started his
own business nearly at the same age as you. Rich dad was also saying
that ” being a school-smart is important but being a street-smart is
more important”. Could you please tell us how gaining real life
experience at a young age helped you on your way to become
financially free?

L.G: Having street smart experience has allowed me to learn to control my
emotions well making a decision as every decision I make will have a
direct impact on my finances. It is a lot easier to make decision when your next meal does not depend on it.

HCCA: You are stating that as a truck driver you have endured 4 a.m
starts and 100-hour work weeks. Still, you had a passion to own your
own business. Do you think that passion is a critical
factor for overcoming difficulties, set-backs and failures in
someone’s way to success?

L.G: Yes Passion & Persistence

HCCA: Today the common phrase is “be willing to think outside the box”.
Rich Dad would say “Everyone can think outside the box for one day.
The question is, can you think outside the box for years? If you can
you will become richer and richer ” Could you please tell us what kept
you thinking outside the box on a daily basis all those years and also
what helped you keep focusing on your goals? We are asking this
because as rich dad said, people usually think outside the box and
making goals only for a short period of time and after that they are
quiting from their efforts.

L.G: To think out side the box you must not  compete instead you must
create that way you will not have any competes.

HCCA: You are saying that being financially free gives you the
opportunity to spend as much time as you want with your little
daughter and give her the attention she deserves. Robert Kiyosaki said
in one of his books that ” he suspects that one of the reasons that
our young people facing so many problems is due to the fact that
adults spend so much time in their work neglecting the people who
love”. Do you agree with Robert’s point of view and how spending more
time with family and loved ones can become a motive for getting out of
the rat race?

L.G:  Yes I think having more time gives you the choses to do more of the
thinks you love. For me it is spending time with my two daughters.

HCCA: One thing that really impressed us about you is the fact that you
have achieved all these things at a young age. There are many Greek
young people all around the world who are now starting their journey
to financial freedom wondering if their dream will ever come true. Do
you have any advice for them?

L.G: Life is short go for it the only failure in life is the failure to
try and keep on trying the journey along the way is your reward.

HCCA:The HELLENIC Cash-flow Club Association has just began in order to bring in contact and link all the Greek people from all around the world who have entrepreneurial and investing instincts while at the same time like to discuss the rich dad story. Would you like to wish something to the Hellenic Rich Dad’s Community?

L.G: I wish you all the success in the world the HELLENIC CASH-FLOW CLUB
is a great tool for people who want more out of life and understand
the value of networking with a global economy.

For more information on the projects been described on the above success story in which Lazaros Grekos is being currently working on please visit:  www.llpg.com.au  and   www.solsonplace.com.au