Devoted to women of color in business

As a woman of color in business, my primary directive for this blog is to help you increase your business success, and my goal is that, through your business success, you increase your personal success through asset-building.

I've written about a savings plan and making money work for you and would like to encourage you to learn more about assets (the equity in your business, your savings, your bank accounts, your stocks and bonds and mutual funds, and your real property) at GrowYourFunds.com by Larry Stay.

My personal assets have increased measurably since launching my company: partially this is because our tax code supports investors and businesspeople, but mostly this is because the kind of thinking I must do for our business operations also helps me be more focused about personal long-term asset-building.

For example, reviewing a balance sheet and profit & loss statement is something that I do for my company, as well as for my own household. Total up everything that you own (assets), subtract everything that you owe (liabilities) and -hey presto!- you have your net worth statement. My primary business is in marketing through web development, and this field has been a wonderful way for me to use my skills, build a great team, and do terrific work. However, I am also tremendously interested in real estate and in the last two years have completed four transactions:

• a purchase of a house in Oakland (our primary residence),
• a sale of raw land in Idaho,
• a purchase of a timeshare (for vacations),
• and the purchase of a house in Hawai'i

We are moving to Hawai'i this year, which was a goal of mine since 2001. My goal in the next five years is to find and buy cash-flow positive properties, at least three other properties by 2011.

With each transaction I've learned a little more about the different types of paperwork, and my last house purchase has taught me a lesson I continue to learn: it really depends on "who you know". Without the right people on your team, your job becomes exponentially more difficult. So, if you are looking to succeed, find others who are the best in their field, and have them join your team.

I have a terrific lender that I highly recommend to you: Liz Litaea at Windsor Capital Mortgage has given me *incredible* assistance in finding the best solution for my situations, and I'm sure she can help you too.