Tweet

Lesson #5: Everything Has a Bottom Line

Article Overview: He is everything from a political advisor to the highest ranking Mexican officials, to a devout family man, but Helu would be the first one to tell you that first and foremost, he is an entrepreneur. It is through those eyes that he approaches everything else. What does that mean exactly? That means that everything Helu does, he does with its own bottom line.

Lesson #5: Everything Has a Bottom Line

He is everything from a political advisor to the highest ranking Mexican officials, to a devout family man, but Helu would be the first one to tell you that first and foremost, he is an entrepreneur. It is through those eyes that he approaches everything else. What does that mean exactly? That means that everything Helu does, he does with its own bottom line.

Helu may be the second richest man in the world, but until recently, he has kept most of that fortune to himself. Unlike his counterparts at the top of the Forbes’ list of the world’s wealthiest, Helu saw little use in donating money to charity. “Our concept is more to accomplish and solve things, rather than giving, that is, not going around like Santa Claus,” he once said. “Poverty isn't solved with donations.”

In more recent times, Helu has begun to soften his stand when it comes to philanthropy, but his bottom line remains as firm as ever. “I've always said that the better off you are, the more responsibility you have for helping others,” he says. “Just as I think it's important to run companies well, with a close eye to the bottom line, I think you have to use your entrepreneurial experience to make corporate philanthropy effective.”

To that end, Helu established charitable foundations for both Telmex and Grupo Carso, which have a combined fund of more than $4 billion. Last year, these groups gave out 17,000 college scholarships, paid bail for 5,000 first-time arrestees, and paid for 11,000 surgical operations in rural areas. “How can we develop if we’re always stuck in crises?” he asks. After turning control of his investments over to his three sons, Helu now plans to devote more of his time and energy to these charitable efforts.

“I believe that if a businessman knows how to efficiently manage his business, he should be able to manage a foundation efficiently,” he says. “It’s not a question of giving money away, it’s a question of going somewhere and doing something and making sure the basic costs are paid…I’m channeling resources to try to solve problems as quickly as possible.”

Much like Helu brought his cost-efficient and infrastructure slimming measures to his companies, so too did he introduce these concepts to his foundations. And, Helu wishes others would follow suit, because as he sees it, a region’s social and economic development is good for business development too. “The American government, which is looking for something useful to do with its surplus, should consider it: There's no better investment than promoting [Latin America's] development,” he says. “They shouldn't do it to be Good Samaritans, but for good business reasons… If the U.S. promotes education, it will be able to sell more products coming out of the new digital civilization.”

Helu’s charitable pledges still amount to considerably less than those of Bill Gates or Warren Buffet, number one and three on the Forbes’ list of the world’s richest respectively, but what he has done with his foundations is significant. Helu has demonstrated the importance of approaching everything you do with a sound business management plan, and an eye on the bottom line.

Related Articles
  Should `Builders' Avoid Choppy Markets?
  How to price for optimum profit - 5 steps
  You can't bring a horse to water
  Build Your Confidence-Make More Sales
  Top 10 Things - The First Minute of a Sales Candidate Interview

Article Tags: businessman, charitable efforts, charitable foundations, college scholarships, combined fund, corporate philanthropy, entrepreneurial experience, family man, forbes list, giving money, grupo carso, helping others, mexican officials, richest man in the world, rural areas, santa claus, second richest man in the world, surgical operations, telmex, those eyes



Related Forum Posts
Re: Web Business Podcast is LIVE! :) - Bottom of each post would be good. That way they either already listened to the podcast or they have decided they aren't going to, and might click the ads.
Site after-posting problems? - Don't know if this is happening to me alone, or to everyone, but every time I post a message, instead of my message coming up after a few seconds, I get this error message: Failed sending email :: PHP :: DEBUG MODE Line : 235 File : emailer.php
profit line - I recommended Profit Line to one of my clients and they were not 100% satisfied with the service. Apparently one of the profit line people got a parking ticket while serving my client and then charged them for it. I haven't heard the other side of the story yet but the fact that I recommended them and it didn't work out makes me reluctant to recommend them again.
Cold Calling - Hey Guys, I was wondering if anyone had any experience with hiring someone on straight commission cold calling. I am offering a co-worker 15% of my gross sales to cold call for one month (Line provided by myself) to set up meetings for me in Vancouver. I will be providing him with basic training, he seems pretty eager to try it out, but everyone usually is. Any tips or stories would be great! Thanks, Pete
Re: Teen Investors - [quote="LoveInventions":22s6btro]Being that my main source of income is from playing poker professionally I can see where your coming from, BUT I will say this just because you’re involved in sports betting/gambling doesn’t make you an addict, as with anything in life it’s up to the individual to set and stick to limits, just like with alcohol or food. I think it could be great for kids but it would only work if someone was there offering advice and tips and making sure that they learn from their mistakes. This could be so valuable in their development.[/quote:22s6btro] Hi LoveInventions, You're absolutely right. There's a huge difference between gambling/betting for fun or a profession vs being addicted. However, I just don't want people to "glorify" the power of the stock market or investments because I've known some people who have lost thousands (more than $20K) of dollars and gone into depression (or worse). In addition, when I made my comment, I was referring to the kids who are addicted (or aren't content with their losses) to Pro Line and the stock market. At one time in elementary school, I was betting on Pro Line every week and losing all of my allowance as well. Sure people can argue, "nothing ventured, nothing gained"... but the problem with that idealism is that you typically only hear about the few success stories, rather about than the millions who have lost their money. I think high schools should have more courses and projects where students participate in mock investment buying/selling/trading, so that no real money is lost.


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Tweet

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

Starting a Business with Bad Personal Credit

Join Conversations Politely, Part 1

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.