I would like to wish all my Muslim blogreaders Salam Eid Adha Mubarak. In this blogpost I will be touching on the financial aspects of business. What is business without a capital to start off with? Some may argue with the previous statement that they can start a business without a starting capital. That depends on the type of business you are working on.

Capital: Financial assets or the financial value of assets, such as cash. The factories, machinery and equipment owned by a business and used in production. (Investopedia.com)

For new entrepreneurs, you may be finding it hard to fund your business for a start, if you do not have hard cash for a start. Just a word of advise from me, it is best not to start your business with a bank loan. Keep in mind that bank loan requires you to make repayment with a high amount of interest. If you are planning to make your business riba-free from the start, you may want to:
1) Save money first, from your salary.
2) Start your business, small first. Start from online business. You do not really need to spend too much on advertisements or rental or employees. Word of mouth via FB is sure the most effective way.
3) You can try loan from your family members, and remember to pay them back.
4) Do up a good business proposal and present it to Angel Investors (Club Ethis/Kapital Boost and others). They run on a profit sharing model.
5) Look out for government grants that are available in the market. Make sure you qualify for them before applying.

For mature entrepreneurs who would like to expand their businesses but lack of funds, you can also try to:
1) Approach Angel Investors to invest in your company.
2) Look out for government grants that are available in the market.
3) I am sure you have a good rapport with your business network, get your business buddies to be your partners, so that you can expand your business further.

Ultimately, I still recommend entrepreneurs to remember to give back to the community at any point of your business progression. Insyaallah there is always barakah in giving back to the community. Wishing all entrepreneurs all the best in their businesses. If you need any recommendations or networks, feel free to contact me at nur.farhanah.jasni@gmail.com .

This is a continuation to my last Friday's blogpost. Have all of you thought through what it takes to be an Entrepreneur? Try ranking the importance of each statements.


Here is my idea of ranking it:
1) Get closer to the Creator. (Always have Allah first mentality, because, when you prioritize Allah, Allah will ease our affairs.)
2) Get to stretch myself. (It is important that we know our capability of stretching beyond our comfort zone.)
3) Help our community. (Be an agent of change, and it all starts with your community.)
4) Help improve the world. (After you are done with starting small, then you can take charge in making the world a better place for everyone)
5) Regain control on my incomes. (You need to balance between company profits, salary for your employees and yourself.)
6) Create my own ideal lifestyle. (You are your own boss. But always remember that being an entrepreneur, requires dedicated time and effort.)

After you are done ranking, stick through with your intentions. When you face problems during your entrepreneurship journey, keep in mind, why do you first intend to set up a business.

Here is the next tips I can provide to new and old entrepreneurs:
1) Identify the problem faced in the current society. Find ideas for the solution.
2) Do a SWOT analysis. Strength, Weakness, Opportunities, Threats.
3) Find out the statistics to support your business idea whether is it feasible to do business of your choice or you have to tweak it.
4) Figure out your marketing plan. Marketing don't really need to be too high end if you are still new to business. For a start, why not try the Facebook, Instagram, Twitter etc?
5) Set a business target, where you aim to hit your point of breakeven. Majority of the business out there breakeven as early as 3 months. It all depends on the demand and supply (economics).

Done all of the above? You are all set for my next blogpost on Friday 25th September 2015. I will touch on the financial aspects of business. See you soon! Insyaallah. Aamiin.

This is the start of a new aspect of finance that I will be touching on: Business.

Some of us are either born entrepreneurs or self-made entrepreneurs. That aside, lets define what is an entrepreneur.

Entrepreneur is a person who organizes and manages any enterprise, especially a business, usually with considerable initiative and risk. An employer of productive labor; contractor. (Dictionary.com)

Entrepreneur is an individual who identify a need- any need - and fill it. An individual who provide solution to a problem. (In layman's term)

Before you embark on your entrepreneurial journey, ask yourself this question: "Why I should aim to be an entrepreneur?".

In this final blogpost before I move on to the next topic on business, I'll be writing about how to recover from a financial downfall. I have always heard of clients and friends who have shared with me that they have lost money in their investments or they got unemployed or are tied to debts.

I always have this mentality in mind that, we have our highs and lows in life. No matter where you are in life, always remember to donate money, big or small amount, as long as you donate. You never know that Allah will reward you with even more rezeki in future, in times when you really need and you are at your lowest.

Financial downfall happens when your financial portfolio does not fit your current situation or you lack understanding on your own financial portfolio. Talk to your financial adviser on the solutions that they can provide, such as shifting some investments into other investment classes such as equity, bonds, commodities etc. It is important to get your financial adviser to advise you the best solutions as it will affect your financial plans.

I have a handful of friends who are unemployed despite them holding a diploma or degree certifications. They may have some experiences before this. I advise those who plan to leave their job, to keep in mind that they should have at least 6 months worth of emergency savings for their future monthly expenses. Try to continue find jobs on various job portals, try applying/doing freelance job (choose something that is your passion, because it will be easier for you) and maybe you can also think of being an entrepreneur. Make full use of your time and think through what do you like to do.

I understand that it is quite tempting to have lots of credit cards and use them. Try to only use them when you really need to. When going out to buy the things you need, pay using cash, instead of credit card, so that you are aware of your spending. If you are financial savvy, you may put the large purchases into credit card payment and make sure you pay your credit card bill on time, to avoid paying the interest.

With this, this is the end to my Individuals blogpost. If you have any enquiry and would like me to share topics of your concern, feel free to email me at nur.farhanah.jasni@gmail.com .

This will be my second last blogpost on individuals before I move on to business aspects. At any point in our life, I am sure that majority of us already had in mind and already implemented the plans of leaving our wealth, before we pass on. Some of us may be penniless and some with large amount of wealth. But we have to always keep in mind that the right way of distributing wealth is in accordance to Faraidh.

Here are the different methods of leaving your wealth to your beneficiaries/family/relatives:

1. Faraidh: This is rules that are used to determine which of the relatives of the deceased are entitled to inherit and the portion each is to receive. Of the two-thirds (if one-third is already used for Will), or all of his assets may be distributed. This is to break up the concentration of wealth onto a few individuals and to share with the society. It also encourages people to respect one another of their right of ownership of property through honest means. It also acts as a reminder to individuals that they are not master of wealth but rather trustees to the wealth obtained. Not only that, it consolidates the family system and give incentive to work and encourage economic activity as per required in Islam.
2. Will (Wasiat): Ability to dispose upon death up to one-third of their property through a will. A will is a legal document which documents instructions on the distribution of your property and the care of any minor children. Assets are referred to upon at the date of death, not at the date of writing the will.The will is being made by a person during his lifetime accompanied with two witnesses.
3. Gift (Hibah): This is done in a voluntary manner, without receiving or expecting any consideration in return.This aids the means of purifying one's wealth and to lessen the poverty and suffering.
4. Trust (Waqf): This is like an endowment plan or trust and is being set up during a person's lifetime to fulfil charitable purposes.
5. Voluntary Charity (Sadaqah): The person giving charity confirms his true devotion and service towards Allah.

In this blogpost I will be touching on the topic on Retirement. I understand that majority of us would like to retire when we get older. Some of us ever thought about retiring early and reap the harvest that had been sown over the past years. Have we ever thought how much do we need in order to sustain our life when we retire? Before I go in depth, I would like to share some facts which I have researched during the course of drafting this blogpost.

Based on recent online news articles, it is said that the inflation rate is currently at 0.5-1.5% range. Click on article below to read it.

• Life expectancy for man is 80.2 years old
• Number of years (n)
• Inflation rate (i) in 2015 1.5%(taking the highest)
• Present Value (PV)
• Payment (PMT)
• Future Value (FV)

• Life expectancy for woman is 84.6 years old
• Number of years (n)
• Inflation rate (i) in 2015 1.5%(taking the highest)
• Present Value (PV)
• Payment (PMT)
• Future Value (FV)

I wish all my blogreaders are in the pink of health and may Allah bless you with abundance of wealth. Aamiin.

In my last blogpost, I explained about the basic fundamentals of Investment. In this blogpost, I will uncover some advise and tips that I have shared with my ex-clients or friends when they asked me on how do they go about doing investment and also what are the best investments that are available in the market (do get an advisor to provide you a complete financial portfolio plan).

Let's go back to basics again.

I have mentioned in my previous post the basics but I will reiterate it again in this blogpost.

First and foremost, check your financial and personal plans which I have gone through in my previous post. Ask yourself, how long you would like to invest. Keep in mind that investment requires a long period of time, in order to reap high profits and be aware of the risk.

Make it a habit that you have to set aside 10% of your salary, as savings, before you make deductions for expenses. If you plan to invest, check that you have 6 months worth of savings in order to cover 6 months of expenses (Example: Monthly Expenses= $1000, 6 months worth of savings for expenses= $6000 (this amount should be in your savings account-Use a separate account from your salary crediting account and expenses account).

Ensure that you are fully covered in terms of Insurance (Life insurance, hospital insurance, personal accident insurance). You would not want to be running a risk of not having enough money if you fall sick or met with an accident (may Allah forbids this from happening).

Finally, when you have done the above pointers, then you can now plan for your investment.

If you look for short term investment, you may want to consider taking up Fixed Deposits, of usually 1 year duration (this depends as there are products such as Structured Deposits and Step-up Fixed Deposits. Remember to read the fine prints.) Always ask if it is Principal protected (means that your principal is protected if in the case the bank defaults or the fixed deposit stops halfway).

There are a wide variety of investment products in the market. Choose wisely according to your financial and personal plans. Not all products that are suitable for you.

1. Unit Trust (via your banker/adviser/fundsupermart): It is a subset of a stock fund. You can either invest one lump sum or you can choose to do it Regular Single Premium (RSP) where you do monthly subscriptions as low as SGD500. You can opt to have a Unit Trust portfolio being customised for you with a balance of Equity funds and Bond funds)
2. Stocks (via Singapore Exchange (SGX)): Stocks are units that are being issued from public-listed companies. You will receive dividends (profit earnings) from these stocks you obtained when the company makes announcement on dividends. Beware that this investment is high-risk as there are factors affecting its profitability, thus it is advisable for you to do your research first before investing..
3. Bonds (via Singapore Exchange (SGX)/bankers): Bonds is an I-Owe-You from public-listed companies or the government. You will receive dividends too for this investment. There is usually a long duration for this investment.
4. Commodities-Gold (via online trading platform-virtual gold/jewellery shop/pawn shop): This investment is highly volatile. Best for those who prefer to keep the physical gold for a long period of time.
5. Investment Linked Policies (ILPs) (via bankers/advisers): This type of investment is high on investment but low on insurance protection. The investment that is being tagged by this investment product are usually Unit Trust.
6. Forex (Foreign Exchange) (via online trading platform): This is one of the easy way to gain profit in the shortest time, but also the fastest way to burn your wallet. It is important to do Technical Analysis and Fundamental Analysis before you start trading. It is not advisable for you to trade by speculating or base on luck, as it is considered as gambling. Gambling is not permissible in Islam. (I shall not talk much about this investment product as there are some muslim clerics who are against Forex Trading.)
7. Derivatives, Securities and other complex investment products are available in the market but not open to public. Shall not confuse you further as these products comes with high risk but high returns.
8. Crowdfunding (via Facebook/Kickstarter): This is a unique type of investment whereby funds were being invested in a collective manner, to fund businesses, trade and real-estate. The profits are usually profit-sharing.