Buy books online by using the bank account

Posted by admin in BusinessAug 10th, 2010 | No Comments

The book is one of the windows of the world and if you like reading books and you definitely have a lot of knowledge so that you can use that knowledge to anyone at anytime. Do you have Cuentas Bancarias? If you already have it, you certainly will be easier to get books. I’m also a fan of fiction and non fiction books. I often look for new titles being published through the Internet because of the way it is easiest to get the books we want. You also can do it, but there are a prerequisite if you want to buy the book online. You must have Depositos Bancarios in the bank because to make a payment book that you wish to purchase, you should send money to the account number provided by the online bookseller. In addition you must also have Cuentas De Ahorro to facilitate payment.

If you have met these requirements, you will be easier to obtain everything you need, not just a book. But you can buy bags, clothing, shoes, pants, etc. online. Of course, buying this way is easier, safer, and comfortable for you and all of society. Hopefully, this way you can eliminate your thirst for knowledge, especially technology that is growing today.

Why Business Audiobooks Are Ideal Business Mentors

Posted by admin in BusinessAug 10th, 2010 | No Comments

Are you looking for a business mentor to inspire and motivate you to success but can’t find or afford one? Business audiobooks may just be the ideal business mentoring solution you are looking for to help you grow and succeed.

Statistics show that ninety-seven million Americans drive alone to work everyday — and that doesn’t even include those who commute by bus, train or car pool! With the average commute to and from work now reaching over an hour each way, that’s almost two months of your life each year spent in transit or sitting in traffic. Just think how much you could improve your business or advance your professional career simply by listening to spoken audio recordings containing excellent information on how to improve your sales approach, communication and people skills, how to market your business better, ways to improve your customer service, etc. during this time.

With the rising popularity of MP3 players and iPods, and more new cars being fitted with built-in MP3 players (as of this year, almost all new cars are now capable of playing digital audio files), more business people are discovering that music or the news is not the only thing they can listen to while going about their busy day. Now, people can “listen” to business books, business seminars, sales and marketing lectures and podcasts from successful business people while they’re on-the-go — and when they don’t have time to read. Hence, the huge emerging popularity of audio books with commuters and business owners.

Today’s mobile and “time-starved” business owners, sales managers and sales professionals are discovering that they can download an unlimited amount of information into their brain, learn a foreign language or new skill that will improve their business, and get that competitive business edge while driving in their cars, commuting in trains and buses, or even while standing around in queues.

Most business people love to improve their business acumen via reading and taking courses, but lack the time to do so. This is where spoken audio recordings can play an important role in their professional lives.

Business audio books narrated by successful business people can act as an ideal mentoring tool for business owners (one specific title that comes immediately to mind is the audiobook version of Michael E. Gerber’s business classic “The E-Myth: Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work And What To Do About It” read by the author himself!). Imagine all the money you can save on consulting fees and the knowledge you will gain, just by listening to an audio book written and narrated by a business expert while driving, or commuting to work on a bus or train.

Not only will you get mentored by some of the best business minds in the world and gain a competitive business edge by acquiring the latest business information listening to spoken audio recordings on business-related topics, you will also get yourself into the right “state of mind” for doing business successfully.

Just think about it! You arrive at work or at a sales presentation after having been “coached” by a successful business owner while driving or commuting, your mind is immersed in business thoughts and you’re most likely inspired by a great business idea or tip you’ve just heard. You walk into a meeting and you are focused. Your mind is sharp. Your energy is positive and you look vibrant. Your brain is filled with new business strategies and ideas and working subconsciously with these to help you achieve the best results and outcomes no matter what daunting tasks, projects or challenges may lie ahead for you in your busy day.

As a business person, you can now use the amazing value inherent in listening to audio books to gain a competitive business edge over others. You won’t have to worry about not having the time or will to flip through the pages of a book. You can now “listen” to business books when preparing to go to work in the morning, when commuting to and from work, etc.

Currently, there are thousands of best-selling business audiobook titles available. If you are at a loss for specific business audio books to get started, here are 5 of some of the best that any business person should listen to:

1. “How To Win Friends And Influence People” – by Dale Carnegie

One of the most important aspects of any business is the fact that PEOPLE are a crucial part of its success. This is true in almost every aspect of human activity, and especially in business. We need people to keep our businesses going and growing. Not just the people that bring us new sales and new customers, but also the people that make the sales possible, the people who deliver our products, handle complaints, run the administrative aspects of the business, and so on. To be able to succeed in business and other areas of life, we all need to know “how to win friends and influence people”. That’s why this incredible book by Dale Carnegie is a “must have” for any person in business. With the power of the information contained in this classic book, you can learn not just how to influence people so that they bring in more sales for your business, but most importantly how to win staff, suppliers, customers and prospects over as friends to help you make future sales possible. This book is available in audio book format, so you can enjoy listening to it in the comfort of your car while driving or commuting.

2. “E-Myth Mastery” – By Michael E. Gerber

Michael E. Gerber is the world’s leading small business guru and bestselling author of the phenomenally successful “The E-Myth Revisited”. In this audiobook version of his follow up book, “E-Myth Mastery”, Michael Gerber presents the next big step in entrepreneurial management and leadership. This audiobook presents a practical, real-world program that can be implemented in real-time in your business. The E-Myth credo — Don’t work IN your business, work ON it — is spelled out here in the seven essential disciplines followed by every leader of a world-class enterprise. Each discipline provides the leadership keys for unlocking success in the critical areas of business development: Leadership, Marketing, Finance, Money, Management, Client Fulfillment, Lead Conversion and Lead Generation. E-Myth Mastery is the ultimate business development program that will help you recover your passion and turn your company into a world-class operation — a turn-key machine for the money and satisfaction that only a successful entrepreneur can enjoy.

3. “Zig Ziglar’s Secrets Of Closing The Sale” – By Zig Ziglar

All of us are involved in selling every day. Whenever we present a product or a principle, inform a client, or instruct a child, we are engaging in the art of effective persuasion. Zig Ziglar is America’s master of the art of selling and in this audiobook, he explains proven, practical sales techniques all of us can use every day. He also provides vital strategies for specific closes, hundred of sales questions, and dozens of persuasion procedures to help everyone sell their ideas, or themselves. No matter what your age, gender, occupation, or lifestyle, these proven techniques from America’s selling sensation can work for you.

4. “Jack: Straight from the Gut” – by Jack Welch

Jack Welch is unquestionably one of the world’s most successful CEOs ever. In this powerful and thought-provoking audio book, Jack tells his own story, detailing how you can follow his steps to become one of the most successful persons in your career today.

5. “Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make The Leap” – by Jim Collins

You can’t argue with the fact that “without the techniques and strategies, no company or business can excel beyond a few days, weeks or even months”. Businesses and companies that have stood the test of time for many years know what to do and they have done it right. Jim Collins took the time to conduct extensive researches into how and what companies did to maintain success for many long years, while their counterparts failed within a few months or years of starting up. The power of the information contained within this audio book can help any business person to succeed.

These 5 audio books can truly help you improve your business, your career and your life, if you will simply take the time to listen to them and apply what you will learn. Before your next sales presentation, job interview, or important business meeting, take some time to go online and browse through an audiobook store for a downloadable business audiobook that you can burn to CD, or upload to your iPod or MP3 player. It will not only empower you to achieve better business results and improve your life, it will also give you a competitive edge over those who are spending their drive or commute time engaging in less productive activities.

For more articles and information about the benefits of audiobooks, visit http://www.audiobookone.com .

Expert Business Coach Shows How to Work on your People

Posted by admin in BusinessAug 9th, 2010 | No Comments

When it comes to successful business growth – one of the key differences that separates the successful business owners from the average ones…

Is what the business owner ‘works’ on – when they have employees.

I have noticed that the best business owners work on improving their employees…

Why? Well, so that the employees learn and then do certain tasks that the business owner used to do.

By doing this, the owner can remove themselves from the ‘day-to-day’ running of the business so that they can work on areas that can grow the business – and/or do the things they enjoy doing.

Like playing golf, going on holidays, spending time with their families.

On the other hand, the average business owner continues to work ‘in’ the business despite having employees. For a number of reasons the average business owner says that they don’t have the ‘time’ to improve their employees.

As a result, the employees lack the skills and/or the freedom to do the tasks that would free up the business owner from the day-to-day running of the business.

So guess what happens? The business remains dependent on the Business owner.

So the Business owner has to continue working.

Despite having employees, the business owner is still working a million hours… but the business never seems to grow to the levels that the business owner is hoping for – even though they’re working harder than they ever have.

Does this sound familiar?

Let’s explore how this happens.

The average business owner that wants to grow their business – but find it very hard to grow successfully… tends to do the following.

They have a business – and it’s growing. Early in the business it’s just the owner and maybe a few others. The business is growing, and the owner is working a million hours.

The average business owner knows that they should employ staff, but they put it off and put it off, until they can’t possibly cope with the workload anymore.

So they hire new staff at the last minute.

Usually the new person is employed in such a hurry that the business owner doesn’t have the time to train them. Because the business is so busy.

After all, the business owner has been working a million hours, so they’re probably feeling a bit stressed and overwhelmed.

They’re typically not feeling in control and calm – that’s for sure.

And the business owner usually doesn’t have a system to hire appropriately skilled or passionate people.

Because they don’t have a proven hiring system, the staff that are employed can often lie their way through interviews telling the owner that they do have skills – when they actually don’t.

You know how the story goes…

Anyway, a new person is hired.

But because the business is busy, and the business has no real induction or training system to get the new employees up to speed – the business owner continues to focus on doing the work themselves.

When the owner checks to see how the new employee is performing, they get disappointed because the new person doesn’t have the ‘skills’ or the initiative to do things properly.

So the business owner steps in to ‘do it themselves’ because they think that they can ‘save time’ by doing it themselves.

It’s at this time the business owner starts proving to themselves that ‘no-one can do it as good as me’.

And they are correct. Of course no-one can do it as good as them – because no one has taught the new employees properly.

So the average business owner continues to do the ‘day-to-day’ things, and take over from their staff when the staff aren’t doing the right things…

By continuing to do the work that the employees are suppose to do, the staff very quickly realize that the business owner will always ‘save the day’.

So they back off on their productivity, and their passion.

The staff quickly learn how to ‘hide’ in the business so that they just get by.

They become ‘clock watches’. They turn up to work, to watch the clock and as soon as it turns 5pm – they’re out of there.

And this hurts your customers. Because the customers of the business receive inconsistent levels of service.

The customers quickly begin to realize that if the business owner serves them – they may get extraordinary service.

And if the staff serves them – they’ll get inadequate service.

If the service is poor and inconsistent the customers will start to get annoyed. They’ll literally ask for the owner every time they come into the business. Because they know they’ll get the service they want.

And that’s a sign of a poorly trained team.

As a result the customers end up going somewhere else, the business suffers, the sales and profits dwindle – and the business owner blames it on the ‘staff’.

The business owner may then go into “see I told you I can’t find the right people’.

The average business owner has tried to grow the business, yet misses a few crucial things that makes them miss out on the rewards of a successful business.

The result is unhappy staff, unhappy customers, a business that barely makes any money – and an owner that works around the clock, stressed and overwhelmed for little or no return.

Well it doesn’t have to be that way!

You can quickly and easily turn this around, if you’re in this position, or even better you can completely avoid it by following my guidance.

Every great business owner that I know, that has successful business growth follow a number of specific steps to get them out of the situation I’ve just outlined.

And it’s crucial for the growth of your business too.

It’s wonderfully easy when you learn how to do it for your situation.

Let’s look at what the best business owners achieve by following these specific steps – and what you could possibly achieve by following my guidance.

Firstly – your staff will have the right skill sets and attitude to work in your business. Plus they’ll improve and grow rapidly (faster than you may think). This means that you can comfortably rely on them to get the ‘job-done’.

By focusing on getting the team up to the standard you can be assured that in a few weeks or months they’ll be at the point where you can depend on them.

They’ll be doing a great job and delivering consistent levels of service.

As a result you can now forget about having to ‘look over their shoulder’, or forget about having to ‘save the day’ like other average business owners.

Because your staff are now producing – you have freed yourself up from the day to day running of the business – so you can focus on ways to grow and improve your business.

And you can even spoil yourself with reduced work hours, time off and even holidays.

Imagine that?

Now, back to your staff.

Because they’re learning, growing and producing you’ll be happy with them and they’ll be happy with themselves – and of course they’ll be happy working for you.

And it’ll rub off on your customers.

Why?

Because your customers will get great consistent service from your entire business.

So what will this mean to your business?

For a start, your customers won’t always be asking for you, because they know your staff are consistent – so you won’t feel trapped.

Because of this consistency your customers will reward your business with their repeatable profitable custom, positive word of mouth and ongoing referrals to your business.

Now you’ll have a business where the team are growing and happy, your customers are happy and raving about you, and your financials are healthy and very profitable.

That’s right, your business will be profitable which means you’ll be making great money – and remember, your staff will be doing most of the work… so you’ll not only be making great money – you’ll also have ample free time.

Can you see, hear and feel what’s happening to your business?

Multi-millionaire business owners always tell me that the most important part of their growth – is good people. They’ll always hire people that know more and perform better than them on the certains task they are employed for.

People are one of your greatest assets as a business owner. And like any asset you need to invest in it to get returns.

Invest your time and your focus on growing your people to do better than you. That way you’ll have the time to grow your business.

On my one-on-one business coaching program I take my clients through this process step by step so that they can fast track their growth – with the safety and peace of mind knowing that they are following a process that has worked time and time again.

Copyright © 2007 by Casey Gollan. All Rights Reserved

Internet and Small Business

Posted by admin in BusinessAug 9th, 2010 | No Comments

Technology has played an imperative role in business operations. The advent of internet has given a new methodology to conduct business faster in a cost effective way in a limited time and space.

Internet is wrapped up with thousands of interconnected networks connected worldwide. The deployment of Internet in business has given rise to perform business worldwide to unlimited audience and it is one of the best methods for globalizing business. Internet is a powerful tool for winning a business strategy that assists companies to compete with their competitors and to improve customer satisfaction and hence internet business model has been formulated to assist companies to choose the right model at the right time.

Internet business is simply not designing websites to promote the products it has its unique process to automate any business function. Internet business helps manufacturers to understand the customer’s wants and needs by understanding their behavior when they visit company websites or research any relevant information and this in-turn helps manufacturers and marketers to produce customize and personalize product.

Internet business has changed the marketing practices of company to the great extent and hence marketers need to be more and more proactive and creative to reach and convince their audience to buy products.

Today many companies have also set up extranets with their suppliers to facilitate information exchange, transactions and payments. Internet business has given birth to e-commerce which is more and more specific when compared to internet business or e-business. The term e-commerce encourages companies to sell their products or services through internet. To be more precise about internet business; it is simply performing business using internet for worldwide audience in order to globalize business.

Advantages of Internet Business – Internet Business has its unique advantages

There is no need of physical location and hence you don’t need to have your own or rent place for starting up business as how traditional business requires.

Of course you need location that is DOMAIN NAME for website registration and its very cheap you can get for about $5 to $25 with free web hosting service.

You need website for selling your product or service. If you know programming and designing you can always do it on your own or you can hire a web developer and/or designer based on your requirement or even you can become an affiliate of some site which needs no website since your merchant will provide you website.

You can advertise your products or services for free in most of the websites say free classified advertisement site.

Since internet works on the principle of 24×7 you can reach your customer at any time.

Internet business is not geographic specific and hence you can reach global audience.

Disadvantages of Internet Business -Of course, internet has major advantages but it has some disadvantages too.

Through internet it is very difficult for the user to recognize what is genuine and what is not because users will not have the ’Touch and feel’ of some product before they buy.

Internet makes you feel isolate and hence it separates manufacturer and customer, and this ultimately end-up in lack of trust between two parties.

It is also difficult for the user to choose the product as there may be many products with different varieties advertise through internet.

Business Models:

Every Business needs model to run its business and operations. When it comes to internet it is not that companies have design or built their own models Most of the companies sustain with the following business models through internet.

Products

Professional Services

Information Business

Internet profession

E-Publishing

E-Advertising

Let’s understand the above six proven internet business model.

Products: This Internet business model includes stuffs like electronic goods, books, computer hardware and software, household, jewelry, etc. Companies may already use direct marketing to market its product.

Adopting this model is most inexpensive method to communicate universally, and consumers can look into the product through company’s website or online catalogue as it cost only the fraction of what printed catalogue cost and the duplication is achieved virtually. The vital part is to note that internet is not the business strategy. However, it helps business to formulate strategy more effectively and efficiently. These are none other than the Internet or Online retailer.

Professional/Specialized Services: This model includes Professional services such as accountants, consultants, architects etc. The use of technology has encouraged service business to devise innovative strategies to support the very nature of the business.

Service industry advertise its services electronically that is through internet and since internet reaches global audience by breaking the geographic barriers and hence today service sectors enjoy massive profit and growth since internet has out-performed the traditional advertising and it directly reaches its prospective audience.

Information business: This E-business model is for those who gather, create and sell knowledge. Internet has given a new room for this kind of business. Today people use internet for many reasons and information search through internet ranks top. Many netpreneur today adopted this business methodology and has created a success because there is lot of scope for business in this digital era and information business is one such businesses which grows with a full pace.

Internet Careers: Many people have started making careers in internet itself. This business model includes graphic artist, web designers and developers, software programmers, computer and software trainers through online, Internet marketing professionals etc. This is considered as fastest growing business and many people have started business model.

Electronic Publishing: Today people can find free news, magazines, and newsletters in the digital format. In this business model any factual written material can be published in digital format and uploaded in the website. Online or Electronic publishing is exploding since its too cost effective when compared to the printed version of newspapers, magazines, newsletters etc. There are many innovative ways that a company can generate revenue from this business model.

E-Advertising: Electronic advertising, the business model which grows constantly and is expected to out-perform the traditional advertising methods. From this business model companies can simply sell advertising space on the web which in turn generates a mutual understanding to both the parties (advertisers and publishers).

Advertisers get revenue by posting advertisement in their website and publishers gets traffic to his website and/or brand awareness of his (publishers) product through advertisement. This is really a big business and one can monetize his/her website (if available) by just selling the website space.

The above mentioned internet business model has been adopted by many companies and have created a history in this digital era. Thus internet has become the right source and a powerful tool for the businesses to create a new and innovative business strategy in order to sustain the market.

Different authors have defined Internet business models in a different manner but the actual proposition and meaning is same. To see the different internet business model terms have a look at this article. Read Here

As a Wannabe internet business you have to analyze which internet business model is best for you or where you actually fit in the whole scenario.

Small Business Grants for Starting Up!

Posted by admin in BusinessAug 9th, 2010 | No Comments

Small business grants are not just given away by government agencies or private institutions for helping you start your business. There needs to be a particular interest in your project in order for them to provide the funding that you need. And it’s not enough to have a good idea in order to obtain finance for it; you need to have a well made business project to convince them of your eligibility.

No Credit Or Income Requirements?

Though there is no need to reimburse the money on government grants, claims that state that there is no credit or income requirement in order to get approved for a government grant are far from being truth. Truth is that the requirements for approval are not present in the same sense as on private or federal loans but there is still a qualification process.

You may wonder then, what is needed in order to qualify for a government grant. The idea is that you’ll need to show that your business project is viable, and thus, you’ll need to show that you can be trusted which implies having a fair credit score and the ability to generate a proper income to show proof of the business viability.

Presenting a Viable Business Project

What you need to understand is that prior to requesting a government grant, you’ll need to prepare a presentation of your business project. This obviously implies having a project and not just a mere idea. There must be certain degree of research done with market analysis to prove the viability of the business and the income generation capacity.

Though the money doesn’t need to be returned, the government agency is interested in investing the money in a project that will endure in time and that will keep generating job positions and revenues thus boosting the economy and the welfare of the nation. The particular requirements of each government grant need to be consulted with the government agency that provides them.

Getting Approved For a Government Grant

The key to getting approved for a government grant is to present an appealing business project that shows great feasibility and relates to those fields that the government is interested in promoting. If you don’t meat the requirements for a government grant approval, there is not much you can do about it. Yet, if you do qualify, it is important to be well informed prior to applying in order to take the proper steps and avoid getting declined due to bureaucratic reasons.

If you can’t qualify for a government grant, don’t despair and use the opportunity to consult about government business loans that are sometimes offered with subsidized interest rates and very affordable payments.

Business Grants

One of the best places to research the availability of business grants and loans is the Small Business Administration, an agency of the federal government with a mandate to help business, especially small business succeed. Despite what many people tell you, the idea that the government is just sitting around with a pile of money waiting to give out to you or any other small business is just plain wrong. The idea of obtaining a small business grant, for many small business owners, is great.

Your chances of obtaining grants for your business dramatically increase if you have a non-profit organization. This isn’t to say that assistance isn’t available at all, just that grants are probably a long process when and if you happen to find one where your small business fits. While the Small Business Administration does not have any monies to provide directly for business grants and loans they can direct businesses to a number of government agencies and departments that do provide this type of assistance.

Even though the category of Business and Commerce may be what appears to have the largest selection of resources for business grants for women, consider the other categories as well, according to where your business falls. There are many types of grants offered by the Governments and other financial institutions that include individual grants for personal necessities, business grants for starting new business, education grants for funding education and many more. There are two main types of financing available for small businesses; small business grants and small business loans.

You’re not along if you need small business grants and loans to get your business started. If you want to avail of free government business grants then you need to locate a program that provides grants to start up businesses. Government’s Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) provides a listing of Government grants and other types of assistance that you can receive.

The downside of grants is that business grants for women are not widely available. So, are there any grants available to you as a small business owner? New business owners and existing business owners are eligible to apply for business grants.

Small business administration grants are provided for small businesses that are already in operation. Small businesses always play a significant role in the economic growth of a country and that is the reason governments are always ready to offer financial resources to facilitate small business. This type of service offered by the government is only obtainable to businesses that barely needs a financial support but can not apply for a loan because of inadequate security.

There are indeed many grant and loan programs for small businesses, including many that are administered by state or local government, rather than the federal government. Having pointed to the drawbacks, there are many genuine government grants for both small businesses and individuals available, and these can be substantial. That’s you’ll actually be able to access whatever grants, services and resources are available, because the nonprofit organizations are the ones who work with indidivuals and provide “service delivery.

First, let’s take a look at what type of grants are available. The allure of these so-called small business grants is understandable. If you are interested in looking for a company that can provide you with small business administration grants, you can try searching through the World Wide Web for information.

If you are considering starting your own home business in the near future you should consider researching small business grants and loans now. Federal Grants provides detailed information on Federal Grants, Federal Pell Grants, Federal Government Grants, Federal Grants For Small Business and more. Small Business Loans provides detailed information on How To Get A Small Business Loans, Minority Small Business Loans, Small Business Bad Credit Loans, Small Business Government Loans and more.

To conclude, small business loans are usually awarded to all kinds of businesses to help them to begin and to succeed in their trading. The government is more than willing to help out businesses especially with the economic condition that still remains volatile and unpredictable and with the need for more economic development.

Buying a Business – the Basics

Posted by admin in BusinessAug 8th, 2010 | No Comments

Buying a business in today’s economic climate requires that you, the buyer, be on the ball, with regard to business basics. This economic climate, as far as businesses are concerned, is a sellers market.

With the corporate downsizing, economic downturn and other factors, there are a lot of very knowledgeable buyers out there looking for one of the very few good business to buy. This means that you, as a buyer have a lot of competition. Consequently, you need to be well prepared. Professional business buyers, report that it takes anywhere from 3 months to 3 years to find the right business. So, if anything, what can be done to speed this looking process and at the end finally get a good business?

The decision – the first step is deciding to buy a business. Once you have made this decision and you are definite and firm about the fact that you are definitely buying a business, the process has started.

The second step is to decide what kind of business. This is really really important. What are the criteria for this business you are looking to buy? Do not make a wish list or what would be nice. Make a list of what is important. For example, if your standard of living requires $100,000 income, do not compromise by looking at businesses that make only $50,000.

That is unless you consider yourself a knowledgeable business manager and marketing person who knows that any business they buy will double in income and sales. That kind of buyer can buy a business that makes no profit and probably should.

Other criteria include; is it something you can handle? What kind of work are you willing to do? If you like sales and do not like running a factory, buy a distribution company, or sales organizations, and do not buy a manufacturing firm, unless you have a partner that likes running a production line.

I have people call me to inquire about buying a body shop that have no automotive experience at all. You can buy an auto repair shop, muffler shop, brake shop or lube store, and learn the business, with no experience to start. You probably should not buy a salvage yard body shop, or scrap yard with out being raised in the business. If you are a salesman you can buy almost any business.

All manufacturing, distribution or retail sales require good personal sales skills. If you are poor at communication skills or English is a second language, consider buying a liquor store, gas station or hamburger stand, just a few of the businesses that do not require, personal selling, or do they?

About you – There are some things you need to prepare for the brokers when they start coming to you with possible businesses. You need to make sure that you have your down payment sorted out. Expected down payments are anywhere from 25% to 100% of the selling price. So make sure you know what you want to spend and then make sure you have the down payment easily available.

Then you need to get your financing options determined. You can get yourself pre-qualified for a business loan or an SBA loan if the business you are buying is required by you to show a profit on the books. SBA loans are only available to businesses that have shown a 5-year profit on their tax returns. If you are looking at businesses that are heavily unrecorded income, you must have cash or seller financing.

Being your own broker – You should determine who is going to make your offer. A broker, or yourself? If it is you then you should locate the necessary offer forms and study them carefully. Determine what must be in your offer so that you can put in an offer, the instant you find a business that meet your requirements. This is an important step, as putting in an offer tends to lock out other buyers while you look over the business. Make sure you have contingencies in your offer, which means you have lots of “get out of the deal” clause.

I would like to suggest, for the less experienced buyer to hire as a consultant the sharpest attorney or business broker you can find and pay him for his time to watch your rear end, in negotiations and in reviewing the companies you are considering buying. In real estate we call this a buyers agent, except with businesses the listing agent will not always co-operate in splitting the commission. This means you need to be willing to pay your agent an hourly fee for helping you. Let me give you a real example.

David and his father were looking for a business to buy. They were interested in a Scrap yard that I was selling. I asked their buying agent to bring them over so I could interview them and to explain this business to them. In 3 minutes it was clear that they should not even consider this business. We spent the balance of the meeting talking about the businesses they had looked at and the pros and cons of each. I gave them my honest suggestions about each from their description. They thanked me and left.

Two months later David calls and asked if he could come talk to me. He told me about an FSBO “For Sale by Owner,” who would never pay any agent a commission unless he got his price + the commission. That of course doesn’t make sense to a buyer. David told me about the deal and I gave him my honest opinion about it. David asked what my time was worth and gave me a check for an hour’s time.

Two months again passed and David called and said, “I need to see you today.” He proceeded to tell me about a Car Wash Soap manufacturing company that was suppose to be making $500,000 profit per year. The asking price was $2 Million. David wanted several things from me. He wanted my opinion of the business, he wanted me to help get the price down to a more reasonable amount and he wanted me to verify the income. It took me 30 hours of reviewing the books and talking to the seller to determine that the business was making only $350,000 per year including what was not on the books. The books were made complicated, intentionally so that no one could understand what was going on.

I related my findings and told David he had to do his own negotiations but I would coach him every step of the way. David paid my fee and I didn’t hear from David for one year. When he called, I asked what happened to the car wash soap business. He filled me in on the story.

He bought the business for more than I suggested because he saw where he could improve the business instantly. The profit turned out not to be $500,000 as the seller guaranteed, but exactly $350,000 as I had determined. David took over sales and marketing and within 1 year had the company profit up to the $500,000 he was promised.

David now had found a related business that had been listed with an agent who did not understand the business he was marketing and could not sell it. David was now talking to the seller directly. The seller wanted $550,000. David wanted me to negotiate, on a consulting fee bases with the seller to get the price down.

I instructed David that I would appraise the business, and convince the seller that my appraisal was accurate, but David had to do the negotiations. The seller would never talk to me about the inside details if he was negotiating with me directly. This time I spent 5 hours with the seller, not the books, to determine the business was worth $350,000. The seller would not take the price, but felt I had done an excellent appraisal. I suggested to David to wait 60 days and open discussions again. I also told him the seller would eventually take the $350,000.

I again didn’t hear from David, this time for 6 months. When David called I asked for his report on what happened. The seller called him after one month and sold the business to him for my appraised amount, just as predicted. What did David want this time? Two guys wanted to buy the business and David wanted me to justify a price of $500,000? I did my updated analysis and got paid. I will not find out what happened until David calls me with my next assignment.

Get the word out – Now that you have got all of your preliminary work done you are ready to go looking for businesses. You are ready to look for businesses for sale. Go on to the Internet and look at sites that have businesses for sale. Look in the classified section of your county newspapers and look at what is for sale. Contact business brokers and tell them what you are looking for in detail. Call on broker listings and FSBO (For Sale by Owners.) When you find something interesting you move through the steps with a broker, accountant or attorney or without a broker, accountant or attorney.

Find out what financial records they have. This will eliminate 75% of the businesses. The records are false because of cash sales and/or cash payroll. A lot of auto repair shops pay their mechanics a base salary on the books and the balance in cash. This is crazy and illegal. They have cash sales, which are illegal, and not reported and then they give this money to the employees illegally. Have fun figuring out the profit on these businesses. Some businesses do not want to give you any financials. They do not even want to lie to you about the numbers; they just do not give them to you. You need financials even to just see what the operating expenses are.

Cash income — The problem with cash income, besides being illegal is it is unconfirmed. Jack bought a body shop doing $60,000 sales on the books. The seller showed Jack records that proved to Jack, an experienced body shop owner that the business was really doing $125,00 month in sales. After escrow closed Jack was given the production records for the last 5 years by the general manager that stayed with the company. The business was doing $60,000. Exactly what was on the books! There was no cash. The seller reported every dime. I hate to say it but if someone were willing to lie to the government and their business broker, why would they tell you the truth?

Find out what the seller wants – the next key step is to ensure that you find out exactly what the seller wants. You have already stated what you wanted when you got the word out. Now, you need to make sure you understand what the seller wants. Make sure you get full information on this from the broker or seller. On this step, you are basically finding out what the seller wants for his or her business exactly. That includes, down payment, seller carry back terms, time he is willing to train you to run the business, and what he is including in the price. Inventory can be included or extra. Leased equipment basically has you as the buyer assuming the debt, where financing on owned equipment is paid off in escrow or the price is lowered because you are assuming the debt. With all of this information, you can begin your negotiations.

Negotiate – Ok, now you know what the seller wants and you know what you want. On this step, the objective is to get the two wants to match up and agree with each other, so that the deal can take place. What you are trying to do at this stage is decide if you are going to go ahead with the deal or if you are going to continue talking with the broker and the seller until what they want is closer to what you want. The key here is keeping the conversation going (negotiate). As long as the conversation is going, it is much more likely to result in the deal taking place. So keep the conversation going!

Almost the final action – after the negotiations and an agreement has been reached, there is one final action that is vital. Your offer is in, but you are not done yet! Due diligence is required. Here you must get documentation on the financial figures you have been given. You want to verify that what you have been told is indeed the case. Get Profit and loss statements, business tax returns and other important documents. If you have been told that a body shop has a contract with the local city to service all their vehicles, or some such story, ask for and see the contract and verify that a valid contract does indeed exist. Part of this final action is ensuring that you have the advise of a competent professional as well.

Escrow – Never buy an asset sale purchase without an escrow. We have already established that the sellers may be lying to you about any number of things, but they may have debts that they do not even know about. The escrow will do a “bulk sale notice” that gives creditors of the business a chance to file their claims, and if they do not the buyer cannot be held liable. The escrow also makes sure that the payroll taxes; sales taxes; federal and state income taxes are paid in full. The IRS has come into companies and assessed for many years of unpaid taxes. As the buyer you would get stuck with this bill, if you didn’t do an escrow.

Conclusion – Following the above steps will see you through most of the pitfalls in buying a business.

10 Totally Stupid Online Business Ideas That Made Someone Rich

Posted by admin in BusinessAug 8th, 2010 | No Comments

How to get rich the smart way? Read what some creative people did:

1. Million Dollar Homepage

1000000 pixels, charge a dollar per pixel – that’s perhaps the dumbest idea for online business anyone could have possible come up with. Still, Alex Tew, a 21-year-old who came up with the idea, is now a millionaire. 

What is the idea? (from FAQ on the site)

The idea is simple: to try and make $1m (US) by selling 1,000,000 pixels for $1 each. Hence, ‘The Million Dollar Homepage”. The main motivation for doing this is to pay for my degree studies, because I don’t like the idea of graduating with a huge student debt. I know people who are paying off student loans 15-20 years after they graduated. Not a nice thought!
So, everyone is welcome to buy my pixels, which are available in 100-pixel ‘blocks’ (each measuring 10×10 pixels). You will see the homepage is divided into 10,000 of these 100-pixel blocks (hence there are 1,000,000 pixels in total). The reason for selling them in 100-pixel blocks is because anything smaller would be too small to display anything meaningful.
You can buy as many pixels as you like, as long as there are some available (see the live stats in the top right corner of the page). When you buy some pixels, you can then display an image/ad/logo of your choice in the space you have purchased. You can also have the image click through to your own website. However, no obscene or offensive images are allowed.
The pixels you buy will be displayed on the homepage permanently. The homepage will not change. Using some of the money I make from the site, I guarantee to keep it online for at least 5 years, but hopefully much longer. I want it to become a kind of internet time capsule. So, in the long run, I believe the pixels will offer good value. You will have a piece of internet history!

2. SantaMail

Ok, how’s that for a brilliant idea. Get a postal address at North Pole, Alaska, pretend you are Santa Claus and charge parents 10 bucks for every letter you send to their kids? Well, Byron Reese sent over 200000 letters since the start of the business in 2001, which makes him a couple million dollars richer.

About SantaMail from their site

Since 2002, Santa has been helping us write over 275,000 personalized Christmas letters. Santa makes sure that we use the finest heirloom-quality, acid-free linen paper so that his letters last a lifetime.

As Santa’s helpers, we help Santa print his letters and then mail them to him in North Pole, Alaska where he affixes a Christmas stamp on it and sends it on the way to your child. From there, the letter gets postmarked and mailed. (After December 16, he has us mail them directly from Austin, Texas so they reach the children in time!).

3. Doggles

Create goggles for dogs and sell them online? Boy, this IS the dumbest idea for a business. How in the world did they manage to become millionaires and have shops all over the world with that one? Beyond me. 

About Doggles from their site

We are famous for Doggles   goggles for dogs – the first and only eye protection designed and created just for dogs!  Seen on CNN, Regis and Kelly, The Today Show, Good Morning America and many others, they are quite a hit with everyone who has tried them! We are also an environmentally conscious organization, using as much “green” or recycled fabrics and materials in our products as possible, always keeping in mind that what is good for our planet is also good for our pets. Our standards are high, and you will see this in each and every one of our products. We are market leaders in the design and manufacture of tough and durable and yes, even “green”, dog toys. Please be sure to check our offerings in the toy category as you look through our site. Our outdoor line has won the praise of many an outdoor enthusiast as we continue to grow and improve the line. And of course, our fashion sense has never ended as we are always adding and improving to our fashion harness line. We have a wide range of products that are truly functional and have helped many pets over the years as we continue to innovate in the pet products field.  As always, keep an eye on us for more.

4. LaserMonks

LaserMonks.com is a for-profit subsidiary of the Cistercian Abbey of Our Lady of Spring Bank, an eight-monk monastery in the hills of Monroe County, 90 miles northwest of Madison. Yeah, real monks refilling your cartridges. Hallelujah! Their 2005 sales were $2.5 million! Praise the Lord.

5. AntennaBalls

You can’t sell antenna ball online. There is no way. And surely it wouldn’t make you rich. But this is exactly what Jason Wall did, and now he is now a millionaire.

6. FitDeck

Create a deck of cards featuring exercise routines, and sell it online for $18.95. Sounds like a disaster idea to me. But former Navy SEAL and fitness instructor Phil Black reported last year sales of $4.7 million. Surely beats what military pays.

7. PositivesDating.Com

How would you like to go on a date with an HIV positive person? Paul Graves and Brandon Koechlin thought that someone would, so they created a dating site for HIV positive folks last year. Projected 2006 sales are $110,000, and the two hope to have 50,000 members by their two-year mark.

8. Designer Diaper Bags

Christie Rein was tired of carrying diapers around in a freezer bag. The 34-year-old mother of three found herself constantly stuffing diapers for her infant son into freezer bags to keep them from getting scrunched up in her purse. Rein wanted something that was compact, sleek and stylish, so in November 2004, she sat down with her husband, Marcus, who helped her design a custom diaper bag that’s big enough to hold a travel pack of wipes and two to four diapers. With more than $180,000 in sales for 2005, Christie’s company, Diapees & Wipees, has bags in 22 different styles, available online and in 120 boutiques across the globe for $14.99.

9. PickyDomains

Hire another person to think of a cool domain name for you? No way people would pay for this. Actually, naming domain names for others turned out a thriving business, especially, when you make the entire process risk free. PickyDomains currently has a waiting list of people who want to PAY the service to come up with a snappy memorable domain name. PickyDomains is expected to hit six figures this year.

10. Lucky Wishbone Co.

Fake wishbones. Now, this stupid idea is just destined to flop. Who in the world needs FAKE PLASTIC wishbones? A lot of people, it turns out. Now producing 30,000 wishbones daily (they retail for 3 bucks a pop) Ken Ahroni, the company founder, expects 2006 sales to reach $1 million.

How to Appraise a Business

Posted by admin in BusinessAug 8th, 2010 | No Comments

There are many different ways to work out the value of a business. For the small to mid-size business, there are 3 main approaches that are used more than others. These are the Income value, Market value and the Asset value.

In brief, these would be described as follows:

Valuation based on income: One is looking at the potential earning power of the business into the future. Past earnings, expected future growth, owner’s compensation adjustments, and specific risk factors, such as customer concentration, weak management and lack of diversification are all taken into account when income based valuations are used.

Market Valuation: This method of valuing a business is similar to the way one values a house when selling it. What is being looked at here is what the market will pay for the business in question. Basically, one collects information on the sale of comparable businesses within the industry that the business is in. “Rule of Thumb” information is just a summary of many businesses sold with a million variations not being taken into consideration.

With both income valuations and market valuations, we will determine two different price multipliers. One is price divided by gross sales and the other is price divided by earnings. The applicable price multiple is selected primarily on the profitability of the business. For example, a business with high profits would have a higher price multiple applied to it. A business with low profits would be assigned a lower price multiple. When using this approach, one gets a more accurate result when one uses a minimum of at least a dozen comparables of similar type businesses.

Asset valuation: This valuation procedure assumes that a business is worth the fair market value of its tangible (physical) assets plus its intangible assets. Then from these total assets, liabilities or debts are deducted. To value a business that has intangibles, several methods are used. The method that is most employed in this area is the 5-step excess earning calculation. We will not go into the details of how this is done; we are only explaining that there is a method and giving a quick explanation. Do not try to use this method without taking classes or seminars training you in the details of this procedure. IBBA has classes on this subject.

This calculation deals with tangible assets, intangible assets, liabilities and adjustments thereof, to arrive at an estimated value for the business. It figures out what the reasonable return, on the assets, of the business, should be. If the profit is greater, than that number, it is an indication that the business has some intangible assets, which are generating the excess profit.

If the company in question is making little or no money then there will be no intangible assets. When this is the case, the asset valuation method is usually used. This is the case because when a business has capital tied up in equipment and other tangible assets the other valuation methods will come up with a price way below the actual asset value, without considering any good will. Goodwill is not considered because there is no goodwill, when the income method shows low profit. It is understandable that even if a business is making no profit or even loosing money that the seller still wants to get at least what the equipment is worth. That is why this method is used.

The Basic Steps of Valuing A Business

Valuing a business has several basic steps. These steps, when done in this exact sequence, result in a valuation of a business that can be sold. The steps are as follows:

1. In order to do any business evaluation we need to establish two numbers. Gross income-regardless of what the financials report and Total Owners Benefits. To do a quick appraisal, for the purpose of getting a listing, we only need the last full year and the current year to date. Then one does an “add-back” sheet based on the Profit and Loss statement (or tax return) to get a preliminary Owners Benefits. It is important to keep in mind that we do not want to spend hours interviewing sellers and filling out forms, at this stage.

2. In order to market a listing, after the seller has signed up, you need to have the Adjusted Net Income of the business for each of the prior two years plus the “year to date” of the current year. This is done exactly as covered below in “How to Work Out Cash Flow /Net Income”. Note: In some cases, financials for body shops will not be available. In the case of body shops, you can still do the valuations. Simply collect the Gross Annual Income and the Total Owners Income and Benefits regardless of how earned and proceed with the valuation as below.

3. Getting various preliminary value based on the “Rule of Thumb” section of the Business Reference Guide and Common Sense. This guide is written and edited by Tom West and published by the Business Brokerage Press. These numbers need to be taken with a light view since everything is given in ranges. “Rule of Thumb” ideas are a starting point, not a hard and fast rule.

An example of how the values are determined, for an Optical Practice, form the “Rule of Thumb guide, is as follows:

a. Determine what sort of business you are doing the valuation for. In this case an Optical Practice.

b. Look up Optical Practice in the index at the back of the guide and turn to the page indicated.

c. In this case you will see that the “Rule of Thumb” guide for an optical practice (in the 2003 guide) is “68% of annual sales”. This is the only valuation method covered in the guide.

d. Based on the above, if the annual sales were $350,000.00, then the valuation of this business would be $350,000 X 68% = $238,000

4. When using the Business Reference Guide for thumbnail valuations you are getting a range of opinions. Do each one separately and see what the result is. These work best when a company is making $250,000 net income (including add backs) or more annually. The smaller the business is the more you go to the lower numbers in the range for practical valuation purposes.

5. Very small businesses, making less than $100,000 net profit, have to be looked at differently. A capable individual can get a 40-hour per week job earning $50,000. That is only $25.00 per hour worked. This is assuming he doesn’t get paid vacation, holidays and medical insurance. As an owner he will work more than 40 hours and this rate will drop accordingly. If a business is making a small profit, then the first $50,000 needs to be looked at as a salary. In truth, “Rule of Thumb” valuations are totally worthless for businesses making less than $50,000 per year in total owner’s benefits.

The question that comes up here is: Why would anyone buy a job at 3 or more times what he could earn by just simply working for someone else? An individual might possibly buy a job for 1 years’ income, because it has the potential of increasing, and he or she gets to work without a boss. If a business is making $100,000 profit, someone would possibly pay 2 times net profit, for the 2nd $50,000 and $50,000 for the first $50,000. This would give a value of $150,000 for a business profit of $100,000.

We are still talking about buying a job at this level, just a better job. Maybe someone would pay $200,000 to earn $100,000 if the potential really looked good. That would be $50,000 for the first $50,000 and 3 times the next $50,000.

6. A business making $250,000 or more looks more attractive even after you deduct $75,000 for a working owner or manager. A buyer might be willing to pay as much as 4 or 5 times for the remaining $175,000 in profit, because his salary is already covered.

7. If a buyer needs to tie up a fortune in inventory then the desire to pay more for the business reduces. Sometimes a buyer pays for the inventory and wants the business for free, especially if it is making less than $50,000 for a working owner.

Judgment: There is some judgment involved in valuing a business. The guidelines above will help you take the financial figures and apply some workable judgment to them.

8. If the valuations done as explained above are within 10% of each other, or if you only have one valid valuation figure to use, after completing the 6 steps above, the valuation is easy.

9. If you have more than one valuation figure and they are NOT WITHIN 10% OF EACH OTHER, do the following, while taking into account the various judgment factors involved in valuing a business:

a. Use the adjusted net income valuation figure

b. If you cannot get a real adjusted net income figure, then use the annual gross sales figure valuation.

10. If you were using several valuation methods, you would tell the seller what the various methods are; what value was arrived at with each; and your final conclusion along with why you reached that conclusion. The “why” part would be based on the various judgment factor and valuations figure that you arrived at from the above ways.

11. You would then ask seller what price he or she would like to list the business for. Our final conclusion would be the number used as the listing price, unless the seller disagreed and wanted to use another figure. We take the sellers listing price but make it clear what the value of the business is and “why that value” in the client notes.

12. Remember, we advise the seller what the valuations are, but take his or her listing price, only if the seller insists on it.

The Comparable Method

It can sometime happen that, even with the different methods outlined above, a business can be difficult to value. When this occurs, we still have the Comparable Method that we can use.

Kismet Business Brokers is a member of http://www.bizbuysell.com and as such we have access to the “For-Sale Comparable Calculator” on the website. This calculator uses the BizBuySell database of 1000’s of sold businesses to perform its analysis. The Calculator can be used to develop a suggested asking price by simply entering the businesses gross income and/or cash flow.

How to Work Out Cash Flow /Net Income

There is a very specific way that cash flow / net income is calculated. The following is how it is done. When net income or cash flow is asked for we use the “owners benefit” figure. This is the net profit on the P & L (profit and loss statement) plus the owners benefits added back. The owner’s benefits are added back because everything one single owner gets, regardless of its form is not considered a business expense and is added back as profit. Note: Any cash that the owner receives and doesn’t report is considered an owners benefit and must also be added; it is labeled other income.

This is calculated by marking the letter “A” beside each of the following items if they show on the P & L. These items are marked and added to the calculation sheet attached. The items are:

Depreciation and Amortization, IRS Taxes, Franchise Taxes, Interest Expense, Donations, Non-Recurring Legal Expenses or Non-essential expenses. Other Expenses, Owners Medical, Life Insurance for Owners, Pension Plan contributions for owner’s family, Non-Essential Salaries, Health insurance (owner’s family portion), Owners vehicle expenses (lease payments, operating expenses, repairs, gas, depreciation and insurance), Magazine subscriptions, Owner’s Travel, Entertainment, Home office expenses and Home telephone expenses. Any other owners benefit that the seller has hidden in some expense account. Real examples include: a) Personal clothing listed as uniforms. b) Family eating out listed under entertainment. c) Children’s education listed under staff training.

Additional clarification on lease payments is as follows: As discussed in the prior paragraph, lease payments made on personal automobiles are not a business expense and are added back. The buyer many times needs to assume a lease payment on leased machinery. If the lease has a $1.00 buy out or any buy out at the end for less than fair market value of the machinery it is called a financing lease. We treat them like a loan payment and add back 100% of the payments and the seller must pay these loans off or the escrow needs to deduct the balance due from buyer’s cash requirement. We also put these assets on the balance sheet. If the buy-out at the end of the lease, at fair market, on the date of the buy-out, then this is a real lease which is really just a rental agreement. The payments are left as a business expense and are not added back. To find out which kind of lease the seller has will require asking the seller or his accountant.

In order to know how much of the financial reports is “owner’s benefits”, it is required that you go through the financials, with the client, and ask him or her to tell you which expenses should be considered personal benefits. You do not need to take the clients opinion as truth; it just needs to make sense. If it doesn’t, do not use it as a benefit.

If the company is a corporation or LLC, mark as with a “B”, the Owners Salary-husband and wife on the P & L statement and put these numbers on the add-back form. . If the business is a partnership or a sole proprietorship we only add-back the “owners/partners draws” amounts if they show up as an expense on the P & L. These salaries and “owner draws” are of interest only if located on the profit and loss sheet. Do not take salary or draw figures off of the balance sheet. The basic decision in adding back salary is this – Add back only one owner’s salary. Other partners or family members salary that will have to be replaced when the business is sold cannot added back. An explanation of what is added back should be included in the business summary.

Finally, where there is other income, this figure is gotten from the owner and added in the “Other Income” section on the attached calculation sheet. Ask the business owner if there is other income or cash that should be noted, get the figure, verify it as much as possible by having the owner supply information that proves the figure is real and how it is calculated. Write it down on the calculation sheet.

Note: Kids salaries are not added back unless they do not work in the business, or they do work in the business and their salary is much more than a non-family employee would be paid. In this case add back, as a separate item – mark it “C”, and put just the excess portion of their salary on the attached calculation sheet. All figures above are annual figures. The attached calculation sheet is used to calculate the various “add backs”. When completed, it is paper clipped on top of the Profit and Loss for the year being worked out.

Also, there are adjustments that reduce the net income of a business. These go under “Other Expenses.”

If the owner of the business also owns the real estate, the P & L will sometimes not properly reflect a fair market rent. Fair market rent is what the landlord/business owner wants from the buyer in rent. Adjust the rent, up or down, on the worksheet, for the difference between the market rent and what shows on the P & L. Property taxes are not an add back because the tenant is usually responsible for the property taxes regardless of who owns the real estate.

Three different adjusted net income work sheets are done, for each business. These are each of the prior two years plus the “year to date” of the current year. “Year to date” is an accounting phrase that means from the first day of the seller’s tax year to the last date available. If that is the 6-month period from January to June then that is the “year to date.” In conclusion, if you have Profit and Loss Statements for 2003, 2004 and 6 months of 2005, you would do an ad-back calculation sheets for the 2 full years of 2003 and 2004 and a 6 months ad-back calculation sheet for the first half of 2005

Finally, add back sheets are signed by the seller to confirm that the add backs are accurate.

What to does the broker or licensed agent do if the seller will not sign the financials as adjusted by us after all corrections are made?

After the finances have been corrected to the seller’s satisfaction he or she may still not wish to sign them. In this case, the following steps are taken:

1) Ask the seller what adjustments would need to be made for him to be able to sign the corrected finances. Advise him that it is essential that we have the financials signed, as they are his report to the buyer as to the financial state of the business. Make the final adjustments and get the signature(s) of the seller(s).

2) If the seller removed the “other income” from the financials, collect the following information so that we can sell the business that is not showing all the income:

a. How much will the seller carry back and at what terms and for how long?

b. Get a statement showing how well he and his family is surviving from the business and what it costs them to live. What they pay for housing, utilities, children’s education, and other expenses will show what it takes to support the family.

Below are the blank “add-Back” sheet and owner confirmation sheet that are used in calculating cash flow and getting seller confirmation of the figures

OWNER’S CASH FLOW ANALYSIS (ADD BACK SHEET)

NAME OF BUSINESS ______________________________________________

For Fiscal Year Ending ______________ 20 _____

Interim Period: Thru __________________________ # of Months ______

Information Source: Tax Returns () Financial Statements ()

NET INCOME FROM OPERATIONS: $______________

(A) ITEMS

Depreciation and Amortization (Except Business Autos)

IRS Federal Income Taxes or Penalties:

State Franchise Taxes or Penalties

Interest Expense

Interest portion of auto lease payments where it is a financing lease.

Donations

Life Insurance for Owners

Pension Plans contribution for owner’s family

Health insurance for owner’s family

Unusual Legal Expenses or Bank overdraft fees

Personal auto lease payments

Auto repair for owner or family auto

Gas for owner or family auto

Insurance for owner or family auto

DMV License for owner or family auto

Travel, clothing

Entertainment

Home telephone expenses

Home office expenses

Other (Name)

(A) TOTAL: $_________________

(B) ITEMS [take only numbers from P & L – not balance sheet]

Owners Salary (If Corporation or LLC)

Owners Draw or Partner #1 “Draw”

Owner #2 or Partner #2 “Draw”

(B) TOTAL: $_________________

(C) ITEMS

Owner’s wife or kids salaries (If not working in the business)

Owner’s wife or kids salaries [excess portion] (If working in the business and getting much more that non-member staff

(C) TOTAL: $_________________

OTHER INCOME: $_________________

OTHER EXPENSES:(A) (Plus or Minus) $_________________

OTHER EXPENSES:(B) (MINUS) $_________________

ESTIMATED CASH FLOW: $_____________________

Seller confirmation of add backs:

OWNER’S CASH FLOW ANALYSIS

“This information is being provided to buyer, by Kismet Business Brokers, as information received from the business owner for such purposes.

The business owner declares that the information herein is based on figures supplied by the owner and that owner intends that Kismet Business Brokers and prospective buyers rely on such information. Owner further declares the owner has documentation supporting such figures and agrees to provide supporting documentation upon request.

Kismet Business Brokers has not independently verified the information provided herein. Further, buyer(s) are advised to obtain appropriate counsel from legal, accounting and other professionals concerning the purchase of this business.”

Business: _____________________________________________

Business Owner’s Signature: __________________________________________________________

Date: __________________________

Business Loan Investment Solutions – Business Opportunity Finance

Posted by admin in BusinessAug 8th, 2010 | No Comments

The success of business opportunity investment strategies will depend heavily on the quality of business financing which is arranged. Business finance strategies for business opportunity investing are more difficult than most borrowers realize, particularly if prospective business investors are primarily familiar with residential or commercial real estate investment property.

Buying a business opportunity is likely to be an extremely challenging task when arranging the business loan. This is largely due to the usual lack of commercial property as collateral for the business financing to buy a business opportunity. When buying a business that does not include commercial real estate, business borrowers need to realize that business loan options will be greatly reduced in comparison to a business purchase that can be financed with a commercial mortgage.

Business Opportunity Investment Financing Guidelines -

The guidelines and comments in this article are based upon business loan terms that are typically available from respected lenders willing to provide business financing for buying a business opportunity throughout the United States. There will always be occasional situations in which the seller is willing to privately finance the purchase of a business opportunity, and it is not practical to discuss those business financing possibilities in this article.

Length of Business Loan to Expect When Buying a Business Opportunity -

Business loan terms to buy a business will typically include a shorter amortization period than commercial real estate financing. A ten-year maximum term is common, and even that length of business financing is likely to require a commercial lease of at least ten years.

Likely Interest Rates to Buy a Business Opportunity -

In the current business loan interest rate environment, the likely range for buying a business opportunity is 11 to 12 percent. To put this in perspective, it is not unusual for a commercial mortgage to be in the 10 to 11 percent range. The commercial loan interest rate cost to purchase a small business opportunity is typically higher than the cost of a commercial real estate loan due to the absence of business property for collateral in a business opportunity purchase.

Down Payment Requirements for Buying a Business Opportunity -

Depending on the specific type of business and some other issues, a normal down payment for a business loan to buy a business is 20 to 25 percent. The presence of seller financing might lessen the down payment needed to acquire a small business opportunity.

Buying a Business Opportunity – Refinancing Options -

A related business loan issue to anticipate when buying a business is that refinancing the business opportunity loan terms will normally be even more difficult than the original business financing. There are currently some new business loan programs in the final stages of development that could dramatically improve future refinancing options. Until these new business opportunity financing alternatives are available, it is advisable to obtain the best financing terms when the business is initially acquired and not rely upon future refinancing choices.

Lenders to Avoid When Commercial Borrowers Buy a Business Opportunity -

Perhaps the most important phase of the business loan process for buying a business opportunity is the selection of a commercial lender. In our view an even more critical stage of this process is avoiding certain lenders that are routinely unsuccessful in finalizing a business loan to buy a business.

By avoiding such lenders, commercial borrowers are likely to avoid many other business financing problems frequently associated with buying a business opportunity. Eliminating problematic lenders will be critical to the immediate success of the business financing efforts as well as to the future financial condition of the business being purchased.

Business Management Software

Posted by admin in BusinessAug 7th, 2010 | No Comments

You want Business Management Software that sees to all your business needs.

Many companies are looking for new and improved ways to increase the sales within their company and one way this can be accomplished is by Business Management Software. If your business is very busy and you often are having problems staying on top of all your contacts and business leads then business management can help to assist you with organization. Whether your have large or small sales team it can be hard to keep organized without the help of a Business Management Software. If you are interested in purchasing Business Management Software you need to understand that all Business Management Software is not created equal. Some types of Business Management Software do not have a great amount of flexibility and that is an important aspect of Business Management Software. You want to purchase Business Management Software that can see to all your business need.

Prophet Business Management Software has many great features.

If you are looking for a flexible Business Management Software that can help you with all of your business needs then you should take a close look at Prophet Business Management Software that is offered by the Company Avidian. Prophet is Business Management Software that can help a business of any size. You can check out Prophet Business Management Software at Avidan.com to explore all that the software has to offer. You will find that Prophet Business Management Software has many attractive features that will be a huge help to your business. You may find that Prophet Business Management Software is what you need to solve your business woes.

Prophet Business Management Software is easy to use and will help your sales team.

If you decide to purchase Prophet Business Management Software you will find that it is easy to implement into your company and will be easy for all to use. Prophet Business Management Software uses modern technology to help make all your business tasks easier and quicker to complete. Prophet Business Management Software is based on Microsoft Outlook and it is easy to transfer your existing data into this program. One feature that Prophet Business Management Software contains is called a sales opportunity window. This feature of Prophet Business Management Software helps your sales associates access customer and lead information quickly.

Prophet Business Management Software offers more features than most Business Management Software.

Prophet Business Management Software not only allows you to quickly find contact information, but will also help you find any relating documents. You can easily find previous contracts and previous correspondence that has been stored within your Business Management Software. You will also find that you can track your leads and how they pan out with your Business Management Software. Prophet Business Management Software will also alert you of appointments coming up. Prophet Business Management Software offers many features, while other Business Management Software only offer very limited features.

Prophet Business Management Software can help sales run smoothly.

Prophet Business Management Software makes it easy for managers to evaluate and monitor all tasks that are being worked on, or have been completed. You can also look through all the tasks using your Business Management Software to see what leads need to be assigned. You can also use Prophet Business Management Software to manage your email and set up mass emailing. You will find that Prophet Business Management Software will help ensure that your whole sales team runs smoothly and effectively. Prophet Business Management Software will let no opportunity slide through the cracks.

Prophet Business Management Software has a great reporting feature.

Business Management Software also helps to generate reports about how your sales are looking. You can even use Prophet Business Management Software to make up a daily report on current sales leads. Prophet Business Management Software makes reporting very easy since it will draw up all the reports for you automatically, which saves you a lot of work. There are many template reports that you can use and Prophet Business Management Software also gives you the option of customizing these reports as well. Prophet Business Management Software offers superior flexibility in reporting.

Prophet Business Management Software is cost effective.

In today’s high tech marketing world Business Management Software has become a need, not just a high-priced luxury to be considered. While some companies may be afraid of the cost of implementing Business Management Software, it can actually be done in an affordable way. Avidian’s Prophet Business Management Software is very cost effective for businesses and is worth the purchase since it can save so much money in the long run. Prophet is Business Management Software that will improve your company and it can be bought at a reasonable price. You will also find that Prophet is easy to use and will work well with your existing information. You can check out more about Prophet Business Management Software and take a closer look at their great prices by visiting Avidian.com.

Prophet Business Management Software can help to streamline your sales process.

You will find that using Prophet Business Management Software will help maximize your sales efforts. Business Management Software can help to streamline your sales processes, which will result in more sales made and more profit for your company. Not only will Prophet Business Management Software help you find new customers, but it will also help you to build customer loyalty with existing customers so they will keep coming back. Your sales team will be able to work together effectively, using Prophet Business Management Software, to keep sales rolling through and helping to increase the profit for the company. Prophet Business Management Software offers so many different tools that you will find valuable for your business, such as organizing customers and organizing leads, and this will help ensure success for your company.

Each business should consider implementing Prophet Business Management Software to ensure success.

Every business wants to build a solid future and wants to increase their sales and amount of profit. Prophet Business Management Software can help you do these things. Prophet Business Management Software can help your company go beyond mediocrity to be a company of excellence. You will be able to take giant steps toward success using Prophet Business Management Software. If you want your company to climb the ladder of success and become known for excellence then you should take the steps to purchase Prophet Business Management Software. If you take the time to go to Avidian.com and purchase the Business Management Software, you will find yourself on your way to being a top marketing company with a solid and bright future.

About Avidian Technologies:

Avidian Technologies is a software company specializing in creating software solutions for users of Outlook and Exchange. Prophet, developed by Avidian Technologies on the .NET platform, is the leading contact management and sales CRM software built in Outlook. The company is headquartered in Redmond, Washington. For more information, please visit http://www.avidian.com or call 1-800-860-5534.