Blog
Welcome to our Personal Finance Blog
Money bewilders most of us. How to spend it, how to save it, invest it, and how to best protect the person who makes it.
These questions we all face daily — a puzzle we all attempt to understand and solve just about every day. Yet despite money's centrality to our lives and businesses, it's something we all grapple with, and mostly in private.
Money is the 'Lord Voldemort' of topics; feared by most and mentioned by a few. It's oddly uncomfortable to discuss socially and rarely even with our partners, parents, and children.
Perhaps that's because managing our money and life's risks inevitably involves the fusion of both the emotional and practical aspects of our decision-making processes. The most difficult of questions are those with both economic and emotional answers.
Our educational Personal Finance Blog is for people who want to grow and remain wealthy. And while the journey toward wealth is clearly marked, you still have to be looking in the right direction.
At Sapience, we're all about The How.
Ask yourself and then your Accountant this one question every year
Understanding the must-haves and the nice-to-haves
As a child, I remember hearing people say ‘you have to spend money to make money’.
It was one of those comments you would always feel the need to nod in agreement with, even though what it actually meant was a complete mystery to me.
I've gotten a little older now but the reason behind that statement still escapes many small business owners today.
A detailed insight into a business interruption event
Most business owners are focused on the day-to-day delivery of their products and services and doing the best for their customers.
Sometimes we forget to talk about the reality of business interruption and how we can prepare for those times.
How much money does your business owe you? (and will it ever pay you back?)
Why seeing yourself as a shareholder is often better than an owner
People go into business predominantly for the benefit of their families and for greater personal freedom.
The core motivation for many is more around serving others and less about personal entitlement
So is it any wonder, many small business owners often slip and prioritise others to their own personal and commercial detriment - and forget to pay themselves first?
The importance of carrying your own baggage
Building anything of value requires change.
But when we’re talking about personality the question is, to what degree can we change our own personalities?
What a 9-year-old boy taught me about courage
Its never comfortable
Courage has always been an interesting character trait to me and over time I’ve decided that it’s not a trait, it’s a learnable skill.
There's a good reason why an invisible habit is hard to break
Life’s busy – no surprises there – so over time, we all develop habits and routines to help get stuff done, fast.
These decision-shortening processes continue to develop throughout our lifetime. It’s not long until we all develop our own unconscious implicit bias about people we like, situations we don’t, and how to see the world.
The result is regardless of how impartial we think we are, we all have implicit bias hiding in our subconscious.
The problem is what you don’t know can hurt you (and your business).
The one skill that leverages all other skills
There is one mental skill that leverages and amplifies all of our other skills and abilities.
It's the ability to be present in the moment.
Whether you're leading a business, a family or simply learning how to make better decisions based upon good sense and clear judgment – your ability to be present in that moment can be the difference between success and another poor decision.
How much do motives matter?
This business question has always irritated me
There are many ways to do good in business, just as there are many motivations for doing so.
So what qualifies as a good motive, a bad motive, or just a nice idea?
Want the biggest benefit for your buck? Now you're thinking like a Philanthropist
Small Business Philanthropy - and it’s not about money
What comes to mind when you hear the word ‘philanthropy’?
Perhaps big businesses with big budgets and big personalities like Buffett, Gates, and Oprah or just a word that's really hard to spell? But where does small business fit into the conversation about philanthropy, business social responsibility (BSR), and giving back to the community in meaningful ways?
- If it's not on your map, you probably won't go there
- Measuring the value of a business course – when is enough learning, enough?
- Pushy sales people, boundaries and the Crowned Prince of Nigeria
- First time Dad, first time Boss and the world looks different now
- Jesus, long hair and how bias affects my business decisions
- Diversity matters – is your website a little too white?
- When should a business express an opinion on a moral or social issue?
