Louis Barajas - Small Business, Big Life: Five Steps to Creating a Great Life with Your Own Small Business

Copyright 2007 by Louis Barajas.

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any otherexcept for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.

The Paradoxical Commandments from Anyway: The Paradoxical Commandments by Kent M. Keith, copyright 2001 by Kent M. Keith. Used in North America by permission of G.P. Putnams Sons, a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc. Used in the United Kingdom and in Spanish by permission of Inner Ocean Publishing.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Barajas, Louis, 1961
Small business, big life / Louis Barajas.
p. cm.
ISBN-13: 978-1-4016-0336-6
ISBN-10: 1-4016-0336-X
1. Small business. 2. Small business--Management. 3. Success. 4. Success in business. I. Title.
HD2341.B268 2007
658.02'2dc22

2007001070

Printed in the United States of America

07 08 09 10 11 QW 6 5 4 3 2 1

This book is dedicated to my father.

When I was young, I never fully appreciated how you were always there for me. I fondly remember that you always took the time to help me shoot hoops or play catch, no matter how busy your life was. As a child, I marveled at your speed as a soccer player.Unfortunately, I never inherited your speed, but I did inherit your entrepreneurial gene. As a teenager, never did I realize that, when I helped you with your start-up company, I would be getting some of the best business experience of my life. I appreciate the opportunity to have worked with you and learned the virtues of hard work and integrity that you taught me. I also learned from you that anyone in America has the opportunity to fulfill the American Dream when they have enough desire and the willingness to work hard.

As a man, I now appreciate your enthusiasm for enjoying life to the fullest and giving me the courage to go after my dreams. I will never take for granted how you took care of our family no matter how hard it got financially or how many obstacles you had to overcome. We always had food on the table and love in our home. Thank you for being my role model and showing me how to take care of my family.

Finally, I admire how much you have always loved my mother. Your example led me to attract the woman of my dreams and understand completely that all we can leave on this earth are memories with our loved ones. Angie and I are better partners and better parents because of you.

I love youYour Son

Contents

Writing the acknowledgment section is very difficult for me. I am always worried that I may unintentionally forget someone. There are people in my life who have been great mentors and contributors to my writing and consultingway too many to mentionbut they all have been authors. Some of the authors I have met, and some I will never get the chance to meet. They all have been a major influence in my life. I always wondered if what they wrote would apply to immigrants or to the poor. I have used my wealth and business planning firm as a test kitchen to try out their wise business, finance, and self-improvement recipes with our clients and have taught these same principles in seminars and workshops in underserved communities throughout the nation. With some added cultural spices that I have thrown in, I have made most of their recipes work. To all these authors (some of whose names youll find in appendix D), thank you for all your wisdom.

Without the help of my business team, I could never have the opportunity to touch so many people. I want to especially thank Aaron Muoz and Gilbert Cerda. You two gentlemen are the backbone of our company. Your unselfish attitude, dedication, and hard work have helped build a financial planning and business consulting firm founded on the highest degree of love and integrity. I also wish to thank David Bach. David has been a good friend, mentor, and inspiration to me. David, you are a man who will continually be blessed many times over because of the size of your heart and your dedication to help the masses.

Victoria St. George of Just Write has been a huge blessing in my life. Vicki takes my writing to another level. She knows what my soul is trying to write even when I have a hard time coming up with the right words. Vicki, I want you to know that I marvel at the ease with which words flow from you. This is our second project together, and I know that there will be even bigger projects to work on together in the future.

I still cant believe that Shannon Miser-Marvin, my agent at Dupree Miller, represents me. Her list of clients is a Whos Who of famous authors. I feel privileged and honored that you are willing to represent an author who writes for the underserved. Thank you for believing in my dream to transform underrepresented communities and to help them achieve greater abundance.

My publisher, Thomas Nelson, has been also an absolute gift. From day one the staff there believed in me and my message.My editor, Larry Stone, has been unfailingly helpful with his guidance on how to make this book better and more reader-friendly. The encouragement and support Ive received from Thomas Nelson have made it possible for this book to be available to people all over the world.

Above all, I want to thank my family. There is nothing more important than family. Mom, your courage and grace in handling your health challenges have been inspiring to me. You continue to be my rock. I can always count on you for unconditional love and support. I also have incredibly supportive in-laws. I have two daughters who dont have a clue as to what I do, but who love me no matter what.My third kid is Eddie, not really a kid anymore. Eddie has been put in the same position that my dad put me in many years ago.When I knew my dad needed help, I stepped up to the plate to do what was needed. Eddie, I want you to know that you have done the same for me. You continually surprise me with your care for people in need.

Angie is the love of my life,my best friend, confidante, and business travel companion.Angie is devoted to our children, our marriage, and my cause to bring wealth and business wisdom to the poor and underserved communities. When I am exhausted and feel like giving up, she encourages me and reminds me of the love and diligence that are needed if we are to help to transform our communities. I thank God for her every day.

Finally, I want to thank all the readers who have sent me letters and e-mails telling me how much their lives have been changed with my previous book, The Latino Journey to Financial Greatness. Writing a book and going on the road to take my message to the masses can sometimes be overwhelming. Your heartfelt responses give me the courage to continue my lifes work.

by David Bach

When I was seven years old, my grandma Bach took me to McDonalds and told me, David, there are three types of people who come to McDonalds: the people who work here, the people who eat here, and the people who own the place. If you want to be rich, you want to own the place. Then she showed me how I could ownMcDonalds by buying stock in the company.

That was the start of my own journey.

Theres another way that owningMcDonalds can create wealth for you and your family, and that is by owning the business itself. Had I been a little older, I might have invested in a McDonalds franchise. Ive known people who have bought one fast-food franchise outlet, then used the profits to buy more restaurants, and retired as multimillionaires.