Archive for the ‘Business’ Category

Several years ago, I knew an enterprising Entrepreneur.  He was a good friend with a man and wife team who wanted their own business.   As you will recall, the Entrepreneur is the guy who comes to the rescue when others want to go into business.  Usually neither party has any money but there is always a way to make it happen.

This particular couple both worked for a franchise owner.  The franchisee owned several retail locations around their city.   You can imagine that our new friends would just love to own this business.
Here comes the good news!  Our business owner (franchisee) just happened to decide to sell his business.  The perfect opportunity is about to unfold.  It almost sounds too good to be true…but it really did happen within just a few months time.

You guessed it!  The franchise owner suddenly wanted to seek other opportunities or take a few months off.   (Watch out big time for this one!).   He wanted to sell his business and take it easy for a little while.

The real truth was….he could have made as much or more money working for someone else.   Why have the headaches of owning a business?/!!   However, you certainly don’t want a potential buyer to know this and be discouraged. Now it’s time to build up the VALUE of the business to make it attractive for our potential buyers.  Therefore, we paint the following scene.

The big dollars (profits) are just over the horizon (yet to arrive!).  Over the NEXT hill!  The business would soon be ready to explode with PROFIT. A real CASH COW!!   This picture means you pay more for the business….based on future projections.  It’s called…pay me now… and hope you can make it in the future.

Lights Are On!  For the franchisee . . . .

The franchise owner realized that SELLING his business was a good idea. He had not been as successful as anticipated as a franchise owner. He began to seek out possible buyers to whom he could sell the firm.

Whom better to sell the business (franchise) to than one of HIS employees? A man and wife team!!  Two ideal folks…married to each other…. anxious to make a lot of money.  Already on staff!!    It’s hard to find a better potential buyer of the franchise.

Major Problem .….THEY (new potential buyers) had neither MONEY nor ASSETS! No Fear……

Entrepreneur Arrives On Scene …. (Remember Him?)

Money is NOT a problem.  Go to an Accountant.   Roll out a PRO-FORMA (this means a projection of the future) for the next 5 years and BINGO!! Next step…see your friendly banker.  Show your banker the figures …..sales….expenses…PROFIT (projected).

Borrow the money to buy the franchise backed with collateral from another business or bring in some additional partners.   No problem here! Easy as pie in the sky.
A MAJOR problem with the deal was….the couple (man and wife team) had NOTHING invested in the new company (franchise).  They simply had ownership potential in the future based on a unique formula dependent on their success in building the business.
You obviously recognize that the business was DEPENDENT on the man and wife team.   The whole deal was put together for them.  It was BASED on THEIR commitment to be in charge of running the business.

After a few months of running the new business…with a LOT OF DEBT assumed by the other partners.…the NICE couple said…”see ya!” “We don’t really like this business as much as we thought.   Both of us have decided to make a career change”…..and leave YOU GUYS (the partners) …HOLDING THE BAG!!

Obviously, you see the problem.   We have a business WITHOUT the managing TEAM to keep it running as a profitable enterprise.  Our point is…all of us can lose our life’s savings when we invest in a sure thing (there is no such!) and fail to set up our agreements in proper form and order.  EVERYONE has to be COMMITTED and signed on the dotted line.  Pass GO…and there’s no backing out of the deal.

Entrepreneur Without Money Arrives …..Beware!

Actually, a lot of enterprising entrepreneurs don’t have any money. A hard reality to understand, but it is true. Often they just have a lot of moxy and/or gambler instincts.

They simply have the intestinal fortitude (guts!) to take chances. Sometimes they win and make a lot of money (usually for themselves!!). The wonderful part of their great plan is to SHARE the opportunity with others.

Maybe YOU are their prime candidate (a person with MONEY!). You have been selected to be their partner in a new business venture. It could be that you have the contacts….the know-how….etc. For some reason, YOU are important to their business success.

Your question is….are THEY important to MY success?? Ask yourself if there are any benefits to YOU in joining forces with someone else. Why do you need a partner? Can you do just as well by yourself? What contribution will a partner make to your success? Obviously, your answer may just be YES!! You need a partner!

Your next step is to….make sure (verify) the background of any person whom you would consider as a partner. None of us can LOOK at another person and have any idea of their honesty and integrity. A CON-MAN/WOMAN (we need to give women equal fare) looks like any other outstanding citizen. He/she can be handsome; well dressed; well spoken; live in a fine home; drive a big car, etc.

NOTHING is wrong yet. YOU simply need to make sure that your entrepreneur friend or future business partner is on the UP and UP (a man/woman of integrity!).

DON’T invest YOUR money just YET! Let’s take a few more IMPORTANT steps as a matter of self-protection. I would recommend that you HIRE a professional investigator to research the background of any potential partner/s in a business.

A BONUS FOLLOWS….

As you know…this newsletter covers more than business interest. Almost all of life falls somewhere in-between. You may not agree with me, but I would investigate the background of a potential marriage partner; a preacher; a choir director; an executive; and ALL other new employees being hired into my firm. Why take unnecessary chances with your life and future? He who hires well…profits well! He who marries well … LOVES life!

Understand that a DEAL (a great opportunity for YOU!) can be structured in such a way that you will think everything is OK…until you look at the fine print. Unfortunately, most of us laymen don’t understand the language. Our usual thought process causes us to believe what other people tell us. Since we are honest, we ASS-U-ME that everyone else is too!

MY POINT is to open your eyes to the reality that you must stay alert. Don’t take a NAP when you are dealing with YOUR life and YOUR money. Be sure you really know the person you’re dealing with before making a wrong decision and losing your nest egg of funds.

BUSINESS TIP: Know YOUR partner/s. NOT everyone is HONEST. You can loose your money much QUICKER than you can MAKE IT! Protect YOUR ASSETS with your life. Don’t be fooled by TITLES. SMART folks have COUNSEL. YOU MUST HAVE YOUR OWN TEAM OF ADVISORS to guide you.

ShopRMall.com Ranks as #2 Virtual Mall on the Internet

Charlotte, NC (PRWEB) October 6, 2008 — ShopRMall.com, an Internet shopping portal that offers direct links, coupons, and special offers for over 1,000 name brand and specialty stores is proud to announce that Ranking.com ranks ShopRMall.com #2 in the category of Shopping/Retailers/Virtual_Malls and gives ShopRMall.com a traffic ranking of #11,250 among all sites on the Internet.

Ranking.com calculates the online popularity of the top one million websites in the world and is a trusted source of market research. Since 1998 Ranking.com has performed market research upon a statistically, geographically and demographically significant number of Internet surfers. By recording these surfers’ web site visits, Ranking.com calculates the ranking of the top 1,000,000 (growing every month) most visited websites and provides the results to surfers absolutely free.

Online Stores in ShopRMall.com include The Apple Store, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Fingerhut, JCPenney, Overstock.com, Staples, Amazon.com, Bowflex, Macy’s, Best Buy, and Brookstone.

In 1999, Eric J. Katowitz, a professional multi-platform engineer and graphic designer with Cire Web Site Design & Hosting, and Mitch Webb, a marketing sales consultant and information architect at Cire Computer Productions, Inc., launched ShopRMall.com to provide greater visibility to their web design and web hosting customers. The online shopping mall became an immediate success with the number of visitors growing exponentially every year.

Online merchants who host their web site with Cire Web Site Design & Hosting are automatically added, for free, to the stores in ShopRMall.com ‘s online shopping mall. Merchants not hosted by Cire Web Site Design & Hosting can add their business to ShopRMall.com for $159.95 per year. However, for the up coming holiday season, ShopRMall.com has reduced the price to be listed in their online shopping mall to $79.95. Businesses wishing to be added to ShopRMall.com can lock in the sale price for up to 5 years.

ShopRMall.com and Cire Web Site Design & Hosting are owned by Cire Computer Productions, Inc., an e-commerce technology, SEO, and interactive services provider. Cire has been providing affordable web design services and web hosting since 1996. They have a proven track record and longevity.

Cire Web Site Design & Hosting can handle every aspect of your web site design and development. Beginning with a thorough understanding of your objectives, they will map out your site from initial deployment to a fully featured realization of your Internet vision. They will work with you to gather your content and then highlight your message using the latest in web development tools and publishing techniques. Cire Web Site Design & Hosting will deliver a cost effective, customized, professionally designed web site which will delight you and your customers.

Recent web sites designed by Cire Web Site Design & Hosting include HYTORC Pro providing the best HYTORC Products and Services, Got Love Life? which offers love and relationship advise, and T. Rose Corp makers of WEED WAND Magic Herbicide Weed Killer Gardening Tool and the HandsFree Hair Dryer Holder.

Life never seems to turn out just like you had planned. A good friend of mine worked in a small warehousing / trucking operation for many years. The BOSS owned 90% of the stock in the firm, which means he had full control. Another employee (the Manager) owned 8% of the stock. The two children of the boss owned the remaining 2%.

Basically, owning 8%, 20% or 49% of the stock in a small (closely held) company is of LITTLE value or importance UNTIL you SELL the stock or it changes hands at death.

Let me insert an important question…..try it on personally, today! If your BOSS were to die or become disabled (unable to work) TODAY….how would it affect your status in life? Your family? Could the business survive without him? This is very important if you are in a small firm and the boss holds the key to survival.

As an aside…many stocks are referred to as “phantom” stock. Usually given to employees as a means to keep them happy as “owners” of the business. In reality, the ownership control remains with the guys who OWN 51% plus of the company stock portfolio.

The “boss” (90% stockowner) spent his time running around the country, going fishing and taking care of his personal needs and wants. Every once in a while he would call back and ask the GM (general mgr.) if “they” had any money??

Then he would say, “put $1,000 in my account!” This was at a time when minimum wage was about 50 cents an hour. Owning 90% of the company was a powerful position and he could make any request and get it done…as long as the money was available.

Verbal Contracts Are Worthless

Our BOSS was really a nice guy. Honest! A real entrepreneur. He supposedly was a very generous person, too. He made some important VERBAL commitments to his General Manager/Vice President. The BOSS was considerably older than the GM/VP.

I’ll FIX everything so YOU (GM/VP) will OWN the business when I’m gone. A loyal employee…the GM/VP ran the firm for 45 years (a career lifetime!). The GM/VP would own the business when the boss kicked the bucket (died). There would not be a problem with the boss’ heirs (a son and daughter).

Do You See The Problem??

The boss (maybe!?) probably did have GOOD INTENTIONS! The boss did die and the GM/VP ended up with NOTHING more than his original 8% of the stock.

Are You Linked In?

LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional network and is growing rapidly. It operates a social network aimed at business users. LinkedIn has more than 27 million experienced professionals across the globe, representing over 100 industries and information on more than 50,000 companies.

The company was founded by Reid Hoffman and Konstantin Guericke, both Stanford graduates. Linkedin was launched in 2003. Prior to LinkedIn, Reid was Executive Vice President of PayPal.

LinkedIn’s basic account is free, but they also offer premium accounts starting at $60 per year for personal users and $19.95 a month for business accounts. Employers can also post jobs on Linkedin for a fee. Linkedin also sells advertising and Linkedin should reach $100 million in revenue in 2008.

LinkedIn allows individuals to post their profiles and to connect with business acquaintances, co-workers, and friends. You can connect by using Linkedin’s easy to use invitation system. The recipient of the invitation can archive your invitation without connecting with you, accept your invitation to connect or indicate that they don’t know you.

LinkedIn official policy when connecting is that you know the person you are reaching out to, generally someone you have worked with, collaborated with, or attended school with. If you invite connections that state that they don’t know you, LinkedIn penalizes you by requiring that you know the email address of the person you wish to connect with. However, many users are open net-workers who welcome and accept invitations to connect.

I use the following script when sending invitations to connect: “.Hello, my name is Mitch Webb, I am a Open Net-worker & LinkedIn LION. I would like to add you as a connection on LinkedIn. If you decide that you would rather not connect, could you please hit the “archive” button instead of “I don’t know”. That way I don’t get penalized for trying to connect with other professionals like you.”

LinkedIn is a wonderful tool and a very effective way to increase your personal network. It also serves as an terrific medium by which employers and job seekers can review information about one another. Get linked in now by joining LinkedIn.

Why Should I Own 51% of the Stock?

Why is 51% such an important STOCK OWNERSHIP percentage? Others own 49%…ONLY 2% difference. Is 2% such a BIG DEAL?? YES! YES! YES!

Obviously, your PARTNERS may be SMART, too! What IF they want to OWN 51% and let YOU be the 49% owner? DEPENDS! An old saying is….HE who has the GOLD makes the RULES. Maybe you are really getting a wonderful deal when someone offers you any OWNERSHIP in a company. It could be 25%. Maybe 10%. It all depends on many FACTORS.

What are YOU contributing to the deal? Do you have the GOLD? Expertise? Contacts? Following? Etc.? YOUR contribution may be MORE VALUABLE than the money. Without YOU…maybe there is NO company. YOU’VE got a powerful CARD to play in this equation and I would REQUIRE equity. Why 51% ownership? Its called POWER! You may never have to use it. It simply protects YOU! YOU cannot be FIRED! Own 49% and YOU can lose YOUR position without recourse. The AMAZING value of owning 2%!! More.

Do ALL EQUAL business ventures GO WRONG??

Absolutely NOT! When you are in business with PARTNERS of Equal ownership….NOBODY has control. If you need to make a MAJOR decision and cannot agree….the challenge begins.

Do not say…WE WILL NEVER HAVE A PROBLEM! Business partners is another term for Marriage! You are in bed with your business partner (not really, unless it’s your spouse!). However, be assured you will have some challenges.

Watch Out For Folks Going To Bible Study

This is an OLD experience for my family. It happened many years ago. Can it happen again?? It almost did just 3 years ago. YOU can never let your guard down when doing business. There are just too many folks ready to make the easy dollar…. AT YOUR EXPENSE.

Our primary GOAL in writing about personal and business experiences is to put YOU on guard. We want to keep you SAFE from the barracudas. They are HARD to recognize! Like a CON MAN. You never recognize them UNTIL they take YOUR MONEY….and disappear! When you are faced with major decisions, we want to be there. Those decisions that have a big impact on your success. Where financial rewards are important. YOU don’t want to get left at the starting gate by a CROOK!

Vending Service Experience

My brother had just completed 4 years in the Air Force. He and a buddy had MUSTERING OUT PAY. After receiving their final paycheck from Uncle Sam, they were ready for the world. Just outside the gate, there was a SUPER salesman waiting! If you have been in the military, you know the rest of the story (according to Paul Harvey!). A VENDING MACHINE SALESMAN! BUY 3 machines that sell coffee, hot chocolate, soup, etc. AND you’re in YOUR OWN BUSINESS!

Vending machines BREAKDOWN! If the machine fails to give coffee (10 cents!) you can bet some burley REDNECK is going to turn the machine OVER or kick it until it works. Or gets HIS money back! (The year was about 1957!) Can you imagine 10 cents for a drink?

Unfortunately, the “buddy” grew up in Idaho. HE was the MECHANIC! Got HOMESICK and we haven’t seen HIM since.

Competitor Wants to Buy our Business…..Why?

Why did he want our little business? This guy was in his own drink vending business. HE WANTED OUR MECHANIC! Obviously, buy our business and he would get the mechanic. He had a nice warehouse, his own offices, and was mature in the world of operating a business.

In his office on a Wednesday night about 6 PM we had a meeting. His phone rang. After a few minutes on the phone, he turns around and says I let PRAYER MEETING slip my mind. HE HAD TO GO! A RED FLAG said to us…don’t do it! Something is not right.

Contracts Can Backfire In Your Face!!

Some years ago, our firm had an employee who was labeled as the MARKETING Manager. Also, the Sales Manager. Obviously, a very IMPORTANT position. YOUNG and ENERGETIC! SINGLE! A real GO-GETTER!! As you might expect, HE got engaged, then married to a NICE GAL. Intelligent. A good businesswoman, too.

Not a bad situation for him. OUR PROBLEM?? His new wife was 3 HOURS away! How can we keep THIS valuable employee? WE had NO BUSINESS in the CITY where he needed to live with his new wife. He wanted to stay in the business and we certainly desired his continued employment with us.

ACTUALLY, he had gone to SCHOOL and LIVED in the city before. An obvious benefit to him and to us. He would have FRIENDS who could be PRIME prospects to become clients/customers. We LICENSED him to do BUSINESS…be HIS OWN BOSS! He was the OWNER of the business. It would give us an introduction into a NEW MARKET. A NEW BEGINNING…. with OUR BLESSING.

We were pleased as punch. EVERYTHING was off to a wonderful beginning. The business came in and grew QUICKLY. He was the PRESIDENT and brought in the business. We gave him BACK-OFFICE support…materials; payroll; billing, etc. We had a LEGAL agreement to provide services on a FEE basis. A good deal for BOTH of us. Our fee was FAR below industry norms. Even then, we REDUCED our fees further when he had difficulty with expenses.

According to industry standards, we had set our LICENSE FEES at a discount in the very beginning. A CONTRACT was WRITTEN and SIGNED! We wanted our former employee to succeed in his new business. It was not our intention to saddle him with unreasonable expenses.

Our Generosity Backfires…

We REDUCED the LICENSE fee WITHOUT changing our AGREEMENT. It seemed like a very generous act on our part. We saw no reason to bother with re-writing the contract. We were giving him a bigger slice of the pie with no strings attached. Not a good idea!

It was a TOUGH lesson for us to learn. We had to PAY THOUSANDS of extra dollars on a BUY BACK formula when we purchased the business from our licensee. In effect we had changed the contract by our action which caused the formula to change on our buy-back agreement.

BUSINESS TIP: NEVER do anything without YOUR attorney (legal advisor). It seemed so SIMPLE. Kindhearted. FAIR! Legal issues are LEGION. DON’T try to be your own advisor. AVOID TROUBLE WITH GOOD COUNSEL.

So You’ve Decided to Start an Online Business

Many people ask: Can you start an online business to make money? A better question would be: Can you start an online business that will be profitable? Starting an online business requires patience, skill, knowledge, and belief in your ability to succeed.

Yes, it’s easier and cheaper to start an online Internet business, than a brick and mortar business. Yes, your online business will be available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year (24x7x365). Yes, millions of people, around the world, will be able to access your web site. Yes, you can make a lot of money on the Internet.

Unfortunately, “If you build it, they will come” worked fine in the 1989 film “Field of Dreams”, but it will not work on the Internet without effort and dedication.

Many people assume that it is too late to start an online business, that the Internet is too competitive, all the good products and services are taken, and the skills required to succeed are too difficult to learn. These assumptions are false. Learning how to start a profitable Internet Business doesn’t have to be complicated. If you can use email and navigate the Internet you can learn basic Internet marketing skills, concepts and techniques.

If you have an idea for an Internet business, Cire Web Site Design & Hosting can help you turn your dream into a reality. They have have been in business since 1996. Cire offers affordable web site design and hosting. They will help you choose and obtain an appropriate Internet domain name for your online business.

Unlike other web design companies, Cire cares about the success of your Internet business. The knowledge, expertise and marketing experience they possess can turn your idea into a profit maker. They will show you how to get visitors to your web site, how to get listed on the major search engines, how to improve your search engine rankings, how to inexpensively accept online payments, and most importantly how to be successful with your Internet business.

Remember, this is your online business and you have to treat it as such. No one is going to do the work for you. If you think an Internet business is self sufficient or that you don’t have to put any work into it, you are wrong. It may take many months before you begin to see a profit for your efforts, but if you devote the time, money and energy into building your online business, you will succeed in reaching your goals.

This blog is dedicated to providing the knowledge to succeed and to turn your dream of a profitable online business into a reality.

Are You Ready to Buy a Franchise

Lots of folk think all you have to do is buy a franchise from some company and you are on your way to great success. NOTHING is farther from the truth!!

How do I know? Been there! Done that! It is more often than not a bad deal and a lot of money up front. You’ll pay FUTURE fees for the privilege of doing business. If you don’t like to be told what to do and how to do it, then you probably want to look long and hard before buying a franchise.

It is not a cookie cutter kind of deal. Many of the reasons a franchise is successful in one area of the country may not exist where you live. It could be the weather. Maybe senior citizens. No yuppie folks available to buy your product. Who is your customer? Do they exist where you are? There are many reasons a franchisee fails.

My own experiences prove you have to do your own research. How important it is that you know WHY a franchise is extremely successful. There are lots of reasons. Is it the area of the country? What is your area like? In 1966, 32 years ago, I bought a personnel agency franchise. (Obviously, I was very young!) Which means I didn’t know what I was doing, I let my ego guide my decision.

My own business was an exciting idea. President of a personnel agency with ownership. The home office (franchiser) was doing great and there was every reason to believe that we could do the same in our city.

What Did We Miss??

It just happened to slip by us that the manager of the home office was hired to run the company AFTER being very active (an officer) in the personnel association in his city. Do you already see OUR problem? The buyers of personnel services belong to the personnel association! NO ONE on our staff was a member nor were any of us known by the members of the personnel Association. He had an inside track!! He already knew the buyers, not only as trusted friends, but they knew him as a trusted and knowledgeable personnel executive.

I’ll tell you later how I came out ahead in this deal. It takes us back to realizing that we are on a journey, not a destination. This is not where we ended. Good things happen when we keep on keeping on thru life. We can’t give up!

BUSINESS TIP: Buying a FRANCHISE is NO GUARANTEE of Success. YOU must know the reasons others are successful. LOCATION is important. FINANCES are extremely important. BEST DEAL…go WORK for another franchisee… FREE! YOU will quickly LEARN more than you ever wanted to know…