Digg it UP - Business

Entrepreneurs, Fear of Success and the Myth of Commonality
"You are testing my patience."I had just shared an article with my husband on "Secret Dining", a hip new trend making its way from Chicago to New York. Essentially these underground "restaurants" offer gourmet dinners at invitation-only parties in exchange for "donations". Sometimes dinners are combined with salon-type discussions, art showings or other events. Cool, exclusive, hip. All the fun of running an upscale restaurant without all the health department hassles.I am a woman with a many interests. In one recent lunch conversation a friend and I managed to touch on a mind-boggling array of topics including martial arts, knitting and crocheting, gourmet cooking, Tarot cards, dream interpretation, massage/bodywork, marriage, writing, photography, tea ceremonies, pottery, journalling, and what she plans on doing when she becomes an empty nester a year from now. This was before I read the Secret Dining article, which now had me thinking about our monthly parties and the musicians I would love to have play for us and how a playwright friend may want to use our home as a set for a play. A little Midsummer Ni

liabilities, lawsuits, and debt. Those that exist now and those that might appear in the future. There are methods whereby you can purchase the shares and the assets and not the liabilities. In this case, the liabilities fall back on the seller. However, you must remember that even if you do not buy the liabilities, as you own the shares, any and all lawsuits will be directed towards you (the corporation). The previous owner may have given you a multitude of “save harmless” clauses, which basically means that he will be responsible for any lawsuits or claims made against the company for things that occurred prior to you acquiring it. If something were to hap

Customer Service Secrets: Six Secrets of Outstanding Customer Retention
When I was Vice President of Sales for a New York based computer services company, I walked by one of my salesperson’s desk when the phone began to ring and picked up the phone to answer the call. It was one call that tested my customer service skills.It was a call from a Senior Vice President for Chase Manhattan Bank, N.A. She was not happy with the service our representative was giving her and said she was considering going to another vendor for her computer services. I let her talk as she vented her anger.I reintroduced myself and let her know that I would personally appreciate her sharing her customer service concerns with me. I also let her know we valued her as a customer and wanted her business and that I would do whatever it took to make her happy with our company. She then let me know that someone better "make her happy" by the end of the day or we could forget about doing business again with Chase Manhattan Bank. I let her know I personally could see her in one hour, and she agreed to the meeting.I put together the solution and took the #4 subway line to Wall Street to meet at her office. A

From finding the right business or franchise to buy, to finally accepting the keys to the front door - buying a business can be an extremely frustrating exercise. It is important that you plan and implement each and every step in sequence and avoid the many caverns on the road to completing the deal.

The following 10 points should always be in the back of your mind.

1. Do not buy or invest in a business that you do not understand or are not familiar with. This does not mean that you have to know every detail of the management and operation of that specific business. Hopefully, you will receive specific training from the current owner. What it does mean is that you should, at the very least understand the primary principles of the business. We all understand the principles behind a retailer; buy product that appeals to the consumer at the lowest possible price and sell it at the highest price possible while maintaining the lowest overheads – simple! But, if the business you are considering is in the disposal of toxic waste, understanding the basic parameters of how the business operates and hence makes a profit could be completely foreign to you. The current owner of any business that is listed for sale will always tell you that running the business is relatively easy. It probably is relatively easy for the seller; he has had many years of experience that make it easy.

2. The complexities and timing of the transferring of knowledge from the seller to the buyer is relative to the type of business that is being acquired. A business that is very seasonal, should have a minimum of one full year of support from the seller in order to learn what occurs and how to manage and operate the business with each and every season. Make sure that you have an agreement on how and when the support and transferring of the seller’s knowledge will take place. As an example, will you require that the seller be available some evenings and/or weekends? Is the seller planning on taking a three-week vacation in Europe the day after closing?

3. Before you buy a business, set a top price in your mind, that you can afford and that you think the business is worth. Don’t ever be afraid or embarrassed to walk away. Don’t become so involved in the actual “buying” of the business that actually consummating the deal becomes more important and exciting than the acquisition of the business itself. No business that I have ever seen is worth buying at any cost. Do not let yourself get caught up in the “its only another $25K” routine!

4. If you buy the shares of a business, you are acquiring “everything”, that includes tax liabilities, lawsuits, and debt. Those that exist now and those that might appear in the future. There are methods whereby you can purchase the shares and the assets and not the liabilities. In this case, the liabilities fall back on the seller. However, you must remember that even if you do not buy the liabilities, as you own the shares, any and all lawsuits will be directed towards you (the corporation). The previous owner may have given you a multitude of “save harmless” clauses, which basically means that he will be responsible for any lawsuits or claims made against the company for things that occurred prior to you acquiring it. If something were to happ

Scammers Use Better Business Bureau Name To Commit Scams
The Better Business Bureau recently issued a national alert to warn consumers and businesses about two questionable operations that are falsely using the BBB name to scam victims.One business is perpetrating an advance fee loan scam that targets consumers and businesses with poor credit records. It has provided as a reference fictitious BBB phone numbers that are answered by representatives who falsely claim to be with the Better Business Bureau and provide a positive report on the business in question.The other entity, which appears to be a telemarketer, is contacting local businesses, falsely stating to be from the BBB and calling about a complaint or to update BBB files. The telemarketer proceeds to ask questions that have nothing to do with BBB business and leaves as a contact number 1.800.CALL.BBB."Bureaus across the country are reporting calls from victims. These scammers are falsely using the Better Business Bureau name to try to gain credibility with potential victims," said Ken Hunter, president and CEO of the Council of Better Business Bureaus. "We urge people to double-check with their loc

t you should, at the very least understand the primary principles of the business. We all understand the principles behind a retailer; buy product that appeals to the consumer at the lowest possible price and sell it at the highest price possible while maintaining the lowest overheads – simple! But, if the business you are considering is in the disposal of toxic waste, understanding the basic parameters of how the business operates and hence makes a profit could be completely foreign to you. The current owner of any business that is listed for sale will always tell you that running the business is relatively easy. It probably is relatively easy for the seller; he has had many years of experience that make it easy.

Are You Ready To Be Promoted
Promotion is one of those things almost everyone wants after a successful job search. But no one is bold enough to ask for it.If you’re determined to get ahead after a successful job search and are willing to follow some simple steps, you can move the odds of a promotion significantly in your favor.1. Under NO circumstances do you ever ask for a promotion!2. Get yourself a mentor. Someone a level or two above you that you feel comfortable with . . . with whom you can talk and get advice.3. Determine the factors that go into promotions where you work. For example, does your boss select people he/she feels comfortable with -- that they hangs out with? Or do they base decisions based solely on performance? You need to develop that skills that match up with your boss’ expectations.3. Let your boss know you have more to offer. For example during a performance review you can ask, "What more can I do for the organization." Or "What more can I do to make myself more valuable?"4. Write down a list of your accomplishments. Be very precise and use quantifiable results. Then give th

s had many years of experience that make it easy.

Intuition – The Gut Brain for Business Success
A wise and dear mentor once said to me "Given enough information your intuitive sense will be validated." Intuition some suggest comes from our gut brain as described by Dr. Hawkins in his book Get Out Of Your Own Way or by others as an unknown sense that has always been with us.Whatever the source, intuition is the gut brain for business. For example, have you ever met a potential client and felt immediately that this was a good fit or conversely met a prospect and couldn't get away from him or her fast enough. Why did you have those strong feelings? And more importantly, why did you listen to them?What happened when you failed to listen to your intuitive sense? Did you experience an internal "I told you so!?" Maybe, after ignoring your gut brain because you were afraid of being judgmental, you took a chance and the end result confirmed your intuition. Nowhere is this sense, intuition, more needed than in today's business environment.With the beginning of a New Year and the desire for greater business success, now is the time to take a few moments and record all

acation in Europe the day after closing?

Promotional Polo Shirts Give Your Business An Identity
We usually think of promotional items as something that businesses give away to promote their company and products, but promotional polo shirts can be used in another way to help give your company an unmistakable identity. Promotional polo shirts can identify your staff at events, give them a uniform, neat appearance in your store, restaurant or pub, and identify them if they do home visits or work outside the office.Use Promotional Polo Shirts Instead of UniformsWhen you dress your staff in polo shirts in the company colors with the company logo, you present a neat, casual and unified front to your customers. Polo shirts are available in a wide variety of styles and colors, so it’s easy to choose a color combination and style that best suits your company’s image and color scheme. The logo can be embroidered or screen printed, and placed on the breast pocket, chest or sleeve. With all the different variable that you can choose, it’s easy to create a distinctive look for your staff.Use Promotional Polo Shirts to Identify Event StaffIf you’re hosting a c

In other words save harmless clauses are only as good as the person behind them. It is better to uncover any and all potential problems and deal with them before closing then it is to rely on save harmless clauses. As well, even if the seller is prepared to take care of any liabilities that are from the period that he owned the business, that might arise in the future, the time burden of dealing with those liabilities when they surface will still be your responsibility. It will be your company that will have to bare the potentially negative exposure and it will be your company that may be sued, and secondarily it may very well affect your future liability insurance rates as those rates are based on historic company claims.

5. Look at financing alternatives, owing the seller some money will give him an incentive to transfer his knowledge (he has a very good reason to help you succeed, he wants to get the balance of his money) and it will give you something to negotiate with if there are any financial disputes that appear after you have acquired the business. You can usually obtain much better terms from the Seller, depending on the Seller’s reasons for divesting himself from his business, then you will from a bank or other financial institution.

However, you must be aware of one pitfall in borrowing money from the seller. In most cases his Non Compete Agreement, if there is one, will have a clause that states if you do not live up to the terms and conditions of the Loan Agreement that his Non Compete Agreement is null and void. In other words, you miss one payment and the previous owner may become your biggest competitor.

6. The seller’s net weekly, monthly, and yearly cash flow is likely to be higher than yours due to the fact that he is not carrying the debt you incurred to buy the company. The seller also has years of experience and is likely to make fewer business errors and he will be much more efficient.

7. Warranty issues in any company involved in creating goods or supplying services can be a major liability. Most small businesses do not accrue any reserve for warranty expenses. It is important that the cost of warranty issues be resolved with the seller prior to acquiring the business. If you purchase the shares of the company, you are accepting any and all warranty liability costs and issues for warranty claims in the period prior to acquiring the business. Do not accept statements from the seller that warranty costs are very low. Very low in the seller’s mind could be very high t

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The most important question you must ask yourself before you start a marketing strategy or promotion.

There is a clear distinction between “wanting” something and “being ready” to do the work to achieve it. Unfortunately, this applies to many, if not most, new career seekers. Let this be a call to action!

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