Decades ago, surveying your audience required a significant investment of time, effort, and money. You could interview your audience personally, over the phone, or conduct your survey through an expensive mail drop (which half of your population would ignore).
The landscape has shifted over the last decade. In the same way that the internet has changed the way we purchase products and services, it has altered the manner in which companies interact with their respective markets. More businesses than ever are leveraging online surveys to attract the data they need at a substantially lower cost. This article will provide a high-level view of the advantages and potential drawbacks of using online questionnaires.
Shortened Response Collection Time
It’s no longer necessary to send researchers into the field to personally interview people. Nor is it necessary to maintain a team that enters individual responses into a statistical analysis program. By posting your questionnaire online, the data can be collected and collated automatically. This dramatically reduces the window of time between your survey’s launch and being able to take action on the responses. Indeed, what once required weeks now takes days.
Also, by allowing respondents to complete your survey online when it is convenient for them to do so, you’ll enjoy a higher response rate. The more people who participate, the more reliable your data.
More Flexibility In Design
Questionnaires that are used in a “real world” environment lack flexibility. For example, consider a market research survey that is soliciting responses from a broad audience. There will be many people within that population to whom questions will be irrelevant. A researcher or interviewer would be tasked with identifying which questions were relevant to the individual participant.
Online surveys make use of skip, pipe, and branch logic to personalize each item on the questionnaire. Skip logic allows each participant to automatically pass over items based on their responses to previous questions. Branch logic lets you (the surveyor) send participants along different routes based on their previous responses. This type of technology not only saves time, but makes the experience more fluid for the respondent.
Better Profile Targeting
Because you can control the paths by which participants find your online questionnaires, you can target specific profiles. For example, suppose that you operate an online bookstore. If you maintain a robust customer database, you can send email invitations to specific groups of customers. You can target them based on the types of books they have purchased, their average order size, and the recency of their orders. Better profile targeting yields more valuable data.
Potential Drawbacks: Server Crashes And Programming Errors
Depending on the software or third-party vendor you use to manage your online questionnaires, server crashes and programming errors can occur. When they do, they can become problematic. For example, if you’re using an in-house solution and your server crashes, you may lose your data. Or, if you have hired a programming team to design your survey software, and they have done a less-than-perfect job, it can lead to errors during the execution phase. This may cause confusion among respondents, leading to a rise in your abandonment rate. Worse, it can influence the purity of your data.
The advantages of conducting online surveys far outweigh the potential drawbacks. In fact, server crashes and programming errors (arguably, the two most significant drawbacks) can be eliminated by choosing the right third-party software vendor.
Price, while important, should not be the sole criteria by which you identify potential providers; many low-priced vendors offer very little flexibility on an unreliable infrastructure. Instead, consider price, level of support, feature set, and server reliability. Those four criteria will help you find a reliable survey software provider that can meet your company’s needs.
SurveyGizmo is a leading provider of , for more great ways to use surveys to enhance your business check them out online at Article Source:
Packing and moving to new location is not an easy task. It is one of the most problematic and chaotic task that no one wants to deal with. Lots of work has to be done to make the shifting hassle free, easier and smooth. Packing, loading, unloading, unpacking of goods these tasks has to be done to make complete shifting. Though these tasks look so simple but in reality they are really problematic and time taking. Sometimes these chaotic tasks often make the people mentally and physically stress that it hunts them as the nightmare. So instead of facing these problems it is better to hire the services from the professional movers and packers companies.
In India you will find several movers and packers companies offering their valuable packing and moving services. But it is not true that the moving companies provide hassle free and cost effective services. These days packers and movers companies are getting more popularity for their quality services as the cost effective rate. They have teams of expert professionals who are proficient in packing and moving of goods in safe and secure way to new location. They pack the entire goods with high quality packing material to ensure that the goods do not get damage while transporting it to new location.
Pune packers movers companies provide wide range of packing and moving services to the clients. Their services includes packing and moving of household goods, freight forwarding, air cargo services, air mail services, home shifting, air mail services, household shifting, etc. They also provide various other services as per the needs and requirements of the clients. They also have teams of expert professionals who are proficient in packing and moving of goods in safe and secure way. For any assistance related to packers and movers you can contact to any one of the packers and movers of Pune. They will assist you with their valuable services to move your valuable and loveable goods in safe and secure way to new location.
Some of the packers and movers Pune companies also provide car carrier and transportation services. Moving of car is not an easy task and has to be done with care and dedication to make it smooth and easier. Moving of car to new location is a very risky task and needs to be done with care and dedication. Even a small mistake can cause a huge damage so it has to be done with proper care and dedication. Experts of the moving agencies of Pune are expert in moving of the car to new location with care and dedication and never leave any stone unturned about their services. They cover the car with car covering material and transport it to new location in a hassle free way without making even a single scratch on it.
Well if you need any packing and moving services it is advisable to hire the services from the movers and packers Pune companies. They will assist you with best of their services to make the relocation of the goods in safe and secure way to new location. They can prove to be your best friend shifting of your lovable and valuable goods in safe and secure way to new location.
Rachel is an amateur writer focusing primarily on Business related topics. For more information and to visit
Registration of an offshore company is guided by a legal framework established by the respective authority or Government. In Seychelles for example, the 1994 Act regarding the incorporation of offshore companies forms the basic foundation for any practice involving offshore company registration. This law covers all external businesses such as commerce, trade and all activities related to investment are managed under this legislation.
As you ponder on , think about the structure established to facilitate the smooth running of companies. When you register an offshore company, including a director is a prerequisite; only one director and shareholder are enough to enter complete the list. But for the companies own administration and well coordinated flow of events.
The nationality and area residence of shareholders can vary when registering this company here. Most countries in which this offshore services are provided do not place a red tape on the requirements regarding the director; it’s not mandatory that directors must be shareholders. They can be taken to be corporate bodies or natural people. This is one area which makes this whole thing interesting in the long run.
Standard share capital is meant to govern the running of these businesses. An offshore company in Seychelles is expected to have a minimum of between US$ 100 up to US$ 100,000 in order to meet the payments of the lowest registration fee; a yearly amount/ charge is also levied. For these companies, no maximum or minimum share capital is set. You can simply calculate on the figure you think will put you at the best level of achieving the set goals.
The issuance of shares is not restricted to contain par value, they may have or not. These shares can be traded in terms of money or even other assets valued in money terms and they cannot be exchanged before payments are paid.
There is not rule that requires mandatory yearly meetings to be held by the directors and shareholders under the IBC fraternity. Incase there is a need for such meetings; they can be conducted in any place or area of the world through the telephone or via online chat.
Incase, meetings involving the IBC, respective companies are expected to own up by recording minutes and resolution copies of directors and shareholders.
Registering an offshore company takes a total of four working days to be accomplished. All documents relating to the offshore company are dispatched through shipping or even mail and a three day wait is enough for you to receive the delivery of the documents.
One more thing, the operation of the offshore company is renewed at the fall of the year. Such payments like office fee, Government fee, Nominee fee etc are effected at the end of a financial year.
As you take this long walk to register offshore company, tighten your belt in readiness to meet the requirements set by the highest authority.
You can find more related information at:
Release 20.10.09
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It’s for sure! Online money is out there. Here I explain what separates the big money winners from the losers. I need to first show you some of the key ideas that pre-date the Internet.
Before the Internet
The need to make money has always been with us. One of the earliest strategies to accomplish this was the “chain letter”. Don’t worry – I’m not promoting a chain letter – rather explaining a lesson we can all learn from that ill-fated methodology.
The power of the chain letter lay in the fact that it allowed people to leverage their investment. It worked like this.
You get a letter that asks you to:
* Send a small amount of money to the person whose name is at the top of a list of future recipients.
* Delete the first recipient on the list, and put your own name on the bottom of the list.
* Copy and mail the letter to as many people as you can.
If you sent the letter to 100 people, and each of them sent it to 100, and so on, by the time your name got to the top of the list it would be in the hands of many thousands of recipients – each of whom would send you a small amount of money.
How Chain Letters Didn’t Work
The principle problem with the chain letter was that your small donation to the person at the top of the list was a gift. You got nothing in return. For this reason, our country’s lawmakers got into the act.
The “End” of the Chain Letter
Lawmakers don’t like to see large amounts of money changing hands without getting their own hands on some of it – to tax it in other words.
So the “authorities” outlawed the chain letter as you might expect. The public rationale was that the process would sooner or later “saturate”, because 100 x 100 x 100 x etc. would eventually encompass everyone on the planet, and those joining toward the end would never get the “reward” they had been “promised”.
This action ignored the fact that no chain letter in history ever actually “saturated”. But the concept looked good mathematically and seemed popular with the voters; so the public remains “protected” from chain letters to this day.
The Invention of Multilevel Marketing (MLM)
In the early sixties, a little vitamin company called Nutrilite invented the marketing strategy we know today as multilevel marketing.
This was a very clever idea. It built on sequential recruitment, the basis of the chain letter; but it sold real products: vitamins. Now there was value received in every transaction.
Two young men partnered up and got really successful at this business and wound up buying Nutrilite. Out of this grew the giant multilevel company known as Amway. Its annual sales hit a billion dollars around 1986, and is approaching seven billion dollars a year today (2008).
MLMs and the Law
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) took Amway to court, claiming that the sequential recruitment of distributors violated the anti-chain-letter laws.
Amazing! The courts finally did something right. They recognized that there is nothing basically wrong with sequential recruitment, and completely exonerated Amway.
When the dust had settled, the FTC and the Department of “Justice” agreed to re-define the chain letter and the MLM so the chain letter remained illegal while the MLM was officially legalized.
Many people learned from this that sequential recruitment is legal when the customers actually receive something they want in return for their money.
Mail-Order MLM
Still talking pre-Internet lore: it wasn’t long before enterprising individuals began building mail order businesses in which the products sold were documents (small booklets) that provided the reader with useful information.
Such documents were easy to create, cheap to produce, and inexpensive to mail. Employing sequential recruitment similar to that used by chain letters, such businesses provided (for a price) the document products and the methodology of distribution.
It was up to each participant to reproduce the documents, to advertise them via the mail, and to deliver them via mail as promised.
This system of doing business meets all the legal standards of current MLM laws and provides for a very high return on investment. A document that cost 50¢ to produce and another 50¢ to mail might sell for $10 or $20. This business model is still much in use today, and huge profits are being made.
The use of the Internet to facilitate this money making process further amplifies the method’s profitability and makes it accessible to almost anyone. Its development was the next step towards creation of the first online money making machine.
Enter the Internet
On the Internet today, free or inexpensive email to opt-in lists, cheap classified advertising, and highly targeted (though not-so-cheap) search engine advertising make it possible to advertise much more cheaply than can be done by conventional mail.
The cheap and, often automated, creation of personal websites puts large amounts of information in the hands of would-be “infopreneurs” at a fraction of the cost of snail-mail distribution.
Instead of printing and mailing booklets to their customers, businesses of this sort simply receive payment via secure credit card transaction, and then permit the buyer to download the product at the click of a mouse at essentially no cost to the seller.
Thus the properly equipped “infopreneur” creates a virtual money-making machine that handles all the formerly laborious tasks associated with mail-order document sales.
By combining the best features of sequential recruitment, MLM sales, and mail-order document sales with the computer automation provided by the Internet, today’s infopreneur can make large amounts of money in record time. This is the basis of virtually all the big online money-makers.
The worse the economy, the higher the unemployment level, the fewer the jobs available, the more attractive this kind of business is to the public.
The Best Online Money Machine – So Far
Examples of this newly developed business technology come in many styles. Some are well explained and easy to implement; some are more complex and not so well documented. Unless you want to build your own online money machine from scratch – a major undertaking that I don’t recommend – I suggest that you plug into an existing one that works.
To see the best example of this technology that I have found so far – one that is simple, legal, honest, and ethical – you don’t have to look far.
For a somewhat more thorough explanation of the Online Money Machine go to . For a really good example of such a business – one that can make YOU $1,000 a day – go to .
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.
The internet is littered with every kind of get-rich-quick con and scam you can imagine.
There are the Nigerian 419 schemes, forced matrix ‘opportunities’ that would require maxing out the entire human population for just 10 percent of participants to ever see a penny, there are over-hyped Pay-per-click and Adsense scams, fake MLM and network marketing ‘opportunities’, and the list goes on and on…
At times like these, desperate home-based business seekers become easy prey for vultures pushing scam products and fake ‘opportunities’.
How to get scammed
- Accept every offer and every promise at face value.
- Give your money to others without thinking things through.
- Let emotion and promises of ‘instant wealth’ carry you along.
- Don’t bother reasoning through on whether or not a program might be a scam.
- Jump in with both eyes wide shut.
Those are sure fire ways to get taken advantage of. But what if you don’t want to be the next victim? How can you really know in advance if a program is a scam or not?
What You See Is What You See
An often overlooked tale tell sign that an ‘opportunity’ is a scam are the products themselves.
Are the products truly valuable? Can the products be sold at its current pricing, or at all, without the ‘opportunity’ attached to it?
If the answer is no then use the R.L.H. formula for protecting your wallet. R.L.H. stands for run like you-know-what (heck).
Also, look to see if there are outrageous fees or ‘qualifiers’ before you can receive a penny in pay.
And finally, does the program tell you EXACTLY what you will receive a commission for promoting, before they take your money? I’ve lost track of the hundreds of scams that have been sent to me saying ‘give us $39 and we’ll tell you what this biz opp is’. I don’t think so buddy…
RLH!
Those are the three most common giveaways that a program is a scam.
Many home-based business ‘opportunities’ openly violate those standards and are easy to spot:
1) substandard products that are unsaleable apart from the biz opp
2) scammy qualifiers that prevent you from getting paid even if you do somehow find someone to buy what you are selling
3) the company ‘hides’ the product until you cough up cash to find out what it is they want you to sell
Bi-Centennial Surprise
I joined my first biz opp around 1976. I was 12 or 13 years old. From then until I “wised up” in the 80′s I had joined hundreds of programs purchased through direct mail offers, income opportunity mags, and joined half a dozen MLM programs promoted by friends, family, and in some cases complete strangers.
I wasted money on envelope stuffing schemes, ‘blind ads’ for business opportunities that were nothing more than vague marketing plans for hypothetical ‘business start up plans’ that required coming up with 5-10 times the average national income in America at the time just to test and see if the idea would work or not. Of course, you couldn’t get a refund without trying the unreasonable and unproven ideas, yeah, I got ripped off on those purchases.
I tried forced matrix systems with junk info products and health products. While just a teen I gave up credit card numbers ‘just for verification purposes’ only to end up with $800 of worthless vitamins shipped to my door. I had fallen victim to online and offline chain letter schemes. And the list goes on an on.
Red Badge Of Experience
Fortunately it only took a few short teen years of bumping my head to finally come up with my list of ‘red flag’ identifiers for recognizing potential scams, and a few more to finally trust in the red flags.
Times are hard. The economy is in a slump. Gas prices are on the rise and so are home foreclosures. Con artists are desperate too.
People from all over are desperate for something that will put money in their pockets quickly. That desperation has put a target on their foreheads for scam artists and hucksters of all sorts. Others are not so desperate but are still looking for ways to increase their income without much hassle or work.
I Bet You Think This Note Is About You…
If either of those scenarios apply to you I suggest taking a close look at any program you are considering.
Verify the program has 3rd-party tracking in place to insure you will get paid. Better yet, look for programs that allow you to keep every penny you earn from reselling or referring the products to others.
What qualifies? Reseller programs and programs that allow you to keep all the money are the next best things to creating your own products — but without the hassles.
Also make sure the company is promoting real products that are being sold or have been sold without the need for an attached ‘opportunity’. Again, if products cannot be sold at the price you are urged to ‘get in’ at while things are “still hot”, you’ve found a scam not a real business.
And especially make sure there are no weird or outrageous qualifiers to finally receive the commissions you’ve earned.
That’s how to tell if a home-based business is a scam.
Andre Bell is a business growth strategist and expert direct response copywriter. Visit his site to learn of his recently released .
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.
The main benefits that people uses the world wide web is that at the click of a finger it offers a wide range of information and it will take just a few minutes to find almost whatever you need. That’s why, more and more people are letting their fingers do the typing and even shopping.
As more people join the internet revolution, online shopping is becoming a way of life. It has certainly changed the way I look at shopping and buying stuff from the internet. Almost every site you go to, you can find something for sale in one form or another. This is exactly the same and even more so with mail order vitamin supplements.
What are the advantages of buying from the internet?
The advantage of buying products from the Internet is that you are staying at home, you feel undisturbed, and there is one MASSIVE benefit. Ordering vitamin supplements through the mail order vitamin can not only be ordered through the internet but you can also get massive discounts for doing so.
However, when you are shopping on the Internet the first thing that needs to be fair is exactly what types of vitamins you need or the result you are trying to achieve. The internet can offer you all the required detail related to them. There you can find all the functions of each vitamin, the symptoms and exactly how they will work.
After you understand what kind of vitamins you need, you can take the next important step and decide from where you are going to buy your vitamins. The decision is easy. Just compare a few sites and look for the best prices but also be sure that you have read their terms of services. Remember to compare the prices as the price can be quite a disagreement even though two sites may be selling the same product.
Also to be more aware where this company is situated, because if it is situated abroad you will be charged extra for the delivery. Make sure that they actually accept mail order vitamin supplement payments, as some do not ship or mail internationally.
Are there are other steps to take?
The next step is to see that your whole private information like credit card number, address and so on are secure when ordering through mail order. Most of the sites have something like shopping safe feature, with the aim to assure you that it is safe to buy from them and also in this way they try to convince you that all your information won’t be given to any other site or company.
This is good, because it makes their service more reliable. This way, you are certain that the transaction is genuine and not fake.
So, now after taking into consideration the above points you can mail order vitamin supplements and soon after that you will have your desired vitamins mailed to your doorstep.
Last but not least is to check whether everything is ok with your vitamin supplements when they arrived at your house’s doorstep.
Be extra careful and first check the date of the vitamins and if the bottles are sealed. If everything is ok, there is nothing to worry about, otherwise a simple email or phone call will usually fix the situation. Also, be extra careful to study the fine print of the supplements. If in doubt, please consult your doctor for advise.
In conclusion, I would say that it is fantastic to mail order vitamin supplements. It is more comfortable, easier and can really save you tons of money and time for going to the stores to get your supplements.
After knowing where are the sources to buy cheap mail-order vitamin supplements, with alongside with this little information may be enough for you to choose your supplements more carefully and to consume in moderation. Before you are going to consume any type of vitamin health food, you need to first consult your physician.
At times, there are many people who tend to forget the quality of popping these pills, without realizing the harmful effects of over-consumption of these supplements, level while various kinds of supplements can treat chronic diseases.
Therefore, without a proper understanding of using mineral supplements to treat many persistent diseases, there will not be much disease free lifestyle to craving for.
Apply these effective tips as being highlighted here, together with an sheer understanding of vitamin supplements is important so that you enjoy your life once again.
Eddy K Elgin is the author of the 17 Minutes Vitamin Supplements Tips and Resource. Drop by at mail order vitamin supplements quick for more details.
The health and wellness industry is one of the largest markets, but in order to make a profitable business, it is imperative to find your own niche, or specialized field. There are many fields to choose from in this wide and interesting market. There are even multiple forms of business models for you to choose from. You can have a simple website selling products and e-books, either your own or affiliate programs. Or you can have a cyber store, selling products, like vitamins and food supplements. You can offer a Q & A site or even offer a service like fitness or health consultation, however by far the most popular are the Network marketing and MLM programs.
Finding your niche:
The most important step when choosing a business in this field is to find a niche market. Finding a niche is not as hard as it sounds. As mentioned there are many markets within this large and growing Industry. Choose a few and then check out supply and demand. Whichever ones have a high demand and low supply will be your profitable niche market. You can use the overture search tool to estimate demand, (amount of searches), and look on Google for supply, (amount of web sites).
Tools you will need:
Autoresponder: In order to send mail to more than one person you will need an autoresponder. This will take care of your newsletter, and manage your subscriber list. It will also take care of your other lists like leads and customers. Mailers con be sent out with this valuable tool. There is usually a nominal monthly subscription fee.
Website: Your own website is important to the development of your business. To set this up you will need to build a theme content website. This is a website built around a special field. With your own website you will be able to build multiple streams of income all from one central website.
Newsletter: You should add a newsletter to capture visitors email addresses and gather leads and prospective customers for your opportunity and other products.
Multiple streams of income: Your next step will be to gather opportunities and products that are related to your market. You can start with an MLM business and add streams of income like products, e-books and services, which you can use affiliates to market.
At first start with one opportunity and try to work it for 3 months at least. As you develop your opportunity and start to make money you can then start another stream of income. Gradually you can build up until you have many streams of income in one market. After this you can expand into related markets and duplicate your successes.
Zach Thompson is a 23 year-old internet marketer & business coach. To learn more about how Zach can help you make money with your own business check out: .