Personal Financing with Robert Kiyosaki (cont'd)

Cashflow Quadrant
This book is a continuation of the Rich Dad Poor Dad book. In this book Robert Kiyosaki explains that there are four quadrants. It shows which quadrant we are in and which one we ought to be in.

The four quadrants are

E QUADRANT is for employee
These are people who are mainly afraid to take risk. They look for job security and benefits. Thus looking for jobs that offer job security and benefit. They may be highly paid but their financial status is only defined by the employers.

S QUADRANT for self-employed
The people in the S quadrant are self employed. They are specialist in their area. They want to do their own thing. They believe that if they work hard, they will be paid better. They are normally perfectionist and is hesitant on hiring staff. So they will work very hard cause if they don't work , they won't get paid. They are also not able to take leave for long as they are not able to lose any customers.

This is followed by the two Quadrant that we are advised to be in, in order to be financially free. That is

B QUADRANT for business owner
A business owner owns a business that generates money.

I QUADRANT for investor
Investors earn money from their various investments-in other words, money generating more money.

The CASHFLOW QUADRANT is also not a get rich quick book, its only a guide to financial freedom.

Rich Dad's CASHFLOW Quadrant is perfect for employees or self-employed individuals interested in finding new ways to generate cash flow. One of thing that is good about this book is the author tells us to start slow and small, gaining experience first. If you're already a business owner or real estate investor, this book delivers tools for even greater success.


Rich Dad's Guide to Investing.
This is the third book in the Rich Dad Poor Dad Series. One of the things that I have found useful in this book is that in come in short chapters of 3-4 pages each, so I usually read a chapter a night before I sleep to digest and ponder each chapter. In this book, Robert shows how to get started and how it does not take money to make money. As with the first two books, this is not a book for those who want hot tips and quick fixes.

What I like about this book, is that Kiyosaki says that if we look properly we can create our wealth out of nothing. Before finding out about Internet Marketing, I thought that this was a lot of bull. I always thought you need money to make money. But with the internet, it has never been easier to create wealth out of nothing. Take Squidoo for instance, you can write about your favourite topic and make money from it. He also says you should make a plan to be financially secure, a plan to be financially comfortable, and a plan to be rich.
As in all his other books, Kiyosaki's book is worth reading again and again.
This book is a must for those who want to be Financially Independent
One final recommendation I have is to buy his Cashflow Games. Cashflow 101 is a board game that will teach you how to get out of the rat race whatever your status is.
I have a computer version of the game and found it really interesting. It really depicts real life, once you start playing.

Create your Restaurant Menu

How to Create your Restaurant Menu

Another great marketing instrument that is generally overlooked will be your restaurant menu. As I've mentioned in my Previous Post “Creating Good Customer care Culture”, first impression is important. Preparing the menu takes a lot of work and a lot of planning. You need to do it step by step. And you can't skip any of these steps. Below are the steps.

Restaurant Concept

Firstly, you have to identify what is your restaurant concept and what type of customers that you want to attract. Look around at your area, other restaurant premises and what others are offering. You have to know whether the community are young working adults, families or college students. This will determine the style, quality and portion sizes of the food that you will feature on your restaurant menus. It would be suicidal to open a fine dining restaurant in a community of families who normally dine together.

Market Analysis Market

Market analysis is an important part in planning your menu for your restaurant. You need to know what others are selling, what the locals want. The market analysis also can help you with your menu prices so as to be inline with the income of the community in your area. Its no point to create an expensive menu for a community that are in the middle income category. You will then have an empty restaurant and a fridge full of expensive items.

Consult your Chef

In one episode of Restaurant Makeover, the Makeover Chef tells the Restaurant Chef that "Chefs create menus not owners". This is true, only the chef knows what he is good at. Its no point for the owner to come out with the menu that the chef is not able to cook it well. Firstly consult with your Chef and also review your current menu with him. Take into consideration of your top sellers and the poorest selling items. This is to identify what to remove and what to keep. Also take into consideration the local likes and what others is offering. The items in your menu may be limited to the size of your kitchen or by the equipment that you have. If you want to try something new you have to be prepared to buy the equipment that your chef needs for his menu. Also take into consideration the skill level of your staff both in the kitchen and at the front. Its no point to create a fine dining menu when the staffs are not skilled enough to prepare or sell it. Also the raw items should be readily available or you will have a menu with lots of sold out items.

Menu Pricing
Knowing the costs of your items that you plan to sell means success to your business. By carefully calculating the food cost you can determine the price that you will be selling. But saying that, you also need to be aware what your competitors are selling, so as not to overprice your items thus turning away business. That's where your market analysis comes into play. There are numerous website giving out free templates that you can use for calculating your food. One such site is Menu Costing Templates

Designing Your Menu
As mentioned in my previous post Free Restaurant Menu Templates, that a restaurant menu is an important key to promote what your chef has to offer. In the menu you will list what is available in your restaurant. Splendidly prepared menus will really entice the customer to dine within your place. I’ve learned that beside scrumptious sounding write ups, mouthwatering images will definitely appeal to customers to try something new. Sometimes I feel that the customers usually are not clear on what to order, so they normally will order the norm. Shying away from something unique or different that your chef have conjured up. Thus a picture will give the customer a visual taste of what's coming. In that post I also suggested some free templates sites so you don't have to take the trouble of designing the menu from scratch.

Proofread and print final design Go through the entire menu with a fine tooth comb as error will make you look like a fool and also once printed its costly to reprint again. You could also hire a professional editor. You can do what I normaly do, is to pass around to a few friends who are quite ok in English and ask their opinion. After all the people that is going to read your menus are normal people not restauranteurs. So if they can't understand what you are trying to drive at, how do you expect your customers. After all this is done, sent out your menu for printing. In my next post I will give you ways on promoting your restaurant menu.

 
Product Restaurant Management Suite - CLASSIC
Website www.restaurantmanagementcenter.com
Cost Only $37
60 days unconditional money back guarantee
CLASSIC restaurant management suite was put together by Andreas Breitfuss and his team to help those people in the restaurant industry. It is a selection of restaurant management tools that when used in combination can help you streamline your restaurant, café or hotel. These pre-designed forms, templates and spreadsheets save you time to concentrate on other areas of the business. There is beverage costing sheet, restaurant requisition sheets, purchase order forms, blank stock take sheets, stock take spreadsheet, stock take financial analysis spreadsheet, wastage sheets, standard food recipe templates, standard beverage recipe. Beverage engineering spreadsheet, menu placement card, menu advertising elements and sample restaurant menus