There are many small businesses nationwide that have been severely damaged by the credit constraints after a year of economic woes. However, while many small businesses have had to close their doors, others have managed to survive using invoice survival tactics such as invoice factoring.
It is definitely too late for all of the United States businesses that have been forced to close their doors over the last year, even though the Obama administration is now planning to assist small businesses in applying for loans. What’s more, the U.S. House of Representatives is planning legislation toward increasing the ceiling on federal government loan programs. This commitment to small businesses includes additional loan increases outlined in the House bill; redirecting some of the unspent funds from the Treasury’s Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP).It will also provide capital to regional banks and communities nationwide.
There are an estimated 29.6 million or more small businesses in the U.S: They employ more than half of the country’s private sector workforce; and hire 40 percent of high tech workers. This includes about 52 percent home-based businesses and apx. two percent franchises; represents 97.3 percent of exporters of goods and 99.7 percent of all employer firms. It is the small business sector generating a majority of innovation that comes from U.S. companies.
Over the last year, tight credit markets have continued, scores more businesses closed, and now even a fast track plan may be too late to save some small businesses that have been critically damaged by the economy.
In the year 2008, small business openings and closings included: - 627,200 new businesses, and 595,600 business closures, with more than 43,546 bankruptcies. - Seven out of 10 new employer firms survive at least two years, and about half survive five years.
These findings do not differ greatly across industry sectors.
There are many businesses that have managed to stay in business and benefit from the working capital garnered from invoice factoring for small business in the face of these credit constraints at mainstream banks.
Factoring is not a loan – it is the purchase of financial assets, or receivables, and it differs from traditional bank loans in that bank loans involve two parties, while factoring involves three parties. Most financial institutions base their decisions on a company’s credit worthiness, whereas factoring is based on the value of the receivables.
Accounts receivable factoring benefits businesses that do not get paid for 30 to 60 or 90 days by advancing up to 90 percent against invoices to be paid.
Factoring begins with due diligence that typically takes one to two business days, and after this has been completed the client is at liberty to offer invoices to IFG for purchase. Upon receipt of invoices, IFG checks the credit of the debtor named on the invoice and makes sure that the sale represented has been satisfactorily completed. Once this is done the debtor is advised of the purchase by IFG and the client receives their funding.
Sources: U.S. Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy, September 2009; Survival and Longevity in the Business Employment Dynamics Database, Monthly Labor Review, May 2005. Redefining Business Success: Distinguishing Between Closure and Failure, Small Business Economics, August 2003.
Kristin Gabriel is marketing professional who works with The Interface Financial Group ( North America’s largest alternative funding and source for small business. The company provides short-term financial resources including invoice factoring, serving clients in more than 30 industries in the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. IFG offers , accounting, finance, law, marketing and banking.
Jervis B. Webb Company designed, manufactured and installed 2.5 miles of conveyors and peripheral equipment at NB Power’s Belledune Generating Station. The bulk handling system transports coal from dockside to the power station at a rate of 2700 tons per hour.
And in fact, when the first ship was unloaded, coal was sent to the storage area at peak rates above 2800 tons per hour. It’s another success project for Webb, a global company that is dedicated to providing the industry with the most reliable coal handling systems.
Belledune power station is a 450 MW coal-fired power generation station for Energie NB Power in Belledune, New Brunswick, Canada. This station relies on coal brought in by ship for operation. Coal is transported from the ship unloader through nearly 2 miles of gallery, 5 transfer houses and the crusher building by seven 5-foot wide belt conveyors. Coal is conveyed to either the concrete stackout tower for outside storage or to the covered storage area. Once in storage, the coal can be recirculated between storage areas or reclaimed to the boiler house by a system of 7 belt conveyors and 2 en masse conveyors.
Major structures and equipment include: 2.5 miles of belt conveyors, 1.8 miles of gallery, five transfer houses, crusher building, concrete stackout tower, vibrating feeders, tramp iron detectors, magnetic separators, belt weigh scales, coal sampling system, frozen coal cracker, double roll crushers, surge weigh bin, two en masse conveyors, dust collectors, furnace ash and pyrites removal system, fire protection and sprinkler system.
If you need more information on our systems, then you should definitely consider checking out our Internet website. There, not only can you discover everything you need to know on , but also see actual photos of the belt conveyors that we are so proud of!
It is true to say that generating health insurance leads in big number is far easier than say, generating quality leads. Unlike other forms of insurance products available in the market, health insurances have many advantages attached to it. One among these advantages is that they allow you to get group leads that can help you get garner more profits. With the internet world having opened up in the past decade or so, it has given plenty of options for potential leads to search for different health insurance products online. No wonder then that most insurance agents tend to prefer online medium to catch these insurance leads.
Even though internet is a powerful medium in itself and provides you with a number of health leads, the agent still has to try and convince the prospective leads in trying out the products and eventually make them your clients. All these approaches have to be made in finding out a service provider that will help you get maximum number of health insurance leads. Even if you are hesitant to visit the company’s website to check out their offerings, you will do well to contact your co-agents and get to know list of services known to them. You can then choose the right ones from it. In fact, there are many thumb rules you may want to look in before zeroing in on service providers.
First, you need to ask your short listed service provider some questions pertaining to the subject matter and see if they have any satisfactory answers to them. If they are able to do that, it would mean they are more reliable than others and vice versa. In case you are lucky enough to contact service providers that can generate insurance leads from reliable sources like Google AdWords and other search engines, you are likely to get more quality leads from them as well. How a service provider showcases its insurance lead is also an important. This will give you a fair idea about their true worth. Before signing the deal with your service provider, make sure that leads delivery part is discussed as well. Also, you need to get the contact numbers of your leads. This will help you remain in touch with them as and when needed.
There are many service providers in the market that are willing to offer you health insurance leads in bulk. In case you are able to buy these leads in bulk, you can expect to avail discounts from them. There are many training facilities available these days that can make you a better insurance agent. If you can enroll in one such program you are likely to learn the nuances of the trade and can also learn the tricks of convincing your potential leads in buying your services and products. Then there are other options in the form of shared insurance leads that can help you save your money. Under this scheme of things, a single lead is made available to many agents in one go and the agent with best deal will walk away with the lead and so on.
Looking at the samples can give you an idea about what to expect as output from them. You should be getting enough details about a prospect to follow up with them instantly and easily.
Affiliate Marketing Programs Can Make Money For You
Why and How of Affiliate Marketing Programs
Just as in referral marketing, Affiliate marketing is earning money by recommending products and services to others. You earn a percentage of the sale when your visitors buy those items you are recommending. Affiliate marketing is a proven money-making model you can focus on for your business and is still, the number one way for aspiring Internet entrepreneurs to get started. The benefits of affiliate marketing programs are:
1. There’s no inventory expense
2. No hassles with payment processors
3. No extra time spent on processing refunds or returns
All these are carried out by the affiliate program owner. Your job as an affiliate is to recommend the products to your website visitors and cash your money when they buy. However, you still need to get the necessary marketing skills that will bring success in any other business you pursue.
The Three Affiliate Marketing Programs Models
There are three types of profitable Affiliate Marketing models: Pay-Per-Sale (PPS), Pay-Per-Lead (PPL) and Pay-Per-Click (PPC). The first thing to understand about affiliate marketing is that it is a “pay per action” model. However, the meaning of “action” is defined in a couple of different ways. An action can be:
1. The sale of a product
2. The generation of a new lead (potential customers)
3. The clicking through of a link (e.g. Google AdSense ads link)
1. Pay-Per-Sale Program
In Pay-per-sale program, you, the affiliate, are tasked with sending traffic (website visitors) to the merchant website in order to help the merchant acquire new customers. Whenever one of the visitors you refer buys a product from that merchant, you are credited with the sale and you receive a commission. This is where your profits come from.
2. Pay-Per-Lead Program
In pay-per-lead program, you generate commission by generating leads (potential customers). Instead of referring people directly to a product, you refer them to product information. E.g.:
• Refer a prospect to mortgage Refinance Company, where he fills out a form to get pre-qualifying information about potential loans.
• Refer a prospect to Health Company offering free vitamin samples in exchange for filling out contact form.
• Refer a prospect to a trial version of a product or service.
3. Pay-per-Click Program
Unlike the previous two models, pay-per-click affiliate marketing is actually the simplest but incentives for your visitors to click on the links are more difficult to provide. Most advertising programs (such as Google AdSense) fall under this category. There are many ways of selling advertising space on a blog or website but some of the different advertising options include AdSense and YPN (Yahoo Publishing Network), which are very popular with bloggers or many website owners and are probably the most common income streams being used by them today.
These programs can easily be implemented and used to make a six figure income. However, you require detailed information to make them work.
Ben is an Internet marketer who has been making a living online. For detailed information on how to make money online, check out , where you can find step-by-step information to make money online.
Millions of people dream about owning their own business. Having the independence that being your own boss brings, the security that no one can fire you, enjoying a good income – and for the most successful – the accumulation of wealth and prosperity. Unfortunately, the cards are stacked against a new small business making it big – or making it at all. An endless stream of problems makes competition from large, sophisticated chains too intense. Many new start-ups end as failures.
represents a different approach to starting a business. For an upfront franchise fee plus ongoing royalty payments, the parent company teaches its business model and methods to the franchised-operator who shoulders all operating and financial responsibilities of the outlet. Some statistics are impressive: it is said over 40% of all U.S. retail sales are through franchised establishments. While franchise giants like McDonalds, KFC, H&R Block and Radio Shack are familiar, household names, franchises are available in a wide range of industries. The list of 3,000-plus companies selling franchises span over 100 different industry categories.
American Dream … Or Nightmare? But just as franchising represents a chance to get rich, it’s also a chance to get stung. An alarming number of franchised operators make less than the minimum wage, working seven days, sixty to eighty hours a week, pursuing an expensive and elusive American Dream that turns into a nightmare. Since the ongoing franchise royalty payment comes right off the top, as a percentage of gross sales or a fixed minimum amount, the franchise company gets an assured revenue stream, even if its franchised units are operating unprofitably and are sold over and over again to new, unsuspecting buyers. The internet is filled with comments of the many people who lost $250,000 and more on concepts like eBay Drop off stores (iSold It), 30 Minute Fitness concepts (Curves), The UPS Store, etc. Yet many of these companies continue to sell and resell franchises over and over again. How do they accomplish that? Because there are enough people who think they can “believe” their way to success, even with a concept or business that’s not working in the marketplace. As discussed below, in many cases franchise investment decisions are incredibly based on emotionalism, not on business logic or even common sense.
Ownership And Being Your Own Boss? Pride of ownership and being your own boss are highly touted phrases in franchise recruitment ads. But these are more fantasy than reality. Although you get all the financial exposure, headaches and stress of business ownership, what do you really own? A franchise owner is merely licensing a trademark (or service mark) from a company that dictates every detail of business operations. So the real boss isn’t you, but the company that sells you their franchise rights . . . and sea of franchise obligations.
Equity Build up? But at least you’re building up equity, the ownership value of the business as a going concern beyond your investment of money, to compensate for all those years of hard work and long hours – right? Wrong – at least in the world of franchising. The franchise company reserves rights to acquire your entire business at below wholesale prices if their contract is not followed precisely. The acquisition rights provide for predetermined asset-based valuations, like book or liquidation value. These valuation methods provide bare minimum compensation (the used value of some file cabinets, office furniture, equipment, etc.) and are not generally used to determine the selling price of any business.
Absolutely no compensation is paid for established goodwill, the value of a business that is generating $X in profit or cash flow every month after years of effort, investment and expense – thus eliminating the most valuable ownership asset. Of course, you may be able to sell your franchise to a third party for a sales price that includes an earnings-based valuation. But that’s possible only if: (a) you can find a buyer who is willing to live within the complexities of a franchise relationship, and (b) you happen to own a franchise that’s showing healthy profits.
What follows is a bottom-line franchise checklist and tips compiled by franchise attorney and franchise expert, Mr. Franchise, based on reviewing over 500 franchise offering circulars and twenty-eight plus years of experience in the franchise industry – including ownership of a very successful franchise. These factors to consider in making a franchise investment will help you eliminate 95% of the companies you are considering. Then, you can concentrate your efforts on the 5% “cream” of the crop” companies that may deserve consideration. This franchise checklist assumes you’re suitable for and willing to live within the confines of a franchise relationship. It also assumes the franchise company:
(1) has itself successfully operated the concept being franchised for at least five years at multiple locations; (2) is not plagued by franchise litigation and franchise lawsuits from disgruntled franchise owners; (3) does not have unusually high franchise attrition rates (owners who have “left the system”); and (4) has a balanced, fair franchise contract. SOLD It – An American Dream That Turned Into A Nightmare An example of a franchise company in trouble that failed to meet basic threshold standards is iSOLD It, an eBay drop-off store franchise. The company started its one and only company-owned store in November of 2003. Just weeks later, on December 10, 2003 they filed an application to sell franchises. The California Department of Corporations didn’t say “What are you thinking? You’ve only been in business a couple weeks, how can you even consider selling franchises?” Nor did they require this be disclosed as a risk factor on the cover page of the Franchise Offering Circular, as it should have. Disclosure responsibilities ultimately rest with the company (and its attorneys), and this will become one of many issues in future franchise litigation.
Instead, the Department simply collected its $675 filing fee and issued an order declaring the franchise registration effective the next day – on December 11, 2003. Then the magic of franchise marketing took over. By 2006 the company had nearly 200 franchised drop off stores in operation and was touted by Entrepreneur Magazine as #1 in their list of “Top New Franchises for 2007” and #17 on their “Hotter Than Hot” franchise list. Entrepreneur Magazine, which requires franchise companies to submit their FOC’s (Franchise Offering Circulars) for supposed review each year before they’re listed, didn’t consider the high attrition rate (franchise owners leaving the system) or the fact that the audited financials in their FOC showed the company hadn’t operated profitably since 2004 as serious negatives and awarded iSold It the #1 listing for Top New Franchises of 2007. How did all of this happen? It’s yet another bizarre reality in the world of franchising.
The franchise company’s audited financial statements for the year ended 12-31-05 showed an operating loss of $1.1 million. Nine months later, in September of 2006, the net operating loss mushroomed to over $4 million.
In its November 3, 2006 Franchise Offering Circular, the table in Item 20 disclosed a total of 10 franchise owners leaving the system, yet a hand count of Exhibit D-3’s “Former Franchisees” revealed a significantly different number – 44. A similar “discrepancy” exists about franchise transfers. Item 20 says 12 transfers whereas Exhibit D-3 discloses 27.
In a long overdue letter distributed to franchise owners on April 5, 2007, CEO Ken Sully painted a dire picture of an American Dream that had turned into a nightmare. Mr. Sully’s letter admitted the company has not been profitable since 2004 (according to the audited financials, the company showed its one and only operating profit of $356,286 in 2004 before the precipitous downward spiral of 2005 and 2006). Over 60 franchised stores have closed and many more are struggling for survival. Mr. Sully observed “Tragically, many individuals who believed passionately in the potential for the category have lost sizable investments, including homes and retirement savings.”
Lost homes and retirement savings? How could such a travesty happen? I counseled a number of persons considering an iSold It franchise and warned all of them against the investment. Fortunately, they followed my advice. The concept was never proven in the marketplace before franchise efforts began, violating the most basic Franchise 101 precept. I also felt the management team lacked strong franchise credentials and the five-day training program was woefully inadequate. Finally, the franchise company was operating increasingly in the red and had a high attrition rate (owners leaving the system). It didn’t take a lot of brain power to see this was an accident waiting to happen. I predicted the bubble would burst and, sadly, it did.
Common sense could and should have prevented so many people from losing so much. Unfortunately franchise sales persons appeal to emotions (passions and potential, to use Mr. Sully’s terms) and strive to keep common sense and business logic out of the buying equation. If a franchise company is able to obtain a ranking on a media list, the sale is even easier. Reprints of high rankings on lists, like Entrepreneur Magazine, are included in the package given to franchise buyers, who are lulled into a false sense of security and begin to stumble over each other in a rush to sign up before someone else takes their desired territory (another favorite closing technique used to sell franchises).
iSold It! amended its FOC at the end of May, 2007 to add some long overdue risk factor language to the cover page of its Franchise Offering Circular. Hmmmm… maybe they read my comments above and did a little research. The new FOC cover page risk factor language says their “franchise system is still new and unproven.” That’s very interesting. How can they say a franchise system, that’s approaching its fourth anniversary, is “still new?” Maybe they’re looking at things from a ‘how old is our universe’ perspective? The word “unproven” is another play on words. The system is most certainly proven in the sense that many people, to quote Mr. Sully, “have lost sizable investments, including homes and retirement savings.” So why not use this quote directly in their Franchise Offering Circular? Answer: can’t sell any franchises that way.
In an August 31, 2007 Business Week article, CEO Sully claimed it wasn’t necessary to disclose these risk factors in the FOC. His reasoning: “We told everybody that this is sort of like the wild, wild West” he says. “It’s a brand-new concept and nobody knew for sure where it was going.” Disclosure was added to the UFOC recently, he says, “because of the number of stores that weren’t understanding the complexity of the business.” Hello? You don’t tell your franchise investors after the fact what you were required to disclose in the FOC before they bought so they could make an informed investment decision. That’s the purpose of franchise disclosure laws. And claiming written disclosure of risk factors in the FOC is not necessary if a prospective buyer hears a salesman’s verbal wild, wild West story ignores franchise disclosure responsibilities and is really an admission the company failed in this regard. With its amended FOC, the company incredibly continues marching forward with franchise marketing efforts.
Now, let’s consider the franchise checklist and factors to consider before any leap into franchising.
INDUSTRY TREND Is the franchise in a cutting-edge industry that is doing well currently and is projected to do well in the future despite any economic slowdown? Education and home-improvement services are stable categories. Food is over-saturated generally and, except in exceptional circumstances, is not worth the high investment, long hours, headaches and marginal income.
TOTAL INITIAL FRANCHISE INVESTMENT In general, don’t expect a franchise that requires a five-figure initial franchise investment to produce a six-figure income. As with most things in life, you get what you pay for. On the other hand, don’t assume a six-figure investment will lead to a six-figure income level. Be realistic and conservative. Is the total initial franchise investment range (including working capital) $125,00 or less; and the maximum investment less than $200,000? You can find solid companies in this investment range if you’re willing to look around.
Don’t forget to consider long-term financial commitments, particularly the real property lease (see discussion below under “LEASING AND LOCATION”). Also, the working capital estimate (called “additional funds” in Item 7 of the company’s franchise offering circular) does NOT cover operations up to the break-even point. It only covers a short initial phase (usually only three-months) of operating costs As the break-even point (where revenues cover all operating costs) may not happen for one, two or more years, knowing only what it’s going to take to get you through the first 90 days is not helpful – in fact it may set you up for financial suicide. In many cases, reaching the break-even point can require more reserve funds than the total initial capital investment. Don’t ever forget the name of Item 7 in the Franchise Offering Circular: “Initial Investment.” If you don’t have enough reserve capital to reach the critical break-even point, your entire investment will go down the drain and franchise failure occurs.
One franchise owner in a relatively low investment and low operating cost window cleaning franchise said his biggest surprise was how long it actually took his franchise to be profitable. Going in, he thought it would take 12 to 15 months. It ended up taking twice that time. Fortunately, he had enough reserve capital to make it there, but declined to say what his actual franchise profits or income level were once he reached “franchise profitability.” If you’re operating just above the break even point and making less than minimum wage, is that anyone’s definition of success?
REAL BUSINESS Is this a legitimate retail business, as opposed to a “work out of your home” operation? The vast majority of work out of your home concepts produce marginal income at best.
FRANCHISE MANAGEMENT EXPERTISE Does the management team of the franchisor (the company selling you the franchise) have executives with demonstrated past achievement and experience in operating a franchise company (not just persons who have sold franchises)? If not, this is a big RED FLAG. Many companies enter franchising and fail to realize they are in a brand new business – one requiring entirely different management skills and abilities to navigate franchise relationships. A seasoned franchise management infrastructure must be in place. If the franchise management team lacks strong franchise credentials, or does not receive ongoing advice from qualified individuals, you might as well take a trip to Las Vegas with the money you’re intending to invest. Your chances of making vs. loosing money are roughly equal.
NORMAL WORKING HOURS AND DAYS; SUFFICIENT FRANCHISE INCOME LEVEL Will the nature of the business allow you to work a normal five-day, forty-hour workweek? Life is too short for the seven-day, sixty to eighty hours a week, workaholic lifestyle that destroys health, family and pocketbook. Financially, we’ve calculated the true hourly rate for franchise owners who work these workaholic hours and discovered many are making far less than the minimum wage. One couple who operated a $200,000 fancy pizza franchise in an upscale mall were shocked to discover they were making fifty cents an hour each. Hardly an income level to recoup or justify the franchise investment. Many more fast-food franchise operators make even less, or operate at a loss until their funds, retirement savings, homes, etc. are exhausted. Buying a franchise in a non-food industry doesn’t necessarily improve the franchise profit picture. In a 2006 article “Mail Boxes Etc. Owners Fighting UPS Conversion,” a Mail Boxes, Etc. franchise owner who operated his franchise since 1993 reported profits for a typical MBE store like his were $16,000 per year after paying royalty and advertising fees to the franchise company. That calculates out to about $8.33 per hour for a forty-hour work week, approximately the wage of an entry fast-food worker.
Another major shortcoming of disclosures in the Franchise Offering Circular is not telling you how much money the franchises in the network are making. Instead of answering what is the most important question in a franchise investment decision, the franchise disclosure laws make this “optional” for the franchise company to answer or not. If they do answer this critical question, it will be found in Item 19. But don’t hold your breath – more than 90% of franchise companies “decide” not to answer this question. It’s another bizarre reality in the world of franchising. Although they collect complete monthly (and in many cases, weekly) financial profit and loss statements from their franchise owners, and know exactly how much their franchises are making (or losing), more than 90% decide not to share this information before you buy one of their franchises. A number of franchise salespersons have told persons asking this question: “the franchise laws don’t allow us to answer that question.” Nothing could be further from the truth.
And just because you’re a business executive making a 6-figure income now, don’t assume this income level will be duplicated in a franchise investment just because the company “approves” your application. One such executive, despite a plethora of negative feedback from current and past franchise owners who’d lost everything, marched forward with her franchise investment in a 30-minute fitness concept. Despite her 6-figure income, she didn’t invest a dime in professional franchise evaluation advice and stated she was taking a leap of faith, hoping to build her wings on the way down. Build her wings on the way down? Sound’s (and is) crazy, but this happens all the time. Due to the ploys of the franchise salesperson, too many franchise investment decisions are based on emotionalism. Prior business skills, business sense (and even common sense) are short-circuited. Needless to say, if this business executive made a similar investment decision for her corporate employer paying the 6-figure salary, she would be promptly fired.
MINIMUM NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES Can you operate the franchise business with 6 or fewer employees? Managing dozens (or in the case of some fast-food operations – hundreds) of minimum-wage teenagers who are constantly quitting or simply not showing up for work is a royal pain in the ….. Well, you know what we mean.
LEASING AND LOCATION For most retail franchises, the triple net lease of the location is the biggest financial commitment, larger than the total franchise investment. Yet, the typical real estate lease and its ramifications are not required disclosure in any Franchise Offering Circular (FOC). For example, an estimate that you’ll need 2,000 sq. feet of space with expected rental of $5 to $10 a foot per month is normally disclosed in the Franchise Offering Circular’s initial investment table as Leased Real Estate $10,000 to $20,000. A footnote to the investment table may say “assumes 2,000 sq. ft. at $5 to $10 a foot.”
But, that’s only the beginning of a much longer story. The lease is normally a 5 to 10 year triple-net lease. So, the financial commitment made when the lease is signed is at least $600,000 (at $5/foot for 5 years) to $2,400,000 (at $10/foot for 10 years). And this doesn’t include substantial, additional obligations to pay all of the landlord’s yearly property taxes, insurance, common area operating expenses, etc. With hundreds of thousands (or even millions) of dollars in financial obligations at stake, personal guarantees and other risks, more than just a warm, fuzzy feeling that everything will work out is necessary.
Key questions to ask here:
(a) is the franchise you’re considering one that can be operated in a low rent commercial business zone? Avoid franchises requiring the costly expenses and triple-net leases of a visible retail storefront and the extravagant rent associated with areas of high foot traffic, like shopping malls. You’ll sleep much better at night.
(b) What’s your total financial commitment under the lease?
(c) Do you have sufficient liquid assets (or a willing, sufficiently liquid third party guarantor) to meet the landlord’s lease qualification standards?
If you don’t, you might as well forget about investing in the franchise. Or even worse, getting involved in a questionable franchise and business model, then realizing you’ve made a big mistake – and discovering you’re on the hook personally for a $500,000+ lease obligation.
A related real estate variant is securing a lease with a sufficient term (with renewal options) to recoup your investment and make a profit. In July, 2005, an attorney in her mid-forties purchased an existing ice cream store franchise for $375,000 believing it to be a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.” Trading her briefcase for an ice cream scoop, she attended the company’s 11-day Ice Cream University and assumed operations of the ice cream store. Turned out it was an opportunity – but only to inherit a store with numerous problems. These problems included (but were not limited to) a lease that would expire the following summer and a landlord who’d previously announced the lease would not be renewed. Rather than pay the $100,000-plus in relocation costs, the attorney returned to the practice of law, but is still paying off $350,000 remaining on the loan taken out to buy the once-in-a-lifetime franchise opportunity. Although there’s a franchise lawsuit pending, it’s yet another case of “franchise fever” – this time attacking a professional no less. Who would ever commit to paying $375,000 for an existing retail franchise without checking out the l-e-a-s-e? Sound’s like another bad attorney joke, but I can guarantee she’s not laughing. Business fundamentals were ignored or forgotten in the rush to acquire the opportunity of a lifetime. And I’m willing to bet not a dollar was spent on competent, pre-investment franchise advice.
IMAGE AND LIFESTYLE How does flipping burgers, scooping ice cream and cleaning restrooms fit the image of what you want to do for a living? Investing in a franchise will be the most important financial and psychological decision you ever make. Many prospective franchise owners fail to realize they’ll be wearing virtually every hat at some point, from salesperson to bad-debt collector, from firing employees to bathroom janitor. The franchise owner is usually the first one to arrive in the morning – and the last one to turn out the lights late at night. And you’ll need to forget about corporate perks like paid vacations, paid holidays and sick pay. In their place, substitute financial pressures, unexpected events and money draining out of your savings and retirement accounts. Does the typical working day and responsibilities of the franchise you are considering fit your personal image and desired lifestyle? You can experience some of this BEFORE you invest by working for a couple weeks in an outlet owned by one of the existing franchise owners.
TRUE FRANCHISE VALUE Buying a franchise from a “blue chip” franchise company that has spent decades and hundreds of millions on advertising to develop their brand can make a lot of sense. These companies have “true franchise value” that compensates for the long-term disadvantages of ongoing royalty and advertising fund payments. Often these additional payments literally mean the difference between earning a profit and operating at a loss. In unknown franchise chains with little or no brand recognition, you the franchise buyer are building their brand from scratch, and are saddled with severe, long-term competitive disadvantages.
In these unknown franchise chains, you have to ask yourself a simple, common sense question. What value is the company giving you that you couldn’t learn on your own by working at one of their locations as an employee for a couple months? Franchise truth be told, what most unknown franchise companies are selling is just a business opportunity – teaching you how to get into a new business venture. But unlike a business opportunity seller that charges a one-time fee to help get you into business, they call it a “franchise” and charge ongoing royalty and advertising fees like they’re a McDonalds or other blue chip franchise company.
The reality is they’re not a McDonalds type franchise – not even close to one. In the majority of these lesser-known franchise chains, you’d be much better off starting an independent business on your own. You can learn most or all of their so-called “secrets” in the franchise interviewing process and by talking to (and possibly working a short time for) existing franchise owners.
FRANCHISE PROFITABILITY & “SUCCESS” Dr. Timothy Bates’ study released in 1993 by the Entrepreneurial Growth and Investment Institute in Washington, DC (and another study published in 1996) was the first to compare start-up costs, franchise profitability and franchise failure rates for franchised vs. nonfranchised firms. In his analysis of some 7,270 firms over the test period, Dr. Bates found that startup capital for a franchised business averaged $85,293 compared with average startup capital for nonfranchised firms of $30,156. In 1987 nonfranchised firms reported average pre-tax net income of $19,744 as compared to a loss of (-$1,548) for franchised firms. Dr. Bates concluded “Despite their larger revenues, much better capitalization, and their supposed advantages of affiliation with a franchisor parent firm, the franchisees lag behind cohort young firms in profitability and rates of survival.”
The franchise companies ignore both studies by Dr. Bates, pretending they never happened. Instead, other techniques are employed. For example, some franchise companies use misleading success statistics to sell their franchises. Their promotional materials say franchises generally enjoy a 90% success rate, compared to less than 20% for independent firms. These figures are based on unverified information supplied thirty years ago by a select, non-representative group of franchise companies. A full third of the companies receiving “questionnaires “ elected not to participate. There was no verification of any of the information supplied by the franchise companies, not even random, spot checking. Nor was any effort made to identify franchise companies who, along with the franchise owners in their chain, had gone out of business.
Even more recent “studies” saying nine out of ten franchise owners (90%) consider their franchise to be somewhat or very successful also suffer from serious methodological flaws. These were simply telephone surveys of franchise owners who were still in business and asked to say (with absolutely no definition of the term “successful”) whether they felt their business was “very unsuccessful,” “somewhat unsuccessful,” somewhat successful” or “very successful.” Franchise owners who had gone out of business or bankrupt were not included in the survey.
Even if terms are defined and a representative sample obtained, franchise owners can be a quirky group. Hence the need, as in Dr. Bates’ studies, for review of financial data. I remember evaluating an existing franchise for a client. I asked the current owner of the franchise if his business was successful. He said it was very successful. But his financial statements revealed a different picture. He’d never taken a dollar out of the business for himself, never made a profit in two years of operation, and was on the verge of bankruptcy. Another owner of a bakery franchise, interviewed by Business Week, says being successful in franchising means “adjusting your definition of success.” He says he makes a profit, but declined to say what it is, or if he’s ever recouped his $250,000-plus initial franchise investment. Incredibly, he insists he’s in business “for lifestyle reasons, not profit reasons.” Huh? Probably a quote from the company’s franchise recruitment materials. In the world of franchising “success” and “profitability” are very subjective terms. FRANCHISE BROKERS WHO FIND YOUR PERFECT MATCH? Does the franchise you are considering have its own in-house marketing department, or does it utilize outside franchise brokers? The use of franchise brokers is a definite red flag. First, it indicates the franchise company is not very serious about who it lets into the franchise network, or even worse, they’re desperate to sell franchises. Second, franchise brokers receive a substantial commission up to 50% or more of the franchise fee you’re paying the franchise company. Franchise Broker Realities: (1) Their service is definitely not “free” despite these and other similar misrepresentations. It’s really common sense – how could anyone offer a “free” service and survive in business? Unfortunately, the common sense part of the brain tends to short circuit when the franchise brainwashing process begins. The simple truth is if you buy one of the franchises they’re hawking, your money goes to the franchise company, then into the broker’s pocket. If anyone ever calculated how much time they spend to collect their $15,000 or $20,000 commission, it’s probably a lot more than a brain surgeon earns. (2) Franchise brokers definitely do NOT have your best interests in mind. They will do or say whatever they have to in order to close a deal and earn their commission.
Many franchise brokers claim they will help you find a franchise company that is the perfect match for you. In the beginning it sounds good. There’s some personality testing and review of your personal finances. At the end of the day, it turns out they only represent (and steer you towards) a handful of small franchise companies you’ve never heard of before. A detailed analysis often reveals these highly touted franchises produce mediocre or even below minimum wage financial performance. Yet franchise brokers don’t mention this, and individuals continue to rely on their recommendations, believing the broker represents them. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Also, many franchise brokers call themselves franchise consultants. A franchise consultant is usually an independent adviser who offers advice to others (usually franchise companies or firms that want to franchise their business) for a fee. This makes their advice more impartial in theory as long as they are not compensated by third parties. Because they are not legally required to disclose actual or potential conflicts of interest, it’s important ask questions. For example, if you’re using a franchise consultant who is recommending the “best franchises,” are they paid anything by the companies on their list? This could be a commission, kick-back or consulting fee. As mentioned, many franchise brokers call themselves “franchise consultants” to hide their true identity. So, make sure if you’re dealing with a franchise consultant, he or she is not really just a franchise broker in disguise.
FRANCHISE DISCLOSURE LAWS The franchise disclosure laws, while requiring franchise companies to give you certain, limited information, don’t come close to protecting your interests. For example, as discussed above, Item 7 of the Franchise Offering Circular only requires an estimate of additional funds for 90 days as part of the investment information. But economic reality is you need to know the additional funds you’ll need to reach the break-even point, which can be years away, or your entire “initial” investment will go down the drain. You’d think this type of information would be required by franchise disclosure laws, but it’s not.
FRANCHISE REGISTRATION LAWS Don’t ever assume that because a company has registered its Franchise Offering Circular in your state, someone at the state has approved or reviewed the document in your favor. Franchise registration is obtained by simply forwarding documents and paying a filing fee – period. In most cases, franchise offering circulars are given an extremely limited review to ensure state-specific disclaimers are present.
I remember filing a registration application for a new franchise company in a state with a reputation for being one of the “toughest” franchise registration law states in the country. After the three-week review period set forth in the statute had gone by, and not hearing anything, I called the examiner assigned to the application. After looking through his files, he finally found my client’s offering circular and application. He apologized for entirely misplacing the file and promised to immediately review the application and call me back. Ten minutes later, he called to say he’d finished and was making the registration effective that day. Ten minutes of review and the franchise company was given the state’s green light. This is not an isolated case – it happens all the time.
WHAT STANDARDS MUST A FRANCHISE COMPANY MEET TO SELL FRANCHISES; ARE THERE ANY REQUIREMENTS TO FRANCHISE A BUSINESS? Incredibly, the answer is – none. There are no minimum standards or requirements to franchise a business except preparing a Franchise Offering Circular. It’s yet another bizarre reality in the world of franchising.
You and I could have no background in any business, form a new corporation or LLC, capitalize it with only $1, put together a Franchise Disclosure Document and file it with any franchise registration state. While the offering may be subject to an impound or escrow requirement because of the low capitalization ($1), we’d still get “registered” and be able to sell as many franchisees as we want.
In these 14 franchise registration states, we may not be able to receive any money until each franchise actually opened, but simply posting a bond would alleviate this difficulty in the franchise registration states. And in the vast majority of states there are no franchise registration laws, so we’d be able to sell franchises and collect fees with impunity once we compiled our Franchise Offering Circular. The federal FTC Franchise Rule doesn’t protect against this risk either – it only requires disclosure (i.e. provide a Franchise Disclosure Document) and has no registration component or minimum standards for franchise companies.
Basic investor protections and requirements found in both federal and state securities laws for over 50 years were never carried over to franchise investments. While most non-blue chip franchise companies could never even qualify to sell you a single share of stock in their company, they are entirely free to collect unlimited franchise fees, ongoing royalties, equipment and other purchases, as well as cause you to incur financial obligations totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars, or even millions in some cases. This isn’t information you’re likely to find in the glowing articles about franchising and franchise companies prevalent in the media.
CLOSING REMARKS Remember, you are the only guardian when it comes to your franchise investment. It’s definitely an environment where the phrase “Buyer Beware” applies. So, before you sign on the line and make what will undoubtedly be the most serious financial and emotional commitment of your life, get all the facts and figures.
One couple I counseled after-the-fact, invested $2 million in a new franchise company. The contract they signed gave them no right to terminate, no matter what the franchise company did or didn’t do. Of course, the contract gave the franchise company unlimited termination ability, a right it had exercised. The franchise company’s management team had no one with experience in running a franchise company. Incredibly, the couple had not spent a dime on legal or business advice before investing $2 million. The once friendly franchise company had transformed into a formidable foe and was poised to take over their franchise. Sadly, this happens too frequently in franchise investments. Decisions are made on fuzzy feelings and emotionalism. In an effort to save a couple thousand dollars, franchise investors risk homes, retirement savings, everything they have. Then they scratch their heads in amazement later on after inevitable and often horrific problems develop, wondering how they could have been so nearsighted.
Another indispensable level of inquiry is whether you’re getting true franchise value and whether you’d be better off doing the business on your own. In the overwhelming majority of franchises touted by unknown companies, franchise value isn’t there and doing the same thing independently makes better economic sense and actually decreases the risk of failure.
Finally, and this applies to franchise investments as well as investing in any business venture, develop a plan to succeed but also plan a franchise exit strategy that minimizes financial risk in case things don’t work out. Both plans need to be thought through before the investment is made. Don’t wait until problems develop to start thinking about a franchise exit strategy – by then it’s usually too little, too late.
For more information, visit the Franchise Foundations Website.
Known in the industry as Mr. Franchise, Mr. Murphy is an internationally-known franchise expert, author, and instructor. For the past twenty-eight years he has specialized exclusively in the franchise industry and owned a very successful franchise in the home improvement field. He has written over 30 publications, including four books on franchising and one book on trade secrets. Mr. Franchise has drafted, reviewed and negotiated more than 500 franchise offering circulars and instructs franchise company personnel in best franchise practices. He also teaches franchise, licensing and intellectual property courses to attorneys. Mr. Franchise is a franchise attorney and Director of Operations for a San Francisco-based professional law corporation.
There’s lots of ways in which an site owner can contribute to a greenery to the planet Earth, and joining an environmentally conscious affiliate promotion program which is one of the simplest and rewarding programs to be recommended.
Eco-Discoveries The purpose of Eco-Discoveries is to provides household cleaning products which healthy and safe for the environment as well as for the individuals who use them. This has been managed by the process of the Performance-Based green affiliate network, Eco-Discoveries has many popular products lines which includes baby-safe cleaner, fabric deodorizer, glass cleaner & mildew or mold remover.
Mountain Herbs Such organic herbs, spices, teas and oils offers good percent of sale made from online store. These product provide a free associates program with complete online access & with no obligation towards activity, the reports and payout information, which provides setup assistance and high-level support from their qualified staff. Mountain Rose also provides visually appealing banners and graphics that will add a pleasant earthy touch to any web-site.
Eco Stylish Holiday Cards Such cards are made from the recycled stock and designed with the use of vegetable inks, such approved customizable cards are printed using 100-percent wind power in order to reduce the carbon footprint to further. Such Eco Stylish plants a tree for every order placed through its network.
Lily Organics Product From almost three decades now, Lily Organics has been handcrafting & award-winning skincare products which is herbal not use any synthetic chemicals. Lily organics is the only facial care item on the planet to grow itself and every-week make fresh products. Such product are herbal and with no bad effect for any skin type.
Eco Mugs This Affiliate helps in generating the most Eco-friendly mugs and custom-design, reusable product on the planet. Affiliated company focuses on massive, custom orders for offices, organizations and clubs, offering great potential for massive commissions. Such Eco product is an exclusive market share for merchant at the Share-a-Sale network.
Itzy Ritzy This product is Specialized in kid supplies, which is made of organic cotton and sustainable bamboo, such product sells blankets, cloths, chair covers, automobile chair covers and more. The products are not only fashionable but quite sustainable as well, supply of such product is energy-saving home products which are the focus of Neutral Existence business, and they are one of the only Solar and wind-power supply systems which are among the hard-to-find green home building products available in the market.
Sea Chi Organics Product like this focus and passionate about the purity to its ingredients, Sea Chi makes high-vibrational organic and wild crafted skin and hair products from Kombucha Tea. This product has hundreds of products to pick from, all related of them are rich in vitamins B1, B2, B3, B6, B12 and Vitamin C, and generating an antibiotic effect to promote bodily cleansing and a healthy lifestyle.
Generating sales for your website can take up a lot of your valuable time whereas AdSense can put you on the path to financial freedom.
How to Begin
The first thing you will need to do in order to make money online is to decide is what type of website you want to have. You can have a site that is based on a subject that you love such as a hobby, interests, travel or even advice and information if you are an expert in a certain area.
You are well advised if you want to make money online to use a website builder to help you create the ideal website. This is especially true if you are not exactly well versed in the technical aspects of the internet. There are plenty of companies that can provide you with a template by a professional. You can then begin to add your own text and links to the website. To make money online, you need to make your website attractive and interesting. You can add pictures and graphics to bring notice to your website so browsers will want to learn more.
The Next Steps
When you want to make money online, once you have finished designing the website and it is complete, you will need to register with a domain name. After you have done that, your next step is to sign up to publish your site on the web with a hosting account. Now it is time for you to make money online.
You will then want to join AdSense. It will take up to a week for a team from AdSense to approve your site after they have reviewed it. Once your application has been accepted by Google you can begin to learn the tricks of the trade of how to produce AdSense code so that you can include it on your site and start to make money online by generating revenue from AdSense.
If Google rejects your site application, don’t panic; you will still have a chance to make money online. It is standard procedure for Google to advise you as to the reasons why your website application has been rejected. Once you are aware of the problems, you can repair the setbacks, and apply again.
How You Can Make the Most of AdSense
In order to be successful using this program you will have to get traffic in the form of visitors that are specifically targeted in order to make money online by generating AdSense revenue. The more traffic that visits your site, the higher your earnings from AdSense will be. There are quite a few ways that you can ensure your success.
One way to get visitors to your site is to tell your family, friends and co-workers about your new website. This is only a small way to create traffic. There are other advertising programs such as a Pay Per Click advertising campaign. The two most popular search engines are said to be Yahoo and Google. These are expensive to use but there are many alternatives that have prices that you can well afford. There is a lot to learn about using AdSense to make money online, but getting started is fairly simple and with perseverance and a little luck, you just might become quite wealthy.
If you are intrigued with the idea of AdSense, when you visit , you will find a wide variety of information about how you can make money using your computer. There is sure to be a program or an idea that appeals to you, so log on today.
Kicking off the evaluation process is the toughest for us. Question after question kept popping up “Is the property market low enough?”, “Is this property worth considering?”, “Are the numbers the only criteria for investment?” What are we really looking for in real estate investing?? Quick bucks $$ or Regular income…
Bottom-line = Money!!!
Property Agents have tons of recommendations for YOU! How will you know whether they are good investment for you?
There are many factors that need to be considered in evaluating a real estate investment. For example, location, environment/neighborhood, facilities, financing options, rental income, etc. If all above works, it is time calling your agents and set up appointments. Happy Viewings!!!!
Actually it is not difficult and it does not need much of your time to know if a real estate investment is worth investing in the first place. All you need is crunching some numbers with your calculator, and Bingo! You can decide whether the property is worth investing.
Later in this article, we will show you how these numbers work in your prospective real estate investment by two real life cases in Johor Bahru, Malaysia.
Numbering GAME Numbers, numbers and numbers.. How do you get them?
You may try calling a few property agents, check with banks on properties valuations and of course there is plenty of information on the Internet. Once you have these numbers you can determine if a real estate investment is worth spending your time for a viewing. “Seeing is Believing.” Check out the property to see the actual condition and the environment, whether it is to your liking once you get your numbers RIGHT! Once you get your numbers, you will see:
Incomes One-time income – selling price Regular income – rental price
See how they (numbers) work.. The basic requirement for a good real estate investment is that the income it generates must be more than its costs.
If the selling price of a real estate investment is more than its purchase price and startup costs, this investment generates capital gain.
If the rental income of a real estate investment is more than its monthly expenses, this investment generates cash flow.
If you are looking for capital gain, the gain or loss depends very much on the real estate market. Hoping to make money from capital gain on real estate is like buying a product and hoping the value of the product will go up with time. On a long term basis, real estate will be appreciating in value because of inflation, but the gain is not guaranteed.
On the other hand, a real estate investment that generates cash flow effectively put money into your pocket every month, while your equity in the real estate investment increases over time. This is the real estate investment that we are looking for – an investment worth investing.
Too good to be true? With this recession time, you will ask yourself, “Is it the RIGHT time for me to start investing in real estate? Everything is so uncertain NOW.”
In Johor Bahru, you can find plenty of real estate investments worth investing at this juncture. We discovered most of these investments that generate substantial cash flow are mainly apartments or condominiums. You can read from our upcoming article to know why apartments or condominiums are better real estate investments in Johor Bahru. Here are two recent real life cases of real estate investments worth investing in Johor Bahru.
Case 1: We found a condominium in Larkin area of Johor Bahru in Octorber 2008 selling at $160,000 with existing tenant. Monthly rental income is $1400 while monthly maintenance cost is around $300 (maintenance fee plus sinking fund plus quit rent).
If we finance 90% of the purchase price to buy this condominium with interest rate 4.85% with a tenure of 30 years, monthly loan repayment is estimated to be $760. Thus, this condominium is generating a net cash flow of $340 every month, $4080 every year.
Total capital outlay for this investment is $24,000 for down payment including other startup costs like legal fee and brokerage.
Effectively this investment gives us a yearly cash-on-cash return of 18.5%. In other words, within 6 years we would be able to take back our capital $24,000! The best thing is we still own the condominium. It will keep putting money into our pocket every month. We also have the option to sell it away when the market is good.
Case 2: There is a 3-rooms apartment in Tampoi sold at $125,000 in Octorber 2008. Monthly maintenance cost is about $150. If we finance 90% of the purchase price with interest rate 4.85% with a tenure of 30 years, monthly loan repayment is estimated to be $600.
Expected rental income for a fully furnished apartment in the area is about $1200. With furnishing cost of $10,000, total capital required for this investment is around $27,000, while total monthly cost is $750.
The apartment is expected to generate a net cash flow of $450 every month, $5400 every year. Cash-on-cash return on this investment is 20% which we can expect to take back all the capital within 5 years.
Sound interesting right? Of course, so far we are only talking about numbers. A good real estate investment does not rely on purely numbers. You still have to go and have a look at the building structures, study the location and neighborhood, and perform other checks before you make your decision. What we have discussed, however, can save you time and give you more ideas on the potential returns of a real estate investment before you tell your agent which real estate you want to view in the coming weekend.
Read more about real estate investment tips at http://reijb.com
We write regularly about real estate investment. Some of our featured articles include:
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Coming from a humble little town called Tangkak in north Johor state of Malaysia, OngKL has chances to learn and work both in Johor Bahru and Singapore – a conurbation with 6.49 million still fast growing population – since year 1996. He is now having a chance to contribute back to the community by sharing what he sees, what he knows and what he learns in this wonderful place.
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Working at home has been a dream of many that goes back many years. Staying at home and enjoying watching the kids grow up is a goal worth fighting for.
Let’s take a look into making a living or part time living from the comfort of your home. You owe it to yourself to gain the freedom a home business can offer.
In the past, there have been multi-level marketing plans to sell everything from vitamins to soap. There have been mail order catalog opportunities. Many tried buying and selling real estate. Each of these opportunities made many people a lot of money, but each of them also cost many people more money.
More people have spent money than have made money in every business venture. The problem is many inexperienced people get into money making schemes after attending a meeting somewhere. The offer may be legitimate, but most people fail in business.
According to the US Small Business Administration, over 50% of small businesses fail in the first year and 95% fail with the first five years. That is a scary statistic. The stats for online businesses is even more scary, up 90% of new online businesses fail within the first 6 months!
With some careful thought and planning you can avoid being one of those stats. Make sure you are doing this not just to make money but because it is a passion or at least something you really enjoy. If you are creative, a people person, self-motivated and have a stable home life, i.e., marriage, and support then go for it!
If you are wise and find a person who’s done it, and is successful plus willing to help you then those factors alone will almost guarantee your success online.
So, what is the answer for the average person who does not want to lose their savings and even their home equity in a business?
Start building a “digital business” online. Create a website that generates its income without you needing to invest in inventory or even lease a building to house your business. Then create two or ten more websites generating income for you.
You may not know how to create a website today. It is an easily learned skill. There is software you can buy or download FREE that will help you. There are tutorials on making a website profitable. You can do this.
Once you have a website online you can put other people’s advertising on your site and be paid when someone buys one of their products. This is called affiliate marketing. If this was my baby toys webpage and I mentioned a great baby toy with a link to my advertiser’s toy page you might go there and buy the toy. If you did, I would get a commission.
You could also put ads on your pages that only require someone to click on the ad for you to be paid. Again, if you were on my baby toy page and an ad talks about a toy. You click on the ad to go see it and I am paid for you clicking on the ad.
The advertiser feels their sales page is compelling enough for them to sell enough of that toy to cover their cost of the clicks that got you there.
Some advertisers do not require you to buy the product when you click on an ad, but you will not be paid unless you fill out their application. This is usually seen on sites like insurance sites or loan application sites. You do not have to get a policy or take out a loan for me to be paid. When you fill out the form, I qualify for my commission for sending you to the advertiser.
These are typically the ways a beginning website entrepreneur starts generating income on the Internet. Once you understand that part of internet marketing, you may move on to selling your own digital products. A digital product is one that can be downloaded from your website. You can sell your own ebook you wrote yourself or an ebook you purchased and have the rights to sell online.
If you are a programmer, you can sell you own computer program from your site. You could also sell someone else’s program that you purchased the rights to sell. Notice that not all of the above ideas require you to invest in a lot of inventory. Even the products are FREE if you create them yourself. Not everything you are doing so far requires a large investment of your hard earned money. It does require a large investment of your time.
All of the material you need to create a website can be found FREE online if you do not want to purchase some popular program. Your only expense SHOULD be a domain of your own, such as yourdomain.com. You can get FREE hosting from various places but for your moneymaking venture, this is not advised. For a small investment, you too can be PRESIDENT OF YOUR OWN COMPANY.
Maybe the statistics are the same for success online as they are in other businesses, but this is a chance to find out without losing the farm doing it. The reason most online / home based businesses fail or never make any money, is because of the lack of a plan. As with a brick and mortar, offline, business you have to know where you want to go, how you will get there and when. The old saying, “those who fail to plan, plan to fail” has never been more true than building an online business.
Dan Farrell is the owner of Newbie’s Guide To Online Fortunes where you receive Niche Market and Ebook Ideas as well as the basic steps to creating a profitable online business.