The Business Of The 21St Century – Book Summary
PART ONE
It’s a new century, and the rules have changed says The Business of the 21st Century, author Robert Kiyosaki. Go to school, study hard, and get good grades so you can get a secure, high-paying job with benefits—and your job will take care of you. That’s Industrial-Age thinking, and we’re not in the Industrial Age anymore. Your job is not going to take care of you.
Job security, company pensions, Social Security etc. These are all worn-out. Job security is a joke, is as anachronistic as a manual typewriter, it’s all Industrial- Age thinking. We’re in the Information Age now, and we need to use Information- Age thinking.
You can take charge of your future only when you take control of your income source. You need your own business.
SILVER LINING
Are there opportunities to create new companies in this turbulent economy?”
This is the best time. When times are bad is when the real entrepreneurs emerge.
Entrepreneurs don’t really care if the market’s up or down. They’re creating better products and better processes.
Entrepreneurial Fever
“All people are entrepreneurs,” says Yunus, “but many don’t have the opportunity to find that out.” Muhammad Yunus, author of Banker to the Poor
Entrepreneurial fever has been kicking into high gear, because when the economy slows down, entrepreneurial activity heats up. In fact, entrepreneurs flourish in down times. In times of uncertainty, we look for other ways to generate income.
When we know we can’t rely on employers, we begin to look to ourselves to make ends meet.
WHERE DO YOU LIVE?
Forbes magazine defines “rich” as a person who earns in excess of $1 million per year (about $83,333 per month, or just under $20,000 a week), and “poor” as someone who earns less than $25,000 a year.
The Business of the 21st Century Robert Kiyosaki write in great deal about 4 quadrants just like in his classic book Rich Dad Poor Dad. Here are the 4 Quadrants.
- E = Employee
- S = Self-employed or Small-business owner
- B = Business owner
- I = Investor
Which quadrant do you live in?
The E Quadrant
The overwhelming majority of us learn, live, love, and leave this life entirely within the E quadrant.
Go to school, study hard and get good grades, and get a good job with benefits at a great company
The S Quadrant
This quadrant includes a huge range of earning power, all the way from the teenage freelance baby sitter or landscaper just starting out in life to the highly paid private-practice lawyer, consultant, or public speaker.
This quadrant is typically a trap, because you are still an employee. The only difference is that when you want to blame your boss for your problems, that boss is you.
If you take time off in S quadrant, the business doesn’t earn money. In a very real way, the S stands for slavery: You don’t really own your business; your business owns you.
The B Quadrant
The B quadrant is where people go to create big businesses.
The I Quadrant
You live in the I quadrant by playing Monopoly.
Changing Jobs Is Not Changing Quadrants
The problem is, most of the time when people do get up the initiative to actually make a change in their lives, all they do is change jobs. What they need to do is change quadrants.
Your grades don’t matter in the B quadrant. Your banker doesn’t ask to see your report card; he wants to see your financial statement.