Enlightened Planning Entrepreneur Tutors and Mentors Group at

Enlightened Planning Entrepreneur Tutors and Mentors Group at Meetup. com Upcoming Meetups: Writing and Publishing a Book…Sept 13 (Thurs), 7: 15 PM Past Meetups: Analyzing Software for your Small Biz before Purchasing…Apr 26, 2012 Creating an Email Marketing Campaign…Jan 1, 2012 Using Quickbooks for Small Business Accounting…Nov 3, 2011 Forming your Company – LLC, S-Corp, Sole Proprietorship, or Partnership…Oct 20, 2011 more About Me Financial Planning Small Business Resources Contact Me Hi. . . welcome to my blog! I am a CPA, CFP, and Financial Planner by profession, but I am also an avid Entrepreneur and Writer. Because of my background, I have come across many people who manage their business and finances without the proper knowledge or tools. I was once there, and I am still learning too. But I believe enlightened planning-by understanding the basics-is key to a secure financial future and successful entrepreneurship. Many people took the time to help me over the years through their experiences and suggestions. In the same way, I hope to help you on your journey, and through this blog, share what I've learned with you. . “It takes as much energy to wish as it does to plan. ” - Eleanor Roosevelt Analyzing and Choosing a Business Model For most of my 20 s and 30 s, I was a web entrepreneur. Now there is nothing wrong with being that, if you are aware of the risks involved. The problem was, I wasn’t aware – I was over-optimistic… more I’ll Put 3 Chips On God – just in case there is one Other Resources Learn. Vest Salman Khan Academy

Enlightened Planning About Me Financial Planning Small Business Resources Contact Me About Me My name is Preeti Gupta and I am a CPA, CFP, and Financial Planner. I hold a bachelor's degree in Accounting from the University of Illinois, Urbana as well as my FINRA Series 7 and 66 registrations, and a Life & Health Insurance license. I am a Financial Planner with a special focus on women and small business owners. As a 40 year-old divorcee, raised by a single mother, I am well aware of the challenges that women face in understanding and planning their finances. I also believe that women are smart, organized, detailed, and caring, but can sometimes give themselves less credit than they deserve in terms of their capabilities and accomplishments. So I particularly enjoy helping women succeed in their goals personal, professional, and financial. In addition, I have been a part-time entrepreneur for many years, because I've always enjoyed the prospect of being able to challenge myself in various ways. Entrepreneurs and small business owners must wear many hats - from accounting to technical to strategic to management to customer service. It can be thrilling but daunting as well. One of my recent endeavors was writing my first book, called I'll Put 3 Chips On God-just in case there is one. The steep learning curve I had to climb during the publishing process was made so much easier by the amazing writers who helped me with their advice and feedback. To that end, I hope to do the same for others going through similar challenges. One of the ways in which I give back is through a mentoring group I started for entrepreneurs, where I coach them on small business accounting, finances, team building, fundraising, marketing, outsourcing, technology, and more. You are welcome to join our group! I also invite you to take advantage of the free financial plan that I offer to women and small business owners. You can learn more about the process of how we work together to create your financial plan through this article, or contact me with any questions and to schedule a meeting. Why do I offer a financial plan for free? Well first of all, I enjoy helping and teaching others. Besides the mentoring group I've started for entrepreneurs, I've also volunteered my time at various community organizations, including the Jewish Community Center, Apna Ghar-a shelter for victims of domestic violence-and many others. As you'll learn, I have a very spiritual mindset and I believe our time in this world is limited and temporary. Monetary success and security is important-no doubt! That's why I'm a financial planner. But I also believe in spiritual wealth and achievement by helping others in their journey. Even if you do not become a regular client, I am happy to give you a basic foundation in financial planning and teach you to build on that yourself. I will consider it a part of my efforts to give back to the community. Secondly, if you are thinking of becoming my client, I believe we need to work together first to understand if we would be a good fit for each other. I use the process of creating your financial plan to understand your needs and whether I can fulfill them. If I can't, I let you know. If I can, we will then continue our planning on a more detailed level in future sessions together. That's a little about me, I'd love to learn more about you. If I can help you in any way, let me know. Either way, thank you for visiting my blog, and Happy Reading!. Interview with Preeti Gupta, author of “I’ll Put 3 Chips on God” …Aug 2012 GOPIO Convention…Nov, 2011 Lokvani Talks To Preeti Gupta Shah, Founder, Copper Pages…. 4/2007 CPA – Certified Public Accountant CFP – Certified Financial Planner Life and Health Licensed Series 7 and 66

Enlightened Planning About Me About Financial Small Business Planning Me Small Business Resources Contact Me About Me Planning Financial “Many people take no care of their money till they come nearly to the end of it, and others do just the same with their time. ” -Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Financial Planning Small Business Value Based Investing Why can’t I just hire a Financial Planner? Monetary Attachment and Spiritual Detachment Why can't I just hire a Financial Planner? You can hire a Financial Planner. But how do you know who to hire? When you do hire someone, how do you know that they are doing a good job? What happens if you decide to change financial planners one day-how do you know that you’ve got all the information you need and you are transferring everything correctly to the next person? There is no getting around knowing your basics. That’s what my mom used to say (and I hate to say she was right!) They say that death and taxes are the only sure thing in this world, but I would add one more –change. Change is a sure thing in this world. Change is constant. To be fully dependent on someone for something as important as your finances is a dangerous game. If not knowing a lot about oil changes can get you in trouble– how many of us have gotten stiffed by the mechanic who scared us into thinking something additional was wrong with our car? –then imagine having your money in the hands of someone who doesn’t know what they are doing, or is more interested in selling you their products rather than watching out for your best interests. How much education is enough education? Here is my golden rule –you should know enough to be able to gauge whether the advice being given to you makes sense. Now, I am not saying that you need to be able to implement that advice yourself, or be able to think of it in the first place. That’s the planner’s job. But if you hire a good planner, that planner should give you a basic education everytime they work with you or present you with their advice. They should encourage as many questions as possible, and never make you feel dumb for having asked. They should be able to explain things in a simple, relatable manner personalized to your level of understanding. And if and when they do, you should pay attention! Now, I’ve been guilty of daydreaming myself when finance talk used to come up. This was when I was married and had a husband who was in finance. I trusted him to take care of everything, and he was trustworthy, so that was not the problem. The problem was that when I was divorced and on my own, I made way too many

Enlightened Planning About Me About Financial Small Business Planning Me Small Business Resources Contact Me About Small. Me Business “Entrepreneurship is living a few years of your life like most people won’t, so that you can spend the rest of your life like most people can’t. ” Anonymous Financial Planning “Entrepreneurship is living a few years of your life like most people won’t, so that you can spend the rest of your life like most people can’t. ” Anonymous Small Business Analyzing and Choosing a Business Model How to Write a Business Plan How to Create a Website Mockup Analyzing and Choosing a Business Model For most of my 20 s and 30 s, I was a web entrepreneur. Now there is nothing wrong with being that, if you are aware of the risks involved. The problem was, I wasn’t aware – I was overoptimistic on my chances of making a living from the websites I was trying to run. I did. Overall, I don’t regret my experiences as an entrepreneur, because they have made me a much stronger financial planner today. And running your own financial planning practice does require the smarts of an entrpreneur. But at the same time, I might have gotten to my current achievements sooner had I been smarter about analyzing the business models I was pursuing. Here is what I learned in terms of the factors one should consider when starting a business: Capital Investment– What kind of capital investment is required for your business? For example, if you are opening a restaurant, it might not be feasible unless you have hundreds of thousands of dollars to invest in equipment, licenses, a lease, furniture, and hiring staff. Even if you have the investment, it is important to consider the fact that you might be stuck if things don’t go well and you’ve signed a 10 year lease to rent space, or can’t easily sell equipment and other assets to recoup your money in case you want to get out. Competition / Barriers to Entry – Is there a lot of competition in your industry? How hard is it for other companies to enter if they wanted to? Do you have enough of a competitive advantage to distinguish yourself from the rest? Competitive Advantage– If you do have a competitive advantage, what is it? Is it price (ie youwill sell your

Enlightened Planning About Me About Financial Small Business Planning Me Small Business Resources Contact Me About Me Small Resources Business “Entrepreneurship is living a few years of Salman Khan Academy your life like most people won’t, so that you can spend the rest of your life like most people can’t. ” Anonymous Introduction to Present V alue Home Equity Loans Traditional IRAs “Entrepreneurship is living a few years of your life like Learnso Vest most people won’t, that you can spend the rest of your life like most people can’t. ” Anonymous “Entrepreneurship is living a few years of your life like most people won’t, so that you can spend the rest of your life like most people can’t. ” Anonymous “Entrepreneurship is living a few years of your life like Other Resources most people won’t, so that you can spend the rest of your life like most people can’t. ” Anonymous URA – not sure I am allowed to reference other articles or sites due to compliance reasons, so I will find out more about this page, just create a placeholder content and page or leave it for now. I’ll try to find out this week if I can.

Enlightened Planning About Me About Financial Small Business Planning Me Small Business Resources Contact Me About Me Small Contact Business Me “Entrepreneurship is livingofa few of your “Entrepreneurship is living a few years youryears life like won’t, so that most people won’t, so most that people you can spend the you restcan of spend the rest of your life like most people can’t. ” Anonymous