Beyond the Bling : Real Steps to Financial Success: Real Steps to Financial Success

By Patrick Borders and Donald Snider

Don Snider's book,"Beyond the Bling" is a must read for anyone who is willing to take charge of his/her financial future. Don narrates his life as an entrepreneur while following closely the life of the Prophet Elijah at the Brook Cherith. His sole dependence on God's provisional nature is a refreshing view that should lead anyone to a renewed faith in God and the knowledge that he has an assigned place of blessing for us to experience and enjoy. I highly recommend this book!

Bishop Alfred D. Knight Jr.
Prelate Michigan Northwestern Harvest Jurisdiction Church of God in Christ, Inc.

It is real spiritual wisdom, that properly applied will change your personal and professional lives. Don has captured real events and transformed them into life changing lessons that inspire action, spiritual growth and prudent decision making

Lawrence Jackson
Managing Member of Emerging Enterprise Group, L.L.C.

Good book-great anecdotes for financial literacy. Catchy title that goes to the heart of todays consumerism. An easy read with real world understanding. I fully endorse. Should be on the coffee table of every American family.

Greg Jackson
President/CEO Prestige Automotive

"With the keen insight of a scholar, the compelling voice of a biblical prophet, and the urgent compassion of a transformational business leader, Donald Snider focuses on a key issue that will benefit anyone who will listen to his sound advice. Anyone who wishes to succeed in life should read this book."

Tony C. Henderson, M.Div., D.Min.
Founding Pastor, Resurrection Christian Center, Detroit, MI

Beyond the Bling, teaches a holistic approach to live in financial peace. Thank you Donald for a breakthrough to Economic Empowerment.

Gail Perry-Mason
Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.

Wow !!!! " Beyond The Bling" is a modern day classic. Don Snider masterfully brought home the fact that true wealth is not about money. This book is a blue print for fiscal responsibility and a wonderful example of financial literacy. Beyond The Bling is the real thing.

Ken Brown
Award Winning Author-"A Leap Of Faith"
International Success Coach/Trainer
www.kenbrowninternational.com

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: May 27, 2009
• ISBN: 9781477176740

Book preview

Beyond the Bling

Real Steps to Financial Success

By

Donald Snider

with

Patrick Borders

Copyright © 2009 by Donald Snider with Patrick Borders.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

To order additional copies of this book, contact:

Xlibris Corporation

1-888-795-4274

www.Xlibris.com

[e-mail]

59265

Table Of Contents

Foreword

Pursuing Success

Just Surviving

Throwing Away Money

The Next Civil Right

Trusting God

Biblical Rules for Financial Success

The Paper Plas Story

Empowered Entrepreneur

Managing Our Money

Managing Ourselves

Following God

Following the Fundamentals

Success through Mentors and Networking

Dealing with Risk

Lifting People Up

Foreword

Most successful people will tell you that they did not achieve success overnight, more often it is a journey. In this book, Donald Snider shares the experiences and life lessons he has learned while on his journey to becoming successful. As he shares his story, it becomes evident that he works hard not only to maintain, but to continuously surpass the level of success that he has achieved. In addition, Donald works tirelessly to teach others the concepts and ideals that have made him successful. He encourages people to look at business and life with a sense of empowerment and of endless possibilities.

As you read this book, you will see that he not only talks about the various principals that made him a success, but he also lives them each and every day. Donald is the type of person who does not wait for opportunity to knock; instead he works to create opportunities both for himself and others. He is not deterred by seemingly impossible odds. Instead, he meets life’s challenges and obstacles with an unflinching resolve and determination to succeed.

This book serves as a guide to becoming a success not only in business, but in life. His generous personality and exceptional character make Donald Snider a remarkable businessman, but more importantly they make him an extraordinary person. His story is an inspiration to all.

Jasmine R. Holt

President and CEO of Abbeville Treats, LLC

(Authors Daughter)

1

Pursuing Success

On the morning of Monday, August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina slammed into the Central Gulf Coast near Buras-Triumph, Louisiana. What had before landfall been a Category 5, 175 mile-per-hour monster, drove inland and left behind the most destructive and expensive natural disaster in the history of the United States.

With a pounding storm surge, three levees around New Orleans gave way and the waters of Lake Pontchartrain drained into the low areas of the city and St. Bernard Parish. At one point, the waters flooded 80 percent of the city, with some areas submerged twenty-five feet deep.

As the floodwaters slowly receded, the destruction and loss of fourteen hundred lives shocked our country. But something else shocked us. The television cameras showed the physical result of the storm’s wrath, but they couldn’t hide the distressed conditions that existed before the storm. The survivors’ extreme poverty and helplessness shocked us.

Later, we learned that nearly a third of all African-Americans in that area lived below the poverty level and more than a third of the black households didn’t own cars. It’s believed that more than 130,000 people couldn’t afford transportation to evacuate before the storm. Vast numbers of people in New Orleans lived permanently in subsidized housing, had never traveled out of the city, and didn’t even have a bank account.

It bothers me that New Orleans possessed so much poverty and most of us didn’t know it. The city was known for its great party, Mardi Gras, for its French Quarter, its Creole and French cuisines, and its gambling. But all that glitz just camouflaged a rampant destitution.

How did that happen? What had the leaders of the region offered to help lift people out of poor conditions? The black churches in the area were strong; what had their pastors preached that would spur their parishioners to prosperity? Why didn’t the residents in that area, over many generations, learn to become more productive? Why didn’t they learn to grow financially—to afford a car and open a savings account—so when disaster hit, the storm waters wouldn’t wreak havoc on top of an already messy situation.

Many of the residents of New Orleans were just surviving. They depended on the government to take care of them before the storm, and after Katrina, they depended on the government to save them. But the dependency didn’t stop with the residents of that area. People across the country, including other African-Americans, watched, waited, and demanded that the government take action.

The government needed to take action. But I believe if a disaster had hit a city with a large Jewish population, our Jewish brothers across the country wouldn’t have waited on the government. They would’ve rallied the financial resources, equipment, and people, to aid the survivors.

So, why didn’t the country’s African-American community rally to the aid of their black brothers and sisters in New Orleans?

Yes, there were small-scale efforts, but nothing on a community-wide level. The greater African-American community didn’t rally because it couldn’t. We haven’t built up a bank of financial resources or a knowledge bank of problem solving skills to tackle such a challenge. We haven’t moved forward. Our people have not progressed to the place of financial empowerment.

Moving Forward

My career as a successful businessman and entrepreneur has blessed me. However, I’ve witnessed too many people follow a path that leads to financial slavery. But it doesn’t have to be that way. The opportunity is ripe for changing the path we’re on as a community and achieving financial independence.

The black community needs to take financial responsibility for itself and to become a people of problem-solvers and wealth-generators.

I’ve written Beyond the Bling to offer some insight and motivation on how people can take control of their financial lives—how they can become successful. Nothing in this book is new. The principles I address have been around a long time, including many that come straight from the Bible.

But we haven’t passed along the information. Too many of us are just surviving, just getting by. Our churches haven’t preached a message of financial empowerment. Our schools haven’t taught kids the basic tools needed to handle money wisely and realize productive financial lives. Our families haven’t handed down the common sense principles needed to lead a comfortable lifestyle without going overboard and drowning in debt.

With this book, I’ll take a hard look at why we’re in the shape we’re in, and why we haven’t progressed as a community. Then I’ll offer some steps and guidelines that I’ve followed in my career to achieve prosperity.

What you’re about to read isn’t for everyone. I can’t provide a single useful suggestion to someone who is content with trudging along—who is poor but lacks the desire and drive to do anything about it. But if you’re young and long for financial success, or if you’re old and long for financial success, then keep reading.

Financial success is about empowerment. It’s about freedom. It’s about breaking the bonds of slavery to debt, to collectors, to bankruptcy, to worry. I want you to take charge of your destiny and make the tough decisions needed to invest in your future. I want you to create a storehouse, a memory bank of principles for success that you can draw from that will lead to a bank account of prosperity.

Through a new generation of leaders, businesspeople, and men and women who’ve achieved financial control, we will progress to the level where we should be. And we will truly build up our community.

This can be the day we stop relying on wishful thinking for our finances and start pursuing success.

2

Just Surviving

In 1995, the Chrysler Corporation was looking for a new supplier to provide paper to its glass plants. When I heard of the opportunity, I jumped on it and eventually persuaded Chrysler to give me the business. Without any previous experience in the automotive industry, I started my own company, Paper Plas, Inc. Paper Plas quickly became one of the fastest growing minority-owned paper-packaging companies in the United States. Today, my company provides paper and packaging products and light automotive assembly services to industry giants such as DaimlerChrysler, PPG Industries, Cummins Engine, and Dana Corporation.

But I shouldn’t have won the business to start with. There were twelve hundred people who had a jump-start on getting it and should have earned the contract before I did. Those people were the workers of the massive Chrysler Glass Plant—the one that was seeking a new supplier.

In my efforts to persuade Chrysler, I participated in a series of meetings with their financial people at their headquarters in Highland Park, Michigan. After leaving those meetings, I had to walk through the Chrysler Glass Plant—a massive facility that employed twelve hundred factory workers, mostly African-American.

After closing the deal, I walked through the plant again and questioned how I, Donald Snider, could win this supplier opportunity—a million dollar contract. How is it that I can bypass all these people and get this? I’ve never worked here. Never worked in the automotive industry. This shouldn’t be possible.

Many of the employees had worked those assembly lines for twenty years or more. They possessed a wealth of knowledge about the industry. And they should have possessed a wealth of contacts within the industry.

It dawned on me. Those twelve hundred people worked—not for opportunities—but for a gold watch. They marked time on the factory clock, watching time go by—waiting until break time, until lunchtime, until quitting time, until retirement time. They were so busy watching time sail by, doing the same job day after day; they didn’t take time to consider how they could take advantage of the business potential around them.

They spent their time thinking about making it to three o’clock. Instead, they should have been thinking: I’m in this place that makes $60 billion each year, and where executives earn huge bonuses. I need to figure out how I can play a part other than being an hourly employee and passing the time away to pay my bills. How can I make money off this place?

But not one of them thought that, or at least acted on it. They allowed a stranger to walk in off the street, pass through their plant, and grab a million dollar opportunity. They were stuck in a survival mentality. They worked their eight hours, in a job they probably didn’t like, and ignored the abilities and talents that God had given them.

Valuing Time

Most people don’t value their time. They don’t place a price on it. They work their shift, dream of quitting time, and then do nothing after their eighth hour to get beyond just surviving. But it’s the ninth hour and beyond that turns dreams into reality and leads to prosperity and financial independence. To get ahead, you have to invest in yourself. Every action you take beyond the minimum that’s required is an investment in your future. No one can perform just the minimum and reach maximum potential.

Some bank accounts come with a minimum balance required to keep the account open. Many people view their productive lives like a minimum balance account: What’s the least I can put into it and still keep things going, still pay the bills? They possess a minimum balance mentality.

To be honest, I’ve never seen a perpetually poor individual value their time. A poor person doesn’t want to go to work. Work is an inconvenience. They invest time figuring how to get out of work. They’ll come home from work, sit for days, and do nothing. They accept being poor. And through their inactivity, they decide to remain poor.

Whereas, a financially well-off person thinks about being productive—about how he or she can use time to find opportunities and increase income. A financially well-off person loves going to work. Sometimes it’s difficult to get them to return home. If you want to predict a young adult’s future, observe them and evaluate how well they respect their time. That, more than anything—more than intelligence or their parents’ income level—will accurately predict their success.

The Bible admonishes us to count the cost any time we make a decision. But most people don’t. They don’t connect where they put their energy with how they do financially—or emotionally, physically, and spiritually for that matter.

I’ve heard it reported that 80 percent of the workers in this country dislike the job or profession they’re in. That explains why worker absenteeism and tardiness run so high, and why employers have to provide incentives for perfect attendance and timeliness. People don’t want to be at their jobs. According to the U.S. Labor Department, seven out of ten people work the wrong jobs for their temperament, interests, and abilities. Other than earning money to cover their bills, people waste time at work and then do nothing to get into a situation they would find more fulfilling.

For someone to value their time, they must value themselves first. To move beyond just surviving requires us to utilize our time to develop skills or ideas that are unique—to solve problems that people want solved. The world values problem solvers. And people who excel at solving problems understand their time has value to it. Consider attorneys, accountants, or doctors. If you meet with them for an hour, how much do you pay—$75, $100, $200?

But society doesn’t value garbage collection as much as those high-paying professions. Almost anyone can collect garbage, so garbage collectors get paid a low wage. Someone working a job that doesn’t require problem solving, and that earns him $10 per hour, has to work ten hours for every one hour a $100-per-hour attorney works.

In the world of making money—something everyone must do to survive—we provide either a service or a product that fills a need. Every job fills some need. The more society values the need, and the fewer people who can fill it, then the service those people provide will earn more money.

Danger in the Comfort Zone

Working as a garbage collector satisfies some of us. We experience less job stress and have few responsibilities. The job appears hard to lose; it’s low risk. But with low risk comes low reward. We won’t ever get anywhere financially. And we must be sure no one causes any problems where we’d need an attorney, or that we don’t mess up our tax returns where we’d need an accountant, or that we don’t get sick where we’d need a doctor. Or worse, we better hope the garbage collection company doesn’t lose the contract for our route, and