What Are Business Loans?

Business loans can be defined as money lent for a specified amount of time at a specific interest rate to a specific person or people that operate a business or plan to operate a business. This definition is very broad, but so are the various types of loans available to business people. Deciding on which type of business loan that you and your company will benefit from the most is very important. Often times, a start-up business or someone that has never owned a business will find themselves more or less applying for a “personal” loan. This can be a very risky endeavor, mixing business loans with personal loans, however, often times it is the only available means for first time business owners.
One of the first things personal business owners need to do is establish business credit. Business credit can help you get a business only loan without using your personal credit. Establishing business credit can be done by:
1.) Opening up a business credit card account and paying it in full.
2.) Buying equipment and supplies from companies that will report good standing to the business credit bureaus.
3.) Having a good business plan with potential earnings, letters of intent, and any type of customer contracts already laid out.
All of these types of endeavors can help in receiving a business loan. Often times, financial institutions require in-depth business plans, be prepared to spend days working on just the certification paperwork prior to applying for a business loan. A business only loan can be obtained in the business name without use of personal credit as long as the business can justify the loan amount and the ability to pay it back.
There are several different types of business loans available, ranging from those secured with collateral, non-secure loans, which are based upon the credit worthiness of the applicant, and even government loans for small business ventures, women and minorities. Government loans are those loans secured by the government; in most instances these loans are available when the business or owner can prove that the community will prosper based upon the business at hand. For the most part, government loans are based upon personal credit.
The basis for which you may need or require a business loan may vary. Some of the most common business loans available to business owners are:
Acquisitions or a loan to acquire an existing business
Inventory loans
Account Receivable Loans
Working Capital Loans which converts a companies assets into working capital
Equipment Leasing
Commercial Property loans
Warehouse financing
International business loans
Franchise loans
One of the most important tools when deciding on what type of business loan your company needs is research. Researching the different types of loans available to you and your company can save you money. First, look into the different type of business loans available to you in your state. Many states have government loans available; some even offer grants, which is money available for specific purposes that do not require repayment. Research the different type of Federal loans available. You can do this at the following website: www.sba.gov. Call your local bank and investment companies regarding the business loans they have available for you. Many times, business loans are not that hard to acquire. With research and a good business plan, your dreams may come true.

Positioning in Small Business Marketing

Positioning is another one of those marketing jargon words that everybody throws around and is important to understand. It's also important to understand how positioning specifically applies to your small business marketing.Basically a marketing position describes your unique place in the market. The key word here is unique. What makes you different from your competitors? What features and benefits do you offer your target market that the other players don't?Here are a few things that may go into your positioning:-Price Point - This doesn't necessarily mean you have the lowest price. You may be the most expensive in town, and that's OK if you convince your customers you're worth it.-Service - Almost every business claims they have great service. If you can provide exceptional service compared to your competitors, your customers will remember you. I'll never forget calling a surly plumber to try to get him to my house for an emergency on a weekend. he acted like he didn't want my business and then told me it was going to be $200 for him just to show up, no thanks. I called roto-router who gave me amazing service, a guarantee, and the whole bill was less than $200. I now use them for all my plumbing. -Features and Benefits - Positioning is not just about what makes you different, it's also about what you emphasize. Folgers announces to the world that it's "mountain grown coffee" ( a feature). Guess what? All coffee is mountain grown. Folgers just claimed this feature first. What's something that none of your competitors are talking about? -Credibility - Legal Seafood's clam chowder is served at every presidential inauguration. Many products get celebrity endorsements. Many companies tout how long they've been in business. All of these things build trust in the mind of the consumer. What trust-building factors do you have that the competition does not? -Negative Features - Is there something you don't have that annoys customers of your competitors? I'm not saying use negative advertising, but just mention the feature and tie it to a benefit. I'm annoyed when I have to pay for parking to go shopping at Mall. Instead of touting free parking, a mall that wants to speak to me might declare, "you'll never have to pay for parking". This drives home the pain of shopping with a competitor without going negative. -Anything Else - Literally anything that differentiates you from your competitors can be part of your positioning strategy - your location, your hours of operation, the way your office smells. Small business owners need to think creatively here.In a great article by John Jantsch he states that a positioning strategy must answer the question, "why should I buy from you?" This is brilliant in it's simplicity; it cuts through all the strategic junk that complicates marketing. If you can't answer this question, your customer is not going to do the work to figure out an answer on his own.

Beware Of Bad Credit Payday Loans

Could bad credit payday loans be the answer consumers with lowbank accounts have been looking for? Is there any harm in usingthese services? Aren't they better than using credit cards orgoing hungry?Have you seen the commercials? Cute characters promise financialprosperity. Happy, professional individuals appear to regularlyvisit their corner pay day loan shop as proudly as cashing acheck at the bank. Customers at the grocery store all recommendpay day loans as the easy solution for a lack of funds. WHY USE A PAY DAY LOAN? Some individuals reason that paying a bill with borrowed moneyis better than receiving bad credit marks because of not payingthe bill. This is understandable. However, some financialinstitutions are willing to make the occasional exception ifcontacted about the situation. Or there may be a small fee, butnot a credit report made. Using it for groceries or other items? Consider the true costbefore making a decision. Compare the cost of using a pay day(or cash advance) loan to the fees charged for taking a cashadvance on your own credit card. Can family help? Often thosewho are forced to use pay day loans are not able to repay theloan by the next pay check and that can lead to a cycle of debtand stress. WHAT IS THE COST? Several sources, including a consumer report by the FTC (FederalTrade Commission) and the CFA (Consumer Federation of America)state that usual the usual APR is between 350 - 650% with someas high as 780%. A loan of $100 ranges in cost between $15 - $30. If the loan isnot repaid by the pay date then it can be renewed with anotherfee due at each renewal. A loan of $100 can cost $60 in feesafter 3 renewals. WHO BENEFITS? Based on the warnings issued by federal and consumerorganizations it is clear that using pay day loans or cashadvances from these businesses can often lead to more debt andproblems. Some sites were reported to automatically roll overthe loan and only withdraw the renewal fee on the pay date.Other sites surveyed by the CFA required customers to agree incontract to not participate in class action suits or to file forbankruptcy. For those who are having debt problems it is recommended to seekno- or low-cost credit counseling from a local non-profitorganization. These organizations can help with reducing currentinterest charges and lowering monthly payments. If the problemis budget, you should look to a financial planner who can helpyou to manage the money you do have and avoid using credit atall.

Short Sale Success Secrets with Foreclosures

If you're active in real estate investing, you may already realize one of the biggest issues real estate investors face: Finding Great Deals. Foreclosures at a 52-year HighWith foreclosures at a 52-year high, there are thousands of deals available on the market, if you know where to find them and how to secure them. The first challenge you'll face once you locate the property is that most of these homeowners are mortgaged to the hilt. They have no equity, and big loan payments. In fact, many actually owe more than the property is worth!Most investors will walk away from these deals because they see no obvious profit. That's because they don't know about the Short Sale.WHAT IS A SHORT SALE?The concept behind the short sale is simple: your goal as a real estate investor is to convince the bank to sell for less that is owed as payment in full. Of course, this concept is easy - buy the foreclosure from the bank at a big discount, sell the real estate, and make money! So how does it work?Success with short sales can be accomplished in the following steps: Step 1: Do your research. Many new real estate investors make the mistake of waiting until some subscription service sends you the list. The disadvantage is that a ton of other investors are also getting the list. If your first contact is to send a letter, forget it. Your letter will be lost in the huge pile the homeowner is getting from all sorts of other investors, credit repair etc. 99% of the time these go directly into the trash or a big basket unread. If you go directly to their door you've got a chance.So if you're going to mail, be the first to act when the default notices are printed in the local newspaper. Or be the first at your courthouse, if that's where they're filed first. The key to finding investment-worthy properties is to act quickly. Be disciplined and mail out the letters the very same day-in fact take them to the post office. In this business, the early bird really does catch the worm.Tip for Success: If you don't have a company that publishes your notices of default, check with local title companies or bankruptcy attorneys to see if they offer these services; you need somebody familiar with the subject that visits the courthouse often. Step 2: Develop your marketing strategy. When you have located foreclosures, make sure your timing is swift. Mail your initial letters of approach to the homeowner the same day you discover the property. Placing ads in your local papers also helps to generate leads and find homeowners eager to avoid the credit penalties involved with foreclosing. Tip for Success: A typical advertisement strategy taught in real estate training is to get listed in real estate or credit section of the classifieds. These ads typically have a bold, to the point headline, such as “Avoid Foreclosure” or “Stop Foreclosure, Today!” If you are targeting a specific property type, or reaching for higher market values, specify this in your ad. (Instead of simply “Avoid Foreclosure,” add your target market to the bottom of the ad. Example: “Avoid Foreclosure, call 1-800-555-1212. 500K and up.” You'll make more money in real estate by reaching for high-value properties, and an ad like this shows your prospects that you specialize in helping those with higher value homes avoid foreclosure.Step 3: Work with the homeowner. You can't get anywhere without the cooperation, and often gratitude, of the homeowner. The homeowner you are working with has obviously run out of options, but you'll need their trust and confidence if you plan to short sale mortgages. Remember, in these situations, you are often looked at as the “rescuer”. Make sure you explain the homeowner's part in the process thoroughly. Once they deiced to allow you to work with them, there is important paperwork you need them to fill out and sign:1. an “Authorization to Release” form that gives you permission to contact the lenders and the foreclosing attorneys.2. a sales contract - signed but leave the purchase price blank. You may need to change the numbers as you negotiate with the bank3. a financial statement - to show they can't afford to make the payments4. a hardship letter - to explain in personal terms what happened.Tip for Success: Remember that this is a stressful time for the homeowner. It's easy to get caught in the excitement of a prospective short sale profit. You can get them to make a decision when you are able to convince them that this is the right option for them Emphasize the benefits of working with you, and then ask for them to take action. Make sure to let them know that once your contract is signed, and the bank accepts it; they'll be free to move on with their life. Step 4: Negotiate with the bank. Although banks don't enjoy taking a loss, it is a simple fact of the lending business that short sales are a necessary evil for lenders. Indeed owning the property (a non-performing asset) is even more expensive than selling it for a loss. Consider:Banks use short sales to drop unwanted property quickly without having to deal with the REO office and go through the long process of putting the home back on the market. When you speak with the Loss Mitigation department, remember, this property is actually costing them money! Federal regulations require somewhere between $300,000 and $800,000 (or more!) to be held in reserve by lenders, which is many times over the actual price of the bad debt. When you call the bank and ask for the Loss Mitigation Department (the department that handles properties that are in foreclosure) tell the person handling the account that you are trying to help Mr. X with his foreclosure and you are willing to buy the property from him, but due to the condition of the property/declining values/etc. you are only willing to pay X amount. This is where your negotiations begin. Be firm and polite, but don't ever make threats to not buy or be forceful in your approach. Loss mitigators are often busy and overworked, and they want to see you as somebody who is minimizing the damage - and hassle - of the bad debt. Tip for Success: Larger banks are the easiest to deal with when working with short sales and foreclosures. This is because the larger banks have more resource, more experience, and more loans! While there are some larger banks that don't work with short sales at all, other banks, such as Wells Fargo or Fairbanks Capital, tend to work with a much larger volume of short sales. Once you have worked with enough short sales, you'll find that you have inside contacts at some of the larger banks; be friendly, ask them about their day, Develop a rapport. Sometimes, they'll open up about problems they're facing or current trends, which of course, you'll need to keep on top of! You don't have to be a real estate pro to see the potential for making money with short sales, and now you definitely have some great tools to get started. Great deals in real estate are out there, and with today's market, your potential for profit is limitless. Just keep in mind: do your research, market your services, and treat the homeowners and lenders with respect. When you use this approach with short sales, you can make a win-win for everybody, especially the officers at your own bank when you cash in on your profit! In the next article, we'll discuss the tricks and tips in convincing the bank to take a big discount on the short sale.

Stuck With A Zero Marketing Budget For Client Gifts?

Would you really dare to give each client a gift of $500 this Christmas? What about something worth $2000? Or maybe $5000? You think I’m joking right? I mean, here you are struggling with your 50 cent marketing budget and I’m giving you the key to your bankruptcy. At Christmas time, too! Step up to the roller coaster and you’ll find out how Marie beat the system with some simple, yet smart marketing tactics and how you can too. Yeah, just like that…Marie Ain’t No Santa Claus!Nope! She’s just like you and me.She can do the Ho! Ho! Ho bit, until she’s faced with the prospect of expensive client gifts. Oh sure she wants to revel in the spirit of giving, but her bank balance is screaming for some mouth to mouth resuscitation. And that’s something she can’t ignore.What’s Worse Is Marie’s Clients Probably Won’t Even Like The Gifts!Look at yourself. Did you really like that burgundy sweater you got last year? Or that gift basket full of calorie-ridden chocolates that made you wish you hadn’t seen them at all.Let’s face it. Murphy’s Law, kicks in bigger and bolder at this time of the year than any other. On average (and often because you’re buying gifts in bulk) you’re giving your client a gift that’s so far off the mark that you might as well throw it in your own trash can and save him the trouble. How Can Marie Play Scrooge And Santa Simultaneously?There’s one simple concept every business ignores. It’s called Spare Capacity. Hotels are never totally booked, flights are never quite packed to the gills, and by golly, most businesses like yours and mine (no matter how busy) always have some free space and time. Marie could use this factor to her advantage. If she approached my business, these are the steps she would logically follow.1-2-3, Cha, Cha, Cha (Here Are The Steps!) Step 1: It’s all in the way Marie puts it. If she simply asked me to speak to her clients, I might decline, but if she made it extremely tantalizing, I’d be only too willing. “How would you like to meet with 20 new clients, that would be very keen to do business with you?” That kind of question would get my curiosity wound up pretty quickly. She can then explain how she would be introducing me to 20 of her top clients. All I had to do was offer each of them an hour of my time. If I did a good job, I would get a whole bunch of new clients that would be quite eager to meet me. Let’s say I charge $500 for a consultation. Marie could qualify her clients well, and give them each a voucher to meet up with me. In this consultation, they would have the opportunity to throw me any of their marketing issues and I would have the chance to wow them with my fancy footwork.Step 2: Once we’re in agreement, she would create a voucher that she can give to her clients. This voucher offers them the specified time at my convenience (I only need to meet them in my free time). This voucher would offer them the benefit of some radical, unusual marketing either via the net, phone or in person. To make the deal sweeter, Marie could offer me 20 hours of her time to meet my clients.Step 3: We give these vouchers to our respective clients for Christmas. We tell them that we’ve bought them a gift that will help them tremendously in their business and that the gift is worth $500 or $2000, as the case may be. Any one of those solutions would be worth anything from $200 to $20,000, depending on what the client did with the idea.How does that compare with your $20 gift right now?Where Do You Start Looking?There are no rules. Just because you sell product, it doesn’t mean you have to do this Christmas swap with products. If you sell products like beds, start looking at chiropractors, massage therapists, interior designers. If you look around you, you will find dozens of businesses that will be more than willing to play Christmas gift if there is something in it for them. If you sell services…ditto. Look for services as well as products. Every one has spare capacity. Services are most highly valued because they’re abstract and based on the person themselves, but you can find products that are sitting in someone’s warehouse and they’d be glad for you to take them off their hands, in return for access to your top clients. Best of all, this solves the problem of the suitability of the gift. Wouldn’t a business be more excited by a highly prized service than another daily planner? Why This Concept May Not Work For YouMarie, has got to make sure that I give solid information in the consulting session to her clients. Sales pitches are a no-no. Your swap must be a REAL gift, not some shoddily disguised sales pitch. Pick your Christmas Partners carefully. A lot could go wrong here if all they’re seeing is dollar signs.The second reason why this may not work for you is sheer laziness. You might find it easier to step into a gift shop and blow $1000 on gifts for your clients. It’s easy and it beats having to knock on doors and trudge through snow or sun (depending on where you live on the planet). Hopefully You’re Not That ‘Duh!’When you give your gift, all you’re doing is trying to make your current client happy (and that’s great!). With Marie’s concept, you’re actually getting a chance to meet another 20 new clients. Say that quietly to yourself: Twenty new clients without you having to do any selling. You don’t even have to spend any advertising or marketing moolah to get them in the door. Best of all, they will actually be grateful to have you over. Does that send a chill down your spine? What if you could do this deal with three people just like Marie? Would 80 appointments be good enough for you?Are You Going To Have a great NEW YEAR Or What?No one ever told you about Santa Scrooge did they? Well, now that you know, what are you going to do about it? This rocks, my friend. Now go there and create a New Year that’s really worth big bucks in your balance sheet. If you do, the next time your banker hears Ho! Ho! Ho, he knows it’s not Santa!

Incorporating Your Business Using Three Simple Steps

Incorporating your business today is much easier than itwas 10 or even 20 years ago. Here's three steps; securing your corporate name, filing the necessary documentation and paying the necessary filing fees. You can complete these steps yourself, use an incorporation service provider or have an attorney complete them for you.When incorporating, you must first ensure that yourcorporate name is available in the state in which you wantto incorporate. Your corporate name must not be deceptivelysimilar to a name that is already in use in that state. Aname check must be performed in the state of incorporation.You must also prepare and file all the necessarydocumentation. the Articles of Incorporation, with theappropriate state agency in the state of incorporation.Additionally, you must pay all state filing fees, initialfranchise taxes and any other initial fees. Each statecharges a filing fee to form your corporation in thatstate. These state filing fees vary greatly by state. Theyrange from under $100 to over $400.Do It Yourself. Use An Incorporation Service Provider OrUse An Attorney. If you decide to incorporate on your own,you need to be well versed in the laws of the state ofincorporation. You will need to prepare and file your owndocumentation and undertake all communications with thenecessary state agencies.If you use an incorporation service company, you submit thenecessary information, and the company checks your name,prepares and files your documents and pays the initialstate filing fees on your behalf.Incorporation service companies charge a nominal servicefee on top of the state filing fees, and you can submit allthe necessary information to them over the Internet.Attorneys will also undertake all of the necessary stepsfor you. If you use an attorney to incorporate, you canexpect to pay their hourly fee on top of the state filingfees.How long this will take depends on the time the staterequires to approve and return your completed Articles ofIncorporation varies by state. On average, it takes 4-6weeks to become incorporated. Most states will allow you to expedite the filing processfor an additional charge. Expediting filings typically takeabout 1 week. Those charges also vary by state.After your corporation is formed, an organizationalmeeting of directors must be held. At this meeting bylawsare adopted, stock is issued and the incorporation processis completed. Minutes of the organizational meeting shouldbe kept in a corporate record book.Incorporation is an important step in the life of abusiness, but unfortunately the true value of incorporatinga business is often not seen until the business faces anegative situation such as a law suit or bankruptcy. Aprimary advantage of incorporation is the limited liabilitythe corporate entity affords its shareholders "The Owners". Typically, shareholders are not liable for the debts andobligations of the corporation. Creditors will not comeknocking at the door of a shareholder to pay debts of thecorporation. In a partnership or sole proprietorship theowner's personal assets may be used to pay debts of thebusiness.Other Advantages include¡è A corporation's life is not dependent upon its members.A corporation possesses the feature of unlimited life. Ifan owner dies or wishes to sell their interest thecorporation will continue to exist and do business.¡è Retirement funds and qualified retirement plans "like401k" may be set up more easily with a corporation.¡è Ownership of a corporation is easily transferable.¡è Capital can be raised more easily through the sale ofstock.¡è A corporation possesses centralized management.Corporations are not without disadvantages. The primarydisadvantage to a corporation is double taxation. Profitsof a corporation are taxed twice when the profits aredistributed to shareholders as dividends. They are taxedfirst as income to the corporation, then as income to theshareholder.All reasonable business expenses such as salaries aredeductions against corporate income and can minimize thedouble tax. Further, the double tax can be eliminated bymaking the S corporation election with the Internal RevenueService.Other Disadvantages Include¡è There is a certain level of complexity and expense offorming a corporation.¡è Corporations have extensive record keeping requirements.¡è Operating a corporation across state lines requires thecorporation to qualify to do business in the other state.Both the Limited Liability Company "LLC" and "S"corporation also provide the limited liability to theowners/shareholders of the company, without the potentialdisadvantage of double taxation. While like corporationsthese two entities also have advantages and disadvantages,it is a good idea to learn about all three when decidingwhat form your business should take.

The Art of Employee Motivation

If you think that your employees’ poor performance on their designated jobs is costing you a whole lot of loss profits, then instead of just doing a total overhaul of your employee roster, why not try to do some employee motivation tactics to get them to actually come around and be able to save your company from looming bankruptcy. It really is fairly easy and simple to rouse some employee motivation, you just have to take these techniques to heart:People nowadays are concerned of the lack of importance that is being put into health care plans. Is your company one of those companies who does not provide their employees with the health benefits that they should be entitled too? This is a possible reason why your employees’ morale are down. You need to reassess the situation and try to give them the health benefits that will ensure them that they will be protected by the company that they have been loyal even in their times of sickness. Always remember that a happy worker is a satisfied worker so make sure to use this employee motivation tool in order to give your employees morale a much needed boost.Remember, companies are usually employed with some women who will, most often than not, become mothers. So it is highly important that you know their needs especially during the time when they would want to avail of their maternity leave. It is important that your company, no matter what kind of product or service you offer, is always sensitive to your employees needs, no matter what gender. When it comes to having a good health plan for your employees, you must be sure that your health plan is actually of any good or else it would not really do any good to your employees’ morale. Make sure that the health plan will be able to cover all their basic needs and it wouldn’t really hurt if you throw in some added kicks. Basic health care plans that you can use for employee motivation actually covers the following: full coverage for any basic illness or injury, coverage of hospital payments in case the employee has to be checked in at the hospital or if there are some minor surgeries that need to be done.Added benefits to further boost employee motivation through a health care plan is through having their dental health covered as well as their optical needs, eyeglass subsidies as well as free dental cleaning and check-ups will be a good treat for your employees and will surely be a great added employee motivation move.Apart from having a good health care plan for your employee motivation tactics, you must also be able to provide for them some other additional care such as an insurance plan which they can rely on in case something bad happens to them and they are still of service to your company. Even if this employee motivation move will not be availed by the employee’s family during the time of his or her service, your employee can still choose to continue on paying for the premiums of the insurance plan even after he or she has retired from your company. Unfortunately for your employees, once they resign from a job position at you company the said insurance plan will be revoked since the company will not be able to play for your insurance premiums anymore (remember, all the payments from these employee motivation tactics will actually come from the employee’s salary). Another great employee motivation move for loyal employees of your company is to have a car loan ready for them, employees who have already served some considerable amount of years in the company should be entitled to a car plan wherein deductions from their salary will be used to pay for their vehicle of choice. This is a great employee motivation move since those who are not able to afford a car (a brand new car at that!) would actually want to continue staying in your company because of this added employee motivation benefit.From time to time, especially during special occasions, you need to be able to give your employees some added morale boost by organizing events or parties that will foster camaraderie among your employees. A little good time certainly wouldn’t hurt anyone and this will all be in the spirit of good ole’ company fun. Employee motivation directed events such as Christmas parties and company picnics are surely a welcome treat to your seemingly overworked and over fatigue employees. You must also remember to give your employees some time to unwind like providing your regular employees the benefit of having a two-week paid vacation leave. That’s the least you can do for your employees who you have held captive for the majority of the year in your office.These are really simple and easy employee motivation tactics that you can do in order to boost your employees’ morale and be able to ensure a good upkeep of your company.

Forgive All Ebay Sins!

Over the years, I have been amazed at the “blinding” greed and reckless approach to commerce that some business owners have employed. Lying to customers, selling inferior merchandise, and not offering refunds, left a firestorm of irate customers in their wake. Without fail, all of this “ill will” led most businesses to bankruptcy, and in some cases, Federal Prison.I realize that not everyone engages in “business criminality” that rises to the level of fraud and incarceration. Most people try to be good stewards, and approach their enterprise in an honest and forthright manner. For those of you who own thriving business concerns you already know that in most cases the customer is always right. You make sure that you communicate effectively, refund monies if the buyer is truly unhappy, and try to meet the needs of the people who buy your goods or services.However, there are more than a handful of Ebay sellers that are of the mind that customer service and effective communication is not something that they need not participate in. Take the case of a woman named Barbara, (Nickname: BobAnn) who recently posted her disappointment on the Ryze Business Network:Quote:Barbara Cerda wrote:Greetings Everyone,“When will sellers on Ebay understand that customer service is key? And when will Ebay sellers learn using customer friendly approaches can only make their business grow?” Again today I've bought from a less than friendly seller. Thought I was placing a bid and instead bought the item at the buy now price. Of course the seller refused to allow the retraction, nor was I allowed to place a bid. I always pay for my winning bids immediately upon email confirmation. And did so in this case. But it would have been customer friendlier for this seller to accept my retraction to be replaced with a bid. He would have gotten repeat business from me and my friends. His "Buy Now" price is 30% over the retail price for this item. Lesson learned by me again - that there are way too many sellers on Ebay out to grab a buck and the hell with fair practice. Lesson learned yet again.”BobAnn End quote…The operative phrase here is “repeat business from me and my friends”. There is no better endorsement of your product or service than word of mouth advertising. Lack of flexibility on the part of the seller, not only cost them one customer, but also destroyed the possibility for future business. Good news travels fast, but bad news travels faster!As an auction seller, (Ebay auction ID: LevelBest77) I would have accommodated her request right away. And while I have never had anyone use “Buy It Now” by accident, I have had several people over the years ask me to retract bids. The number of people who have made that request can be counted on one hand! Some, did not even understand the process, (bid retracting) and I was more than willing to guide them through it.People make honest mistakes, and you should never “abuse” a buyer for doing so. If you plan to get into Ebay auction selling for the long haul, always practice good will toward your customers. Unless someone is totally unreasonable, and you have done everything in your power to accommodate their request, never deny people the ability to change their mind, return an item, or retract a bid! Developing good will also requires that you anticipate customer needs…..For instance, I had a few overseas customers bid on a wireless router. This particular item needed to be powered with a Universal Adapter, since voltage requirements in France and Australia are obviously different from those here in the United States. I made this abundantly clear to both bidders before they sent me any payment. The purchase of such an adapter, not to mention the shipping price, would have doubled the US retail cost. I told them that they could probably get the product cheaper at their local electronics stores. Without hesitation, I let them out of their obligation to pay for the item. I then contacted the next highest bidder and offered that person the chance to make the purchase. Both bidders thanked me for my honesty. They had forgotten about the electrical differences. I could have ignored that little detail, and sold them the item anyway. I just had to put myself in their situation. Think of how frustrated they would have been if I did not reveal that information. Buyer’s remorse would have set in quickly, once they realized that they could have purchased the same item for a lot less in their native countries. While the benefits of these actions may not have an immediate effect, you can be sure that should I ever have another “item of interest!” these two gentlemen would not hesitate to purchase from me. They can count on me to accommodate their needs, instead of catering to my wants. Creating this type of good will instills trust, and the knowledge that you have the customers best interest in mind.“Me thinketh thou doth protest too much!Do you accentuate the positive? Or, do you run on negativity? Negative Ebay feedback is a tool that everyone should use with restraint, or not at all. As a rule, I never leave negative feedback. Unless someone has blatantly lied about your product, or attacked you personally without merit, then I would not leave any feedback in the “minus” side of the isle! “Flame” wars are not pretty. I have seen a lot of unnecessary back and forth “banter” that could have been avoided, if they (the seller) just resisted the urge to make their “two cents” known. Sometimes it gives customers the impression that you are more concerned about arguing, then conducting your business. I have also witnessed seller feedback that has included some pretty foul language. Engaging in this type of verbal sparring is not much of a confidence builder either. It is more telling of what you are, then about revealing the sins of your customers. Don’t go out of your way to register a negative response if you can help it. Heed the sage advice that our Mother’s use to tell us: “If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all!”“What we have here is a failure to communicate!”Communication with your customers should not amount to the sound one hand clapping! Bottom line, if someone e-mails you with a question--answer it! Here is an example of the type of feedback I obtained by doing just that……“He was very Helpful and cooperative in answering questions. Follow-up: Will DEFINITELY use his services anytime he has items of interest! Great Seller!”The gentlemen who left this positive review, wanted to know about some of the particulars of a “Mickey Mouse” clock I had up for auction. His wife is a collector of all things Disney, and thought it would be a nice surprise for her birthday. The clock, to say the least, was in sad shape. It was incapable of keeping time, and the only part of it in working order was the second hand. I thought for sure that he would be disappointed with the item despite full disclosure of all of it’s imperfections.To my surprise, not only did I receive positive feedback, but he also told me that his wife absolutely loved it! In this instance, one man’s junk, truly, is another man’s treasure! I never thought this item was worthy of any praise! The time it took to answer his questions—all of five minutes! I know that some of you will say that I am not being realistic. You just can’t answer e-mails all day; “I have a business to run!,” you might proclaim. If you plan on making a living on Ebay, then you better think about hiring someone to help you answer your daily inquires if it is just too overwhelming. If you specialize in a particular product, set up a Frequently Asked Questions page to any Auto-Responder.If you use Ebay on an infrequent basis, and have less than thirty listings a month, then you really don't have any excuse not to provide great customer service and e-mail communication. You shouldn’t be inundated with questions regarding that many items, unless the product you are selling is technical in nature. If you ignore your customers, they will go away. Good customer service should be woven into the fabric of every good business. I cannot overemphasis the importance of this issue. I continue to be perplexed by the fact that it is last on the list of business priorities for some Ebay sellers!Will good customer service and communication alone make you rich on Ebay? That would be a resounding "no”. You will have to understand your market, and provide products that the Ebay community will bid on consistently. There will be “bidders & buyers” out there that will make mistakes and commit some auction sins! Forgive all Ebay sins and you will be rewarded with happy, repeat customers!

MLM Success Training: Why Some People Become Wealthy in Network Marketing and Others Don’t.

Regardless of whether you watch the Oprah Winfrey show or not, the story of her success is fascinating. You can't say where she is today is the result of any special advantages she had growing up. In fact, she came from a broken family and she was abused as a child. She's also African-American and a woman, so discrimination was likely a factor that counted against her somewhere along the way.So why is she now worth a billion dollars while many Harvard-educated, white males who grew up with every advantage only make a comfortable living?Ever wonder why success seems to come easily for some people while others struggle at everything they do? What makes the difference?Success in Multi-Level Marketing (MLM), Network Marketing, or anything else in life is predictable and can be duplicated by following time-tested principles that all millionaires use.In fact, if you don't receive training in these principles of wealth, you can NEVER have it in your life. At least not for long. If you do somehow become wealthy in MLM without learning these principles, you won't keep it.Want proof? Just look at people who have won the lottery:- William "Bud" Post won $16.2 million in the Pennsylvania lottery in 1988. Now he lives on his Social Security and food stamps which amounts to $450 a month. - Ken Proxmire was a machinist when he won $1 million in the Michigan lottery. He moved to California and went into the car business with his brothers and he filed for bankruptcy within five years. - Suzanne Mullins won $4.2 million in the Virginia lottery in 1993. Today she's deeply in debt to a company that loaned her money using the winnings as collateral.- "Winning the lottery isn't always what it's cracked up to be," says Evelyn Adams. She won the New Jersey lottery not just once, but twice (1985, 1986), in an amount of $5.4 million. Today she lives in a trailer and all the money is gone.- Janite Lee from Missouri won $18 million in 1993. She generously gave her money to a variety of causes including politics, education and the community. According to published reports, eight years after winning, Lee had filed for bankruptcy with only $700 left in two bank accounts and no cash on hand.- Willie Hurt of Lansing, Mich., won $3.1 million in 1989 and two years later he was broke and charged with murder. His lawyer says he spent his fortune on a divorce and cocaine.- Charles Riddle of Belleville, Mich., won $1 million in 1975. Later he got divorced, faced several lawsuits and was indicted for selling cocaine. People have a "financial thermostat" and just like the thermostat that controls the heating or cooling in your house, your thermostat is currently set for the amount of money you have. If you somehow receive more money from your MLM business than your financial thermostat is set for, like the lottery winners above, you'll waste it away until you are back to your set level. If you want more money from your Network Marketing business, or you want to keep the money you are receiving, you have to raise your financial thermostat. It's that simple.How do you raise your thermostat? By learning and practicing the principles of wealth. All self-made millionaires live by these principles.If you're not currently having MLM success, it's likely because you aren't applying the same principles that Oprah and all other billionaires and millionaires apply to achieve their success. All that's standing in the way between you and success is the application of these general principles. So where do you learn these success principles?The best place is directly from people who understand the principles and have had success using them. There's no quicker way to get where you want to go than to find a mentor to guide you along your way. The person you want is someone who is currently where you want to be, and is willing to teach you the wealth principles. Of course, not all successful people fully understand these principles even though they naturally apply them.Another good way to learn the principles of wealth is through the greatest success book of all time, Napoleon Hill’s Think and Grow Rich. The principles you need to understand are in this book. You'll need to do some work to uncover them, understand them, and put them into practice, but they are in the book.Napoleon Hill’s Think and Grow Rich is all about using the same resources that millionaires use to get the same results as them.If you are not experiencing the kind of financial success you desire, perhaps all you need is a little MLM success training from a mentor or by learning and practicing the principles in Think and Grow Rich. Sometimes all it takes is few subtle shifts in your thought processes to create a GIANT difference in your results!

Improving Your Financial Situation With Investments and Business Ideas

With financial information and virtual business transactions just a click away, people are finding themselves more financially savvy and in the know on how to fatten up their financial portfolios. While most people rely on banks and properties to secure their retirement days, others who are smart enough and worldly enough with the affairs of the green buck opt for more lucrative financing opportunities. They do not just let their money sit idly inside a bank vault and wait for the interest to add up. A few actually roll their money and invest them in the high stakes of stocks, bonds and currency. Stocks can be very risky but if you start small and give yourself time to get the hang of it, you may enjoy it and may even discover that you have the gift of foresight. Watch for stocks that are just on the rise. These are often companies that are very promising. Their value will still be relatively small compared to blue chips so you really don’t have to shell out much. If you want to risk more, you can actually buy blue chips or those stocks that established companies offer to the public. Examples are Microsoft and Dell.Bonds on the other hand may have modest returns but they are probably the best and most secure of financial investments. Bonds come highly recommended and should not be absent in any financial portfolio. Currencies are trickier to deal with as their value are affected by so many forces, local or within the country involved, regional and global. Though banks also offer currencies, most have high exchange rates. Others just buy but they do not sell, choosing to keep the currencies within the financing institution.Debt is perhaps the single worst thing that you can do to damage your financial portfolio. Do not get the wrong idea, debt can be good when used the right way. In fact, successful businessmen have debts too. This is because they have their money tied up in other ventures that have a higher return of investments than the interest of the loans. After all, you cannot make money without having some money to begin with. So, if you feel that you can yield more money using the money that you got from a loan, then by all means, get a loan!What should be avoided are debts that come from credit cards. Credit cards hold the highest interest rates in debts perhaps because the whole debt business is risky. Getting into deep credit card debt can mean paying a lifetime for the interest without even touching the principal. It is important that when you use the credit card, make sure that you pay on time and that you pay for the whole amount. Otherwise, you would find yourself slowly falling into a financial trap. It will be risky but the fastest way you can earn big money is to venture on a business. Even something as small as operating a cafeteria in a factory or school or engage in buying and selling of goods over the Internet, can be a great start. With the advent of technology, it is even easier now than before, not to mention faster, to conduct financing and business transactions. You don’t even have to meet face to face. You just have to learn to communicate through emails and mobile phones.This is not intended to give financial advice and professional advice is suggested before investing.

Is Cold Calling Dead?

And if laws are being passed to put it to rest once and for all, how do we generate business from now on?Opinions on the subject vary greatly depending on the background of the individual. For example, most of the old-timers are vigilant in preaching their belief that the only possible way to succeed in the world of selling is to make no less than fifty calls each and every day. On the other hand, younger salespeople tend to become frustrated with this rather quickly and begin looking for more innovative ways to generate business.I was just reminded of how ingrained this cold calling belief is. I spoke with a friend who left a sales position with a major merchant processing bank only a few weeks after starting. The reason? He was required to make a minimum of 400 cold calls each and every week and to document his activity with business cards. He is highly experienced and knows how to generate business without knocking on 400 doors per week and decided to discuss the strategies that have worked for him in the past with his managers. Their response? This is how we've done it for forty years and we're not about to change.That response, in my opinion, is the reason we're seeing record business bankruptcies today. The world and our economy have changed and are breaking into bold, unchartered territory. But the management of most business organizations insists on doing things the old way, even though the old way produces less and less results as time goes on.The concept of "Permission Marketing" is slowly but surely gaining popularity as the old idea of "Interruption Marketing" becomes less efficient and more wasteful. There are several reasons why cold calling in particular has become less effective as we move further into the Information Age. It destroys your status as a business equal. It forces you to spend time with unqualified prospects while the qualified ones are buying from your competition. It annoys people and is increasingly considered to be rude and disrespectful. Moreover, it may now be illegal (and in several states it's been illegal for quite some time). But, most importantly, it destroys sales peoples attitudes.Where is the good news in all of this? Well, the great news is that if you begin using new, innovative, "Information Age" methods for prospecting, you'll be miles ahead of your competitors who are wasting their time annoying people with cold calls. In this age of the Internet and vast communication networks, why on earth would anyone knock on doors or make cold phone calls to look for business?Think of the power at your fingertips: there are literally dozens of ways to use the Web and e-mail to let the idea of Permission Marketing do its magic. Allow customers to raise their hands and let you know they're interested. Begin finding, implementing and reaping the benefits of this bold, new Information Age we are in. Your competitors will be the ones standing in bankruptcy court and explaining their "do-not-call" violations to the government while you are happily taking orders.

Bottleneck-oriented Business Management

Simple and effective Business Management In every enterprise there are, at every time, one or more bottlenecks, which have influence to the commercial situation. Bottleneck-oriented business management has the purpose to early track the bottlenecks and to remove them, to allow an optimum of commercial development. To know at any time, what a business lacks of and to be able to add the missing things, is today a determining competition advantage. Bottlenecks can be, e.g.: low sales proceeds high due or overdue accounts receivables low liquidity (Cash on Hand, etc.) high amount of liabilities low number of customers too many new customers too high capacity utilization defective administration or management and a lot more. These example show that bottlenecks not only concern negative circumstances, but also can apply to positive commercial development. If an enterprise takes up many new customers, this results in new orders, which lead to other circumstances, like a possible excess in capacity utilization. In case the excess of capacity utilization stays for a longer time, this may result in a lower employee motivation, because of a slump in working atmosphere within the company, which then could lead to less qualtiy of the work performed. Due to a TIMELY reporting system many companies take care of reaching the desired commercial development. However, a regular analysis of expenses or the annual reports are not enough to control a business today. In the today's dynamic markets these evaluations are too statical, too much oriented on the past commercial development, which had been achieved. Also cost accounting only shows what has happened in the past. The actual direction in which a business is running could not be seen. Imagine a business to be a car. If you sat down in a car, do you like to receive information from the instruments from the last year or month? Probably not. You would like to have actual information about fuel tank content, coolant temperature and a lot more. Bottleneck-oriented business management should exactly bring the most important and actual information about a business to you, including so-called early warning signals (Screenshot abenetis ERS-Diagram). Data oriented to the past for early-warning-systems? A working early-warning-system needs data which are not oriented to the past, like from cost accounting or year-/month-end-closeings. It needs data from so-called early indicators, which has to be gathered from different areas of an enterprise. Of course, figures from the finance and accounting department belong into an early-warning-system, but they only have a subordinated role, because they are oriented to the past. Nowadays the reporting must show the present situation of a business. In many businesses the expenditure of time for the reporting rose considerably, due to the today's flood of information. Aggravatingly added to this, is the selection of the really relevant business ratios, which allow an appropriate overview of the actual business situation. Too often reports are prepared, which are not perceived by anybody, due to the lack of necessary statements about the business development. There are already proven business-ratio-systems, that enterprises only need to take over. Get back into the car again, imagine you have only one instrument in front of you, which shows the value "35". What does this signify? It is not recognizable how many fuel exists, how the Temperature of the coolant is or how fast the car is driving, etc. At this example you could recognize the little expressiveness of only one business ratio. It shows the importance to use the right business ratios, which must have a connection to each other and which have a different temporal origin. Nevertheless, many business ratio systems are mostly based on data which originate from the past. This turns often to the problem, that immediate information are not available, to indicate the actual situation of a business. However, there is still the alternative, to reduce the period of the past. How would it be with one week instead of analysing business data every 4 weeks? This would lead to the fact that you could act a few weeks earlier, if something should run a little bit inclinedly. Only very few data are needed to receive an informative evaluation. This again is comparably with a car. If you are driving with your car, you only receive a small, well-chosen number of information and nevertheless, have an actual picture of the situation. This is also possible for businesses, as well! As a motorist we receive only one fraction of the data which is acquired by the system of the car, and just these fraction of information is enough for us to reach the desired destination. When traveling usually we are well prepared, but the principle of the preparations is often neglected in business operation. As it is with traveling, the final goal has to be clearly stated by the business management. This could be done by having planing data available. Only by target/actual comparison divergences of the commercial development will be recognized. Unfortunately, many small businesses renounce to use plan data. Besides, it is not about, to cut plan data into the smallest pieces, but only to get a rough picture, what the business is going to achieve. It is absolutely possible to run a business on the basis of the figures from the previous year, however, to use these figures, the past commercial development should be taken into consideration. So the figures from the previous year should be improved to fit with the new goals. And finished are the planning data and the basis for an operational risk management are laid. Still if it is most important to know the actual bottlenecks in business operation. Recognize problems and act! One of the most important factors in business management is the early recognition of problems and potentials. There are bottlenecks in every business, which could have serious results. Pecuniary difficulties could lead to bankruptcy for example. Therefore symptoms must be recognized early, in order to turn a possible crisis away and to secure the future of your business. Also to use available potentials, regular analyses should be done. Nowadays products and services could not be sold forever, because product cycles become shorter and shorter due to market dynamism. The recognition and development of potentials is exceptionally important, to avoid losing the already achieved basis of a business.

MORAL ARMOR'S Economic Warning for Americans

For years we’ve suffered under recession, prompting us to ask, When will it end? My answer is, “It’s only the beginning.”Historically, recessions are the result of high interest rates, pushed up as the result of loose money policies. Recovery comes when citizens begin to spend more wisely, save money and pay off their debts, but not this time. Never before have credit policies been so loose for so long, and there has been no decrease in consumer debt. It’s still on the rise, but Americans are NOT fundamentally to blame; immoral monetary policy is.Banks used to consider a safe loan applicant to have a 36% or less Debt to Income Ratio (debt divided by gross income). This percentage is a time-proven figure indicating the financial health of an individual. Now, during the worst economy in twenty years and with no signs of recovery, our banks gladly loan to applicants with a 56% Debt to Income. What has changed? Are banks suddenly more generous? I don’t think so. One good question to ask is, Why are banks willing to accept the additional risk? But the real question to ask is, Where is this money coming from?Not one in a thousand Americans knows the true nature of our banking system, so they have no idea that what happened in 1929 is about to happen again. Nor do they know that it was done deliberately then, and is being done deliberately now. We have in this country one of the most corrupt institutions known to Man, and I refer to the Federal Reserve. Since it’s inception in 1913, every dollar created has interest being paid on it as if it were borrowed. This debt cannot be extinguished without destroying the currency itself, and has spawned a nightmare of debt that presently amounts to over $360 Billion in interest paid per year, accounting for half the personal income tax of the nation. Due to this, America is forced to create $7 Billion daily to cover the $1 Billion it pays in interest daily due to the Federal Reserve System. This is where the public comes in.Federal Reserve bankers have to find a way to spend $6 Billion every day while masking the inflation it causes. Throughout the nineties it was done through real estate and the stock market. Now it is almost exclusively being put into real estate. How on Earth could so many mortgage companies be offering interest only, no money down, multi-hundred thousand or million dollar loans with high applicant debt ratios?Here is a hypothetical example of what’s going to happen: Your mortgage banker tells you that with a 56% debt ratio, you can afford a $300,000 home, no money down. You secure the loan at 4%, costing $1432 per month. A few years later, you’re thrown out of work for three months. Back payments amount to $4296 plus late fees, legal fees, etc., and another $5k on cars, credit cards and everything else. Unable to catch up, you’ll try to refinance, but interest rates have moved up to 7%. A $310,000 loan now costs $2062 per month—more than you can afford, but banks will have tightened lending policies back to 36% and you no longer qualify for the home you own anyway. Accounting for all other debt, you now qualify for a shocking $360 per month. You are trapped, and the new bankruptcy laws they pushed for will never let you walk away.You owned this home in a perfect numbers scenario, but any complications—unemployment, salary reduction, interest rate increase, debt ratio change, bruised credit rating, depressed home values--and you’re cooked. One mishap and every financial measure works against you. Your financial angel has suddenly become your greatest enemy. Welcome to the Federal Reserve System and their freshly engineered worldwide depression.If you were to approach the housing market fresh, you would find that you only qualify for a $55k house now, along with the market of buyers you were hoping to unload your balloon-house on. The bank forecloses, auctions it off and you’re personally responsible for the difference, which could be massive. Bankruptcy is right around the corner, and deplorably, you are the only one who will be held accountable. You will then be a debt slave as the Federal Reserve intends, and game over.My advice is to get as financially stable as you can. Mathematically, our situation is much worse than that of the Great Depression. No matter how generous these bankers appear, pare down monthly outlays to 36% D/I or less. Set aside three to six months of mortgage payments in case you become unemployed. Make sure you can ride out the storm.We are coming to a point in American society to where it’s either them or us, and mass awareness is the key to our survival. Most believe the Federal Reserve is a part of the government, but it’s just a name. The Fed is a private corporation set up for private gain, with a dark history of stock market crashes, financial panics, political manipulation and ultimately, mass poverty and hunger riots. Our struggle is not new: currency control has switched from public to private hands EIGHT times since our country’s inception, and needs to be reclaimed by the people, one last time.Don’t think you can play helpless and expect our political leaders to protect you from financial calamity; they never have. You must become Morally Armed on your own. Don’t be coaxed into believing the system is optimized for the good of all. The Federal Reserve System is not an equitable institution, and it was never intended to be. They believe if they have us strung out on debt, we are no threat to them. Let us prove otherwise.Currency reform is the most important issue facing Americans today. How it plays out will determine whether you and your children eat or not, whether you have a place to live or even a future to look forward to. The major media will ridicule anyone speaking against the Fed, so to validate history’s greatest moral dilemma for yourself, just google “Jackson bank veto.” America must abolish the Federal Reserve System to regain control over the economy and our government. For a concise history of world monetary policy and how it shapes world events, see Moral Armor. Then share this knowledge with your friends. Email this article to everyone in your address book and stay tuned for further developments. We’ll change the system together and bring a brighter dawn to Mankind.

How to Cut Credit Card Debt

Most Americans have too much credit card debt. Duh, we've all heard that before, right? Only now its gotten a bit personal... right again? You personally have too much credit card debt and its about to drive you crazy.Well there IS hope so don't file those bankruptcy papers just yet. One major thing you have to keep in mind is your creditor is probably very willing to work with you. Its in their best interest to have you making some payment versus no payment. So here are a couple points to help you deal with your credit card debt.The first thing you have to do is simply contact your creditor and let them know your situation. Ask for a lower interest rate or a repayment plan. You might not have thought of it because you're just naturally so polite but its a very good strategy to be courteous at all times when negotiating with your creditor. Polite, but firm. Come across as one who knows what you're asking for and expect to get it. If you're not sure what you're asking for in the first place you might consider a reputable credit counseling service. There's a lot of great, honest organizations out there whose mission is to help you work things out with your creditors.Next you've GOT to stop using your cards. Cut them up, freeze them in a tub of water, whatever you need to do to get them out of your wallet or purse, do it! You simply can't keep adding to the problem by running the debt upany higher. This is actually one of the hardest parts of cutting your credit card debt. Its like you're addicted to spending money you don't have. So go cold turkey and drop the habit.Start paying the ones with the highest interest rate first and work from there. How do you do that? Concentrate on those high interest rate cards by paying more than the minimum balance each month. The minimum is just designed to keep you on the hook longer anyway. The credit card companies are in this business to make a profit and want to have you paying them for years to come. Even a little extra each month makes a big difference in the long run.Lastly, keep your chin up and have a good attitude. Millions of folks just like you have begun to cut their credit card debt by following the common sense steps outlined above. You can do it too. Good luck.

The Importance of Personal Background Checks

The purpose of personal background checks is to get a feel for the applicant’s character. Personal and professional references are a good starting point, however, experts in the investigative field caution employers on using this method solely. Prospective employees are obviously going to give references of people whom they trust will provide a good character reference for them. Those references may not necessarily be fabricating information regarding the applicant; they simply may not know pertinent information about him or her. Another method employer’s use is obtaining a credit report on the prospective employee. While privacy advocates argue the necessity in reviewing credit reports, many employers find them to be full of important information. An employer can determine what types of credit accounts the applicant has open and their history of paying bills on time. For some employers, this is a good indicator of how responsible of an employee he or she will be. Employers also may draw a correlation between credit history, job performance and employee retention. Though these conclusions are heatedly debated, according to the Fair Credit Reporting Act, employers do have the right to investigate much of a person’s credit history as a pre-employment tool. Credit reports also contain pertinent job and address information. Some employers and private investigation firms use credit reports as a means of cross-referencing information supplied on the employment application. Though credit reports contain much needed personal information, they should be used in conjunction with other personal background check methods in order to have a well-rounded view of the applicant’s character and ability to perform the job duties. This type of consumer report also contains information that may be valuable, although legally questionable, to the employer. Age and marital status are data that are often reported. Employers should already be familiar with privacy and equal opportunity legislation and be careful not to discriminate on the basis of these facts. The purpose of performing personal background checks is to ensure the safety and security of the company and violating Federal laws is out of the question.Identity theft, criminal prosecutions, outstanding debt and bankruptcies are all examples of information that can be acquired through a personal background check. As an employer, it is your responsibility to only gather what information you need; information gathered should be directly related to the safety and quality of the company and more specifically, the job performed. For example, if a company needs to hire a receptionist, it might not be necessary to know whether or not he or she has filed bankruptcy recently. Other than using that as a tool to judge character, some information gathered through personal background checks may not be relevant to the position.If an employer should require a more extensive background check, things such as who someone has dated, use of alcohol or drugs or personal lifestyle can also be obtained. Usually when a firm investigates a person’s background, they may interview neighbors, friends, associated, former co-workers and others to gain a picture of the person as a whole. Some of the information may be of interest to the employer and some may be irrelevant. It is important when hiring an investigator, to let them know specific information you are looking for. When investigating a prospective employee’s background, it is vitally important to be honest about your intentions. Federal law requires employers to provide separate consent forms for each type of investigation to be conducted; it is also good business practice to be forthcoming about these matters. Background checks on employee’s can save companies money by avoiding potential lawsuits, theft, and costly employee retention. It is usually best to outsource the work to a private firm, if the information is very detailed. For some employers, searching at the local or state level is much more cost-effective and may produce the results they need without outsourcing.

Do You Need Bad Credit Help

Are you one of thousands with nocredit and no collateral to help secure approval, or you justhave extremely bad credit and no one wants to help you, and allyou hear is stories and more stories?Bad credit is a term used to describe a poor credit rating.Common practices that can damage a credit rating include makinglate payments, skipping payments, exceeding card limits ordeclaring bankruptcy. Bad Credit can result in being deniedcredit. Bad credit can result in a negative rating from the creditreporting agencies. Many factors can contribute to someonegetting a "bad credit" rating, among these are non-payment of anaccount or late payments over an extended length of time.Whether non-payment of an account is willful or due to financialhardship, the result can be the same, a negative rating whichwill result in a low credit score. However, lenders are morewilling to work with individuals if the person contacts thelender to let them know they are having problems meeting theircommitment to pay. 100% Online Debt Relief! No Phone Calls! Youmust have at least $2,500 of total debt over two or moreaccounts to qualify for our Help. Name, email, and Zip Code arerequired. US Residents only. No phone call required - allcustomer interaction is done online!Christian Debt Consolidation Services Professional DebtConsolidation with a Christian perspective. Lower monthlypayments. Reduce or Eliminate High interest rates. Apply now fora FREE NO-OBLIGATION QUOTE!Fast Loans Online by DrCredit We are currently able to provideauto loans, mortgage loans, debt counseling, home equity,refinance loans, debt consolidation loans, personal loans andmuch more...A credit score is defined as a statistical method of assessingan applicant's credit worthiness. An applicant's credit cardhistory; amount of outstanding debt; the type of credit used;negative information such as bankruptcies or late payments;collection accounts and judgments; too little credit history,and too many credit lines with the maximum amount borrowed areall included in credit-scoring models to determine the creditscore.Raising your credit score is possible. It's a well known factthat lenders will give people with higher credit scores lowerinterest rates on mortgages, car loans and credit cards. If yourcredit score falls under 620 just getting loans and credit cardswith reasonable terms is difficult.Here are five things that you can use to raise credit score.1. Correct obvious mistakes.Your credit score is what shows up in your credit report. Reviewyour reports from all three credit bureaus for accuracy once ayear as well as several months before applying for a loan.Changing a mistake on your report can take 30 days to threemonths, or more. Get Your credit report from the three majorbureaus: Experian, Trans Union and Equifax. 2. Pay Your Bills On TimeYour payment history makes up 35% of your total credit score.Your recent payment history will carry much more weight thanwhat happened five years ago. Missing just one payment on anything can knock 50 to 100 pointsoff of your credit score. Paying your bills on time is the best way to get startedrebuilding your credit rating and raising your credit score. 3. Reduce your credit card balances.A heavily weighted factor in your FICO score is how much moneyyou owe on your credit cards relative to your total creditlimit. Generally, it's good to keep your balances at or below 25percent of your credit card limit, said Jeanne Kelly, founder ofThe Kelly Group in Brookfield, Conn., which helps clientsimprove their credit scores.4. Don’t Close Old AccountsIn the past people were told to close old accounts they weren’tusing. But with today's current scoring methods that couldactually hurt your credit score. Closing old or paid off credit accounts lowers the total creditavailable to you and makes any balances you have appear largerin credit score calculations. Closing your oldest accounts canactually shorten the length of your credit history and to alender it makes you less credit worthy. If you are trying to minimize identity theft and it's worth thepeace of mind for you to close your old or paid off accounts,the good news is it will only lower you score a minimal amount.But just by keeping those old accounts open you can raise creditscore for you.5. Avoid BankruptcyBankruptcy is the single worst thing you can do to your creditscore. Bankruptcy will lower your credit score by 200 points ormore and is very difficult to come back from. Once your credit score falls below 620, any loan you get will befar more expensive. A bankruptcy on your credit record isreported for up to 10 years. The reality of a bankruptcy is it will limit you tohigh-interest lenders that will squeeze out high interest ratepayments from you for years. It is better to get credit counseling to help you with yourbills and avoid bankruptcy at all costs. By getting creditcounseling instead of declaring bankruptcy you can raise creditscore over a much shorter period of time.

Bankruptcy 101

Bankruptcy’ the term that can raise the goose bumps of almost every individual who hears it and even a nervous breakdown to those who confront it. Bankruptcy stands for the situation when a person runs into huge debts and there is hardly any money left with him to repay those debts. The clouds of bankrupt situation can hover over anybody’s life be it a successful business man who has never ever fathomed it or any greenhorn entrepreneur who had thought of going a long way ahead. There are several reasons behind this insolvency-Indebtedness-people usually take big loans from the banks and private companies in order to run successfully their business or company. However, since the economy is constantly fluctuating, one might not be able to incur expected results or profits. So, the loan debt with interest rates gets piling on. The loan can also be taken to pay off a bill that you missed paying. The loan is taken instantly in this case without an assessment of the interest rates. This can be cause snags later.The credit card bills are also a source of trouble. They are charged with good interest and at the end of the month when the expenditure has chewed your month’s income; the credit card bill can make you bite the dust. In the world today where fraud and betrayals are considered to be the bets virtues, any partner or shareholder or director might connive to pitch the company or business to bankruptcy. Here the reasons can be mutual squabbles and vengeance.Gradual denouncement from the market- the commodity you sell today at price X, may be sold tomorrow by some other company at a much cheaper price Y. This can oust or eject your product from the market replacing it with a relatively cheaper one. However, where there is a will, there is definitely a way. Just as there are two sides of a coin, there are two aspects attached to everything. When you glare at the negative side of the situation, its positive aspect is lurking behind according to which bankruptcy can be seen a situation that provides you a golden chance to start things afresh. This is done by filing your application for bankruptcy, in a way seeking help from the government to help you overcome the disaster. Once you forward your application and it is accepted, the government repays most of your debts. This becomes possible by taking hold of your assets and dividing them amongst the creditors in an organized manner. But the debts that are associated with embezzlement or those huge ones that cannot be covered up via one’s assets can be problematic. In case of businesses filing for bankruptcy, certain procedure has to be followed up. Besides this there are a few debt consolidation services that advertise themselves through television, print media etc. Debt consolidation signifies using a loan provided by that service to repay other debts. This loan is comparatively at a lower rate of interest and it often becomes easier for many to repay one loan instead of five to six ones. In any case, if you are seeking financial aid from the government, banks, services etc., there stands the barrier of qualification. It is that you should be able to prove the service or the bank that your case is authentic and not a fraud. In order to escape future troubles, the government has formulated strict laws and eligibility criterion in this area. However, in any case it is better to seek the advice of an advisor before seeking help to make up your crisis. This will not just educate you about all the related terms and conditions but also the possible legal and financial consequences. Just keep in mind that help always comes to those who are look for it with a true heart.

Multiple Clients Create Your Independent Business

Would you rather have one good client paying you fivethousand dollars per month or ten smaller clients payingyou five hundred dollars each per month? Here are two good reasons for choosing multiple clients over just one client.1. Avoid Dependence on One Client Don't put all your eggs in one basket. If you have only one major client and lose them, you have zero income overnight.Knowing that they are your sole (or main) source of income,some clients will make some unfair, unreasonable demands of you. They can get away with it because they know you are in a very poor bargaining position.You could also end up losing a good client for reasons beyond your (or even their) control. Bankruptcy, sale or bequest of the business to someone else, or a new manager who has made other arrangements are just a few ways you can lose such a client. You are much better off to have several clients. If you lose a client that represents ten percent of your income, you still have ninety percent of your income left. 2. Clarify Your Self-Employed StatusSelf-employment status has certain tax advantages over being employed. Although there are other factors to consider in making this determination, the more clients you have, the less likely that you will be classified by the tax authorities as being an employee.For example, if you do all your work for one client at hisoffice, a good case could be made that you are his employee.If you work for two different clients at their offices (or even your own), a case could be made that you have two different part-time jobs.On the other hand, if you have a hundred different clientsyou work for, it is unlikely that anyone would argue thatyou have one hundred part-time jobs. So, to avoid dependence on any one client and to clarify your self-employed tax status, choose several clients over just one or two clients. For increased success and to be a truly independent business, obtain multiple clients.

Corporate Shells

A corporate shell could be liken to a house that had been occupied by a family, prior to the family moving out it was a home. But now it is just shell, a skeleton a plain house with nobody in it, but if a family was to purchase the house and moves in, it becomes a home.Similar, a corporate shell was once the home of an operating company but once the operating company ceases to reside there because of adverse circumstances ( bankruptcy or liquidation ) all that remains is the shell.Buying and selling corporate shells has become big business, just a couple of years ago a corporate shell sold for approximately $150,000.00 today they go for upward of $500.000.00. Talk about inflation! The increase in price is due to increase scrutiny by the Securities and exchange commission and the demand for shell by Chinese companies seeking to become listed in the United States.As usual when there is money to be made the vultures appear with their unscrupulous practices. In most cases the shells are own by the same operators who are also acting as consultants to the companies they are helping to become public. This may be a conflict of interest but they are able to hide their ownership well with the help of securities lawyer who may also have a piece of the shell.The situation described above creates a huge conflict of interest that the regulators have yet to figure out because of the intricacy of the many participant who work in harmony and are able to conceal their actions from the regulators.If the consultant indirectly own a shell and is trying to sell it to the company that they are advising, how well is he going to represent the client when it comes to price and the amount of shares that they are to Retain? And how about with assisting the company in performing the proper research on the shareholder list and the history of the shell.Don’t get me wrong there are many honest and well meaning consultants and shell vendors who established the shells for the sole purpose of creating a vehicle for private companies to go public, Just like you have the unscrupulous characters that appear every time there is an opportunity to make money, you also have honest enterprising individual who see an opportunity and take advantage of it.Once the operating company purchases the corporate shell and merges into it, the owner of the private company receives a majority of the shell corporation stock (usually 90-95% ) through a new issue of stock for the private enterprise.The public corporation will normally change its name to the private company’s name and elect a new Board of Directors which will appoint the officers of the company. The public corporation will usually have a base of shareholders sufficient to meet the requirements for listing on the Nasdaq Small Cap Market of Nasdaq Bulletin Board. Although some shell have as few as 35-50 shareholders and are currently listed on Bulletin Board or the NQB pink sheets.At our company we don’t have an inventory of shells nor do we recommend a single vendor, instead we recommend several and after the private company selects a vendor we approach the process as if we were buying the shell for ourselves.

Consumer AdviceWhat is identity theft?

Identity theft occurs when someone uses your personal information without your knowledge or consent to commit a crime, such as fraud or theft. Once they steal the information and manipulate it, identity thieves can invade your personal and financial life. They can use stolen identities to conduct spending sprees, open new bank accounts, divert mail, apply for loans, credit cards, and social benefits, rent apartments and even commit more serious crimes which, once arrested, they pin on their new identity.
ID thieves get your personal information by: • Stealing personal and private information from wallets, purses, mail, your home, vehicle, computer, and Web sites you've visited or e-mails you've sent. • Retrieving personal information in your garbage or recycling bin by "dumpster diving". • Posing as a creditor, landlord or employer to get a copy of your credit report. • Tampering with ATM and terminals at stores, which enables thieves to read your debit or credit card number and PIN. • Buying the information from a dishonest employee working where personal and/or financial information is stored. • Removing mail from your mailbox. • Searching public sources, such as newspapers (obituaries), phone books, and records open to the public (professional certifications). For more information on how to protect yourself from ID theft, and other common consumer scams, visit ConsumerInformation.ca . It's a Web site created by federal, provincial, territorial governments and their partners specifically to provide Canadians with convenient, one-stop access to hundreds of objective, reliable, current consumer information sources.

High Volume Merchant Accounts

As your business continues to grow and customers buy more goods and services, you may want to consider joining those who are applying for high volume merchant accounts. When you are approved for a high volume account, you can get good prices on mid- and non-qualified sales, along with debit processing, monthly statement fees, and additional expenses. The greater your volume of business, the better deals you may be eligible for when working with financial institutions or companies who can provide this valuable service.The way it works is that you apply for a merchant account at a bank that offers great pricing and low-cost fees. These can be packaged in a variety of ways. For example, you may want to pay a few cents for each transaction, but if you experience high-volume sales, this could become a costly option. The other route to go is to pay a low monthly overall percentage, often between 1% and 2%, for the entire sales volume you experience via your credit card and debit-processing program. High volume merchant accounts can save you money over time because you will be able to pay smaller fees for each transaction or get a better rate for the amount of profit that you bring in.If you currently have a sizable volume of sales and perhaps expect to do more in the near future, keep in mind that high volume merchant accounts have helped others in your position. Your customers will appreciate the ease of using up-to-the-minute technology for processing their orders with your company. And your employees likewise will be happy to turn their attention to other tasks within the organization. Your company may even see profit increases within the first few months as the word spreads about your merchant account status and credit card processing capabilities.You can apply for high volume merchant accounts through your local bank or a preferred financial institution that can process Visa and MasterCard credit accounts. Your application should demonstrate that your company is not involved in illegal or shady dealings that the underwriters are unlikely to approve, including gambling, pornography, pharmaceutical offerings, and telemarketing. Then you will want to be able to show that your company is fiscally solvent and maintains a solid credit history. You might include documentation to support the notion that your company will be able to pay merchant account fees in a timely manner.In upgrading your business to accommodate e-commerce solutions like credit card processors through a merchant account, be sure to calculate in advance the type of fees or expenses that will be affiliated with this move. You don’t want to start something you can’t finish, so project related expenditures for the coming year to see how they fit with your company budget. If it appears a credit card processor or wireless unit will tax your operating budget, you may be able to take out a low-interest loan to fund the initial start-up expenses. Discuss this option and any other questions you might have with the bank representative who manages applications for high volume merchant accounts.

Canadian Debt Consolidation

Life throws people a number of challenges often on a daily basis and unfortunately, some of those are financial challenges. The loss of a job, an illness and many other situations can make paying off loans difficult to do. Sometimes people simply overextend themselves with their financial commitments and find that they can’t always make even the minimum payment on all of their loans. People from all over the world are finding that they are running into similar financial situations including Canada. Canadians as other nationals have the option of trying to qualify for Canadian debt consolidation.A Canadian debt consolidation loan is when a bank or other lending establishment loans an individual enough money to pay off his or her loans in order to repay back the entire amount in a single payment often at a competitive interest rate. The creditor gives the companies that are owed money, in effect taking over the loan in order to help lower monthly payments and possibly improve the credit score of a person. Not every Canadian debt consolidation loan is offered at the same interest rate, so it is a good idea to look around for the best deal.Another type of Canadian debt consolidation is where an individual contacts a debt consolidation specialist who in turn contacts the individual’s creditors in order to make arrangements for lower payments or interest in order to satisfy the debt faster for less money. The purpose of this type of Canadian debt consolidation is to help individuals who can still make lower payments on their debts and to avoid having to file for bankruptcy. As with the Canadian debt consolidation loan, the outcome of using a debt consolidation service is to be able to make a lower monthly payment in order to satisfy debt but a good debt consolidation service allows a person to do so without taking on another debt.A Canadian debt consolidation service works because instead of losing all of their money to bankruptcy or simply never being repaid at all, most lenders want to be able to get a good portion of their money back through a debtors payments. A Canadian debt consolidation service is trained to deal with lenders and lenders are comfortable dealing with a debt consolidation service. If an individual were to attempt to make the same type of arrangements a Canadian debt consolidation does on his or her own it isn’t likely that he or she will meet with much success.When approaching any type of Canadian debt consolidation service, make sure that the terms of either the consolidation loan or consolidation agreement are acceptable and possible. It doesn’t make sense to get into another loan situation if it isn’t possible to make payments. If a Canadian debt consolidation service arranges to make lower payments on existing debts, make sure that those payments can be made. Successfully using a Canadian debt consolidation service can make dealing with financial issues much easier on most individuals and can also help him or her to avoid filing for bankruptcy. The benefits of using a Canadian debt consolidation service are immeasurable and can even mean an bringing past due accounts to a current status and improving a credit score over time. If financial obligations are beginning to feel overwhelming or if bankruptcy is being considered, it would be a good idea to look into Canadian debt consolidation and see if it would feasible.

The Ins and Outs of Credit Card Debt Settlement

Are you a self-confessed shopaholic who buys anything and everything that you get your shopping addicted hands on? Such thoughtless and impulsive buying will most likely result in the accumulation of a bunch of junk that will simply collect dust. Can you even remember that silk scarf you just had to have and since it was a virtual steal at 50% off you just had to buy it? Where is it now and how many times have you actually worn it? Is it still fashionable?If you're like most people, chances are you'll have to rummage through bins and bins of collected shopping "litter" which you've accumulated through the years, just to be able to see that once precious scarf. You may still be in a state of denial by saying "Fashion goes round and round and that scarf will have its shining moment once again."Unfortunately, many people fall into this mode of impulsive buying that they really can't afford and before they realize it they become saddled with debt. If you fall into this category, you'll soon need to learn a thing or two about debt settlement which can assist you in extracting yourself out of that self-imposed state of financial trauma and begin to start rebuilding your life bit by bit. And the time to start is now! Of course, you have to be honest with yourself, admit that you've got a serious debt problem and then humble yourself enough to seek the help you need to pull yourself out of this devastating ordeal.First things first, a lot of people may actually think that they only have a few choices when it comes to solving their debt problems. The two most common options for those who are burdened with enormous amounts of debt are either to consider declaring bankruptcy or debt consolidation. Unfortunately, if you take the easy way out by declaring bankruptcy, it will leave an embarrassing and indelible mark on your credit report for up to 7 years, which will result in higher interest rates, less credit and if you try do qualify for a mortgage (some lenders do give loans immediately after bankruptcy) you will most likely not be able to get a loan to cover 100% of the financing you need. Normally, an 80% first mortgage and if you can get a second mortgage, it will be at much higher interest rate and probably only 10% of the loan value for a total of 90% of the loan to value and you'll have to come up with 10% down.Clearly, everything will come with a higher price for a period of time but you'll have to weigh that with a straight debt consolidation solution in which you pay off your debt. However, in many cases you can negotiate with the collection agency and it's realistic to get 25% - 50% of the debt forgiven, if you can show that you'll continue to make monthly payments until the remainder is paid off.Many of the debt settlement / debt consolidation companies were actually established by the credit card companies themselves. Why, you ask... because it only makes sense for the credit card companies to help you pay off your debt because they can either forgive some of the debt or reduce the interest rates, lower the monthly minimum payment requirements or some combination and get paid a portion of the money owed or receive nothing if you declare bankruptcy. What would you do if you were in their shoes? The answer is obvious. This is why a lot of people who have been saddled with debt are now being offered debt settlement. Of course, not all debt consolidation service companies are owned by credit card companies but many are.Some groups offer debt settlement programs through arbitration. The "selling point" when it comes to these kinds of solutions is that debt settlement will actually help end your debt problems, without having to go through declaring bankruptcy, without having to pay overcharged debt consolidation program fees as well as helping you avoid getting caught in the debt consolidation trap that a lot of people have fallen victim to.In many cases, what the organizations do that offer debt settlement services is negotiate your debt down with the collection agencies that have been given your case. I would encourage you to contact a number of companies to ensure you feel comfortable and that you are working with a quality company that doesn't over-charge you for their services.On the other hand,if you would really like to save money, which only makes sense since you are already heavily in debt... then negotiate with the collection agency yourself. It's not difficult, rather than getting upset when you get called night after night simply tell the collection agency rep that you would like to pay off your debt but you can only do it if you can get it reduced and then ask them that you would like to get the debt you owe reduced by 50% - 60%, even 75% and ask them to see what they can do. Ask for a lot up front because as in any negotiation there's always a give and take. Believe me, they will go to work for you and your offer will be seriously considered because they only get paid when they collect and it's better to get their percentage on a smaller amount than "diddly squat" on the full amount. Of course, you'll have to decide what route you want to take... bankruptcy versus debt settlement but shop around and realize that you do have options. The internet is full of companies offering their bankruptcy or debt settlement services, but be careful and don't let them push you around and never work with anyone you don't feel 100 percent comfortable with.

Achieving Financial Security in an Unreliable Economy

Financial Security is a false concept that developed in American society based on the idea that security comes from the perceived reliability of a regular or planned paycheck. Many people, believing in the commitment of their corporations to their well-being, have found themselves downsized, layed-off, outsourced, transferred, or, in some cases, even fired. The immediate reality becomes harshly apparent and sadly disappointing.The bottom line is that Corporate America will always be focused on the bottom line. As a dependent corporate employee, you are subject to the whims of the corporation. You have absolutely no control over how much you earn, where you work, the longevity and reliability of your income, or your position. You are simply a number. At any given moment, some nameless pencil-pushing number-cruncher, can deem that you are no longer an asset to the company and, rather, have become a liability. At any given moment, it can be deemed that you no longer factor into the profitability of the corporation - and your OUT. They don't care if you have a mortgage to pay, 3 kids in college or a new shiny car with a hefty payment. They don't care that you've come in early for the last 9 years or given 20 years of your life to them. The bottom line is that you don't effect the bottom line in a positive way...so you're OUT.Corporations no longer hold value in employee commitment or dedication. Each day, companies are choosing to cut costs by outsourcing to less expensive countries with cheaper labor, downsize, and reduce costs by eliminating cost of living increases, benefits and retirement guarantees. Recently, the media has been focusing on the deliberate actions of corporations that cost employees each year. The Christian Science Monitor, on November 7th, 2005, featured an article, “Workers Face Paycheck Pinch”. In the article, the author, Mark Trumbell, details the lag of Corporate America to maintain pay increases with inflation:"For all its strength, the current economic expansion is not boosting the American worker's paycheck. Wages have been rising nominally: Average pay rose 8 cents last month to $16.27 an hour, according to a government report Friday. That's not fast enough to counter inflation.By one common measure, average pay for an hour's work has less purchasing power than it had four years ago - when the current growth cycle began. It's a pattern of weak wage growth that's now several years old, but the trend has worsened in recent months. Wages for the most recent quarter were 2.3 percent lower, after inflation, than workers received a year before"Time Magazine recently featured an article entitled “Broken Promises”"It was part of the American Dream, a pledge made by corporations to their workers: for your decades of toil, you will be assured retirement benefits like a pension and health care. Now more and more companies are walking away from that promise, leaving millions of Americans at risk of an impoverished retirement.""Corporate promises are often not worth the paper they're printed on. Businesses in one industry after another are revoking long-standing commitments to workers." (Bartlett and Steele, October 31, 2005, p. 32-33)So, how do you achieve Financial Security in this changing global economy? Employers aren't even keeping up with inflation and are doing everything in their power to reduce benefits and retirement income. The days of being rewarded for loyalty to corporations are long gone – it’s now every person for themselves. In addition, loop holes in corporate law enable companies to restructure, file bankruptcy and maneuver their way out of promises to employers to provide benefits.In reality, true Financial Security is belief in yourself and your ability to instinctively create income for yourself at any time, anywhere. Entrepreneurs understand true Financial Security. They’re self-reliant, creative, independent and solution focused. We know that at any given time, regardless of the economy, trends, timing, etc. that we have the skills, know-how, and guts to create our life. Entrepreneurs refuse to be dependent on or subject to the whims or decisions of corporate America, rather establishing themselves as corporations, producing their own incomes through commitment, service and sheer motivation. We are responsible for our own retirements and count on the promises of no one. Entrepreneurs ARE financial security and as such we reap the rewards.There are many opportunities for people to become successful entrepreneurs. Thousands of people have made fortunes on the internet alone. Decide what type of business you want, what your ultimate goal is (time, money, leisure, etc) and go from there. A common misconception is that businesses take thousands of dollars to start. It is true of some, but there are many lucrative opportunities available for nominal start-up costs. Once you make the decision to be self-employed, do your research, find the right business for you and move forward from there.